Chapter 5: The Professional
Picking up the phone on the table, a somewhat familiar voice came from the receiver—it was Detective Douglas, his tone urgent.
"Mr. Kukulin, I'm sorry to trouble you so soon, but..."
"The location."
"Victor Avenue, No. 004."
"The noble district?"
"Yes, these Dark Demons have gone mad. Please get here as quickly as possible. This supernatural incident is tricky—a military major was killed."
"Understood."
Su Xiao hung up the phone, opened a hidden compartment inside the wooden table, and took out two test tubes, a can of spray, and several small tools. He packed these items into a leather bag and headed out of the room, with Bubu Wang and Baha following. Amu stayed behind to guard the house, in case any hunters came for supplies or contractors arrived.
Following the stairs to the main street, Su Xiao opened the door to a ground-floor warehouse, where a steam car was parked inside, covered in a thin layer of dust. The previous manager of the shelter house had possessed dark-attribute spatial abilities and had ultimately died from that very power.
"Woof!"
Bubu Wang barked, opened the door, and jumped into the driver's seat. Seeing this, Su Xiao pulled open the rear door, and Baha crawled in as well. As for sitting in the passenger seat—other than the hard-headed Amu, when Bubu Wang was driving, it was better to sit in the back.
Pfft~
Steam hissed as the steam car's engine started, with levers and gears spinning rapidly, the sound both rough and uniquely rhythmic.
Bang!
Bubu Wang first executed a reverse move that slammed into a wall. The steam car's front wheels spun at high speed, and after a sideways turn, it shot straight out.
"Bubu, if I ever let you drive again, I'm a damn fool."
Baha's shout came from inside the steam car.
"Woof (You already are)."
Amid Bubu Wang's cheerful barking, the steam car knocked over three abandoned lampposts before hitting the main road. After getting the hang of the controls, Bubu Wang's driving skills gradually became slick—he could even drift. If given a nitrous boost system, he could probably take off.
...
Victor Avenue, No. 004.
Black vintage cars blocked off the surrounding streets, and all civilians within half a kilometer were evacuated, under the pretext of discovering dangerous foreign weapons.
This kind of scapegoating was something nations overlooked; when supernatural incidents occurred in other countries, the Rhine Kingdom had taken its fair share of blame.
Inside the cordoned-off Victor Avenue, uniformed officers were busy searching the area for anything suspicious. Later, this matter would be handed over to the "Pest Control Company," which was actually the intelligence department of the Watch Guild.
In a three-story residential building, officers were coming and going. Some of the younger ones rushed out the door and into alleys, where continuous retching sounds could be heard.
It wasn't that these officers were inexperienced, but the cases they usually handled were fundamentally different from this one. The aura drifting from the three-story building triggered a deep-seated resistance and nausea in their souls.
Detective Douglas had two cigarettes dangling from his mouth, his brow furrowed. Even though he had been dealing with supernatural incidents for over a decade, he still felt a faint nausea every time he entered a scene. He knew why—it was the smell of Dark Demons stimulating his soul. The body could adapt, but this rejection from the soul was something he could never get used to.
"Ugh~, sir, what... what is that smell?"
A pale-faced female officer spoke. Seeing her expression, Detective Douglas felt a pang of reluctance—this was his old friend's daughter. He hadn't wanted her involved in this case, but they were short-handed.
"Vina, grip your left pinky tightly and take a deep breath."
Hearing Detective Douglas's words, Vina did as instructed. Sure enough, after a few deep breaths using this method, the oppressive feeling in her chest eased significantly. Clearly, this was Vina's first encounter with such an incident.
Regarding supernatural events, civilians only had a vague understanding—they knew a little but not the specifics. Officers knew more, but since they weren't involved in the entire process, only people like Detective Douglas had a complete grasp of supernatural matters.
This was the result of the Rhine Kingdom's efforts to maintain order. Not everyone could withstand the supernatural power of the Dark Prison. Even if civilians did acquire it, without proper guidance, the dark-natured supernatural force would gradually drive them mad, even turning them into mindless lesser Dark Demons. Even rigorously trained reserve hunters had over a 70% chance of losing control when mastering such power, let alone civilians.
What the Rhine Kingdom could do was provide civilians with a relatively safe living environment and, as much as possible, keep them from coming into contact with that dangerous supernatural realm.
"Is the primary incident site here?"
A muffled voice came. Vina turned to look and nearly drew her gun on the spot. The newcomer was dressed in a white rubber suit, wearing a gas mask with several tubes connected to a metal tank on his back—a very suspicious getup.
"No need to be nervous. It's the Pest Control Company—they're professionals."
Detective Douglas stepped forward and spoke quietly with the Pest Control Company personnel.
"Pest Control... Company?"
Vina's mind short-circuited. She couldn't fathom what connection such a heinous case had with a pest control company.
"I'm relieved you're here. Who notified you?"
Detective Douglas asked in a low voice, but the Pest Control Company person remained silent.
"By the way, I notified Kukulin from the shelter house. He'll be here soon."
"That lord is coming?"
The Pest Control Company person seemed somewhat surprised, then relaxed.
"Lord? If you mean Kukulin, then yes."
Detective Douglas looked puzzled. He only knew that the shelter house manager held a high status, but in terms of strength, some managers were inferior to old hunters.
"Since he's coming, there's no need for us to stay."
With that, the Pest Control Company person took out a flare gun. Bang—a nearly colorless signal flare shot into the sky. Soon, nearly a hundred figures in protective suits nearby all withdrew.
The Pest Control Company came quickly and left even faster, leaving only the bewildered Detective Douglas.
"Sir, why did those professionals leave?"
Vina was still confused. Having her first encounter with such an incident, after witnessing the scene inside the three-story building, she felt both shock and anger, but also a hint of excitement. The secrets the Rhine Kingdom had been hiding—about Dark Demons, hunters, and all the mysteries—she was about to learn them. She would become one of the few who knew the truth.
Squeal—
Tires screeched against the ground as a steam car drifted to a stop at the street corner, its hood glowing red from the heat.
"Baha, scan a one-kilometer radius. Any suspicious supernatural targets—kill."
"Got it."
Baha flew into the sky. Su Xiao got out of the car carrying his leather case, and as he walked forward, he drew Dragon-Slaying Flash and hung it at his waist.
"Kukulin, over here."
Detective Douglas approached from ahead, followed by a female officer. Su Xiao sensed Douglas's aura—nothing unusual. He was just a somewhat scruffy middle-aged man with stubble on his chin.
"The incident happened this morning. Half an hour ago, Major Bart's adjutant called us. This was classified as a supernatural event..."
Detective Douglas was experienced. In a few sentences, he outlined the situation. In this matter, the Rhine Kingdom's military had a strange attitude—they wanted to handle it themselves, intending to deploy some kind of secret weapon.
As it turned out, the matter was vetoed by the royal family. The royal family was the true power in the Rhine Kingdom, while the military was merely a force to deter other nations. Since wars between countries rarely broke out, the military's position was always somewhat awkward.
On the surface, that seemed to be the case, but in reality, it wasn't. The royal family allocated substantial funds to the military every year for secret research, aiming to develop results that could assist—or even replace—hunters in dealing with Dark Demons. As for the method of training hunters, the Watch Guild couldn't possibly disclose it. In fact, it couldn't be disclosed at all—without a "certain artifact" from the Dark Prison, new hunters couldn't be trained.