"[Ace of Spades], what are your demands?"
"I need a quiet room."
"Reason?"
"I've found a suspected fusioner. I need to perform a disaster level assessment experiment."
"Fusioner?" The woman raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Is it possible to absorb him?"
"The target can be ruled out as a member of the Fusionist faction, but he does have tendencies to join the law enforcement. Whether he can be absorbed depends on the results of my assessment."
"I understand."
The woman took a key from the bottom of a drawer and handed it to Charles Moore. "The quiet room is on the second basement level."
Charles Moore took the key and opened the hidden door to the basement. His figure flickered and disappeared into the shadows.
The woman stepped out of the counter and subtly scanned her surroundings. She flipped the "Open for Business" sign and closed the door, locking it.
Swish—
In the darkness, Charles Moore lit an oil lamp and carefully descended the narrow staircase.
The dim yellow light slowly descended, and at the bottom of the stairs was a space of about ten square meters. Charles Moore bent down and placed the lamp in the center of the floor. He then took out a small brown bottle and poured its contents onto the floor.
Charles Moore removed his glasses, and a faint blue glow emanated from his eyes. A heavy, oppressive force swirled around him, stirring the space!
"Diagnosis... Begin."
...
Ice Spring Street.
Evan Stone moved through the shattered ruins, carefully searching.
He was relieved that he was assigned to this area and tasked with finding clues... If Maxe Stone had left any traces here, he would be the first to know and the first to sever the clues.
If the talisman fragment from yesterday had fallen into the hands of other law enforcers instead of him, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
But the reality was, Maxe Stone had left nothing else behind.
Evan Stone spent the whole morning turning the ruins of Ice Spring Street upside down, but apart from various blood and severed limbs, there was nothing else. He didn't even find any traces of a "disaster domain" as Quentin Farr had mentioned.
Evan Stone couldn't help but wonder what kind of disaster lay within Maxe Stone's body...
As he pondered, a figure approached from a distance.
"William Young?" Evan Stone froze for a moment as he saw the person coming.
It wasn't unexpected to see William Young on Ice Spring Street, but the problem was, William Young was now carrying a metal crutch under his arm, one of his legs was in a cast, and his body was covered in wounds and bandages. His left eye was bruised and looked as though he had just crawled out of a trench.
Hearing Evan Stone's voice, William Young, who had been lowering his head, finally raised his eyes, and a flicker of light appeared in his gaze.
"Evan Stone," William Young smiled bitterly. "I thought I wouldn't make it to see you alive..."
"What happened to you?"
"I'm not going to be a law enforcer anymore."
William Young raised his head and looked at the aurora in the distance, a trace of sorrow and desolation flashing across his bruised eyes.
"What happened?" Evan Stone clearly remembered that when he left yesterday, William Young had been full of hope for completing his task. How had things changed so drastically?
"The law enforcers... Ice Spring Street... none of them are good."
"Evan Stone, do you know what kind of people live on this street?"
"They are debt collectors! Cultists! Fugitives! Everywhere, there's illegal arms trade, drug trade, and organ trade... Yesterday, I went to gather information from the survivors on this street, and they just laughed and mocked me!"
"They threw me into the restroom! Made me clean the toilet! When I refused, they broke my leg!"
William Young's voice grew shaky, as if recalling some painful memory, veins popping on his neck.
"They did it on purpose!!"
"The law enforcers in District 2 knew exactly what kind of place this street was! None of them wanted to come here, so they asked for help from District 3! I don't know what kind of deal they made with Marshall Zhang, but he sent people from the reserve team!"
"He knew we were new, poor, and had no influence! Who else would he send if not us?"
"Officially, we're here to assist, but in reality, we're just offerings provided by the higher-ups of the law enforcers! I swear, the higher-ups are definitely linked to the underground dealings on Ice Spring Street!"
"Why?!"
"My parents sold everything they had to send me to school! I became a law enforcer on my own merit!"
"Why do they treat me like this?!!"
William Young yelled in anger, his eyes bloodshot, but even in this state, he still dared not speak too loudly... because law enforcers from District 2 were not far away.
Under the lion's watch, even the most furious ants could only suppress their anger in silence.
William Young's chest heaved violently, as though he was about to challenge either Ice Spring Street or the law enforcers, but just then, a voice interrupted, making his body stiffen.
"William Young, Evan Stone? What are you two talking about?"
The voice belonged to Quentin Farr, dressed in the black and red uniform, his arms crossed as he walked towards them, curious.
William Young's face turned pale instantly.
"William Young, didn't you say you wouldn't be a law enforcer anymore?" Quentin Farr spoke again. "Voluntarily quitting the law enforcer exam doesn't leave room for regrets... this was supposed to be an opportunity to change your fate. Are you really sure about this?
Or... if you feel there's something wrong with the law enforcers, you can bring it up, and we'll discuss it further..."
William Young's face shifted continuously, many times trying to speak but holding back. Under Quentin Farr's gaze, he finally just shook his head.
"No... I voluntarily quit."
"Such a shame."
Evan Stone looked at William Young in front of him, his emotions immediately complicated...
William Young had openly vented his frustrations about the law enforcers to Evan Stone, but in front of the law enforcers, he couldn't say another word.
But Evan Stone couldn't say William Young was cowardly either, because even if William Young gave up being a law enforcer, he would still have to live in District 3, or one of the other large districts in the Aurora Realm. And no matter where he went, law enforcers would always be there...
For everyone living in the Aurora Realm, law enforcers were like gods.
William Young looked at Evan Stone deeply, then lowered his head again... With difficulty, he leaned on his cheap crutch, gritted his teeth, and limped toward District 3.
His figure gradually grew smaller as he walked away, until he became a tiny speck of dust, blown away at the end of the road.
Evan Stone knew, from now on... William Young might never lift his head again.
"Actually, I think he's quite a good guy, hardworking and with potential," Quentin Farr sighed, watching William Young's departing figure.
"By the way, since William Young left, his job is left undone... Starting today, you'll take over his task."
Evan Stone froze and turned to look at Quentin Farr.
Quentin Farr smiled and met his gaze. Under the sunlight, his smile looked like that of a devil.