Chapter 173 The End of Consideration

Duncan's contemplation bore no fruit, as he currently had no idea where to find a second breathing Sun Cultist to test his conclusions.

Such things depended on fate.

Duncan slowly stood up. In the basement, one after another of the eerie green spirit-fire lamps swayed without wind in the confined space. In the flickering light and shadows, his thoughts slowly expanded again.

Cultists who believed in gods and received blessings might be regarded as "extraordinary items" by the spirit fire, but... what about ordinary people?

When this flame burned on ordinary people, aside from the superficial "light and shadow effects," could it produce any further effects? If not, to what extent must one believe in a god to be regarded by this flame as a "supernatural target" on whom it could take effect? Evil cultists who believed in evil gods could be burned, but what about those who believed in righteous gods?

Duncan calmly looked at the eerie flames in the room, then suddenly smiled faintly.

"They are people."

Thus, all contemplation stopped at contemplation. He did not continue down this path.

This flame was a powerful force. Powerful forces were not inherently sinful, but a weak will was highly likely to invite corruption. Ever since discovering that he possessed an unimaginable ability, Duncan had constantly reminded himself of this—no matter how illustrious "Captain Duncan" was, no matter how powerful the spirit fire was, he had to constantly remind himself of his boundaries as a "person."

He could not treat people as less than human in order to test or master his power—even in this other world, even if those he faced were not necessarily "humans" in the standard sense.

Taking action in battle was one thing; finding a weakling to test his blade just to satisfy his curiosity was another.

Duncan breathed a sigh of relief, looked at the eerie green fireball still burning in his hand, and waved to dissipate it.

The flame loyally obeyed his command, silently disappearing into the air.

Duncan smiled—he was, and always would be, the master of this flame.

After the spirit fire dissipated, the environment in the basement quickly returned from eerie to normal. Those eerie green lamps one by one reverted to their original bright and clear state. Duncan looked around, surveying the chaotic scene, and pondered what to do next.

That strange girl named Shirley was gone, and it seemed she had escaped using some kind of supernatural means. He knew nothing about that, and didn't know where to find her—which was truly regrettable.

He had many questions he wanted to ask, but now it seemed he would have no chance.

But Duncan had a feeling that he might encounter the girl again someday—this was not a baseless guess, but because the girl's purpose was obviously to make trouble for these Sun Cultists, to find out something from these evil cultists, and recently the Sun Cultists in Pland were at their peak activity, with countless similar gatherings active in the shadows, and with Shirley and "Ah-Gou's" style of doing things...

Sooner or later, they would cause a big, lively mess.

Duncan carried the Sun Sigil with usurped authority, which allowed him to sense the activities of Sun Cultists in the city. Although it currently seemed that the range of this thing was not very large, as long as he took a walk around the city when he had nothing to do, he might run into new entertainment.

As for cleaning up this mess, Duncan had no interest in helping.

He simply picked up the golden mask left by the Sun High Priest from the ashes on the ground and carefully wiped away the ashes and dust from its surface—this was his trophy, to be taken back to the Vanishing Sea to study.

The High Priest had been burned very cleanly, and all the items on his body related to the supernatural realm had turned to ash. The Sun Mask was the only "relic" he left in this world.

"... A palm-sized amulet is easy enough to deal with, but this thing might be a bit too big..." Duncan muttered thoughtfully after weighing the Sun Mask in his hands, "And if I encounter professionals from the Deep Sea Church, they might be able to detect it using special methods..."

It would be difficult to safely bring this mask back to the antique shop with him, and even if he did bring it back, Nina might discover it, which would inevitably cause some trouble.

The best way was to send it directly to an absolutely safe place.

In thought, Duncan turned his head and looked at the pigeon perched on his shoulder. He had a new testing idea—could this pigeon bring things back to the Vanishing Sea by itself if it went on a spirit world walk without him acting together?

The pigeon tilted its head, looking at Duncan with its big eyes: "Eighty for the sledgehammer, forty for the small hammer!"

Duncan chuckled: "Just consider it overtime. I'll find a way to get you some fries on the ship later—try to bring this mask to the Vanishing Sea yourself."

The pigeon immediately flapped its wings, flying towards the mask in Duncan's hand while making its uniquely sharp female voice: "I wanted to refuse, but you're offering way too much!"

Before the words faded, Duncan saw a flash of light and shadow before his eyes, and the pigeon and the mask disappeared from his sight at the same time—and in the depths of his consciousness, he clearly felt Ai's aura suddenly appear in the captain's cabin of the Vanishing Sea.

The delay was almost less than a second!

This pigeon is so fast! So it can transmit items so quickly?

As soon as Duncan had this thought in his mind, he felt a blur before his eyes, and Ai, in the form of a bone pigeon, leaped out of thin air and landed on his shoulder—the bird flapped its wings, its undead body transformed back into a white pigeon, and proudly raised its neck: "Transmission successful!"

When Duncan saw the state Ai was in when she jumped out, he nodded in his heart, feeling that things made sense: It was only natural that a bone pigeon was faster than Ai.

Then he straightened his clothes, confirmed that there were no suspicious bloodstains on his body, and that there were no traces of him at the scene (in fact, he hadn't touched anything since entering, for fear of leaving fingerprints or anything like that). Then he carefully used his clothes to pad his fingers and opened the iron door, returning to the outside via the staircase he had come from.

The sun, constrained by the double rune rings, had gradually sunk to the horizon. The magnificent sunset glow spread along the jagged rooftops of the Lower City, and in the sunset glow, the pale crack in the highest part of the sky was already faintly visible.

When Duncan saw the sky, he immediately dismissed the idea of continuing to explore the city—Nina would soon be coming home from school.

That child's "Uncle Duncan" had only just gotten a little better. He couldn't stay out all night.

Duncan quickly left the abandoned factory and walked towards the main road, following the route he remembered. He passed through crooked alleys, through sewage-filled, foul-smelling pipeline junctions, and finally gradually heard the sounds of traffic faintly coming from the distance.

The sky hadn't completely darkened yet; he should still be able to catch the last bus.

But Duncan suddenly stopped.

At the intersection not far ahead, he saw four people in uniform—two of them were wearing dark blue constabulary uniforms with epaulettes, with batons and revolvers at their waists, and the other two were wearing black coats that were slightly ecclesiastical in style, with a shape somewhere between a trench coat and a formal dress. Not only could large revolver holsters be seen at their waists, but also a refined steel longsword that seemed out of place in the current era.

The two people in black long coats also had another eye-catching thing at their waists: a lantern with runic decorations, obviously for night patrols.

The four people in uniform at the intersection seemed to be handing over work. Duncan was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized:

They were constables affiliated with the city hall and guardians under the church's name.

The constables maintained order in the city during the day, and the guardians protected the city's tranquility in the night. Now the sun was gradually sinking, and the moment of transition between day and night was approaching—it was the moment when secular and divine power exchanged positions.

This could be considered a unique "scenery" of this world.

The four people didn't seem to notice Duncan.

Duncan walked over calmly—although he had hesitated for a moment just now, he quickly realized that his conscience was clear.

It wasn't a crime for a law-abiding citizen to be walking outside before dark.

One of the church guardians who was carrying out the handover finally noticed the figure walking towards him. This tall young man raised his head, and after seeing Duncan, he immediately waved his hand and loudly reminded him: "Citizen! It's getting dark, go home as soon as possible. It's not safe outside."

"Gentlemen! I'd like to report a situation to you," Duncan quickened his pace, and after walking over, he said very sincerely, "I heard a lot of noise coming from the abandoned factory over there just now. Earlier, I saw a lot of suspicious people going in and out over there..."

He paused, then added, "I saw in the newspaper before that everyone should actively report abnormal gatherings and strange noises in their vicinity..."