Chapter 1 Ancient Shop in the Lower City

In the ancient shop in the Lower City of Xiland, Duncan sat behind the counter holding a city weekly, looking as if he was casually reading the newspaper. Suddenly, he blinked twice, his somewhat unfocused eyes refocused, and then he glanced at the newspaper in his hand, nonchalantly turning it upside down.

The headline on the front page of the newspaper printed the recent big event in the city—His Excellency Valentine, the bishop of the Deep Sea Cathedral, will preside over a large-scale prayer event in the near future. At that time, more than a dozen churches in the city will ring their bells and sound their sirens to call upon the power of the Storm Goddess to bestow blessings upon the city.

As a warm-up for this prayer event, Governor Dante Wayne expressed his congratulations to the cathedral last night and presented a gift...

The front page of the newspaper featured the face of the city's governor—a serious-looking middle-aged man with graying hair and a tall, thin figure. The most striking feature was a rather frightening scar on his face, with a prosthetic eye replacing his original eyeball.

It was clearly a trace left by a fatal accident.

Duncan's gaze slowly swept across the newspaper, but the face of the young inquisitor named "Vanna" appeared in his mind—the inquisitor also had a scar near her eye, which, although it did not affect her vision, was conspicuous enough.

He recalled the information he had recently collected:

The governor of this city, Dante Wayne, is the uncle of the inquisitor Vanna, and the scars on their faces are said to have originated from the same accident. Eleven years ago, a factory leak and cultist riot occurred in the "Sixth Block" near the Crossroads District. Dante Wayne and Vanna Wayne were injured by the rioters, and both of them suffered permanent scars in the accident, which led them to become staunch supporters of the Deep Sea Church and actively combat cult activities in the city...

This information is not a secret in the city. It can be found in official records and folk rumors. Just ask around in the Lower City, and you will hear these things.

Eleven years ago again, and the "factory leak" in the Sixth Block...

Duncan silently turned the newspaper to the next page, while piecing together and sorting out the various clues he had been collecting recently in his mind.

Sun Shards, the fire in Nina's memory, Nina's recent nightmares, the accident encountered by Inquisitor Vanna and Governor Dante, and the unknown girl "Shirley" who seems to be investigating the truth... All these things revolve around the "factory leak" in the Sixth Block eleven years ago. Now, the Sun Cultists are also making moves in the city, and the "Sun God" behind them is a burning being, like an evil god.

That thing is still crying out for help.

Duncan doesn't plan to deal with that Sun God yet, but he is a little worried that this nameless fire, which is smoldering in the dark, will burn Nina.

The pigeon was released by him early in the morning to search for clues about the cultists in the city, and is still wandering outside. Nina is upstairs packing her books, and will be leaving for school in a while. The street outside the shop is gradually becoming lively.

The sounds of vehicles, horses, and pedestrians pass through the doorway, bringing fresh vitality.

Light footsteps suddenly came from the stairs, and the old wooden floor made a slight creaking sound. Nina trotted into Duncan's view, carrying her schoolbag in one hand and a bread to serve as lunch in the other: "Uncle! I'm going to school!"

"Slow down, don't fall, it's still early," Duncan glanced at the girl helplessly, then remembered something, "Oh right, is today the day you go to the museum?"

"Yes! I have arranged to go with a classmate!" Nina turned her head, with a bright smile on her face, "I won't come back for lunch, I'll go directly to the museum with my classmate. You can make something for yourself."

"Alright, alright," Duncan waved his hand with a smile, and then reminded again, "Slow down, watch out for cars on the road..."

"Okay, okay, goodbye Uncle!"

Accompanied by the girl's crisp shout, light footsteps, and the tinkling of the bell at the door, Nina's figure disappeared from Duncan's view. She crossed the road in front of the antique shop and ran quickly into the morning light of Pland.

Duncan watched Nina leave, recalling the previous "home visit", and recalling what Mr. Morris had told him: Nina has few friends at school, and most of her classmates don't like to interact with her.

But even if she has few friends, it seems that there are one or two classmates who have a good relationship with her. Someone is willing to invite her to the museum, and she seems very happy herself, which is certainly a good sign. He had already inquired yesterday, and the classmate who went to the museum with Nina was a quiet girl who also lived in the Lower City. The two had recently become friends and had a good relationship.

Duncan put down the newspaper in his hand.

Nina has gone to school and won't be back in the afternoon. Today is also a workday, so the antique shop probably won't have any business. Staying here to watch the shop is a bit of a waste of time. Maybe he can go for a walk in the city and, by the way... investigate some things.

Duncan sensed Ai's current location in his mind, issued an order for the pigeon to "continue patrolling," then put on his coat, hung the "Temporarily Closed" sign on the door, locked the shop, and came to the nearby bus stop.

There were many people at the bus stop. This time was the peak of people taking buses to work and school. Duncan mingled in the crowd and came to the stand next to the station, looking at the route map on it.

His eyes fell on one of the lines—it clearly printed a location: Sixth Block.

The place where the "factory leak" officially occurred.

Duncan withdrew his gaze and patiently waited in the crowd. Buses came and went, and several steam-powered buses took away half of the people on the platform. After a long time, he finally saw an old bus swaying from the end of the road. The number plate on the front of the bus showed that this was the one he was waiting for.

Duncan followed a large group of people and squeezed onto the bus.

The old bus was overcrowded. Citizens rushing to work filled all the seats and aisle space. Duncan silently squeezed to the back door and patiently waited for the bus to start.

Accompanied by the hoarse roar of the steam engine, the severely overloaded bus started. The conductor began to struggle through the sardine-like crowd, beckoning people to buy tickets while coming to Duncan's vicinity. The dark blue uniform was squeezed out of shape.

"Sixth Block," Duncan gave the conductor a friendly smile.

However, the conductor, who was dazed from being squeezed, was obviously stunned when he heard Duncan's voice. He asked as if he hadn't reacted, "Huh? Where are you going?"

Duncan frowned, "Sixth Block—I saw it on the route map. Doesn't this bus go there?"

The conductor was stunned again, then looked up at the route map pasted on the side of the car, and then nodded as if waking up from a dream, "Oh, oh, of course it goes there. Usually no one goes there, I forgot... Four pesos."

Usually no one goes to the Sixth Block? Eleven years have passed since the accident, hasn't the area around the factory been rebuilt yet?

A trace of doubt arose in Duncan's heart, but he still bought the ticket without showing any emotion, and then watched the conductor squeeze back into the crowd like a warrior charging left and right in a vast army. Next was to wait silently for the bus to arrive.

But just then, he suddenly felt a gaze coming from nearby.

The gaze was very brief, as if it had just glanced at him accidentally and then quickly shifted away. However, Duncan's senses were unusually sharp. He not only felt that the gaze was indeed "directed" at him, but even vaguely felt a sense of... fear and evasion when the gaze shifted away, which immediately made him curiously look in the direction of his feelings.

The next second, he saw a small figure struggling to hide in the crowded passengers at the rear of the car.

He saw the figure, and the figure also saw him—so the other party stopped instantly, standing stiffly in place, as if not even daring to dodge. It was a girl wearing a black dress, looking about the same age as Nina, with a peculiar collar around her neck, and a small bell hanging on the collar... It was Shirley.

Duncan raised his eyebrows slightly, never expecting that things could be so coincidental. Then, he squeezed toward the girl—who at this time had completely stiffened, just looking at Duncan who was walking towards her with nervousness and even some fear. Not to mention continuing to dodge, she didn't even dare to turn her head.

Duncan slowly came to the other party, and greeted the girl with a smile, "We meet again—at this time, are you going to school?"

Shirley mustered up the courage to squeeze out a smile. Although she had once declared boldly in front of Agou that she wanted to cling to the big shot's thigh, at this time, having realized Duncan's terrifying nature, her smile was even uglier than crying: "...H-hello..."