Chapter 1 The Dilapidated Factory

In front of the dilapidated, abandoned factory, the abyssal hound "A'gou" "stared" with its empty eye sockets at the collapsing and crumbling factory building, as if trying to observe the ruins in the real world from another dimension. Shirley stood next to A'gou, looking around nervously, and after confirming Duncan's expression, she whispered, "A'gou, is there really no 'residual pollution' here?"

"If you're referring to the 'chemical leaks' that ordinary people talk about, then rest assured, the pollution here probably dissipated completely a few years ago..." A'gou's hoarse, deep voice came from its throat, "But if it's 'pollution' from certain extraordinary fields, then that's hard to say."

"Did you find something?" Duncan asked from the side.

"...No, really nothing," A'gou lowered its head slightly, "I just saw a fleeting moment of...'fire,' but now there's nothing left. It might just be some kind of 'afterimage,' a memory left behind and solidified in this ruin...Many extraordinary powers leave similar traces in the real world, but to figure out exactly what kind of extraordinary power it is...we'll probably have to go inside and take a look."

"Then let's go in," Duncan nodded and walked towards a gap in the abandoned factory, "You guys follow too."

Shirley hesitated for a moment, but still followed. A'gou shook its head from side to side, its black chains rattling. The abyssal hound looked at Duncan walking ahead with curiosity and caution. "You...why are you also interested in the events of eleven years ago? Oh, of course, I'm just asking, a little bit of insignificant curiosity. A big shot like you must have your own reasons for doing things..."

"Just think of it as a whim," Duncan interrupted the abyssal hound, "Don't be so nervous in front of me. It makes me uncomfortable."

"Yes, yes, yes, we're not nervous, we're not nervous..."

Listening to the other party's obviously nervous answer, Duncan simply shook his head helplessly, then looked at Shirley beside him with some curiosity. "You remember a big fire, but everyone except you doesn't remember the existence of this fire, is that right?"

"…Yes," Shirley nodded, she already realized something at this time, "Judging from your attitude…you also know about that fire? That fire really existed, didn't it?"

"…Yes, I know, so now I'm even more curious, who erased the traces of this fire's existence." Duncan nodded slightly and said calmly.

At the same time, his heart was also full of thoughts – he had never thought that things would develop so coincidentally, nor had he thought that in the Pland city-state, there would be a third person besides himself and Nina who knew about that "fire." His encounter with Shirley, the joint investigation, the fire with its traces erased, A'gou's illusion just now…it was as if these things were being pulled together by an invisible force, like planets revolving around the sun.

This feeling of everything being pulled together by an invisible force had already made him wary.

Nina's textbook had described some "common sense" of the extraordinary realm in a superficial way, and mentioned that powerful anomalies or phenomena often possessed the power to interfere with the development of reality, and could even guide certain events as if weaving a script. Too many coincidences or continuously appearing clues were often "omens" worth being vigilant about, which often meant that the people involved had been affected by a certain anomaly or phenomenon, and were unconsciously participating in or even promoting the event. And facing this invisible and harmless pushing and influence, his "spiritual fire" was useless. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but secretly glance at Shirley.

The girl and "A'gou" were carefully guarding against movements in the factory ruins. She seemed to have no extra complex thoughts at all. Or perhaps his presence as a "great terror" was so close that she had no extra thoughts to let her mind wander?

"...This looks like an ordinary ruin..." A'gou's low voice came, interrupting Duncan's thoughts, "I don't sense any aura of extraordinary power."

Shirley raised her head, looking at the crisscrossing pipes and the twisted and deformed ceiling beams above.

This was the first "factory building" after entering the factory. It had been severely damaged in the accident eleven years ago. A powerful explosion had pierced its roof, causing the high-altitude pipes to break, the building materials to collapse, and sunlight to pour into the ruins through the large hole above, making the scene inside look like the jagged skeleton after the death of a giant beast.

However, apart from these explosions and collapses, there was no trace of "fire" in the factory building. "It doesn't look like there was a fire..." Shirley muttered to herself thoughtfully.

"No trace of fire, that's the biggest problem," Duncan's deep voice suddenly came from the side. He was also looking up at the broken pipes and roof structure, and frowning slightly. "This level of damage accident, and there was obviously an explosion, there must have been a fire accompanying it, no matter how big or small, there should at least be some traces of burning in the factory building…but there isn't even a trace of a flame here."

As Duncan's voice fell, A'gou immediately spoke in a deep voice, "Yes, the way it looks now, it's as if…all the elements related to 'fire' have been deliberately erased, but because the erasure was too thorough, it left an even more conspicuous blank."

"Erased..." Duncan murmured softly, slowly walking towards the depths of the factory building. As he passed a piece of abandoned and twisted machinery, he stopped and casually glanced at a hole in the wall not far away.

He suddenly stopped, his eyes widening slightly.

He saw a sea of blazing fire rising from the opposite side of the hole, seeing the entire wasteland outside the factory rolling with flames. The flames were like a raging ocean, rising into the air and pouncing on the earth, flowing violently towards the nearby streets and houses. Thick smoke billowed, and countless frenzied crowds were running in the sea of fire, like a hellish mirage!

This terrifying and fiery scene suddenly broke into Duncan's vision, but the next second, just as he turned his head to call Shirley over, the scene of the raging fire suddenly disappeared. Duncan blinked hard, came to the hole and looked out, all he saw was a wasteland, and a few dilapidated houses on the edge of the wasteland that were already uninhabited.

A'gou noticed Duncan's abnormal behavior and immediately asked, "Did you find something?"

"I saw it too, fire," Duncan replied in a deep voice, "But it was gone in a flash."

"Then it seems that the 'afterimage' left here is very strong," A'gou immediately analyzed, "Reappearing twice in a short period of time, not just any extraordinary power can leave such traces. It seems that the 'Sun Shard' that those cultists were looking for did appear in this place...but I don't know what the trigger for the 'afterimage' is..."

Duncan didn't say anything. He just slowly returned to the position where he had first seen the "afterimage," and looked thoughtfully at the place where he had just stood.

There seemed to be nothing there.

After a moment of thought, Duncan suddenly raised his hand and gently rubbed his fingertips.

A wisp of faint green flame quietly and silently jumped out of his hand.

The moment it saw the faint green flame, A'gou suddenly shrank its neck, and then took three or four steps back. Accompanied by the rattling sound of the black chains, Shirley also took half a step back, looking at Duncan with a terrified expression. "You…you really plan to eat it cooked?!"

"What are you afraid of," Duncan glanced at the pair blankly, "This isn't for roasting you." As he spoke, he pointed his fingertips at the ground.

The faint green flame seemed to turn into a stream of water, silently falling to the ground. The next moment, the translucent spiritual fire rippled and spread on the surface, instantly sweeping across a few meters around Duncan's feet!

Shirley looked at this scene with suspicion and uncertainty, and suddenly widened her eyes, "…Ah!?"

Where the flames swept across, something suddenly appeared on the originally empty ground. Suddenly, Shirley thought of something. She raised her head and looked around the empty factory. Under Duncan's conscious control, the faint green spiritual fire swept through the entire factory like a breeze. Thus, the traces that had been erased finally briefly reappeared in the eyes of the visitors.

It was a pile of ashes, a pile of curled-up ashes that vaguely resembled a human shape!

It was a human being burned to ashes, who, before dying, was staring in the direction Duncan had just been staring.