First Listening

Filled with disgust for Ms. M, Luther left the house, preparing to take a public carriage to Blackthorn Security Company on Zouteland Street.

As soon as he stepped out of the house, he frowned, his face clearly showing discomfort, and he covered his ears with his hands.

Because countless complex sounds were flooding into his ears.

The sounds of people talking, carriages rolling on the road, things colliding, and eerie whispers lurking in dark corners—after drinking the "Listener" Potion, Luther's hearing became much stronger. If he actively used the "Listening" ability, he could not only hear more clearly, but also hear sounds that ordinary people could not hear... However, he did not dare to try this ability for the time being, because he always felt it would be too dangerous.

Having overly acute senses can be a problem.

He thought to himself, relax, stand by the street and meditate for a moment, focusing his attention on his surroundings. After adjusting himself for about ten seconds, his ears were much clearer, but he could still open his hearing at any time and hear sounds within a range of about ten meters around him.

After adjusting his hearing, Luther boarded a public carriage and disembarked on Zouteland Street, walking into the company. In the lobby, Leonard and Frye were sitting on a sofa, studying a large pile of death reports.

"Several new deaths have been reported. The captain wants you to come with us to the scene and see if you can spot anything from the fresh bodies."

Leonard spoke to Luther, his right hand in his pocket, his posture relaxed.

"Knew."

Luther Zedao.

He recalled what Ms. M had said last night. Judging from her words, there was indeed someone pushing behind these numerous deaths that appeared to be natural.

If you can't find any clues for a long time, try probing her.

Luther thought to himself.

Before setting off, he changed into the uniform of a trainee inspector, just like Frye, while Leonard was one Sequence above them, wore the uniform of an inspector with three the Star on his epaulets.

In fact, Luther is also Sequence 8 Extraordinary, so theoretically he should not only get a raise but also a promotion... However, it's best not to tell the captain about the promotion, otherwise he'll probably get an arrest warrant from the Cathedral Tribunal instead of a better salary.

Unfortunately, even with the promotion, I can't brag about it to them.

As Luther thought regretfully, he boarded the company carriage and headed to the scene of the incident, the Tingen Industrial District.

"I noticed something strange in some of the incidents."

Inside the moving carriage, Leonard took out some documents.

What's strange about it?

Luther glanced at him.

"I can't explain it clearly in just a few words. You'll understand after you've seen the scene."

Leonard said.

The carriage traveled along the Khoy River, approaching the industrial area downstream. The view outside the window changed from bustling streets to vast factory buildings, with towering chimneys that loomed darkly in the distance. The smell in the air gradually became pungent, and the Khoy River appeared murky and black.

Luther rubbed his ears. The roar of countless machine tools came from afar. He tried his best to suppress his hearing to avoid damaging his eardrums from the noise of the Robot.

Finally, the carriage stopped in front of a cotton mill.

At the factory gate, a police chief in charge of local security and a foreman from the factory were already waiting there.

"Sir, please come in."

When the sheriff saw that the three men were all of higher rank than him, his tone involuntarily became more respectful.

When he turned to look at the foreman, his attitude was much worse. "Lead us to the body."

"Damn it, what's so interesting about a dead person?"

The foreman, grinning with a mouthful of rotten, yellowed teeth stained by cigarette smoke, cursed in a thick country accent, "Worthless sluts, I've already paid them back to their families, and they still dare to call the police on me..."

"Stop talking nonsense!"

The sheriff glared at him, "If you keep arguing, I'll send you to the police station!"

The foreman reluctantly moved and walked into the factory.

The roar of the machine tools was unbearable for Luther, but he still managed to glean some information from their conversation. Apparently, a worker had died in an accident at the factory, and the foreman had already paid compensation and didn't want the matter to escalate.

The three entered a factory building covering several hundred square meters, where rows of looms running non-stop came into view.

Deep inside the factory, a massive Steam whirred, transmitting its power to a shaft suspended in mid-air. The rotating shaft then drove belts wound around it, ultimately supplying power to each loom. The looms worked back and forth, drawing out cotton yarn and weaving it into cotton cloth.

Small figures moved back and forth between the looms, replenishing cotton yarn and repairing Robot that had stopped.

Luther paused.

Short stature, thin limbs, filthy faces, and eyes devoid of childlike innocence, these workers were all children as young as seven or eight.

"This is our largest factory here, producing an average of 10 bolts of cotton cloth a day," the foreman said proudly. "If it weren't for that unlucky brat dying and causing the production line to stop for a while, we could have challenged ourselves to produce 12 bolts today."

Luther stared silently at the scene before him, somewhat shocked. Beside him, Leonard and Frye's breathing also became heavy.

Let's see the body.

Leonard tried to look away and said to the foreman.

So they went into a room on the side of the factory and saw a small body wrapped in rags.

"That brat, he dozed off and fell headfirst into the Robot, got Robot," the foreman said casually. "Damn it, he got the whole rag dirty, the Robot has to be cleaned too, what bad luck."

Frye gave the foreman a cold look, walked over, and lifted the rag. He examined it for a moment, then looked up and said, "Judging from the wound, it's definitely from being caught in Robot."

Where are his family members?

Luther asked.

"I've already told them, his parents both have work to do, they'll come over after they finish work."

"My own child is dead, why should I still work!"

Leonard roared.

"If they don't work for a day, they might starve to death. Since the children are already dead, there's no point in coming here," Luther said calmly, a deduction based on his previous memories. "The poor don't even have the right to stop working and feel grief."

Leonard was speechless.

Luther walked over, his eyes scanning the corpse. Just like before, he didn't find anything unusual.

Logically speaking, now that I've been promoted, things should be different.

How about trying out your new ability, "Listening"?

He thought for a moment, then squatted down in front of the structure, pretending to examine it carefully, but actually tilting his ear slightly to activate his Listening ability.

The factory's various noises assaulted the ears, but beneath them lay the groans of countless people, numb and pained. They were hungry, desperate, hateful, and hostile, spreading all extreme emotions wantonly.

How pathetic...

Despite the pain, Luther focused his attention on the child.

"Thank you, sister."

Finally, he heard a tender and joyful voice coming from the corpse's small chest cavity.