Chapter 74: Chapter 78 Conclusion Work and the Awareness of a Good Citizen
Duncan’s contemplation yielded no results, for he didn’t know where to find another breathing Sun Cultist to test his conclusions.
These kinds of things were a matter of fate.
Duncan slowly stood up, lanterns of spiritual fire flickered gently, casting eerie shadows in the enclosed space of the basement, and his thoughts began to drift and expand again.
Believers who have faith in deities and receive blessings might be considered “transcendent objects” by the spiritual fire, so… what about ordinary people?
Would this flame have any additional effects on ordinary people, aside from the superficial “light and shadow effects”? If not, then to what extent does one have to believe in a deity for the flame to see them as a valid “transcendent target”? Heretics who worship Evil Gods can be burnt, but what about those who worship good deities?
Duncan watched the dim green lights in the room and suddenly smiled faintly.
“They are people.”
Thus, all his ruminations halted at mere thought; he didn’t continue down that path.
The flame was a powerful force, and power itself was not guilty, but a weak will could very likely lead to corruption. Since discovering he wielded power beyond imagination, Duncan constantly reminded himself of this—no matter how renowned “Captain Duncan” was, no matter how powerful the spiritual fire was, he had to always be aware of his boundaries as “human.”
He could not dehumanize others just to test or understand his own strength—even in this other world, even if those he faced were not necessarily “human” in the standard sense.
Acting in battle was one thing; preying on the weak to satisfy one’s curiosity was quite another.
Duncan exhaled softly, looking at the dim green fireball still burning on his hand, and with a wave, he dispersed it.
The flame obediently followed his command, silently dissipating into the air.
Duncan began to smile—he was, and would always be, the master of this flame.
After the spiritual fire disappeared, the basement’s ambience quickly shifted from ominous to ordinary, and the green lanterns one by one returned to their initially bright and pure state. Duncan surveyed his surroundings, considering amidst the wreckage what to do next.
The strange girl named Sherry had disappeared, and it seemed she had escaped using some transcendent method. Duncan had no clue about this and didn’t know where to look for her—a true pity.
He had so many questions to ask, but now it seemed there was no chance.
But Duncan always felt he might encounter that girl again sometime—not an unfounded guess, but because it was clear the girl’s aim was to trouble these Sun Cultists, to probe something from amid these heretics. Lately, the activities of the Sun Cultists in Plunder City-State were at their peak, with countless such gatherings operating in the darkness. Considering Sherry and “Adog’s” modus operandi…
They were bound to eventually stir up some major chaos.
Duncan carried the usurped Sun Emblem on him, which allowed him to sense the activities of the city’s Sun Cultists. Although it seemed the range of the emblem’s senses wasn’t that great, as long as he casually strolled around the city when he had nothing else to do, he might stumble upon some new excitement.
As for cleaning up this mess, Duncan had no interest.
He merely picked up the golden mask left by the Sun Priest from the ashes on the ground and carefully wiped off the ash and dust that clung to its surface—this was his spoils of war, to be taken back to Homeloss for study.
The priest had been burnt to a crisp, and all items related to transcendence on him had turned to ash; the Sun Mask was practically the only “relic” he left in this world.
“… A palm-sized amulet is one thing, but this might be a bit too big…” After weighing the Sun Mask in his hands a few times, Duncan muttered thoughtfully, “And there’s a chance it could be detected using special methods if encountered by professionals from the Deep Sea Church…”
It would be difficult to carry the mask back to the antique shop safely, and even if he managed to bring it back, Nina might discover it, which could lead to troubles.
The best course of action would be to send it straight to an absolutely safe place.
While pondering, Duncan turned his head to look at the dove perched on his shoulder, coming up with a new idea to test—could the dove carry the item back to Homeloss by traveling through the Spirit Realm on its own without him?
The pigeon cocked its head, locking eyes with Duncan, “Eighty for the big hammer, forty for the small one!”
Duncan chuckled, “Let’s call it overtime. I’ll find a way to get you some fries on Homeloss—see if you can teleport this mask to the ship by yourself.”
The pigeon instantly flapped its wings and, while flying toward the mask in Duncan’s hand, let out its distinctive sharp female voice, “I was going to refuse, but you’re offering too much!”
Before the words even faded, Duncan saw a flash of light and shadow, and the pigeon, along with the mask, vanished from his sight—while deep in his consciousness, he distinctly felt Ai Yi’s presence suddenly appear in the captain’s quarters of Homeloss.
There was hardly a second’s delay!
What a quick pigeon! Could it always teleport objects this fast?
Duncan had barely acknowledged this in his mind when his vision blurred, and Ai Yi, in Bone Dove form, materialized out of thin air and landed on his shoulder—flapping its wings, the spectral body transformed back into a white dove, proudly tilting its neck, “Teleportation successful!”
Duncan noticed the state in which the other emerged and nodded to himself, finding the situation reasonable: It made sense for the Bone Dove to be faster than Ai Yi.
Then he straightened his clothes, ensuring there were no suspicious bloodstains on him and no trace of his presence at the scene (in fact, from the moment he entered, he hadn’t touched anything, fearing he would leave fingerprints or the like), and carefully used his sleeve-covered fingers to open the iron door, retracing his steps through the stairway he had come by to get back outside.
The sun, constrained by dual Rune Circles, was gradually sinking towards the horizon, and the gorgeous evening sky spread along the uneven, haphazard rooftops of the Lower City District, with the pale crack high in the sky flickering into view amidst the twilight.
Seeing the sky darken, Duncan immediately dismissed the idea of continuing his investigation in the city—Nina would be home from school soon.
He couldn’t let his reputation as “Uncle Duncan,” which had just started to improve, be tainted by not coming home at night.
Duncan quickly left the abandoned factory, following the route in his memory toward the main road, passing through twisted alleys, through intersections clouded with foul-smelling wastewater, until he gradually heard the distant sound of traffic.
It wasn’t completely dark yet; he should be able to catch the last bus.
But then Duncan stopped in his tracks.
At a nearby intersection, he spotted four uniformed figures—two of them wore dark blue uniforms with epaulettes, holstered batons and revolvers at their waists, while the other two were clad in black coats that were a mix of church style, somewhere between a trench coat and a suit, showing not only large revolver holsters but also finely crafted longswords that seemed out of place in the current era.
Those two in the black coats also had another conspicuous item at their waists: lanterns decorated with runes, obviously for patrolling at night.
The uniformed four at the intersection seemed to be handover, Duncan paused for a moment, then quickly realized:
They were the City-State’s law enforcers affiliated with the city hall and guardians under the church.
The law enforcers maintained order in the city by day, while guardians protected the peace of the City-State under the cover of night, and now, with the sun slowly setting, the time of day-to-night transition was approaching—it was the moment when secular and ecclesiastical powers exchanged duties.
It was a unique “scenery” of this world.
The four of them didn’t seem to notice Duncan.
Duncan walked by them with ease—despite having hesitated for a second, he quickly reminded himself that he was innocent.
A law-abiding citizen isn’t committing a crime by walking around before dark.
One of the church guardians carrying out the handover finally noticed the approaching figure, the tall young man lifted his head, saw Duncan and, gesturing with his hand, called out loudly, “Citizen! It’s getting dark; head home quickly, it’s not safe outside.”
“Gentlemen! I’d like to report something,” Duncan quickened his pace, walking up to them and spoke earnestly, “I heard a lot of noise coming from that abandoned factory over there, and earlier, I saw many suspicious figures sneaking in and out…”
He paused, then added, “I read in the newspaper that everyone should actively report any unusual gatherings and strange noises in the vicinity…”