Filled with loathing for Ms. M, Silas left the house, preparing to take a public carriage to the Blackthorn Security Company on Zouteland Street.
The moment he stepped outside, he frowned, his face showing obvious discomfort as he covered his ears with his hands.
Countless chaotic sounds were flooding into his ears.
People's voices, the sound of carriages rolling over the pavement, things colliding, and hidden in dark corners, rustling and eerie whispers...
After drinking the "Listener" potion, Silas's hearing had become much stronger.
If he actively used the "Listen" ability, he could not only hear more clearly but would also hear sounds that ordinary people couldn't.
However, he hadn't dared try this ability yet, because he had a feeling it would be very dangerous.
Having senses too sharp is also troublesome.
He thought to himself, relaxing his mind and standing by the street to meditate for a moment, concentrating his attention on his immediate surroundings.
After adjusting for a dozen seconds like this, his ears became much quieter.
But whenever he wanted, he could open up his hearing and listen to sounds within a range of dozens of meters.
After adjusting his hearing, Silas boarded a public carriage, got off at Zouteland Street, and walked into the company.
In the main hall, Leonard and Frye were sitting on the sofa, studying the large pile of death reports.
"There are several new death cases.
The captain wants you to come with us to the scene and see if your eyes can discover anything from fresh corpses."
Leonard told Silas, his right hand casually in his pocket, his posture relaxed.
"Got it."
Silas replied.
He recalled what Ms. M had said last night. From the implications in her words, there really was someone behind these numerous normal deaths.
If we can't find any clues soon, I'll try to probe her about it.
Silas thought to himself.
Before departing, he and Frye changed into their probationary inspector uniforms, while Leonard, who was one sequence higher than they were, wore an inspector's uniform with three stars on his shoulder insignia.
Actually, Silas was also a Sequence 8 Beyonder now.
Theoretically speaking, not only could he get a raise, but he could also be promoted in rank.
However, it would be better not to tell the captain about his advancement; otherwise, what he'd receive probably wouldn't be improved treatment, but rather an arrest warrant from the Holy Cathedral's Tribunal.
Too bad I can't show off my advancement to them.
Silas thought regretfully as he boarded the company's carriage heading to the incident location in Tingen's industrial district.
"I found something strange in some of the cases."
Inside the moving carriage, Leonard took out some of the files.
"What's strange about them?"
Silas glanced at him.
"I can't explain it clearly in a few sentences. Wait until we've seen the scene, then I'll tell you. You'll understand then."
Leonard said.
The carriage traveled along the Khoy River, approaching the industrial district downstream.
The scenery outside the window changed from bustling streets to large factories, with towering chimneys rising darkly into view.
The smell in the air gradually became more pungent, and the Khoy River appeared murky and blackened.
Silas rubbed his ears. The roar of countless machine tools came from the distance.
He tried hard to suppress his hearing to avoid the machine sounds damaging his eardrums.
Finally, the carriage stopped in front of a cotton spinning mill.
At the factory gate, a police sergeant responsible for this area's security and a foreman from inside the factory were already waiting.
"Sir, please come in."
The sergeant saw that all three men's ranks were higher than his own, and his tone involuntarily became respectful.
When he turned to face the foreman, his attitude became much worse.
"Lead the way for us. We need to see the body."
"What the hell is there to see about a dead person?"
The foreman, showing a mouthful of yellowed, rotten teeth stained by tobacco, cursed with a heavy country accent.
"Worthless trash. I already paid money to his family, and they still dared report this to the police..."
"Cut the crap!"
The sergeant glared. "Keep babbling and I'll haul you into the police station!"
Only then did the foreman reluctantly move his body and walk into the factory.
The roar of the machine tools gave Silas's ears no peace, but he still managed to pick out some information from their conversation.
It seemed a worker had died in an accident at the factory. The foreman had already paid compensation and didn't want things to blow up.
The three entered a workshop covering several hundred square meters, and rows of ceaselessly operating looms came into view.
At the deepest part of the workshop, a massive steam engine rotated, transmitting the power it generated to shafts suspended in mid-air.
The rotating shafts drove belts wrapped around them, ultimately delivering power to each loom.
The looms worked back and forth, drawing out cotton yarn to weave into cloth.
Small figures shuttled back and forth between the looms, occasionally replenishing cotton yarn or repairing machines that had stopped.
Silas's body froze.
Short bodies, thin and withered limbs, filthy faces, and eyes that had lost all childish innocence, leaving only numbness... These workers were actually children, around seven or eight years old.
"This is our largest workshop here. On average, it can produce 10 bolts of cotton cloth a day."
The foreman introduced with a proud tone. "If it weren't for that unlucky little brat dying and causing the production line to stop for a while, we could have tried for 12 bolts today."
Silas silently watched the scene before him, somewhat shocked in his heart.
Beside him, Leonard and Frye's breathing also became heavier.
"Let us see the body."
Leonard forced himself to look away and spoke to the foreman.
So they entered a room on the side of the workshop and saw a small corpse wrapped in rags.
"This little brat dozed off and fell headfirst into the machine, got mangled to death by it."
The foreman said casually.
"Damn it, ruined a whole piece of cloth, and the machine needs cleaning too. Really unlucky."
Frye swept a cold glance at the foreman, walked over, and pulled back the rags.
He bent down to examine for a while, then looked up and said, "From the wounds, it is indeed the marks of being mangled by machinery."
"Where's his family?"
Silas asked.
"Already told them. His father and mother both have work to do. They'll come over after they get off."
"Their own child is dead, and they still have to work?!"
Leonard said angrily.
"If they don't work for a day, they might starve to death.
The kid's already dead anyway, so coming here once won't mean anything."
Silas said coolly. This was the situation he'd deduced based on his previous memories.
"Poor people don't even have the right to stop working and feel their grief."
Leonard was immediately at a loss for words.
Silas walked over, his eyes scanning across the body. Still the same as before, he didn't notice anything strange.
Logically speaking, now that I've advanced, there should be something different.
Should I try the newly acquired ability, "Listen"?
He thought for a moment, then crouched in front of the body, pretending to examine it carefully while actually tilting his ear slightly and activating the listening ability.
Various factory noises rushed into his ears, but beneath them were countless people's painful and numb groans.
They were hungry, desperate, hateful, hostile, and wantonly spreading all their extreme emotions.
How truly sad...
Silas endured the pain and concentrated his attention on the child.
"...Thank you, sister."
Finally, he heard a childish and joyful voice emerging from the small corpse's tiny chest.