In the antique shop in the lower city of Westland City, Duncan was sitting behind the counter holding a copy of City State's weekly newspaper. He seemed to be reading the contents of the newspaper casually. Suddenly, his eyes blinked twice.
His distracted eyes refocused, and then he glanced at the newspaper in his hand and turned it over calmly.
The front page of the newspaper is printed with the recent major events in the city-state - His Excellency Bishop Valentine of the Deep Sea Cathedral will preside over a large-scale prayer event in the near future, and more than ten churches in the city will ring loudspeakers.
Bell, pull the whistle to call on the power of the Storm Goddess to bring blessings to the city.
As a warm-up for this blessing event, Archon Dante Wayne expressed congratulations to the cathedral last night and sent gifts...
The face of the city magistrate was printed on the front page of the newspaper - he was a middle-aged man with a serious expression, gray hair, tall and thin, and the most eye-catching thing was that he had a rather scary scar on his face.
, a prosthetic eye replaced his original eyeball.
It was obviously the traces of a fatal accident.
Duncan's eyes slowly scanned the newspaper, and the face of the young judge named "Fana" emerged in his mind - the judge also had a scar near his eye, although it did not affect his vision.
But it's enough to make people laugh.
He recalled recent intelligence gathering:
The governor of this city-state, Dan Fuwei, is the uncle of Judge Feng Na, and the scars on their dangerous faces are said to have originated from the same accident, which happened eleven years ago in the "Sixth District" near the Cross Street.
"There was a factory leak and a cultist riot. Dante Wayne and Vanna Wayne were injured by thugs. The two people left permanent scars in the accident, which also prompted them to become staunch supporters of the Deep Sea Church.
, and actively crack down on cult activities in the city-state...
This information is not a secret in the city-state. It can be found in official records and folk rumors. If you ask around in Xiacheng District, you will hear these things.
Eleven years ago again, another "factory leak" in Block 6...
Duncan silently turned to the next page of the newspaper, while his mind combined and sorted out the various clues he had collected recently.
The fragments of the sun, the fire in Nina's Chronicles, Nibe's recent nightmare, the accident that happened to Judge Vanna and Archon Dante, and the girl of unknown origin "Shirley" who seems to be investigating the truth...
"These things are all surrounding the "factory leak" in the Sixth District eleven years ago. Now the Sun Cultists are ready to move in the city again, and the "Sun God" behind them is a burning, evil god.
s things.
That thing is still asking for help.
Duncan doesn't plan to deal with the sun god yet, but he is a little worried that this unknown fire smoldering in the darkness will burn Nina.
The pigeon was released early in the morning by him to search for clues about the cultists in the city. It is still wandering outside. Nina is packing books upstairs and will leave for school soon. The street outside the shop is gradually becoming lively.
The sounds of cars and passers-by pass through
The door brings fresh vitality and vitality.
Brisk footsteps suddenly came from the stairs, and the old wooden floorboards made a slight creaking sound. Nina trotted into Duncan's sight, carrying her schoolbag in one hand and grabbing the bread for lunch in the other hand: "Uncle
!I'm going to school!"
"Run slowly, don't fall, it's still early," Duncan glanced at the girl helplessly, and then thought of something, "By the way, today is your day to go to the museum?"
"Yes! I made an appointment with classmate - Gu!" Nina turned around with a bright smile on her face, "I won't come back for lunch at noon. I will go directly to the museum with my classmates. You can get something to eat by yourself."
"I know, I know," Duncan smiled, waved his hand, and warned again, "Slow down, and pay attention to the car on the road..."
"Okay okay bye uncle!"
Accompanied by the girl's clear shouts, brisk footsteps and the jingling of the bell at the door, Nina's figure disappeared from Duncan's sight. She crossed the road in front of the antique store and ran quickly into the morning light of Praland.
.
Duncan watched Nina leave, recalling the previous "home visit" and what the old Mr. Morris told him: Nina had very few friends in school, and most of her classmates didn't like to deal with her.
.
But even if she has few friends, it seems that there are one or two classmates with whom she has a good relationship. Some people are willing to invite her to go to the museum together, and it seems that she is very happy herself. This is of course a good sign. He had already inquired yesterday
Well, the classmate who went to the museum with Nina is a quiet girl who also lives in Xiacheng District. The two have only recently become friends and have a good relationship.
Duncan put down the newspaper in his hand.
Nina has already gone to school and won't be back in the afternoon. Today is a working day, so there won't be much business in the antique store. It's a waste of time to stay here and look at the store. Maybe she can go for a walk in the city, and by the way...
..investigate some things.
Duncan sensed Ai's current position in his mind and gave the pigeon the command to "continue hunting". Then he put on his coat, hung the temporary rest wooden sign at the door, locked the shop door, and came to the nearby area.
station
There were a lot of people at the station. This time was the peak time for people to go to work and go to school. Duncan mixed in the crowd and came to the sign next to the station and looked at the route map above.
His eyes fell on one of the lines - a location was clearly printed on it: Sixth Street.
av
There are official records where "factory leaks" have occurred.
Duncan withdrew his gaze and waited patiently in the crowd. Buses came and went. Several Cai Automobile-driven buses took away half of the people on the platform. After a long time, he finally saw an old bus.
The old bus came swaying from the end of the road, and the number plate on the front showed that it was the one he was waiting for.
Duncan followed—the crowd piled into the car.
The old bus was overcrowded, and citizens rushing to work occupied all the seats and corridor space. Duncan silently squeezed in near the back door and waited patiently for the bus to start.
Accompanied by the hoarse and laborious roar of the steam engine, the severely overloaded car started. The conductor began to walk hard through the sardine-like crowd, while greeting people to buy tickets and arrived near Duncan, dark blue
The uniform was so crowded that it changed.
shape.
"Sixth Street." Duncan gave the conductor a friendly smile.
However, the crowded conductor was obviously startled when he heard Duncan's voice, and asked as if he didn't react: "Ah? Where are you going?" Duncan frowned: "Sixth Street—
—I saw it on the route map. Doesn’t this train go?"
The conductor was stunned again, then looked up at the route map posted on the car next to him, and then nodded quickly as if he had just woken up from a dream: "Oh, of course, no one goes there usually, I even forgot...
...Four pesos. No one usually goes to the Sixth District? Eleven years have passed since the accident, and the area around the factory hasn’t been rebuilt yet?
Duncan had some doubts in his heart, but he still bought the ticket calmly, and then watched the conductor squeeze back into the crowd like a warrior fighting against thousands of troops. The next step was silently
Waiting for the bus to arrive.
But at this moment, he suddenly felt a line of sight coming from nearby.
That gaze was very brief, as if it just glanced at him accidentally and then quickly moved away. However, Duncan's senses were extremely keen. He felt that the gaze was indeed "pointed" to him, and even looked away at that point.
When he was walking, he vaguely felt a sense of fear and avoidance, which made him immediately follow the feeling in his heart curiously.
The next second, he saw a short figure trying to dodge back among the crowded passengers at the rear of the carriage.
He saw the figure, and the figure also saw him - so the other person stopped instantly and stood stiffly on the spot, as if he didn't even dare to dodge. It was a girl in a black skirt.
, looks about the same age as Nina, and wears a strange collar around her neck, with a small bell hanging on the collar... It's Shirley.
Duncan raised his eyebrows immediately, never expecting that things could be such a coincidence, and then squeezed in the direction of the girl - the latter had completely stiffened at this time, but looked at it nervously and even with some fear.
Facing Duncan who was walking towards him, he didn't even dare to turn his head, let alone continue to dodge.
Duncan slowly came to the other party and greeted the girl with a smile: "We meet again - are you going to school at this time?"
Shirley mustered up the courage to force out a smile. Although she had always expressed her intention to hug the boss in front of Ah Gou, but at this time she had already realized how incompetent Duncan was, and she smiled.