Deep Sea Embers

Chapter 113 “Looking for a fire”

Shirley seemed a little resentful walking on the road: “Why didn’t that old man answer my question! When I spoke to him, he acted like he hadn’t heard me… Is being short so unvalued?!”

“I think the main reason is not that you are short but that you keep chasing others to ask about the factory.” Duncan slightly turned his head and glanced at the girl, “Instead of wasting time on a local who is unwilling to cooperate, wouldn’t it be better to see the factory with your own eyes?”

Shirley pursed her lips and said nothing more because the factory that had been abandoned eleven years ago was already looming into view at the end of the street.

In the lower urban area, many factories are located near the residential areas or separated from the residential areas by only a wall. The limited land mass and the blockade of the Boundless Sea doomed the city planners to being unable to spare enough land for the placement of industrial facilities. As a result, the concept of “industrial relocation” and “suburban resettlement” doesn’t exist in this world.

Besides, most people in this world have no time to consider what health risks industrial pollution brings. For the general public, the improvement of city-state safety brought about by the development of modern technology was obviously more important compared with the risks brought by factories – gas lamps, heavy firepower, steam networks, potions, and mechanical ships. These things have increased the population of the new city-state era by nearly three times compared to the old era. Anyone who understands the operation mechanism of the modern world could clearly realize the fact that factories are the foundation and blood of modern civilization. It has long been impossible to separate from the city-state.

In fact, according to Nina’s textbook, these factories and facilities were not even clustered in the lower city. Although the city planners are doing their best to move those facilities that are too dangerous to the edge of the city-state, some things still have to be set up in the heart of the city. Take the bell tower and central steam core for example. They’re all essentially huge machines, containing terrifying energy and great risk, but they still have to be placed next to the main cathedral.

In Nina’s engineering and mechanical textbooks, the authors of the textbook have a special explanation for this: people have to “endow the sacred steam with sanctity”, and “rely on the power of the cathedral to ensure the timing of the clock tower”. Machines are not just machines, they are also the sacred and pure heart that supports the operation of modern civilization. People should place these pure steels where the gods watch to prevent the shadows of subspace from polluting their oil and bolts.

As Duncan recalled what he read in Nina’s textbook, the man couldn’t help but sigh inside.

This weird and outrageous world… is constantly challenging my worldview.

Eventually, he and Shirley had arrived outside the grounds of the abandoned factory. There’s nothing more than a collapsed wall acting as a barrier between the residential housings, but more striking than that, the perimeter around the factory was a barren wasteland. Nothing was growing here. No grass, no plants, not even the signs of insects crawling about in the dirt.

In a place where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold, it doesn’t make sense to leave this plot of land uncared for. The scar from eleven years ago should’ve been repaired after so long. It’s strange that it’s been left in this decrepit state.

“The land in the city-state should be very precious,” he said thoughtfully while standing at the edge of the barren land, “it’s unreasonable to leave it like this….”

“Didn’t that old man just explain why? The pollution hasn’t been cleaned up yet…” Shirley didn’t seem to notice how wrong this was, “Some pollutions can only be healed through time and patience.”

“Maybe…” Duncan shook his head, not fully agreeing with the opinion. Then he shifted his gaze between a series of pipes and tanks on the edge of the factory, trying to restore the “original appearance” of the accident that had erupted here in his mind.

He saw several sections had ruptured, and the base of one tank had collapsed, giving the scene an impression of a beast crushing the buildings.

Judging from these images alone, it seems pretty likely that there was a leak here.

But Duncan still furrowed his forehead.

The old man basking in the sun said the residual pollution around the factory had tainted the sixth block, causing there to be no newborns in the past eleven years. Yet, there were no warning signs around the factory nor patrols and guards in place.

That didn’t make sense if the pollution posed that much danger. Although it was not a significant abnormality, these little details still puzzled him.

“Are we…really going in?” Shirley’s voice sounded from the side, and her face seemed a little nervous, “There may be real pollution here…”

“Can’t Dog give you some advice?” Duncan glanced at Shirley, “This place is deserted, and you can let that dark hound come out to breathe. I don’t believe that you are really afraid of the so-called ‘pollution’ here—the tension in your eyes is too fake.”

Dodging Duncan’s inspecting gaze, Shirley raised her hand and agreed: “Okay, okay…the main reason is that Dog’s condition is not very good…”

As soon as the girl finished speaking, the crackling sound of the flames rang out, followed by a pitch-black flame spreading along her arms until it covered half the body. The flames condensed into chains afterward, and the figure of a hound materialized from the smoke and flames at the end of the chains.

Duncan watched the process curiously, and only after Dog showed up did he smile and nod to the hound: “Long time no see Dog, you ran away quite fast last time.”

“We were in a rush, in a rush, don’t take it to heart.” The hound clamped his tail as soon as he appeared, and when he heard Duncan’s voice, his whole body became half an inch shorter. He’s carefully lowering his head while trying to contract his limbs, “Do you have any orders? I’m good at many things: grabbing a plate, sweeping the floor, and coaxing a child. I can do a lot….”

Before the dark hound could finish speaking, Shirley had already covered half of her face next to him. It’s as if she’s implying that finding someone else more cowardly than herself here is embarrassing. On the other hand, Duncan couldn’t help but chuckle at this amusing display. Raising his hand, he points to the factory in front: “I don’t have any orders. I only want to borrow your eyes for a bit. You’re able to see what others can’t, right? Take a look at that factory and tell me what’s wrong with it.”

“Oh, my eyes are enough to warrant your attention, hehe…” Dog immediately went off on his flattery while not forgetting to explain his findings. “I’ve actually been observing the factory for a while now, and I didn’t see anything…. the same as before, an abandoned…”

Dog’s voice abruptly stopped, and then he changed his stance into a threatening one while issuing out a low growl. But as quick as he was alarmed, Dog looked back up with a confused shake of the head. Sounding all puzzled: “Huh?”

Seeing this situation, Shirley was a little nervous: “Dog, what did you see?!”

“I… I don’t know. For a moment just now, I seemed to see… a fire? It seemed to be a huge fire, rushing out of the factory like a huge wave, but… it disappeared in the blink of an eye…”

The hound’s voice was full of doubt, but Shirley flew into a rushed excitement: “Are you sure you saw the fire?! Really a huge fire!?”

Dog shook his huge skeleton head: “It’s just a fleeting flash of an image. Maybe it’s an illusion. I’m a shadow demon. It’s normal to occasionally have a little hallucination and be mentally abnormal…”

“But the fire is different!” Shirley said hurriedly, “We searched for so long and finally found the clue leading to that ‘big fire’. There’s no doubt about it Dog, it must be here…”

In the middle of Shirley’s exciting words, she suddenly felt a large hand press down on her shoulder. Tensing into a stiff rock, she slowly turns to face the source, where Mr. Duncan is quietly watching her.

“Why did you react so strongly to the fire?” Duncan looked into Shirley’s eyes and asked slowly.

“I…” Shirley opened her mouth, “It’s nothing…”

“You’re also looking for a fire from eleven years ago, aren’t you?” Duncan didn’t care about the girl’s attempt to change the subject. He had already thought of something due to Shirley’s abnormal reaction just now, “A fire that doesn’t exist in any official records, but you have personally experienced it, right?”

Shirley’s body stiffened some more while she gulped: “You… how could you…”

“I’m looking for it too,” Duncan smiled, “it seems I have come to the right place.”