Chapter 70: Chapter 74: There’s a Mole, Terminate the Deal
Duncan ultimately failed to excavate more memories from his mind.
Despite the fact that the original owner of this body indeed had deep concerns for Nina, and the matters related to Nina were indeed the most profound memories in his mind, years of illness and the abuse of strong liquor and drugs had severely damaged these memories. By the time the heretic named Ron breathed his last, there wasn’t much warmth left in his numb brain about his family.
Only one thing was certain: there had indeed been a great fire eleven years ago in the Lower City District—it had claimed the lives of Nina’s biological parents and permanently altered the child’s life trajectory.
This might have been a coincidence, but there was also the possibility that this incident was indeed related to the “Sun Shard” these Sun Cultists were searching for.
The Sun Shard, which had appeared unexpectedly in the city, ignited a massive fire. Innocent citizens lost their lives, a child became an orphan in the blaze, and years later, the child’s only remaining relative had fallen into the ranks of the heretics following the Sun Shard…
It was as if there was a cursed fate revolving around the sun, trapped by its gravity.
Just then, a cultist in the surrounding crowd suddenly spoke up, interrupting Duncan’s thoughts, “I’ve been inquiring around about some information from the local residents these few days and have not heard about any notable fire in the Lower City District eleven years ago… However, someone mentioned that there was once a factory leak. Toxic gas from a storage tank spread through several streets, causing many people to fall into hallucinations and madness. That incident even made the newspapers.”
Duncan looked up in surprise to see an ordinary-looking female cultist speaking.
However, before he could seriously consider what she said, he noticed the gaze of the leading heretic turn towards him, “Companion, you happen to be a local from here. Do you know anything about this?”
Duncan was startled and suddenly realized that he had become the focus of the scene—for these foreign cultists trying to gather intelligence, him being a “local living in Plunder’s Lower City District” was undoubtedly a great source of information!
Noticing several glances directed at him, he thought for a moment and then decided on his response, “I wasn’t living here eleven years ago, so I’m not clear on the specifics, but I have indeed heard about the factory leak…”
While saying this noncommittally, he looked towards the female cultist who had just spoken, “Was there really no fire in the Lower City District eleven years ago?”
“At least from what I’ve inquired, it seems that way,” the cultist nodded, “According to what I’ve been told, there hasn’t been a significant fire in Plunder’s Lower City District for at least twenty years… There have been minor incidents like kitchen fires, but those obviously aren’t what we’re considering.”
Duncan blinked and said nothing.
He clearly remembered that Nina’s parents had died in a fire eleven years ago! The fragments of memory in his mind even had images of “him” fleeing the fire scene with Nina!
Where had the mistake occurred? Was there an error during the transfer of memories to this body? Or was it that the fire back then hadn’t occurred in the Lower City District? Or… was it simply because the cultist in front of him hadn’t managed to find out the real situation…
A faint doubt arose in his mind because the matter involved Nina and “himself,” he subconsciously became focused on this matter. Just then, he heard another voice coming from the opposite side, it was the girl named Sherry, “The factory leak incident eleven years ago… Was that the one in District Six?”
“District Six? Hmm… That seems correct,” the female cultist nodded, “It’s said that the incident had a significant impact because the chemical substance left many people with aftereffects. To this day, many residents in the Lower City District still remember it.”
A few cultists nearby nodded in agreement, suggesting they too had heard similar information.
“Factory leak…” The leader in the center of the gathering suddenly broke the silence. His deep and authoritative voice interrupted the conversations among the cultists, “A production accident that is made public is very likely to be a supernatural event disguised by the authorities, and it coincides exactly with the timeline from eleven years ago… This is a very important clue. Next, we will investigate in this direction to see if this so-called factory leak is pointing towards the sacred Sun Shard.”
The cultists on the scene nodded immediately in response. The masked leader then said, “In addition, we must not only pay attention to the transcendent event that occurred in the Lower City District eleven years ago but also to the unusual events in Plunder City-State in recent times.
“Although the Sun Shard is still sleeping, its day of awakening is approaching, and its activity is increasing daily. Four years ago, our church brethren attempted to awaken the shard prematurely. Although the attempt failed at that time, even drawing the frenzied slaughter from the Deep Sea Church due to the ritual’s failure, the attempt was not entirely fruitless—the stimulation from the awakening ritual further deepened the connection between the Sun Shard and the real world, enough for it to wield the power to interfere with reality for a short time before it fully awakes. This might help us locate it.
“Pay close attention to the newspapers in the city-state and the rumors in the streets and alleys. Any event that seems out of the ordinary could potentially point to the Sun Shard. Don’t overlook any clues, understood?”
The cultists bowed their heads one after another, respectfully receiving the orders. Duncan noticed another critical point mentioned by the leader:
Four years ago!
Four years ago, the Deep Sea Church in Plunder City-State indeed destroyed the city’s largest Sun Heretic stronghold. The event was said to be enormous, and it was also the battle through which the current Judge of the city-state, ‘Fenna,’ established her authority—and since then, the Sun Cultists in the city never recovered, up until today.
Until now, all Duncan knew was this surface-level intelligence. It appeared that the real truth behind the incident was that the Sun Cultists in the city had attempted to awaken a Sun Shard that was sleeping somewhere?!
Unnoticed, a string of hidden truths from the past unfolded before Duncan, and he quickly pieced together the fragments of information in his mind while pondering how to extract more information from these heretics. But just then, a strange odor suddenly invaded his nostrils.
It smelled like burning sulfur mixed with the pungent stench of some sort of chemical agent.
The next second, the ordinary cultists around also caught the distinct and piercing odor. Some looked at each other, seemingly searching for the source of the smell, while the leader standing in the center of the gathering reacted immediately, pulling out a Sun Amulet from his chest—a Sun Amulet that looked identical to the one Duncan carried, its surface was burning with a ghostly, semi-transparent flame!
The pungent smell was coming from the flame.
“Filthy impurities… the flame has been deceived!” The leader glanced at the burning Sun Amulet with a voice filled with shocked anger, “Among us hides a heretic!”
The scene instantly erupted into chaos, and Duncan’s first reaction was that he had been exposed, though he didn’t know how. However, the Sun Amulet carried by the leader seemed to have finally identified him as a heretic who didn’t believe in the sun at all.
With that thought, he sighed softly and was about to release the pigeon, but before he could act, he heard another sigh coming from across him—
The sigh came from the girl in the black dress, a young lady named Sherry, who shook her head regretfully, “I knew A-Dog couldn’t be relied on. His disguise couldn’t last three hours.”
Before her words even finished, a burst of pitch-black flames suddenly erupted beside the girl!
The flames appeared out of nowhere, shaped like fire, but as dark as shadows. It ignited on the girl’s arm and, in one second, spread to nearly a third of her body. Next, Sherry’s right half seemed to turn into kindling for the black fire, crackling as the flames flowed down. The part of the flame in mid-air turned into a dark chain that fell to the ground. The part that hit the ground quickly solidified into a gaunt, burning monster!
It was an Abyssal Hound—a giant dog-like creature half as tall as a person, formed from countless twisted, stacked bones. What should have been flesh was filled with burning black fire and writhing shadows. Its head was gaunt and fierce; where its eyes should have been, there was nothing but empty sockets filled with blood-red mist, radiating endless hunger and malevolence!
A dark chain extended from the giant hound’s neck all the way to Sherry’s arm, seemingly merging with the girl’s body.
“An Abyssal Hound… a Summoner from the Obliteration Sect?!” The leader in the middle of the gathering burst into rage upon seeing the scene, “What does this mean?! Do you worshippers of the abyss intend to wage war against the followers of the sun?!”