Departure, Running!

The two members of the Investigation Team now wanted to find the little rats used for surveillance and recording in the sacrifice hall. Once they found one, they could reconstruct the course of events through the rat's head and obtain firsthand, direct information.

By then, even if Yuan Zhu had hidden something, it would be exposed beyond concealment.

These little sacrifice groups that ran underground societies also loved filming their sacrifice rituals for later enjoyment. Or they would use them as successful case-study tutorials and sell them to similar organizations at high prices. Once enough such folk spellcasting materials had accumulated, they could even spawn an entirely new evil cultivator sect.

The people of Duling had remarkably rich and thrilling hobbies in their everyday lives.

The moment Yuan Zhu realized this, his heart skipped a beat. He asked his useless little companion, "You didn't think of something this important earlier?"

The Little Elf argued indignantly, "I only just dug this information out of the memory fragments. I've been alive for less than half a day, and I've never attended a sacrifice ritual. How was I supposed to know the locals were this unhinged—taking selfies while committing crimes and leaving behind evidence? But don't panic. I scanned the hall earlier, and there really was a dried-up rat on the ceiling. I was even wondering about it at the time. I thought it was an offering that got knocked into the air during the fight."

There were indeed rat-shaped offerings used in sacrifice rituals, but they were completely different from the "rat surveillance devices" blessed by the Fate Weaver Rat King's divine power. Their only overlap was the rat medium; in essence, they had nothing to do with each other.

In the system spirit's eyes, the little rat hanging from the ceiling had been an offering sent flying during the melee.

Hearing this, Yuan Zhu's heart sank. "Damn, we're finished. There was a surveillance device! Wouldn't my Boss transformation be exposed? I'm going to take the blame for you and get convicted."

"Don't panic. I have good news. When you activated the Boss Template, I used Shadow Manipulation to scan the entire hall. Everything, including that little rat, had been invaded and occupied by Pollution Energy. Even if it really had surveillance functions, they would have been distorted and overwritten by Pollution Power. To use electronic components you understand as an analogy, it was like being hit by an EMP attack—it was fried."

"I found something!" Just as the Little Elf was playing prophet after the fact, the young man cried out in surprise.

He sprinted toward the wall at the edge, accelerated into a leap, ran upward along the wall twice, then kicked off hard and soared into the air, tearing down a large rat with sleek fur from the edge of the ceiling.

At the same time, the middle-aged man did not hold out much hope. Instead, he picked up his camera and rapidly snapped photos at every corner, saying dispiritedly, "Don't celebrate too soon."

"Hm?"

Before he had finished speaking, the young man, who had already picked up the little rat for inspection, frowned slightly. Then he closed his eyes, pressed his index finger to the rat's head, and quietly sensed it.

He soon opened his eyes in disappointment. "It's already been contaminated. The rat's brain has been burned out. There's no useful information to read."

With that, the young man tossed the useless little rat onto the blood-smeared floor, too lazy to give it another glance. (Little rat: Hmph! What a heartless man.) "That's normal. The descent of an evil spirit would inevitably radiate onto these occult creations. This kind of 'Monitoring Rat' isn't high-end merchandise. Besides, biological corpses are naturally prone to absorbing filthy energy and undergoing mutations. I have heard of an extremely niche Electronics School that introduced more stable surveillance equipment with strong anti-interference and anti-pollution properties."

The young man nodded, indicating that he had heard of it. "I know about that, but it requires electrical energy. It's extremely troublesome to install, and the lightning system has too many branches, making it prohibitively expensive and usable in very few situations. It simply can't be widely promoted. It's a luxury item only nobles would custom-order. Still, because it uses Thunder Method energy, all evil things keep their distance from it. Its pollution resistance and stability are indeed extremely strong."

Listening to the two discuss electrical energy and the highly niche Electronics School surveillance devices, Yuan Zhu felt another familiar tremor in his heart.

Ah, it was overflowing. More knowledge was overflowing! He recalled that one chapter in his middle-school textbook had specifically introduced the principles of electric current on Du Ling Planet. Strictly speaking, however, the academic name for electrical energy on Duling was Thunder Method—a dualistic product that was both physics and profoundly mystical.

In Earth's history of technology, the emergence of internal combustion engines and electricity represented the more advanced Second Industrial Revolution.

On Duling, humanity had first seized rapidly declining magical elements from magical aliens, breaking away from traditional agricultural civilization. Then, from the humans of the Steam Universe, they inherited alien steam technology known as the Steam Totem and sprinted headlong into the steam industrial age.

In the end, the locals successfully sidestepped the correct answer Earth had discovered and forged a new path called Elemental Steam. Then that new path turned around and smashed the budding Electrical Revolution to pieces.

In the present world, electrical industries and gasoline-burning cars still existed. But traditional oil-burning internal combustion engines—the Earth version—clearly could not compete with Elemental Steam Cars enhanced by the Extraordinary System, and had been eliminated.

As for electronic devices? Amid the frenzied competition, they too had been squeezed into a niche, unpopular track, gradually becoming a Daoist-flavored industrial Thunder Method industry.

Yuan Zhu recalled how the textbooks had named positive and negative charges Yang Thunder and Yin Thunder, terms steeped in the Daoist worldview. The section on electromagnetic induction was still fairly normal, and humanity had successfully invented direct current and alternating current.

At that point, the subject of Thunder Method was identical to Earth's knowledge of electricity. On that basis, people invented a series of basic electrical devices and promoted them across many countries, and the "Electrical Revolution" had seemed within reach.

The ordinary current of this stage was called "Universal Electric Energy," no different from electrical energy on Earth.

But very soon, Duling scholars researching electrical energy unexpectedly discovered that Universal Electric Energy was merely the most basic, most primitive, lowest-level form of "electricity/thunder." Under the Daoist worldview, people could continue deeply processing ordinary "electricity." Whether they added new elements—the power of the Five Elements—introduced talisman formulas—Thunder Method Talismans—or used other methods, they could evolve and transform Universal Electric Energy.

For example, ordinary current could be upgraded into "Five Thunders Righteous Method," "Five Thunders Evil Method," Divine Firmament Thunder Method, and so on. Not only were the names different, the properties of these thunderbolts also changed.

Once this phenomenon was announced, numerous prestigious universities and Daoist palaces around the world began intensive research into Thunder Methods. Within just a few years, dozens of different Lightning Magic Schools had branched out from traditional electrical power.

Every brand-new type of "lightning" possessed unique attributes and effects, with extremely strong specificity and exceptionally high authority and rank. Yet they were like fire and water, utterly incompatible with one another. These mutated high-end lightning types could also easily devour Universal Electric Energy and assimilate it.

Thus, the emerging electrical industry died overnight. Simple Universal Electric Energy split into countless specialized Thunder Method branches. Ordinary power systems could easily be invaded and assimilated by high-end Thunder Methods.

And high-end Thunder Methods conflicted with and could not accommodate one another, causing the electrical industry to lose its unified foundation and become difficult to promote.

Thus, this world naturally missed the electrical age. Telephones, mobile phones, and computers were never born... There were only one closed little-circle Daoist industrial Thunder Method system after another, each able to lay its own exclusive Thunder Method Power Grid only within its own sphere of influence—its own school.

A Thunder Method device from System A would instantly burn through its motor if it was switched to System B's Thunder Method energy. You wanted to use Jade Purity Divine Thunder to power my Purple Firmament-brand Soy Milk Maker? Dream on! My Purple Firmament Soy Milk Maker would rather die than submit—explode for me! (Device self-destructed.)

About half an hour later, the sky gradually darkened as the two investigators thoroughly searched the manor. They first photographed and collected evidence, then sorted through the contaminated offerings in the sacrifice hall one by one, wrapped them in special oil paper, labeled them with serial numbers, and placed them into a suitcase before loading it into the vintage car's trunk.

Finally, the middle-aged man packed up the White Feather Wish Association list—the parchment Yuan Zhu had found—along with the other materials collected from the study and bedrooms, temporarily concluding this round of investigation.

After confirming that nothing had been overlooked, the middle-aged man came to Yuan Zhu. "The investigation phase is over. You need to return with us to the Security Bureau for another round of testing. Don't worry, we'll just check whether the evil spirit's power has invaded and contaminated your mind. Then we'll see whether anything dirty is hiding inside your body. Based on my experience, you should pass without issue."

"Hmph!" The young man snorted upon hearing that. Dissatisfied with his senior's handling of things, he retorted, "Captain, you know this is a major case involving forty deaths. Are we really just going to wave it through so casually?"

The fat man put away his notebook and spread his hands helplessly. "What else are we supposed to do? Those who died in illegal sacrifice rituals had no human rights to begin with, and you tested him with the detector too. His Deviation Degree is very low. According to enforcement regulations, he is a victim and harmless. Brother Yuan, don't worry. As long as you pass the follow-up testing, you'll regain your freedom."

At that moment, the Little Elf commented in his mind, "That young man is obviously a rookie—a thickheaded youngster who clings to justice. He isn't even trying to hide his hostility and dissatisfaction toward you anymore. He's convinced you're lying and definitely not an innocent offering. He wants to nail you! The other one is an experienced old hand who doesn't want trouble. He looks like he's simply handling official business, but he also suspects you. He just doesn't show it and keeps reassuring you instead. If you ask me, he wants to send you to a place like a police station, then blow you up later if anything goes wrong."

The middle-aged fat man stroked his goatee and asked Yuan Zhu, "How do you plan to travel? Will you drive your company car and follow me, or ride in our car directly to the Security Bureau?"

Yuan Zhu searched his memories carefully but failed to dig out any knowledge of how to drive a local steam car, so he shook his head. "I'll ride in your car. Do I need handcuffs?"

"No need to be nervous. You've been so cooperative. Just get in the back seat. Rest easy for a while; we should arrive in about an hour and a half. As for your company car, I'll contact your boss."

Yuan Zhu asked curiously, "Are you familiar with Fire Fang?"

"We've had good cooperation in the past. After we finish investigating and surveying murder scenes, we also need professionals to clean them up."

Yuan Zhu said, "Oh... I understand!" Tomorrow, other colleagues would come here to clean up the murder scene he had made, right? If he were released early, perhaps he would even be assigned to clean up after himself?

At 5:40 in the afternoon, Yuan Zhu got into the police car headed for the Security Bureau and quietly watched the mist-filled forest shadows outside, their outlines dim in the fading light.

Peaceful, dim, damp, secluded... The road was completely empty, without a pedestrian or car in sight. It gave him the uneasy illusion of driving alone into Silent Hill.

From deep in the mountains and forest came the occasional chilling howl of a wild beast, adding a few more touches of eeriness to Running.

According to what he remembered, wandering through the suburban woods at this hour made it easy for something to happen! This was the Hour of Meeting Demons. Could it be that he had only just escaped a demon's den, only to enter an evil nest?

Fortunately, this battered car rattled and clanged all the way, driving off every approaching danger. Gradually, Yuan Zhu closed his eyes and fell asleep amid the rocking of the vehicle.

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