Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 202 The Past of Seven Valley

……

With Eric leading the way, Milo easily found the address of the Winton brothers.

Including the house key that Charles had stuffed in the flowerpot by the door.

It seems this chief of police is really carefree, just leaving the key in a flowerpot like it's free, without worrying that his house might be emptied out one day.

However, once inside Charles's house, Milo immediately dismissed his doubts.

This guy's house is so bad that even a thief who breaks in would have to leave with tears in his eyes.

They were already very close to being destitute.

The room was huge, but it contained only a bed, a table, and a chair.

There is a clock hanging on the left wall and a mirror on the right.

Then it was gone.

Yes, that's it.

The main focus is on a minimalist, understated style.

I reckon that when Charles is home, the most valuable thing in the house is himself.

When he's not home, the most valuable thing in the house is the metal security door.

……

But jokes aside, the rent for a single room in this area is still very high, belonging to the upper-middle class of housing, which is incomparable to the old back-to-back buildings like those in Milo's house.

Moreover, although the house was very empty, it was exceptionally clean.

The impression is that the room seems to remain vacant, as if it hasn't been rented out yet.

...

“After my father died, Charles and I stopped living together. He sold the old house, and I thought he was getting married, but it seems like he’s been living alone for the past few years.”

Eric's shadow appeared on the empty wall, gesturing to Milo:
"To be honest, we've drifted apart since then, and I know very little about him."

Milo nodded and tossed the muddy Charles onto the bed.

Henry's shadow, quite consciously, went to the bathroom and brought a large basin of clean water to the bedside, then dragged over the trash can as well.

The rest of the people strolled around the room as if nothing had happened.

Will, as always, stood by the window and smoked his cigarettes endlessly.

……

"But I never expected him to end up like this. When he joined the law enforcement team, he always hoped I could stay by his side and help him, but..."

Eric paused for a moment before continuing:

"He is not a competent chief of staff."

Milo seemed to be deep in thought.

He had only met Charles a few times, but Charles showed great sincerity in order to persuade him to investigate the Great Library incident, and told him a general account of his relationship with his brother Eric.

According to Charles, Eric's world is black and white; he can't tolerate even the slightest imperfection...

It's easy to see that the two brothers have very clear opinions about each other.

Milo declined to comment.

He walked to the desk, casually flipped through the paper documents on it, and turned to Eric, saying:
Let's see if we can wake him up.

But as soon as he finished speaking, a crisp snapping sound was heard.

That's the sound of a gun being cocked.

Turning his head, he saw that Charles, who had been a lump of mud a moment ago, was now sitting upright, holding a revolver identical to Milo's, the muzzle pointed at Milo. It seemed that Charles, as a law enforcement officer, still possessed the vigilance expected of him.

At this moment, he stared coldly at Milo, his face still showing some drunkenness, but his eyes were unusually clear.

Milo squinted.

Although a gun was pointed at him, he felt no sense of danger and therefore did not put his hand on the weapon at his waist.

The Scarlet Witch made it very clear: the heart will tell him of the danger.

But at this moment, Milo's heartbeat was steady, indicating that Charles had no intention of pulling the trigger.

……

Milo shrugged and looked at Charles:
"You hide the key in the flowerpot and the pistol in the blanket. Your methods of hiding things are a bit too traditional."

"What's up?"

When Charles realized that the person in the room was Milo, he slowly placed the pistol on the pillow.

"Something must have happened."

Milo wasn't going to waste any time; he pulled Henry's sketch from his pocket:

"There's something I need to ask you about. Do you remember this thing?"

Charles stared at the paper in Milo's hand, his brows slowly furrowing.

He pondered for more than ten seconds before saying, "Wait a moment."

Then he grabbed the trash can at the foot of the bed and started vomiting violently.

The sound was indescribable.

Anyway, Milo immediately went to the windowsill and opened the window.

……

After Charles had emptied his stomach, he slowly stood up, took the sketch from Milo's hand, and gave Milo a strange look:
How do you know I've seen this before?

“Are you sure this is the same thing you’ve seen before?” Milo did not answer Charles’s question.

The other person stared at the model of the "small altar" drawn on the sketch for a long time, then nodded and said:
"Although they are not the same, the weaving techniques and basic structural patterns are the same, I am very sure of that. At the time, we did not know its specific use, so we called it a birdcage."

“I would like to hear more.” Milo awaited Charles’s next words.

But the other party suddenly said, "It seems you don't take the Fenich manuscript seriously, and are busy with other things."

Milo grinned: "You know, in the entire city of Nanwei, I'm probably the only one who believes that the seven of them are still alive, just like you."

Charles was silent for a moment, then sighed and said:
"In the autumn of 1828, I received an assignment to assist the outer city enforcement team in an investigation. The initial case for this assignment occurred in the Severn Valley."

“The upper reaches of the Nanwei City Canal are quite far from here.” Milo knew about the Seven Valley.

"At that time, my position was just a team leader. My task was to investigate transport ships along the canal. The law enforcement officers in the Seven Valley were tracking something or someone. I speculated that some fugitives had escaped to Nanwei City by boat along the Seven River upstream, but this was just speculation because we never found the ship they were looking for."

Charles poked the small altar in the sketch with his finger and said to Milo:
"The clues provided by the Seven Valley were this kind of thing. They told me to search all passing ships and burn them immediately if any similar birdcages were found on board."

"No reason given?" Milo frowned. "Was there any mention of what happened in Seven Valley at the time?"

"Of course it was mentioned."

Charles calmly uttered a single word:

"Zombie."

"What do you mean?"

A sly smile crept across Charles's face:

"The advisor sent by the Seven River Valley at the time revealed something to me in a very cryptic way. He said... there was trouble in the valley, and some of the dead people turned into something else and returned to the human world."

(End of this chapter)