On the luxurious carriage leaving Earl Hall's estate.
Luke was casually chatting with Lady Marie about the distinguished guests they had just met, such as the Chairman of the Air Pollution Investigation Committee, the Director of the National Meteorological Bureau, Sir Des Shaw; the Committee member, President of the Royal Meteorological Society, and Member of Parliament, Mr. Cave; and the Medical Health Director of Inter-Sea County, the renowned doctor, Mr. Hawksley.
They were all figures with extensive influence in the government, the royal family, or the parliament. The final report produced by this committee would become the most important basis for the intended "Anti-Pollution Act" and "Smoke Emission Reduction Act."
Koym & Co., which specialized in smokeless coal and charcoal, aimed to drive and accelerate this progress, leaving their older but larger competitors with no time to adapt.
"They certainly won't be stingy with the pounds. They will definitely lobby those heavyweight MPs to disrupt our investigation. We must have a clear response plan. Just as Mr. Hibbert Hall said, we must control public opinion and have newspapers and magazines repeatedly preach the horrors of smog pollution..." Luke, a senior manager at Koym and a crucial assistant for major shareholder Marie in running the company, was himself quite competent.
Amidst the casual chatter, Luke suddenly noticed his wife sitting beside him without saying a word, as if she had lost her soul.
"Staline, what happened?" Luke asked with concern.
Staline snapped back to reality and forced a smile: "Nothing much, just a little tired."
"Yeah, meeting so many important people must have kept your nerves on edge. Now that you can finally relax, it's perfectly normal to feel tired. Actually, I feel the same way." Luke said with a smile.
Staline didn't respond. Instead, she stared blankly out the window at the park with a lake.
Her ears still faintly echoed the casual words of the noble lady earlier: "450 pounds."
"A well-trained hunting dog costs between 450 and 700 pounds."
...
Silver City, bottom of the Round Tower.
Derrick Berg had been stuck in the small room, eating and taking his medicine on time. His mental state was rapidly improving, and his auditory and visual hallucinations no longer appeared.
One or two more days, and he should be able to get out... Staying in this kind of environment all the time is really suffocating... The former exploration team leader next door, who was locked up for a full forty-two years, was still very clear-headed and rational. If it were me, I would definitely have gone mad... But the exploration stories and strange monsters he talked about were very fascinating, even a bit scary... Derrick sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the candle that had burned down to its end.
Before the guard brought the next meal and medicine, he would be in true darkness.
Just then, grey fog suddenly diffused before his eyes, and the deep voice of "The Fool" sounded in his ears: "Prepare for the gathering."
The change came and went in an instant. Derrick pulled back his attention and began to silently count his heartbeats out of habit.
But he soon realized this was unnecessary, as his current state was solitude; he didn't need to avoid anyone.
No longer silently counting his heartbeats, Derrick quickly thought of a problem:
He was currently within the seal range of the mystical item at the bottom of the Round Tower. Would Mr. Fool's subsequent act of pulling people into the gray fog be discovered or detected because of this?
This was one of the two mystical items that had prevented Silver City from being utterly destroyed in several crises!
Amidst his unease and anxiety, before Derrick could make a decision, he saw boundless crimson light surging out of the void. With just a single surge, it engulfed him.
The small, enclosed room was perfectly silent, even breathing was barely audible.
Suddenly, from the metal wall separating Derrick and the former exploration team leader came a soft "thump."
This was their signal for seeking conversation with each other.
"Thump!"
The person on the other side curled his finger and knocked again.
Afterwards, the third knock, which should have come quickly in succession, took a long time to appear.
After a long pause, the "thump" sound came again, hesitantly. Then, both rooms fell into silence, with no further movements.
...
Audrey, who had finished her luncheon, practiced the piano for a while and then returned to her bedroom, timing it carefully.
As she passed by her father, Earl Hall's study, she saw the door was ajar and a thick stack of documents was placed on the desk.
"That wasn't there before..." Curiosity piqued, Audrey slowed down and gave a meaningful look to the large golden retriever, Susie.
As a "Spectator," Susie often only needed a very small hint to understand what her master wanted her to do. Of course, she occasionally pretended not to understand, preferring to just lie down and do nothing.
Receiving the signal, Susie silently trotted over and slipped into the study. Then she stretched out her front legs, propped them on the edge of the desk, and stood up.
She quickly glanced at the cover of the stack of documents and returned to Audrey's side, lowering her voice: "Survey of Living Conditions of Various Classes in the East Borough, Dock Area, and Factory Area." "Audrey, what does this mean?"
A survey of living conditions in the East Borough, Dock Area, and Factory Area? Why would Dad suddenly do this survey? I remember I haven't mentioned anything like this to him... Audrey was puzzled and didn't bother to answer Susie's question.