Chapter 74: Marketplace

"Porcelainization?"

"Yes, take a look."

As soon as the two finished speaking, the soft screen displayed the details of the victim's wound.

It showed a male victim's thigh violently amputated, the cut looking like shattered glass or porcelain, with edges and angles.

The human blood in the wound had been replaced by a black, viscous fluid, and the bones appeared as broken porcelain.

This bizarre transformation occurred only near the wound; the victim's other parts remained normal.

"Officer Kennedy… does any substance exist in this world that can turn a person into porcelain?" Buleiya asked, puzzled.

When the forensic doctor delivered the autopsy report, Director Venice immediately realized the fact had to be concealed, so only a few people knew the details.

Even the informed parties, including the forensic doctor, were deeply confused—what could cause such a wound?

Leon gave a slight shake of his head.

He knew it must be an anomalous phenomenon, but he didn't know exactly what; it required investigation.

"Is there any surveillance footage or witnesses?" Leon asked.

Buleiya also shook his head and said, "So far no witnesses have been found, and every crime scene is a blind spot for the cameras, so no useful footage was captured.

To put it bluntly, what you just saw is all we've investigated in the past few days."

At the end, Buleiya's tone was rather helpless.

"Hmm… I understand," Leon murmured, stood up, and walked toward the exit of the conference room.

He then asked, "Can you take me to see the victim's corpse?"

"No problem." Buleiya had no objection.

The two then went to the police station's underground parking lot, where Buleiya drove a police car, taking Leon to the police depot.

They arrived at the depot outside the city.

They proceeded straight to the morgue.

Buleiya instructed the forensic doctor conducting the autopsy to clear away any nonessential assistants from the morgue, then showed Leon all the victims.

Seeing this.

Leon, citing a report to superiors, photographed all the victims and uploaded the images to Umbrella's European headquarters.

———————

…

Soon after.

Inside the second‑floor office of the Mother Nest.

"Twenty‑four people can be victimized in one night? And their bodies show porcelainization, hmm…"

Sitting behind his desk, Sui Bian browsed Leon's photos, muttering to himself without any clue.

He tried to recall movies and games from his past life.

In the end he let out a slightly helpless sigh; he didn't know which anomalous phenomenon caused this.

It could very well be a "local" one.

After all, on Lockford Island, a large number of non‑threatening (Level One) anomalous phenomena have already been contained, many of which Sui Bian had never heard of.

Of course, containing these anomalies not only aids Umbrella's research and analysis, but also increased Sui Bian's points.

His current points total 2,740.

These non‑threatening anomalies are usually worth about 4 or 50 points each.

Nearly three thousand points sounds like a lot, but the items he wants to redeem are just too damn expensive.

Last month, the shop featured the Hyperion from StarCraft, requiring 50,000 points to redeem.

Indeed, with the Hyperion, Umbrella's technology would make a qualitative leap, allowing humanity to easily break free from Earth's gravity.

But 50,000 points is far beyond Sui Bian's reach.

Nevertheless, Sui Bian gleaned a subtle hint from this.

That among the anomalies, there could be ones worth several thousand or even tens of thousands of points.

Otherwise the system wouldn't release a 50,000‑point Hyperion.

Moreover, the existence of the Iron Blood race shows that humanity will, in the future or even soon, not only face so‑called anomalies but also hostile alien species.

Humanity is like a lone boat on the sea, perpetually at risk of irreversible disaster.

And Sui Bian and Umbrella are trying to delay and prevent that "possibility."

'Fine, let's see what good stuff drops next month; the previous ones were all too dark, nothing worthwhile.'

Sui Bian steadied his mood, no longer pondering humanity's vague, distant future.

He relaxed a bit.

He then told Red Queen, "Notify Captain Pulaise stationed at the Paris headquarters, and have him and the 141 pay extra attention to Venice's movements."

"Yes, sir," Red Queen replied through the computer speaker.

After the Special Task Force was formed, Sui Bian stationed the 141 at the Paris headquarters, tasking them with immediate armed security assistance and mitigation of anomalies.

With the 141's presence and Umbrella's internal issues nearly eradicated, the Omicron led by the lieutenant returned to the Mother Nest.

———————

…

August 29.

Venice.

Local time: 20:21.

Magra city center.

Beside the roundabout on main road SS309.

Buleiya drove a police car, taking Leon out of the roundabout, and finally parked in the lot in front of a café.

The two got out, first went into the café to buy two coffees, then headed to the sidewalk 200 meters from the café.

"Here is where we found the last victim's location."

Buleiya blew on the steaming coffee, took a sip, then pointed with her left hand at the pavement beside a landscaped tree and said.

To minimize the impact of the incident, the police did not set up a cordon here, nor mark the victim's death location or the posture at death on the ground.

"Hmm, thank you," Leon, who had already drunk half the coffee, replied lightly.

Two days.

Leon and Buleiya almost ran through the Magra City District, surveying all the victims' discovery sites; they visited nearby suspicious locations and so on.

"The suspect" or "the suspects" vanished after committing the crime in the early hours of the 25th.

To prevent further deaths, Leon must quickly determine what this anomaly is.

"Leon, did you notice anything different?" Buleiya, seeing Leon looking thoughtful, couldn't help asking.

After two days as partners, the two's relationship was no longer as unfamiliar as at first.

"…" Leon gave no reply, but turned his gaze toward the nearby building.

A large shopping mall named NavedeVero.

Seeing this, Buleiya first glanced at the NavedeVero mall, then said to Leon:

"It is scheduled to open in early November, and we have only found merchants' pre‑installed shelves and display items; some merchants haven't finished renovations."

"Still more than two months until opening…" Leon faced Buleiya: "So the surveillance system there is still incomplete, right?"

"That's right, after the serial murders on the 25th, the mall's investors even added patrolling security.

Even if we assume the suspect hid in the mall before the crime, our police thoroughly searched the mall, even the wall cracks, and found no hideout for the suspect," Buleiya replied.

"Then I can be even more certain that the suspect never left the mall," Leon said confidently.

(End of chapter)