Chapter 1071: Chapter 40: Secrets of the World
Yege guarded Lu Li, filling the protective gap of Kiluat. Naxi stood by, waiting for the core of the team, Lu Li, to make his next move.
Lu Li once again took out the Sequence Potion from his stomach, dripping the pocket-sized Revealing Potion into his eyes, his deep black eyes surveying the room.
“Have you found the source?”
Kiluat, standing before everyone, scrutinized the house.
“The notes on the table show faint signs of contamination.”
Under the Revealing Potion, a subtle black fog formed a distinct halo around the notes. Apart from that, the room was very clean except for the faint, shallow gray mist rising from the leftover food on the plates.
“Detective Chief Victor, no one entered the room after the incident, correct?”
“…Ah? Right, no one… well, Pisenlot, my colleague came in after receiving the alarm.” The bewildered Detective Chief Victor hurriedly replied.
“Did he show any unusual behavior?” Lu Li asked.
“No…”
“Call him over.” Kiluat said.
“I’ll go get him right now!”
Detective Chief Victor immediately ran out, disappearing into the silent corner of the street.
“Let’s check around again.” Kiluat withdrew his gaze and spoke to Lu Li.
Taking advantage of the duration of the Revealing Potion, they used other keys on the key ring to check the unoccupied rooms around; only Lannar’s room had issues.
After Yege wrapped the notes with an Alchemy Blanket, the task was nearly resolved.
Ten minutes later, Detective Chief Victor returned with Pisenlot. This nervous officer was very clean—both his uniform and his aura.
After Lu Li nodded, Kiluat confirmed that Pisenlot wasn’t an issue, marking the completion of the task as they prepared to leave with the notes.
Yege and Naxi indulged in the dreamlike feeling of task completion.
Even though the meager reward of 1 Shilling doesn’t represent the task as easy or simple… because neglect could lead to severe consequences, every time the Holy Light Squad executes a task, they have to conduct complex and tedious investigations, even checking the situations of each neighbor.
This means they usually spend a day or even longer to complete a task.
Yet this time, it only took them two hours since entering Deep Sea City, with half the time spent on the road.
Despite the heavy cost.
Six portions of Sequence Potion equate to the Holy Light Squad’s months of task wages.
Even the teams at the top of the leaderboard can’t imitate—no one is extravagant enough to use expensive Sequence Potions to complete basic tasks.
“What you just let me drink… was it the Sequence Potion?” A probing voice sounded from beside.
“Yes.”
Naxi replied with pride, but Detective Chief Victor’s subsequent behavior left them bewildered.
“A Sequence Potion enough to feed an entire street’s residents clean and full, and you used it just to investigate a dead person?!”
Detective Chief Victor screamed in disbelief, regretfully and roughly digging his throat to induce vomiting.
“What have I done… I drank a year’s salary in one gulp…”
Merely minutes had passed, and apart from tears and saliva, he vomited nothing else.
“Every day, people starve or eat contaminated things and are expelled from Midnight City, but you never care.” With tears and mucus streaming, Detective Chief Victor slumped onto the ground, crestfallen, no longer attempting to flatter the group of students, feebly waving: “Return to your Ivory Tower, you were born as masters of the Inner City.”
The Holy Light Squad silently left the dim alleyway due to Detective Chief Victor’s attitude reversal.
“This is unavoidable… therefore, we must change this world.”
Back in the bustling street, Kiluat said, hoping the team wouldn’t be discouraged by it.
“What’s the dirty stuff he’s referring to?”
“Mutated meat, I suppose… because it becomes distorted and is banned by Deep Sea City after just a few months, yet residents in dire situations purchase such cheap food daily.”
1 Shilling can exchange for a meat piece as large as a fist, as long as one accepts a life of only a few months or years, hunger won’t torment them in this period.
Returning to the Giant Tree Academy camp to preserve the notes, the Holy Light Squad went back to the streets, now heading for the Inner City.
Arriving at the center of Outer City, the Cliff City Gate, the badge on their chest exempted the Holy Light Squad from guard inspection, standing on the lift ascending to the Inner City.
Glancing behind, they could almost overlook half of the sprawling Outer City.
At this moment, Lu Li parted with the Holy Light Squad, needing to temporarily leave.
“Will you be going alone?”
After hearing Lu Li’s response, Kiluat continued: “Then we’ll go to visit Naxi’s family, and we’ll meet at the camp later.”
Looking at Kiluat and others departing into the distance, Lu Li turned to another street.
The roads paved with stone slabs had buildings that were exquisite and clean on both sides, sewage flowing through channels below towards the Outer City, and the patrol guards on the streets became frequent.
Passersby instinctively avoided Lu Li’s robe, resembling that of a disciple, yet lowered their guard upon seeing the tree-shaped badge.
Quietly walking through the Inner City, after a relatively long period, Lu Li arrived at the address given by Professor Chris.
[Exotic Species Museum]
This shop named Museum wasn’t broad, appearing cramped and crowded, wedged between two stores.
Opening the door and stepping into the shop, the bell on the door rang crisply.
The dim room was empty, with no guests or owner, only bizarre items displayed in the window shelves.
Some were bones, some were earthenware, others were indistinguishable. But without exception, they all bore the weight of history.
“Humans are not the only intelligent species, wouldn’t you say?”
An outline resembling the larva of a cicada, hunched yet corpulent, emerged from the depths of the room.
“Evidently.” Lu Li replied.
The outline bowed its already hunched form, saying: “Honored to meet the hero of humanity, Your Excellency Lulian. You can call me Vita.”
“Professor Chris mentioned you wanted to see me.”
Lu Li disliked the lengthy and meaningless talks before discussing formal matters, preferring directness.
“Yes, please first accept my gift…”
Vita spoke, moving its slender legs supporting its corpulent body to the coffin teetered on the edge.
Opening the coffin, which began to tremble slightly due to Lu Li’s presence.
The merchant awakened with emotionless eyes due to Lu Li’s arrival.
“Return to the Inner World, other merchants will tell you what transpired.”
The merchant silently stepped out of the coffin, disappearing into a shadowy corner.
“Long ago, the world of an intelligent species was invaded…”
Vita slowly narrated the history of his people.
“Because of endless enemies, their intense resistance cost them their people, and their world, plunging them into a prolonged, countless times of losing history, wandering through time. One day, an individual named Vita, fond of studying history, arrived at a new world. He knew that without change, this world would face the same fate as every invaded world: native intelligent species resist, resistance fails, leftover people forced to leave their homeland, become a member of the abnormal, and get lost in the river of time…”
“Vita had seen this scene countless times throughout history, hoping for change this time. Thus, he sought out the hero of the species and persuaded the hero.”
Vita’s raised dark eyes mirrored Lu Li’s figure.
“How you treat the world, the world treats you in return.”