The dark green spiritual fire was like a floating light and shadow, sweeping across the entire factory in a few seconds. The disturbance from the superior supernatural power was like a gust of wind, lifting the curtain covering "reality", and the reality beneath the curtain appeared in the eyes of Shirley and Duncan.

Ashes, ashes everywhere, human-shaped ashes, shapeless ashes, charred walls, melted roofs, twisted and brittle machine shells after being licked by the fire, and molten materials whose outlines were almost unrecognizable piled together. The entire factory area seemed like a fiery purgatory that had just cooled down not long ago. The fire had been extinguished, but the power to melt everything seemed to still linger in the air.

Shirley stood in the center of the fire wreckage in a daze, her eyes a little confused, while Agou calmly came to the girl's side and gently supported her body with his bony back.

Soon, the green spiritual fire faded away, and everything in the factory returned to normal.

Duncan looked at his hands with some regret - after all, this was just an "ordinary" body, which could not be compared with the original body. The spiritual fire that could be mobilized was also very limited. Even if the fire was released over a large area, it could only be maintained for such a short while.

But even this brief "reappearance" is enough to reveal crucial truths.

"Sure enough, there was a big fire... I knew I was not mistaken..." Shirley muttered to herself, "I have been looking for it for eleven years, and it turns out to be here..."

"But the fire was erased," Agou whispered, "some force has woven a veil in the real world, filtering out all traces of 'fire'... This veil can even block the sight of the Deep Demon..."

"Is it the fragment of the sun? Or is it the guy who brought the fragment of the sun to the city-state?" Shirley frowned. Then she suddenly noticed that Duncan had been abnormally silent since just now, so she couldn't help but cast a glance at him, "What do you think of this..."

"This is not quite the same as the fire scene I remember," Duncan shook his head before Shirley finished speaking. His eyes slowly swept across the facilities in the factory, recalling the details presented here in the brief moment when the curtain was briefly opened. At the same time, he also recalled the scene of the fire in his memory, and recalled the details of the building and the surrounding environment when "himself" escaped from the fire with Nina. Finally, he confirmed that his judgment was correct, "It's not here."

"Ah?" Shirley was stunned for a moment, "The fire in your memory...is not here?"

"The details are too different," Duncan said in a deep voice, while slowly walking out of the factory. He looked through the collapsed gate at the dilapidated street in the distance, "Or to be more precise, the scenery of the entire sixth district... seems to be wrong."

Shirley subconsciously looked at Agou and asked in a low voice, "What do you think is going on?"

"How would I know? I'm just a dog," Ah Gou shook his head, "and eleven years ago I was even more confused than you."

Duncan heard Shirley and Agou talking in the back. He turned his head slightly and asked, "Is this factory the only suspicious location?"

"Maybe...right..." Shirley said uncertainly, "Anyway, according to what I heard, this factory was the center of the chaos eleven years ago."

Duncan remained silent, and over the next two hours, he, Shirley, and the Deep Hound checked all accessible areas of the abandoned factory.

Strangely, apart from the "veil" covering reality, they found no traces of any supernatural powers or supernatural objects.

"This is not right..." After completing a rough inspection of the last building, Agou finally expressed his suspicion, "The 'curtain' covering the fire must be the work of a supernatural power, but we have searched the entire factory and have not found the 'source' of the curtain... This doesn't make sense."

"Does there have to be a source?" Shirley sounded curious.

Duncan was also very curious, but he didn't show it. He just kept a stern face and waited for Agou to explain.

No one would have thought that the only extraordinary expert among the three "people" on the scene was actually a dog...

Agou himself didn't think too much about it. As a deep demon, many supernatural knowledge is common sense to him. He explained casually: "It is obvious that there is a continuous force covering the traces of the fire. This force must have a source to maintain it until now. And just now... after Mr. Duncan's flame faded, the curtain closed again. This also means that there is something behind this curtain supporting it... It may be a powerful anomaly, or it may be a powerful supernatural being. Anyway, no matter what it is, it must exist somewhere in the city-state..."

As it spoke, the Deep Hound raised its head, and its empty eyes scanned the streets in the distance and the city further away.

"We didn't find the source of the curtain within the factory. This means that the thing supporting the curtain is projecting power to this side from a distance, or... the scale of this curtain is beyond imagination. We have only lifted a small corner of it. If it is the second case..."

As Agou spoke, he suddenly lowered his voice nervously: "If it is the second case, then this matter may not be easy to deal with. The general 'abnormality' cannot have such a large coverage area! It is probably an anomaly, an unknown anomaly..."

"The solar fragment is definitely not an ordinary 'anomaly'. After all, according to the cultists, the fragment is the body of the sun god," Shirley suddenly said, "This may be the way the solar fragment hides itself."

"...Is it a higher-level anomaly with the tendency to think? In order to prevent being controlled by others, it took the initiative to create a curtain to erase the traces of its existence and hide somewhere behind the curtain?" Agou said thoughtfully, "I really can't rule out this possibility. If it is really the remains of a god's corpse, it is possible that it had the ability to think before waking up."

Shirley pinched her chin and thought seriously. Then she seemed to suddenly think of something and looked at Agou in surprise: "Agou, you are so knowledgeable? You don't even know the characters..."

"I am the Deep Demon! I am a shadow derived from the flesh and blood of the Deep Lord! This knowledge has been imprinted in my memory since I was born, okay?" Agou shook the chain impatiently, "And speaking of not being able to read... you have the nerve to say that to me?!"

Duncan watched Shirley and her Deep Hound interacting with great interest. There were many secrets about this strange pair, which aroused his strong interest. But before he could ask any questions, Shirley seemed to suddenly remember something. She looked up at the sky nervously and saw that the sun was slowly moving towards the highest point in the sky. She screamed, "Oh! It's noon!"

Duncan raised an eyebrow: "Do you have any other plans?"

"I..." Shirley said nervously, "I have to be home before noon!"

Duncan looked at the girl quietly: "Didn't you say your parents are gone? Who will lecture you if you come home late?"

"I'm not preaching... I made an appointment with someone else!" Shirley waved her hands quickly. It seemed that because of the exploration in the factory together, she was a little bolder in front of Duncan. "I... should we continue next time?"

Duncan glanced at the Deep Hound beside him, who immediately shrank his neck and said, "You have the final say. If you want to continue exploring, Shirley and I..."

“No need,” Duncan shook his head. “We won’t gain anything if we continue to explore here. Let’s wait until we find new clues. Since you have other things to do, go ahead.”

Shirley was immediately surprised, as if she had not expected that the boss would let her go so readily. However, she did not dare to run away directly, so she carefully confirmed: "Then... Agou and I will leave first? If you want to find us in the future..."

Duncan just smiled and looked at her friendlyly: "We are destined to meet."

He looked at Shirley and Agou with a gentle smile, and in his field of vision, on the black chain connecting the Deep Hound, a green spark was quietly smoldering.

This was a small attempt, as it was the result of his deeper understanding of the "Spirit Fire" after he unexpectedly established contact with Vanna last time.

He had released this mark on his own initiative, and it was stronger than the flame left on Vanna - but gentle and harmless.

Shirley suddenly felt a chill - even though the boss's smile was so gentle, she felt like shivering.

But she finally controlled her expression, said goodbye as politely as possible, and then left quickly with Agou.