Dirty water droplets exuding stench are constantly dripping from the ceiling of the sewer, making the high platforms on both sides of the underground pipe even more humid.
Dunn, who was wearing a pitch-black coat as before, no longer wearing any decorative items, and holding a solid wood cane inlaid with gold, walked briskly in the dark sewer corridor with deep eyes.
The slightly viscous water mixed with all kinds of garbage flows gurglingly in the water channel in the center of the high platform on both sides of the corridor. The water splashing up from time to time seems to tell that even in this difficult environment, there are still lives that survive tenaciously.
As Dunn's spiritual vision swept away, several fist-sized spiritual light spots were hurriedly moving up and down on a mass of rotten meat, hungrily dividing the amount of food needed for survival.
"This is the crimson hope, the brilliance of the starry night..."
A faint, low singing voice sounded, and pairs of blood-red round eyes lurked in the darkness.
Amidst the sound of the shuttle, there were deformed and huge rats, standing on two feet like an old man, with their forelimbs hanging downward, and their thick hairless tails close to the ground. Rats swam forward like snakes, one after another emerging from the darkness.
Climb out slowly.
Boom.
Dunn looked down at these rodent monsters grinning at him. He hit the ground hard with the cane in his hand, and the "dark" aura tightly contracted in his spiritual body spread instantly.
With the ability of "Nightmare", contained in "darkness", from the most primitive of living beings, the fear of darkness quietly creeps into the brain of every mouse. Almost instantly, these mice have just begun to mutate, but have not yet completely become
Extraordinary creatures, rodents and reptiles whose essence has been improved, fled in all directions.
After another week of scanning with his spiritual vision and finding that there was indeed no danger lurking around, Dunn expertly took out his usual matches from his pocket, silently stuffed his pipe back, and neatly lit the small torch he had prepared in advance.
The fire spread, and the rotten flesh that had been covered by darkness gradually revealed its true form.
A half-body body of a man was rotting, with extra joints lacking clothing and flesh coverings. Even his wrists and calves were bloody, and the palms of his left hand and calf muscles were missing. Half of his body was resting on the edge of the sewer platform, and his right arm was already submerged.
Rushing dirty water.
"The rotting corpse of a man..." The experienced Dunn just frowned and quickly walked towards the corpse that might fall into the water at any time, putting on gloves on his hands.
After preparing a press pass using a false identity, Dunn began investigating in the Backlund Bridge area and Jorwood area, all the places where the rotting male corpse case and the crazy Ripper case occurred.
With the help of his dual identities as a reporter and an informant from the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, he soon discovered that compared to the crazy Ripper who could not discern the pattern at all, the rotting male corpses almost always occurred near Hope Road in the Jowood District, with only a small number of them.
Corpses appeared within the radiation range of the Backlund Bridge area, and most of them appeared on the road and in the Tasok River.
Sure enough, not far from the sewer entrance on Hope Road, Dunn discovered a still "fresh" rotting male corpse.
He gently dragged the body onto the high platform, and using black gloves, slowly turned over the remaining clothes on the body.
After a while of searching, Dunn took out a wallet that had been gnawed by a mouse from his jacket pocket.
It included a dozen banknotes with varying degrees of damage, as well as a certificate from an employee of Backlund Exchange in Hillston District.
"Larry Byrne, 32 years old." His dark red eyes quickly scanned the name engraved on the typewriter, and he read in a deep voice.
Dunn, whose appearance changed and no longer looked old-fashioned, frowned slightly and subconsciously thought of the rat that was lying low on the corpse just now.
They are all normal creatures that have received a certain amount of spiritual contamination, but they are too weak, have not developed spiritual intelligence, and do not look like they were deliberately raised by humans...
He quickly scanned the various rots and wounds on the corpse, and frowned even more.
Except for the obvious signs of rat gnawing, the rest of the place looked as if it had been severely corroded by some kind of acidic agent, and all the decay was more like the traces left after the power of the agent suddenly disappeared.
"This doesn't look like any of the extraordinary abilities I know. Could it be Sequence Five or Sequence Six of some evil sequence?"
Dunn subconsciously recalled the basic information he learned in the temple when he was the captain, and his thoughts gradually became confused.
If it is indeed some Sequence 5 or 6 cultists who caused these cases, then he may not be able to make any progress. After all, most of the Sequences have already gained more or less some anti-reconnaissance capabilities at the mid-Sequence level.
Sigh, if only Klein were here, we might be able to use divination to find out these criminals... Dunn took out a clean iron box from his pocket and carefully grasped the corroded area.
In the box.
He thought about it for no reason, and the expression on his face became calm, and there was even a hint of a smile.
In fact, some time after arriving in Backlund, he had begun to play the role of "Nightmare" again, and so far, he has made good progress.
Although every time he returns to the dreamland, the mental remnants of the original characteristics of the members of the Nighthawks still exist, but their presence has become much weaker and they no longer occupy most of Dunn's sleep time.
The torch placed on the ground by Dunn was still burning sparsely, and in the quiet sewer, only the sound of rushing water was left.
Suddenly, the invisible "darkness" floating in the air began to tremble. Dunn, who was placing an iron box on the inside of his coat, instantly raised his head, and the pupils of his dark red eyes shrank.
"Who?" "Nightmare", who had been standing loosely just now, suddenly exerted force and ejected like a cannonball, unimpeded on the slippery and wet ground.
In the darkness farther away, a strong gray-white mouse was held on the chest by white hands. It raised its body very humanely, and a gleam of brightness flashed in its gem-like eyes.
The "darkness" that was spreading toward her in the air suddenly retreated like a tide and became a little thinner.
"Squeak, squeak!" The gray-white mouse stood up and twitched, and tears of blood suddenly flowed from its eyes.
She resisted the urge to roll, curled up her body, and "yelled" through her mind:
"Quick, get out of here!"
"Yes, teacher." A pleasant and clear female voice sounded slightly panicked, and the mouse, whose eyes glowed with spiritual light, quickly disappeared into the darkness along with a running sound.
In the "darkness" that began to spread again, Dunn gradually got rid of his confusion, pressed his right hand low, and withdrew the "dark" breath he released.
He could not really use this high-sequence aura, so he could only rely on his experience in mobilizing the ashes of Saint Selina and use several of the most basic abilities crudely.
"My ability disappeared for a moment just now..." Dunn recalled his feelings, feeling as if his consciousness had been taken away for a moment, and part of the "darkness" he manipulated was missing.
"It's like, it's like it was stolen, but why?" He frowned and stepped back cautiously.
Staring at the motionless darkness, Dunn returned to the rotting corpse, rubbed his left foot, and stepped on the torch that left only a faint light.
"Teacher..." He chewed on the title shouted by the little girl, and his figure gradually merged into the darkness behind him.
............
why why why!
"Hoo ho, teacher, ho ho, is there anyone else behind us?" the girl who was running carefully asked carefully, her hands trembling slightly.
The gray-white mouse, which was slightly out of control and unaware of its emotions, paused for a moment, then returned to its original state. A slightly hoarse but very mature female voice came out of the mouse's mouth strangely:
"No need to run, there's no one behind you."
She slowly stood up, her red eyes with dried blood and tears ruthlessly looking at the sewer wall beside her, her eyes wandering.
That day I clearly felt that the aura of items belonging to the high level of "Stealer" and "Gate" would never be wrong, so why did they suddenly disappear...
The gray-white mouse stood in the girl's palm, concentrating on feeling the spiritual fluctuations around him without saying a word.
The girl behind her, shrouded in a cloak, held her breath nervously, not daring to disturb her teacher at all.
After about three minutes, the mouse, which had not found anything yet, perked up and snuggled into the girl's hand like a real pet mouse.
"Hazel, let's go back."
............
"Sir, sir." Evan Ston carefully held his dislocated right hand and gently shook Klein who was lying on the ground, with obvious concern in his eyes.
Hiss, it hurts... Klein, who was gradually regaining consciousness, first felt a sharp pain in his left arm. Immediately, various joints in his body and the spine behind him began to feel aches and pains of varying sizes.
Holding back the severe pain in the back of his head, Klein felt as if a ball of paste was stirring in his brain. He staggered and used his only movable right hand to push himself up.
Evan who was waiting aside could not help him due to physical reasons, so he just moved his position slightly.
Because of the battle just now, the brothel owner, who was afraid that he would be caught by the East District police as a victim of the Crazy Ripper case, had already run away. Only Evan, who crawled out of the mire, still remembered that a gentleman helped him up and ran away hurriedly.
Enter the small building to check.
He gently used his toes to kick the chain-blade cane lying on the ground. He was half-kneeling in front of Klein on the ground and whispered:
"I found this next to you, you were holding it when you were unconscious."
Klein's head was still in a state of confusion and he was still unable to clear his mind. After seeing the cane again, he slowly remembered something.
Lanerwus, I was thrown down by him, has he already run away?
He subconsciously wanted to move his left hand, but the severe pain stopped him. He could only stretch out his right hand and use the cane to stand up reluctantly.
His left forearm is broken, and there is blood and swelling in many places on his body... As a "clown" who has digested most of the potion, Klein has a very precise grasp of his physical condition and can quickly identify his injuries.
s position.
"Thank you." Klein, who kept his head lowered, nodded to Evan, his voice extremely hoarse, mixed with a faint smell of rust.
Having said that, he just took two steps forward and was about to fall down.
Fortunately, Evan, who was stronger, supported him neatly and shook his head gently.
"You need treatment and bandaging. If you don't mind, I can help you to a safe place. My friends will help us."