The police station at Silent Hill was situated right at the center of the city, atop a small hill with a height difference from its surroundings, and adjacent to it was the fire department. Most importantly, it was only 20 meters away from the ancient tomb excavation site—separated only by a dyke-like distance.
This gave Malin quite a headache—according to Jiaxi Sheringham from the Royal Special Investigation Department’s Fourth Action Division, the harmful oddity should be in the basement. If Malin wasn’t mistaken, when he was beneath the ancient tomb, he might have been less than fifty meters from that painting.
Thankfully, it was just a painting. If it had been another type of proactive harmful oddity, say, a piece of armor that could move on its own—uh, not talking about Mira here, but the legacy full-body armor of the Level 1 Drurgen family.
This full-body armor came with a great sword and was an extremely dangerous proactive harmful oddity.
Here, let me explain: the proactive mode means that the harmful oddity can move on its own, and would actively select its victims. For instance, since the full-body armor became a harmful oddity a thousand years ago until it was contained by the action squad of the Royal Special Investigation Department, it had already created thousands of victims.
The Magic Carpet, however, was in passive mode. It would just hang there, and if no one was within its absorption range, it would start to ’move.’ This movement was usually an exchange with another painting nearby.
That’s also why this painting was always placed in a densely populated area—nothing would happen as long as someone was watching it. But if no one was looking, or if it couldn’t find prey within its domain, then once it had moved and absorbed someone’s memory, a real disaster would unfold. No one would know whose memory the painting had consumed, nor could they anticipate what magnificent scenery would appear on it.
Despite the unpredictability of the Magic Carpet’s behavior, it was absolutely capable of causing disasters, no less than the former.
Malin was now very worried that it had read his memory.
Because in Malin’s memory there were no Transcendents, no Spiritual Energy; every mortal was just a pitiful being struggling in the mortal world. The trait of the Magic Carpet was that the weaker the person appearing in the painting, the greater the enhancement it would apply to them.
Malin truly did not want to see his old dean, who was confined to a wheelchair, appearing before him with a smile, rising to push away his chair, or perhaps pulling something out of the painting and then making a gesture unique to a truly skilled individual, uttering the words, "Malin, my child, it’s time to recount your sins."
That would really be the end of him.
After getting the car keys from his mentor, Malin prepared to drive there. Jiaxi’s face changed at the sight of Malin hopping into the car. It wasn’t until the girls were seated in the back that he got in the car, after Malin promised not to go over 60 miles per hour.
Naive. From here to the police station was a straight road. Given the current population density of the city, it would really be a miracle if Malin managed to hit someone.
He floored the gas pedal, and this so-called classic car sped off under Malin’s control, leaving nothing but dust in its wake.
Within five minutes, the police station was in sight. Malin executed a drift, the classic car sliding sideways around the central flowerbed in the square, and finally coming to a stop at the entrance of the police station.
Jessica was the first to jump out of the back seat. She opened the trunk and dragged out the armament box.
Clovis began flipping through the scrolls in her hands, selecting the subsequent Spell Formation Sequences.
Lillim approached Jessica, took a shotgun, and quickly checked the chamber. After confirming it was ready, she began loading it.
Maya pulled a little nail hammer out of the back of the car—Malin had made it for her, using a cutting from the World Tree Sapling. The Druids fully endorsed using the cutting to make Maya’s hammer—it was just a branch, after all, and as long as Malin was alive, they wouldn’t care about such trifles. To them, the favorite of the God of Justice was like an ambulatory Acorn.
Faye took out a map from her shoulder bag and placed it on the hood of the car, then glanced at her cousin who had just slid out from the front passenger seat, "Jiaxi, you’re an embarrassment, you know."
"Your boyfriend tricked me!" Jiaxi, who was out of stock and feeling miserable, stood up, leaning on the car door, "I should never have trusted you! Damn, I feel awful."
"I had no idea you got carsick." Faye snorted, then gestured for Malin to come over.
Malin accepted two sawed-off, pistol-grip 12-gauge shotguns that Jessica had prepared for him, stuffing them into the holsters at his waist as he walked over.
"There are two basements in the police station. One is immediately to the left after entering the main door; you can see the stairs descending right away," Faye pointed towards the entrance as she spoke. "According to Mr. Policeman who survived, this staircase leads to the evidence room which normally houses confiscated items."
"And the other basement?"
"It holds hazardous items, such as certain harmful oddities." Faye looked at Malin, "I still suggest checking both basements just to be safe. We can’t guarantee that the people from the Royal Investigation Room won’t be irrational in their methods."
Although I’d protest, my cousin isn’t wrong. Don’t act against each other’s lives; this is the truth." Jiaxi replied more quickly this time, struggling towards the hood of the car, "Give me five minutes to rest."