Deep Sea Embers.

Chapter 111 What a coincidence
In the antique shop in the lower city of Purland City-State, Duncan sat behind the counter with a city-state weekly newspaper in his hand, as if he was casually reading the contents of the newspaper.

Suddenly, his eyes blinked twice, and his originally slack eyes refocused. Then he glanced at the newspaper in his hand, and calmly turned it upside down.

The headlines on the front page of the newspaper were printed on the major events that happened in the city-state recently—His Excellency Valentine, the Bishop of the Deep Sea Cathedral, will preside over a large-scale prayer event in the near future. Bell and pull the siren to call upon the power of the Storm Goddess to bless the city.

As a warm-up for this prayer event, Consul Dante Wayne expressed his congratulations to the cathedral last night and sent gifts...

The face of the city-state consul was printed on the front page of the newspaper—it was a middle-aged man with a serious expression, gray hair, tall and thin, and the most striking thing was that he had a rather scary scar on his face. A prosthetic eye replaced his original eyeball.

It was evidently the mark of a fatal accident.

Duncan's gaze slowly swept across the newspaper, but the face of the young judge named "Vanna" emerged in his mind-the judge also had a scar near his eye, although it did not affect his eyesight. But also eye-catching enough.

He recalled recently gathered intelligence:
Dante Wayne, the consul of the city-state, is the uncle of the judge Vanna, and the scars on their faces are said to have come from the same accident, which happened 11 years ago in the "Sixth Street" near Cross Street A factory leak and a cult riot left Dante and Vanna Wayne wounded by the mob, leaving them permanently scarred by the incident, which has led them to become steadfast supporters of the Church of the Deep , and actively cracking down on cult activities in the city-state...

This information is not a secret in the city-state. It belongs to the content that can be found in official records and folk rumors. If you inquire casually in the lower city, you will hear these things.

It was 11 years ago again, and it was the "factory leak" on the [-]th block...

Duncan turned the newspaper to the next page in silence, while assembling and sorting out the various clues he had collected recently in his mind.

The fragments of the sun, the fire in Nina's memory, Nina's recent nightmare, the accident that happened between Judge Fanna and Consul Dante, and the girl "Shirley" who seems to be investigating the truth and whose origin is unknown... all These things are all surrounding the "factory leak" in the sixth block 11 years ago, and now the Sun Cultists are about to move around in the city again, and the "Sun God" behind them is something that is burning like an evil god.

That thing is still calling for help.

Duncan didn't plan to deal with that sun god yet, but he was a little worried that the nameless fire that was smoldering in the darkness would reach Nina.

He released the pigeons early in the morning to search for clues of the cultists in the city-state, and they are still wandering outside. Nina is packing up books upstairs and will leave for school in a while. The street outside the shop is gradually becoming lively , The sound of cars and passers-by passed through the door, bringing fresh vitality and vitality.

The sound of brisk footsteps came from the stairs suddenly, and there was a slight creaking sound from the old wooden floor. Nina trotted and appeared in Duncan's sight, with her schoolbag in her hand and the bread for lunch in the other hand: "Uncle ! I'm going to school!"

"Run slowly, don't fall, it's still early," Duncan looked at the girl helplessly, and then remembered something, "By the way, today is your day to go to the museum?"

"Yes! I have an appointment with a classmate!" Nina turned her head, with a bright smile on her face, "I won't come back for lunch at noon, I will go directly to the museum with my classmates, and you can get something to eat yourself."

"Got it, got it," Duncan waved his hand with a smile, and reminded him again, "Slow down, watch out for cars on the road..."

"Okay, goodbye uncle!"

Accompanied by the girl's crisp shouts, brisk footsteps and the jingling of the bell at the door, Nina's figure disappeared from Duncan's sight.

She crossed the road in front of the antique shop and ran quickly into the morning light of Prand.

Duncan watched Nina leave, recalling the previous "home visit" and what the old Mr. Morris told him:

Nina has very few friends at school, and most of her classmates don't like her very much.

But no matter how few friends there are, it seems that there are one or two classmates who have a good relationship with her. Some people are willing to invite her to the museum together, and she seems to be very happy, which is of course a good sign.

He had already inquired about it yesterday. The classmate who went to the museum with Nina was a quiet girl who also lived in the downtown area. The two had just become friends recently and their relationship was not bad.

Duncan put down the newspaper in his hand.

Nina has already gone to school, and she won't be back in the afternoon. Today is another working day, so there shouldn't be any business in the antique shop.

It's a waste of time to stay here and look at the store, maybe you can go to the city and, by the way... investigate some things.

Duncan perceived Ai's current location in his mind, gave the pigeon the command to "continue hunting", then put on his coat, hung the wooden sign for a temporary rest at the door, locked the store door, and came to the nearby on the station.

There were a lot of people at the station, and this time was the peak time for people to go to work and school by bus. Duncan mixed in the crowd, came to the signboard next to the station, and looked at the route map on it.

His eyes fell on one of the lines - it had a location clearly printed on it: Sixth Street.

Officially recorded where "factory leaks" once occurred.

Duncan withdrew his gaze and waited patiently among the crowd. The buses came and went, and several buses driven by steam engines took away half the people on the platform. After a long time, he finally saw an old bus. The bus came wobbly from the end of the road, and the number plate on the front showed that it was the one he was waiting for.

Duncan squeezed into the car with a large group of people.

The old bus was overcrowded, and citizens rushing to work occupied all the seats and open space in the corridor. Duncan silently squeezed to the place near the back door, waiting patiently for the car to start.

Accompanied by the hoarse and strenuous roar of the steam engine, the heavily overloaded car started, and the conductor began to walk through the sardine-like crowd with difficulty, and while calling people to buy tickets, he arrived near Duncan. All changed shape.

"Sixth Street." Duncan gave the conductor a friendly smile.

However, the conductor who was crowded with five people was obviously taken aback when he heard Duncan's voice, and asked as if he didn't understand: "Ah? Where are you going?"

Duncan frowned: "Sixth Street - I saw it on the route map, isn't this train going?"

The conductor was stunned for a moment, then looked up at the route map posted on the carriage next to him, and nodded quickly as if waking up from a dream: "Oh, of course, usually no one goes there, I forgot . . . four pesos."

No one usually goes to Sixth Street?It's been 11 years since the accident. Hasn't the factory been rebuilt?
Duncan felt a little doubtful in his heart, but he still bought the ticket calmly, and then watched the conductor squeeze back into the crowd like a warrior rushing left and right among thousands of troops.

The next step is to wait silently for the bus to arrive at the station.

But at this moment, he suddenly felt a vision coming from nearby.

That gaze was very short-lived, as if it just glanced at him accidentally and then quickly moved away. However, Duncan's sense was extremely keen. At that time, he vaguely felt a...fear and dodge, which made him immediately follow the feeling in his heart curiously.

In the next second, he saw a short figure trying to dodge back among the crowded passengers at the rear of the carriage.

He saw that figure, and that figure also saw him—then the other party stopped instantly, and stood stiffly on the spot, as if he didn't even dare to dodge.

It was a girl in a black dress, who looked about the same age as Nina, with a strange collar around her neck, and a small bell hanging from the collar...

It's Shirley.

Duncan raised his eyebrows immediately, never expecting that things could be so coincidental, and then squeezed towards the girl - the latter had completely stiffened at this time, but looked at her nervously and even with some fear. Duncan, who was walking towards him, didn't even dare to turn his head, let alone continue to dodge.

Duncan came to the other party slowly like this, and greeted the girl with a smile: "We meet again——at this time, are you going to school?"

Shirley had enough courage to squeeze out a smile. Although she once said carelessly in front of Agou that she wanted to hug the big guy's thigh, but now that she had realized Duncan's horror, she laughed more than she cried. Still ugly: "You... hello..."

(End of this chapter)