Chapter 1 Crowded
　　The bus was packed during rush hour. Even at the rear, there was barely any room. Short and small Sherry was squeezed in the middle of the crowd, shrinking her neck and afraid to move, looking like a pitiful little animal.

　　If Duncan hadn't seen her wielding a dog to smash a house full of cultists, he would have really believed this girl was "harmless."

　　He slowly squeezed next to Sherry, his tall adult frame giving the girl a little more space and allowing them to talk more easily. Duncan keenly noticed that Sherry was trembling a little—she was nervous, even a little scared.

　　"What are you afraid of?" He glanced at Sherry. "I'm not going to swallow you whole."

　　Sherry said with a mournful face, "You... you still want to cook me first?"

　　Duncan: "..."

　　He could probably guess why this girl was so afraid. After all, that "dog" had seen through some of the "truth" beneath his human body, and after escaping, it must have embellished its feelings to its mistress. This must have left a deep impression on the latter.

　　He didn't know what image he had in Sherry's mind, but he imagined it was similar to how the captains on the Boundless Sea viewed the *Shireless*. They were at a level where you should immediately start writing a will after meeting them, and you had to write it as quickly as possible, because you usually died faster than you could make a will...

　　Duncan was also helpless about this situation. He wanted to appear as friendly as possible, but he couldn't stop a demon from the deep sea from having a different "vision" than humans. That "black sun" was still asking him for help in the illusion, and its attitude was quite sincere, but when he thought of the appearance under its corona, didn't he still feel vigilant?

　　He only hoped that the image of him in the eyes of that deep-sea hound was better-looking than the bizarre evil god he saw inside the sun. At least he should have facial features, right?

　　Thinking of that deep-sea hound, Duncan frowned slightly and looked at the girl in front of him. "Is A'gou with you now?"

　　"A... A'gou usually hides in places that others can't see..." Sherry swallowed and answered cooperatively, then lowered her voice. "But it can 'know' what's happening here..."

　　"Oh, then say hello to it for me," Duncan nodded. "Last time we parted in a hurry, and there were still many questions I didn't have time to ask."

　　As soon as he said this, he felt Sherry shiver again...

　　"Relax," Duncan sighed helplessly. He seemed to vaguely feel strange gazes being cast over from nearby. "Why are you so nervous talking to me? I don't have any malicious intentions towards you or A'gou."

　　"That... that's good..." Sherry nodded stiffly, then, as if deliberately trying to appear more relaxed, she tried hard to find a topic and her gaze finally landed on Duncan's shoulder. "You... you didn't bring your pigeon this time?"

　　"Pets aren't allowed on the bus," Duncan said casually. "I let it out to hunt."

　　"Let the pigeon out... to hunt?" Sherry stared blankly at Duncan, feeling a little lost for words, but then she quickly nodded. "Oh, right, you're right. Pigeons are quite suitable for hunting. They have sharp eyes and fly fast..."

　　She hadn't finished speaking when she saw Duncan squeezing over as well, and the expression on his face changed from bright to gloomy in the blink of an eye.

　　"I'm getting off at this stop too," Duncan said expressionlessly.

　　The expression on Sherry's face froze. She knew that it wouldn't be appropriate to say that she wasn't getting off now—and this big shot might be following her on purpose. If she continued to play tricks, she might anger him, and then she would really be cooked and eaten...

　　The girl just fully imagined it, and then got thoroughly frightened. At this time, she heard the conductor urging her from the side, so she shrank her neck and began to walk out with stiff steps.

　　As soon as she reached the door, she suddenly heard the conductor's voice coming from behind, "Wait a minute, child, didn't you buy a ticket?"

　　Sherry was stunned and looked at the conductor in the dark blue uniform in a somewhat bewildered manner, as if she had never expected to be stopped, never expected that her fare-dodging behavior would be discovered. And in that moment of愣神, the conductor had confirmed the situation: "You didn't buy a ticket, I remember, first..."

　　"I know this child. She may have just lost her ticket," Duncan's voice suddenly came from the side. "I'll buy one for her."

　　The conductor suspiciously turned his head to look at Duncan, then looked at Sherry, who was full of nervousness. After thinking about it, he didn't say anything, just nodded, "Alright then."

　　Duncan took out a few coins to buy a ticket for Sherry, and then followed her out of the carriage, getting off at an empty, old platform.

　　The entire bus was crowded with passengers, but only the two of them got off in the Sixth District.

　　Duncan first looked around at the surrounding situation. What he saw was just the most ordinary lower district street scene. Although the surrounding buildings were relatively old and there weren't many pedestrians on the road near the station, it wasn't as completely dilapidated as he had imagined—the old shops along the street were still open for business, and although the sparse pedestrians couldn't compare to other lively districts, there were always people walking on the street. In the distance, factory chimneys were emitting smoke, and newspaper deliverymen riding bicycles could be seen passing through the intersection at the end of the street.

　　Overall, this was just a relatively quiet, underdeveloped district, but it seemed that the residents were living normally.

　　The factory leak that occurred here eleven years ago seemed to have left some residual impact, but the extent of the impact wasn't as serious as he had imagined...

　　After roughly looking around the surrounding situation, Duncan retracted his gaze and refocused on Sherry.

　　After getting off the bus, this girl stood obediently in place, motionless like a small animal trapped in a trap. Although Duncan's attention wasn't on her at all at first, she didn't make any move to run away.

　　She looked completely resigned to her fate.

　　When Duncan saw her well-behaved and harmless appearance, he couldn't help but want to laugh. He thought to himself that if he hadn't seen this violent girl's fighting prowess with his own eyes, he might have really been deceived by her current appearance.

　　He shook his head and came to Sherry. "What are you doing in the Sixth District?"

　　Sherry immediately stood up straight. "I... I heard the scenery is good here!"

　　Duncan looked the girl up and down. "I've been wanting to ask since just now. Are you actually... pretending to be well-behaved?"

　　"I... I'm not pretending!" Sherry stood even straighter than before. "I'm always very well-behaved!"

　　Duncan shook his head, thinking that he had seen many children who suddenly pretended to be well-behaved and cute. The skills of the girl in front of him weren't even considered pure, but he didn't say much. He just looked up at the street in the distance and said seemingly casually, "Sixth District, eleven years ago, there was a factory leak here, and it is said that there were cultists behind the sabotage."

　　Sherry blinked, as if confused. "Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"

　　"Alright, stop pretending to be stupid. You were just asking about the events of eleven years ago in the Sun Cultists' stronghold," Duncan glanced at Sherry and walked forward. "This is the focus of all official records. The factory where the 'leak' occurred is just ahead."

　　Sherry was stunned, quickly followed, and looked at Duncan in surprise as she scurried along. "You... are you also investigating the accident eleven years ago?!"

　　It seemed that after confirming that the big shot really didn't eat people (at least didn't want to eat her for the time being), and that both sides had the same purpose, she became a little bolder. At this time, she even dared to ask questions.

　　"Yeah, I'm a little interested," Duncan nodded noncommittally, but he suddenly stopped again after taking a few steps, looking at Sherry curiously. "Do you often skip fares?"

　　Sherry opened her mouth. "I..."

　　Duncan knew what was going on from the girl's expression. He shook his head. "Skipping fares is not good."

　　Sherry was about to cry when she heard this—she had been lectured by A'gou, by the uncles and aunts in the neighborhood, and even by the city's peacekeepers, but she really didn't expect that one day she would be suddenly lectured by a big shot like an evil god, and that this big shot's lecture to her would be about not skipping fares on the bus... Have the moral standards of the big shots in the sub-space become so high these days?!

　　Ever since A'gou described the terrifying existence in this "Mr. Duncan's" body to her last time, she had vaguely connected this big figure with the shadows in the sub-space.