Chapter 243: Silent Night, Quiet People
Translator: Dess Editor: Efydatia
Hook was dead!
Kieran was not surprised by the news. Based on his speculations, there was a high probability that Hook might have been killed to bury the truth.
Unlike the three thugs, who knew nothing, Hook must have known some secrets that had led to his demise.
As for who had killed him…
Kieran stared coldly at Calkin, who was sweating like a pig.
"It wasn't me! When I went over to his place, he was already dead! If it was me, I would've run away!" Calkin explained.
Kieran didn't trust him.
Although he had appeared before him once more, it could just be an act in order not to raise suspicions with his actions.
He might also be telling the truth though. There could be other parties involved in Hook's murder.
It was not hard to prove what Calkin had said.
"Hold on!"
Kieran went over to Herbert. Just as Calkin had arrived in his wagon, Herbert had finished taking notes.
When Kieran walked over to him, Herbert already knew what his intentions were.
"You want to investigate the crime scene? Go ahead then. With Harold and two of his wagoners here, I'll be quite safe! The culprit just killed a witness after all. They wouldn't want to draw any extra attention to themselves!" Herbert said with a smile.
"Be careful at all times!" Kieran gave Herbert a final warning before he turned to Harold and Joanna.
"I need to go away for a while. You can ask your servants to take out their weapons."
When Kieran had seen Harold and Joanna for the first time, he had noticed the unusuality of their wagoners. They were stronger than common wagoners, and the calluses on their hands were not from their daily whipping duties.
Obviously, they also served as bodyguards for Harold and Joanna.
It made sense, as both of them were from upper class families. Considering their age, if there were no bodyguards around, the adults would not have agreed to let them roam outside freely.
"No problem! Leave it to me!"
Harold looked at Kieran with a shocked expression. He had no idea when Kieran had discovered the bodyguards. He thought they had been concealed quite well. That did not stop Harold and Joanna from ordering their wagoners to take out their weapons though.
The wagoners went over to their wagons and pulled out swords and flintlock pistols. After seeing the wagoners' skilled technique in handling the weapons, Kieran nodded in agreement.
He told Herbert goodbye again and left with Calkin's wagon.
The whip lashed against the horse, and the wagon dashed away.
Kieran was sitting opposite Calkin, leaning on the soft, comfortable seat and inspecting the inner carriage.
It was mostly red and decorated with golden ornaments that made it look unusually luxurious. The ornaments were made of real gold, and the carpet beneath Kieran's feet was velvet. Even the inconspicuous curtain beside him had been weaved with high quality silk.
Kieran reevaluated Calkin's wealth.
It was not possible for him to own such a horse wagon with his salary as a police officer. He would have to save up for 20 years and live without food or other expenses.
Only an idiot would believe that that wagon had been issued by the station.If you like it, I could find you another one! It would be the same from top to bottom, even the horse would share the same bloodline!" Calkin said suddenly.
He had noticed Kieran inspecting the carriage.
"How generous of you!" Kieran laughed.
"If you just let me go… I could give you all my wealth! Everything I have!" Calkin begged in a sincere tone.
He looked pitiful with his pale, dispirited face, but Kieran wasn't moved by the offer. Even if Calkin meant what he said, Kieran was not after the dungeon's ordinary wealth.
After all, the Sub Mission stated that Calkin was not some innocent police officer.
If Kieran gave in to the temptation, he would meet a bad end.
"My goal is not to get wealthy. I am more concerned about how Hook died. Can you elaborate?" Kieran asked.
"I did not kill him!" Calkin stressed out again.
"Yeah, yeah, it wasn't you. So how did you find Hook's body?" Kieran rephrased his question.
"After I left Herbert's place, I went straight to Hook's old lair. I was planning on teaching him a lesson, because of what I'd been through! He was not there though. I thought he had run away! I knew the methods and routes he used to escape! The man responsible for the escapes was one of my men as well, but other than me and him, no one else knew!"
"I was worried something like this would happen, so I had a backup plan!" Calkin told his side of the story, his delighted face turning slightly scared.
"I am not a good policeman, but I assure you, I've seen countless notorious men and I've worked on cases like this plenty of times! None of them made me this scared though, not even close! My source and Hook are both dead! Dead inside the source's room! The way they died…"
After about five seconds, he found the words to describe it.
"It was like a blooming flower!"
Calkin's face turned even paler as fear flooded his words.
"A blooming flower?" Kieran raised an eyebrow.
He had never heard such an odd description for a dead body. Kieran's mind was filtering Calkin's words fast.
If he was bluffing, his words would be the best proof.
After that, there was no further conversation.
The horse wagon with the police emblem entered Herl City without any hindrance. After many turns and shuttling along the streets, they reached a secluded, narrow alleyway.
"Here we are!" the wagoner informed his passengers and opened the door eagerly.
When Calkin saw the wagoner's face, who was also one of his men, he cried out loudly. Suddenly, he felt weak and collapsed inside the carriage.
The wagoner's face looked heavily burned, as if he had been splashed with sulphuric acid a few times. The skin on his face was completely burned, bones showing on some parts of it.
His eyeballs were intact though. Without his human skin, his eyes stood out in an eerie way, the contrast of white and black making their motion more prominent.
"The head is here! You and Sir 2567 will be on your way!"
The ghastly wagoner's vicious, rotten face had an eerie smile that would seep into anyone's soul.
Chapter 244: Rigor Mortis
Translator: Dess Editor: Efydatia
Calkin screamed at the freaky scene before him and shrunk helplessly behind Kieran.
"On your way! On your way!" the vicious wagoner with the freaky smile mumbled before suddenly throwing himself at Kieran.
His fierce actions caused the rotten flesh on his face to shake, his cheek falling off and revealing the ghostly green bone underneath.
Kieran had been sure he wasn't human from the moment he'd appeared, but the scene still made him frown.
It was not because of the wagoner's repulsive appearance. Kieran had seen much scarier corpses than the wagoner.
It was because of the timing. When had the wagoner turned into that?
Although he had been inside the carriage for the whole journey, Kieran's sharp intuition would have still picked up on anything happening outside the wagon. He had not noticed when the wagoner had transformed though.
Only when the carriage door had been opened and the wagoner's rotten face had been revealed had Kieran realized that he was in deep trouble.
He had no idea what had caused the sudden mutation, but he was sure that the process couldn't have been quiet.
A person turning from a living human being into a zombie-like monster could not have stayed silent. Considering the wagoner's burned, rotten face and his green bones, the transformation seemed to be very thorough. The process must have been extremely painful.
There must have been agonizing cries, yet Kieran had heard nothing on the way there.
So…
"Did something happen to him before he came to Herbert's place? But the wagoner and Calkin must have been together the whole time, so if the wagoner transformed, then… why would Calkin be fine?"
Kieran's mind was spinning like lightning.
He did not even care about the zombie wagoner charging at him. He leaned to the left and pushed, crashing out of the carriage.
Just as he pushed out of the wagon, Calkin, who was hiding behind him, suddenly let out an angry, beast-like growl.
His pale face began rotting rapidly until Calkin himself turned into a zombie-like monster, just like the wagoner. They shared the same freaky, vicious appearance.
That growl of his was getting louder and louder.
Bang!
Kieran, who was still in mid-air, fired the gun in his hand. The muzzle flashed suddenly and Calkin's head was blasted by the [Python-W2]'s bullet.
The loud growl stopped abruptly. When the wagoner leaped inside the carriage and saw the scene, his body froze. He turned around right away, attempting to escape.
The [MI-02]'s silenced bullet pierced through his head from behind, the force of the shot making his skull burst open.
The wagoner staggered forward a couple of steps out of reflex, but eventually fell down.
After a few twitches, he showed no more signs of life.
[Shooting: Lethal Attack, 300 Damage inflicted to Target HP, (150 Firearm Weapon, Light Firearm (Transcendence)X2), Target has Tensile Skin, Bullets of Conviction II authenticated higher than Target's defense, Armor Penetration Lvl 1 granted, 400 True Damage inflicted to Target, Target dies…]
[Shooting: Lethal Attack, 300 Damage inflicted to Target HP, (150 Firearm Weapon, Light Firearm (Transcendence)X2), Target has Tensile Skin, Bullets of Conviction II authenticated higher than Target's defense, Armor Penetration Lvl 1 granted, 400 True Damage inflicted to Target, Target dies…]
...
Kieran looked at the battlelog notifications and glanced over at the dead bodies.
Tensile Skin? Not Dead-Man's Skin? The bodies are still warm! This means they were somehow still alive when I fired at them..."
Kieran raised his eyebrows over what he had discovered. He looked down at the two bodies before him and could not relate the monsters he had just encountered to the living men.
Suddenly, the bodies started going through some changes that surpassed Kieran's imagination.
They started to melt like boiling water, green bubbles forming on their skin.
As the bubbles covered them, the bodies started to melt and dissolve.
Less than three seconds later, there was only a pile of green goo and bones left on the ground.
The bones were still melting at a rapid speed visible to the naked eye.
"What the hell is this?" Kieran was shocked.
His Master Level [Mystical Knowledge] had some relevant information, but he could not determine exactly what was happening.
Kieran instinctively wanted to walk over to the green goo and the melting bones, but a series of footsteps stopped him.
"Here! The gunshot was fired from here!"
Suddenly, a team of uniformed patrol officers appeared. Kieran's gunshot had attracted their attention.
Kieran quickly dodged and hid in the shadows. Then he quickly left the scene.
If the patrol officers reached the crime scene, Kieran would lose his freedom and be unable to investigate the strange green goo.
However, he did not return to Herbert's place right away. Instead, he went over to Calkin's source's place. The room where he had been killed.
Calkin might have been lying, but there had to be a hint of truth in his words.
Kieran didn't mind going the extra mile to confirm it.
After all, the place where he had been assaulted was not far from the aforementioned location.
"What happened to Calkin and his wagoner? Did they meet the person who killed Hook after they left Herbert's place? Or did Calkin report everything to the mastermind and get punished for his incompetence?" Kieran guessed.
Meanwhile, he was also recalling the changes Calkin and his wagoner had gone through.
"They could speak and they seemed to be sane. This means they were still aware of what they were doing and had not been reverted to a simple-minded state. I just couldn't confirm whether they were being controlled or acting on their own free will. Their abilities also seemed to have been enhanced. They had Tensile Skin, so they were not afraid of a normal knife or any sharp objects… I wonder how much their strength and speed had actually increased though…"
Kieran could not help but sigh as he thought about it.
In his opinion, the best way to deal with an unknown enemy was by shooting them in the head. If he hesitated and allowed his enemies to retaliate, his losses would outweigh his gains.
Kieran would rather spend more effort on investigating than having an unwanted accident occur during a battle. Such an accident could cost his life after all.
"Huh?"
He suddenly halted.
A human figure was dodging and heading into a house not far away from him.
According to Calkin, that house was where his source had died.
Chapter 245: Slaughterhouse
Translator: Dess Editor: Efydatia
After watching the human figure go into the house of Calkin's source, Kieran followed it silently.
Making sure the figure was away from the door, he pushed the half-shut door open quietly.
The house had one single floor, but it was quite big. There were almost eight rooms available, connected by an average-width corridor.
Fortunately for Kieran, he could see everything with his own eyes from the porch.
At the same time, he picked up the stench of blood from inside the house. The stench was so heavy that it made Kieran feel like he'd walked into a slaughterhouse.
The heavy smell was coming from the end of the corridor.
Kieran ventured in carefully, holding the [MI-02] in his hand.
Although he could not identify the person who had gone into the house, the fact that they had appeared now was enough for him to treat that person with extreme caution.
As Kieran ventured forward, the smell of blood got even stronger.
It almost deviated from the vile stench, becoming strong enough to choke him.
He had to hold his breath as he moved forward.
He didn't know how many bodies would have to be in that room to generate such a powerful stench, especially in the summer, when the stench would spread after the second day.
He could hear the wooden planks on the floor make noise. They were squeaking because they were unable to withstand the heavy weight.
After a while, the squeaking reached the door. Kieran immediately dodged and hid in the shadows.
The door was pushed open, and the person who'd gone inside earlier came right out.
Judging by their height and physique, Kieran was sure it was the same person.
The man was unusually tall and bloated, so it was very easy for Kieran to recognize him. As he walked through the average-sized corridor, his huge body made it extremely awkward for him to move.
Kieran noticed he had a parcel in his hand, although he was sure he had gone in empty-handed.
That meant that he had gotten something from the room.
"What's inside that parcel? A clue left behind after killing the witness? Or some other important evidence?"
Kieran's thoughts rippled through his mind as he got ready to make his move.
Before he could though, a hole was suddenly made on the roof, a black figure flying down like an eagle hunting its prey. The figure landed firmly and jumped up, launching a couple of kicks against the tall bloated man.
The fast, powerful kicks made the man stagger back and eventually fall on his butt. The parcel in his hand was thrown off during the attack.
The black figure hurled itself over towards the parcel as soon as the parcel flew away.
However, Kieran was one step faster. He threw the [Deceiver's Key] towards the parcel and latched onto it, dragging it from mid-air into the shadows.
The black figure was stunned. He had never thought there would be another person in the house.
The tall bloated man let out an angry growl and stood up right away, throwing himself crazily at the black figure. He did not even care about Kieran hiding in the shadows.
No doubt, he had only seen the black figure after the sudden attack.
The man dashed towards the black figure like a raging bear, his force powerful and fearsome. The black figure was as agile as a sparrow though. He flipped in mid-air towards the charging man, jumped over him and tip-toed against the back of his head before leaping into the hole on the roof.
The tall bloated man crashed through the door, rushing onto the street and running across it towards the house on the opposite side of the road.
He crashed through the wall and was buried under the crumbling debris. No one could tell whether he was dead or alive.
The black figure jumped down from the roof again and kept a certain distance from Kieran.
"Give it to me," he said in a rough voice.
Kieran knew that was not his original voice.
If the man had made enough effort to cover his face, altering his voice would also be an important element in hiding his identity.
Kieran handed over the parcel. He had not decided to compromise. He had already checked the parcel during the quick battle between the black figure and the tall bloated man.
It was only some cash and jewellry. Nothing had caught his attention.
Kieran didn't mind handing it over, as it was not something he could use to get more information about the situation.
"Was the black figure here for the cash and the jewellry? Or for something else?" he asked himself as he stared at the figure.
"Catch!" he said.
As his words faded, he hurled the parcel over and watched the black figure catch it with extra caution.
Even though his face and voice were disguised, the movements of his body could not be hidden.
Kieran saw clearly how the figure had caught the parcel. He was stunned for a second, suddenly realizing what was happening.
Although the black figure had returned to normal after grabbing the parcel, Kieran was sure he wasn't there for the cash and jewellery either.
The figure didn't even check the inside of the parcel. He knew what it was by its weight alone.
That meant…
"He knows this parcel well! As if it's a part of him! Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to tell what it is just by its weight!" Kieran thought.
Of course, he had learned a lot more than that.
The most obvious thing was that the black figure was looking for something the size of the parcel. Something very fragile.
No normal person would have caught a parcel thrown by an enemy with their own hands.
The safest choice would have been to let the parcel fall on the floor and check it later.
Kieran was curious about the item the black figure was looking for. Why would the item he wanted even be in that house?
Inside a slaughterhouse?
After the tall bloated man had knocked down almost half of the walls and doors, Kieran caught a glimpse of what was inside the door through the dim light of the moon.
He saw the gruesome scene inside, broken limbs and blood flowing like a river.
A couple of dozens of headless, limbless bodies with most of their flesh gone, left only with a perfect ribcage and backbone, were hanging in mid-air by meat hooks.
They were bleeding, some flesh attached to their white ribcages, as if they had been processed by a crude butcher.
Blood was dripping from the ribcages to the floor. It was supposed to seep into the gaps between the floorboards, but it overflowed instead, flooding the floor with a sticky, thick residue and covering its original color.
Kieran glanced over the scene inside the room and turned around towards the black figure, who was backing off.
The figure seemed to have no intention of fighting Kieran. He had confirmed that Kieran had not switched his parcel.
"Seems like he knows this place… He knew his enemies very well! He was sure I was not the one he was looking for!" Kieran thought as he slowly walked forward.
The black figure wanted no trouble, but that didn't mean Kieran would not try to get the answers he wanted.
Kieran's actions showed his stance and attitude. The black figure picked up on the signs and halted.
He switched to an attacking stance, warning Kieran.
Kieran responded to the warning by taking his [MI-02] and [Python-W2] in his hands.
When he revealed his weapons, the black figure took out his sword without hesitation.
It looked like a battle between them would break out at any moment.
Yet what happened next was drastically different.
As Kieran recalled the explosion, he smiled bitterly.
Then he turned around right away and went looking for the tall bloated man, who was buried under the debris, in hope of finding more clues.
Although everything seemed like a coincidence, the green flames reminded Kieran of Calkin and his wagoner and the green goo they'd left behind after dissolving.
Besides, Calkin's description of the house had been too precise. It had not seemed like a lie that had been thought up on the spot.
Of course, it might have been a mere coincidence, but what if it wasn't?
The thought made Kieran rush up to the debris. He could clearly see the tall bloated man buried under the bricks.
After he moved away the beam on top of him, the man's swollen forehead was revealed.He crashed his head and passed out, then got buried under the bricks… Maybe the bricks saved him from the shock of the explosion. What a lucky bastard!"
Kieran grabbed his bloated body and carried it on his shoulder.
Then he sprinted towards the darkness.
As he left, the patrol police arrived to the scene one step too late again. They didn't even notice him.
...
By the time Kieran reached Herbert's place, it was already 3 a.m. in the morning.
Other than Herbert, who was still up writing, only the bodyguards were awake, keeping watch in shifts.
Joanna and the cooking maid were already asleep in the tent.
Harold was snoozing off beside the campfire with a long sword in his arms.
The young man had insisted on keeping watch, but he didn't seem to be faring well.
When Herbert saw Kieran carrying the big man, he put his pen down and said jokingly, "Look what you've got there!"
"Something good!"
Kieran threw the big man down. He was as heavy as he looked, maybe even heavier.
If he hadn't had to carry him, Kieran could have reached Herbert's place earlier.
"There was also something else!"
Kieran told Herbert about everything that had happened, including about Calkin and his wagoner.
He was hoping to get some help from Herbert's expertise. Herbert was a knowledgeable scholar after all, so he might have an idea about what had happened to Calkin and his wagoner.
Even if Kieran had kept that to himself, when the big guy woke up, he would have had something to say as well.
If that was the case, why not solve the problem right away?
"Their faces looked as if they'd been burned off? They seemed kind of rotten, but still able to maintain their sanity? Their skin could withstand common knives and sharp objects? What kind of beings would those be? It seems like they share some similarities with a legendary monster! No, no, no, that monster would be way stronger! That's…" Herbert mumbled to himself as he fell into that trance Kieran had seen before.
Kieran just shrugged.
Based on his previous experience, when Herbert entered that trance, all he could do was wait.
Although Kieran was longing for a final answer, judging by Herbert's mumbling, the man had to have some clue about the changes on Calkin and his wagoner.
"What a long night!"
Kieran added two more pieces of wood to the campfire, looking at the sparks flying around. Then he let out a long breath and closed his eyes, trying to take a catnap.
He knew there would only be more things waiting for him the next day.
Of course, he still remained vigilant. The big guy was still unconscious beside them after all.
If he woke up, the other two guards might not be a match for him, even if they used their weapons.
After repeatedly crashing through doors and walls, he was mostly unscathed, except for his swollen forehead, where the beam had fallen and knocked him out.
After a quick check over the big guy's body, Kieran knew that he had displayed tremendous defensive abilities.
Such abilities were enough to raise more questions in Kieran's mind.
"Did he undergo a mutation like Calkin and his wagoner?" he thought as he relaxed.
Other than the sparks by the campfire, the whole place was silent.
When the bodyguards switched shifts again, the morning light expelled the last piece of darkness from the sky.
A new day had begun.
Joanna, who had just woken up, suddenly cried out in shock.
The young girl was looking in the distance, where seven fully-armed men were walking, heading their way.
Even farther than that, as far as the young girl's eyes could reach, more men were headed towards Herbert's place.