The others immediately understood what the agent meant. From earlier recollections, it's clear that the Circus had already started to decline when Old Berg was young. Back then, he was at most in his thirties, still in his prime.
It's already known that after the tourism industry declined, the City Government began diverting pollution, directly connecting factory sewage systems to Big Creek Town's underground water systems.
The combination of these two conditions indicates that water pollution began when Old Berg was young, not only after he died.
The agent even suspected that the town might have started secretly discharging while still thriving, as industrial development was already quite rapid at the time. Politicians wouldn't care about the lives of the townsfolk and tourists. They only restrained themselves because there were too many visitors, fearing detection.
And Binger's assertion that "discharge began due to decline" actually means that due to the decline, there was no pretense — not as many people came, so they discharged openly, fearing no repercussions.
Moreover, given the historical context of those years, such Circus acts received the most opposition from the Left-wing activists of the time. Back then, human rights and animal protection were indeed substantial. Big Creek Town's famous Circus would certainly be a major target for them.
These people held considerable sway in the political arena. Siv City's politicians might have restrained themselves just to avoid detection by these activists. Once they crushed the Circus, these activists no longer came, and with the shift of global attitudes, the politicians acted brazenly.
As the sect leader, Old Berg likely noticed something amiss, considering he regularly interacted with the mayor, and the sect leaders' movements weren't restricted — they could visit the city and detect anomalies.
His previous behaviors clearly indicated that he valued the sect highly. He could have relied on his Appearance, ventured into big cities, and lived a privileged life, yet he insisted on returning to this small place, even using his marriage as leverage, to continue the dirty work he did before. He would never wish for the sect he led to be destroyed.
From another perspective, this Heresy maintained stability by comprehensively controlling the lives of believers. With Stimulants in the water, believers often became uncontrollable, something Old Berg couldn't accept.
Thus, he had every reason to rebel against this situation.
Again, although Old Berg was handsome and had visited many big cities with the Circus, gaining some insight, fighting the government System alone was indeed difficult. If his rebellion failed, his end would be quite ugly.
The smaller the place, the more lawless it was. To cover this up, these politicians might wipe out the entire town; one person wouldn't make a difference.
Whether Old Berg harbored resentment and transformed into an Evil spirit after death, lingering in the town while living their coveted sect life in the Psychic_Battlefield remains unknown.
So let's speculate, if this Evil spirit isn't Old Berg, then who could it be? Or is it merely a concept?
"There's someone very suspicious," Bruce said, "it's the rumored Priest Derby who successfully escaped the town. It appears he might not have died, but whether he truly escaped remains uncertain."
"Indeed, Famillo was pushed into the Array as a sacrifice, but this Array might not necessarily be for escaping."
"We have to find that bunker," the agent said.
They quickly set off. The idea was similar to Peter's: regardless of whether it's Old Berg or someone else, there's definitely someone in this town researching Black magic. The person researching Black magic would certainly find a secure escape route from their base, likely leading from their home to outside the town.
And the mountain near the waterfall is the best choice — complex terrain provides ample time to escape, and being close to tourist spots provides excuses if discovered there.
"This implies the bunker entrance might be near the lake," Binger pondered, "The cave I stayed in before had an air cavity underneath; I felt airflow through the rock crevices, but I was too young to confirm."
So they entered that crevice again. The cave was still piled with bodies Peter had moved. For some reason, in the Psychic_Battlefield, the deceased's bodies were quite realistic, even showing specific decomposition processes. The air inside the cave wasn't good.
But precisely because of this, Bruce keenly noticed blood seeping through rock crevices.
"There is indeed something below," Bruce said, "surely there are other exits. Let's go check over there."
They crossed the mountain by the waterfall and found a small door under the chaotic weeds at the foot of the mountain. As expected, it was a bunker, judging by the construction traces and style, likely a World War II product.
Indeed, there was a lock on the door, but it couldn't stop them. They directly smashed the lock and entered. Passing through a narrow, long tunnel, they finally reached the hall.
The hall was semi-transparent, but the Array was invisible. Bruce looked up and saw traces of blood seeping from the ceiling, confirming this place was indeed beneath the waterfall cave.
"It seems the Array exists in the real world, possibly because of mysticism's influence, and can't be displayed here. We still have to return to the real world to figure out what's going on."
Just then, there was a commotion outside the cave. When they turned around, it was Peter.
"You guys are actually here," Peter sighed, "I guessed you would investigate here. I found Old Berg's base, conducted some research on black magic, and really found something."
"What is it?" Bruce asked.
"Old Berg is very likely not an evil spirit. To be precise, he wanted to become an evil spirit, but he failed."
Peter walked in and looked around, saying, "He set up a ritual array here, but ultimately, the person who used this array wasn't him. He died before that."
"So, Old Berg was indeed the black magician, but he wasn't the evil spirit."
"Exactly," Peter nodded and said, "After doing a bit of research on black magic, I discovered this array's function was to transform a person into soul status, allowing them to reside in other bodies. Old Berg seemed to think this would grant him immortality. But unfortunately, he died before he could try."
"How do you know?"
"Because of black magic," Peter said, "This type of magic seems to originate from the witchcraft of primitive tribes, using various items and arrays to transform human souls. I tried making a small gadget to track Old Berg's soul. The talisman shows he's dead, and even his soul no longer exists."
"And his body? Can you find out where his body is?"
"His body is in the town."
Everyone suddenly realized. The agent looked at Bruce and said, "It seems that the dried corpse in the clown costume is really Old Berg. This is too strange."
Others hadn't thought in this direction earlier because they already knew Old Berg was the sect leader and he wasn't an actor when he died. There was no reason for him to be dressed in a clown's performance outfit and stuffed in a box. This looked too much like a blind eye technique.
But unexpectedly, the world is like a play, and the truth is just so absurd. This blood-stained, heretical leader who possibly killed countless people became someone's puppet after death. He used a scare box to perform on stage, but after death, he himself became a toy inside the scare box, but yet he frightened no one.
"This is a humiliation," Kate said, "I told you, the opponent held great malice toward Old Berg. It was deliberate to dress Old Berg's corpse in a clown outfit and put the body in a box to express a sense of 'you're just my toy' superiority."
"And he liked using the Joker's scare box and enjoyed crafting all sorts of deceitful scenes," the agent said, "Perhaps because he believed he was above others, enjoying the pleasure of manipulating hearts and lives."
"Can you find out who killed him?" Bruce looked at Peter and asked.
Peter shook his head and said, "Black magic isn't that divine, it can't find out the process, only the result. However, I did create something else. Look."
He poured out the contents from the bag he was carrying. It was a bag of small dolls. Peter shrugged and said, "My sewing skills are really limited. This thing isn't easy to sew, just make do with it."
Several people picked up the dolls from the ground and found Peter had thoughtfully sewn them with their likenesses. Bruce frowned and said, "But I haven't killed anyone. Perhaps I..."
"You don't need to kill," Peter said, "They use the sacrifice method because they misunderstood."
"What?"
"They misunderstood the usage of this black magic," Peter said, "Think about it, the conditions for sacrifice couldn't be this. Killing people isn't that simple. Black magic is meant to stage surprise attacks when conventional methods can't kill. If they have to kill someone first to use it, isn't that a paradox?"
The agent nodded. Although he has always been uninterested in such mystical things, he knows if a weapon requires both a knowledge cost and a high price, and is easily discovered, it's completely useless, better to break in directly and give the opponent a barrage.
Black magic requires time to learn, and the learning threshold isn't low. People who inherit this magic over generations haven't really understood it. Also, a dedicated workspace is needed to create various magic artifacts, and a large area is required for rituals. Then if its sacrifice conditions are very difficult to achieve, who would use this thing?
"The condition for creating such dolls is to infuse them with a certain amount of soul power, not necessarily from killing someone," Peter said, "I infused a bit inside, enough to start. When you use it yourselves, you also need to continuously provide strength, so it can't be used for too long. You have to come back and recharge after a while."
"How long can it be active?"
"About twelve hours," Peter continued, "Moreover, this evil spirit also uses black magic now. I suspect he discovered Old Berg's research before his death and inherited it. Considering Old Berg couldn't possibly tell anyone about this, the evil spirit may be the murderer of Old Berg."