Deep Sea Embers

Shirley cautiously followed Duncan. The temporary quiet atmosphere did not relax her, but made her feel more and more oppressed and feared in the silence—she knew that this fear was not completely From myself, more from "Agou".

A dog is feeling scared, and its emotions spread through the symbiotic shackles.

In order to relieve the feeling of depression in this silence, she muttered softly: "Actually, I never got caught for fare evasion before... Agou help me hide it..."

"You mean the 'disguise' made by that dark hound for you?" Duncan raised his eyebrows. He remembered that Shirley used some kind of "disguise" power of Agou to sneak into the cult den. It's a kind of cognitive confusion ability, but he soon shook his head, "It feels unreliable at all. I was noticed last time, and this time I was caught by the conductor."

As soon as Shirley heard this, she immediately held back her stomach full of resentment—what's wrong with Ah Gou's disguise! Isn't this revealed because it was eliminated by the gaze of a terrible existence? Is it appropriate for such a big man to make such a joke with himself...

But she didn't dare to speak out her resentment, so she could only hold back for a long time and then turned into a series of dry laughs: "Ahaha...you are right, you are right..."

Duncan shook his head. He didn't care what was going on in Shirley's mind, but he was a little curious about the girl's investigation: "Why did you pay attention to that 'accident' eleven years ago?"

Shirley fell silent for a while, as if she instinctively didn't want to respond to this question, but then she pursed her lips again, as if realizing that it was meaningless to hide such a thing in front of an existence that was almost a shadow of the subspace, and then He opened his mouth in a low voice: "Actually, it's nothing, I just want to find out... about my parents..."

After she finished speaking, she quickly added: "An existence like you must find this kind of thing boring, I know, our mortal obsession with family is in your eyes..."

"No, I understand," Duncan interrupted the girl before she could speak nonsense, because he could guess what Shirley saw himself in, and her words would be mixed with at least twenty catties of sand. "That's an important reason indeed."

As he said that, he looked at Shirley with seriousness in his eyes: "Your parents were involved in that 'leaking' accident eleven years ago? Or were they attacked by cultists?"

Shirley looked at Duncan with some surprise. She didn't quite understand why this big man, who didn't eat people and didn't do anything about human affairs, cared so much about such things, but she nodded honestly: "They... are Eleven Those who disappeared years ago... Well, missing is a bit hypocritical, they died, but their deaths were unknown... and then I and Agou depended on each other for life..."

The girl's voice was a little low. These memories were not a pleasant thing for her. Duncan didn't let her continue: "How did you and Agou meet? Those Sun Cultists said you were a follower of the Annihilation Sect. It is said that only believers of Annihilation can summon the deep demon, but you seem to deny this statement."

"I don't believe in any 'religion'! I just believe in myself!" Shirley subconsciously yelled, but then quickly put away her voice, trying to pretend to be very educated and polite, "I and Ah Gou...we met eleven years ago."

Duncan stopped suddenly and looked into Shirley's eyes: "Eleven years ago? So..."

"It was after the so-called 'factory leak'," Shirley also quickly stopped and explained with her head down, "I don't remember the specifics, and Agou also said that it couldn't remember... It might have been annihilated by someone It was summoned by believers, but the person who summoned it must have been killed by the guardians of the Deep Sea Church, and then it was inexplicably 'bound' to me..."

Shirley hides a lot, too many details are skipped in her vaguely brief account.

Duncan could feel the girl's concealment and avoidance, but he didn't pay much attention to it.

This is a normal self-protection. Even if she is facing an irresistible powerful existence, she is also instinctively avoiding all her details from being exposed.

I might be able to use threats to force Shirley to reveal more, but this may not be able to get the whole truth. On the other hand, there is still a lack of basic trust between him and this girl, so this topic can be temporarily stopped here. That's it.

Duncan shook his head, looked at the slightly dilapidated streets on both sides, and those passers-by who were obviously idler and slower than other blocks, and said with a little sigh: "...I hardly saw any children on the road, either It's old people, or middle-aged people, not even young people."

"This kind of old city is like this," Shirley took it for granted, she seemed to understand, "All those who are capable have moved to the Cross Street District, and those who can't move are either old people or fools. It is impossible to have a community school in this kind of neighborhood, and the children will naturally not stay, and they must have gone with the adults..."

Listening to Shirley's serious analysis, Duncan just hummed noncommittally.

He could imagine the aging population of the old town, but even so, the deadpan atmosphere of the street was a little too much to worry about.

While thinking, Duncan noticed an old man with gray hair who was sitting in front of a shop facing the street. The latter seemed to be basking in the sun, but he noticed a stranger appearing on the street, who was staring at him in a dazed and confused way. .

Duncan took Shirley and walked straight over.

"Good morning," Duncan greeted the old man basking in the sun at the door, "We are from the fourth block, and would like to know... how to get to the church?"

He didn't really care where the church was, he just found an excuse to chat with the locals.

"Church? The church is closed for a while, God knows where that nun has gone," the old man basking in the sun woke up a little from his laziness, sat up and looked at the stranger in front of him curiously, "It's so strange, we don't usually have nothing Outsiders are willing to come... What are you doing here?"

"Visiting friends," Duncan said casually, "no one usually wants to come? Why?"

"It's not that damn factory," the old man complained angrily, as if he was not satisfied with the dilapidated condition of the neighborhood, "How many years! The chemicals have not been cleaned up at all, and even people in the nearby neighborhoods walk around when they pass by here, who would dare to approach here..."

Duncan and Shirley looked at each other, and then said again: "I saw an old newspaper, which said that the surrounding area of ​​the factory has been cleaned up..."

"What was said in the newspaper...there are many good things in the newspaper! The newspaper also said that the new consul will revitalize the Xicheng Industrial Zone!" The old man spat to the side, "The result? Xicheng is getting worse every day, we The old factory here is still in ruins... I tell you, it was a good place when the factory was still there, and there was Sixth Street among the richest blocks in downtown, and now look at this What the hell..."

As soon as the old man complained, he would babble, and it was hard for a stranger to listen to him, and the laziness he had just basked in the sun disappeared without a trace. Duncan quickly interrupted: "By the way , I just noticed that there are no children in this place... There are not many young people, so they all moved away?"

"Moving? No one here, there are everyone's old houses in this dilapidated place, and the rent in other neighborhoods can be easily afforded?" The old man shook his head, "There are not many young people because they are all old. , child... tsk..."

The old man sighed suddenly.

"There has been no child born in this place for eleven years!"

"No newborn in eleven years?!" Duncan finally opened his eyes slightly, "Really?"

"Can this be fake? I've lived here for most of my life," the old man rolled his eyes, "If you want me to say, it's all caused by that factory...the land near the factory has been polluted..."

Duncan didn't speak, but slowly stood up straight, looking at the end of the block, and at the location of the abandoned factory that he had found on the map before.

Shirley next to him was still curiously talking to the old man. She asked about the other party's factory, asked about the residents who stayed in the sixth block, and asked how many people had moved from here in the past eleven years.

However, the old man seemed to have lost his patience. He waved his hands irritably, mumbled some complaints, and mostly just put aside Shirley's questions.

"Let's go," Duncan said to Shirley suddenly, diverting her attention from the irritable girl before she broke out. Then he looked at the old man who had started to bask in the sun again, and nodded slightly, "Thank you."

"Oh, you're welcome," the old man waved his hand, "walk slowly."

(It’s time to push the book again, from Hufu’s "Abyss Special Train", an underground (underworld) adventure story full of life-yes, I pushed it once, and now I want to push it again!)