Chapter 642: Common Points

On the street written "Chilikasko" in Dutan, Lu Mian led Camus and other Patrol Force members into the apartment built of dark stones and brownish-brown trees.

As soon as he pushed open the door of Bram's room, Camus and the others smelled the burnt and bloody smell quietly floating in the air.

They immediately saw broken corpse pieces scattered all over the floor, the walls had many bloodstains and minced meat, and there were bloody handprints and scorched marks everywhere.

Camus's gaze stagnated, as if he had returned to the scene of the serial murder event.

And this had more destructive power.

Camus turned his head and gazed at Lu Mian for two seconds. Although he could already guess the answer, he still habitually asked:

"What about that person's corpse?"

Lu Mian pointed to those corpse pieces and minced meat and answered with a smile:

"These are all."

Camus was silent for a moment, signaling the two teammates with stunned expressions beside him to check the scene.

He had already promised to share a part of the bounty with them, letting them be witnesses to his "merit."

—Camus didn't come alone because he was worried that this was a trap by Louis Berry, an assassination against Patrol Force members by secret organizations like the "Rose School of Thought."

Being in the Southern Continent, the necessary vigilance must be there!

Camus then walked to the cupboard and cast his gaze toward the lips soaked in preservative, his mind recalling the miserable state of the victims again.

After a short silence, he heard Louis Berry say in a flat tone:

"Bram was a member of the demon family Andre-Lade, instigated by the 'Rose School of Thought' to come to Port Pylos to collect intelligence, and by the way, complete the 'serial murder case.' The person responsible for contacting him was his uncle, Devaho Andre-Lade, but they didn't actually meet. They just put the information obtained in the form of data in the study of the empty house at 17 Alegre Street... "

This... Camus and the others were first shocked, then filled with strong doubts.

How did Louis Berry know so much?

Camus couldn't help but look at the scattered corpse pieces, the bloodstains on the wall, the bloody handprints on the ground, and various scorched marks.

Finally, his gaze settled on Lu Mian's face.

Lu Mian's mouth curled up bit by bit, returning a warm smile.

Camus and his two companions looked at each other, not going to ask Louis Berry whether he obtained the intelligence through "spirit communication" or torture, or whether he had locked onto Bram, the serial killer, from the beginning and wasn't targeting him because he was committing crimes.

"This intelligence is very important." Camus nodded slightly, pointing to the obviously damaged six-barreled machine gun in the room, "Bram's weapon needs to be left to us."

"No problem." Lu Mian answered without caring at all.

As a "Fire Manipulator," his demand for thermal weapons wasn't high. The power of continuous fireballs was much stronger than the sweeping of a six-barreled machine gun, just not as fast.

…………

Next to Resurrection Square, Kania Street, on the second floor of the four-story building of the Patrol Force.

Camus put the case files and relevant items separated into several cowhide paper document bags on the table in front of Lu Mian, repeatedly exhorting:

"You can only look and record, you can't take them away, you can't damage them."

Lu Mian nodded slightly, picked up one of the document bags, pulled the string, wound it a few times, and opened it.

He didn't rush to see what items were there, pulled out the case file, and read it seriously.

This thick case file recorded in detail the identity, origin, possible pathway sequence, place of death, scene situation of the seven victims, and various speculations and investigations done by the Patrol Force.

It could be clearly seen that when victims were constantly appearing, the Patrol Force investigated very seriously. Every day there were different actions, and there were large-scale visits. Later, when the serial murder case seemed to have ended and there were no new clues, they began to slack off, no longer frequently studying the case, no longer visiting on a large scale. After half a year, the corresponding pursuit stopped completely, and the case file ended there.

In the final report, the deputy captain of the Patrol Force who was responsible for this matter at the time summarized:

"This is a typical serial murder case manufactured by the 'Demon' pathway. Although 'Serial Killers' rarely kill only seven people, because more victims can better please the corresponding demons and satisfy the needs of the ritual, this time the victims were all supernaturals, among whom there were many middle-sequence ones. Even if only seven died, it was more favored by demons than fourteen, or even twenty-one ordinary people, and could better please them.

"The biggest problem with this occult case is that except for all being supernaturals, no common points can be seen among the seven victims. This is somewhat different from previous serial murder cases.

"Our speculation about this is that the seven victims were all supernaturals and active in West Balam. They should have killed people more or less, which can also be considered a kind of degeneration..."

Lu Mian finished reading carefully and expressed recognition of the speculation in the ritual of pleasing demons that seven supernaturals were better than fourteen ordinary people.

This was something he had known for a long time. After all, ordinary people were only the third-best sacrifice, and creatures with supernatural characteristics were the second-best.

Similar situations were also manifested in certain "role-playing," especially the kind that needed feedback, just like seeing through a conspiracy of an angel was obviously more able to let Lu Mian digest the potion than seeing through a conspiracy of an ordinary person.

After having a rough grasp of the entire serial murder case, Lu Mian combed through the information of the seven supernaturals, combined with Anthony's psychological profiling of "Siso," Franca's summary of the role prototype, and the guess of the role-player, looking for possible hidden common points.

Those seven supernaturals were male and female. Some were subordinates of General Queralir, some were believers of the "God of Death" hiding in Port Pylos, some were visiting adventurers, some were spies left by the Intis Republic in Matani, some were peripheral members of the "Rose School of Thought," and some were clergy of the "God of Steam and Machinery" church in the local area.

From the perspective of identity and origin, they really had nothing in common.

But for Lu Mian, who came to read with subjective speculation, some details would present more faces:

The seven victims were all young. Although the oldest one was in his early thirties, he was generally praised by the people around him for his excellent fighting talent and outstanding brain, and would surely become a well-known adventurer in the future.

"The target is young, has potential, and is a supernatural who has grown to a certain extent? Even the two who were not too young had labels like not small fame, strong strength, and unlimited future..." Lu Mian muttered to himself, having a rough grasp of "Siso's" selection criteria.

If Franca were here, she would definitely say that this was consistent with the behavioral characteristics of the prototype character. That guy was really a dedicated role-player and a fanatical enthusiast.

However, Lu Mian believed that "Siso" only tried to be close to the prototype character when he had a choice, and wouldn't affect his true purpose for the sake of role-playing. Sometimes, he might even use this kind of role-playing to mislead others—the reason Lu Mian felt this way was that "Mad Lady" evaluated "Siso" as not pure enough.

"From the selection criteria, Louis Berry is very consistent with 'Siso's' killing addiction..." Lu Mian secretly "tsk"ed and took out the items related to the case from the other document bags.

Most of these items were the victims' relics. The only ones that didn't belong to this category were seven thin tin foils stained with black-brown things.

According to the description in the case file, they were a kind of chocolate packaging produced locally. Every crime scene had them left behind, suspected to be left by the murderer after he succeeded and began to dissect the corpse, peeling open the thin tin foil and eating a piece of chocolate.

Because the serial killer used gloved hands to take out the chocolate and stuff it into his mouth, there were no corresponding traces left on the thin tin foil, and this kind of simple packaging chocolate was a very common commodity in Matani, which had a large number of cocoa plantations. Many shops sold it, and it was impossible to track the target with this.

Lu Mian looked at these few thin tin foils repeatedly for a while, raised his head, and revealed a smile to Camus, who was supervising him:

"Can I take two or three away?"

Camus, with fluffy brown hair, frowned:

"You can perform divination or use other supernatural means here."

"Only take two, it won't affect your future investigation." Lu Mian said in a seductive tone, "If you agree to help, I will pay you an extra reward, for example, a summoning spell for a very useful spirit world creature."

Camus was silent for a long while:

"Deal."

……

A quarter of an hour later, Camus, who specially took Lu Mian to buy similar chocolate outside, looked blankly at a rabbit-shaped spirit world creature holding a fountain pen, copying those case files quickly.

After nearly a minute, Camus looked at Lu Mian, who was sitting leisurely on the side, peeling open the thin tin foil and stuffing a piece of black-brown chocolate into his mouth, and asked in a deep voice:

"Is this the spirit world creature you said was very useful?"

"Yes, it is one of the 'Knowledge Rabbit' ethnic groups, which can help you get rid of heavy copying work." Lu Mian chewed the fragrant chocolate and answered with a smile.

What do I need such a copying tool for? Camus roared in his heart, but thinking of the bounty of the serial murder case and the bloody situation at Bram's death scene, he controlled himself.

Lu Mian smiled and added:

"When you don't want others to know which words you wrote, you can summon a 'Knowledge Rabbit' to help.

"Moreover, this is a growing spirit world creature. Give it what kind of knowledge, it will develop in what direction. Of course, you'd better get a way to sign a contract with the spirit world creature. Otherwise, the 'Knowledge Rabbit' summoned each time is likely not the same one, and it cannot be cultivated."

"Growing..." Camus repeated this word, his expression gradually easing.

…………

Returning to the Aurella Hotel, Lu Mian took out the two old thin tin foils from his pocket and handed one to Ludwig.

"Eat and see." He said with a smile.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 643 =====