Chapter 600: Alienation
Back at his carriage, Peng Zhang was still guarding nearby.
On the way to escort him back to the temporary dormitory, Wayne briefly explained the situation to Peng Zhang, then offered his suggestion:
“You’ve seen that child before. Pay a little more attention to him from now on. If you or your informants encounter him in the Dock Area again, try to persuade him to leave. No need to harm anyone.”
That Monk seemed to believe that the “gang haunting” was done by the Detective Agency. It was fine this time, but it would be best to try to prevent the same thing from happening again.
Peng Zhang nodded in response. Then Wayne thought for a moment, and his curiosity began to spread again: “But they went in that direction just now. It’s so late now, why would people from the Cathedral appear in the Dock Area?”
“Perhaps they are on some secret mission…”
Peng Zhang’s tone was not very certain. “The Cathedral usually does not directly participate in the management of the Dock Area, and that’s not where the official docks are located… I will start collecting information on this tomorrow and submit it to Miss Lina in the brief.”
Wayne had only asked casually. For the Cathedral not to cause trouble for the Detective Agency in the short term, Wayne would be burning incense.
So he wasn’t particularly concerned about this question: “Just keep an eye out from the side; there’s no need to specifically inquire, lest it draw the Cathedral’s attention to us. Given the situation in the Dock Area, if there’s really something going on, there should be some rumors circulating.”
“Yes.”
…
The next morning, when Wayne told Inessa and Lina about the matter,
Lina was the first to be displeased: “She’s starting again… I clearly told her last time not to act on her own, but she completely ignores advice.”
“You’ve already made contact with that ‘female ghost’?” Wayne asked.
“Yes, about a day or two after you told us to ‘have a chat’ with her last time. At that time, I specifically brought that child to the restaurant for you to question him. One purpose was to hope that he would go back and remind the other party that she was being watched—tracking a child isn’t difficult.”
“How come I didn’t know about this?” Wayne recalled, “It was never written in the brief.”
Lina placed one hand on her slender waist, “You yourself said to tell her to be careful and not to involve our Detective Agency.”
Wayne understood, “You were too lazy to write down what you did, so there’s no record, right?”
“I even asked you in advance if you wanted to bring her back, and you clearly looked like you didn’t want to bother… Besides, she’s a family member of a City Hall official, and the workshop is within Richmond’s jurisdiction. I definitely try not to leave written records for such matters.”
“So you were just too lazy to write it,” Wayne grumbled, then quickly changed the subject, “That ‘female ghost’ is actually a family member of a City Hall official?”
Lina motioned for Wayne to lean closer, and took the opportunity to put an arm around Inessa’s shoulder, lowering her voice: “She’s Tax Officer Quinn’s daughter.”
“It’s her?”
Wayne was a little disappointed, “After I saw her last night, I was thinking of trying to recruit her if her Extraordinary ability was suitable. Now it seems unlikely.”
A young lady from a City Hall official’s family… the salary would be hard to price.
Inessa, expressionless and skillfully, made a gesture to poke, and Lina, next to her, quickly pulled back and dodged, saying as she moved, “I think you can try; she might be willing to participate.”
Hmm?
Wayne was about to ask Lina “what do you mean,” when Inessa, after a slight consideration, spoke to Wayne:
“Recruiting should be more cautious. According to your description of her Extraordinary ability, she, like Peng Zhang, is very likely an Extraordinary Person from the ‘Abyss’ domain.”
“Is there a problem?” Wayne tried to confirm the situation.
Inessa seemed to weigh her words: “The reason the Hunter Association specifically targets Extraordinary Persons from the ‘Abyss’ domain, besides the natural opposition in domains, is another reason: as they use their Extraordinary abilities more often, their minds or bodies will gradually develop in an unpredictable, chaotic direction, leading to irreversible ‘Alienation.’
“That kind of ‘Alienation’ is different from ‘Loss of Control.’ It’s more like mechanical ‘wear and tear,’ something that inevitably happens with repeated use of abilities. Therefore, the risk of ‘Loss of Control’ for ‘Abyss’ domain Extraordinary Persons is much higher than for Extraordinary Persons in other domains—this is also why I privately reminded Peng Zhang earlier to avoid using his Extraordinary abilities as much as possible.”
There’s such a characteristic?
If “Loss of Control” is equivalent to an Extraordinary Person’s “death,” then “Alienation” sounds like an Extraordinary Person’s “cancerous change,” born with a tumor, just waiting to grow or flare up…
And if you apply the Hunter Association’s logic, it’s not hard to understand why they would target the “Abyss” domain: since they’ll go crazy sooner or later and become a menace eventually, why not eliminate them early?
It’s just that Inessa is reasonable enough, and the Hunter Association in America isn’t as “orthodox” as it used to be, otherwise, Peng Zhang’s grave would probably already be overgrown with grass.
But if that Extraordinary ability is indeed useful, not recruiting feels a bit wasteful…
Wayne paused slightly, “Will the speed of Alienation be very fast?”
“Not necessarily. One of the characteristics of the ‘Abyss’ domain is ‘uncontrollable partial consequences.’ Some Alienations have a ‘plateau phase’ and can remain relatively stable for a certain period, ranging from a few days to decades. Some Extraordinary abilities in the ‘Abyss’ domain even take effect by ‘actively alienating’ in the short term, such as Arthur Iverson, whom we encountered in Blackstone Town.”
Hmm? Who is this person?
Wayne had to recall for a moment before remembering: Oh, it was that mutated gorilla covered in tumors, worth 500 dollars, the gang leader who could smash a shed with one punch, and who chased the carriage for half the night.
Inessa continued with the Popular Science :
“According to the statistics in the Hunter Association, for ‘Abyss’ domain Extraordinary Persons, calculating from the infected Rank 0, the average time until their eventual Loss of Control is often less than 5 years, with nearly 70% dying within one year. However, there are also about 3% of examples of long-lived Alienation, with one reportedly living at least over 160 years, serving as a stable source of raw materials for many early Extraordinary weapons of the Hunter Association.”
Hiss… “Stable source of raw materials,” that sounds a bit chilling to think about…
As expected of the Windsor Kingdom, even the Hunter Association, which maintains order, is equally traditional and excellent in terms of “not being human”…
Wayne weighed it slightly in his mind, “I’ll go talk to her first. Even if it’s just to remind her not to continue ‘haunting’ anymore.”
