Chapter 198: Chapter 202 Rescue
Duncan looked at Mr. Morris standing on the first floor with some surprise, taking note of his disheveled appearance and the peculiar expression on his face.
He slowly came downstairs, greeting the elderly scholar, “Good morning—what happened? You look like you’ve run through wind and rain to get here.”
“Mr. Duncan,” Morris regained his composure, momentarily setting aside the mysterious blonde lady nearby. He took off his thoroughly soaked hat while moving forward, “I need your help… I don’t know how to explain this to you, nor am I sure if you are willing to intervene, but… I’ve discovered that Doomsday Preachers are active in the city, tampering with Plunder’s history, I…”
The man hesitated, suddenly faltering.
It seemed like he abruptly realized how rash and impulsive his request for help was, realizing he was seeking assistance from an unclearly allied entity from the Subspace—would Mr. Duncan help him? And why should he? Did the survival of humanity and the continuity of the City-State mean anything to Duncan? What threat could Doomsday Preachers pose to him?
So rash, was his act simply based on the friendly demeanor this Subspace entity had previously shown, or because he had coincidentally shown interest in certain matters last time?
Morris paused for a moment, then saw Duncan nod gently.
“I know.”
These chaotic stars, the shattered mirrors, the titans of light and shade—a mortal husk, spoke to him calmly, standing on the staircase.
“You… know?” Morris froze but then quickly reacted, his expression turning peculiar, “Ah, right… of course, you don’t need me to remind you, I…”
The old man tossed his hat aside, slapped his forehead as if he realized his own folly, and murmured, “How foolish of me to think you wouldn’t notice the anomalies in the City-State, then you must also know about Fenna…”
Duncan frowned slightly, “Fenna? The City-State Judge who is very close to Heidi? What happened to her?”
“Fenna… ‘disappeared’,” Morris hesitated, surprised by Duncan’s reaction, but instinctively continued, quickly adding, “I don’t mean she’s missing, but that from today she just vanished from the real world, Heidi has forgotten her existence, so have others, even the City-State’s newspapers…”
Go to 𝗈𝘃𝕘𝘰.co
Duncan quickly walked down the stairs as Morris spoke, realizing the gravity of the situation, and his expression grew severe, “Sit down. Let’s talk it over slowly. Alice, prepare some hot tea—do you remember how?”
“Yes, Mr. Duncan.”
Morris watched the elegant and mysterious blonde lady rise immediately upon Duncan’s command, while he also noticed each of her movements was slightly peculiar—her actions were minimal, marked by a strange caution and restraint, reminiscent of those well-bred from ancient noble families, which piqued his curiosity about her identity.
However, his curiosity gave way to the current situation.
After sitting down at the counter, he immediately relayed the abnormalities he noticed on his way here to the “antique shop owner” in front of him.
Duncan listened solemnly throughout, not interrupting Morris until he finished speaking, then almost sighing softly murmured, “Doomsday Preachers… indeed a troublesome lot.”
“These lunatics, exiled from the real dimension since ancient times, always emerge suddenly from the cracks of time, dedicated to disrupting historical continuity, posing a significant threat to the stability of the real world… But they seldom have the chance to escalate matters to this extent,” Morris spoke in a deep tone, “Normally, the protection of the gods prevents the Doomsday Preachers’ infiltration, while Fire Transmitters constantly fortify historical ‘barriers.’ This time, those lunatics must have used some other power to break the blockade…”
“Here’s your tea, sir,” Alice approached, placing the hot tea on the counter.
“Thank you,” Morris quickly thanked her. He truly needed a hot tea to warm himself after his journey through wind and rain, but after taking a sip, he couldn’t help but spit out, “Pfft—”
Across from him, Duncan’s expression was indifferent, “Make do with it. At least she really found where the tea leaves are, although she’s questionable in her measurements.”
Morris looked at the mysterious lady named Alice in confusion, only to find her leaning against the stairs, lost in a trance.
…Who exactly is this mysterious person?
Duncan casually chewed on the tea leaves, affirming something in his mind.
Indeed, the Transcendents of this world have noticed the “non-linear” trait of the Doomsday Preachers, and they have targeted countermeasures.
However, it seemed these measures weren’t always effective.
He closed his eyes slightly, and at the far end of his dark vision, a distant green flame suddenly leaped up.
Morris curiously watched Duncan suddenly begin to “rest with closed eyes,” “Mr. Duncan, you…”
“Rest assured, Fenna is still alive,” Duncan opened his eyes, his expression calm, “She is just… outside of Plunder City-State at this moment.”
“Do you know her exact location and condition?” Morris’s eyes widened in surprise. His primary purpose was to report “historical contamination.” Mentioning Fenna’s situation was merely incidental; from his perspective, Duncan should have no particular connection with the City-State Judge. But Duncan had already focused his “sight” on Fenna.
“I am keeping an eye on her; she’s a capable Judge,” Duncan stated calmly with a nod, then suddenly stood up from behind the counter, “Excuse me for a moment.”
Maurice stood up in surprise, “What are you going to do?”
As Duncan was heading towards the stairs, he stopped at Maurice’s question and looked back slightly, “I’m going to bring Fenna back—and see what’s going on ‘over there.’”
He then paused, observing Maurice’s disheveled state, “Would you like to go upstairs and take a hot bath and change clothes? I’m a bit bigger than you, but you should be able to fit into my clothes.”
Taking a bath in the Subspace lair and then put on the Evil God’s clothes?!
“Four Great Achievements of the Mad Scholar” did not even dare to mention these two things!
Maurice suddenly felt his scalp tighten and quickly shook his head, “No, no, no need, I will just wait here…”
“Please, make yourself comfortable,” Duncan nodded and then proceeded up the stairs.
Upon reaching the top, he immediately saw Nina and Sherry standing at the staircase.
Sherry looked uneasy; upon seeing Duncan, she came up to him immediately, “Mr. Duncan, has something happened?”
“Why do you say that?”
“We just heard some noise coming from the first floor,” Sherry wrung her hands, looking down as if she had done something wrong, “Actually, it was Dog who heard it. He said the Doomsday Preacher appeared again, something about historical contamination, and someone named Fenna has disappeared? It sounded like a very important person…”
Nina also looked uneasy, clearly more confused than Sherry, “Uncle, what’s going on?”
“Just some minor issues,” Duncan, seeing the two girls vaguely sensing impending turmoil and feeling nervous, pondered for a moment before comforting them, “Just stay inside and relax, or if you’re bored you could go downstairs and chat with Mr. Maurice. It’s nothing serious.”
Sherry uttered an “Oh,” while Nina seemed hesitant. After holding back for a while, she couldn’t help but step forward and grab Duncan’s sleeve, “Uncle, I feel… I feel a bit scared. Is everything really okay? Also, what… what are you going to do?”
Duncan paused and looked quietly into Nina’s eyes.
As he had noticed before, Nina was quite sensitive—she was not unaware; she was just overly sensible.
But now, the situation barely crossed the boundaries of her “sensibleness.”
“You see, I am actually quite powerful, Uncle,” Duncan suddenly smiled, placing his hand on Nina’s head, “but now I can’t explain it to you… Stay with Sherry for a while, and once everything is over, I’ll tell you what’s happened.”
With just that much reassurance, Nina relaxed, nodding obediently with a soft voice, “Oh.”
Nina and Sherry went downstairs.
Duncan then controlled his expression and quickly went back to his room, summoning the pigeon Ai Yi who was busy devouring french fries aboard the Homeloss.
“We need to find someone,” Duncan said sternly as soon as he saw the pigeon appear, not waiting for it to speak, “Important business, urgent matter. After that, you’ll get double the ketchup.”
Ai Yi jumped up immediately in place, “Loyalty unspeakable, loyalty unspeakable!”
Duncan sighed softly, once again focusing his mind, sensing a distant, flickering flame.
That was the mark he had left on Fenna.
The events surrounding Fenna were unexpected for him, but this accident also brought unexpected outcomes.
Through the “window” of Fenna, he had sensed something else just now—those were the flames he had released in Sherry’s “Dreamscape!”
Those flames had briefly appeared in a small chapel in the Sixth District, and then, as the curtain closed again, they disappeared without a trace. He could only confirm that the flames were still spreading, but he had always been unable to pinpoint their location until now… Now, he could distinctly feel the presence of those flames, feel that they were around Fenna!
Although he didn’t know how all this had happened, one thing was undeniable—
Fenna had reached the other side of the curtain.
Now, this powerful Judge, carrying Duncan’s “mark,” had become Duncan’s conduit to the influence that curtain.
“Spirit Realm walk.”