Chapter 3143: The Detective Shall Die (Part 5)

Shiler chose "Literature Research" for himself. Judging by the skill description, it was a skill specifically for reading theological and anomalous texts. With his current stats, there was no hope for a combat-oriented build, so he might as well stick to researching literature and deciphering clues.

If nothing went wrong, Batman and Owlman should have both invested in combat skills; they were the main sources of physical damage. For now, it was unclear what the others were leaning toward.

"What did you just hear?" Main Universe Batman asked.

Shiler repeated those few sentences. Batman said thoughtfully, "This could be a clue about the Prowler. He arrives with the snowfall; it's possible it means this guy only appears during heavy snow. It has indeed been snowing for the past few days."

"How did you figure that out?" Shiler asked intentionally.

Main Universe Batman glanced at the fireplace and said, "Just look at the amount of firewood."

This fit his persona well, as Main Universe Batman also played the role of a survival expert. Many survivalists enjoyed challenging themselves in extreme climates, so it was normal for him to have knowledge about wood burning and heating in extreme weather.

Shiler turned to look at the fireplace. The pile of firewood next to it covered the entire wall. If the weather weren't severe, there would be no need to bring so much firewood into the house.

If that were the case, the dry mud on the corpse's feet didn't make sense. If it had been snowing continuously, it would be impossible for a detective who arrived recently to have dry mud on his feet.

"Did you see any footprints when you went out earlier?" Shiler looked at Main Universe Batman, though he clearly didn't hold much hope, as the snow was so heavy that any footprints would have long been covered.

Main Universe Batman shook his head, as expected.

"Then this might not be the primary crime scene," Shiler said. "The detective wasn't killed here. He might have been dragged here by something."

"But there are no drag marks on his body." The Pale Knight walked to the other side of the corpse and looked at it. "Even if his clothes were thick and didn't leave abrasions on his skin, there would definitely be marks on the clothes. But there is nothing; his clothes are in perfect condition."

"What if the opponent can fly?" Greed said.

Everyone fell silent. Shiler sighed and said, "Given that this corpse was most likely killed by the Prowler, if the killer could fly, he shouldn't be called the Prowler; he should be called Iron Man."

Greed stopped talking. He wasn't the typical detective type and had no interest in doing this kind of deduction.

He walked near the head of the corpse but suddenly let out an exclamation. He pointed at the head and said, "Look."

Everyone looked where he pointed. Shiler also leaned in to take a look but didn't find anything particularly special until he crouched down and looked at the top of the corpse's head.

There were obvious bloodstains on the top of the head.

Of course, in this state, there wasn't a single spot on the corpse without blood, but the situation at the top of the head was particularly miserable.

Because the upper body of the corpse had been split in two from the center, the scalp was naturally divided as well. However, the hair and scalp at the very top were worn down to a bloody mess, and some dirty traces were vaguely visible between the flesh, along with some mud and small pebbles.

An image instantly appeared in Shiler's mind.

"He was walking backward."

Shiler said suddenly.

Shiler's reaction was too fast. Before the others had formed a concrete image in their minds, everyone was startled by his words.

As mentioned before, the corpse was in an X-shape, with only a small part in the middle intact, and there was dry mud on his feet. It was impossible to have such mud in a place where it had been snowing heavily for days, which meant his feet might not have stepped on the snow.

But if you turned this X-shape upside down—meaning the corpse used the split upper body as legs to walk—it would be easy to explain why there was no snow on the feet, but the scalp was severely worn down.

Looking at the deceased's ferocious expression, everyone was silent. This so-called anomaly was even more brutal than they had imagined.

"Why do this?" Shiler said in a low voice. "If he can control human movement, why not walk in a normal posture?"

Shiler recalled the few sentences he heard beside the corpse: arriving with heavy snow, prowling by the window, never stopping until descending like the Grim Reaper.

He vaguely felt the connection between these sentences but still couldn't fully grasp it. Although not much time had passed, Shiler was already starting to miss his own talent.

"It seems the first anomaly we have to deal with is him," Joker said with a gloomy face. "There is another question: why did he come here?"

Everyone looked at the corpse lying on the ground. This was indeed a good question. If this wasn't the primary crime scene where the detective was killed, why would something inside his body control him to come here?

Was there something special about this small wooden cabin?

"Let's explore separately," Main Universe Batman said. "But be careful, walls have ears."

His gaze fell on Bruce and Owlman, clearly warning them not to say anything unnecessary.

Although this wooden cabin looked isolated, it was hard to say if there were others in other rooms. If they said something outlandish and caused them to fail to gain trust later, it would be troublesome.

The group began searching for clues in the living room.

There was very little furniture in the cabin: a carpet, a sofa, a recliner, a fireplace, a bookshelf, and a kerosene lamp. Nothing else.

Shiler focused on checking the bookshelf. There were two books on it: one was a guide to making bait, and the other introduced warships and weapons from the last century.

The signs of flipping through both books were obvious. The owner of this house might be a fishing enthusiast and a military fan.

There were two drawers under the bookshelf. Shiler opened the unlocked one and found a candle inside. He picked it up and put it in his pocket.

The other drawer was locked. Shiler didn't have the lock-picking skill, so he had to shout to see if anyone had invested in it. To his surprise, Greed actually had.

"I'll do it!" Greed stepped over the corpse and began to use the lock-picking skill. He rolled a die: failure. He rolled again: still a failure.

Shiler stood behind him, covering his forehead and sighing. There was no other way; he had to find the key.

There was a small cabinet at the bottom right of the bookshelf. Fortunately, this cabinet wasn't locked. Shiler opened it and saw a pile of sundries: a broken hairdryer, a pile of plastic bags, a small box containing various rusty screws and strange parts, and a pile of buttons.

Shiler recalled the content of the bait-making guide he had just read. He felt these might be materials collected by the house owner for making artificial bait. The hairdryer might be used to dry glue.

No key was found here either. Soon, Owlman shouted. He raised his hand to show everyone the key he had felt under the carpet.

This was definitely not the key to the bookshelf drawer because the size was different. It looked like it should be the key to open the kitchen door.

The group went to open the kitchen door. Shiler continued to look for the drawer key. Finally, he felt a small key behind the kerosene lamp.

With the key to open the lock, there was no need for a check, as expected. He opened that drawer and found a diary inside.

"16th, sunny, a bit cold. The village is getting a bit chaotic. It seems someone's goat went missing. I'm not very interested in these things. I want to catch a big fish before the creek freezes."

"Damn it, there should be plenty of fish at this time. What's wrong today? I didn't catch a single one! Is my technique really regressing?"

"17th, cloudy, feels like it's going to snow. The missing goat was found. It will probably become delicious mutton soup soon. If only I could go over and have a bowl... but forget it. I know I look ugly, and they all hate me. Better not go and cause trouble."

"18th, Old Ogg came to find me. I don't know why he was so scared, but he wasn't afraid of me. His eyes were shifty. He insisted I go to the village tomorrow. I don't know if I should go, but since I didn't catch any fish, I have to go buy some food."

"19th, it snowed. I heard some very bad news. They said a Prowler came to our village. When I first heard this, I was very shocked. How could a demon visit such a remote place?"

"20th, the snow is getting heavier. Everyone who drank the mutton soup went crazy. I warned them, but they wouldn't listen to me. I should have been used to it; a person with a fierce appearance doesn't have good popularity. But that little girl is only 6 years old... I think I must write a letter to my old friend and ask him to come and take a look..."

"24th, I know I shouldn't have written that letter. It just added an innocent victim. Raven, if you see this diary, please remember: leave this village. There is no saving this place. You can go to the church for help, but in any case, leave here as soon as possible. Must be fast... must be faster than him."

The diary ended here. Shiler had already understood; this should be the reason why the corpse on the ground came here.

As Shiler expected, the owner of the cabin was an ugly and reclusive fisherman, or rather, just a fishing enthusiast. Perhaps because his appearance was scary, he lived in seclusion and made a living by fishing.

He noticed the abnormality in the village on the 16th but didn't take it seriously and went fishing. But two days later, someone from the village came to find him. He went to the village, but it seemed he couldn't change anything.

A few more days passed, and the situation seemed to worsen, so he decided to ask his friend to come and take a look. But a few days later, he regretted asking his friend to come because he felt the situation had completely spiraled out of control.

And the final outcome was that the owner of this diary was nowhere to be found, and the detective he called over was lying here.

After reading all this, Shiler realized that the owner of the diary, that is, the ugly and reclusive freak, most likely had dealt with anomalies and successfully escaped death, and might even be a professional in this field.

Otherwise, it couldn't explain why someone from the village would come to find him after an anomaly appeared, nor could it explain why he thought of writing a letter to call his friend over after discovering the anomaly, because normal people shouldn't know people in this field.

Getting more and more interesting, Shiler thought. ===== CHAPTER 3144 =====