A mental rut

Pierre and Waiter Bar stared at Lumian and the others, their bloodshot eyes gradually turning from blank to terrified.

They spoke the same words in hushed tones, as if in a daze:

"You all know..."

"You know there's Mad Sickness here..."

Suddenly, Pierre's expression Distortion, and he roared hysterically, "You can't leave either!"

"People outside will find out, and we'll all be finished!"

He suddenly squeezed his body through the open window of the Steam train, trying to climb in and drag Lumian and the others out.

Lugano sprang to his feet and swung his right fist like he was wielding a hoe.

With a bang, Pierre lost consciousness Past hung from the window sill. Waiter Bar, seemingly out of his Rationality, stepped over the middle-aged man soliciting customers and tried to jump into the carriage.

Lugano delivered another punch, knocking out Waiter Bar whose eyes were bloodshot, and knocking him to the ground alongside Pierre.

"They didn't Mutation Monster..." Lumian had initially thought the two townspeople had suddenly gone Mad Sickness.

Lugano turned to the side and asked in a deep voice, "What do we do now?"

"What should we do?" Lumian repeated the "Doctor's" question.

The way things have developed so far has not only clearly shown something unusual, but it has also made him feel conflicted and uneasy.

The bizarre Mad Sickness causes people to lose their Rationality, Imitation canine creatures, and the successive outbreaks clearly demonstrate the presence of supernatural factors. But since Pierre and the other townspeople didn't want the outside world, the government, and the Church to know about this Mad Sickness, fearing it would lead to the disappearance of the entire town, why did they so easily tell Lumian about the Mad Sickness?

This can be explained by the fact that his mental pressure had already reached its limit, and Lumian's words about him getting sick in the Future became the last straw that broke the camel's back. After being awakened, he instinctively prevented the secret from being leaked.

But just as Lumian asked before:

Why not escape from here?

Faced with this inexplicable and unpredictable "contagious" Mad Sickness, shouldn't normal people flee Daddel immediately and return only after the Plague subsides?

Even if they were worried that escaping would attract the attention of the authorities, after dealing with the Mad Sickness and eliminating those who might be at risk of infection, they could take some food and run to the nearby mountains to hide for a few days.

Unless, some force is preventing the townspeople of Dardell from escaping!

Lumian also found confirmation of this in other details:

The townspeople actually knew about similar outbreaks of Mad Sickness elsewhere, and how entire villages had been wiped out by the authorities. Normally, shouldn't we only hear about disasters in certain villages where everyone was buried?

After the Primordial One infected individuals developed symptoms, those who subsequently went insane included Church Clergy, Police Station Police, and health officials. Thus, the Plague precisely severed the central link between Daddel and the local government from the very beginning.

It's as if some intelligent and dangerous individual is deliberately spreading Mad Sickness and using various methods to prevent the townspeople from escaping.

But if such a mastermind truly exists, why would he allow Pierre and the others to inform the Doctor on the Steam train?

If such a Steam train is left in Daddel and fails to arrive in Gati Port by tomorrow morning, it will inevitably attract the attention of the Official Beyonder.

Furthermore, Lumian asked himself, if it were him, if he were to experiment with some kind of insane Mad Sickness, if he were to do something so inhumane, he would definitely choose a relatively isolated village or town with little contact with the outside world, rather than a transportation hub where Steam trains pass by every day or even stop overnight—even if Lumian hadn't asked about Pierre's situation, those people who went to Daddel to sleep in warm beds and taste the pretty little frogs would have noticed something amiss. He couldn't just leave them all behind, could he? That would be investigated!

There are many contradictions, inconsistencies, and inexplicable aspects... both clever and foolish, both cautious and careless... Lumian pondered, looking at Lugano, and said, "What can we do? Of course, we have to find a way to inform the authorities. You don't intend to investigate the Source of the Mad Sickness yourself and save the townspeople, do you? I didn't realize you were so noble."

Lugano gave an awkward smile; he hadn't even considered that possibility.

"How should we inform the authorities?" he asked earnestly.

He rarely does this and has little experience.

"The simplest way is to find the train Police, tell him what Pierre said, and have him use the train's Radio to contact the relevant departments in the Fous Region or the Upper Coastal Province," Lumian said rather casually.

Lugano hesitated for a moment and said, "But, but as witnesses, we will be asked to assist in the investigation. Our identities are fake. Even if we use your Mystical Item to change our appearance, it will be easy for some Mysticism abilities to expose the fact that we are Beyonder."

Lumian thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "Then let's find an empty room on the platform, pile up dozens of bundles of explosives, and then detonate them all at once. With a bang, the roof will be blown off and the house will be destroyed. That way, not only will the train conductor and the train Police be quick to report it, but the officials in the Fous Region will also take notice. This place is not far from Fos City. Once they investigate further, they will discover the Concealment problems in Daddel."

"So, this method doesn't require us to get involved personally, does it?"

Lugano pondered for a moment and said, "Once the authorities investigate further, they'll find out we've been in contact with the townspeople of Darder, and they'll worry we might also be at risk of contracting the Mad Sickness. We won't pass the tests then."

Lumian listened with growing irritation, as if recalling the time when she and her Older Sister were trapped in the Cordou Village after the anomaly occurred, and everything they did seemed to be a problem.

He chuckled and said, "Then I'll personally investigate the Source of this Mad Sickness and blow it to pieces!"

"This way, the problem will be completely solved without attracting the attention of the authorities!"

At this moment, Ludwig, the little boy who had already eaten countless late-night snacks, swallowed the fried potato pancake in his mouth and calmly said, "After informing the authorities about the Mad Sickness, why stay here and wait for them to investigate?"

"Can't we just leave, change our identity, and take a different Steam train to another port?"

Uh... Lumian was stunned for a moment.

Why didn't I think of such a simple idea?

Just now, Lugano and I got more and more bogged down in our discussion, completely trying to find reasons and excuses for our decision to go to Daddel to investigate the Source of the Mad Sickness...

Upon realizing this, Lumian was startled.

He stared at Lugano with feigned nonchalance, observing the "Doctor's" Fortune.

The other party's Fortune for the Future have also turned somewhat bleak!

Lumian laughed and said to Lugano, "You might also be suffering from Mad Sickness."

Lugano was stunned at first, then his face turned pale as he asked, "Really?"

"You can take this as a joke." Lumian tilted his head, seemingly quite relaxed, and said to Ludwig, "See? Reading and learning have many benefits. You never thought of this before; all you knew was to eat."

Ludwig ignored the "Hunter" and used his fork to put a piece of mutton into his mouth.

"What to do, what to do..." Lugano muttered to himself as he tried to use his "Doctor" ability on himself to see if he could save himself.

Lumian interrupted him:

"No need to rush. There's just a risk of getting sick. Just leave before you actually get infected."

As he spoke, he stood up and walked out of the private room.

"Where are you going?" Lugano blurted out.

Lumian, hands in his pockets, returned the smile:

"Go and tell the authorities about the Mad Sickness."

Lugano was momentarily at a loss for words or expression, and could only stare blankly as Lumian strolled away from the box.

After entering the Washroom of the train, Lumian locked the door and directly activated the Black Mark that represented "Spirit World Traversal".

His figure vanished quickly, appearing in Apartment 702 at 9 Orosei Street in the Memorial Hall District of Trier.

At this time, neither Franca nor Jenna was asleep yet; one was reading a novel, and the other was pondering what knowledge to use to feed Chazot Rabbit.

"You, why are you back?" Franca was startled.

She had the strange feeling that she had just dropped the boy off at school in the morning, and then found him at home in the afternoon, legs crossed, eating snacks and watching TV.

Lumian glanced at Franca and said with a smile, "I've encountered Paranormal Event and want to use your channels to inform the authorities so they can handle it."

"Another Paranormal Event? What kind of Mysticism Calamity detector is this?!" Franca exclaimed, both surprised and amused.

Jenna looked at Lumian and suddenly felt that it was a good thing that he left Trier.

"I didn't want to either," Lumian said sincerely, spreading his hands.

Franca sighed and asked, "Where? What kind of incident?"

"In Daddel, Fous Region district, Upper Coastal Province..." Lumian gave a brief account of the situation.

Franca and Jenna were both surprised and frightened to hear about a contagious Mad Sickness.

At the same time, Franca muttered to herself:

I wonder how 007 will react to this "surprise"...

He always tells me to get out of the Market District Market District. If I really did get out, he'd find that not only would supernatural cases from other parts of Trier pile up in his hands, but Mysticism Calamity from other provinces of Intis would also befall him...

Oh right, what does this have to do with me? It's all Lumian's problem!

Fortunately, this guy is heading to the Kingdom of Feynapotter afterward, so any further Paranormal Event won't bother "007." They can't exactly have international collaborations...

After recounting the situation in Daddel, Lumian didn't linger and directly "Teleportation" back to the Washroom of the business class carriage of the Steam train.

He turned on the tap, calmly washed his hands, and then left the Washroom, returning to the small booth. He said to Lugano, "The authorities will react soon; we're preparing to leave."

Lugano suddenly stood up.

Just then, Pierre had been unconscious, slowly woke up and shook Waiter Bar off him onto the platform.

Lumian looked at him and smiled, saying, "We'll stay and investigate the Source of the Mad Sickness. Can you tell me who the Primordial One's Patient was?"

"Who is it..." Pierre, unlike before when he lost his Rationality and attacked Lumian and the others, strangely fell into deep thought.