Chapter 31: A Busy Silas

The next day, as soon as Silas arrived at the police station, he was pulled into a meeting that lasted for five hours.

When the meeting ended, Silas knew his leisurely days were over.

Because the bomb incident had drawn the high attention of the entire Bayne City, Bishop Ron of the Bayne City Church of Holy Blood and Mayor Arnold jointly initiated a thorough investigation of the entire city. This was to ensure there were no other hidden bombs and to determine if any remnants of the Death Cult still lingered.

Led by the Demon Hunter Jeros, five organizations – the Divine Punishers, Exorcist Nuns, Night Watchers, and the city police – acted simultaneously, conducting a very thorough sweep. They also aimed to ascertain the situation of the two Demonesses believed to be hiding in the city.

The crackdown this time was extremely stringent. During the day, everyone was required to go to the Church of Holy Blood for lie detection and identification through portraits.

And Silas, in due course, saw the wanted posters for Helles and Bernice: two beautiful young girls with innocent, childlike faces.

Secondly, a city-wide, carpet-style search was conducted to ensure no mystical energy was present anywhere.

Thirdly, the entire city was locked down: no one could enter or leave. Everyone's identity, including vagrants, had to be verified.

Finally, a curfew was imposed. After six o'clock, no one, except relevant personnel, was allowed to leave their homes. All night shifts in factories were temporarily suspended.

Instantly, the entire city was gripped by an atmosphere of extreme tension and paranoia.

But to Silas's surprise, neither the citizens, nor the factories, nor even the merchants whose goods were blocked, showed any dissatisfaction.

Because they understood very well that compared to profits, their own lives were more important. The harm caused by cults was evident to all.

After the crackdown began, Silas was very busy, extremely busy.

As the only Priest currently in Bayne City, he had to be involved in almost every case involving death, to ascertain the deceased's situation and confirm intelligence.

Initially, during the investigation, Silas was still apprehensive, worried about the Demonesses being exposed.

But as the investigation progressed, Silas relaxed.

Due to limited manpower, they only had the capacity to investigate densely populated urban areas. Surrounding villages, wilderness areas, and other sparsely populated regions could not be covered.

For seven days, Silas started work at seven in the morning and was busy until one o'clock in the deep of night before he could return home.

Although extremely tiring, Silas worked with great enthusiasm because he received rich rewards.

In seven days, Silas delivered a total of fifteen souls, solved five ordinary murder cases, and discovered three mystical anomalies.

Such high efficiency earned Silas high recognition within the police department, and he successfully integrated with the police officers, becoming good friends with them.

Furthermore, by continuously delivering souls, refining his spirit, and frequently using his abilities, Silas's control and use of Spiritual Energy were greatly enhanced.

And the advantages of being a Priest became apparent here. Through delivering souls, Silas's spirit could be sublimated and baptized, making his originally very unstable spirit stable and calm. His intellect and thoughts were greatly improved.

Simultaneously, through work and collaboration with other departments, Silas finally came into contact with two other mystical organizations of the Church: the Divine Punishers and the Exorcist Nuns.

There were a total of five Divine Punishers in Bayne City, all of whom held the status of Church priests. However, they weren't priests who prayed for people or heard confessions, but rather priests who wielded guns and cannons, carried greatswords, and were proficient in various forms of combat.

There were seven Exorcist Nuns, forming a complete exorcism squad. Exorcist Nuns were similar to Divine Punishers; they were all ordinary people before joining the Church, becoming Exorcist Nuns after rigorous training.

Although Divine Punishers and Exorcist Nuns were inferior to Demon Hunters and Night Watchers in combat, the status among the four groups was equal.

Unlike Demon Hunters, who were killing machines, every Divine Punisher and Exorcist Nun was a very devout believer of the Church.

After seven days of intense crackdown, the city gradually returned to normal.

The seven-day lockdown was quite effective. Not only were a dozen criminals who had been on the run for years caught, but six members of other hidden cult organizations were also found, and three kidnapped hostages were rescued.

The six individuals primarily came from two organizations: the Green Flame Brotherhood and the Cold Church, which Silas had heard mentioned several times before.

Furthermore, the keen Demon Hunters found seven more hidden members of the Death Cult. Two of them possessed mystical powers, while the other five were ordinary people.

It seemed the cost of setting up bombs was very high, as they didn't find any others.

Finally, after joint analysis by Logan and Jeros, two conclusions were confirmed:

1: The Death Cult had completely withdrawn from Bayne City.

2: The two Demonesses had already left Bayne City and fled to other cities.

The former was confirmed through intelligence from souls and captured personnel.

The latter was analyzed based on the habits of Demonesses and the actual situation.

Demonesses themselves wouldn't stay in one place for too long; more often than not, they were fleeing for their lives rather than seeking destruction.

After a thorough sweep, Bayne City seemed much fresher, giving people a feeling of renewal.

Today, the lockdown ended. Citizens resumed their normal work and lives, factories restarted operations, and people's nightlife also returned to normal.

December 3rd, Year 7844 of the Moon Calendar. Sunday. Light snow. Temperature: minus fifteen degrees Celsius.

At ten in the morning, Silas vaguely woke up, rubbing his eyes as he walked out of the bedroom.

Having been busy for seven days, Silas had earned two days of paid leave.

As he came out, he saw Ada, dressed in loose grey casual clothes and wearing a fur hat, walking in. Beside her was the lively Husky.

For the past seven days, Silas had been too busy, so the task of walking the dog had fallen to Ada.

"Silas, you should shave your beard," Ada said with a smile, taking off her hat.

Today was the weekend, Ada's day off.

Silas scratched his messy head and walked into the washroom to look at himself in the mirror.

After seven consecutive days of working day and night, Silas's hair was disheveled, and his cheeks and chin were covered with a thick yellow beard. His current appearance bore a striking resemblance to Jack's hairy visage.

"I've almost become a blonde ape," Silas said with a wry smile, then began to wash up and shave.

Ada said with surprise, "I didn't expect detectives to be so busy."

Silas spat out some water. "It's all because of the Death Cult. That bomb gave the Church and the police a huge shock. The lockdown was to be expected."

Ada continued, "Oh, by the way, Evan and his sister are coming over this afternoon to catch up with you. Actually, they came a few days ago, but you were too busy, so you missed them. I told him you're off today. He said he'll come around two in the afternoon to chat with you and to apologize for his attitude a while back."

Previously, Evan had repeatedly tried to persuade Silas not to join the Death Cult, but Silas wouldn't listen at all, which angered Evan so much that he didn't speak to him for over a month, as if they had completely fallen out.