Chapter 66: Chapter 70: One of Us
In a world where transcendent phenomena existed and the land was blocked by an endless ocean, with the City-State’s guardians and anomalies engaged in endless struggles, how did ordinary people survive?
Duncan still lacked understanding of the City-State, but at least in the parts he had seen, the ordinary people still lived in an environment of order and stability—
They worked, studied, and rested; they ran shops and exchanged what they had; they would go out on rest days to theaters and restaurants, parks and ports; they would visit museums and chat with neighbors after dinner—they led lives that were not very exciting but were generally stable.
Steam-powered buses stopped and started intermittently, sometimes at platforms and sometimes at the roadside, always with passengers boarding and alighting. The silent driver occasionally spoke a few words to the conductor, but mostly he focused on driving, while the young conductor occasionally looked up at the roof—as if she was still concerned about that pigeon.
Duncan sat in his seat, observing everything around him with curiosity, watching these everyday lives of ordinary people.
It seemed, apart from the need to understand the anomalies and phenomena in the world and to treat this knowledge as a sort of “safety rule,” the lives of these ordinary people were not much different from what he had seen on Earth.
As the bus neared the Cross District, it stopped again, this time at a platform where many passengers boarded.
Duncan curiously observed the scenery at the platform, looking at the distant chimneys and the crisscrossing steam pipes above the buildings. Suddenly, he felt an unusual heat rising near his chest.
The heat came from the Sun Amulet he had carefully concealed!
While appreciating the scenery, Duncan paused and instinctively touched the spot where the amulet was hidden. The next second, he felt the amulet not only heating up but also trembling slightly.
He didn’t know what was happening, but clearly the amulet was resonating with something nearby—through the connection already established between himself and the amulet, he awkwardly sensed the source of this resonance. The next second, his eyes locked on a figure quickly moving through the crowd outside the window.
The figure was wearing a black coat and looked like just an ordinary passerby, but the “sense of direction” from the Sun Amulet unmistakably pointed towards that person!
Duncan immediately stood up from his seat and quickly walked towards the door of the bus. As his thoughts shifted, the pigeon, Ai Yi, received instructions and flapped down from the roof, landing on his shoulder.
The conductor standing near the door watched this scene in surprise and muttered softly after Duncan got off the bus, “How is that pigeon trained…”
But this small episode from everyday life quickly faded from Miss Conductor’s attention as she turned to look at the new passengers, “Come here to buy tickets…children need to buy tickets too, that’s clearly over one meter tall… Four years old? That can’t possibly be four, it’s full fare once you’re over the line!”
By then, Duncan had already stepped into the crowd, briskly navigating through the densely packed platform and intersection, tracking the figure in the black coat.
The person in black moved quickly, the dense afternoon crowd allowing them to easily dodge being spotted. In fact, within just a few minutes, the figure had already disappeared from Duncan’s sight.
Yet, the resonance from the Sun Amulet still remained, the “sense of direction” from deep within the amulet continuously guiding Duncan in the right direction.
Duncan continued to follow the guidance of the Sun Amulet while rapidly considering his next steps.
Undoubtedly, the person in black was suspicious, and the amulet must have sensed something to react so suddenly…perhaps it sensed a kindred power from the “True Sun God.”
From the goat-headed being, Duncan knew that the amulet possessed the ability to recognize kin and guide towards the “Sun’s Blessing.” Typically, only the Sun God’s Believers could use these features or feel the guidance of the amulet.
Duncan had once usurped control of the amulet with the fire of his Spiritual Body, but at that time, he thought his fire had also destroyed most of the amulet’s abilities. However, it now appeared… its ability to recognize was still intact!
Only now, this ability was serving him…
Guided by the amulet, he gradually left the crowded main thoroughfare and meandered into a sparsely populated narrow path.
He once again spotted the suspicious figure—hurriedly passing through the intersection ahead, seemingly oblivious to the tracker behind him.
Faintly, Duncan felt the badge on his chest grow hotter than before, its resonating sensation becoming clearer and stronger.
Duncan quietly activated the Spiritual Body’s fire, reading the information transmitted by the Sun Amulet, and masses of targeted “perceptions” immediately flooded his mind.
It was a subtle feeling—although the Sun Amulet did not possess the Trait of thought, Duncan could almost feel the amulet excitedly conveying messages to him, telling him where other Believers who did not worship the Sun God were located.
He even wanted to remind the amulet to show some restraint—after all, not long ago it was still a sacred artifact of the Sun God, and it shouldn’t be so excited that it acted like a hand warmer.
At the same time, he was increasingly certain that he was approaching a secret gathering place of many Sun God Believers.
As he had anticipated, more “Sun Heretics” gathered in the shadowy corners of this City-State; the group annihilated earlier in the sewers was just a part of these roach-like Heretics.
He didn’t know what these Heretics really aimed to accomplish, but he knew these Heretics must understand matters of ancient history, Sun worship, and the Order Era far better than Nina’s teachers.
To delve deeper into the secrets of this world, one had to engage with Transcendent forces; it was difficult to approach the church and city authorities through normal means, but Heretics were much simpler—just blend in with them.
Or beat them into submission.
Duncan thought this as he suddenly stopped.
He had reached the end of a narrow street, and the sneaky, black-clad man had just slipped into a nearby alley. The signal from the Sun Amulet was clear and strong, and no passersby were visible in the vicinity.
Through the Sun Amulet, he sensed more “fellow signals” approaching his location.
Duncan silently pulled up the collar of his coat, covering half of his face—and almost the next second after this action was completed, he heard many footsteps emerging from the shadows of nearby buildings.
One figure after another appeared.
There were about a dozen people, dressed indistinguishably from ordinary citizens—after all, no Heretic would walk around in robes in the daylight downtown just as no professional assassin would wear a conspicuously white hooded cloak in the busy city streets.
Only the continuous heat and targeted signals from the Sun Amulet assured him that these people emerging from all around were indeed followers of the True Sun.
Duncan raised his head, looking towards the alley’s end and saw the black-clad man he had been tracking also startlingly among them, watching him warily, while a tall, lean young man whispered something to his companion before raising his head to look this way.
“This is private territory, why are you sneaking in here?” the tall, thin man spoke, seemingly trying to cultivate an impression that “we are all ordinary citizens here, and your sneaking around is suspicious.” Since they were unclear about Duncan’s background, they hesitated to act rashly and remained vigilant.
Duncan mumbled internally that his amateur tracking skills really weren’t cut out for this professional activity, but he was also curious about how these Heretics planned to deal with him, their tracker—did they intend to pretend to be a group of dedicated criminal forces to scare him off, or did they plan to diligently push forward their Heretic agenda and tie him up as a meaty offering to their Sun God?
“Didn’t you hear me?” the tall, thin man frowned, speaking impatiently. As his words fell, the surrounding figures subtly moved half a step forward, subtly forming a circle, “I’m talking to you…”
Duncan shrugged his shoulders and casually pulled out the Sun Amulet from his chest, his tone sincere, “I’m one of you.”
Let’s blend in first, perhaps more words will be extracted.
If they don’t believe, then we’ll have to fight.