Sadly, Nick was no longer responsible for the cities.
He really wanted to change this city, but as a member of Aegis, he sometimes had missions that were more important than the fate of a singular city.
Repairing the city would take over a year, and Nick would need to expose his identity if he wanted to make the change stick.
Sure, the terrorism in Water Pillar City changed it, but it definitely wasn't certain that the change would stick.
Nick could metaphorically clean a house, but in order for the house to stay clean, the tenant needed to upkeep the level of cleanliness Nick had established.
It might not be as hard as cleaning an atrocious house, but it still wasn't easy.
People chasing after power were not known to be the most selfless people, and selfless people often didn't have enough power since they were generally not chasing after power.
Theoretically, just doing whatever Nick told them to do before leaving would produce more than enough Zephyx while establishing trust with Aegis for future promotion into an Agent.
And yet, for some reason, people just couldn't help but grab just a little bit too much.
'In the majority of times, changing a city is only a temporary aid for a chronic problem.'
'If I want to change things, I need to change the fundamentals of the world.'
Nick looked at the Sun.
As always, it was directly above him.
'I always knew that Aegis prioritized humanity as a whole over just one city, and I always agreed with it.'
'It's only now that I truly realize this fact.'
At that moment, Nick noticed something peculiar in his perception, and he looked over.
'However,' Nick thought as his eyes followed the moving object. 'Ten years of significantly improved life quality is not insignificant for a normal person.'
Nick activated the stealth mode of his Barrier and turned into mist as he followed after the object.
'Alleviating the symptoms of a disease is still appreciated by the sufferer.'
Nick's body morphed, and he entered a tiny hole in the ground.
He couldn't see it, but Nick could perceive its location thanks to the vibrations in the walls around him.
A rat.
A rat with a fat gut was running through the tiny tunnel.
Naturally, the tiny tunnel was leading out of the city.
'This thing has been bothering Crimson City for too long!' Nick thought as he followed the rat.
The Parasite.
The Parasite had been one of the most damaging Specters in Crimson City.
When the Crimson Sea had escaped, the Parasite lost access to the city, but when the Crimson Sea was taken away by Aegis, it returned.
Back then, Nick had been Crimson City's Liaison, and he had had a confrontation with the Parasite.
The Parasite threatened Nick to unveil the secret of his ability, while Nick threatened it with sneaking after one of its rats to kill it.
In the end, the Parasite fled from Crimson City.
However, it was clear that it wouldn't stay away.
After some years, it would look at Crimson City again.
While Aria was still the Governor, going to Crimson City would be problematic.
Most likely, she knew how to contact Nick, and while the Parasite hated him, it knew that Nick was crazy enough to follow through with his threat.
'It probably only started returning after Aria left,' Nick thought.
'Aria was already an Early Hero when I was a Newbie, and she became a Mid Hero shortly after I became a Liaison.'
'She's probably already a Late Hero, and I praised her a lot in front of Aegis. The chances that she's still a Governor are minuscule.'
Nick narrowed his eyes.
'And as far as I can tell, the new Governor doesn't really care about keeping the Parasite away from Crimson City.'
For several minutes,Nick kept following the rat as it ran towards the south in its tiny tunnel.
Compared to normal rats, these rats were not running out of stamina, and it kept steadily running at around 20 kph.
As Nick kept advancing, he sensed several tiny lifeforms placed along the tunnel.
These lifeforms were barely a millimeter wide and were filled with tiny hairs and eyes.
Based on their appearance, they only existed to keep watch over the area.
These lifeforms were not placed on the surface.
The reason was the gigantic storm of corrosive dust on the surface.
Yes, Nick had already entered the domain of the Corrosive Dust, one of the local Demons.
The Corrosive Dust had already been here before Nick had become an Extractor, and it was still here.
Apparently, it had also grown stronger.
The domain of the Corrosive Dust had expanded by a couple of kilometers, and the storm was even visible from the city's edge by now.
Within the next 30 years, the Corrosive Dust's domain would have expanded enough to touch Crimson City.
Naturally, Crimson City would need to solve the problem before that time.
After a couple more minutes of following the rat, the small lifeforms even vanished from the tunnel.
Instead, the Corrosive Dust also appeared in the tunnels.
Nick could tell that the power of the Corrosive Dust in the tunnels was enough to damage a Specialist's Barrier faster than it could recover.
Yet, the rat wasn't affected by the Corrosive Dust.
In fact, Nick also wasn't affected.
'It seems like the Corrosive Dust is specifically targeting biological life and human Zephyx. I have neither of those attributes since I'm purely made of Specter Zephyx,' Nick thought. ŕ
'Although, that doesn't mean that the Corrosive Dust can't change the things it targets. It's possible that it can also use its power to affect Specters if it so chooses to.'
'The Corrosive Dust is at least, a Mid Demon. Most likely, it is a Late Demon,and there's even a chance it is already a Peak Demon. It is definitely not weak.'
'Luckily, it can't move.'
The Heroes of Crimson City had once united with the Heroes of another city to investigate the Corrosive Dust.
Back then, they had seen it, but they believed that attacking it was too risky.
None of the cities were willing to risk their lives so that the other city had a chance of getting the Specter for themselves.
'The Corrosive Dust is a gigantic pillar made of sand rock, which is covered in screaming human faces. The cities don't know, but I believe that the Specter is probably about as intelligent as an animal.'
'Most likely, it has some sort of alliance with the Parasite.'
'The Parasite is pretty smart and a very good diplomat. It wouldn't be difficult for it to convince the Corrosive Dust that working together with it would be immensely beneficial.'
Nick continued moving forward, passing through a dense layer of dust powerful enough to threaten even Heroes.
And then, all the dust vanished, and the tunnels became bigger.
The tiny lifeforms also hadn't returned.
'No wonder nobody ever found the Parasite. It is not only extremely vigilant but also very hard to follow.'
'Heroes would most likely displace enough dust to alert the Corrosive Dust, which would then alert the Parasite.'
'After that, the Parasite most likely gives orders to the Corrosive Dust.'
'It's an intelligent but weak party that commands a stupid but powerful party.'
Nick felt this dynamic to be familiar.
It reminded him of his early days in Dark Dream while working under Wyntor.
'I was really stupid and naïve back then,' Nick thought. 'I should've realized that Wyntor was also just another 16-year-old.'
Nick shook his head to clear his mind and continued following the rat.
After a while, Nick saw more and more rats moving around.
The tunnel also expanded and split into several more tunnels.
Within a couple of minutes,Nick found himself in a gigantic network of tunnels, which seemingly covered the entire underground of the Corrosive Dust's domain.
At some point, Nick's perception also picked up the Corrosive Dust's body.
The body was shaped like a pillar, and it was stretching deep underground.
Several roots made of yellow stone extended even deeper into the ground, passing by the countless tunnels.
The roots were kilometers long, and based on the shape of the body, it was around a kilometer high. About 400 meters were above the ground, while the remainder was inside the ground.
Sure enough, its entire body was covered in the screaming visages of countless people as they breathed out clouds of dust.
'Late Demon,' Nick estimated while analyzing the density of Zephyx of the Corrosive Dust's body.
After a couple more seconds, Nick also found a big "hall" below the Corrosive Dust's body.
The bottom of the Corrosive Dust's body was hanging from the ceiling like some kind of bizarre ornament, while there was something in the middle of the hall.
'The Parasite,' Nick thought.