Not long after returning to St. Petersburg, Liang En's phone rang. It was a call from Pierce, coming in from Finland. Through the influence of the Bocytus Count's family, Pierce had obtained valuable information from Finland.
"You're right, those people have indeed overlooked the situation in Finland," Pierce's voice sounded excited through the receiver. "Based on the information I've found, it's true that many of the deceased back then had unidentified identities."
"I told you, those treasure hunters the Count found were too mechanical in their search for various things," Liang En replied to Pierce's words.
"I also strongly suspect that the Count's family was too generous with the money, so some people might have just taken this trip to enjoy free food and drinks, without even bothering to inspect these things."
"What you're saying is possible, but honestly, the information from Finland is very vague. Without additional records, it's difficult to rely on that information alone to determine whether the war correspondent from back then was one of these unknown deceased."
Upon hearing Liang En's criticism of some colleagues, Pierce, who felt uncomfortable making judgments, quickly changed the subject.
"By the way, have you found any valuable leads on your end? If not, I think the Count would only have one feasible option left to find his uncle – to dig up these two or three hundred bodies one by one and examine their DNA."
"I did make a significant discovery here—" Liang En immediately began talking about his recent findings when Pierce asked. He particularly mentioned the red gemstone fixed inside the lighter.
Of course, in the process of narrating, Liang En attributed his reason for visiting the monastery to the data that mentioned it had been used as a field hospital. He explained that during his reconnaissance there, he stumbled upon these items.
"Haha, you must possess some Eastern magic, because your luck is truly extraordinary!" After hearing Liang En's account of his treasure hunt, Pierce teased.
"No, no, I think it's just a string of fortunate coincidences. Just like how back in school, you could suddenly find money on the ground for three consecutive days."
Hearing Pierce's banter, Liang En laughed and denied it, then he recalled the numbers he found on the lead plate.
"By the way, inside that lighter, I also found a lead plate with the Arabic numerals 1082 engraved on it," Liang En told Pierce. "What do you make of this number?"
"Lawrence, you know, you've stumbled upon a crucial piece of information." Upon hearing this question from Liang En, Pierce paused for a few seconds, then spoke loudly with a more excited tone than before.
After a dozen seconds or so, Pierce gradually calmed down and began sharing with Liang En some information he had gathered in Helsinki.
It turned out that on the battlefields back then, although the proportion of these unidentified deceased wasn't significant, their total number wasn't negligible either.
They might have had their faces covered due to injuries or other reasons, or they could have lost their identification documents on the battlefield and fallen into unconsciousness.
In such cases, the doctors treating them would use their hospital bed numbers as their identities to avoid mistakes during subsequent rescue efforts.
Some of these individuals might have been identified eventually due to being rescued or discovering other means of confirming their identities, but there remained a portion who were never recognized even until their passing.
For those sacrificial individuals who remained unidentified until their demise, they would be buried with the same hospital numbers they had during their time in medical care, leaving behind nothing but graves marked with numbers.
"Lawrence, do you now know what you've found?" In the phone call, Pierce's voice was exceedingly excited. "This number is highly likely to be the hospital identifier from back then. With this, we can locate his grave."
After saying this, Pierce hung up the call, leaving Liang En in suspense. It wasn't until half an hour later that he called Liang En again, who had been waiting by the phone.
"It's been confirmed." Even through the phone, Liang En could hear the excitement in Pierce's voice. "There was indeed an unidentified deceased individual in the makeshift field hospital at that monastery back then."
"So where is this person now?" Liang En's breath grew agitated, as he realized he was nearing the final answer.
"The anonymous deceased with that number is buried in a military cemetery near Puumala, Finland." Pierce looked at the aged document on his computer and spoke while holding the phone.
"When the Finns were retreating back then, they took almost everything with them – machinery, livestock, personal belongings, even bodies in the cemeteries. Naturally, this included the bodies of those who died in battle."
"For example, this body with the number 1082 is one such case. According to records, this deceased individual was found on the front lines occasionally. By the time he was brought to the hospital, he was severely frostbitten, and he passed away after about a week of treatment."
"He was initially buried in a temporary graveyard near that monastery, but after the armistice negotiations were settled, he and the other victims buried nearby were moved to the vicinity of Puumala."
"I understand. Send me all your data in electronic format," Liang En said. "With this information, we can wrap this up."
"Don't we need to bring something for an exchange this time? Maybe because of some tension, Pierce subconsciously asked the question he's accustomed to asking during commission missions.
"If you're willing to risk breaking the law by digging up a military graveyard at night, I have no objection," hearing this, Liang En burst into laughter.
"Remember, we're currently commissioned to find something very important for certain individuals. As long as we provide the information to our employer, we don't need to engage in tomb raiding."
"I'm just too excited," hearing Liang En's laughter, Pierce said helplessly. "You know, neither I nor my father have ever received such a job. It's just my ingrained work habits taking over."
After exchanging a few more playful remarks, Pierce sent over the information he had found. Perhaps due to everyone being in the city, the internet connection was finally faster than the wilderness.
Therefore, it only took half an hour for Liang En to successfully receive the information and send it to the steward after organizing it.
"Mr. Liang, may I ask if the information you've sent me is true?" Fifteen minutes after the information had been transmitted, Liang En received a call from the steward.
Unlike his usual elegant tone, the steward's voice sounded highly urgent this time, even slightly grating.
"Yes, all of this is true, Steward Lubsan." Liang En said, looking at the red gemstone placed on the table in front of him.
"At least according to the contents of the information we currently possess, the missing young master Duris should be buried in the military cemetery near Puumala."