The colors of the ice-free port of Wiener have never been bright. People seem to like gray and black, which makes this rainy and foggy port city look depressing.
But it's better than being weird in the wild.
Chi
Mist-like water vapor is discharged from the side of the steam locomotive.
In the VIP carriage, Lu Li's eyes moved away from the white mist that was hanging on the ground and fell to the opposite side of the soft seat.
The three people with weird abilities arranged by Mayor Mateus were sitting there, strictly speaking, two.
There was another person in the first-class carriage next door, just to be on guard against "Barry".
Every hour he would walk into the carriage and tell Lu Li that Barry was a fake and a back-up man other than a businessman.
Shadow People, Evil Fallen, this is their name or code name.
As a being who fights against weirdness, revealing his true name is as stupid as a businessman who sells the hemp rope with which he hangs himself.
The reason why Lu Li, who is unknown to everyone and has never been hidden, is not known to anyone is very simple: no one knows whether "Lu Li" is a surname, a given name, or a middle name.
The shadow man is tall and thin, only shorter than the businessman. He is ugly in appearance. His facial features and position are consistent with human beings, but he is ferocious and twisted like a monster.
Pusius couldn't help but think that he might be hurt if Lu Li's left hand touched him.
The last person with strange abilities has not shown up yet, and he will not enter the VIP carriage until an hour later.
The Shadow Man and the Evil One looked at Lu Li, not with respect or curiosity, but with more "direct" emotions: scrutiny and prying.
"Why do you look so young?" Evil Fall made a sound from a part like his mouth.
Lu Li did not answer, but pushed a newspaper in front of Evil Fall.
"I don't know the words." Evil's hazy eyes moved up half a centimeter.
"Mr. Lu Li was trapped underground after solving the Hour of Silence. It has been twenty-four years since he returned to the surface." Pusius, who knew that Lu Li didn't like to talk, answered.
"Solution? But Silent Hour is still alive and pops out every ten days."
The gas emitted from Evil Fall's mouth seemed to smell foul.
The sarcastic words made Pusius's youthful face raise his eyebrows, and his good manners made him endure. But Catalina did not have such a good temper, and replied with a sneer: "The moment of silence becomes the moment of silence, does it not count as a solution?"
Evil Eyes turned to Catalina: "You also have a big background?"
Obviously, Lu Li and the others are not on good terms with people with weird abilities.
"The train hasn't left yet." Lu Li stared at Evil Fall with his dark eyes and spoke calmly.
Knock knock knock
The shadow man's slender broom-like palms knocked on the table, and said expressionlessly: "Evil degenerates must keep their hearts dark to maintain their strength. I don't mean to target you. Including me, I can't make an expression."
Lu Li nodded, no longer thinking about getting rid of unstable factors.
However, the hostility of Caterina and Pusius towards him cannot be eliminated for the time being.
Chi
Another sheet of water vapor spurted out, causing the carriage to tremble slightly.
The huge clock on the platform pointed to the hour.
The steam train slowly leaves the platform.
Woo
Thick smoke billowed out of the chimney, and Lu Li looked out the window again. The blurry reflection of the carriage scenery outside the window gradually revealed the entire view of the ice-free port of Wiener.
Wow
The wooden door of the VIP carriage was pushed open. Lu Li withdrew his gaze and put on his cloak to hide his face. Catalina did as she was told. Because she followed Lu Li, she received a lot of attention.
The waiter carrying the coffee pot put down the newspaper that had just been baked today and the ink marks had not yet dried, poured coffee for several passengers and then exited.
Lu Li took off his cloak and picked up the newspaper.
"Exorcist Lu Li was assassinated and showed up in the afternoon to say nothing happened"
"In the evening, the exorcist Lu Li showed up for business at the City Hall Party"
"The director of Weinstein Hospital claims that Mr. Lu Li has recovered"
Like everyone says, the ice-free port of Wiener is more fanatical than anywhere else.
Even though it has been a week since Lu Li revealed his identity in Midnight City, he is still hotly debated by people.
Although the assassination of the Exorcist was a big deal.
In addition to the assassination and the search for the murderer, Lu Li's situation itself, some scholars took the opportunity to criticize Mayor Matthaus's lack of attention to Lu Li that led to the assassination.
After flipping through several newspapers, there was no other news except about Lu Li himself. It was almost an off-label page.
Put down the newspaper, the steam train swaying on the rails is about to leave the ice-free port of Wiener.
Caffeine shakes the carriage and creates ripples, and the scenery of the ice-free port of Wiener is replaced by tree stumps.
The steam train enters a logging area.
This was a forest before it was cut down, and of course, they died for a long time.
Stretching tree stumps, like tombstones, stand quietly on both sides of the train.
"We'll leave the city once we pass through the logging area."
The shadow man took the initiative to talk to ease the atmosphere, but his expressionless face made his tone stiff.
Leaving the ice-free port of Wiener is like leaving a small town in the middle of nowhere and facing the real world.
But steam trains, like fleets, have their own protection: ancient marks.
A metal carriage engraved with irregular pentagram-like runes.
Lu Li had seen this kind of mark several times in Weiner Freeze Port, but it was always by chance. Sometimes he saw it drawn on a piece of paper that had been blown by the wind, and sometimes he saw it engraved on the door of a building.
The ancient mark was discovered in the old days. It can drive away strange things. To be precise, it prevents strange things from approaching on its own initiative.
It's harder to make than it looks. The irregularity itself is part of what makes the mark effective. If it's too regular or too curved, it's just a simple childlike doodle.
This makes carving ancient seals a matter of chance. You don't know whether it is effective or not, and you don't know whether you survived because it was effective.
Fortunately, it does not require cumbersome and complicated alchemical materials and steps, a pen, a finger, or a sharp object, as long as it can outline the shape on the surface of any object.
As a result, a kind of draft paper called "Paper of the Old Days" and its superior parchment became very popular: it was covered with ancient marks, as many as hundreds.
There is always an ancient mark that is drawn right.
This is what poor people do.
For wealthy people, they can buy ancient marks that claim to have verified "power" from masters with a higher success rate.
The ancient mark obviously has some effect, otherwise the Main Continent without the protection of the gods would have fallen long ago.
Lu Li and others each have an ancient mark badge in their hands, which was presented to them by Mayor Mateus.
Pusius followed the drawing: his paws dipped in water and drew the shape of ancient marks on the floor, but no one knew whether it was real and effective or a poor imitation, but in any case, it would disappear after the water marks dried.
Lu Li's destination remained unchanged, and the railway ended at Weige Town Station.
It is the closest place to the Hillerweg Mountains.
As expected, they will arrive tomorrow afternoon.
The steam train does not run at night. In the evening, it stops at the town of Horseshoe at the foot of the Selma Mountains.