Chapter 263 - 262: Probably a Rare Monster?

Chapter 263: Chapter 262: Probably a Rare Monster?

"Sir, are you an Extraordinary Being? Are you from the Judgment Court?"

After walking for a few minutes, the child guide suddenly asked. It seemed he recognized Lloyd’s gray uniform.

"Mm."

Lloyd responded, keeping pace with the child while spreading his inspiration to constantly observe the surroundings.

As the last rays of the sunset faded, the shantytown was quickly plunged into darkness. With no streetlights, the only illumination came from the faint candlelight flickering in nearby windows, casting the surroundings in a cold, eerie atmosphere.

Luckily, Lloyd had found a guide beforehand; otherwise, he would have been completely lost.

"Sir, is the Judgment Court going to clear this place out? And the Underground City below?" the child suddenly asked again.

Lloyd asked in return,

"I don’t know. That’s not for me to decide. But since you’re worried about it, why haven’t you considered leaving?"

"Leave? I don’t know where I’d go. I’ve lived here my whole life. I can get a full meal here every day. If I left... I don’t know what I’d do."

"Hm? A full meal?"

"Yes, Lame Old Dad provides us with food. If someone is really smart, they can even go to school outside, but no one wants to. We’re all too scared to leave."

"Lame Old Dad?"

"Yes, we all get by under Lame Old Dad. He might not be the strongest boss around here, but he’s the most respected."

The two chatted intermittently as the child gave Lloyd a simple overview of the current state of this Wasteland District.

Though the area wasn’t very large, even including the Underground City below, it was nothing compared to the magnificent Radiant City. Yet, dozens of different ’gangs’ and ’brotherhoods’ were mixed in...

They all had their own territories and ’businesses,’ engaging in all sorts of illegal or gray-market trades.

And surprisingly, their main clientele came from the nearby New City District...

But the New City District was a booming financial center, representing the city’s ’Radiant’ side...

’Perhaps this is the shadow cast by the light?’

Lloyd had neither the inclination nor the ability to solve these social problems, so he just took it as background information.

He was just a little surprised that the Lame Old Dad the child spoke of was actually engaged in a relatively legal business: providing cheap labor to factories and mines in the city’s outskirts, similar to a temp agency.

Of course, his methods for recruiting workers involved a bit of coercion and enticement, but it was still much better than the outright criminal factions. He was one of the few ’respectable people’ in this Wasteland District.

"This is Lame Old Dad’s tavern. If you want to ask about the haunting, sir, you can go in and ask. I’ll wait for you out here," the child suggested, stopping in front of a tavern.

The tavern looked quite crude, walled in by a few sheets of rusted scrap metal, from which a strong stench of liquor emanated.

Yet it was one of the few lively places in the area, filled with a clamorous din and even featuring ’luxuries’ like electric lights and a record player.

Lloyd considered for a couple of seconds before asking:

"How far is it from here to where I need to go?"

"A few hundred meters south down this path is where the Ghost Soul was first seen."

The child pointed to a fork in the road nearby.

"Alright, wait for me out here for a bit."

"Okay, sir."

With that, Lloyd walked into the tavern.

The moment he pushed open the door, every patron inside swiveled their heads in unison to look at him. Upon seeing his gray uniform, the lively clamor instantly died down. Everyone stared at him, their faces tense as if facing a great enemy.

Some even secretly reached under the tables or to their waists, their hands closing around the hidden hilts of daggers and swords.

The momentary silence was broken only when a bartender, sitting at the center of the bar, spoke up:

"Someone from the Judgment Court? How did you find this place?"

Before Lloyd could speak, the child guide peeked out from the side and explained:

"Dad, I brought this gentleman here. He’s looking for that Ghost Soul from a few days ago and wanted to ask for some information."

"Oh? Got it."

After hearing this, the bartender waved his hand, and the tension in the room immediately eased. The patrons went back to their drinking and chatting, and the noisy atmosphere quickly returned as if nothing had happened.

Lloyd walked up to the bar and asked:

"Are you the ’Lame Old Dad’ he mentioned?"

As he spoke, he sized up the man. He looked to be a foreman in his fifties, with a rather amiable face—the type who seemed easy to talk to.

He then used [Inspect] on the man’s Attributes. He was just an ordinary person. The Threat Level line was completely blank, probably indicating he posed no threat at all.

"Yes, that’s what they all call me, though my leg isn’t lame. Just an old case of rheumatism... So, what should I call you? A Gray Judge?"

"Whatever you like..."

Lloyd didn’t care about such things and continued asking:

"Tell me about the haunting. I hear several lives have already been lost?"

"That’s right. It’s been disturbing our peace for days and hurting my business. We tried hiring an Extraordinary Being from outside to deal with it, but the price was too high... So what about you? How much are you going to charge?"

"I can help for free, as long as you provide me with more information about that thing."

"Oh? Looks like I’ve met a good person. Alright then..."

The bartender smiled, then waved over two men from a nearby table.

"Tell this honorable Gray Judge everything you saw."

The bartender’s attitude was unexpectedly serious. He brought over a dozen witnesses, one after another, to describe the Ghost Soul’s situation to Lloyd.

According to them, the thing only appeared between 4 and 5 a.m., when normal people are sound asleep.

But for the people living nearby, that was precisely the time to head out to work and make a living, or the time for drunks to wake up and head home.

That’s why so many people witnessed it, spreading the news and allowing Evelor’s side to collect information.

It haunted the area the child guide had pointed out. It just seemed to wander aimlessly, as if looking for someone or something, and didn’t actively attack humans.

However, it didn’t deliberately avoid humans either. It drifted about in an exceptionally domineering way. Once a person got within a certain distance, they would inexplicably go insane and find a way to kill themselves.

This was consistent with the symptoms of Spiritual Contamination. The greatest threat from a Bizarre Derivative was its elusive nature and the hard-to-defend-against Spiritual Contamination. It was a powerful source of contamination that could pop up in your face at any moment.

It was even more fatal for ordinary people with low Rationality. Just getting close for a few seconds could drive them to madness without them even knowing what happened. This was truly terrifying, far more dangerous than a traditional ghost that just rushes you with physical attacks.

Over a dozen people had been killed in just a few days...

Hearing these descriptions, Lloyd was basically certain that this was the Bizarre Derivative he was looking for.

However, two details bothered him—

’According to the descriptions from the witnesses in the tavern, the Ghost Soul had no single, consistent appearance?’

Some said it was a flying piece of cloth. Others said it was a woman in a white nightgown whose face was unclear. Some claimed it was a large white bird, and still others said it was a white balloon.

Besides the uniform color, the descriptions of its form were all over the place.

’This was rather different from the Bizarre Derivatives described in textbooks...’

The other strange thing was that ordinary people without Spiritual Vision could see it with their naked eyes.

The danger of a Bizarre Derivative lay in its lack of a physical body, requiring the use of inspiration and Spiritual Vision to observe. However, doing so made one susceptible to more severe Spiritual Contamination, which was why so many people found them difficult to handle.

’One that could be seen directly with the naked eye was a special type. A rare spawn, perhaps?’

So Lloyd asked:

"I recall there are Extraordinary Beings in the Underground City nearby, right? You didn’t look for them?"

The bartender nodded, then shook his head, and said with hesitation:

"We did. Cost me a lot of money to hire a Tier Four expert, but that guy..."

"Died horribly... They say his insides were completely empty. Heart, intestines, everything just vanished. His whole body was like a deflated leather ball, with only the skin left..." a nearby patron added.

The bartender also had a look of lingering fear as he said:

"Yes. It was the first time I’d ever seen such a bizarre way to die. That’s why we had to look for help from the outside, but we couldn’t afford the high price... If you can really help us solve this huge problem, I’ll owe you a massive favor."

Lloyd didn’t pay much mind to that and continued asking:

"Is anyone still living in that area?"

"No, we’ve evacuated them all elsewhere. Right now, only the people here are left, guarding the territory so other gangs don’t take the opportunity to snatch it."

"Territory is more important than life?"

"More or less. For people like us, losing our territory is pretty much the same as losing our lives."

Lloyd didn’t comment on this sentiment and changed the subject.

"Can you find someone to take me there?"

"Of course. If you need anything else, just say the word."

As the bartender spoke, he ordered two patrons to act as guides, then asked:

"That little rascal outside, did he take your money?"

"Yes."

"I’ll have him return it to you."

"No need."

Lloyd replied magnanimously.

’He couldn’t help but feel a shred of empathy for those grimy children.’