He paused for about two seconds.
Brian lowered his head, glanced at his pair of specially made shoes, and then continued towards the meeting room.
He pushed open the door.
To his surprise,
The not-so-large meeting room was occupied by just one man in a tank top, showing off his bulging muscles, his feet propped on the conference table, idly playing with what looked like a canine skull.
Besides that,
There was nothing but tables and chairs in full view.
No trace of blood to be found.
Brian's nose twitched slightly, and he was shocked internally, promptly turning off his enhanced sense of smell. Before Uncle Billy could shift his gaze towards him, Brian lowered his head first and asked in a low voice, "Uncle, what's up?"
"Lift your head."
Billy put down the wolf skull he had in hand and tapped on the conference table, "Have you received any news about the new department lately?"
Brian lifted his head in motion, nodding, "It's said that a recruitment notice will be released at the end of the month, but nobody knows the details."
"Here's the information."
Billy tossed a stack of documents across the table and gestured for Brian to sit down.
Brian wasn't shy.
After sitting down,
He picked up the documents and began to read through them.
...
It was unclear how Uncle Billy had gotten hold of these internal documents.
They were very detailed.
The new department was named the 'Crime Experiment Group.'
But that was just a general term.
The entire department was structured like the Detective Bureau's Robbery Homicide Division, divided into several numbered teams, each with a team leader, a deputy leader, and several team members.
What followed was the delineation of rights and responsibilities.
Regarding authority,
Each Crime Experiment Group squad had absolute control and law enforcement rights over suspected murder cases within their jurisdiction, from crime scene investigation to arrests and even the ability to mobilize local police stations for coordination and action.
Essentially, it was an enhanced version of the Forensic Bureau and the Police Department.
Regarding responsibilities,
The team's territory was divided based on Los Angeles's police districts.
Specific details were not mentioned in the documents.
However, considering that just the Los Angeles city area alone has four major divisions, 21 police districts, and nearly a hundred small police stations, it was likely that there wouldn't be a shortage of Crime Experiment Groups.
After reading through the document,
Brian expressed his confusion, "Uncle, with such extensive powers granted to the Crime Experiment Group, would the Forensic Bureau and the Detective Bureau agree to it?"
"Politics is the product of compromise for interest. You'll understand when the time comes," Billy said with a disdainful tone, then switching the subject carelessly, "By the way, Brian, isn't the Blood Moon phenomenon quite amazing?"
During the conversation,
His gaze locked onto Brian's face, attempting to detect any sign of irregularity.
Brian shrugged casually, his gaze lowered, and spoke with a hint of agreement while keeping his head down, "It's indeed stunning. It's a pity it only occurs once every thirty years. By the next time it appears, I'll be over fifty years old."
Seeing this,
Billy frowned slightly, then after a brief silence, nodded and picked up the phone on the table, pressed a few buttons, and spoke into the receiver, "Bring the equipment in."
Brian, who was straining to maintain his facade, was startled.
He had long realized that his uncle had a profound knowledge of micro-expression observation, so before coming here, he kept reminding himself that he was still the same old Brian, and tried as much as possible to avoid making eye contact with his uncle.
He didn't expect his uncle to have another move planned.
This extraordinary uncle, so persistent about the Blood Moon phenomenon—Brian himself had suddenly gained the 'Golden Finger' after that night, could it be…
At that thought,
Brian kept his composure, while his shoes under the table were already positioned, ready to be activated at any moment.
He had been unprepared before,
But now with his guard up, even if Uncle really had ulterior motives towards him,
Brian was determined to drag them both down together!
...
Billy seemed to sense something.
He put the phone receiver down, turned his head to look at Brian, perfectly still, except for the veins in his eyes that started to bulge, as if the scene from that day was replaying.
Brian felt Uncle's stare on him as if he were hunted prey to a savage brown bear starving for three days and nights.
It seemed that any slight movement would result in him being torn to shreds!
"Such keen senses?"
The fist under Brian's table clenched tightly, ready to strike first.
The next moment.
Creak.
The meeting room doors were pushed open once again.
A few men and women wearing masks and white lab coats, pushing carts, entered the meeting room.
They stood respectfully at the door in a line, waiting for Billy's instructions.
Seeing this, the blood vessels in Billy's eyes receded, and he pointed toward Brian, "Give him a thorough checkup, I need to make sure that next week, he doesn't lose a good opportunity because of his health."
Upon hearing this.
The masked men and women didn't care about Brian's opinion and started busily using the equipment on their carts...
...
Half an hour later.
Brian drove away from his uncle's place with a gloomy expression on his face.
He was certain.
Uncle Billy was definitely not human!
Or at least, not any kind of normal human!
When the Olfactory Enhancement was activated.
Brian found that Uncle Billy appeared clean, but in reality, his entire body, every single hair and pore, was emitting a pungent blood scent.
Those blood scents, layered upon one another depending on their freshness.
It was as if the previous blood scent hadn't been thoroughly washed off before a new blood bath was taken, resulting in all the surface blood being washed away.
However, the subtle remnant scents were concealed underneath, like a large onion wrapped in layers of blood and stench.
Brian suspected.
Even if a puma stood in front of Uncle Billy, it would be scared off by the blood scent, without the slightest desire to fight.
But as for humans.
They couldn't detect those extremely subtle scent molecules.
Standing in front of Billy.
At most, they would feel uncomfortable, oppressed.
...
"And that beast-like intuition, exaggerated strength, the insight to read people's hearts..."
After leaving the neighborhood, Brian parked the car on the side of the road and lit up a cigarette.
His heart felt heavy.
Brian felt like his uncle was similar to the legendary werewolves or the beastmen from some novels, but no matter what, he could not be categorized as a normal person.
Such an uncle.
Why was he so attentive to Brian before and after the Blood Moon anomaly?
Brian felt as though he had caught a glimpse of some truth, but due to a lack of information, it seemed to be separated by a thin film.
Until the cigarette burnt out.
He gained nothing.
"Fuck!"
The puzzled Brian smacked the steering wheel: "We're all carbon-based life forms, who's afraid of whom! Even if you are a werewolf, if you provoke me enough, I'll still take you down with a rocket launcher and explosives!"
After realizing this.
Brian's suppressed feelings became relaxed again.
He pinched out the cigarette butt in his hand, pocketed it, restarted the car, and drove home.
...
Elsewhere.
Early morning.
Billy handed over a rush job health report to an unkempt old man in a blood-stained white lab coat, "Marquis, is it possible that my nephew could also be a Divine Favored?"
The old man, known as Marquis, glanced at the data on the medical report and shook his head:
"These are very normal figures.
Divine Favored, although their abilities stem from the heart's desire, leading to all sorts of strangeness, would exhibit distinct hormonal changes at the early stages.
Certainly, he is not one of your kind."
Hearing this, Billy was utterly disappointed.
"I thought this nephew of mine, called the 'Child of Disaster', was the same kind as me..."
Billy felt a slight loss in his heart and gave up the idea of stopping Brian from joining the 'criminal experiment group'.
A nephew with little emotional ties.
And because of previous events.
They had soured their relationship.
Brian could only be used as a test pawn.