Sherry couldn't help but mutter, seeing Nina's initial shock and nervousness replaced with excitement and curiosity, "This can't be described as just being bold anymore..."

Nina, however, didn't hear what Sherry was mumbling. Her attention was completely drawn to the pitch-black Bone Hound in front of her. After jumping off the chair, she walked around A'gou twice, scrutinizing it from top to bottom. She was finally startled when she saw the empty sockets in A'gou's head, filled with blood-red light, but it was just a startle.

"So amazing..." she repeated, even looking like she wanted to reach out and touch A'gou's bony head, but at the last second, she retracted her hand and looked up at Sherry instead, "This is the first time I've seen such a transcendent being in person... What is A'gou? Is it a creature summoned by magic? Or..."

"It's a demon," Sherry answered frankly, as if trying to scare Nina and make her realize the danger of A'gou, "The most dangerous kind of demon."

Nina was indeed slightly shocked. She probably hadn't expected that A'gou, who seemed polite despite its ugly appearance, would have the title of "demon." Her face was full of disbelief, "It's... a demon?"

"Strictly speaking, a Nether Demon," A'gou slightly raised its head, its empty eye sockets fixed on Nina, "Miss, this may be your first time seeing a Nether Demon. Do not develop the wrong impression of Nether Demons because of my existence. My kind are diverse, but what they have in common is that they are exceptionally cruel and ruthless..."

"Nether..." Nina paused. She finally woke up from the novelty and nervousness of seeing a transcendent being for the first time and recalled what she had read in books, "Sherry, you..."

"As you can see, I'm tied to a Nether Demon," Sherry raised her arm, showing Nina the chain that was fused with her body, "So I don't want people to know my secret, you understand? If the Deep Sea Church finds out, they will not hesitate to throw me into a fire, or into the Boundless Sea."

Sherry's expression was particularly solemn. Nina realized something from her serious attitude. She looked at Sherry with a slightly complicated expression, and then looked at A'gou, "...I've seen in books that the Nether Deep Sea is full of chaotic and evil creations. They are the residue excreted from the Nether Holy Lord's body, and are dominated by chaos and madness from birth to death, but Mr. A'gou seems..."

"A'gou is special," Sherry said lightly, "Normal Nether Demons have no heart and do not understand human emotions. A'gou does—although even it doesn't know why it has this change, this change makes it unable to survive in the Nether Deep Sea."

Nina was stunned, nodding half-understandingly, "Oh."

As she spoke, she fell into a brief silence, then suddenly scratched her hair and looked at Duncan with some distress, "Uncle, I feel like my head is a mess."

She recalled her chaotic experiences today, her interactions with Sherry, and looking at A'gou in front of her, a sense of detachment from reality finally surged up sluggishly.

"You've experienced too much today," Duncan's gentle and calm voice came, like a candlelight lit in the darkness, making Nina's somewhat dazed consciousness suddenly stabilize again, "It's normal to be a little confused."

Nina blinked, finally realizing what she had been neglecting since just now. She stared at Duncan, "Uncle, if you've known Sherry for a long time... do you also know her secret? Do you also know A'gou?"

"Earlier than you," Duncan smiled slightly, "But I didn't know before that she was the 'friend' you mentioned."

"Then..." Nina hesitated, "Then are you also investigating the events of eleven years ago? Are you investigating together?"

"Sort of, we've cooperated occasionally once or twice," Duncan nodded.

"I feel like you're all just keeping it from me?" Nina muttered rather belatedly, "And you're investigating the events of eleven years ago... Is there a secret to the events of eleven years ago?"

"We don't know yet, but we all acknowledge that there was a fire that was erased back then," Duncan said in a deep voice, his gaze falling on Nina, "I'm sorry, I did hide it from you, because this is not a field you can touch right now, it's too dangerous."

"What about you, Uncle?" Nina suddenly became a little angry, "Aren't you in danger, Uncle?!"

As soon as she said this, before Duncan could say anything, A'gou and Sherry next to her covered their faces at the same time. Sherry even muttered in a low voice, "Of course your uncle is dangerous, your uncle is the most dangerous..."

Duncan silently glanced at Sherry, then gently shook his head at Nina, "Uncle is an adult, and Uncle is much more capable than you think."

Nina's gaze kept sweeping between Duncan and Sherry. Her expression changed several times. No one knew how many messy thoughts were running through her head. However, just when Duncan thought that this girl might become stubborn, or act up like an ordinary adolescent girl, Nina suddenly sighed.

"It's getting dark," she looked up at the sky outside the door, as if all the topics just now had never happened, "I'll go cook—Sherry, you should stay too. It's not safe to travel at night."

"Ah... ah?" Sherry was stunned for a moment, not quite keeping up with Nina's train of thought, then hurriedly waved her hand, "Ah, no need, no need! A'gou and I can still make it back if we hurry..."

As a result, before she could finish her words, Duncan's voice came from the side, "Stay. The sun will set in a few minutes—at that time, the streets will be full of guards. Are you sure you want to pass through the blockaded area in that situation?"

Sherry suddenly stiffened. She looked back at the sky outside the shop, and then at Duncan's calm expression, finally realizing that she couldn't leave this antique shop today.

"Then... okay," the girl sat down dejectedly, barely forcing a smile at Nina, "Is there anything I can help with?"

"No need, I always do the cooking at home," Nina smiled, walking towards the stairs leading to the second floor, but she suddenly stopped when she was about to step on the stairs. She stood there, looking at Sherry very seriously, and only spoke after a few seconds, "Sherry, are we friends?"

Sherry was stunned. Her first reaction was to glance at Duncan, but the latter turned his gaze elsewhere. She had no choice but to turn back to look at Nina. After a brief but uncomfortable few seconds of silence, she shook her head, "...No."

But then, she nodded again, "But I can try."

Nina smiled. Although the other party hadn't given a very affirmative answer, she seemed to have gotten the most perfect answer. She quickly ran upstairs, her footsteps hurried and light. Sherry looked a little dazed as she watched the other party run to the second floor. Only then did she suddenly hear a calm voice coming from the side, "Thank you."

It was Duncan speaking.

Sherry was startled and quickly sat upright on the chair and turned to Duncan, "What are you thanking me for?"

"Nina doesn't have any friends at school," Duncan was used to her always being too nervous. He said in a flat tone, "So when she mentioned a few days ago that she had made a new friend at school, she seemed very happy."

Sherry blinked in confusion, not quite understanding.

"So first, thank you for not perfunctorily telling Nina that you are her friend, and second, thank you for saying you can try."

"I... don't quite understand," Sherry was still confused. In fact, she was even more confused than before, "You here... are completely playing the role of an ordinary person, aren't you? Nina... doesn't seem to know how special you are at all. She's the same at school, with no presence at all. In fact, if it wasn't for A'gou guiding me, I almost couldn't find her the first time I went to school. But logically, a 'kinsman' like her who is favored by you..."

"Not a kinsman, a niece," Duncan emphasized again, then looked at the other party with a particularly serious expression, "Now that Nina has left, I have a question to ask you."

"You say, you say..."

"A'gou guided you to approach Nina, right?"

"Yes."

"Because A'gou 'smelled' a specific aura on Nina? It judged that Nina was related to the fire eleven years ago based on this?"

"Yes."

"What kind of aura specifically? Is it the same aura as that factory? Or something else?"

This time Sherry didn't answer. She turned her gaze to A'gou.

Under Duncan's gaze, A'gou hesitated for a few seconds before finally hanging its head:

"She is surrounded by ashes, countless ashes, Mr. Duncan."