abnormal mutation

Chapter 108 Strange
the next day.

After having a free breakfast at the restaurant on the second floor, Roland once again declined Bosie's invitation and went alone to the train station in the south of the city, located next to the Winter River, to buy four tickets for Almosid the next day.

The train has second-class, first-class, and VIP cabins. Second-class costs 8 German dollars per person, first-class costs 12 German dollars, and VIP cabin costs 35 German dollars.

The harsh environment of the three northern counties made the construction of train tracks very expensive, resulting in high ticket prices. It is said that train tickets in the south are much cheaper.

Roland, who was not short of money, decisively bought four VIP cabin tickets.

Luckily, he came early because the bus had to leave before dawn tomorrow, making one trip every three days, each trip taking eight or nine hours, which means the speed was only about 40 or 50 miles per hour.

On his way back, he saw a large factory in the south of the city sealed off by law enforcement officers, surrounded by a large crowd of people.

The driver said that was the gas company, directly under the Northern United Chamber of Commerce, responsible for supplying gas to the entire city.

The distance was a bit far, and the driver was afraid of the law enforcement officers, so Roland didn't go over to watch the commotion.

There was a stack of newspapers in the back seat of the car, presumably for the passengers' entertainment, with today's Sogatok Morning Post on the top.

In this world, transportation and communication are inconvenient, and there is currently no national newspaper. The morning newspaper mainly focuses on local news, and events happening in other places will take a long time to appear in the newspaper.

"I suggest you check out the gossip in the supplement; most of it is true," the middle-aged driver said with a smirk, his words carrying a hidden meaning.

Roland opened the newspaper. The front page headline was a bureaucratic article praising the judicial system. It seemed objective, but in reality, it was blatantly and implicitly flattering the judicial system, and it was really not very informative.

If Roland had seen this article yesterday, considering the bustling atmosphere of Central Avenue, he might have somewhat agreed with it; today, however, he felt rather disgusted.

The city's beautiful murals were sponsored free of charge by the Northern Union Chamber of Commerce. The promotion of natural gas, the opening of the train line, and the construction of the steam car factory were all thanks to the Northern Union Chamber of Commerce.

However, the Northern Union Chamber of Commerce did not receive much preferential treatment. The government even introduced the Southern Chamber of Commerce to try to counterbalance the Northern Chamber of Commerce, and the gas company also wanted to establish two chambers, one in the south and one in the north.

Currently, those in power in the city hall and judicial system are mostly outsiders, with Solon people occupying middle and lower-level positions. This contradiction has persisted for many years.

Local residents have mixed feelings about the government. The positive image is built by grassroots officials, while the higher-ups do nothing but reap the rewards.

He casually flipped to the supplement, which had many pictures, divided into sections, mainly about various folk anecdotes, with humorous and witty text.

Below are some murder cases, with pictures, summaries, and deductions, interspersed with some sarcastic remarks mocking the incompetence of law enforcement officers.

Roland curled his lips and shook his head slightly. This city may seem prosperous, but it is full of contradictions beneath the surface. The main and supplement sections of a newspaper are just a microcosm of these contradictions.

'Suleiman had it tough too.'

As he was pondering this, his soul suddenly trembled. He vaguely heard the sound of a thread breaking. He focused his senses and realized that one of the "links" of the infectious abnormal mutation had broken.

'One of the infected died?'

He put down the newspaper, leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes and pretended to rest, but in reality he was concentrating his mind and using the chessboard to perceive the situation of various media.

Caius and Herman were both fine. Sogatok had two infected people, one on Central Avenue and the other in the northern suburbs. He quickly focused his attention on the north.

Through the golden medium, he saw a young man lying on the cold cement ground, with a small box in his pocket containing a teardrop-shaped gold pendant. It was the medium Roland had made himself, numbered 031.

This must be a corner of a factory, with complex pipes everywhere and the faint roar of steam engines.

The murderer hadn't left yet; there were two pairs of leather boots on the edge of my line of sight.

"...How could you be so careless? You almost exposed everything."

"This guy is usually so timid, I didn't expect him to be so bold today..."

"Stop talking nonsense and get rid of it quickly."

"Well... there are people everywhere outside, let's wait until tonight."

"Bullshit, we've already added ammonia, it'll start tonight, and you... you're hiding it in the gas pipe!" "Huh? The monitoring station will detect the pressure change."

"Just say it was caused by adding gas stabilizer. This isn't the first time. Hurry up..."

The two left at the same time, and a moment later, a short man entered the medium's sensing range, his body radiating spiritual energy.

He easily lifted the body, turned a corner, and threw it into a large pipe. With a mechanical turning sound, the pipe closed, plunging the surroundings into boundless darkness and silence.

Roland immediately understood that this was a classic case of murder to silence witnesses.

"Old Bill, is there another gas company up north? Do you know who owns it? Which area does it mainly supply?" Old Bill was the driver's name; he was also of Solon descent.

"That one, I think it's called Wald Gas Company. I don't know who owns it. They supply the north of the city, but sometimes that changes. I heard the pipelines of the two gas companies are connected..." Old Bill recalled.

Roland frowned. He had previously heard Leongard mention the official introduction of the Southern Chamber of Commerce to act as a troublemaker.

Given that the two gas companies are competitors, could the conspiracy be aimed at the Northern Chamber of Commerce?

Unfortunately, the conversation was too brief and vague to determine whether it was a private matter being exposed or part of a conspiracy.

"Old Bill, do you know which company uses Wald gas? I want to see which gas is better." He wanted to compare the differences between the two companies' gas systems.

"My family uses their gas, but it's flickering and unreliable. I've wanted to switch for a long time, sigh..." Old Bill complained.

"Can you show me around?" Roland took out a German dollar and stuffed it into old Bill's pocket.

“This…” Old Bill was a little embarrassed, but he didn’t take out the money. “That’s easy, I’ll take you there right away.”

The car didn't go down Central Avenue; it passed through several blocks and stopped in a remote residential area in the northwest.

"This is my home. It's not nice, but feel free to look around."

Old Bill's house had no yard; it was a two-story wooden house facing the street. The conditions seemed alright. The living room on the first floor had a wall lamp similar to those in a hotel, only more basic.

With a click, Roland switched on the gas light. The wick turned white and brightened, but compared to the hotel, its color was somewhat yellowish and dark.

He twitched his nose; it had a slightly strange smell, but it wasn't irritating to the nasal cavity and certainly wouldn't hurt anyone.

“It is indeed a bit dark.” As he spoke, he turned his back to Old Bill, his eyes flashing with golden light, magic runes appearing, and his gaze immediately changed.

To his surprise, although the gas contained many impurities, it was very "clean," with almost no trace of impurities.

This is the normal phenomenon; emotions are hard to sustain for long without a special medium.

"What's wrong?" Old Bill asked curiously as he walked up.

"It's alright, just take me back to the hotel." Roland put away his golden eyes and turned to leave.

It was already noon when he returned to the hotel. He turned on the gas light in his room and saw that it was covered with tangled threads of emotion, a little more than the night before, but not particularly noticeable.

However, compared to the gas in the Wald, the difference is quite obvious.

Something was definitely wrong.

He closed his eyes, his spiritual senses were normal, without the slightest abnormality, but he trusted the Golden Eye, this bloodline ability that had been strengthened many times had never disappointed him.

With the Staff of Aria on his back, he hurried to the Chamber of Commerce headquarters. Regardless of any conspiracy, as long as Suleiman was informed, he would naturally be able to resolve it.

The guards at the Oath Tower recognized him and led him to the top floor. However, the female assistant on duty told him that Commissioner Suleiman had gone out with Chairman Hussein yesterday and had not returned since. She did not know where they went.

"What a coincidence?"

(End of this chapter)