Charlie was overjoyed as he confirmed that his Reiki was growing, and he turned to Vera, "I think it's obvious now. It seems that this set of hand seals is meant for cultivation. When I focus my Reiki into my fingers, the hand seals generate Reiki—it's like casting a ward, except the ward generates Reiki."Vera was no cultivator, but she was well-versed in the art after living for so long, and her first thought was only one thing: "If you master the hand seals, wouldn't you have overcome the worst problem of the Degenerate Age of Dharma?"Charlie nodded and grinned. "Whoever masters this hand seal will definitely rise above the rest in this era."The Degenerate Age of Dharma was no different from industrial society suddenly losing its power supply. Without electricity to assist with production, any industrial development would naturally stagnate. However, if a method to generate power was found again, the person who devised it would be king—there was no question that this was a disc

Delighted, Charlie quickly asked, "They found something? Did Captain Lammy say what it was? Did they locate a new dead soldier base?""Yes!" Vera smiled, nodding. "He said that the AI Module found a phosphate mine in Morocco, and he said that he will brief you directly when you return."Charlie thought about it and asked, "Morocco… That's in Africa, right?""Yes," Vera said, "It's across the sea on the Iberian Peninsula where Spain and Portugal are located. It's abundant in phosphates, accounting for about 70% of the global reserves."Charlie nodded. "Given that resource, there would definitely be plenty of such mines—one amongst many is how the Qing Eliminating Society could easily keep the dead soldiers' base out of prying eyes. It's most definitely a solid lead.""And given how important this is, we should hurry back to the data center," Vera said."No, there's no hurry," Charlie smiled, shaking his head. "We came to see the aurora, didn't we? I'd like to see it again tonight

Having listened to Merlin breaking down the details, Charlie asked, "Then, as a veteran detective who is experienced in fighting crime, do you think the AI's analysis is reliable?""Yes," Merlin replied, nodding. "There's no direct evidence that Duca Mines is housing a dead soldier base, but the AI module's multi-faceted examination produced enough circumstantial evidence that makes this good enough to be a solid lead. In comparison, the other suspects can no doubt check a few boxes too, but not enough to make them a lead."The AI module has also already surveyed the rest of Morocco. From every database and Horizon's satellite imaging, it found zero evidence that any mining company—legitimate or otherwise—is still using or reactivating their subterranean mines over the last ten years, because it's just cheaper and more effective to mine above ground."However, Duca Mines is found to have been keeping their pit active, and yet there is no sign that they are mining phosphate from it.

The next day, Charlie and Merlin assumed their new Portuguese-Oskian identities Helena had procured and flew directly from Norway to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.Their destination this time was Casablanca, the largest city and largest port of Morocco, which was quite famous for a classic movie with the same name. It was also one of the few relatively modern cities in Africa, ranking in their top ten.On the flight to Lisbon, Charlie sat in a semi-private first-class cabin, casting the hand seals he had learned from the aurora under the blanket he covered himself with.After arriving in Lisbon, Charlie felt that his Reiki had improved significantly again, and once again reminded himself that he must infuse the gained Reiki into the ring given to him by Vera. It may hide a great purpose, and he would like to see what it was by infusing it with more Reiki.In the past, Charlie might not have been willing to do it since the ring was just a bottomless pit that devoured Reiki, but he

The freight trains kept moving until the sky gradually darkened.As Charlie and Merlin observed their patterns, they noticed that the diesel freight trains always uncoupled in the freight yard before reversing on another rail track to couple with a different set of freight carriages.The loaded carriages left in the freight yard would then be towed to a factory building equipped with multiple rails for unloading. After that, everything would be sent through customs inspection before being transported by truck to the docks, where it would be loaded onto the ship.To the southeast of the freight yard was a huge classification yard.Any goods imported to the port of Casablanca on rails would then converge at that yard, where they would go through customs before being towed by locomotives to their final destination.This meant that the freight trains only ever reached the fringes of the port, and not the interior. Anything moved there still had to go through customs, whereas it was th