Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 537 - 33 Voices (Part 2)

Chang wanted to say more, but St. Yves suddenly stood up.

He wrapped an arm around Chang Yu’s shoulders, lowering his voice, "Chang, I am not like those foolish and rude Irishmen who spout nonsense patriotism to cover up their own laziness and incompetence, but I am not. Not just me, the whole Enfield, even San Francisco, sees you in a different light. Chang, you have lived in this city for ten years, it has taught you advanced knowledge and provided you with a job that allows you to realize yourself. She has nurtured you like a mother. But what did your compatriots, your land, your real mother give you? They gave you nothing but hunger, disease, and poverty."

St. Yves shifted topic abruptly, "Back then, everyone in your hometown was dying of hunger, and your parents sold you for two jin of millet, you were only fifteen that year, herded onto the ship like an animal by the slave traders."

Chang Yu’s eyelids trembled violently, feeling like a frog being dissected alive on the operating table, and St. Yves’s words were dismembering him piece by piece.

The refined and delicate face in front of him turned as sinister as a ghost, "You should be grateful that during the famine, they chose to sell you instead of eating you to stave off their hunger."

Enraged, Chang Yu suddenly shoved St. Yves against the wall, gripping his collar tightly, fire almost shooting from his eyes.

Several guards rushed in, looking displeased.

"..."

Chang Yu gritted his teeth, trying to speak several times, but his throat felt as if it was glued shut, unable to utter a word.

After a long while, Chang Yu’s eyes lost focus, and he let go, dejectedly.

"I’m sorry, Mr. St. Yves."

St. Yves straightened his collar, smiling unnaturally, "No matter, I’ve always been a magnanimous person."

He waved the guards off, "You can leave."

The guards looked at each other, slowly turning and walking away after a long moment.

Take a look at this."

St. Yves returned to his seat, opening a drawer and handed Chang Yu a large roll of complex blueprints, "The individual blueprints for Giant Ymir."

Chang Yu averted his gaze, speaking softly, "Sir, this is not my area of responsibility."

"No matter."

St. Yves slid the blueprints toward Chang Yu, continuing to speak as he pleased, "This Enfield design was originally invited to participate in this year’s World Expo. But until now, its power is too great, and the problem of the Tri-Orb Device unable to bear the load has not been perfectly solved."

Upon hearing the words "World Expo," Chang Yu’s eyes flickered.

"The person in charge of this project recommended you to me. Come to think of it, you were the one who solved the Tri-Orb Device incident last time. I know, you’ve always been responsible for the maintenance and repair of individual and large steam devices and haven’t had much chance to deal with component design. Take these blueprints back and look them over slowly, no need to rush to give me an answer. How about it?"

Chang Yu was silent for a moment, "I am willing to give it a try." St. Yves’s smile had barely begun to form when Chang Yu quickly added, "But I have a condition."

St. Yves’s smile faded, "Speak."

"For the design of Giant Ymir, I demand credit."

Chang Yu’s tone was very firm, "Additionally, I request to attend the London World Expo as a member of Enfield Company’s delegation, to serve as the presenter for these design improvements."

St. Yves frowned unhappily.

"The reinforced design for the dangerous sections of the sea railway, the power vortex device for the Hera model individual unit, the mercury steam tubes for the NO. 4 drone... I’ve never asked for credit before."

Chang Yu took a deep breath, "Just this once."

It took a long while before St. Yves responded, hand on his forehead, "You can’t take credit for this design. But I can consider letting you join the delegation in name. That’s my biggest concession. Just that alone is going to cause Enfield a great deal of public pressure."

"...I hope you will keep your promise."

Chang Yu bowed, picked up the design drawings from the table, and turned to leave.

The office’s wooden door creaked shut. St. Yves watched Chang Yu’s cold features through the glass of the corridor for a long moment before finally withdrawing his gaze.

He snapped his fingers and said to his secretary at his side, "If Chang really solves the power issue of Giant Ymir, move him to a larger room, and also, give him a thousand US dollars."

"Yes, sir," the secretary nodded.

The valley was dotted with faint stars, the sky already showing the pale light of dawn, and the river water mixed with the milky white moonlight surged toward the shore.

This was a nearly depleted gold mining area, abandoned by the larger mines because of the treacherous terrain that made it difficult for steam machinery to navigate, leaving only the poor to come and try their luck occasionally.

Latterly, it had become a dangerous area rampant with horse thieves and a gold panning spot for some impoverished Chinese miners.

"Hee-haw~"

The toothless, shedding mule brayed skyward with a hoarse and unpleasant sound, burdened by a disheveled cowboy reeking of alcohol, his wide-brimmed hat obscuring his face, leaving only his faint humming audible.

"Bang!"

A stone burst forth, shattering the hat on the drunkard’s head to pieces!

The drunkard fell backward, his inverted view now aligning with the valley filled with bloody, fresh corpses.

Cha Xiaodao tossed a stone up and down in her hand, the scent of blood lingering on her.

"Still alive?"

Li Yan, atop the mule, jolted upright and raised an eyebrow at Cha Xiaodao, "Got a death wish?"

Cha Xiaodao threw the stone away, "How did you find this place?"

Li Yan hopped off the mule, "Just ask around for places good for dumping bodies with no one to bear witness, simple, really."

"Those guys, six were horse thieves, one was the nephew of a judge. Inspired by the new act, they spontaneously decided to rob the Chinese miners digging here. They shot and killed them, tossing the bodies into the river. Then, not yet satisfied, they took a boat upstream, where they encountered me, panning for gold using the Star-Towing Skill."

"I see, but what are you doing sitting here?"

Li Yan led the mule over.

Cha Xiaodao stretched languidly, her eyes half-closed, "Just annoyed, needed a quiet place to cool off."

Li Yan glanced back at the ghastly corpses in the river and suddenly asked, "Did Dorothy’s book arrive?"

Cha Xiaodao curled her lips, "It did, it’s with me, haven’t had the chance to read it."

"Give it to me."

"..."

Cha Xiaodao pulled out a thick tome with a blood-colored fish head on the cover and tossed it heavily to Li Yan.

Li Yan flipped through a few pages before asking nonchalantly, "Shall we deal with them?"

Cha Xiaodao lowered her head, "You decide."

"Then we’ll deal with them," Li Yan put away the book then pondered for a moment and shook his head, "But if we take action, it won’t be right."