In a world where extraordinary phenomena exist, land is blocked by endless oceans, and the defenders of the city-states and the anomalies are engaged in an endless battle, how do ordinary people survive
Duncan still lacked understanding of this city-state, but at least from what he saw, ordinary people in this world still lived in an orderly and stable environment.
They work, study, and rest; they run shops and exchange what they have with each other; they go out on their days off, to cinemas and restaurants, to parks and ports; they visit museums and chat with neighbors after dinner—they live a not very exciting, but usually stable life.
The steam-powered bus stopped and started, sometimes stopping at the platform, sometimes stopping at the roadside. Passengers got on and left at any time. The silent driver would occasionally say a few words to the conductor, but most of the time he was concentrating on driving. The young conductor would look up at the roof from time to time - she seemed to still be thinking about the pigeon.
Duncan sat in his seat, observing everything around him with curiosity, watching the lives of ordinary people.
It seemed that apart from the need to understand the anomalies and phenomena that existed in the world and to follow this knowledge as a "safety code", the lives of these ordinary people were not much different from what he had seen on Earth.
When approaching the cross street, the bus stopped again, this time at the platform, where many passengers got on.
Duncan looked curiously at the scenery on the platform, at the chimneys standing in the distance and the steam pipes crisscrossing above the buildings, but suddenly, he vaguely felt an unusual heat rising near his chest.
The heat came from the sun badge that he hid close to his body!
Duncan, who was enjoying the scenery, was stunned for a moment and subconsciously touched the place where the badge was hidden. The next second, he felt that the badge was not only hot, but also vibrating slightly.
He didn't know what was happening, but it was obvious that the badge was resonating with something nearby - through the connection that had been established between himself and the badge, he was unfamiliar with the source of this resonance, and the next second, his eyes were locked on a figure outside the car window who was walking quickly through the crowd.
The figure was wearing a black coat and looked like an ordinary passerby, but the "directional sense" from the sun badge pointed correctly and without a doubt to that figure!
Duncan immediately stood up from his seat and walked quickly towards the door. As he thought about it, the pigeon Ai also received the instruction, flapped its wings and flew down from the roof and landed on his shoulder.
The conductor standing near the door looked at this scene in amazement. It was not until Duncan got off the bus that he began to murmur, "How did you train this pigeon..."
But then this little episode in daily life faded from the conductor's attention. She turned her head and looked at the passengers who had just boarded the bus: "Come over here to buy tickets... Children also need to buy tickets. They look over 1.1 meters tall... Four years old? They can't be four years old. If they are over the age limit, they have to pay the full ticket price!"
At this moment, Duncan had already walked into the crowd. He walked quickly through the crowded platform and intersection, following the figure in the black jacket.
The man in black walked very fast, and the dense flow of people on the road in the afternoon made it easy for him to avoid sight and search. In fact, after only a few minutes, the figure had left Duncan's sight.
However, the resonance of the Sun Badge is still there, and the "sense of direction" coming from deep within the badge always points Duncan in the right direction.
Duncan continued to follow the guidance of the Sun Badge while thinking quickly.
There is no doubt that the man in black is very suspicious. The badge must have sensed something and reacted suddenly... Perhaps it sensed the same power as the "real sun god".
He had learned from Goat Head that this badge had the function of identifying compatriots and guiding the "blessing of the sun", but under normal circumstances only believers of the Sun God could use these functions or perceive the guiding effect of the badge.
Duncan once used the spirit fire to usurp control of the badge, but at that time he thought that his fire also destroyed most of the badge's abilities. But now it seems... the badge's recognition ability is still there!
But now I have used this recognition ability for myself...
Guided by the badge, he gradually left the busy main road, and after making two or three detours, he gradually walked into a deserted alley.
He saw the suspicious figure again—the figure was walking quickly across the intersection ahead, seemingly unaware that there was a pursuer behind him.
Faintly, Duncan felt that the badge on his chest became hotter than before, and the resonance it emitted became clearer and stronger.
Duncan quietly activated the spiritual fire and read the information from the Sun Badge. A large amount of "perceptions" with clear directions immediately entered his mind.
The feeling was very subtle - although the Sun Badge did not have the ability to think, Duncan seemed to feel that the badge was conveying messages to him excitedly and thrillingly, telling him, a person who did not believe in the Sun God, where other believers were.
He even wanted to remind the badge to be more reserved - after all, it was a sacred object of the sun god not long ago, and it didn't need to be so excited about being a guide now as if it were a hand warmer.
At the same time, he became increasingly certain that he was approaching a secret gathering place where many Sun God believers gathered.
Just as he expected, there were more "Sun Heretics" gathering in the dark corners of this city-state, and the group of people who had been wiped out in the sewers before were just a part of these cockroach-like cultists.
He didn't know what these cultists were trying to do, but he knew that they must know more about ancient history, solar beliefs, and the Age of Order than Nina's teachers.
If you want to understand the deeper secrets of this world, you have to get in touch with the forces in the extraordinary realm. It is difficult to approach the church and city-state authorities through normal means, but it is much easier to approach cultists - just get along with them.
Or you can just mix them together.
Duncan was thinking this when he suddenly stopped.
He had come to the end of a small path, and the sneaky man in black had just entered a nearby intersection. The signal from the Sun Badge was clear and strong, and there were no passers-by in sight.
Through the Sun Badge, he sensed that there were more "compatriot signals" approaching his location.
Duncan silently pulled up the lapels of his coat, hiding half of his face in the collar - and almost the next second after he completed this action, he heard many footsteps appearing in the shadows of nearby buildings.
One figure after another appeared.
There were more than a dozen people, and their attire was no different from that of ordinary citizens—after all, no cultist would walk around in a city in broad daylight wearing long robes, just as a normal assassin would not wear a conspicuous white hooded sweater to carry out his work on the streets of a busy city.
Only the continuous heat and clear directional signals from the Sun Badge made him sure that every one of these guys who emerged from the surroundings was a follower of the true Sun God.
Duncan raised his head and looked towards the intersection at the end. He saw the man in black who he had been tracking before was also there. He was looking at him vigilantly. Next to him, a tall and thin young man whispered something to his companion before looking up in this direction.
"This is private territory, why are you sneaking in here?" The tall and thin man spoke, and he seemed to be trying to create a feeling that "everyone here is an ordinary citizen, you are sneaking around and that makes you look suspicious." Because he didn't know the background of Duncan, the tracker, he neither acted rashly nor let his guard down.
Duncan muttered to himself that as an amateur he was not suited to such a professional job as tracking. At the same time he was also curious about how these cultists would deal with him as a tracker if he played dumb - would they pretend to be a group of dedicated evil forces to scare him away, or would they work diligently to develop their cult business and tie him up as a meaty treat for their sun god
"Didn't you hear me?" The tall and thin man frowned and said impatiently. As he finished speaking, the figures around him quietly took a half step forward, vaguely forming an encirclement. "I'm asking you a question..."
Duncan shrugged, casually took out the sun amulet from his arms, and said sincerely: "One of us."
Let's get along first, maybe there will be more things to say.
If they don't believe it, then just get along.