Chapter 36 Distribution of Power: The New Sun, the Ocean Research Center, and the End of All Things...
Chapter Thirty-Six
"Let's start with a simple question... What do you know about the Flüssau docks?"
"this……"
The woman opposite him was lounging lazily on the sofa, sipping the hot cocoa that Chen Xijing had brought her. She looked completely harmless, but Cat Whiskers dared not underestimate her and carefully chose his words:
"Twenty years ago, I established a pirate group based at the Frenza Wharf. What information would you like to know, Bishop?"
District 06, also known as the Lower District, is the largest of the six cities in the City of the Sun, and the only one whose area is shrinking.
Twenty years ago, the Flúnça Wharf was located on the edge of the lower city. Although he didn't know why it was called a wharf on land, Catbeard chose this place to register the Hunter's Guild, and incidentally, he also named it a pirate crew in the city.
Twenty years have passed, and the small guild has grown into one of the largest guilds in the city. Yet, in a single day, its territory was seized, resulting in heavy casualties. The Frenza Wharf was also moved from the city limits into the gray fog zone.
The Hunter's Guild's outposts are more or less like this. Even though the gray fog is full of dangers, the so-called high risk, high reward, can only be achieved in such gray fog outposts, which can produce enough high returns to satisfy the high consumption of the fog hunters who live on the edge.
"How much does your group earn at the dock each year?"
Cat Whiskers paused for a moment. The dock was too close to the city, and its symbolic significance within the group outweighed its economic benefits. Sometimes it even served as a transit point. She recalled for a moment before saying a number.
Not too high, not too low; some small guild headquarters can also earn similar income. Cat Beard was a little confused about Du Yu's purpose in asking this question. The woman opposite him smiled, took a piece of paper from her bag, and threw it on the table.
"You've been operating at the Volensa docks for twenty years, haven't you noticed there's a mineral vein nearby?"
"What?"
This time, it was Wenren Qiu, who couldn't help but speak up. She was the logistics manager of the pirate crew and was more familiar with the crew's various strongholds than Catwhisker, who was mainly in charge of combat. Therefore, she reacted more strongly to Du Yu's words than Catwhisker.
But when she picked up the paper on the table, even the usually calm Wenren Qiu couldn't help but start to doubt herself. If the information in her hand was true, could there really be a mineral vein near the Furensa dock?
Cat Whiskers glanced at the distraught Wenren Qiu, then stepped onto a low stool and strained to see the contents of the paper.
The paper contained a seemingly legitimate mining plan, and the surrounding environment was right near the Flénza dock!
"How could this be..."
Cat Whiskers' eyes widened for a moment as he looked at the signature on the plan. As if he had figured something out, he murmured:
"No wonder. Of the five outposts that were openly hidden in the gray fog, those bald guys only rebuilt the docks after taking them. They wouldn't let us get close. I thought they just wanted to humiliate me..."
"But that doesn't make sense either."
Cat Whiskers tugged at his bangs on either side of his face in frustration, his confusion growing even stronger:
Although her pirate crew had always had friction with the bald men of the Gentlemen's Club, it was clearly not to the point of life or death. She couldn't understand why the Gentlemen's Club would ambush them.
Now that the reason—the mineral vein near the Furensa docks—has appeared, she is even more puzzled. Minerals that can appear in the gray fog are mostly used in the extraordinary realm and are much more valuable than ordinary ores.
But the fact that they didn't discover the mine during the twenty years they were stationed there shows that the mine was not large at all. If the Gentlemen's Guild really wanted it, they could have talked to her about it. How did it come to a life-or-death situation?
You should know that although they suffered heavy losses, those bald guys didn't fare much better. They heard that Black Hawk took the opportunity to seize a lot of territory, and one of the bald guys went crazy and couldn't even do such a simple business.
Wenren Qiu snapped out of her shock, her eyebrows furrowing and her eyes narrowing slightly. "Impossible. Bald Kui isn't that kind of person. There must be something wrong with the Furensa docks."
"This is your next task."
Du Yu noticed the confusion on their faces, put down his mug, and spoke slowly.
The paper was naturally the one Dong Shijiu handed her at the Red Light Bar. After recognizing the Furensa Wharf, she happily decided to outsource the task.
Investigating the anomalies at the Flèneja Wharf, who in the lower city could rival the Catbeard Pirates, who had been stationed there for over twenty years?
Du Yu doesn't even need to pay much compensation; their initiative in seeking revenge is extremely high.
"Bishop D, are you also interested in the docks?"
Cat Beard understood Du Yu's unspoken meaning, tightened his grip on the plan, and tentatively began to speak.
Du Yu lowered his eyes and glanced at the empty mug with lingering interest. Wenren Qiu immediately understood and asked Shen Xijing to brew another mug.
Du Yu took a satisfied sip of the sweet hot cocoa, and in response to the two's probing questions, he posed a seemingly unrelated topic: "What do you know about the cultists in the lower city?"
In the lower city, the sheriffs of the City of the Sun can turn a blind eye to any illegal activity, but they will never let any cult member go unpunished, and topics related to cults are strictly censored.
Neither the original owner nor Dong Shiwu had much of an impression of this. After much thought, they decided to ask the Hunter's Guild (gang), which was known as one of the three major scourges of the Lower City along with cultists and casinos, about their opinion on cultists.
As expected, her choice was right. Faced with his abrupt question, Cat Whiskers hesitated for a moment. This reaction didn't seem like he was embarrassed, but rather like he had too much information and didn't know how to organize his thoughts.
"Well, there's a lot to say about this. If it's convenient, leave your address and I'll have Qiuqiu write a report for you."
Cat Whiskers glanced at Wenren Qiu beside him, then turned his gaze back and stroked his chin. "If you ask me, although those rats are causing a ruckus everywhere, there are only three noteworthy cults in the entire Lower City... Of course, not including that great being."
Cat Beard breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Du Yu nod and not hold her slip of the tongue against her. He continued, "The first one, and currently the most active in the lower city, is the [New Sun] Church."
Cat Whiskers paused for a long time between the words "New Japan," as if afraid that directly saying these two words would attract the attention of certain beings. "They advocate violence, explosions, and chaos. There are rumors that those Angry Birds... cough, the Hunter Guild Black Hawk is supported by them."
"Their doctrine is strange. They believe that the sun died before the Great Cataclysm, and what hangs in the sky now is merely the remains of unknown creatures. They call the current sun the 'Old Sun,' and believe that it is the light of the 'Old Sun' that brings the lingering gray fog. Therefore, they are determined to use explosions and chaos to make a new sun rise over the City of the Sun."
Du Yu's eyes flickered. This "New Sun" church was quite interesting. Although their doctrines sounded absurd, they had their own logic, which was quite different from the cults Du Yu was familiar with.
Upon hearing this, Wenren Qiu frowned in annoyance and added, "So the bounty on these bombers is the highest in the Public Security Bureau and the Administration Bureau. We've captured quite a few, but unfortunately... any important member will self-destruct in prison the day after they're arrested."
Cat Whiskers also curled his lip in disgust; clearly, these bomb-crackers had caused them considerable losses.
She paused for a moment to recall, then continued, "The next one is the most mysterious group among the cult members, the [Ocean Research Center]."
"【Marine Research Center】?"
Du Yu repeated the name of this evil/god cult with some surprise, a hint of interest flashing in his eyes.
Catwhisker nodded. "They're crazy too, but it's a different kind of madness compared to the bombing maniacs of [New Sun]. They seem to be genuinely looking for the ocean and aren't very interested in the city. The last time I met them was ten years ago at the Florence docks."
At this point, Cat Whiskers paused, seemingly not expecting that the docks would be involved again, but Du Yu was not surprised.
The existence of a dock in the heart of the continental city of Chasing the Sun is strange enough. But the fact that this dock is connected to the even stranger cult organization, the Ocean Research Center, is both unexpected and perfectly logical.
Cat Whiskers scratched his chin and recalled for a moment: "I don't know much about their doctrines. I only know that the one they worship is the Lord of the Pure Sea, and their doctrine is a very strange statement."
She tilted her head uncertainly, then repeated the sentence word by word, her voice becoming somewhat strange towards the end:
"Man is an unclean river. To contain an unclean river without becoming polluted himself, man must be an ocean." [Note]
Man must be like the ocean...
Du Yu pondered this enigmatic statement several times, vaguely understanding its meaning, but a new question arose: "If they aren't very interested in cities, why is this [Ocean Research Center] ranked among the top three cult organizations?"
"This ranking wasn't done by me. I don't know when it started circulating among the Mist Hunters."
Cat Whiskers stroked his chin, seemingly finding it a bit strange as well, and rolled his eyes: "There are probably two reasons. First, this research center has been around for a long time. Those that survived the crackdowns by the public security bureau must have some skills."
"The other one..."
Cat Whiskers scratched his head. "Maybe it's because that person's ranking is high. Although those bomb-crazy people are good at attracting hatred, the director of the Ocean Research Center has been the one with the highest bounty on the council's bounty list for more than ten years."
Judging strength by the bounty amount? There's some truth to that. After all, the weaker ones are all given away for the prize money.
"As for the last one—"
Cat Whiskers paused here, and Wenren Qiu, disregarding the late hour, turned on all the lights in the living room.
Not only that, the side door opened, and Shen Xijing and the others brought in several more table lamps and floor lamps. Even three candles were placed on the table in front of Cat Whiskers, instantly making the room as bright as day, with light so strong it was almost blinding.
Cat Whiskers then spoke, his voice very low, "The last one is actually right next to you and me."
Du Yu raised an eyebrow, meeting Cat Whiskers' hint: "Gray Mist?"
"That's right."
Cat Whiskers lowered her voice even further; if everyone present hadn't been a superhuman, probably no one would have been able to hear her clearly.
"They are the [Society of the End of All Things], who do not worship any god, but rather the gray fog outside the City of the Sun. They believe that a mysterious and great being exists within the gray fog. In the face of the gray fog, humanity is nothing but a feeble existence, and there is no need to struggle; they can simply wait for destruction."
The moment the phrase "The End of All Things" was uttered, the bright room suddenly darkened, a strange, eerie wind swept through the enclosed space, and the candlelight flickered wildly, almost going out.
Cat Whiskers watched the candle cautiously, and only breathed a sigh of relief after the room was bright again, the cold wind had disappeared, and the candle had returned to normal. He then continued:
“Although cultists are all a bunch of lunatics, they are the lunatics of them all. They have actually made some kind of connection to the fog. If there isn’t enough light around you when you mention their names, you will be marked by them and pulled into the gray fog in your dreams.”
Even though everything around him had returned to normal, Cat Whiskers still looked shaken and let out a sigh of relief. "They're not very active, but when they do make a move, it's always something big. The smog has been encroaching on the city faster and faster in recent years, and some people say they're behind it all."
【New Japan】, 【Ocean Research Center】, 【The End of All Things】—Du Yu mentally recited the names of the three cult organizations. With this information, this trip was not in vain.
After entrusting the two with the task of gathering information about [MiMiYin], Du Yu stood up to take his leave, and the conversation returned to what had just happened.
The woman, wearing worn-out slippers, had her hands in her pockets. Her unremarkable face disappeared into the darkness, and only a soft chuckle could be heard.
"Don't worry, my actions will not affect your revenge. I asked you to investigate only because... someone dared to covet what doesn't belong to them."
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The author's note: "Man is an unclean river. To contain an unclean river without becoming polluted himself, man must be an ocean." —Quoted from Nietzsche, *Thus Spoke Zarathustra*
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The next chapter will begin the main storyline of this book—collecting trash!
Dudu: ?
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I've changed the title, please don't misunderstand! QAQ
That's all for now, I'm hopeless at naming things. I'll change it if I come up with a better one later.
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