From the Ship of Fools to Earl of Wugang

Just as the inspector hesitated about whether to open the window, the door was knocked on a second time.

The gentle knocking sounded a sigh of relief to the inspector. This time, he could tell that it wasn't "Iron Kettle" outside, otherwise the sound wouldn't have been so gentle.

Before the third knock could be heard, the inspector opened the door and saw a nun standing outside.

The inspector recognized her, or rather, he knew that a nun had previously come to the police station to report a case of a missing mentally ill person, and it must be this nun.

He had thought about it at the time, but a voice inside him told him that he shouldn't get involved and that it wouldn't be too late to wait for the police station to invite him.

As expected, this matter soon came knocking on their door.

"Inspector, I apologize for disturbing you at this time. I am a nun from the 'Silent Audrey,' and I have an important matter to discuss with Bureau Nine."

Douglas stepped aside to make way for her: "Come in, Sister."

The nun walked briskly into the office and, before the inspector could even invite her to sit down, stated her purpose directly.

"Mother Maria, sent by the Order of Our Lady of Silence to the 'Silent Audrey,' asked me to convey her request: one of our patients has escaped, and the Mother hopes that the Ninth Bureau can assist in tracking him down."

Douglas felt a weary moan escape from the taut strings in his mind.

His plan to slack off couldn't keep up with the unexpected changes; reality clearly wasn't going to let him off the hook.

Douglas tapped his pipe on the rim of the ashtray. "Let me make this clear, I'm here for the town's insomnia case. You guys must have contacted the police before; they couldn't find this patient?"

"I'm very sorry, Inspector, the officers at the police station didn't find anything." Sister Julia looked ashamed.

"Given the unique nature of the patients transported on the 'Silent Audrey,' we have reason to suspect that things are not so simple."

She placed a simple file on her desk.

Douglas gritted his teeth as he looked at the file, then reluctantly picked it up and opened it.

For the next half hour, the inspector made full use of his strengths: "listen more and talk less"—the nun did most of the talking, while the inspector played the role of an enlightener.

The latter liked this convenient way of obtaining information, and everything was fine except that he couldn't light a pipe in front of a nun.

After fully understanding the situation, Douglas crossed his hands on the table and said thoughtfully:

"So, even with lax security that day, a 'normal' madman with brain damage still managed to break through the restraints and hypnotic drugs and slip away silently from a ship guarded by a first-tier superhuman?"

The nun opened her mouth, then lowered her gaze dejectedly.

"He didn't trigger any alarms, so he might not have been affected by the 'Silent Night Drops' at all. But the nurse examines the patients daily and can confirm that this patient doesn't possess any supernatural powers."

"A mental patient who has been exempted from your forced hypnosis may not be so 'ordinary'."

Douglas snorted and closed the file.

An ordinary madman could not have done such a thing; it must have involved some extraordinary element that even the Silent Mother Society had not noticed.

He sighed and took the slightly worn dark gray trench coat off the hanger.

"Looks like my vacation is completely ruined. I'll leave a copy of the photos and go wander around town."

After seeing the nun off, Douglas changed into a trench coat, put the photo of Lane Hall in his pocket, and slowly walked out of the police station.

The streets of Liugang Town were deathly silent. After resolving their ailments, the townspeople were finally freed from a week-long nightmare of insomnia and were now catching up on sleep in their homes.

This lifeless environment actually made it easier for him to conduct some "unofficial" investigations.

Since the escapee landed in town, he must have left traces.

Since the police couldn't find any trace of this person, in this chaotic coastal town, perhaps he should go to some shady corner.

Ten minutes later, the inspector arrived at a bar converted from a warehouse, pushed open the door and walked straight to the bar, looking at the female bartender who ignored him.

As he gazed at the other person, the enforcer's spiritual senses detected a faint, extraordinary fluctuation.

This woman seems to be protected by some kind of totemistic art, which explains why she looks so energetic and unaffected by insomnia.

Moreover... she also carries the aura of someone of her kind.

"Good morning, ma'am." Douglas gave a polite smile, pulled out a banknote and pushed it over along with the photograph. "I'm Inspector Douglas from the police station. I think you should have seen this young man before."

The female bartender stopped what she was doing, picked up the photo and glanced at it: "I saw him a couple of mornings ago, but he didn't look as presentable as he does in the photo. He was starving, like a stray dog, and bought some food from here."

Douglas pressed, "Buy food? What did he tell you?"

"He complained that the town wouldn't sell him food, and where he could buy 'special items' to combat insomnia." Mika shrugged.

"I told him they didn't sell supernatural items here and suggested he try his luck in Gulfstream. He probably went to Old Buck's secondhand shop, changed his clothes, took a shower, and left all clean."

"A couple of days ago, in Gulfstream City... what vehicles from that town went to Gulfstream City?" Douglas rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"There are three buses a day from the bus station to Bayview City."

The clues were now completely clear. Douglas thanked him and then changed the subject: "I'd like to ask a personal question."

The female bartender squinted: "Your flirting skills need improvement, sir; perhaps your judgment also needs improvement. I'm not interested in men, especially older men over fifty."

Ignoring the bartender's malicious overestimation of his age, the inspector questioned her seriously.

"Have you participated in the epic drama of Bacchus and received His gifts?"

The bartender's gaze grew increasingly dangerous: "Surely the Ninth Bureau can't interfere with individuals' exploration of the spirit world for personal gain?"

"That's true, after all, I personally benefited quite a bit from it." The inspector shrugged. "I was originally thinking of finding a teammate, but now it seems unnecessary."

Before the bartender could react, the inspector turned and walked out of the Old Anchor Bar.

The excessive sunlight made him a little irritable, so he took out his extinguished pipe from his pocket and lit it.

"Gulfstream City... Great, that's fantastic," the inspector cursed inwardly.

In other words, he will most likely have to go to a crowded metropolis to find a needle in a haystack.

He dragged his heavy steps back to the police station, returned to his temporary office, and dialed the branch manager's hotline.

"Victor, it's me, Douglas," he reported to the voice on the other end of the phone in a resigned tone.

"The source of the insomnia in Willow Harbor Town has been eliminated. It was a Riogel that was attached to the boundary of the dream world, and I have banished it back to the Dream Realm. Yes, everything went smoothly. But..."

Douglas glanced at the photograph of Lane Hall on the table. The young man's eyes looked empty and blank in the black and white photo, but Douglas now knew what a cunning soul lurked beneath them.

"But there's been an unexpected situation—something went wrong with the Silent Our Lady; a patient with 'Divine Ecstasy Syndrome' escaped from their Fool's Ship. I checked, he took a ride to Gulfstream."

The supervisor's voice on the other end of the phone immediately turned serious, and he rattled off a series of instructions.

Douglas smiled wryly, moved the microphone slightly away, and sighed.

"Understood. I'll organize the information and send it back to the branch office, requesting assistance from Bayview City in tracking it down... What? You want me to follow up personally? Go to Bayview City?"

He closed his eyes and swallowed back the rude Veridiscan curse that was on his mind.

"Yes, sir. I'll leave tomorrow."

After hanging up the phone, Douglas slumped back into his chair.

Looking at the photo of the gilded dome in the "Cathedral News Pictorial" on the table, he knew that his planned leisurely days were completely over.