The Blood Crystal Crow was lying in a jewelry box and dreaming, when he suddenly felt itchy for no reason.
Arriving at the restaurant, everyone was quickly seated. While waiting and chatting, Darent also came in. He ignored all the looks directed at him and sat naturally and as it should be, on Hitzfeld's right hand side.
"...This is the file we have collected so far." Haydn asked the waiter to bring a roll of information. "It includes the police officers of Xixinna and Manion City. This is all their efforts in recent times."
"is it?"
This thing was originally presented to Hitzfeld, but Darent grabbed it, shook it open and sniffed it: "Hmm~~ No poison powder."
“…” Haydn’s face immediately darkened.
Even if he had ten thousand guts, he wouldn't dare to put poison powder in the file!
Who is this bastard?
Why would the higher-ups send this kind of person to assist in the case?
"Stop it, Maps." Hitzfeld frowned, "We are bringing people this time, and the format is different from the past."
Darent raised his eyebrows, threw the file to Xia Yibing, picked up the herbal tea on the table, and drank half a can in one breath without caring about the taste.
Damn Xixinna, this is not the temperature of Bingyue at all. He was sweating all the way.
On the other side, Xia Yibing also checked the file before handing it to Hitzfeld.
Hitzfeld excused himself, took the file and began to look through it.
Waiters kept coming and going to serve dishes. Haydn wanted to remind them several times if they could eat something first, but because Hitzfeld's aura was too profound when he was reading, he did not dare to speak.
This is not a lot of information.
After all, it has only been a month, and the murderer has not been found yet, so there is not much information. Most of them are records and descriptions of the crime scene, records of the identity of the deceased, and verification reports of the corpse examination.
The 24 deaths are related to 24 crime scenes.
None of them overlap. Bars, parks, the deceased's home... the locations are so varied that there is no apparent logic to their behavior.
The same applies to the gender and age of the dead and missing persons, including men, women, young and old, regardless of their characteristics or occupations.
The conclusion given by the Manion police was that "there was a hidden nightmare monster committing crimes randomly", and Hitzfeld also thought so at the first time.
This case and her main purpose of coming to Manion belong to two different cases, one is the "Bronze Statue Case" and the other is the "Serial Murder Case".
The latter here is just a cover-up for the former. In the current team of "The Banshee Statue Case", only she and Xia Yibing know the inside story. Even Darent doesn't know much about it. Most people think they are here for a murder case.
It was useless for them to go to the local police to advance the case. They had to find Nightingale, the guy who signed at the end of the file.
In other words, whether the "Manion Serial Murder Case" can be solved or not is really irrelevant to them.
But Hitzfeld still hopes to resolve this matter at the same time.
She read very carefully, trying not to miss any details, and her mind was working quickly, trying to make a breakthrough from the information alone.
The local police believed it was a nightmare monster, which was true. Many of the skeletons were gnawed into pits and holes, which was obviously not something a human could do. It was either some kind of large beast or a hatched nightmare.
But how could a nightmare monster grow to such an appetite in such a short period of time?
In a little over a month, including the missing persons, it has eaten nearly 60 people. This is definitely not a young nightmare, but a truly mature monster.
The appearance of nightmares usually has signs, and Manion is not without secret police. They have their own tracking methods. How could they allow monsters to continue to grow after they appear?
This matter is a bit strange, and what makes Hitzfeld even more confused is that as the nightmare monster becomes more and more corrupt, the remaining sanity will become less and less.
Take the young nightmare that attacked her as an example. That creature had no intelligence at all, and only had biological instincts such as eating. Maybe it could sneak attack and eat a few people by relying on others' ignorance at the beginning, but as long as you are prepared, wouldn't it be easy to find such a creature that doesn't know how to cover its tracks and has no logical plan for its behavior?
She did not doubt the ability of the local police, but she suspected that the man-eating monster hidden behind it was extraordinary.
To be honest, she now doubted that it was not a nightmare.
Deformation, cannibalism.
Hunting plan, covering tracks.
These two parts are in conflict.
In her opinion, the only people who can achieve both at the same time are the "alienated" ones who follow the path of the Gray Mist Evil God.
That is, a madman who retains human sanity but has completely transformed his body.
Chapter 16: Hide and Hound (Two in One)
Since the airship fleet arrived at the Eastern Airport of Xixina in the morning, the banquet specially held to welcome the kingdom's envoys was scheduled for around 2 pm, and it was almost evening when it ended.
The reason why it took several hours was not because of the red tape and etiquette of Xixinna's administrator Haydon, but because Hitzfeld spent a lot of energy looking for him and his subordinates to obtain information about the case.
For many things, it is not enough to just look at what is written on paper. You still have to ask people and then match the results obtained on both sides one by one.
After the show, Hitzfeld and Haydn thanked the waiter and followed his instructions to go upstairs. They would rest here tonight and officially go to Manion City tomorrow morning.
"Hey!" Darent chased after him, "Wait a minute, Aisuen! About this case - I still have some questions to discuss with you!"
He had planned to chat with his acquaintances, but the two of them ignored him as soon as they sat down. One was asking about the case, while the other was eating. He could no longer bear it.
Hitzfeld turned to look at the young waiter. The waiter was also very sensible. He walked to the intersection of the corridor with his back to them, avoiding suspicion while also helping them stand guard.
Hitzfeld looked at Darent again, meaning that you can speak now.
"I always feel that you don't look at the problem from a holistic perspective." Darent said, "I've also read the file. In order to investigate this case, Manion's people collected all the suspicious information that occurred during this period, including the 'Fran Middle School Food Poisoning Case', but I saw that you hardly asked about these details?"
“There must be a reason why I didn’t ask,” Hitzfeld said. “I knew they wouldn’t have anything useful to say about it.”
"But how do you know?"
"I just know it."
"Aisun?" Darent raised his eyebrows suspiciously, tilting his head back slightly, "Are you hiding something from me?"
"You've already doubted it to this extent. If I say no, it would be too much of a distrust of you."
"So it is? What is it?"
"Maps, you are too impatient." Xia Yibing couldn't stand it anymore and walked up to force the wooden man away. "We are the only ones who know about this matter now, so don't think that we are treating you differently. Let us rest for a night and I will tell you the details tomorrow."
If it were usual, it would be fine, but now, she couldn't allow someone to disturb Hitzfeld's rest time after she had been exhausted from the long journey and had to think hard.
Darent was naturally unwilling to accept this. A woman's title of director could not scare him - he was not even a member of the Security Bureau system, so what was there for him to be afraid of?
But Xia Yibing still has the threat of force.
Strictly speaking, wooden men are also extraordinary creatures. The wooden men's spiritual perception is more acute than that of ordinary people, so when Xia Yibing was about to get serious, Darent immediately found that the pressure she gave him was much stronger than before.
If you continue to argue, it would be impolite.
He gave up directly and said that he would go to Manion tonight to explore the route. After they arrived there tomorrow, they could meet and communicate at the local police station at the latest in the evening.
"...I really admire his energy." Looking at his back, Xia Yibing couldn't help but shake her head, "And he seems to be serious."
"He's always been serious," Hitzfeld said softly. "He was like this before the Red Earth Plains, and now he has someone he wants to protect again. Facing what might be the work of the solar eclipse, he will fight with all his might."
"So what do you think?" Xia Yibing looked back at her, "Are these two cases, or just one?"
The Manion Serial Murders.
The case of the bronze statue of the Siren of Magnion.
They seemed to be two unrelated cases, one was handled by the local police, and the other was handled by Nightingale, a secret agent directly under the king. But they happened at the same time in the small city of Manion, which itself was very suspicious.
Not to mention the little notebook that Darent provided at the beginning - that is, the information he obtained from the tree rings was: the murder case was likely to involve the evil eclipse.
So could the Banshee statue case also be related to the evildoers? Xia Yibing felt that there was a high probability that there was some kind of connection.
"The statue has been in the school for more than a hundred years and nothing has happened. But it happened when Manion had a murder and a disappearance." Hitzfeld smiled. "Even if I say there is no connection, will you believe me?"
Xia Yibing shook her head. She definitely didn’t believe it.
Even if it was Hitzfeld who said it, she had to remain skeptical unless she gave a reasonable explanation.
"But we can't show it." Hitzfeld glanced at the waiter at the corner of the corridor, "This is not Wayne...Folong also said that the situation in Manion is different from other places. To be honest, I don't trust any of the locals."
"...Is the trouble really this serious?" Xia Yibing frowned. She felt it was a little too exaggerated.
"I don't think that Alvin mobilized an army for us just for protection." The girl sighed, "You saw it at the airport... The administration of this place is a mess."
That's true.
Xia Yibing couldn't help but frown again.
Generally speaking, the jurisdiction of a place or a parish is divided into two main parts. The first is the administration, which is a person like Haydn. The second is the district head, which is similar to Isaac Rhodes, the former district head of Blackwood City, who is a local religious leader.
Local defense, that is, the defense army and the gray police, are all under administrative management. The district chief controls the strongest local armed force, the Flintstone Knights. The two cooperate with each other, which is the norm.
But what is Sicinna Parish like?
It is definitely an exaggeration to say that the administration has been sidelined, but the fact that Haydn didn't even have the courage to rush to the airport shows how much he feared Lieutenant Colonel Cab.
Even if such an administration is willing to cooperate with them, what kind of help can it actually provide?
Xia Yibing had never been to Manion, but she had read the information beforehand. Although Manion and Xixinna were both "cities", in the "Xixinna Parish" which only had these two cities, it could only be considered a vassal.
Working in administration in Mannion is not an easy job. It does not have a municipal church. All the churches in the city are subordinate to the Diocese of Sicinna. Even if you have made great achievements, they will not be counted as administrative achievements in Mannion. However, you need to deal with the complex situation in Mannion - the integration of local residents and mountain natives and various conflicts.
It's hard to get rewards if you do a good job, but you still have to take responsibility if you don't do a good job.
So she really admired Fu Rong. This kind of position was basically equivalent to exile in the eyes of Wayne officials, but he was able to persist and not be fired halfway. He waited until the time was right and was noticed. Finally, his luck turned and he was transferred to Hei Mu to enjoy a good life.
Xia Yibing couldn't help but do the math in her mind: If they were entering the Xinze Diocese with an army of 3500 people, then the first people to greet them would definitely be the local administrators and the district head.
There is no distinction between South Xinze and North Xinze here, you have to come to both places.
After arriving, they must first confirm their goals, and sign a guarantee to fully cooperate and so on... It's not like this damn Xixinna, where the administration is stuck in the unit building and the district chief is nowhere to be seen?
In the end, the person who took the lead in welcoming them was Lieutenant Colonel Kabu, the head of the military regions under the two systems. This, this, this - the woman felt that there must be a big problem.
"We should ask them." Xia Yibing pondered, "Why didn't the district chief come here?"
"Probably dead."
"What did you say?"
"It's understandable that the administration and the military have more dealings with each other. After all, they are superiors and subordinates. It's just that Lieutenant Colonel Kabu is obviously more powerful, and Commander Hayden is afraid of him for some reason."
Hitzfeld stared at the rough pattern on the carpet and analyzed it for her: "But the district chief is different. The district chief is another system. Lieutenant Colonel Kabu can rely on the 2000 troops to gain power and even oppress the local administration, but that force is nothing in front of the Flintstone Knights. He can't pose any threat to the district chief."
"But the district chief still hasn't come." She lowered her voice very low, "Then I have to suspect... he may not be able to come."
After listening to the analysis, Xia Yibing felt creepy for a moment.
What happened in tiny Sicinna, the most desolate place in the west of Sara?
"Don't worry, there will be an answer." Hitzfeld reached out and grabbed her wrist, gently stroking the back of her hand. "A hound has been released. What we need to do now is to have a good rest."
……
At night, Marseille took a shower and came to the lobby of the lounge, intending to find some books to read.
His former acquaintances all thought he was brainless, so he insisted on reading whenever he had free time over the years. This was advice from Corps Commander Red, whose original words were "idiots should read more books."
Ma Sai asked happily at the time: "If I just read more books, I won't be stupid anymore?"
Reid was silent for a while after listening to him, and then said to him: "It is true for most people, but since you can ask such a question, I think it is not necessarily true."
Masai was not convinced and thought that the legion commander was deliberately belittling him. So I did what I wanted, and from then on, I would read a few pages of books every night before going to bed.
He was not without reason. After all, if he was really an idiot, how could the legion commander trust him so much?
Forming a new army is such an important matter. The Central Diocese had more than a dozen gold coins reserved at that time, but Red chose to be the leader of the most important Northern Legion without asking anyone else. Doesn't this indirectly prove that he is very capable?
This made those two bitches Harrison and Josie jealous. They kept saying that he was not worthy and tried to trip him up in various ways, but Marseille refused to bother with them.
Reading is not Marseille's strong point. He found it very painful at the beginning and even fell asleep while reading a few times.
Things got better after he adapted. Now he can enjoy reading, but the prerequisite is that the subject matter is suitable for him.
Marseille doesn't like reading reference books or reference books. He likes reading picture stories, and he is also good at reading biographies of people and geography related to the stories.
This lounge is connected to several VIP bedrooms. There is a fireplace in the middle, paintings and ornaments on the sides, and a light green carpet on the floor. The most eye-catching thing is a bookshelf that occupies half of the wall.
Marseille had been staring at the bookshelf when he came in. He walked to the bookshelf, recited the title of the book silently, and pulled out a book called "Illustrated Book of Mysterious Mountain Trolls from Ancient and Modern Times".
Judging from the name, it should be very interesting, just right to kill time before going to bed.
Open the first page and see the preface first.
The preface is a summary and introduction to the entire book. The author describes this book as a supplement to a lost period of history, but "its authenticity is not guaranteed" and he is not responsible for any doubts arising from reading the book.
Marseille didn't expect this thing to be authentic, and he read with great interest page by page, starting from the first picture of the "brain-eating monster shadow".
