Shirley followed Duncan cautiously. The temporary quiet atmosphere did not make her relax. Instead, it made her feel more depressed and fearful in the silence. She knew that this fear did not come entirely from herself, but more from "Agou".

Agou was feeling scared, and his emotions were spreading through the symbiotic shackles.

In order to relieve the oppressive feeling in silence, she whispered: "In fact, I was never caught for evading the ticket before... Agou helped me hide it..."

"You mean the 'disguise' that Deep Hound gave you?" Duncan raised his eyebrows. He remembered that Shirley had used some kind of 'disguise' power of Agou to sneak into the cult. The disguise seemed to be a cognitive confusion ability, but he soon shook his head. "It doesn't seem reliable at all. It was discovered last time, and this time it was caught by the ticket seller."

Shirley was filled with resentment when she heard this - what was wrong with Agou's disguise! Wasn't it because he was exposed because of the gaze of a terrifying existence? Is it appropriate for such a big shot to play such a joke on me...

But she didn't dare to speak out her resentment, so she had to hold it in for a long time before she let out a dry laugh: "Ahahaha... You're right, you're right..."

Duncan shook his head. He didn't care what Shirley was thinking. He was just curious about what the girl was investigating. "Why are you concerned about the 'accident' eleven years ago?"

Shirley fell silent for a moment, as if she instinctively didn't want to respond to questions in this regard, but then she pursed her lips again, as if realizing that hiding such a thing from an existence that was almost a warp shadow was meaningless, and she spoke in a low voice: "Actually, it's nothing, I just want to figure out... my parents' affairs..."

After she finished speaking, she quickly added: "You must find this kind of thing boring. I know that in your eyes, the obsession with family affection among us mortals is..."

"No, I understand," Duncan interrupted the girl before she could say anything, because he could guess what Shirley thought of him. If she said anything, it would be mixed with at least 20 kilograms of sand. "That is indeed a very important reason."

As he spoke, he looked at Shirley with a serious look in his eyes: "Were your parents involved in the 'leak' incident eleven years ago? Or were they attacked by cultists?"

Shirley looked at Duncan in surprise. She didn't quite understand why this big shot who looked like he didn't care about other people's business was so concerned about such things, but she still nodded honestly: "They... disappeared eleven years ago... Well, missing is a bit pretentious, they are dead, but their death was unclear... Then I depended on Agou for my life..."

The girl's voice was a little low. These memories were not pleasant for her. Duncan did not let her continue. "How did you and Agou know each other? Those Sun Cultists said that you were a follower of the Annihilation Cult, and that only Annihilation followers could summon the Deep Demon, but you don't seem to admit this."

"I don't believe in any 'sect'! I only believe in myself!" Shirley yelled subconsciously, but then quickly stopped talking and tried to act well-educated and polite. "Agou and I... met eleven years ago."

Duncan suddenly stopped and looked into Shirley's eyes: "Eleven years ago? So..."

"It was after the so-called 'factory leak'," Shirley also stopped and explained with her head down, "I can't remember the specific circumstances, and Agou also said he couldn't remember... It might have been summoned by an Annihilation believer, but the person who summoned it must have been killed by the guardian of the Deep Sea Church, and then it was inexplicably 'bound' to me..."

Shirley concealed a lot, and too many details were skipped in her vague and brief account.

Duncan could sense the girl's concealment and avoidance, but he didn't pay much attention to it.

This is a normal form of self-protection. Even when facing an irresistible powerful being, she would instinctively avoid exposing all her secrets.

He might be able to force Shirley to reveal more by threatening her, but that might not necessarily get the whole truth. On the other hand, there was a lack of basic trust between him and the girl, so the topic could end here for the time being.

Duncan shook his head, looking at the slightly shabby streets on both sides and the pedestrians who were obviously more idle and slower than those in other neighborhoods. He sighed and said, "...I hardly see any children. People on the street are either old or middle-aged. There are not even many young people."

"This kind of old town is like this," Shirley said as if it was a matter of course. She seemed to understand it very well. "Those who can afford it have moved to the Cross Street District. Those who can't move are either the elderly or those who just want to get by. Besides, there are no community schools in this kind of neighborhood, so children naturally won't stay. They will definitely follow the adults..."

Listening to Shirley's serious analysis, Duncan just hummed without comment.

He could imagine the aging population in this old town, but even so, the gloomy atmosphere of the street was still a little too noticeable.

While thinking, Duncan's eyes caught sight of a gray-haired old man sitting in front of a shop on the street. The latter seemed to be basking in the sun, but he noticed the stranger who appeared on the street and was looking at him with a dazed and confused look.

Duncan walked straight over with Shirley.

"Good morning," Duncan said to the old man who was basking in the sun at the door. "We are from Block 4 and would like to ask...how to get to the church?"

He didn't actually care where the church was, he just found an excuse to chat with the locals.

"Church? The church is closed these days. God knows where the nun has gone." The old man who was basking in the sun woke up a little from his laziness, sat up and looked at the stranger in front of him curiously. "It's really strange. Usually, no outsiders are willing to come here... What are you doing here?"

"Visiting friends," Duncan said casually, "No one usually wants to come? Why?"

"It's still that damn factory," the old man complained indignantly, seeming to be quite dissatisfied with the dilapidated state of the neighborhood. "It's been so many years! The area around the factory is still in ruins and there is no grass growing. Everyone says that the chemical substances that leaked that year have not been cleaned up at all. Even people in nearby blocks avoid it when they pass by here. Who dares to get close to here..."

Duncan and Shirley exchanged a glance, then continued, "I saw an old newspaper saying that the area around the factory had been cleaned up..."

"The newspapers said... the newspapers said so many good things! The newspapers also said that the new governor would revitalize the West City Industrial Zone!" The old man spat to the side, "What's the result? West City is getting worse day by day, and our old factory is still in ruins... I tell you, this was a good place when the factory was still there. At that time, the Sixth Block was one of the richest blocks in the downtown area. Now look at what a mess it is..."

The old man kept on complaining, and now that a stranger had finally come to listen to him, the laziness he had just shown while basking in the sun suddenly disappeared without a trace. Duncan interrupted him: "By the way, I just noticed that there aren't many children here... There aren't many young people either. Did they all move away?"

"Move? No one is moving here. At least this broken place has old houses of everyone. How can we easily afford the rent in other blocks?" The old man shook his head. "There are not many young people because they are all old. Children...tsk..."

The old man suddenly sighed.

"No child has been born in this place for eleven years!"

"No newborn baby in eleven years?!" Duncan finally opened his eyes slightly, "Really?"

"How can this be false? I've lived here for most of my life," the old man rolled his eyes. "If you ask me, it's all because of that factory... The land near the factory has been polluted..."

Duncan didn't say anything, but slowly stood up and looked towards the end of the block, towards the location of the abandoned factory he had found on the map before.

Shirley beside him was still talking to the old man curiously. She asked about the factory, the residents who stayed in the Sixth Block, and how many people had moved away in the past eleven years.

However, the old man seemed to have lost his patience. He waved his hands irritably, muttered something complaining, and just perfunctorily answered most of Shirley's questions.

"Let's go," Duncan suddenly said to Shirley, diverting her attention before the irritable girl had an outburst. Then he looked at the old man who had started to bask in the sun again and nodded slightly, "Thank you."

"Oh, you're welcome," the old man waved his hand, "Take care."