Director Jin rubbed his temples and observed the approaching figure.
This man was one of his most capable subordinates, strong and competent; he had been recruited post-apocalypse and was quickly promoted—a fresh wave of talent.
But he was overly impetuous.
With their line of work, they were no strangers to all scales of situations and should have stayed calm from early on.
"Those people from Extreme Martial Arts Hall… Never mind, they seem relatively well-behaved. Let's leave it at that for now…"
Director Jin pondered as he took the case file handed over by the security team member.
The documents were all contained in a folder which he casually extracted, sighing, "Xu, remember you need to be steady. With you being so jittery, how can I entrust you with important matters? This time, for instance, there are only thirteen victims."
"Not like before the apocalypse, when thirteen killings would be very serious. Now, aren't there still many survivors dying every day? We can only solve problems better by remaining calm and objective—do you understand—"
Director Jin intended to elaborate further but suddenly paused.
His gaze fell on several photos taken out from the folder, his expression gradually turning solemn.
In the photos, there were men and women, old and young, but one consistency was the victims' extremely distorted facial expressions, as if they underwent immense agony at the time of their death.
However, there were no wounds on their bodies.
In fact, if not for the twisted expressions and the absence of breathing, one might think they were merely asleep.
"Not a single wound? Did the investigators at the scene find anything else, like remnants of toxic gas?"
The young man in front of him shook his head.
Director Jin massaged his swollen temples.
With many of the investigators being professionals from before the apocalypse, and since the documents made no mention of it, he wasn't hopeful about uncovering anything extra.
No wonder this case was deemed peculiar.
Director Jin continued to review, his fingertips drumming on the desk suddenly suspended mid-air as he abruptly looked up, "There was even an Awakener Fifth Tier among the deceased? This...this is serious!"
"Why didn't you mention this sooner!"
The young security team member bowed his head, looking aggrieved.
Didn't you ask for composure?
This area was a high-end residential district within the Luoxia Sanctuary, inhabited mostly by Awakeners and their families and friends.
To ensure the safety of the families staying in the district while Awakeners were away and to prevent vendettas and other incidents, the property's security team was formidable.
The captain was an Awakener Fifth Tier, and most other security members had at least Third-tier Awakening strengths, equipped with complete sets of equipment.
Although many survivors went missing or died within Luoxia every day, those incidents occurred in relief housing areas and regular residential districts.
The upscale residential districts of Luoxia, with their strong security forces and rigorous management, provided an extremely high safety factor, rarely allowing for accidents.
Many Awakeners were willing to pay a premium to live there.
The death of thirteen individuals in such high-class residential districts was unprecedented.
The Captain of the Security Bureau's First Brigade studied the bodies before him for a long time, frowning.
"Have you established the relationships among these deceased?"
The person beside him shook his head, "Their identities have been confirmed, but among the thirteen victims, there were a family of three, five members of a Mercenary Team, and a couple; the rest lived alone."
"Whether it's the family of three, members of the Mercenary Team, or others, they had little to do with each other on a daily basis, except perhaps for their proximity."
"Six of them lived in building 17, and the other seven in building 18."
After the team member finished, he looked around cautiously as if fearful demons lurked nearby, "Captain, what do you think happened to these people? Especially that Fifth-tier master Awakener—it didn't look like he had much resistance. Could there really be demons involved?"
"Hmph!" the Captain snorted coldly, "Don't scare yourself. We've repelled the Demon Tide; what demons or ghosts could possibly be left? It's merely a murder case involving Awakeners!"
"But from the looks of it, this doesn't seem like a revenge killing. Could it be a psychologically disturbed Awakener? But then, why target a powerful Fifth-tier? Although, considering various aspects, the murderer must have broken through some barrier. However, the uncertainty increases when dealing with more powerful individuals..."
"If you say this was a targeted attack against the strong, it doesn't hold, at least among the dead Awakeners, including those from the First Layer, the Second-tier, and even the Third-layer, and several were just ordinary people."
He shook his head; the more he reasoned, the more confused he became.
Pacing back and forth in the room, the Security Team stated, "We can't handle this case with our usual way of thinking. This is the apocalypse; we need to open up our imagination. Theoretically, anything could happen."
"Firstly, based on the time of death, there appears to be only one murderer, whose strength is above the Sixth-Layer, and is an ability user with a bizarre aptitude, skilled in stealth attacks. My initial guess is that it's a Supernatural Special Ability of the Spiritual Series."
"The motive for the killings is unclear; it could be due to psychological factors, or it could be for a purpose, like enhancing one's own abilities."
"Enhance abilities by killing?"
"This is just my speculation, but it's possible." The Captain said, "In the Ancestor Dragon Special Combat Army, there's a Metal Attribute ability user who can enhance his Special Ability by absorbing a special factor from Transcendent Metal, like making the metal grown on his body even harder."
"In any case, we cannot take this lightly. If it truly is about killing to enhance strength, the suspect is likely to strike again. We must solve this case as soon as possible."
In a villa just a few hundred meters away from the incident, underground.
The environment was sinister.
In the center of the basement, there was a crimson Rune Array constructed from fresh blood.
A few shadowy figures stood before the array, indiscernible in the dark.
Near them lay several indistinct figures… no, it would be more accurate to say they were faceless, even the skin on their bodies had been completely stripped off, leaving only their vague flesh, chilling to the core.
The shadowy figures seemed unconcerned about the nearby corpses and conversed among themselves.
"The quality of human souls is indeed high, especially those of the Awakeners. Their souls are solid, one of them being equivalent to several ordinary ones. At this rate, filling up this Rune Array and opening the Black Door doesn't look so difficult, heh heh heh heh…"
In the ominous chuckle, the Rune Array emitted a faint red glow, illuminating their expressionless faces and the flickering blue flames deep within their eyes.