The cold wind was biting, blowing by.

Sitting on the edge of the building, Carlil slowly ate the paste on the plastic plate.

He ate the pitch-black thing with a blank face, seemingly indifferent on the surface. However, with each swallow, his throat would roll up and down for a long, long time.

He ate it silently and with great determination, even though his tongue was numb and his body protested.

He needs to eat to stay alive.

“......”

After taking the last bite, Carlil put away his plate, then silently closed his eyes in the cold wind, and waited patiently for a while.

He had to make sure if they were really rolling down his throat completely - if not, he might vomit suddenly after a while.

Carlil didn't want this to happen again, wasting food once was bad enough.

However, the root cause of vomiting is not just nausea and nausea. More so because his throat and stomach instinctively refuse to accept them.

They don't agree that it's food.

With every meal, the body's instincts wail and want something other than them, and Carlil is indifferent to it.

On Nostramo, only the nutritional paste is considered a normal food within his cognitive range.

It tastes bad, it doesn't sell well, it smells more like a chemical than food – yes, it's not good at all except that it fills people. But, at least, it's not made from rats, or something from a butcher's shop.

Carlil slowly stood up.

He was sure that he had done the work of 'eating'. Then, it is enough to do everything step by step.

Standing on the edge of the building, he moved his shoulders. Since he was not wearing a cloak, his robe made of rags was blown by the cold wind. It sounds like a strange rhyme.

The corners of his coat twitched, and Carlil nonchalantly moved his hands in his sleeves. His body temperature was slipping, and his hands were already a little frozen.

Still, that's fine. These not-so-good feelings always keep him awake.

He needs to be sober.

The heirs of House Skolewalker are dead, as are the Glory Overseers, the Substitutes in Quintus' lair.

This is no small feat, even for Sklewalker.

The loss suffered on the eve of the Great Purge was undoubtedly infuriating some of them.

However, the family is not as loose as the trembling teeth, and their discipline is quite strict. No one would act without the orders of the head of the family, the Count.

In other words, if the count's personality was more calm, the next step in the plan would need to change.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but squint his eyes and shook his head - the matter of the Skoley Walker family can indeed be talked about later, but the person with trembling teeth has not come until now.

I don't know if they forgot or didn't care about the death of a new slave.

Carlil was more inclined to the latter, much to his disappointment.

After all...... It's only a month before the Great Purge.

At that time, the nesting civilians will be shut up, huddled in shanty towns or dilapidated apartments, shivering.

Gangs will start fighting with impunity, and they will abandon all boundaries and rules to fight for the interests of the nobles behind them.

At such a time of time, the nobles would not just run around and descend from the nest. And after the Great Purge, no one who is still sane will ever hope to find the murderer from the chaos of the nest.

The Trembling Teeth are crazy, but they're not stupid. And if they don't send people......

Tut.

Are they really going to just give up?

Carlil didn't have an answer, but he remembered another thing about the Great Purge.

The Great Purge, in fact, is a conventional name. That's what everyone else on Nostramo calls it, however, there are slight differences among the nobles.

When they dressed up to talk elegantly at a ball, or exchanged bloody benefits with each other at some conference table, they would use the word 'purification' to describe the cruelty.

That's what they call it in all written documents.

Cleanse.

What's even more interesting is that for a while they even spread the word about it.

"Purify the nest environment and protect the people of Nostramo from corruption, poverty and violence."

This phrase used to appear day and night on a suspended billboard near the factory.

Carlil couldn't help but laugh - it seemed so ironic to him that it was ridiculous.

The workers were illiterate at all, and who were they going to show such signs around the factory?

Cleanse...... They also have a real sense of humor.

I really hate this sense of humor.

"Carlil!"

The ghost's voice rang out from behind him, with a hint of joy visible to the naked eye.

"I found a water purifier that no one wants!"

Turning his head, Carlil saw a palpable joy on the ghost's face. He carried a heavy machine in his arms, the surface covered in rust and the shape had changed.

Apparently, it was discarded because it was broken.

"Can we use it?" The ghost asked expectantly.

"Yes...... But it takes a lot of effort to fix it. Carlil nodded noncommittally. Where did you find it, though? ”

"A factory garbage dump in the middle of the new town."

The ghost replied quickly. "I spotted it on my patrol today, it looks like it's been there for days, but it hasn't been picked up yet!"

You consider yourself lucky, don't you?

Carlil laughed silently.

However, you're lucky because no one wants a broken old water purifier, the Ghost......

It's so cumbersome that no one but you can hold it in one hand. Moreover, it also has an amazingly high failure rate. It has long been phased out.

Most of the old water purifiers have been discarded and disappeared into some corner of the city, and over time they will gradually become covered in sludge or corpses.

Always.

Always buried, always ignored, always forgotten.

Carlil blinked, took a deep breath of cold air between brief mood swings, and then laughed slowly.

"You're so lucky." He laughs. "I haven't found it before."

"Really?"

"yes...... Put it on the ground and I'll see if it works. ”

The ghost immediately crouched down and carefully placed the water purifier on the ground.

Carlil stepped forward.

He crouched down and tapped his fingers on the surface of the water purifier. A dull sound followed, slowly escaping from the rooftops of the high-rises.

"Can it still be used?" The ghost asked expectantly.

“...... I'm just knocking on it. ”

Carlil replied with a smirk. "How can I possibly know its current state just by knocking on it?"

And we don't have electricity either, ghosts. The rain filter works because it's a very rudimentary gadget, so rudimentary that it doesn't even need electricity......

But the big guy you picked up, it's an electric monster.

"Oh......" the ghost nodded in disappointment. I thought you'd know......."

"How can I possibly know everything?"

Carlil replied casually, rubbing the side of the water purifier with his sleeve.

There is usually a sign of the date of manufacture and the place of production, and if you know this, you can find a replacement part in the corresponding shop in the city.

Those shops that work part-time, or whose main business is the black market, basically have to sell everything.

From machine parts, guns, bullets, internal organs...... They are almost all-encompassing. They do everything except not to compete with butchers.

Thinking of this, Carlil's movements couldn't help but pause - they don't have the money, so the parts could be a big problem.

Moreover, there is also a premise for replacing parts for old-fashioned water purifiers.

Forget it, let's take a look first.

He quietly continued to start wiping the side of the water purifier with his sleeve, and the dirt was quickly removed. With the help of a little neon light, Carlil could see the words engraved on the side of the water purifier.

He looked at it carefully for a moment, then looked up and shook his head at the ghost, "Looks like it's not going to be repaired, the ghost." ”

"Huh? Why? ”

"Because the factory that made it was shut down 10 years ago, there are many models of this old-fashioned water purifier, and the one you pick up is the one that works less effectively. That's why the factory was closed. ”

"It's not selling well, and no one wants to buy it. Officials and other factory owners had better options, so there weren't many surviving people...... You're lucky to be able to pick it up. ”

The ghost blinked and asked with some disappointment, "So, can't we fix it?" ”

Carlil nodded slightly.

"Can't we replace it with parts from other water purifiers?" The ghost asked, unrelentingly.

"The internal structure of the machine is different, and even if the parts of the other water purifiers can be replaced, it is unlikely that they will work the same as before."

“...... I'm sorry, Carlil. ”

"Huh?"

The ghost crouched down in disappointment: "I picked up a useless thing and came back, wasting your time. ”

"Why do you think that?"

"Because ......," the ghost muttered. Your countdown ......"

Carlil was silent.

A cold wind blows.

For the first time, he didn't know how to respond to the naïve monster in front of him.

Involuntarily, he remembered the past.

A long, long time ago, in those days when he was still a ghost, the skies of Nostramo were already shrouded in darkness.

Sin is rampant, sin is its foundation, and all corners of the Eternal Night Star appear sick, depraved, and insane.

For every second that floated on the Nostramo, the ghost could hear countless screams. Countless people have died unjustly, but the perpetrators are safe and sound. The so-called 'justice' and 'retribution' never came.

They wouldn't even be late.

And then...... After a terrible time, the ghost became Karil Lohals.

The ghost lowered its head and sighed.

"Carlil?" The ghost called uneasily. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Carlil replied softly.

"But, your countdown ......"

yes, my countdown.

As long as I don't use that power violently, I can live unharmed, even for a long time.

But I can't, Spirit. I have to use it.

I'm the only one who knows what's really wrong with Nostramo.

"Spirits."

"Huh?"

"You don't have to worry about me about the countdown." Carlil said calmly. "I'll figure it out."

"Really?"

"I didn't lie to you, besides, let's talk about what's next, shall we?"

The ghost looked at him, then nodded.

Carlil smiled.

"The Great Purge is still a month away, and it is customary for the nobles to send representatives to address the center of the new city soon...... It's a pompous and pointless tradition, but it's good for us......"

At least not yet.