My Liver Experience in the World of Cthulhu

Chapter 160 Fire
  The logic of the statement ‘all men are mortal’ is impeccable.

The words are written in blood and appear in an attic filled with a strange atmosphere, which is thought-provoking.

The originally black and red handwriting suddenly turned bright red, and the coagulated blood clots seemed to become fresh, with little blood stains flowing downwards.

Jason used his weapon to cut open the dummy's skin, revealing a cylindrical wooden frame made of willow branches.

"This should be the group of people who disappeared recently," Del said.

The clothes on these leather figures were chewed to pieces by something, but some of them could vaguely be identified as being in patrol uniforms.

"The perpetrator hidden behind the scenes has announced to us that he may have to stay here for a while," Nick said in a deep voice.

In his opinion, this kind of behavior is like a beast urinating in the territory to declare its sovereignty, which is full of animality.

"There is still an evil spirit that has not appeared. I don't know if it has left or is hiding." Jason frowned slightly. "This house can only be purified after the perpetrator is caught."

Torres asked, "Why not burn down this building where evil spirits reside?"

Jason responded coldly: "You should learn more about the basic knowledge of the extraordinary world instead of asking such common sense questions."

Del turned his body to his teammates and said softly: "Fire can harm evil spirits, but only if the evil spirits stand still in the fire. Of course, humans possessed by evil spirits can be burned to death, but the evil spirits did not choose to possess them. "There's no point in burning the houses down, they can just go underground and leave."

"The clues are broken. We only killed a few of the perpetrators' minions. We can only explore the town to see if there are any other clues." Nick said with a headache, waved his hand and said: "Let's go out and notify the patrolman. Come and identify who these people are.”

The combat manual stipulates that when entering a dangerous area to perform a mission, one must not be left alone, so several people advance and retreat together and walk out together.

Nick walked in front. When he walked down the stairs to the first floor, he reached out and took down the portrait: "This portrait was once hosted by evil spirits. Take it out and destroy it."

He casually handed the oil painting to Del behind him.

Crown asked for the oil painting and saw that the man's face in the painting had become blurry and his eyes seemed to have been gouged out, revealing two horrifying black holes as big as eggs.

If an evil spirit stays in an item for a long time, the item will undergo some kind of evil change, making it easier to attract other evil spirits.

At this time, this oil painting looked very ghostly, and I knew it was not a good idea at a glance.

Several people walked out of the house and immediately discovered a cluster of leaves in the courtyard.

Jason laughed gloomily: "Is this a hint to eat us? It's a pity that the evil man-eating creature is too weak and has broken its teeth."

On the street, James was walking back and forth restlessly, looking up at the door of the house from time to time.

Just now, he heard the howling of wild beasts coming from the house outside, and now he was anxiously praying that the group of extraordinary beings from the city were safe.

If something happens to these big shots again, the town may not be able to stay.

But as a police officer, if he escapes without receiving the order to retreat, he will face very severe punishment, and he will most likely be executed directly.

When he looked up again, he saw the investigators coming out and he breathed a sigh of relief.

He was ready to stand at the gate and try to call those people to see if he could get a response.

If he couldn't, he would leave quickly and report the situation to his uncle, the police chief.

James ran to the gate. At this time, he also saw the strange leaf pattern on the ground: "Officers, did you find anything inside?"

"There are some that require your cooperation." Del beckoned: "Come in and come upstairs with us."

"This", James hesitated, subconsciously wanting to refuse.

Torres had already strode over, opened the iron door and grabbed his shoulder:
  "Let's go. This is your job. Don't worry, we will protect you and won't let you get hurt by anything else."

James was dragged inside with a grimace, and said resignedly: "Let go, I'll follow."

He thought to himself: 'Those beasts howling must have been attacked by something. If these people can come out unharmed, they must have some skills. ’

Thinking of this, the fear in his heart decreased a lot.

Crown took out a bottle of holy water and sprinkled it evenly on the oil painting.

Wisps of green smoke emerged from the painting, and the oil painting immediately turned black like paper that had been etched by sulfuric acid.

He shook lightly, and the black ash was thrown out.

"Let's go in again," Nick turned and walked into the house.

James was protected in the middle and everyone went to the loft again.

"Oh, merciful Lord, what have those bastards done?" the patrolman cried sadly: "Rolfe, Malakai"

He called out the names of those sitting there, stretched out his hand and then retracted it, not knowing where to put his hand.

Torres patted him on the shoulder: "Write down the names of these people and look for any intersections in their social relationships. It's up to your patrol team to find follow-up clues."

The Bureau of Investigation has an investigative name, but it is actually a combat department that handles supernatural incidents.

They will be very good at dealing with evil spirits or monsters. For example, in the battle they just encountered, they can easily solve their opponents.

But it is a bit difficult for these people to be responsible for criminal investigation. After all, they have specializations in the industry, and 'investigation' is not their strong point.

"I understand." James trembled and reached into his pocket, stretching his hand several times before putting his hand in.

He took out a small notebook and pen from it and scribbled down notes.

"Sir, there are a few people here that I don't know. They should be outsiders."

"Then take these human skins away?" Torres asked uncertainly.

Jason refused directly: "It can't be taken away. The perpetrator hasn't been caught yet. Who knows what secrets will be left on these things."

"Let me draw those people you don't know," Crown said, motioning to the officer to give him the pen and paper.

After constant practice in drawing talismans, his painting skills have also improved a lot, and he can draw portraits that are seventy or eighty similar to each other.

In fact, he didn't have much hope that the patrol team would find any clues. There were many doubts here. The clothes of these human skins were bitten to pieces, but there were no scars on their skin.
  He quickly drew out a few people that the police officers could not recognize. Everyone began to retreat, and the house became quiet again.

The light in the room was getting darker and darker, and an invisible hand grabbed the open door of the attic and closed it gently.

. . . .

Patrol, Ilea's office.

After Nick fully described the situation he encountered in the afternoon, he asked:
  "The problem of that house has been almost solved, but the danger has not been eliminated. Judging from the appearance of the evil flesh and blood spell, there are still villains lurking in the dark behind the scenes.

How many extraordinary people are there in the town now? Can we get useful information from them? "

Extraordinary people have sharper insights and may notice clues of some abnormalities. Ilea replied without thinking: "There are currently three extraordinary beings, me, Father Peter, and Doctor Acrylic."

"doctor?"

"Yes, Acrylic is a dentist. We were playmates when we were children. He has wizard talent and has been wandering for many years. He returned to his hometown three years ago to retire.

His wizarding talent is just like mine, but he is still a first-level transcendent after all these years. After the disappearance in the small town, I asked old friends, but I didn't get any valuable information.

His current personality is somewhat withdrawn, he doesn't like to deal with people, and he rarely pays attention to the outside world. He is still obsessed with experimenting, and may not give up on advancing to become a second-level transcendent. "

Nick nodded imperceptibly: "You are responsible for gathering intelligence. Tomorrow we will go to the abandoned mansion you mentioned."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work." Ilea stood up. "I have arranged accommodation and dinner for everyone at Old Jim's tavern. I have informed the boss to clean the guest rooms inside and out."

. . . .

In the evening, Shade Tavern.

After dinner, the investigators sat around the table in Nick's room and discussed matters.

"Insufficient intelligence means the work cannot be carried out." Jason held a cigar in his mouth, but did not light it.

Nick asked: "Have the cases you encountered before been so difficult?"

"How could it be? The team I was in before was the elite of the elite, and I was responsible for the fact that most of the teams were unable to solve difficult cases.

Other teams will provide the most comprehensive intelligence support. We just need to go to the destination and eliminate the enemy. "

His experience is equal to no experience and has no reference value.

The priest looked away and glanced at the other teammates: "Do you have any other ideas?"

Torres complained: "In terms of intelligence, we can't rely on the patrol team here. They noticed the disappearance for more than half a month, and the incident really started a long time ago. They still have no clue after such a long period of investigation. I think they can only rely on ourselves."

"Go on, how can you rely on yourself?"

"After the curfew, we personally inspected the town. I read the files carefully. At first, most of the cases occurred at night."

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Jason.

"I will not participate in night patrols. If I am asked to fight evil creature cultists, I will have no problem. But I refuse to participate in Kuhaha's patrols.

This is not our job. If we can't find clues, let the bureau dispatch a tracking and investigation team to assist us. "

Torres smiled coquettishly and did not continue to speak.

"Jason, we are here to complete the task, not to let you loose your temper," Nick said coldly.

The scar-faced soldier spread his hands and said, "I'm straight-talking. I'll tell you what I mean. Captain, there is a problem with the staffing of our team. We can only be responsible for attacking difficult problems. If we have talents in exploration, it won't be so difficult to obtain intelligence, right?"
  Team Liya has cooperated with us before. Everyone has seen their team configuration, right? ! Long-range attacks, melee attacks, elemental attacks, and a spirit master who can recreate scenes."

Crown came out to smooth things over and said, "Okay, if we really can't investigate, we'll ask the bureau for help."

He knew that Jason was telling the truth. If he hadn't had some long-range attacks, their team would have been all melee roughnecks, and their configuration was extremely unreasonable.

Later, he joined Torres because he asked for mercy. He didn't consider it well, and he is now responsible for causing trouble to the priest.

Nick stood up and pressed his hands on the table: "The current objective situation of our team is indeed like this, and it will not change in the short term. But if I make a decision, I hope everyone will cooperate seriously."

"Understood", Croun and others responded loudly.

The priest knocked on the table: "Everyone, go back and rest. We will make plans after exploring the abandoned mansion tomorrow."

Jason stood up and left without saying a word. Crown winked at Del and the two of them, and they both left together.

The door to the room was gently closed by Torres.

"Don't be angry. Torres's matter made it difficult for you. I didn't think too much about it at the time," Crown said with some embarrassment.

When Del mentioned it at that time, he agreed casually without much thought. In his past and present life, he had always been a small person without any ideas. It was his fault for not thinking about it.

Now that I think about it, the reason why the priest agreed was entirely because of his face that he made the decision to accept Torres.

He secretly warned himself that no matter what decision he made in the future, he must think twice before making a decision. He had to bear a certain amount of responsibility for the team's current situation, which had many shortcomings.

If the king is not secretive, his ministers will lose; if the minister is not secretive, he will lose himself; if several things are not secretive, it will cause harm. He knows these truths, but he only knows them superficially.

"It's okay. The decision was made by me. I have considered every situation. I'm not angry either. People like Jason are actually easy to get along with. Everything is laid out clearly. I can handle it."

Nick waved his hand and continued: "It was you who surprised me when you gained the ability to melt metal."

Crown smiled faintly and did not answer immediately.

The fact that he is also a spiritual master will eventually be exposed one day.

He was going to find a suitable opportunity to mention to the priests and church leaders that he would also reveal that he had the means to eliminate the influence of evil spirits, so that the church could also cultivate controllable spirit masters.

This method can bring him huge benefits. If nothing else, the Warlock Brotherhood would be very jealous if they knew about it.

Thinking about it now, it was very unwise for him to sell the Golden Light Talisman to Geralt.

"Hehe, I know a lot of tricks. When I become a third-level transcendent, I will have a good chat with you about my abilities."

Crown decided to wait until he became a third-level transcendent before explaining the situation to the higher-ups of the church. At that time, his words would have enough weight and he would not be regarded as a machine for making talisman water because of his cheap words.

After all, the current highest combat power of the Holy Fire Cathedral is only level three.

"Oh, it will probably take a long time." Nick raised the corner of his mouth slightly, "When I reach level three, I will take time to compete with you every day to promote your faster progress."

"Then you need to hurry up. If I advance before you, I will only attend your wedding as a guest, not as a cook."

"Boom, boom"

Outside the house, a heavy and rapid bell rang.

When the two heard the noise, they immediately rushed outside.

Generally speaking, in places like Yorktown, only churches have bells.

If this rhythm rings the bell, something big must have happened.

They ran out of the tavern door and saw the red sky in the west of the town, and the gray mist rolling and dancing under the impact of hot steam.

There's a fire.
  (End of this chapter)