As for the Land of Lightning and the Land of Flame, Du Lei has no dealings with either of these countries, and he plans to start with those two.

That's why he came to Lava City, a border city of the Flame Kingdom and also the location of the largest magic stone trading market on the continent.

However, with the outbreak of war between the Land of Flame and the Land of Lightning, the magic stone trading market was forced to close.

Both countries have deployed heavy troops near Lava City, and have already fought several battles in just half a month!

"Lava City station has been reached. Passengers who wish to disembark, please disembark." The train conductor reminded the passengers.

Passengers began to exit the train one after another, but the moment they stepped out, a wave of sweltering heat hit them.

"It's already September, which should be autumn, but it's still so hot in Lava City," Dure remarked.

"Hey buddy, this heat doesn't seem to have much to do with the weather, does it?" Old Hei suddenly said.

He always existed in the form of a shadow, and if you didn't look closely, you couldn't tell the difference between him and other shadows.

He also communicated with Dure through telepathy.

“You’re absolutely right. The reason it’s so hot here is because a huge amount of fire-attribute magical energy is overflowing from underground, which makes the entire ground feel like a giant steamer.” Dure nodded; he had noticed it ever since he set foot on this land.

"So, buddy, what should we do next? Should we go find the person who's keeping the stone slab and have a big fight?" Old Hei asked excitedly.

He was particularly enthusiastic about fighting, after all, like Dure, he had been dormant for several years.

Now that he's finally awake, he definitely needs to find some tough opponents to fight so he can really enjoy himself.

"We still don't know the exact location of the stone slab. We've only found clues here. Who are you going to fight? Besides, the Land of Flame and the Land of Thunder have deployed heavy troops here. Are you going to fight the same army?"

"That's not impossible. Even if it's an entire legion, buddy, if we go all out, we can still take them down, right?"

Old Hei was rubbing his hands together, and his shadow began to become crooked.

"Mom, why is that brother's shadow moving around?" A little boy suddenly pointed at Du Lei's shadow and said.

"Fool, it's because that older brother is swaying back and forth that his shadow is moving. A shadow is a reflection of the body. The shadow reflects the body's shape. How can it act on its own? Be polite. You can't point at someone's shadow and comment on it like that."

The woman next to them immediately began to reprimand her own child, and soon they were gone.

"Even if we can defeat a legion, the amount of magic power consumed is staggering, enough to deplete our magic power. Besides, there's more than one legion here. If we defeat one, there's another. Moreover, the army also has special extermination squads to deal with magic users. There's no need to take the risk."

Du Lei shook his head. He wasn't as fond of fighting or picking fights as Lao Hei. He believed that resolving issues peacefully was the best approach.

"Alright, whatever you say goes, buddy. So where are we going now?" Old Hei asked again.

"Now, of course, I'll go find an acquaintance to gather information." Du Lei looked at the signpost outside the train station and walked to the right.

"An acquaintance? You have acquaintances here, buddy?"

“Of course, intelligence agencies aren’t established for nothing.” After walking along the deserted street for a while, Du Lei turned into the police station.

There was no one on duty outside the police station, only a dog wearing a police officer's hat, lying on the ground with its tongue hanging out.

"Woof woof woof." Upon seeing someone approaching, the police dog immediately stood up and barked twice.

It was very small and tiny. When Old Black saw it barking wildly, he ran over to scare it away, which made it slink away to the side.

"What's all the noise about? It's hot enough as it is, and you're making a scene. If you keep making noise, I'll stew you!"

A security guard came out and kept complaining, but soon he saw Du Lei at the door.

"Who are you?" the young security guard asked, squinting at him.

“I’m looking for Yang, is he here?” Dure said a name.

"Yange? He went out on patrol and isn't here yet. What do you need him for?" The security guard looked at Du Lei suspiciously.

This kid doesn't look like a local; he seems to be from the Eastern Continent.

"Is he not here? I'm his friend, so I'll wait for him here." Du Lei was quite patient.

"It's so sunny, fine, you can wait if you want." The security guard returned to the police station, ignoring Du Lei.

"Hey buddy, this guy is so arrogant, talking to you like that. Should I go teach him a lesson?"

Old Hei was very dissatisfied with the security guard's attitude, and he immediately made a suggestion.

"Forget it, it's better to avoid trouble. Besides, he has no obligation to treat us well. In fact, we're the ones troubling him."

Dure shook his head; he wouldn't cause trouble over something so pointless.

"Alright, but buddy, who is this Yang Ge you're talking about?" Old Hei asked, puzzled.

“He was a student I taught in the Snow Country. After graduating, he came to the Flame Country and was appointed as the security officer of Lava City. He’s here.” Du Lei pointed to the street not far away. At this time, the street was empty, and steam could be seen rising from the ground.

A chubby man dressed in a thick security uniform jogged over.

He was short in stature, and when he ran, he looked like a ball.

In this kind of weather, most security guards take off their uniforms and certainly don't wear hats.

But this fat man was wrapped up tightly and meticulously, looking very much like a so-called honest person.

"Huh? That's Yang Ge? He looks pretty ordinary." Old Black's opinion of Yang Ge wasn't very high.

“Teacher, teacher, it really is you! After I received the notice that you were coming, I went to the train station to meet you. But I didn’t expect to meet an old lady on the way. Her cat jumped up a tree and was afraid to come down. I had to help her get the cat down, but I was delayed. By the time I got to the train station, the train had already left. Luckily, I found you, teacher.” Yang stopped, panting.

You could tell his forehead was covered in sweat.

"It's okay, you should rest for a while." Du Lei shook his head; in fact, he hadn't been up for very long.

"Teacher, please come this way, please come in." Yang Ge beckoned Du Lei into the police station.

At that moment, the security guard who had just come out to greet Du Lei poked his head out again.

"Hey, Yang, you're finally back? It's so hot, nobody wants to go out, and the city's been so peaceful lately, nothing much to do. It's just that you're always out patrolling, you must have a lot of energy. By the way, is this your friend?" the security guard teased.

“This is my teacher!” Yang said earnestly, pointing at Dure.

"Your teacher? Your teacher is so young?" The security guard was skeptical.

“Alright, teacher, come this way. This is my office.” Yang led Dure to the rightmost room.

It was called an office, but it was actually a storage room filled with all sorts of odds and ends, with only a map on an old table.

There were also some simple line drawings. Du Lei picked up one at random and looked at it. It was a map of Lava City.

"It's quite well drawn," Du Lei said approvingly.

"Because there aren't many cases in Lava City, I drew a detailed map of the city's streets. This part is the current map, and this part..."

"Is this your plan for the future of Lava City?" Du Lei asked after taking a look.

“I just draw to pass the time. How could someone like me be qualified to participate in the planning of Lava City?” Yang smiled shyly.

“You are very capable, and your abilities are more than enough to make you competent for this responsibility,” Du Lei said earnestly.

"Teacher, you're really joking..." Yangge scratched his head, a little embarrassed.

"Alright, let's get down to business. You know why I'm here, right?" Du Lei sat down.

At this point, Yang closed the door. There were only a few people in the police station, most of whom were taking a nap.

"Of course I know. Teacher, you came here about the Wang family's cemetery, right?"

"The Wang family's cemetery?"

“Yes, it is the burial place of the royal family of the Flame Kingdom throughout the ages.” Yang nodded and said, “Of course, the crown prince who has not yet had the chance to inherit the throne will also be buried in the royal family’s cemetery after he dies.”

"The crown prince who died before he could inherit the throne... Are you referring to Crown Prince Ferdinand?" Dure thought for a moment and said.

“Yes, the Crown Prince was assassinated in the Land of Thunder. Later, the Land of Thunder sent the Crown Prince’s body back, and the old king allowed the Crown Prince to be buried in the royal family’s cemetery,” Yang explained regarding the situation in Lava City.

"So, the royal family's cemetery is in Lava City?" Dure quickly realized this.

"Teacher, you are right. Lava City is the royal family's burial ground, but the location is very secretive and only members of the royal family know about it."

"The Wang family's cemetery... underground... when did the abnormal temperature in Lava City begin?" Du Lei suddenly asked.

Because he had read many geographical documents before, he knew that although the temperature in Lava City was slightly higher due to its location as a magic stone mining area.

But it's definitely not as high as it is now.

The temperature has reached this level recently, something special must have happened!

“Teacher, you guessed correctly. The temperature change in Lava City began after Prince Ferdinand’s burial,” Yang explained.

"The timing of the abnormal temperature after the prince's burial is too coincidental, isn't it? And what I'm looking for..."

Du Lei came for the stone slabs, not for the Wang family's cemetery.

However, if we connect these two things together, we can draw a conclusion.

That's what he's looking for—it's in the Wang family's cemetery!

“Everyone says this is a warning from the gods, because the prince’s death angered the gods, and the gods are going to punish the Land of Thunder,” Yang explained.

"That explanation doesn't make sense. If it were a punishment for the Land of Lightning, why wouldn't it cause high temperatures and drought there? Why does it have to be the Land of Flame that experiences this? So this explanation is unreliable and completely fabricated," Du Lei said, shaking his head.

"Teacher, you are absolutely right."

"How is the fighting going at the front?" Dure asked again.

"In the past two weeks, the two countries' armies have fought two large-scale clashes and six small-scale clashes. Both sides have deployed six corps each and suffered casualties. The situation is still evenly matched."

"I understand." Dure sat down, deep in thought.

"Teacher?" After a long while, Yang called out when Dure didn't respond.

"Do you know how Ferdinand was assassinated?" Durrell suddenly asked.

"Well... I heard that he was shot in the back and died when he was on a date with Princess Iris of the Land of Lightning."

Yang thought for a moment and said that as a sheriff, he had recently heard many versions and rumors.

"This is very strange. Why would the Land of Thunder kill this crown prince? Killing him would not benefit the Land of Thunder at all. But if it wasn't someone from the Land of Thunder who killed him, then who was it? Was it a crime of passion? Or was it an attempt to provoke a conflict between the two countries? But if a conflict breaks out between the two countries, who would benefit the most?" Dure pondered carefully, resting his chin on his hand.

"I don't know about that, but teacher, I have found some clues about something."

"What is it?"

“The entrance to the Wang family’s cemetery is near the battlefield where the two armies are currently fighting,” Yang explained truthfully.

"What? You actually found the entrance to the Wang family cemetery?" Du Lei looked at him with some surprise.

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