Chapter 339

Chapter 296: Lock On

Shrugging his shoulders, Ed continued to speak, and Adele immediately responded with a question.

“Oh… Then, Mr. Detective, what method do you plan to use to find another location of the flesh puppet?”

“It’s simple. We can think from that guy’s perspective. Miss Adele, if you were him, under the current circumstances, how would you use your flesh puppet?”

Ed posed a question to Adele. Upon hearing this, Adele furrowed her brows and placed her hands on the table, intertwining her fingers as she began to ponder and attempt to answer Ed’s question.

“The main use of a flesh puppet is for reconnaissance. That guy must be thinking about using the flesh puppet to locate us and keep an eye on us. After the black dog stirred up the dust, he lost sight of us. The coal ash district is vast, so if he used the flesh puppet, it wouldn’t be able to find us quickly.”

“Yes… There are only two of us, a small target. If we hide in some house or alley during the dust storm, he won’t be able to find us. So, what target would he focus on if he couldn’t find us?”

Holding a cup of tea, Ed prompted. Listening to Ed’s suggestion, Adele responded promptly.

“It’s the black dogs. That group of black dogs is different from us; they came with many people and even a large carriage. That carriage is a big target, and a flying flesh puppet should be able to find it easily.”

“Right, those searchers. If he can’t find us, keeping an eye on them would be the best choice. After all, he needs to confirm whether the searchers have captured us at any time.”

“I still have a flying flesh puppet circling above the coal ash district, monitoring the searchers. They’ve already moved their carriage near the storage yard to detain the newly caught ‘mortals.’ My flying flesh puppet spotted a suspicious bird there, standing on a street lamp, staring at the searchers’ carriage from afar, neither approaching nor missing the opportunity.”

Ed said, listening to which, Adele immediately questioned in her mind.

“So, you and that guy both have birds as flesh puppets watching those black dogs? Why can you spot his puppet but he can’t spot yours?”

“It’s simple. I controlled three bird-shaped flesh puppets rotating over the area, which looks natural. That guy has only one standing still on the street lamp, making it very obvious. So naturally, I noticed something was off, while he didn’t notice me.”

Ed explained effortlessly. Ordinary zombies could control up to two puppets, and the mastermind currently controlling the zombie puppet watching the searchers was the same one stationed at Charred Wood Intersection. He didn’t have Dorothy’s abundance of puppet quotas to spare.

‘Three bird-shaped flesh puppets rotating surveillance sounds much more natural… But earlier, there were at least four set up in the police station, plus this one makes seven. A person controlling so many flesh puppets… Leaving aside the ability itself, the mental power required is incredible.’

Listening to Ed, Adele marveled inwardly, feeling increasingly aware of the terrifying intelligence capabilities of the existence known as “Detective” within the Rosy Cross. She secretly rejoiced that this individual seemed to have no particular interest in her.

‘Such powerful intelligence gathering capability… No wonder he’s called “Detective.” I wonder if other members of the Rosy Cross also possess such formidable abilities…’

Gazing at Ed, Adele speculated inwardly, growing even more intrigued by this mysterious society.

At this moment, Ed picked up a compass and drew a large circle with a radius of three kilometers centered on the storage yard on the map. Now, there were three large circles on the coal ash district map before them.

These three circles intersected at a much smaller point than the previous two intersections. Here, Adele and Ed saw only one building—a mansion.

“Stike Mansion”

Only at this mansion could one simultaneously manipulate zombies at the police bureau, Charred Wood Intersection, and the storage yard.

“At last, we found it…” Looking at the new marked position on the map, Adele murmured, then turned her head to look at Ed.

“Mr. Detective, shall we set out now?”

“Not yet, Miss Adele. This place is hard to come by. It would be rude to go there ourselves. Besides, someone is deliberately searching for this place. We can give them a heads-up.”

Facing Adele, Ed smiled and said.

…

Tivyán, Coal Ash District, near the Storage Yard.

Inside the storage yard, countless people were bustling around. Panicked merchants were checking their goods amidst the losses, cursing the storm for wreaking such havoc. At the edge of the yard, a massive black carriage was parked. Several plainclothes searchers stood guard around it.

In the dim, cramped space inside the carriage, a young man was bound and seated, rubbing his eyes. Before him, Edmund sat sternly, looking at the blindfolded man.

“I’ll ask you one last time. Confess your situation, your affiliated society, and your plans in the coal ash district. Confessing will result in leniency during sentencing. If you continue to be stubborn, I’ll hand you over to headquarters, where people aren’t as lenient as I am, young man.”

Sitting with his legs crossed, Edmund interrogated the young man. The youth responded.

“I’ve told you! I won’t betray the society! No matter what you do to me, I won’t say a word! The black dogs!”

“You’re quite spirited, but it’s misplaced. Those cult societies aren’t anything good. Haven’t you realized you’ve been abandoned? You’d better confess everything clearly here. People at headquarters won’t show mercy to cultists,” Edmund continued persuading. However, the youth seemed unresponsive.

“No! The society won’t abandon me! My mentor will send someone to rescue me! The society won’t betray me! And I won’t betray the society! So, I won’t say anything…”

Just as the youth was about to continue speaking, his words abruptly stopped. His face turned pale, mouth wide open, expression contorted in agony.

“A… A… Don’t… No… Mentor… I won’t betray… Don’t do this… Don’t abandon me! Don’t k*ll me!”

The youth screamed in pain. Seeing his condition, Edmund frowned and immediately restrained him.

“What happened? What’s going on? Is your mentor interfering?”

“A… Officer… I… I…”

The youth continued to speak in agony, trembling and convulsing as he spoke incoherently. Faced with this scene, Edmund’s first reaction was that his mentor was trying to interfere with the captive youth through some means, possibly to silence him.

“Hold on, I’ll take you back to headquarters. There should be a way to save you!”

“Can’t… Can’t… Officer… I… I’ll tell…”

Opening his mouth wide in pain, the youth confessed his final words to Edmund.

“Alex… Stike Mansion…”

After uttering these words, the youth slumped, head tilting to the side, lifeless on his seat. Witnessing this, Edmund fell silent for a moment. After testing the youth, he sighed, lit a cigarette, and stared at the dead youth.

“If only you had made different choices… May the Three Saints forgive your sins…”

Finished speaking, Edmund stepped down from the carriage. He now had a new task.