At the same time that the tattooed man was mentally marking the three of them as lambs to be slaughtered, Douglas, who had a "snooper" on the bridge of his nose, narrowed his eyes a little uncomfortably, and his thoughts were momentarily delayed.

This stems from the negative role of the "snooper", which makes him uncontrollable to capture the large amount of detailed information that exists on the scene, and has no time to care about it for a while.

And a few gangster thugs consciously spread out in a fan shape without the command of the tattooed man, and their hands touched the weapons on their waists or behind their backs, approaching with bad intentions.

Yuval took a step across, half-blocking Melissa behind him, his staff diagonally to the ground.

However, Douglas quickly adjusted to the momentary shock, put his hands behind his back and gestured to Yuval to calm down, and at the same time glanced at the thugs who were surrounding him, and said to one of them with a smile: "You guys are in the way." ”

The thug spat disdainfully on the ground, gritting at his tobacco-blackened teeth and smirking: "It's in your way, isn't it?" Come, get down and crawl over here, and we'll let you go." ”

As he spoke, he spread his legs very vulgarly, trying to point at his crotch and humiliate the other party.

This is a humiliating gesture that is customary on the streets.

However, before the action could be put in place, a dazzling bright light suddenly exploded in front of the thug's eyes, he couldn't avoid it, his eyes were stung violently, and a large number of physiological tears poured out of his eye sockets, making him subconsciously want to rub his eyes to wipe away the tears.

Seizing the opportunity created by the blinding of the "flash" first, Douglas lunged forward and grabbed the thug's shoulder, and combined with a fierce knee that went straight down the three, the thug was forced to bow down. At the same time, Douglas raised his head slightly, bringing into his sight the tattooed man who had been covered by the thug because of his position.

With the help of the "snooper", Douglas's eyes quickly turned golden, and his pupils became strangely sharp and narrow, like a reptile.

The invisible fluctuations swept by, and the gang members who were originally pulling out their guns and were about to fight back suddenly seemed to have seen the most terrifying and terrifying thing in the world, either dropping their weapons and trembling, or turning around and fleeing in a hurry.

The bald man who was directly targeted by Douglas was even more like a lightning strike, and he collapsed directly to the ground and shrunk into a ball with his head in his arms, and his crotch was faintly wet.

This is the collective "deterrence", which is also vividly called "Longwei"!

All this happened in a matter of seconds, and even Yuval, who was ready to cooperate, was stunned for a moment before he reacted and put down his cane.

Douglas shook his hand and threw the chicken-and-egg thug aside, and instead of paying attention, he turned to Yuval and Melissa, and said calmly, "Let's go." ”

Melissa glanced at him, then at the girl who had been dragged out by the bald man.

Because Douglas deliberately controlled, the latter was not affected by "Long Wei", and when she saw the bald man falling, the poor woman's first reaction was to stumble up from the ground, and pounced on the man in overalls who was kicked out of the room and fell to the ground at the beginning, crying and helping him up: "Rob! Rob! ”

The man in overalls was helped to sit up by the street girl, staring blankly at the fleeing gangster who fell to the ground in front of him.

Seeing him wake up, a smile appeared on the swollen face of the beaten girl, who gripped the man's shoulders tightly, and her mottled fingernails almost dug into the man's flesh.

"Great, Rob ......," cried the street girl in a high-pitched voice, a little frantically crying and laughing, "take me away!" Rob, I can go with you! I saved up a sum of money, you listen to me, let's ......"

The man in the overalls, who was originally wooden, suddenly turned his head, stared at the girl standing on the street with disbelief, and also shouted, "What did you say? Saving? Oh my God, you idiot, this pig-and-dog slut! ”

It seemed that he had regained his strength all of a sudden, and the man in the overalls stood up and pushed the street girl to the ground, covering the wounds on his body that had been beaten, and roared: "You caused me to be beaten!" My arms are broken, how do I work, how do I feed my wife and children! You're a ......."

He seemed to want to raise his leg and kick at the other man, but Douglas walked over in time to stop him.

The man in the overalls immediately cringed and smiled, and quietly tried to retract his legs, but the street girl who was pushed to the ground suddenly hugged his calves, and the ecstasy on his face was replaced by astonishment.

"Do you have a family? Do you have children? ”

She questioned every word like a bloody cry, and the more she talked, the more painful it became, and the more she spoke, the more resentful she became.

"You lied to me! You lie to me too! You don't want to take me away at all! Darn! ”

The man in the overalls pulled his leg out hard, and no longer quarreled with her, just turned around and stumbled out of the street.

The girl standing in the street sat on the spot, like a frozen statue, both joy and pain silently oozing from her torn body and evaporating in the filthy and messy streets.

It wasn't until Douglas raised her hand and gently tapped the frame on the bridge of her nose to perform a "reassuring" spell that she slowly raised her head and glanced at him as if her soul had returned to her body.

"Is there anyone to turn to?" Douglas asked succinctly.

Before he could answer, he judged a lot of things from the other party's appearance and subtle movements.

The girl standing on the street looked slightly moved, although her eyes were still blank, but there were some signs of thinking and aftertaste; Although her nose is blue and her face is swollen, it can still be seen that her face is very young; Facing an adult man, she subconsciously gathered her clothes that could not cover her body; She had just been deceived by her client.

This means that she won't be in the business for long.

"I ...... I remember that I came from the south, from Edwin Farm. Sure enough, the street girl whispered after trying to remember for a moment.

Unconsciously relieved, Douglas turned back to the gangsters who were still in fear and searched for them, took out all the coins and banknotes in their pockets, and threw them to the street girl along with a coat, telling her to put them away: "Do you know the way to the steam station?" ”

The girl shook her head slowly.

Melissa, who saw all this in her eyes, finally couldn't bear it at this moment, and quickly stepped forward, helped the street girl up, and looked at Douglas, her eyes clear and determined: "The steam station is out of here...... Far away? ”

Douglas, who had long been aware of her mental activity through the "snooper", was not surprised, and knew that Yuval would not refuse, so he did not object, and simply responded: "You can go." ”

Melissa hurriedly smiled at him gratefully, and then walked out step by step with the street girl in her arms, not minding the blood and mud rubbing on her clothes.

It wasn't until Melissa took a few steps that Yuval approached Douglas and whispered, "Isn't it okay if you don't dispose of the escaped gangsters?" ”

Despite his lack of combat experience, Yuval is not so naïve as a mid-sequence extraordinary who has witnessed war.

"It's late." Douglas took off his glasses and responded in the same low voice, "Look at how many pairs of eyes around you have seen you and me, there is no point in extinguishing your mouth." Of course, if you want to do it, I won't stop you. ”

Yuval was stunned for a moment, and looked around.

As a result of the sudden outbreak of conflict, there was no one else on the streets. But in the crooked shacks, in the cracks of the leaky planks, in the shadows where the sun does not shine, the numb, empty eyes of the girls who also belong to the street girl cannot help but peer out.

This made the young "appraiser" shudder, and the hairs on his back suddenly stood up, understanding what Douglas meant.

As long as the Wheelie Party starts investigating, no one here will keep it a secret.

After a moment of thought, Yuval lifted his heavy cane and slammed it into the temples of the gangsters.

After a few muffled sounds mixed with the crisp sound of a shattering skull, Yuval withdrew his cane, straightened his clothes, and without looking at the corpses on the ground with broken heads and severed eyes, hurried after his companion, and with Douglas protected the two women in the middle of the group as if nothing had happened.

Out of the sphere of influence of the Wheely Party, Douglas immediately took a few people to change direction, did not go overland to the steam station, but went directly to the Tasok River to find a ferry to pick up smuggled goods, went upstream, spent a period of time along the river to leave the East End, came to the nearest subway station, and then took the subway to the station, bought a ticket for the station street girl to go south, and put the person on the bus.

Standing on the crowded platform, Melissa watched intently as the street girl squeezed into the carriage wearing a veiled black hat and a long black skirt that Douglas had bought halfway, pretending to be a mourning young woman, and she did not even react when she was hit by a passenger passing by.

Yuval grunted dissatisfiedly, put his hand lightly on Melissa's shoulder, and softly persuaded him, "It's time for us to go." ”

"......" withdrew her gaze, Melissa's bright brown eyes were melancholy, there was a sense of loss, she seemed to be talking to herself, as if asking for the advice of her companions, "Marlene will get home safely, right?" ”

Marlene was the name of the street girl, and she was even a year younger than Melissa.

"Of course." Yuval immediately offered his support and encouraged Melissa, "You have done a great thing, Melissa, you should be proud of yourself. ”

The latter barely curled the corners of his mouth in response to Yuval's words, but his eyes looked at Douglas, who was walking on the other side, only to see Douglas stop and look back.

Behind them was only the bustling crowd on the platform.

Douglas frowned, he suddenly had a fleeting sense of crisis that was cold and extremely tense, very similar to the sense of crisis when he encountered monsters far beyond his ability in the city of Yetonev, in the "Treasure of Russell".

Is there a high-order extraordinaire in the steam station?

"Do you feel it?" While turning his head to question his companion, Douglas put on the "snooper" again.

Faced with such a crowded platform, he inevitably frowned at the influx of information, but he still mustered up his energy and tried his best to capture the expressions of everyone he could see, trying to find the extraordinary who might be hiding in the crowd.

Yuval and Melissa shook their heads suspiciously, then realized something, and asked, "Is there a gang of people catching up?" ”

"No......" The possibility of having a high-level powerhouse in the gang that can only do the skin business is almost zero, and after a while of observation Douglas, who did not find the suspect, took off the wooden frame, pressed his swelling temples hard, and was a little tired mentally, "It's nothing, let's go, be careful next." ”

He took the lead and walked out, covering his right hand with his sleeve, untied the obsidian pendulum tied to his wrist, and made a simple and quick divination: "There will be great danger in the East Side today. ”

Feeling the pendulum turning counterclockwise, not slow, not small, Douglas tied it again, and his mood did not relax.

Divination is not a panacea!

Not ignoring his spiritual instincts, he took out the notebook and pencil he had with him and hurriedly wrote a short message, giving a few pennies to the child who was picking up cigarette butts near the station, and sent the child to the nearest church to hand over the note to the officer on duty.

In the letter, he falsely claimed to have seen cultists suspected of being members of the Aurora Society boarding the train at the station, but he was unable to juggle the task at hand and asked other churches to investigate.

Using the Aurora Society as a shield, Douglas has no guilt at all, thanks to the fact that the Aurora Society is very successful as a cult, especially the hatred of the Storm Church, and it is more likely to be taken seriously if it is reported in this name.

Just like that, they went around and around and returned to the Eastern District again, and the three of them, each with their own thoughts, finally started the real mission, going to the pharmaceutical factory to investigate.

There are two sides to everything, and Yuval's conspicuous outfit can bring trouble as well as convenience, such as pretending to be a supplier, pretending to be an investor, pretending to be a buyer, and easily convincing the managers in the factory to bring several people to the workshop for a tour.

Unlike Douglas's impression of "high-end, atmospheric, and high-grade", a bunch of white coats around the petri dish research spotless modern pharmaceutical factory, subject to the development of steam power and theoretical level, the pharmaceutical factory environment in this era is better than other light and heavy industries, but the good is very limited, the disinfection facilities only exist in the filling workshop, although a series of links in the front are assisted by machines, but a large number of workers can still be seen to process the medicinal materials with manpower, and many people do not even have basic protective measures.

The heat emitted by the steam pipes and equipment makes the workshop extremely stuffy, mixed with various pungent or bitter smells emitted by chemical reagents and process products, as well as the loud noise of machine operation, which makes people feel very oppressive and suffocating. Douglas rubbed his nose vigorously and followed Yuval and Melissa on a tour of the pharmaceutical process as they were led by the shop floor manager.

He couldn't read the equipment, but he could understand the Drug Safety Law and the Safety Production Law, which were like seven gods to the factory, and they all knew that they existed, but they were obviously not here.

After leaving the first factory, Melissa sighed even more melancholy: "Now I know why so many people still choose the folk herb shop, the home remedies of those country wizards, because the potions that are really sold in the cupboard may not be as healthy as those wild vegetables and wild fruits. ”

She has always believed that the existence of knowledge and science can help people live better lives, so she has a partial prejudice against those who ignore the development of science and are superstitious about traditional witch doctors.

"At least more people have access to effective medicines." Douglas felt for the wooden frame in his pocket, trying to resist the idea of taking it out and putting it on, and diverted his attention by chatting, "No matter how simple the manufacturing here is, the efficiency is much faster than the wizard's crockpot by crockpot, this is the meaning of industrialization, making what used to be expensive and even cherished cheap and easy to obtain." ”

"But the decoctions produced in those factories are essentially the same as boiling herbs, just extracting the effective ingredients from natural ingredients......"

Yuval also joined the discussion, acknowledging Douglas's understanding of industrialization and finding the problem from another angle.

That is, the advanced technology has not improved the quality of the drug itself.

As a modern person, Douglas knows that compared to this "extract drug", "synthetic drugs" such as antibiotics, penicillin, and aspirin are the real existence of modern medicine.

Manipulating molecules and even smaller units to construct something that nature does not have to heal the sick is as great and counterintuitive as God's creation of the world, but it is something that Earth technology can easily do.

As for this world...... Douglas laughed and said with some emotion: "But this is a world with extraordinary powers, if even the potions we drink can be effective by simply boiling them, who can say that there is a better way to make medicine than now?" ”

In fact, Douglas was also quite curious, whether it was a "pharmacist", a "physician" or a "potions professor", did not use elaborate chemical and physical means when dispensing medicines, but instead focused on the occult symbolism and meaning of raw materials, as long as they were combined correctly with the help of spirituality, they could produce potions with different effects, and what was the principle behind this.

For a person with compulsory education, the occult is more difficult to understand than science.

Even the fact that he can walk through the wall and door at will is still interesting for Douglas every time he practices it.

Perhaps this is the truth of this world, where everyone will one day realize that they are living in chaotic and unexplained forces, and that the extraordinary are just one step ahead of ordinary people to lift the veil of the everyday and peek into the depths.

But with the Rossell steam engine in front of him, Douglas still had some hope for the physical rules of this world, and then turned to the two of them with a question: "What do you think is in the air?" ”

"Air?" Yuval was stunned by him, and subconsciously replied, "Dust, bugs, bacteria, microorganisms, ......"

Douglas nodded a little amusedly, "I mean, what we breathe from the air." ”

"You mean oxygen?"

"yes, where does the oxygen come from?"

This question is considered a score if it is thrown to the junior high school students on the earth, but the scientific and technological branches of this world, especially chemistry, are so seriously encroached by the occult that the two students in front of them actually thought for a while.

Even in the Victorian period, Britain's understanding of chemistry was widely influenced by alchemy and alchemy, but the people of the earth eventually accumulated enough experience through a large number of experiments, and this experience was systematically developed with the development of industry in dyes, medicine, and metallurgy. On the contrary, the indefinable occult has become an obstacle to people's exploration of the world.

Should I give another example...... Douglas threw out the answer directly: "From the plants, those green plants around us." Plants absorb water and carbon dioxide from the air, breaking them down to provide nutrients for themselves, and oxygen is expelled as a by-product...... Well, a more intuitive example is that if iron wants to become steel, it needs to be calcined, and a certain percentage of carbon and other metals needs to be added for the performance to be improved. But why? ”

The example was clearly on Yuval's brainwaves, and a thoughtful look flashed in his deep blue eyes.

Melissa also slowly organizes the language in her thoughts: "Because the structure of the matter inside them has changed, like a wicker that is weak and can't help the wind, but it can hold things in a basket when it is cross-woven into a basket......"

"Yes, everything has its internal structure, and the structure determines part of the nature of things......"

Before Douglas could finish speaking, Yuval interrupted him, the materials scientist apparently getting the idea from his own specialty: "You mean, on the basis of extracting the active ingredients, by changing, oh no, even recombining those basic elemental particles to get a completely new, targeted medicine?" ”

It's like the study of new materials, where you try to add or subtract elements from existing materials to get the ones that meet your needs in multiple experiments.

After the momentary inspiration appeared, Yuval frowned again and instinctively questioned: "But the properties of materials can be confirmed on a macroscopic scale, and the effects of medicines cannot be seen with the naked eye. It is also difficult to reassemble the most basic elemental particles. ”

What is the name of elemental particle? Didn't Russell bring the system of molecules, atoms, and quarks?

Well, considering the phlogiston rifle, maybe this world is really elemental particles......

Douglas, who was poked into the blind spot, was silent at first, and then relieved.

He's not really here to change the world!

And the world already has the ability to produce dyes, cosmetics, and lubricants, maybe a little backward in terms of cognition, but the door to organic chemistry is also open!

Compared to a true technologist like Yuval, Douglas knows that the only thing he is ahead of the other is ideas, not ability.

So he smiled and said paradoxically:

"I don't know what elemental particles are, I only make assumptions based on facts. Matter has its basic units, and these units exist in a specific structure, and factors such as shock, temperature, and pressure can change the structure of matter, essentially breaking up the base units. Suppose, well, there are two kinds of A and B...... Particles, when they exist in the form of two A's and one B, are water, but in the form of two B's without A's, are oxygen, and this change has both a structural change and a change in the type of base unit.

"That's the example I gave at the beginning, where plants absorb water, absorb carbon dioxide, and finally produce sugar, which produces oxygen. Even legumes, because of the special bacteria attached to their roots, are able to absorb nitrogen from the soil and finally produce protein. This can be proven experimentally.

"So, rather than macroscopic, than steel and ships, maybe we should look at the microscopic changes in those smaller worlds, see how plants absorb A and produce B, and see if this process can be used for us."

Yuval and Melissa listened, and at this point they couldn't think of showing an unusual look.

Their own scientific literacy acknowledges that this knowledge is worth thinking about, and at the same time rationally believes that the source of this knowledge is even more worthy of thinking!

After all, the official ordained person in front of him is semi-literate, and even basic writing is only tutored after entering the church.

Douglas calmly met the eyes of the two and said, Zheng'er raised his arms, made a gesture of holding the baby in his arms, and said with a solemn and calm expression: "Praise the mother goddess!" ”

Then he raised one eyebrow, deliberately showing a little smug look, acting like a fanatic: "Yuval, you said before that many people ignore the passion in scientific work, and now I want to say that many people also ignore the truth contained in the birth of life, in the final analysis, everyone comes from the earth and is nurtured by the earth, and the earth is the source of everything. Why not take some time to study how the plants that contribute quietly provide life force to each of us? ”

This made Yuval, the Steamfellow, instinctively want to refute it, but he is a quality person after all, and Rune is relatively tolerant of the faith, arguing on this topic is detrimental to decency.

And Douglas's performance can explain the source of his knowledge: it is an example of the origin of plants, and no one dares to say that he knows more about the field of plants than the Church of Mother Earth God, whether scientific or occult.

On the contrary, Melissa, who has more contact with Douglas on a daily basis, has not completely subsided in her eyes.

Because Douglas usually doesn't look so crazy at all!

What I have just said can be called soft missionary.

But she is not a person who is used to speaking openly and questioning others, and she does not make a noise, but she unconsciously pays more attention and attention to Douglas.

Douglas took the initiative to turn his gaze to Melissa, and said softly in a soothing tone: "Moreover, isn't the whole society the same? People pay attention to the rising stocks, marvel at the great wealth of the aristocracy, and hail the creation of the national ironclads, but what is behind the scenes?

"The middle class worked for the industries of the aristocracy, the workers produced the food, clothing, shelter and transportation of the middle class, the lowliest prostitutes carried the rude desires of the workers, and all fed the rations grown by the peasants.

"You can see aristocrats in the newspapers, you can see entrepreneurs, you can see scientists, but you can't see the workers whose hands have just been corroded by chemicals, you can't see the child laborers who have to go into the chimney to clean the dust at the age of four, you don't see the women who are controlled to become money-making tools, you don't see the peasants who sell their children because the bill is bankrupt.

"Do you wake up one day worrying about the sudden disappearance of the earth? I don't think so, because we're so used to having it under our feet that we ignore the importance of the earth.

"So sometimes, we forget about the smallest part of the world, the person who is no different from us......

————————————————————

"You weren't born depraved or debauched, ma'am."

At the same time, in the steam locomotive that was speeding on the railroad tracks with thick smoke, Marlene, the street girl who had been helped, looked at the man in front of her with some surprise.

The man's eyes were green, his hair was tangled, and he had a raunchy, wild attraction.

Marlene, who was supposed to be afraid of strange men because of her own experience, was blocked in the corner by the green-eyed man, but she couldn't remember to take out the self-defense spray that Douglas gave her.

The man looked down at the young and immature street girl wrapped in a black dress, with a scarred face but still able to see the youth, her eyes were like a bottomless lake, Marlene did not read any contempt and desire in it, only felt that the gaze was wrapping herself in layers of gentleness, and felt that she was being treated so seriously and solemnly for the first time in her life.

Hearing the man's words, Marlene, who had suffered all kinds of misfortune and discrimination, suddenly burst into tears in her eyes, and sobbed violently, and her ravaged numb heart seemed to start beating again, and she could feel pain and hatred.

Her mind was boiling and chaotic, her memories were flickering in disorder, turning over those absurd and shameful days again and again, and reproducing the disappointment of being forced and betrayed again and again.

First the breathless sobbing, to the whispering of self-talk, to the hysterical scream, Marlene put her hands into her frizzy long hair and pulled hard, and her eyes were bloodshot and faintly bloody.

She screamed, "I hate them! I hate them!! I'm going to kill them! I'm going to cut them all down and feed them to the pigs! ”

In the midst of the increasingly crazy and unbearable scolding, the man raised his hand and very gently wiped away the tears that ran down Marlene's swollen cheeks.

This gesture seemed to soothe Marlene a little, and she let go of her hands that were full of torn hair, and looked at the man with her unluster eyes, but her cheeks were flushed with excitement, which added a little charm to her.

The man continued: "I will give you strength, give you a future, and give you a chance to wash away your sins. After that, you are free, and nothing can hinder your happiness. Tell me, do you want such power? ”

"I want to ......," Marlene unconsciously leaned forward and pressed her head to the man's chest, looking up as if she wanted a hug, "I want to ...... The power that makes those people miserable, the power that wants to be stronger than anyone else and not be bullied!! ”

Like a god, the man approved, "Good boy, I knew you would not disappoint me." ”

Marlene, who had received the compliment, immediately wept with joy, and she grabbed the hem of the man's clothes with gratitude and humility, and whispered, "Thank you...... Mr. ”

"My name is Evan, Aven. Thompson. The man patiently taught her, "From today onwards, you are Marlene. Townsend, is my adopted daughter. ”

As Marlene repeatedly expressed her gratitude with barren words, Evan . With a smile on his face, Townburson took the bottle of self-defense spray from Marlene, put it on the tip of his nose and sniffed it carefully.

Then, Evan looked out the window of the train and at Beckland, the brightest city in the Northern Continent that was being thrown behind.

"It's fate, I wanted to go to Fenerport."

He muttered, then easily picked Marlene into his arms with one hand, and slammed straight into the train car, knocking the steel creature through a huge hole with his demigod body, spreading its gray batwing behind its back amid the exclamations of the car, and flying towards Beckland at a speed equal to that of a steam train.