"Spider...and...Moon?"
Looking at the notes and photos in her hand, Dorothy murmured strangely. The entire note was vague, making it difficult to understand and only allowing for speculation.
'I've heard of Razor Mountains. It's a remote mountainous area in the northern part of Northshore County. It's said to be treacherous and difficult to access, inhabited by mountain people who are largely unaffected by the Industrial Revolution. Due to the high development costs, neither the Kingdom government nor capitalists seem willing to develop the area.
'Based on the content of the notes, this was a Hunter Squad that went to Razor Mountains for an investigation and discovered some strange events: ruins related to the meaning of the moon and customs and beliefs about spiders. What kind of secrets are hidden deep within those mountains?...Looking at these bloodstains, it seems this squad met with misfortune in the end. The Alster branch must have realized something quite serious was going on to decide to send this information to the Main Bureau...
'And for what purpose did that Extraordinary named Kim want to prevent the Main Bureau from getting this information, choosing to intercept the branch personnel on the train? It seems there's a significant secret here...'
Dorothy thought to herself. She didn't plan to solve the mystery. Although the matter was strange, it had little to do with her. The An Yin Bureau was handling it, so she didn't need to worry. All she had to do was find a way to send these things to the An-Yin Main Bureau.
'Notes and photos, anyway, I don't need these things, so I can only return them to the An-Yin Main Bureau. I hope they can give me some reward, as Sodod said.'
Dorothy continued to think. To be honest, she was a bit disappointed that the confidential cargo only contained documents and no useful Extraordinary items. If there were powerful Extraordinary items, she wouldn't mind taking them directly.
However, it wasn't without gain. The photos and notes had a certain Spirit Sight, which together were equivalent to a secret transmission, at least enough to increase her Spirituality.
Thinking this, Dorothy began to extract Spirituality. The notes and photos together gave her 2 points of "Shadow," 1 point of "Cup," and 1 point of "enlightenment." This combination of Spirituality surprised her.
'The nature of the content recorded in these notes and photos is actually'Shadow' and 'Cup'? I wonder which content is'Shadow' and which is 'Cup.'
After extracting the Spirituality, Dorothy began to organize the changes in her Spirituality after this series of events. "enlightenment" wasn't overused, so it didn't count. The main one was "Cup." Dorothy used two Life Devour and the ring overload, spending a total of 3 points of "Cup." Summarizing the Spirituality gained from the documents and her existing Spirituality, Dorothy's current Spirituality status is:
11 Cup, 10 Stone, 3 Shadow, 4 Light, 3 Silence, 15 enlightenment. Storage yielded 1 point of "Cup."
Looking at her current Spirituality status, Dorothy couldn't help but frown.
'Ahhh... As expected, once the 'generous donations' from the Holy Communion Society are gone, the 'Cup' reserves are decreasing at a visible rate. 'Cup' and 'enlightenment' are the Spirituality I primarily consume. 'Cup' is being consumed so quickly, which isn't a good sign. I wonder if Tivian has a 'Cup' society that can 'donate' to me...'
After thinking, Dorothy put everything on the table into the magic box, then changed into her pajamas and went to bed, slowly falling asleep to the roaring and vibrating of the train.
...
The moon set, the sun rose.
The night passed quickly. In the early morning, the passengers on the train woke up one after another. After breakfast, they quietly waited for another morning. Finally, the train reached its destination, Tivian.
On both sides of the train, the previously empty fields gradually began to have towering buildings, which became increasingly dense and tall. Looking out from the train windows, one could see brick and stone buildings flashing by.
Converging with many other railway lines from different directions, the gradually slowing steam train entered under the huge steel frame dome and finally stopped before the platform. At this time, several police officers and reporters from various newspapers were already waiting on the platform. The police were waiting to take over the completed case on the train, while the reporters wanted to get the news information as soon as possible.
"Train Murder Case Heading to the Kingdom's Capital." Printing this headline in the next edition of the newspaper would surely attract a lot of attention.
After the train stopped, the conductor walked to a compartment, knocked on the door respectfully, and then said,
"Mr. Ed, we have arrived at the station. The police and reporters are waiting outside regarding the case."
The conductor knocked on the door, but there was no movement inside. The conductor frowned, then knocked a few more times, but still received no response.
Seeing this, the conductor tried pressing the compartment doorknob and found that the door was unlocked. When he opened the door and went in, he found that the compartment was empty. The entire space was bright and tidy, the quilt was folded neatly, and a note was placed on the table.
The conductor walked over, picked up the note, and saw that it was indeed left by Detective Ed.
...
"Dear Conductor, please forgive my unannounced departure. Do not wonder how I left the train before it stopped; as a Detective, I have my ways.
"I don't want to deal too much with the police and reporters, especially reporters. I don't want to be surrounded by a group of noisy turkeys chirping and asking questions, trying to dig out every secret like interrogators. So I'll leave first. Please trouble the train crew to explain the tragedy on the train last night to the outside world. It doesn't matter whether I'm mentioned in the explanation or not. You can completely attribute the main credit for catching the criminal to yourselves. I won't mind."
"I am just a Detective who seeks the truth and practices justice. Fame is just an inconvenient extra thing for me. I sincerely wish you all can receive generous rewards from the Police Station and the Kingdom Railway Company.
"—Detective Ed"
...
In the compartment, looking at the note left on the table, the conductor remained silent for a long time, and finally couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
"A Detective who only seeks the truth, practices justice, and disregards fame? What a noble person..."
The conductor sighed like this. Then, he seemed to have made a decision, pocketed the note, walked out of the compartment, went to the front of the train, and looked at the train staff there.
"Gentlemen, Mr. Ed has already left ahead of time. He is a wise and noble gentleman. He is indifferent to fame and fortune and is unwilling to accept the glory that should belong to him. Instead, he hopes to give us the credit for punishing the real culprit."
As soon as the conductor finished speaking, he looked at the train staff in front of him. Their reactions varied; some were stunned, some were disappointed, and some were happy.
After glancing at the reactions of his subordinates, the conductor's expression became serious. He continued to speak.
"Gentlemen, the company's rewards are tempting, but I think we should be like Mr. Ed, abandoning vanity and enjoyment, and pursuing a nobler spirit. Since the other party is a gentleman, we should also be gentlemen.
"I think we should report the case that happened last night truthfully to the police and reporters from beginning to end, so that those reporters can record the entire process of Mr. Ed's case-solving and publish it in the newspapers for more people to see. We should not only emphasize his wisdom but also his character. In this era of rampant greed, he will be a role model for many of us."