Chapter 4238

What Bingo said was indeed too brief. The agent could fully imagine what kind of complex game had been played during this accident back then.

First of all, Great Canyon Town in that era was actually not as good as it used to be. Even if no clues were found in this instance, it could be judged by the era that in those days, it was already difficult for circuses to perform.

In the mid-20th century, due to economic development, ideological liberation, and the entry of various modern equipment into homes, traditional entertainment modes were already unpopular. On top of that, circuses also involved issues such as animal protection and disability protection, which were strongly opposed by left-wing people of that era. Under the trend of various liberation movements, circuses were almost universally condemned. Let alone performing, they would be spat upon just walking down the street.

Young people didn't like to watch them anymore, so naturally there was no need to keep them going. And part of Great Canyon Town's popularity was brought by circus tours. The town's natural scenery was actually average, and the iconic waterfall wasn't that magnificent; Utah had many places with better scenery. So, when the circus performance business suffered setbacks, the town naturally cooled down.

Against this background, naturally someone would set their sights on this place. In the eyes of politicians and capitalists, everything must have value. Since it could no longer bring in enough tourism revenue, naturally it had to be put to some other use.

Great Canyon Town had abundant water veins, and the entire town was situated on an extremely complex and vast groundwater system. Precisely because of this, factory owners and politicians in Xivi City planned to connect their factory sewage pipes here. Or rather, to discharge directly into the groundwater system of this area. And Great Canyon Town's water supply relied mainly on groundwater, which would inevitably cause tap water pollution.

The cultists were the same. In the era when circuses were popular enough, the human trafficking and kidnapping that cultists engaged in privately could quickly expand the town's population and provide labor for service industries. Such remote towns didn't have any child protection laws, and child labor was also legal. As long as enough children were born, they could work after being raised for a few years. For them, it was a steady profit.

And as long as there was enough labor and popularity, the town could rely on tax revenue brought by tourism to continuously provide income and political achievements for local officials. Precisely because of this, the government not only didn't crack down on the cultists, but instead allowed them to develop, and even turned a blind eye to the circus human trafficking cases.

However, as the circus model could no longer keep up with the pace of the times, the town gradually declined, unable to provide much income, and became a truly remote place. The value of these cultists also declined accordingly. In a corner that no one cared about, no matter how many were born or how strictly they were controlled, what was the use? This town had no resources worth utilizing, and the locals couldn't make money at all. For the politicians, this was just a chicken rib that was tasteless to eat.

And when they learned that among the few tourists, someone had discerned their secret, in order to completely bury this secret, they discarded the cultists almost without hesitation, planned a poisoning incident, and killed most of the people in the town.

It sounds absurd, but such things are actually not uncommon in the Federation. Water pollution, air pollution, food pollution—how many are coincidental accidents, and how many are true conspiracies? How could the agent, who had been an FBI agent, not be clear about this?

In a purely capitalist society, everything is put on a scale to be weighed. Things with value can exist, and things without value must disappear as quickly as possible, preferably without getting in anyone's eyes. Human life is the same.

So the most absurd part of this story is not that the politicians adopted the method of silencing, nor is it their method of silencing. The strangest point is that Bingo fought back before he died. So how did he know about things after his death?

Of course, the fact that he can stand here in this state now shows that there must be some supernatural phenomenon. If he saw it after turning into a ghost, it wouldn't be strange. But what about the spirit world? Do those cultists really have some occult skills?

The agent voiced his question. Bingo sighed and said, "This is the most troublesome part. Remember what I told you? There was a special excitatory neurotransmitter in the leaked substances. This stuff accumulated rapidly in the bodies of the people in the town, keeping their spirits in a state of extreme excitement, ultimately producing some unknown mutation, which led them to use their spirits to construct a world in the cult's fantasy when they died. I haven't learned enough, so I can't figure out what exactly is going on. This is exactly the purpose of my finding you. I hope you can figure out what exactly happened at that time, and how I should destroy this world. I certainly don't want my enemies to still be living well in their ideal heaven."

"So you really died at their hands? But if you were burned to death, where did the bones come from?"

"I wouldn't be stupid enough to wait for them to come and burn me to death. It's just that I was really too young, and I couldn't run out. So..."

"So what?"

"I let my mother kill me. She strangled me and buried me. It can be considered as taking revenge for herself." Bingo revealed a bitter smile.

"This caused her great harm." The agent said bluntly, "Now she is already crazy... wait, is your mother dead or alive now?"

"She is a living person," Bingo said, "I know you might find it hard to believe, but she has a special constitution. Neither that stimulant nor the chronic poison later could kill her. Now she is the only remaining resident of the town."

The agent sighed; this result was not beyond his expectations. When he was in contact with Linda, he discovered that although this girl was a bit crazy, she indeed had a peculiar vitality, completely different from the feeling of an evil spirit.

"That guy also wants to know what exactly is going on with my mother. They think that if they figure out this secret, they can return to the real world. So, they have been manipulating my grandmother, who had long since died, to keep guarding her side, expecting a turning point to arrive."

"What about your grandmother? Her family background should be quite good, why would she marry here?"

"Living in this kind of environment, no one can guarantee that they won't be brainwashed. Even if she is a rich girl, it's the same. Many times I can feel her pain..."

"Stop," the agent said, "That's not right. You mean Aunt Kane died together with the people in the town, and before that, she was a living person, just brainwashed. But you also said that your biological grandfather Burger was an intelligent person who had received modern education. But he was originally from the town, and only had the opportunity to go to the big city because he went out to preach. How did he receive education in the big city?"

Bingo revealed a blank expression. The agent shook his head lightly. Although this little guy was smart, he had never left the town in his life, and he probably didn't understand at all what a big city was like.

The agent continued: "This cult clearly opposes modern education, so Burger shouldn't have read any books when he left the town. To learn modern knowledge, he had to start from scratch. Some basic knowledge is fine; he could listen to the radio and read books by himself to learn. But if it involves some science and engineering knowledge, that is absolutely not something that can be figured out by self-study."

"You said your knowledge was learned from listening to the radio, so your family must have had a tape recorder. To cobble together a tape recorder under such tight surveillance, and successfully receive channels, requires a certain amount of radio knowledge. This kind of thing is not something that an illiterate person from a town can figure out by self-study."

"You mean, someone helped him?"

The agent nodded and said: "This person must have been able to help him get an admission spot, and even a community college isn't that easy. After all, he had no educational background and might not even recognize all the words. Secondly, they had to cover for him during this period, after all, missionaries generally don't act alone. And they also had to bear his living costs in the big city. You might find it hard to imagine how much money it takes to study without working in a city like New York. This is absolutely not something Burger could afford alone."

Bingo revealed a thoughtful expression, and after a long while, he said: "I faintly heard some things about my grandmother from my grandfather. They were very loving before marriage, but..."

"I suspect that the person who helped your grandfather was your grandmother. And if so, it proves that your grandmother wanted to help your grandfather get rid of religious control. Such a person shouldn't easily fall into a trap. You are right, in this kind of environment, few people can avoid being brainwashed. But why would your grandmother come to this kind of environment?"

"Assuming she really is a rich girl from New York and fell in love with your grandfather, they could have lived in New York entirely. Anyway, your grandmother wasn't unable to support him. And such a rich girl generally wouldn't be willing to go far away from home. If her family opposed it, then her family members would be even less likely to let her marry into such a remote town alone, right?"

"But I don't understand," Bingo shook his head and said, "If she didn't marry over here voluntarily and then get brainwashed, then what's going on?"

"You mean, the evil spirit in the town now is a spiritual aggregate produced by spiritual mutation after the Mormons were killed. But I feel that when you were still alive, the evil spirit had already appeared. All the tragedies that happened later had him meddling in them."

"Perhaps so," Bingo said, "But the spiritual mutation should be true, because I also drank a lot of lake water, and after I died, my consciousness didn't dissipate, but turned into a ghost, witnessing everything that happened later."

"However, the evil spirit entrenched in the spirit world is too powerful. I can't deal with him, and I don't know how to solve that strange world. Fortunately, you came. If you can investigate the truth, that's best; if it really doesn't work, I only have one wish: take my mother away."

"Of course, I won't let you help in vain. Most of the assets of these cultists were taken away by politicians in Xivi City, but they still have a bit of cleverness, and have prepared some secret safe deposit boxes in banks in other big cities on the West Coast. I know the information for these safe deposit boxes. I will give my mother a portion to ensure she has enough to live on for the rest of her life, and give the rest to you. How about it?"

The agent was silent. Bingo thought he was dissatisfied with this condition. Just as he was about to say something, the agent said: "As far as I know, to extract from this kind of safe deposit box, you need a credential. Where did you get the credential?"

"The credential is not on me, but on my mother. To be precise, she herself is the credential. Because my great-grandfather, that is, old Burger, was once a star actor in the circus and also a high-ranking member of the sect. He also participated in the matter of preparing the safe deposit boxes back then."

"Old Burger?"