Igwinte during the day, the Lower District, White Pearl Street.
White Pearl Street, while sounding like a street specifically selling jewelry and luxury goods, is clearly not the case, judging from its location in the Lower District.
White Pearl Street is a street full of old-fashioned charm, lined with various second-hand shops, antique stores, appraisal shops, scrap yards, and pawnshops. Citizens of Igwinte usually bring items they don't need but are somewhat valuable here to pawn for a bit of cash. There are also some people who believe they have a good eye who come here to hunt for treasures, hoping to find something good and get rich overnight.
White Pearl Street does not have a good reputation in Igwinte, not only because it is full of idle street loiterers who dream of striking it rich by finding treasures, but also because its nature often leads to close ties with gangs.
Many people in dire straits have pawned their entire family fortune here for temporary cash. To prevent debtors from defaulting, many shops are backed by gangs.
The color of gangs, the gathering of collectivists, the convergence of prospectors, and the prevalence of the pawn industry have all fueled the proliferation of usury on White Pearl Street, leading to the bankruptcy of countless families, with unspoken violence surging beneath the calm streets.
Dorothy was standing on the side of this street at this moment. She was wearing a simple white dress, her long white hair was tied up, she wore a large hat on her head, and carried a small bag in her hand, silently observing the street scene before her.
There were only a few pedestrians on the dim street. The surfaces of the shop windows and signs were covered with a layer of dust. Inside the windows of many shops were displayed various old artifacts, vases and pottery basins, gold and silver jewelry, and a pile of structures whose purpose was unclear. Some shops had no signs at all, and the doors were directly closed, with people only able to enter through a small side door. Some set up stalls directly on the sidewalk, selling strange little trinkets. The pedestrians coming and going either had gloomy faces or shifty eyes, and the number of homeless people was double that of other streets in the Lower District.
After glancing at the street scene before her twice, Dorothy frowned slightly and thought to herself.
'The atmosphere of the whole street is a bit strange... It feels like everyone is being secretive, as if they are hiding some secret... How can I find traces of the Holy Communion Society like this...'
Dorothy thought with some helplessness. According to the information she had obtained from 22 Elm West Lane earlier, there should be a Holy Communion Society stronghold hidden on this street. Dorothy wanted to find it but didn't know where to start for a while.
After spending half a day catching up on a week's worth of lessons, Dorothy immediately asked Aldrich for another week off. Then, every morning after saying goodbye to Grego and saying she was going to school, she took a car here and devoted herself wholeheartedly to the cause of anti-cultism.
After spending a wave of money at Aldrich's place, Dorothy felt deeply impoverished. After much thought, she decided that hunting members of the Holy Communion Society was currently the fastest way to make money, so she decided to find the stronghold on this street as well.
However, this was not easy, because it wasn't that Dorothy couldn't find problematic people on this street, but rather that she felt everyone on this street seemed problematic!
On this street full of secretive people, Dorothy had been searching for three days using various small animal Corpse Puppets. During this time, she had used Corpse Puppets to track several suspicious individuals, but the results were either gambling addicts who had lost money and were planning where to borrow more, or loan sharks. For three consecutive days, Dorothy found absolutely no clues related to the Holy Communion Society.
"Sigh... I really have no clue at all..."
Standing at the street corner, Dorothy let out a long sigh and said. Feeling a bit depressed for a moment, she chose to leave White Pearl Street and found a random coffee shop to drink high-sugar coffee.
Sitting in her seat, Dorothy drank coffee while thinking about how to find the Holy Communion Society. When she ran out of ideas, she picked up a newspaper on the table and started reading to relax her mood.
As soon as Dorothy unfolded the newspaper, she saw a news article with a large headline.
"Bo Dun. Wei Er Case Still Without Clues, Igwinte Police Questioned, Social Commentator Mr. Stanley Worried that the Delayed Resolution of the Case Will Breed Panic Among Citizens."
'Wow... This case is still hot... It's been days and the newspaper is still reporting it. Don't you have any other news?' Looking at the newspaper in her hand, Dorothy complained in her heart.
And just then, suddenly, Dorothy's eyes lit up as if she had thought of something.
'Hiss... Maybe... I can make use of it a little...'
While thinking, Dorothy opened her bag, rummaged through it for a while, and took out a worn pocket watch.
Dorothy opened the pocket watch. On the inside of the cover, a word was engraved.
"Bo Dun. Wei Er."
This was something Dorothy obtained while ransacking Burton's house. Besides cash and a secret transmission, Dorothy also took a few small miscellaneous items that looked quite valuable from Burton's house. For example, this pocket watch was found by Dorothy in a desk drawer. Originally, Dorothy thought that she could pawn them for some money when she had the chance, but then she felt it was a bit too conspicuous, so she never did it.
'It seems like now... I can be a little conspicuous for a while...'
Looking at the pocket watch in her hand, Dorothy thought to herself.
...
Igwinte at noon, the Lower District, White Pearl Street.
White Pearl Street, where opportunists gather, has many pawnshops. To satisfy the desire for money of some people as much as possible, these pawnshops are often also loan sharks in addition to doing pawn business. Backed by gangs, they extort money from the bottom of society who cannot control their desires, engaging in gray market transactions.
And Ke Li was like this. The Ke Li Pawnshop he opened had a considerable scale on White Pearl Street. Due to sufficient funds and quick cash withdrawal, many desperate people came to him to pawn things or borrow money.
Unlike some of his peers on the same street, for him, usury, which generates money the fastest, was the main business, and the pawn business was just for show.
In the Ke Li Pawnshop, Ke Li, a middle-aged man of medium build, bald, and wearing a shirt and trousers, was sitting behind the counter, smoking a cigarette while looking at the bills in his hand, reviewing the amounts owed by his clients one by one. A robust assistant stood beside him.
"Hmph... Has that poor wretch Dunn rolled up to 12 pound? If there's no movement now, he's probably gambled and can't pay it back. Looks like I'll have to go and press him. I hope that guy will voluntarily go into the mine pit. I don't want to collect a few more fingers.
"Brook... Go inquire about Dunn's current situation. If not, organize people to go to his house to collect the payment in a couple of days."
"Yes, Boss."
Looking at the unlucky fellow scheduled on the bill, Ke Li snorted coldly, and the assistant beside him also followed orders, pushed open the door, and walked out of the shop. Ke Li didn't bother with anything else and lowered his head to continue looking at the bill in his hand.
Not long after the assistant left, the sound of the door opening echoed in the room. Ke Li put down the bill in his hand and looked towards the shop door, then he saw a man wearing a trench coat and a hat, with a thick scarf covering the lower half of his face, slowly walking into the shop.
After entering the shop, the trench coat man glanced at the various displays arranged around him, then walked step by step to Ke Li's counter, took out an object from his pocket, placed it on the counter, and spoke in a cold voice.
"I want to pawn this thing. Give me a price."
"Heh heh... So it's a customer, please wait a moment..."
Looking at the scene before him, Ke Li narrowed his eyes, then he put on his glasses, picked up the item on the counter, and began to examine it, finding it was a pocket watch.
Then, Ke Li held the pocket watch in his hand and began to observe it, thinking as he observed.
'From the appearance, the craftsmanship is quite meticulous, accurate time, normal operation, although it has some age, the overall maintenance is good... It's probably worth around 3 pound...'
Although Ke Li thought this, what he said was a completely different story.
"Hmm... Customer, this watch of yours is quite worn, and the dial is scratched. It's not easy to sell. I think it's questionable if it's worth even around 1 pound... Wait, there's an engraving here. An engraving might reduce the price a bit more? No... This is..."
While speaking, Ke Li finally discovered the engraving mark on the watch cover and began to examine it carefully, then he found that what was engraved was actually a name.
"Bo Dun. Wei Er... Bo Dun. Wei Er!?"
Suddenly, Ke Li remembered the name he had been seeing on the newspaper these past few days, the name of the gentry who was murdered along with all his servants in his own home. Ke Li's heart jolted violently, and he immediately looked up at the customer in front of him.
However, what he saw was a black gun barrel pointed at him, and a pair of cold eyes.