On my second playthrough, they were full of malice towards me.

“Yes, Captain Durin!” The young knight nodded in agreement.

"So it seems you already have a general idea of ​​what happened, right?"

As Dulin spoke, he patted his pockets, only to find nothing. He then realized that he was wearing his outdoor uniform and his cigarettes and lighter were not there, and he couldn't help but mutter a curse.

Ignoring the captain's little tricks, the young knight finally gave his answer.

"Reporting to the captain, in my opinion, the whole story of this pollution incident is that the Kaleva gang came to extort protection money, but something unexpected happened along the way, which led to a conflict with a third-party force in the bar. The gang was completely outmatched in terms of fighting power. The Kaleva leader was most likely under such desperate circumstances, which caused his emotions to fluctuate violently, leading to the loss of control over the turbidity within him, and he eventually went berserk and became a monster. Even so, he was still killed."

After explaining his reasoning in one breath, Tamik looked nervously at his captain and mentor, Dulin, who was also the most outstanding and powerful knight commander in the Church Knights in the Black Hole gathering place over the years.

"Your conclusion is correct, and I also believe that this is the true nature of the event."

Dulin first affirmed the young knight, which immediately excited Tamick. He couldn't help but ask, "Then I'll organize a team right now to capture that man and woman!"

After all, the "third party" in his reasoning was already obvious, and the fact that the other side, consisting of only two people, was able to wipe out an entire gang squad and even kill the berserk Evil One all proved one thing.

That man and woman were also cursed!

pity.

Before Tamik could even take a step forward, a pair of calloused, rough hands grabbed him by the collar and pulled the young knight, who looked like a greenhorn, back to his feet.

"Team leader?" Tamik turned around and looked at the middle-aged face covered with stubble, puzzled.

"Tamik, I think you've mastered the skills of handling cases and conducting investigations. So now, you should come with me to learn the next essential skill for becoming an excellent knight."

"You mean...?"

Survival skills.

After finishing speaking, Dulin ignored the young knight who was standing there in a daze, and strode towards a young man not far away.

Chapter 23 Detection

"Old...old relic, are you sure there's no problem? I feel like your explanation is full of loopholes! It doesn't hold up to scrutiny at all!"

The girl next to Liao Ji was uneasy, especially when she looked at the knights from the church present, her palms were sweating.

In contrast, the young man beside him appeared very calm, and even offered words of comfort:

“Miss Irene, a famous teacher once said that when you guard against everything, it’s the same as guarding against nothing, and when you guard against nothing, you’ve guarded against everything. So relax, we’ll be fine.”

"What kind of dog are you, teacher!" The girl, even more uneasy after Liao Ji's words, had already begun looking for an escape route.

It was at this moment that Liao Ji suddenly sensed something, turned his head to look in another direction, and there he saw someone walking quickly towards him.

"Hello Mr. Liao Ji, I am the leader of the Knights team in charge of this pollution incident. You can call me Du Lin."

"Hello, Captain Dulin."

After shaking hands with the middle-aged knight captain in front of him, Liao Ji spoke first, asking:

"Captain Dulin, how is the investigation progressing? Although I think it's stupid to say it so many times, I still want to repeat it to you: we have nothing else to offer you, so asking us again won't help."

“I understand, I understand completely. The reason I came to see you is to inform you that the Knights’ investigation is nearing its end. There is only one final step left to wrap things up, and then you and your companion can leave.”

"That's great. May I ask what this finishing step refers to?"

Dulin did not answer Liao Ji's question immediately. Instead, he turned his gaze to the gray wolf, which had turned into a "turbid corpse" monster not far away.

"To be honest, I've been a knight in the church for so many years and have seen quite a few berserkers, but one as big as this one, with such a high degree of necrosis, is really very rare."

Dulin clicked his tongue at the gray wolf's corpse, especially as his gaze swept over the arms that had completely transformed into scythes, the feet that had become claws, and the head that was about to evolve into something like an octopus with tentacles.

The turbid corpses formed after a Calamity-afflicted being "go berserk" usually do not have a fixed form. The essence of these Calamity-afflicted monsters is actually a twisted and bizarre materialization.

To put it simply, the easiest way to judge a monster of turbidity is to see how "indescribable" it is.

Clearly, the murky corpse that the gray wolf has now transformed into is considered to be of a very high caliber in Dulin's eyes.

"It must be very difficult to kill this kind of monster, right?"

"Fortunately, to be honest, we have to thank the gangsters in Kaleva for drawing the monster's attention to us. Maybe this is what you call karma, Captain Dulin."

"Perhaps."

Shrugging, Dulin glanced at the two obvious injection marks on the left arm of the gray wolf's corpse before looking away.

"Alright, Mr. Liao Ji, according to our investigation, you, your female companion, and the staff of the Sea Sand Bar have no connection with this pollution. The gangster Kalewa is the mastermind. Uh, although they are all dead now."

As soon as Knight Commander Durin uttered those words, two groups of people breathed a sigh of relief, while another group hesitated to speak.

The girls beside Liao Ji and Brian, the owner of the Sea Sand Bar who had been keeping a close eye on the situation, both breathed a sigh of relief.

As for the one who seemed to want to say something but hesitated...

It was naturally the young knight behind Dulin.

but

Immediately after, when Dulin said his next sentence, Irene and Brian's hearts, which had just settled down, jumped up again, so nervously that they were about to jump out of their chests.

because

"The finishing touches I mentioned earlier are actually this." Dulin took out a device from his uniform pocket.

Liao Ji recognized the device. Back in the underground cave, the scarred man who led the group of Kaleva gang who were robbing his tomb had also had a similar device.

That is

Turbidity detector.

However, the one that Dulin has now is clearly more professional and more precise.

"Judging from Mr. Liao Ji's appearance, he doesn't seem to be a local of Black Hole. Let me explain to you that, according to church regulations, whenever a contamination incident occurs, we must conduct turbidity tests on the parties involved and the survivors."

"Ah, please don't misunderstand. This doesn't mean I suspect that there are also Calamities among you."

"This is just to ensure your health. After all, you are in the center of pollution. If there is any residual impurity in your body, our church can send nuns over as soon as possible to treat and purify you."

Looking at the middle-aged knight across from her, who was giving a serious explanation, Irene's mind went completely blank.

Why, why is this even a part of the process? When her father went berserk and lost control, no one from the church ever used this on them!

But thinking about it now is useless. If the detection equipment had been taken from somewhere else, Irene could have hoped that the equipment was broken or not accurate enough so that she could disguise herself and get away with it.

But if it comes from a church

It’s over.

Brian, the owner of the nearby Sea Sand Bar, was also extremely anxious. He was now about 90% sure that Irene and the young man were the Evil Ones, which meant they were completely exposed.

Damn!

So why didn't that young man listen to his advice and insisted on staying?

Brian's first reaction afterward was to tell Irene and Liao Ji to run away quickly so that when the church came to investigate, he could find an excuse. But the young man shook his head, saying that there was no need for that.

He could understand what the young man meant. Perhaps he felt that he was powerful enough that any smart person would not pursue the matter further, which was why he agreed.

But right now

They've really met their match. What are you going to do now?

Brian, who has experienced his share of ups and downs, manages to keep his inner turmoil hidden on his face. In contrast, his subordinates at the Sea Sand Bar, including Irene herself, are in a different situation.

By observing the micro-expressions of these people, the experienced Dulin could basically understand most of the situation after scanning the area with his eyes.

The only slight pity is

Dulin finally turned his gaze back to the young man directly opposite him, trying to catch a trace of panic in Liao Ji's expression, but to no avail.

Throughout the entire process, the young man maintained an open and sincere expression.

Regardless, I achieved my goal.

He has already proven to the young man opposite that he understands everything. So what he needs to do next is to show the young man that he has chosen to give up on pursuing the matter further and adopt a passive attitude.

That way, if anything happens in the future, it won't bother him anymore, and it won't be related to him at all.

So Dulin took the turbidity detector he had just taken out back.

"Given the extremely short duration of this pollution incident, and the fact that the rampaging corpses were swiftly killed in the first instance, and of course, the most important point is that I see Mr. Liao Ji and you are quite anxious."

"So I think this finishing touches are unnecessary."

As he finished speaking, Dulin stepped aside for the young man, nodding and saying, "I'm sorry to have taken up your valuable time, Mr. Liao Ji. Now, you..."

"You can leave now."

In Dulin's mental script, this moment should be the perfect ending.

however.

What this captain, who had long been "famous" in the Knights, did not expect was...

The young man who followed his words did not move.

even

"No, Captain Dulin, I think that even if the scale of the Turbid Calamity pollution is small and the duration is short, it should not be ignored. After all, it is Turbid Calamity. If one is infected, the worst-case scenario is becoming a Calamity-transformed being. I don't want to go berserk and lose control, becoming such an ugly monster."

"So, Captain Durin..."

"Can we start the testing now?"

Chapter 24 Maria

After a brief moment of surprise, Du Lin quickly came to his senses. He frowned and stared intently at Liao Ji with his sharp eyes. Du Lin tried to figure out the young man's purpose in doing this, but in the end, he came up empty-handed.

It was as if the other party really just wanted to get tested.

Dulin gave the young knight behind him a wink, and the already nervous Tamik immediately understood. He used the excuse of going to prepare for the test to run away quickly. In fact, within a few minutes, many members of the knight order who were originally scattered on the scene approached one after another, forming a circle around them. Many of them even had their hands on their holsters.

The sidearms of the Church Knights are not only all imported from the [Mechanical Alliance], but even the bullets are specially made "silver bullets" that can exert a strong suppressive force against the Calamity. Therefore, they are effective against not only monsters, but also Calamity-afflicted individuals.

A tense atmosphere immediately enveloped them. The twists and turns of the situation had left Irene completely bewildered, as were the group at the Sea Sand Bar. Everyone had only one question in their minds.

What exactly does Liao Ji want to do?