Chapter 19 The Old Man and the Factory

Walking down the street, Sherry seemed a little indignant. "Why wouldn't that old man answer my questions! It was like he didn't even hear me when I spoke to him… Does being short mean you're not taken seriously?"

"I think the main reason isn't your height, but that you kept pestering him about the factory," Duncan glanced sideways at the girl. "And instead of wasting time on a local who doesn't want to cooperate, wouldn't it be better to see the factory for yourself?"

Sherry pursed her lips and said nothing more. Ahead of her and Duncan, at the end of the street, the abandoned factory, derelict for eleven years, was already vaguely visible.

In the lower city, many factories were located near residential areas, sometimes only a wall away. The limited land of the city-state and the blockade of the endless sea meant that the city planners couldn't spare enough space for industrial facilities. The stable ground was crowded with people, so there was no concept of "relocating industrial areas" or "suburban resettlement."

Most people in this world didn't have time to consider the health risks of industrial pollution. For the masses, the increased safety of the city-state brought about by modern technological advancements was far more important than the risks posed by factories—gas lamps, heavy firepower, steam networks, potions, and mechanical ships had nearly tripled the population of the new city-state era compared to the old. Anyone familiar with the operational mechanisms of a modern city-state could clearly recognize one fact: factories were the skeleton and flesh of modern civilization, and they could no longer be separated from the city-state.

In fact, according to Nina's textbook, these factory facilities were not just clustered in the lower city. Although the city planners were trying to move those excessively dangerous facilities to the edge of the city-state, some things still had to be located in the heart of the city, even next to the cathedral, such as the sacred clock tower and the "central steam core" used to transport "sacred gas" to the entire city.

These things were essentially giant machines, containing terrifying energy and enormous risks, yet they still had to be placed next to the heart of the city.

In Nina's engineering and mechanics textbook, the compilers had a special explanation for this:

People had to "bestow sacredness upon the sacred steam" and "rely on the power of the cathedral to ensure the orderly operation of the clock tower." Machines were not just machines; they were also sacred and pure hearts, supporting the operation of modern civilization. People had to place these pure

steel in a place watched over by the gods to prevent the shadows of the subspace from contaminating their oil and bolts.

Duncan recalled the contents of Nina's textbook, then looked up at the factory standing in the city, filled with strange emotions.

This bizarre and outrageous world… was really challenging his worldview at every turn.

He and Sherry arrived in front of the factory. A thin and partially collapsed wall was the only boundary between the factory and the surrounding residential area. Between the factory area and the nearby residential area, there was a narrow circle of wasteland. The barren land was devoid of vegetation, with only scattered brick fragments and pieces of old metal that had rusted for who knew how long.

Regardless of how important factories were to the city, or how accustomed people were to living side by side with them, factories were still factories. When these behemoths went out of control, they would still leave huge scars on the city.

But in this city-state where every inch of land was precious, for a scar to remain un-"repaired" for eleven years still struck Duncan as odd.

"...Land in the city-state should be very valuable," he stood at the edge of the wasteland, looking at the abandoned factory building ahead, thoughtfully. "For this place to be so desolate… it doesn't make sense."

"Didn't that old man just say that the pollution couldn't be cleaned up completely…" Sherry didn't seem to think so much. "Some pollution can only be allowed to dissipate slowly over time."

"Perhaps…" Duncan shook his head, his gaze moving between a series of pipes and storage tanks at the edge of the factory area, trying to reconstruct the "original appearance" of the accident that had occurred here. He saw several broken pipes, and he also saw that the base of one storage tank had collapsed, the entire tank falling down and pressing against the nearby ruins of the building, looking like the corpse of a huge beast.

Judging from these scenes alone, it seemed plausible that a leak had occurred here.

But Duncan still frowned slightly.

The old man sunning himself had said that pollution remained around the factory, pollution that had even caused the entire Sixth Block to have no newborns in the past eleven years, yet around the factory, there were no warning signs or patrolling guards.

Things didn't add up. Although it wasn't a major abnormality, these slight inconsistencies still made him feel puzzled.

"Are we… really going in?" Sherry's voice came from beside him, her expression looking a little nervous. "There might really be… pollution here…"

"Can't your Argus give you some advice?" Duncan glanced at Sherry. "This place is deserted. You can let that abyssal hound stretch its legs. Besides, I don't believe you're really afraid of the so-called 'pollution' here. The nervousness in your eyes is a little too fake."

Sherry avoided Duncan's gaze, raising her hand as she agreed, "Okay, okay… if Argus's condition isn't too bad…"

Before the girl could finish speaking, the crackling sound of flames suddenly rang out of thin air beside her. Then, a patch of black flames spread along her arm and half her body—the flames condensed into chains, and the figure of an abyssal hound emerged from the smoke and black flames at the end of the chains.

Duncan curiously watched the process. After Argus appeared, he smiled and nodded to the abyssal hound. "Long time no see, Argus—you guys ran pretty fast last time."

"We left in a hurry, in a hurry. Please don't take offense," Argus tucked its tail between its legs as soon as it appeared. Hearing Duncan's voice at this moment, its whole body visibly shrank by half an inch. It tried to contract its limbs while cautiously lowering its head. "What can I do for you? I'm good at many things, fetching a disc, sweeping the floor,哄哄孩子什么的都行…."

Sherry, who was next to them, already covered half of her face, looking like "I've already been cowardly enough, but you can still set a new high." Duncan couldn't help but laugh, pointing to the factory ahead. "I don't have any orders.

I just need to borrow your eyes—can't you see things that ordinary people can't? Take a look at that factory and tell me, what's wrong?"

"You flatter me, you flatter me…," Argus immediately complimented him humbly, but it still turned its head towards the factory while flattering, muttering, "I've been observing this factory just now, and I didn't see anything… It looks the same now, just an abandoned…"

Argus's voice suddenly stopped, and then it suddenly lowered its body, a threatening growl coming from its throat—but the next second, it shook its head, making a puzzled sound. "...Huh?"

Sherry became a little nervous at the sight of this. "Argus, what did you see!"

"…I don't know. For a moment just now, I seemed to see… what seemed to be a big fire, like a giant wave, rushing out of the factory… It was gone in the blink of an eye…"

Argus's voice was full of doubt, but Sherry suddenly became excited. "Are you sure you saw fire! Really a big fire!"

Argus shook its huge skeletal head. "It was just a fleeting image, maybe it was a hallucination. I'm an abyssal demon, after all. It's normal to have occasional hallucinations and be a little mentally unstable…"

"But a big fire is different!" Sherry said urgently. "We've been looking for so long, we've finally found 'traces of the fire.' That's right, Argus, it must be… here…"

Sherry's excited words were cut short as she suddenly felt a large hand on her shoulder. Her words stopped abruptly, and in a delayed sense of nervousness, she turned her head stiffly, only to see the terrifying "Mr. Duncan" quietly watching her.

"Why are you reacting so strongly to 'the big fire'?" Duncan looked into Sherry's eyes and asked slowly.

"…" Sherry opened her mouth. "No…"

"You're also looking for 'a big fire' from eleven years ago, aren't you?" Duncan didn't care about the girl's attempt to change the subject. He had suddenly thought of something from Sherry's abnormal reaction just now. "A fire that doesn't exist in any official records, but you experienced it personally, right?"

Sherry's body was a little stiff, and she slowly swallowed. "You… how did you…"

"I'm looking for it too," Duncan smiled. "Looks like I've come to the right place."