"He should be going to find Maxe."
The rickshaw rolled along the cobbled path, and Evan Stone sat inside, his face serious.
He had no idea what went wrong that made Victor Hale suspect him so quickly. Not only had he been sent away at his own expense, but now, Victor Hale seemed intent on questioning Maxe Stone alone.
But the problem was, all his escape routes were now blocked.
Even if he turned back to find Maxe Stone, not to mention whether he could reach home faster than the law enforcers, once he left the rickshaw, Victor Hale would quickly know. At that point, his suspicions would be nearly impossible to clear.
It all now depended on how Maxe Stone would respond...
Evan Stone had already made up his mind. If his identity was exposed, he would flee District 2 immediately, because Victor Hale would need some time to get from District 3.
As for Maxe Stone, he was just an ordinary person and didn't know about his "Fusionist" identity—he didn't even know what a "Fusionist" was. Even if something happened to Evan Stone, Maxe would likely remain unaffected.
"The brother really said he had no money," the rickshaw driver muttered as he pulled the cart. "Even Officer Victor Hale covered your fare. Your identity's not simple, huh?"
"Heh, indeed not simple."
Evan Stone's mind flashed to Victor Hale's face, feeling a wave of frustration rise in his chest. He then asked, "How much longer?"
"Almost there, about ten more minutes."
"No need to rush, let's circle the street a few more times."
"…Huh?"
"Just do it, the fare's calculated by the distance, right?" Evan Stone sneered. "If he's got so much money, I'll help him spend some..."
"Alright, alright, I'll do it."
The driver eagerly took the rickshaw and made several more loops through the busiest streets of District 2. It was obvious that the driver was excited, considering the extra distance would earn him a couple of extra days' worth of fares.
When Evan Stone got out of the rickshaw, the driver grinned widely, as if he wanted to bow down and thank him on the spot.
Since only he was "forced to leave" and William Young still had a few hours before arriving, Evan Stone had to go to Ice Spring Street by himself to meet up with the law enforcement officers patrolling there.
As soon as he arrived at Ice Spring Street, Evan Stone furrowed his brows.
The yellow police tape nearly blocked the entire street, and there was still a lingering smell of blood in the air. The small, shabby buildings on both sides of the street were empty, no one in sight, with only a few streaks of crimson blood splattered across the white walls, creating a chilling sight.
Evan Stone bent down and passed under the police tape. The ground was covered in broken stones, as if some vicious beast had appeared here and massacred the entire street.
"What's this...?" Evan Stone thought, puzzled.
In the distance, a few law enforcers in black-red uniforms moved about. When they saw Evan Stone step across the police tape, they immediately approached him.
"Are you from the reserve officers in District 3? Why are you here so early?"
Evan Stone handed over his assignment order, pushing the blame onto Victor Hale, saying that he was instructed to depart quickly.
The law enforcer nodded. "It's fine that you came early, we could use the extra help... My name is Quentin Farr, I'm currently responsible for Ice Spring Street. You'll be working with me for the next couple of days."
"Alright." Evan Stone paused for a moment. "Brother Qian, what exactly happened here?"
"Didn't you hear?"
Quentin Farr asked, surprised. "The night before last... the day of the Gray Realm convergence, a disaster came to District 2 and slaughtered half a street of people."
Evan Stone froze. "The night before last?"
"Yes." Quentin Farr nodded. "Didn't Officer Marshall Zhang from District 3 tell you? This Gray Realm convergence probably brought out two disasters... One was a level five, and the other was a level three.
The one that appeared in District 3 was level five, but it didn't seem very destructive and caused minimal casualties... The one we had in District 2 was a level three, not a high level, but it was extremely violent..."
Hearing this, Evan Stone's mind went blank.
He had always thought that the disaster in his mind was the only one that had emerged from the Gray Realm... But now, there was another one?
"What about the level three one? Was it captured?"
"If it had been captured, why would we still be out here doing this?" Quentin Farr sighed. "After killing people, that disaster just vanished... But some law enforcers saw the direction it headed. It looks like it went toward the back mountains."
The back mountains...
Evan Stone remembered, those mountains were located between Districts 2 and 3.
"You know, these two disasters are strange... Usually, after a disaster causes such a ruckus, it gets captured quickly. One reason is that they're large in size, and the other is that they can't help but continue killing... But these two disasters, both disappeared at the same time, as if they evaporated into thin air!"
Evan Stone's mind stirred, and he casually asked, "I've heard about a type of being called... Fusionists?"
"Fusionists..." Quentin Farr shook his head. "Do you think it's easy for disasters to merge with humans? To merge with a disaster and survive, you have to meet three conditions... First, you must ensure the disaster doesn't kill you. Just this alone eliminates 99% of disasters, because most disasters have no self-control.
You could say you defeated it to near death first, but then the next problem is, you have to ensure your body is compatible with it... This is completely unpredictable.
A human and a disaster are not the same species. For the two to merge is like randomly picking up a rock and finding that the natural markings on it are your name—extremely rare.
Even if you're lucky enough to meet the first two conditions, you must also ensure that after merging with the disaster, you won't go insane from its will. As far as I know, most Fusionists end up insane and don't survive for long."
Evan Stone replied, "So, the chances of a Fusionist appearing are practically zero?"
"Exactly." Quentin Farr nodded. "But I've heard that there are some in the Fusionist group who are researching ways to increase the success rate of merging... How far they've gotten, I don't know."
Previously, Evan Stone had always believed he was a Fusionist, but after hearing Quentin Farr's description, he felt that something was off...
His connection with the "audience" was entirely based on the theater, and there didn't seem to be any process of fusion like he described... Though these "audiences" did occasionally drive him mad.
At the same time, a thought flashed through Evan Stone's mind.
Since I'm not a Fusionist...
Is it possible that I could still master my own... divine path?