Chapter 2010: Searching for People

【Outsider, you have returned to the current time.】

"Oh, what was that situation just now?"

When Xia De stumbled out of the bedroom door, soaked all over, his face still carried surprise.

The scene of countless corpses floating and reaching out together on the seabed just now was shocking, but this was not as shocking as when he fell into the water on the night of the lunar eclipse and saw the first Drowned.

He just didn't understand what kind of place that Sea of No Light was. Although there were many tourists and sailors on the "Radiant Messenger," the number of corpses he saw just now was far beyond the scale of thousands of people.

"Next, do two things. First, find a way to satisfy their wishes, and second, find a way to investigate the Radiant Messenger cruise ship."

That was something that happened in the late Fifth Era. The stories passed down from that time point are relatively easy to investigate for the current Sixth Era. If the "Radiant Messenger" was really that famous back then, there would definitely be words and phrases recorded in the materials passed down to this day.

After all, more than a thousand people died in the same accident, which is not a small matter in any era.

Although Little Mia likes Xia De, she doesn't like Xia De who is soaked all over, so she didn't greet him the first time he came back. However, later when Xia De went to Silver Cross Avenue to send a letter to Miss Galina at the flower shop run by Princess Ai Jie Li Na's maids, inviting her to meet in the evening, this cat rarely went out with Xia De who had taken a bath.

However, by the time Xia De was ready to set off again to visit the Moon Bay region, this cat had lost interest in going out again, as if the outing just now had used up the "going out quota." The cat stood lazily on the stairs at the entrance of the basement and greeted Xia De who was ready to set off, then flicked its tail and went upstairs.

This cat's life is even more comfortable than that of a duchess or a princess.

The new Time Key came to an end, and he had to meet the witch in the evening to entrust her to help with some investigations. So Xia De continued his adventure in the Moon Bay region according to the plan.

When he walked out of the dragon's nest, he found that Moon Bay City was overcast again today. At 8:30 in the morning, Moon Bay City under the overcast clouds was as dark as night.

However, this is not just because the weather is bad, but because of the polluted air. The steam factories near Moon Bay City, an industrial city, produced a large amount of harmful gases. The special climate along the coast did not form smog like Tobesk in the urban area, but formed thick black clouds above the Moon Bay region.

According to statistics, there are at least one-third of the days in the year here when such a dim scene appears.

After passing through the forest and entering the main road connecting the city and the countryside, and then passing through the ancient St. George Stone Bridge, he entered Moon Bay City again.

He couldn't get enough of the strange city scenery. Xia De sat in a carriage and looked at the street view from the window while chatting with the carriage driver about various rumors and interesting things in the city.

After getting off the carriage at Herring Street on the east bank of the Taton River, Xia De officially started today's itinerary. He planned to spend half a day trying to find the rumored fortune teller in the nearby lower city area. If he couldn't find him, he would meet with Princess Lei Qianya's men in the afternoon.

On one hand, find some people who can help, and on the other hand, understand how to solve Princess Lei Qianya's little trouble.

Finding people has never been an easy job. The lower city area of Moon Bay City, centered on Herring Street, is quite large. Xia De, who couldn't visit every household, could only start by inquiring about news.

He didn't go to the tavern. 9:00 on a weekday morning is not when there are many people in the tavern. Seeing three children squatting together playing with glass balls by the street, Xia De walked over and said to the children's alert eyes:

"Can I ask you something? I can give you..."

He wanted to say coins, but felt it was not very appropriate:

"Candy."

"Mother said, don't eat candy from strangers."

The black-haired boy with a watermelon head said, then wiped his nose and reached out to Xia De:

"Sir, are you a detective? If you want to inquire about Uncle George's extramarital affair, giving us candy is not enough."

"Then what do you want? I don't have glass balls on me."

Although Xia De has many toys with him, he doesn't have everything.

"The grocery store over there sells glass balls."

Another yellow-haired boy pointed to the store not far away:

"We each want two."

"No, it's three!"

The last boy corrected.

Xia De laughed, not feeling that he was being "blackmailed":

"Okay, okay, I'll go buy them now. But nine is not an integer. If the shopkeeper insists on making ten before selling them to me, how will you three divide them? Have you learned math? Three people each get three, and who gets the extra one?"

The three boys looked at their friends, and their eyes immediately became a bit wrong. Xia De then smiled and went to the store, and soon came back with nine glass balls and the cheap block candy he had just bought.

The boys cheered and uniformly distributed the "spoils," and only then did they listen to Xia De's questions:

"Are there any strange people living nearby? Usually don't greet neighbors, and rarely go out to communicate with people on the street."

He specifically asked children questions to prevent unnecessary trouble. Not asking for "fortune teller" directly is for the same reason. Just arrived locally, everything must be careful.

The three boys eating candy thought for a while and gave different answers:

"Grandma Martha, who lives in the Devonshire alley over there, doesn't go out much. She wasn't like this before, she only became strange recently. Yesterday our paper airplane flew into her yard, and she wouldn't let us in to pick it up no matter what."

"I know, I know. Above the store at No. 37 Herring Street, there lives a gentleman who doesn't go out much. That store is opened by my uncle. He said his tenant is very strange, makes strange noises at night, and doesn't let him check the room."

"Are there strange people nearby... I remember, a new neighbor moved in next to my house. I heard that he moved here because the original apartment was to be demolished. He works in the morgue, supposedly... um, coroner, seems to be this word. Mother has a big opinion of the new neighbor, always saying that he will have infectious diseases and will infect our family."

Even in the outsider's hometown, there will be some incorrect views on professions like forensic doctors and coroners. And in this world where mysticism exists, such professions are indeed worthy of attention.

Xia De then recorded this information and started his day's visit.

He first went to "visit" Grandma Martha living in Devonshire alley. Because he was not sure what the situation was, Xia De didn't risk using illusions to sneak in, but hid the relics on his body, then turned into a cat and jumped into the yard.

Just as the boys said, the old lady was always at home during the day. Although the spellcasting ability was weakened after turning into a cat, the sense of smell and jumping ability were greatly enhanced, so Xia De soon discovered her unusual aspects.

Xia De smelled a strange smell in the yard, so after confirming that the old lady hanging clothes was an ordinary person, he jumped over the glass window into the room relying on 【Lagley's Jump】, and finally found a decaying elderly male corpse lying on the bed in the bedroom. The temperature this summer was strange, so the corpse was not severely decayed, and it could be seen that the time of death should be this week.

There was also a rocking chair by the bed, and a bamboo basket with yarn balls and a scarf woven one-third of the way on a small table beside the rocking chair. The silver cat could even imagine the old woman in the yard sitting in this chair, weaving a scarf while muttering to the corpse:

"I am here to find the fortune teller and the unknowable relic 【Hope Diamond】. Is it too cruel to let me see such a story early in the morning?"

So the silver cat slipped out of the house quietly, just pretending he hadn't been here.

Then he went to visit the strange tenant living above the store at No. 37 Herring Street.

That store mainly sells fishing equipment, such as fishing rods, fishing lines, buckets, nets, and various baits. There are many customers on Thursday morning. Xia De also entered and turned around, and relied on 【Heart of Stone】 to confirm that there was no heartbeat sound upstairs, before climbing to the second floor from the alley behind the store.

The strange man living here was not at home. However, before Xia De tried to open the door with 【Key of the Door】, he found a hair stuck under the door frame. The wind couldn't move this hair, but once someone opened the door, the hair would definitely change direction.

So Xia De walked in generously, planning to restore the place with "Breath of Time" before leaving.

The room was not big. After a simple search, nothing was found. But after finding the dark compartment on the floor, Xia De felt a pistol disassembled into parts and two identity documents in it.

One set is named "John Fana," a grain merchant from Delarion; one set is named "Harry Hamilton," a jewelry merchant who has lived in the New Continent for a long time and just returned. And the photos on the two identity documents are of the same person.

"Hamilton, this surname is really a coincidence."

Xia De smiled and put everything back in place, then retreated from the room. This Mr. Fana or Mr. Hamilton might be a spy, assassin, or other professional, but it doesn't look like the person Xia De is looking for.

He finally went to find the coroner. The other party was naturally not at home on Thursday morning. Xia De originally wanted to "break into an empty house" again and illegally invade someone else's house, but just after arriving at the door of No. 13 Elm Street, he felt something was wrong.

"Echo of Blood."

His eyes blinked, and clear bloodstains drew a symbol similar to an oak fruit pierced by branches on the metal apartment door. This symbol was in the upper left corner of the door, and the area was not large, but Xia De still recognized it:

"Vampire species?"

Vampire species settled in the city, in order to facilitate the identification of their own kind, usually leave such special marks on their own doors. This means that they can protect their own kind and allow their own kind to visit when necessary.

This belongs to the rules of modern vampire species and is a group culture derived from the changes of the times. Except for abilities like Xia De's "Echo of Blood," only the vampire species themselves can see this kind of symbol for blood. ===== CHAPTER 2011 =====