GBP Chapter 116
Chapter 116
116: Come Back Early
Wangyou City, whether in terms of scale or economic development level, could indeed be considered an international metropolis.
But unlike other international metropolises, Wangyou City had largely preserved a portion of old streets that could showcase its cultural character, separately zoning them to form the West District.
Following the example of the West District, the city planning officials of Wangyou City continued to divide the rest into four other major districts: Central District, North District, East District, and South District.
Honestly, Evelia had complained more than once about just how lazy the person who named these districts must have been to directly use directional words like north, south, east, west, and center to name the major districts. They couldn't even be bothered to think up names like "XX New District" or something similar!
However, this did have its benefits. The specific functions of each major district were clear and easy to remember. The West District was a preserved old street area serving as a cultural heritage site. The Central District was the most prosperous commercial and entertainment area with the highest foot traffic. The East District was a residential and developing new area. The South District, due to its proximity to famous mountain and lake scenic spots, became the area with the most developed tourism industry.
As for the final North District, it housed factories and power stations of various sizes, making it an industrial zone.
The Christian Orphanage was located in an area above the West District, quite close to the North District.
The buildings here were scattered here and there, but this also freed up a lot of land that could be used for different functions. The Christian Orphanage was a large orphanage built by the Church after consolidating a large plot of land.
Most tourists, upon learning that Wangyou City had such a large orphanage as the Christian Orphanage, would have a question. Would a highly developed city like Wangyou City really have so many orphans needing rescue?
The locals of Wangyou City had long grown accustomed to this. After all, although Wangyou City was an international metropolis, it was also one of the cities with the highest crime rates in all of China. As for the reason for the high crime rate, one could only say that the same factor that brought success also brought failure.
The West District, with its winding eighteen-turn alleyways and extremely rich old-time character, although attracting large numbers of tourists who came specifically for its reputation, had simultaneously become a nest of evil. What started as just a few scattered groups lying in wait to rob tourists eventually formed into large and small gangs with organized crime characteristics. Moreover, due to the old alleyways being difficult to monitor, basically if you committed some crime, you could just hide in some secluded little corner of the West District, and finding you again would be very difficult.
Various criminal activities like child trafficking and organ trading were carried out secretly in the West District under these conditions.
Of course, the police of Wangyou City had also thought about wiping it out. But due to the overly complex situation in the West District, basically every time they raided a hideout, the criminals would pop back up within two days.
Only the Watchers of Wangyou City, through the cheating tool of magic, could deliver some dimension-reducing strikes against the evil hiding in the West District, making them not dare to be so arrogant.
However, this was ultimately just treating the symptoms but not the root cause.
For a long time, due to various problems, more and more orphans who were separated from their families or had nowhere to go appeared. Looking at it this way, the Church establishing such a large orphanage as the Christian Orphanage in Wangyou City was a charitable act like sending charcoal in snowy weather.
However, in the past two years, the Christian Orphanage hadn't received as many orphans as before. This was thanks to a certain Miss Demon who was clearly a demon but didn't do bad things at all. Using Hell's Karmic Threads, she went door to door delivering "warmth" to those gang members. In the end, they were so moved that those who should be wiped out were wiped out, those who should turn themselves in turned themselves in, and those who should run away ran away.
But returning to the Christian Orphanage, it was also very different from the Church's other orphanages. In the past, when the Church built orphanages, at most they would send a few Fathers to handle the matter. On a slightly larger scale, they might at most entrust a retired old Bishop who was so bored at home that he was about to grow mushrooms to come hang a "director" title and help out. It was impossible to have a current Bishop personally oversee the construction like with the Christian Orphanage.
Unless...
"Unless building the orphanage was just a cover. The true purpose of this place's existence is to hide certain things."
On the roof of the Christian building, Lina wore a pitch-black coat. She coldly swept her gaze over the practitioners busy below, carefully analyzing to Lola, who was somewhat interested in listening to her speak.
"When I left the Church, I once returned to Father's room to pack up his belongings. While organizing his cabinet, I accidentally opened a hidden compartment in the cabinet and discovered this inside."
As she spoke, Lina showed Lola the item in her hand. It was a somewhat rusted key that looked very old.
"To figure out what this key was for, I spent a great deal of effort. And finally, the clues I investigated, including the matter I asked Miss Lola to help confirm, all pointed to this place. The Christian Orphanage that Father single-handedly established."
"Is this the reason you, Miss Lina, had to come to Wangyou City from across the sea at any cost?"
"That's right. I want to know what exactly Father left here. Because that might be the last thing Father left behind."
"But didn't your father leave other belongings? Isn't this key also something you found among his effects?"
"...The Church later took away all of Father's things. Not a single one remained. This is too strange. I can feel that there is an invisible big hand behind the scenes manipulating all of this. And this may also be related to the cause of my father's death."
Lina sighed softly. Her eyes, looking down at the Church flag below, were filled with disappointment and indignation. She couldn't understand how her father, a dignified Church Cardinal, could have died so unclearly. Even the Pope showed no intention of investigating at all!
"Although I'd love to hear more about the Church's internal dark secrets, unfortunately, I still need to go back and prepare dinner for Her Highness the Princess. Do you need me to save you some?"
"No need..."
"Alright, got it. But let's agree beforehand. Miss Lina, you can look for things, but you must prioritize safety. If things really are like you guessed and there's some unspeakable secret hidden here, then even if you were once a Saint Substitute, being discovered definitely won't end well for you."
Lola walked to Lina's side and gently patted her shoulder.
"Come back early tonight. Otherwise, Her Highness the Princess will be worried."