Chapter 107: Chapter 111 Lecture from the Big Shot
The bus was crowded to the brim during the rush hour for work, and even at the back of the vehicle, scarcely any space could be found. The diminutive Sherry was squeezed in the midst of the crowd, neck shrunk, too frightened to move, resembling a pitiable little animal.
If Duncan hadn’t personally witnessed how she swung a dog to knock over a room full of heretics, he would have truly believed this girl was “harmless to humans and animals.”
He slowly squeezed his way to Sherry’s side; his large adult body carved out a slightly more spacious corner for the girl and left a gap conducive for conversation. Duncan keenly noticed that Sherry’s body was trembling slightly—she was very nervous, even to the point of fear.
“What are you afraid of?” He glanced at Sherry, “I’m not going to swallow you whole.”
Sherry grimaced, “You… you prefer to eat cooked?”.
Duncan: “…”
He could probably guess why the girl was so frightened. After all, that “dog” had peered through his human guise to see some of the “real situation” beneath, and after its escape, it must have embellished its experience to its mistress, inevitably leaving a deep impression on her.
He didn’t know what image he currently portrayed in Sherry’s mind, but it was probably similar to how the captains on the Endless Sea saw the Homeloss; the kind you’d preferably start writing your will upon sighting, and you’d better write it quickly, too, because death typically came faster than legacies…
Duncan was also helpless in this situation. He wanted to appear as friendly as possible but could not help that a demon from the Mysterious Deep Sea had a different “vision” than humans. The “Black Sun” was still calling out to him for help in the illusion, earnest in its plea, but every time he thought about what lay beneath the corona shell, he couldn’t help but remain vigilant.
He just hoped that his image in the eyes of the Abyssal Hound was somewhat more pleasing than the sinister Evil God he saw inside the sun, at least having a proper set of facial features…
Thinking of the Abyssal Hound, Duncan slightly furrowed his brow, looking at the girl in front of him: “Is ‘the dog’ with you now?”
Sherry swallowed hard and reluctantly answered, lowering her voice, “The dog… usually hides where others can’t see… but it can ‘know’ what’s happening around me…”
“Oh, then send my regards to it,” Duncan nodded, “We parted in a hurry last time, and I still have many questions I didn’t get a chance to ask.”
The moment he said this, he felt Sherry shudder again…
“Relax,” Duncan sighed helplessly. He seemed to faintly sense strange glances directed his way, “Why are you so nervous talking to me? I have no ill intentions toward you or the dog.”
“That’s…good to hear…” Sherry stiffly nodded and, seemingly attempting to seem more relaxed on purpose, struggled to find a topic. Her gaze finally settled on Duncan’s shoulder, “You… you haven’t brought your pigeon with you this time?”
“Pets aren’t allowed on the bus,” Duncan said offhandedly, “I let it out to hunt.”
Sherry stared at him in disbelief, her words fragmenting, but then she quickly nodded, “Oh right, you are correct, pigeons are quite suited for hunting, sharp-eyed and fast…”
Her train of thought was a bit muddled, looking like she didn’t know what she was talking about, but then the bus suddenly jolted, and the conductor’s voice came from the middle of the vehicle, cutting off her disjointed thoughts: “Sixth District! Anyone getting off?”
At the conductor’s call, Sherry visibly breathed a sigh of relief. She hurriedly hopped to her feet, clamoring to get off, then pushed forward while hurriedly bidding Duncan farewell, “I’m getting off now. It was nice to see you today. Next time we can…”
Then, before she could finish speaking, she saw Duncan squeeze over as well, his expression shifting from brilliant to grim in the blink of an eye.
“I’m getting off here too,” Duncan stated expressionlessly.
Sherry’s expression froze on her face, knowing that it wouldn’t be appropriate to say she wasn’t getting off now—especially since this big shot might be intending to follow her. Continuing to play tricks might anger him, and then she really might be cooked and eaten…
Fully imagining this scenario, the girl was thoroughly scared, and just then she heard the conductor urging them, so she shrank her neck and began walking stiffly towards the exit.
But as soon as she reached the door, she heard the conductor’s voice suddenly come through, “Wait a minute, child, did you not buy a ticket?”
Sherry was stunned for a moment, looking somewhat astonished at the ticket inspector in the deep-blue uniform as if she had never expected to be stopped, never expected her fare evasion to be discovered. But in that brief moment of distraction, the inspector had already verified the situation, “You didn’t buy a ticket, I remember now. You first…”
“This child, I know her. She might have just lost her ticket,” Duncan’s voice suddenly came from beside her, “Let me buy her another one.”
The inspector turned his head doubtfully to look at Duncan, then at Sherry, who was looking anxious. After pondering for a moment, he just nodded, “Alright then.”
Duncan fished out a few coins to buy Sherry a ticket, then followed her out of the carriage, alighting at an empty, old platform.
The bus was packed with passengers, but only the two of them got off at Sixth Street.
Duncan first looked around to gauge the area, but all he saw was the typical scenery of the Lower City District. Although the buildings around were somewhat old, and there weren’t many pedestrians near the station, it wasn’t as utterly dilapidated as he had imagined—the aged shops along the street were still open for business, and although there were fewer pedestrians compared with other bustling districts, there were still people walking on the streets. In the distance, factory chimneys emitted smoke, and he could see a paperboy riding a bicycle across the intersection at the end of the alley.
Overall, it was just a quieter, less developed district, but it seemed that the residents were living their normal lives.
The factory leak that had happened here eleven years ago seemed to have left some impact, though it wasn’t as serious as he had imagined…
After quickly surveying the surroundings, Duncan turned his gaze back to Sherry.
The girl had stood obediently still after getting off the bus, like a small animal trapped in a snare, motionless. Even though Duncan wasn’t initially paying attention to her, she didn’t make any move to escape.
Completely resigned to her fate.
Duncan couldn’t help but chuckle at her harmless appearance, thinking that if he hadn’t seen her ferocious fighting spirit with his own eyes, he might have been deceived by her current guise.
He shook his head and approached Sherry, “What are you doing in the Sixth Street area?”
Sherry immediately stood up straight, “I… I heard the scenery here is good!”
Duncan looked her up and down, “I’ve been wanting to ask since earlier. Are you really… playing the good girl?”
“I… I’m not pretending!” Sherry immediately stood even straighter, “I’ve always been very well-behaved!”
Duncan shook his head. He had seen plenty of kids suddenly act well-behaved and cute. This girl’s skills were far from polished, but he didn’t say much more. Instead, he looked up at the streets in the distance and casually started, “The Sixth Street area… Eleven years ago, there was a factory leak here, and it’s said that heretics were behind the sabotage.”
Sherry blinked, seemingly puzzled, “Why are you suddenly bringing this up?”
“Come off it, stop playing dumb. You were previously asking about the incident from eleven years ago at the Sun Cultists’ stronghold,” Duncan glanced at Sherry before walking forward, “This place is the focus of all official records. The factory that ‘leaked’ is up ahead.”
Sherry paused for a second, then hurried to catch up with him, bustling along with her short legs and looking at Duncan in amazement, “Are you… also investigating the accident from eleven years ago?!”
Seemingly assured that the boss wasn’t going to eat her (at least not for the time being) and that they shared a common purpose, she became a bit more courageous and even dared to ask questions proactively.
“Yeah, I’m somewhat interested,” Duncan nodded noncommittally, but he stopped after a few steps and curiously looked at Sherry, “Do you often evade fares?”
Sherry opened her mouth to answer, “I…”
Duncan read her expression and knew what was up. He shook his head, “It’s not good to evade fares.”
Upon hearing that, Sherry almost burst into tears—she had been lectured by Old Dog, scolded by the uncles and aunties in the neighborhood, even reprimanded by the City-State’s law enforcement, but she had never expected to be randomly lectured one day by someone like the Evil God. And for a big shot like him to lecture her about not evading fares on the bus… Had the moral standards in the Subspace really gotten that high?!
Ever since Old Dog had described to her the terrifying entity residing within “Mr. Duncan,” she had begun to associate this imposing figure with the shadows of the Subspace.