"Angel, did the 'Rose Bishop' you encountered have the ability to kill others like this?"
Leonard turned to Angel to ask.
She shook her head: "He did try to use 'Flesh Bomb' to self-destruct, but that ability was suppressed by the Sealed Artifact. Then he shattered into a mass of flesh and blood, which was indeed similar to this scene, but I'm not clear whether this ability can be used on other people."
"Then let's assume this ability can be used on others, at least through some kind of medium." Leonard murmured, "Or perhaps he's not just a 'Rose Bishop,' but a higher sequence of the same pathway."
"That would be Sequence 5. Would such a person need to rob houses, creating a citywide disturbance for a bit of property?"
Angel was curious about this. A Sequence 5 Extraordinary would have completely safer, more discreet ways to make money.
"Not just cash and jewels—he also took away part of the human tissue."
Old Neil reminded them from the side. He had already returned the ritual glass bottles to the wooden box, leaving only the sketch paper with the thin, black-haired, brown-eyed male.
"Making money, obtaining more flesh and blood—two objectives accomplished together, and he can even provoke the local Nighthawks, Punishers, and Mechanical Heart, satisfying long-suppressed desires. He likely thinks this way. Very much like those criminals who roam around committing major crimes. They leave after doing one job and don't need to worry about local consequences, so they're usually unscrupulous with vicious methods."
Leonard looked at the bloodstains and remains covering the ground with a grim expression, speaking in a tone mixed with complex emotions.
"And compared to the murder before us, what that flesh and blood can be used for is more worthy of our attention. When it comes to sacrificing to evil gods and conducting large-scale destruction, the 'Aurora Order' performs no worse than the 'Witch Sect.'"
Old Neil nodded in agreement, then added: "Whether Sequence 6 or Sequence 5, it's beyond our capabilities. When Dunn returns from Ramde Town, have him send a telegram to the Holy Cathedral to apply for special action."
Special action... that would be the "Red Gloves"?
Angel thought of that legendary Nighthawk special force. They traveled everywhere, solving Extraordinary criminals that local Nighthawks couldn't handle, especially this kind of extremely vicious ones.
After Old Neil performed the ritual, there was nothing worth their continued investigation at the murder scene. Leonard called over the two police officers waiting at the door, explaining the scene handling procedures and instructing them to immediately report to the Special Operations Department if there were similar incidents.
"For this level of case, we still need to notify the 'Mechanical Heart' and 'Punishers,' having them ready to provide support at any time. They also need to pay attention to their own safety."
Angel and Old Neil found a hired carriage by the roadside, waiting for Leonard, who lowered his voice and said:
"This kind of situation is actually quite rare. Even for Sequence 6 Extraordinaries, Dunn leading the team while carrying Sealed Artifacts can usually resolve it. But since this time might involve higher sequence Extraordinaries, we must notify them according to regulations."
But the "Mechanical Heart" in Enmat Port even needed Nighthawks' help to capture fugitives, and the Nighthawks also needed support from teams in other cities for operations. It seems the manpower there is really stretched thin...
Secretly worrying about Enmat Port's staffing problems, Angel boarded the hired carriage.
"Good morning, Rozanne."
Early in the morning, stepping into the reception hall of Blackthorn Security Company, Angel encountered Miss Rozanne organizing the room.
"Hello, Angel. You seem in much better spirits than the past few days."
"It's probably because I didn't have nightmares last night and slept well..."
She answered with a smile, looking at Rozanne's youthful and beautiful, optimistic and cheerful face, suddenly remembering the secret Old Neil had revealed yesterday.
Perhaps not telling this innocent and kind girl the truth was indeed the right choice.
"Here, today's newspapers."
Just as Angel was pondering, Rozanne had already handed over a stack of newspapers that had arrived that morning. It seemed her actions of searching for coded messages in newspapers these past few days had all been observed by the attentive Rozanne.
Angel thanked her and took the newspapers, finding the "Tingen Daily" and noting with satisfaction the information she wanted on the front page headline.
"Iron Fist Operation - Tingen City Police Strike Decisively, Capturing in One Sweep the Gang Organization Leaders Who Had Long Occupied the Dock District."
It hadn't been in vain that she had spent this past week running between two locations, deceiving both the "Wild Bear Gang" and the "Labor Mutual Aid Association," ultimately allowing the police to benefit and destroy the two major gangs in the dock district.
Looking at the embellished report in the "Tingen Daily," Angel could clearly feel that the "Instigator" potion in her body had digested more than half as desired. Combined with her previous acting of "instigating" and "persuading" Vaughn and others, perhaps the Sequence 8 potion needed only one final push to complete full digestion.
What puzzled her was that the arrest of the two gang leaders during their meeting and mutual scheming by police had happened last night, and she had secretly observed the entire process, but at that time the potion's digestion progress had shown almost no movement. It wasn't until today when the news was published and she sat on the sofa enjoying the pleasure of "conspiracy succeeding" that the potion showed significant digestion.
Could it be that "Instigator" wasn't like "Assassin"—not only requiring the completion of corresponding acting, but also needing as many other people as possible to know the results?
She secretly noted this acting rule. Perhaps not just for "Instigator"—future potion digestion might all need to employ this principle.
Turning the page, Angel continued reading other newspaper sections. In this era without internet and television, newspapers were almost the only way to understand current events—oh, perhaps there was also Miss Rozanne's gossip.
"Tap—tap—"
Angel, absorbed in the Kingdom of Ruen's morning news, raised her head. Together with Rozanne, who was brewing the first pot of coffee, she looked toward the main door. The sound of leather shoes on the ground gradually approached, then the main door was pushed open. The poet Leonard, with his coat draped over his shoulders and shirt tail hanging out, entered the reception hall like a gust of wind.
Seeing only two young ladies in the hall, Leonard nodded slightly as a greeting and sat on the sofa opposite Angel.
"Yesterday's case has new developments..."
He leaned forward and said in a low voice.
"You found the murderer?"
Angel asked curiously, her gaze secretly glancing toward Rozanne sitting behind the reception desk. The latter was staring blankly at the hot water kettle in the corner, but her eyes occasionally darted toward the two of them.
"That's a Sequence 6, possibly even Sequence 5... The wanted notice has been issued, the 'Mechanical Heart' and 'Punishers' have also been notified, but there couldn't be new information within a single day."
"What I want to discuss is about the victims. The police have already investigated thoroughly—the Plack family of three and their butler and male servant all died at yesterday's scene, and about..." Leonard's voice dropped even lower, "half the quantity disappeared."
He didn't specify what had disappeared, afraid of being overheard by Rozanne, who was secretly listening.
"Most importantly, all of the Plack family's long-term deposits, stocks, and valuable paintings and antiques weren't touched. What disappeared was only cash and jewels, plus those bearer bonds Old Neil observed."
Stocks and deposits are easy to track, famous paintings and antiques aren't easy to quickly convert to cash... The murderer only took cash, easily disposable jewels, and bonds that could be cashed at any time...
And he committed the crime openly, seemingly not afraid at all of being discovered by local official Extraordinaries.
Angel summarized the clues and thought of a possibility.
"He just arrived in Tingen from elsewhere, doesn't plan to stay long, and urgently needs large amounts of money?"
"So he does one big job."
Leonard supplemented with a grim expression.