West Tivian, Coal Ash District.
In the afternoon, a large black carriage was parked by the roadside in front of the Coal Ash District's Police Station. Inside the police chief's office, Edmund, the Captain stationed at the Tivian Hidden Security Bureau's An-Yin Main Bureau, sat lazily in the police chief's chair, looking at the city map on the wall in front of him.
At this moment, the Hunters under Edmund were busy organizing the crime files moved from the archives, marking the crime locations on the map. Looking at the map, which showed a dense center and sparse surroundings, forming a radial distribution, Edmund couldn't help but nod silently.
"Dense center, sparse surroundings, this radial distribution... a typical phenomenon displayed by Extraordinary abilities whose intensity gradually decreases with distance. Alas... it seems this wave is indeed within our scope of responsibility, there's no escaping it..."
Looking at the situation on the map, Edmund said with a sigh. The situation displayed on the map before his eyes was very clear. The densest point on the map was the source of some kind of Extraordinary power's radiation, possibly a runaway Extraordinary, or perhaps some Extraordinary item was damaged there. But no matter what, it was definitely their responsibility.
"Then, uh, Captain, may I ask if the recent surge in crime incidents in the Coal Ash District is due to..." At this moment, the police chief standing beside Edmund spoke nervously, while Edmund replied casually.
"Yes, there are indeed hidden factors involved. Don't worry, we will handle it."
Edmund responded, saying it was obvious that this incident was caused by an Extraordinary ability capable of long-range, large-scale mental influence, either some kind of Extraordinary or some Extraordinary item.
Hearing Edmund's words, the police chief let out a long sigh of relief. The rapid deterioration of the public security environment in the Coal Ash District over the past half month had put immense pressure on him as the chief. The density of so many crime incidents was enough to saddle him with the charge of serious dereliction of duty.
Fortunately, the higher-ups also recognized the unusual nature of this series of incidents, sent professional personnel over, and confirmed that there was indeed a hidden intervention unknown to ordinary people. This way, the main responsibility would not fall on ordinary police officers. The apprehensive police chief immediately breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"Alright... this series of cases is very severe. We will do our best to cooperate with your investigation, Captain. Please feel free to command anything you need."
The police chief said to Edmund with a relaxed expression, while Edmund responded by gently waving his hand.
"Generally, there won't be anything needed. Just stay at your posts as usual, do what you're supposed to do, and don't mess things up," Edmund said, while the police chief repeatedly nodded and echoed with a smile. Just then, a Hunter team member walked over and reported to Edmund.
"Captain Edmund, we have finished organizing all the files."
Hearing his subordinate's report, Edmund put his feet down from the desk, stood up from the chief's seat, and slowly walked to the map in the office. The police chief followed closely behind.
Looking at the map on the wall, Edmund focused his attention on the densest central area. After glancing at the place name there, he turned to the police chief beside him and asked.
"Carbonwood Crossroads... Is there anything suspicious here?"
"Carbonwood Crossroads... suspicious place, huh? Let me think, ah... Captain, there's a house at that intersection that was burned down in a fire. The fire was quite fierce, it seemed to have killed an entire family back then. Fortunately, it was extinguished in time and didn't spread to other houses. It's been empty for a long time now, and usually only homeless people sleep inside."
The police chief reported to Edmund like this, and Edmund nodded after hearing it, then said to his Hunters.
"Let's change into plain clothes, we'll go take a look there."
"Yes, Captain."
Soon, Edmund left the chief's office with his Hunters. After Edmund left, the police chief's expression relaxed slightly. He then walked to the window and looked out at the Hunters below getting into their carriage and driving away into the distance, his expression becoming solemn.
...
At this moment, in a dim, narrow, but luxuriously decorated room, a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, wearing a simple robe and with mixed gray hair, was sitting on the sofa.
In front of the man was a cup of red wine and a plate, on which lay bloody, fresh chunks of meat. In his hands, he held a large, strange staff. The staff's body was as thick as an arm, and its head was spherical, as large as a basketball, covered in red canvas. The man closed his eyes to rest while stroking the canvas-wrapped spherical staff head with his hand.
"Heh... I didn't expect Black Dog to arrive so quickly. What a coincidence, starting the operation together with the big star and her follower... It seems the Coal Ash District is quite tempting..."
While stroking the staff in his hand, the man muttered to himself. He looked at the table in front of him, where there was also a city map of the Coal Ash District beside the red wine. At this moment, his gaze was also focused on the Carbonwood Crossroads.
"If that's the case, how about arranging a 'chance encounter' for you?"
The man continued speaking, a faint smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.
...
West Tivian, Coal Ash District, Carbonwood Crossroads.
Carbonwood Crossroads is a triangular intersection in the Coal Ash District. Like other parts of the Coal Ash District, the ground and buildings here are covered with a layer of fine dust. The number of pedestrians and carriages passing through the intersection is neither large nor small; it's not a particularly bustling place.
By the roadside at Carbonwood Crossroads, a charred stone building was particularly conspicuous. This three-story building that had suffered a fire was very noticeable among the surrounding structures, but because the people nearby had grown accustomed to its presence, it didn't attract much extra attention, except, of course, for certain people who had just arrived at the intersection.
On one side of Carbonwood Crossroads, Adele and Ed, disguised with hats and sunglasses, stood here, looking together at the burned-down building by the roadside not far away. After glancing at the charred stories a few times, Ed spoke in a low voice.
"The most suspicious place in this entire intersection seems to be here, Miss Adele. Do you feel anything?"
"No, as of now, I don't feel anything unusual. There seems to be no sign of the Desire Dancer's ability having been used here. We might need to enter that building to find something."
Adele responded beside Ed, looking at the black building in front of them along with Ed's gaze. Dorothy, from a distance, thought for a moment and began using the flying Crow Corpse Puppet to observe the entire intersection from the sky. It then flew into the building for a preliminary observation, found nothing unusual, and thus had Ed speak again.
"Hmm... The source of this runaway Extraordinary power should be nearby, and that small building is the most likely possibility. I've already sent my animal flesh puppet inside to investigate. It's just empty ruins and straw beds for the homeless, nothing special."
"Perhaps... there's something hidden inside using Extraordinary power, or some mechanism? Maybe we can go inside and take a look. Many Extraordinary traces can't be detected by flesh puppets," Adele responded. Hearing Adele's words, Ed also nodded in agreement.
"Okay, then we can find a place where no one is..."
Just as Ed was about to continue speaking, the Crow Corpse Puppet that Dorothy had arranged for aerial reconnaissance suddenly discovered something. Within the Crow Corpse Puppet's field of vision, Dorothy saw a black carriage approaching from the road in the distance.
Although this black carriage had a simple appearance and seemed no different from other carriages, upon closer inspection, one could see that its carriage was several sizes larger than a normal carriage, and the horses pulling it seemed much stronger than those of ordinary carriages. The carriage wasn't covered in much coal ash, making it cleaner than typical carriages traveling in the Coal Ash District.
Seeing such a somewhat special carriage stopped at Carbonwood Crossroads from a high-angle view, Dorothy immediately stopped Ed from suggesting to Adele that they enter the house to investigate. Instead, she continued to observe the black carriage, watching several men in civilian clothes disembark. As soon as they got off, they immediately turned their gaze towards the charred house, and some began to discuss something.
"What's wrong?"
Seeming to notice something unusual about Ed beside her, Adele asked in a low voice, while Dorothy had Ed answer in a deep voice.
"Don't rush, other people have arrived now, and their target seems to be that building too. We can wait a bit."
Ed said this to remind Adele, then glanced at the few people beside the black carriage across the crossroads. After noticing their presence, Adele's expression turned serious, and she slowly nodded, accepting Ed's suggestion.
After noticing the appearance of the black carriage, Ed and Adele decided to hold their ground and wait to see what happened. Meanwhile, Edmund, who had just gotten off the carriage, fixed his eyes on the charred house in the distance after exchanging a few words with his subordinates.
"Is that the place? Heh... This area, only here is the most suspicious place... Let's go take a look first..."
Saying this, Edmund prepared to lead his subordinates directly towards the charred small building. Meanwhile, in the shadows within the crowd, Ed and Adele silently watched everything unfolding, planning to avoid contact with these mysterious newcomers and observe before making any decisions.
...
In the dimly lit, luxuriously decorated small room, the man who had been stroking his staff and resting with closed eyes suddenly slowly opened his eyes. His brown gaze revealed a hint of captivating light.
"Quite sharp, Miss Star... She actually noticed as soon as Black Dog arrived. She has some skill...
"But this way, you won't run into each other. Since that's the case, I'll give it a push..."
Murmuring, the man continued to close his eyes, then stood up from the sofa and raised the unusually large staff in his hand. The spherical staff head, covered by red canvas, now emitted a strange faint light.
...
At Carbonwood Crossroads, Edmund was preparing to lead his team downstairs to the charred small building for further inspection, when at this moment, a burst of noise attracted his attention.
"Hey! How are you walking! Are you leaning towards me? Are you up to no good!"
"I'm walking my way, what's it to you! Are you deliberately picking a fight!"
Hearing the two loud voices, Edmund stopped and looked towards where the sound was coming from. He saw two young men at the crossroads who had gotten into a conflict with each other and were fiercely cursing at each other.
"Speak up! Were you just trying to scheme against me!"
"So what if I was scheming against you! I've been unhappy with you for a long time!"
The two men were arguing loudly in the middle of the crossroads. While arguing, they also took out the knives they carried with them and gestured at each other, looking as if they could start fighting at any moment.
Although these two were arguing so fiercely and seemed to have deep-seated grudges, if you listened closely to what they were arguing about, you would find that it was all about trivial matters. The reason they started arguing with each other was actually because they didn't like the look of each other when they brushed past each other on the street!?
It wasn't just these two; after these two, some other pedestrians at the crossroads also suddenly started arguing loudly with each other over disagreements. There were pedestrians arguing with beggars, bar staff arguing with customers, couples arguing, and fruit stall owners arguing with customers.
"Hey! Hey! Why are you only giving this much money! Look how well you're dressed, aren't you going to give more, you stingy ghost!"
"It's good enough that I gave you anything! Do you want a fist? You stinky beggar!"
...
"What kind of service attitude is this! Do you talk to customers like that?"
"This is my attitude, what are you going to do about it?"
...
"You dead ghost! Did you just look at another woman! That woman wearing sunglasses! I'm going to kill you!"
"Come on then! You ugly hag! Watch me kill you and marry a new one!"
...
"There's something wrong with your scale, how is this 16 pounds?"
"You're deliberately picking a fight, aren't you? Just say whether you want it or not!"
...
In an instant, the entire crossroads became noisy. People suddenly started arguing fiercely, their faces red, over trivial matters. The disputes quickly escalated from simple arguments to mutual personal attacks, then to death threats, and finally, they even took out the weapons they carried and started gesturing with them.
At the small Carbonwood Crossroads, more than a dozen pairs of people suddenly appeared out of nowhere, arguing. The conflicts between these arguing parties escalated rapidly, seemingly about to break out into a large fight and cause bloodshed at any moment.
Ed and Adele, who were by the roadside, couldn't help but frown upon seeing this scene. Adele looked at the scene at the crossroads and couldn't help but say seriously.
"This is the ability of a Desire Dancer..."
"Desire Dancer... stirring up so many conflicts at once... Is your ability this powerful?"
"Mm... This is what we are good at. We instantly stimulate and inflate the tiny desires arising from momentary dissatisfaction and annoyance into a sea of blood-soaked hatred, making complete strangers become enemies as deep as the sea, drawing blades against each other...
"This scale of ability... Indeed, my teacher is nearby! Let me calm down the desires in their hearts that have been stimulated by the ability."
Adele said this, then she began to focus on the noisy crowd in front of her, starting to use her ability to calm the turbulent hearts of the people present.
Meanwhile, the sudden abnormal situation appearing among the crowd also attracted the attention of Edmund and his Hunters. Edmund turned his gaze towards the chaotic crowd, his normally relaxed brows furrowing tightly.
'This... is an Extraordinary ability, and it's the one that has been affecting the Coal Ash District recently. It's actually manifesting on a large scale now?'
Looking at the scene before him, Edmund thought to himself. Facing this series of rapidly escalating conflicts that could cause significant casualties if they continued, his heart tightened, and he began to feel a sense of urgency.
'This Extraordinary ability is harming people again, and this time the scale is so large. If it's not stopped immediately, it will lead to a tragedy! We must act immediately and find the source of the Extraordinary power!'
While thinking to himself, Edmund began to scan everything around him, seemingly trying to find the source of the Extraordinary power affecting the scene before him.
At this moment, because Edmund wanted to save people, his desire to "find the source of the Extraordinary power" grew increasingly strong. Unbeknownst to him, a force he couldn't perceive began to guide this desire of his, leading him towards a predetermined direction.
Guided by the urgent desire in his heart, Edmund looked across the road. He saw a man and a woman standing there, two figures. Although there was chaos all around, they appeared very calm, continuously watching the chaotic crowd before them.
In Edmund's eyes, this was very unnatural, especially the woman wearing sunglasses, who seemed so prominent in his sight at that moment.
"Found you... the mastermind."