Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 5 What a fierce woman!

Under the urging and command of Inspector Nero, all the hunting dogs that could be of use in the entire city of Nanwei were brought out.

Centered on the crime scene, they traced the horses' organs and the smell of blood.

Two officers, each accompanied by a hunting dog, set off in all directions and from all angles.

The crime scene was located on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by jungles and mountains. Searching in such complex terrain was extremely difficult, but Nero gave a firm order that no matter what, a result must be found before nightfall.

……

"Are you sure you can find someone by following the smell of this rag?"

Rebecca had also been assigned a hunting dog, holding the leash in one hand and the piece of black cloth that Milo had found in the wreckage of the carriage in the other.

As she spoke, she brought the rag in front of her and smelled it.

Even through the black veil covering her face, she could smell a pungent, putrid odor, and immediately frowned.

“If I were you, I would never do that.” Milo casually plucked a wet leaf and rubbed his hands together frantically, looking disgusted. “That thing is a shroud from the plague era, used to wrap the dead.”

"What bad luck." Rebecca's brows furrowed even deeper.

But then I thought:
Why would there be something like this on a carriage?

She quickly realized that her question was somewhat foolish.

Since it's something that shouldn't have been on the carriage in the first place, it must have been brought by the murderer.

She placed the black cloth near the hound's mouth and nose so that the hound could become fully familiar with the scent.

Then, the two men, pulled by the hunting dogs, trekked deep into the jungle.

This direction is completely contrary to the large groups that search for the smell of horse organs.

But this time, Rebecca didn't doubt Milo's judgment too much, even though she had never figured out how Milo was able to discover the truth time and time again. This morning, he found Daisy at the crime scene and this time he accurately located the carriage. Twice in a row, the facts proved that Milo was not lying.

So she no longer hesitated.

……

It is now the transition from deep winter to spring, and the vegetation in the mountains has sprouted new leaves. Compared with the bare jungle a few months ago, it is much more difficult to traverse. In addition, the rainy weather has greatly slowed down the searchers' progress.

Milo and Rebecca felt as if they were trapped in a maze. All they could see were identical trees shrouded in mist, and strange noises from the plants and trees could be heard from time to time, creating an eerie and unsettling atmosphere.

The two remained silent the entire way, with only the hunting dogs occasionally barking at the dark bushes.

She didn't know how long she had been wandering in the jungle; Rebecca's trench coat was covered in withered leaves and dew. She took off her tricorn hat, shook it off, and put it back on. She turned to look at Milo, who was holding a torch beside her.
"Are you really just an ordinary city guard?"

This question asked by Milo was quite baffling.

"Uh...didn't you already look at my file?"

"Fine, don't tell me then." Rebecca turned and continued on her way.

In fact, she had suspected Milo more than once, and even now she did not believe that Milo was just an ordinary city guard.

The reason is simple: the city guards are the lowest-ranking members of the law enforcement system and are widely recognized as the most useless group of people. They are paid by the royal family, do nothing all day, and spend their time in casinos and taverns after work. They are a bunch of unambitious good-for-nothings.

But she had to admit that without Milo, these law enforcement officers might still not have been able to find the carriage, or rather, they wouldn't have known that the carriage had an accident.

She might even have watched helplessly as church members burned an innocent girl to death in the house.

The thought of it still haunts Rebecca.

……

Just as she was lost in thought, Milo suddenly muttered to himself:
"Don't you think the church's reason for burning down the crime scene is ridiculous? An evil ritual? Is that really a valid reason?"

Rebecca shook her head: "From the very first case, the church has been negotiating with the higher-ups in law enforcement. They said it was some kind of headhunting operation by heretics, involving evil rituals, and that all crime scenes must be burned immediately, otherwise it would bring disaster... And indeed, the modus operandi in several consecutive cases was killing and gouging out eyes..."

"You believe that nonsense?"

Milo completely disbelieved these absurd claims about monsters and demons.

I don't believe it, at least not yet.

"So what do you mean?" Rebecca looked at Milo.

"Hehe, if someone were responsible for burning down the crime scene every time I killed someone, I'd be grinning from ear to ear." Milo chuckled wickedly.

"You mean the serial murders are related to the church?" Rebecca narrowed her eyes.

Milo waved his hand dismissively: "I didn't say that, you said it."

"cut."

Rebecca gave a disdainful snort.

……

The full name of the church is the Golden Rule Church.

Five years ago, this was just one of many unknown folk religious groups.

At that time, there was no officially recognized unified church in the entire empire.

The rise of the Golden Law Church was closely related to the great plague that swept the country.

In the six months leading up to the outbreak of the plague, the entire empire was in turmoil. The number of sick and dead in each city could pile up into a small hill every day. Various rumors of the end times circulated, and everyone was in danger.

Around that time, the Church of the Golden Rule suddenly established a blood therapy organization to receive infected patients and miraculously saved many people from the brink of death.

From the moment the first case of recovery appeared, the royal family poured all its human and material resources into the Golden Law Church, continuously expanding this so-called blood therapy system.

The scholars in the church lived up to expectations, and in nearly a year, they completely cleared the entire empire of infected citizens, achieving a cure rate of over 80%.

From then on, the Golden Rule Church transformed from an unknown, ordinary religious organization into a savior.

After the Great Plague was completely over, the entire nation became believers in the Golden Rule.

And so the Golden Law Church naturally became the state religion.

Although only a few years have passed, the church now holds far greater weight in the country than any institution or organization under the royal family.

To be precise, these old folks, who combined theology and medicine, have reached a level of influence that is completely on par with the royal family.

Even in the hearts of some extremely devout believers, the church is the supreme authority.

This is normal, after all, for those patients who survived the great plague, it was the church that gave them a second life.

……

That's why we're seeing things like this today, where church members can forcibly interfere with law enforcement officers' handling of cases and even burn down crime scenes.

But who can say anything about it?

Who would dare?

After all, the entire country was saved by the church, and anyone who criticizes the church from any angle will face condemnation from believers throughout the country.

Those at the top levels of the law enforcement system likely understand this even better.

……

Rebecca was perfectly aware of what Milo was implying.

But she was just a chief of law enforcement officers, only one rank higher than ordinary law enforcement officers. Since those in power above her didn't say anything, she was naturally helpless.

"Half of the empire's population was saved by the church; who dares to speak ill of the church?"

Rebecca said calmly.

“That’s not necessarily true. I was also saved by the church using blood healing.” Milo shrugged. “You also contracted the plague?” Rebecca asked in surprise.

"Otherwise, how do you think I recognized that black shroud?" Milo rolled his eyes.

Just as Rebecca was about to ask something else, the hunting dog walking in front suddenly stopped and made some restless noises.

The two fell silent instantly. Following the direction the hound pointed, they carefully walked out of the bushes and saw a small valley whose entrance was blocked by countless wooden planks.

It is clear that this blockade was built by man.

However, the surrounding area is covered with vegetation, indicating that it has been abandoned for a long time.

The valley was pitch black inside, but at the entrance, Milo saw a familiar triangular totem on the crisscrossing wooden planks.

……

"During the Great Plague, many isolation and treatment facilities were temporarily set up in the deep mountains and wilderness because the number of infected people was too high."

Milo reminded him in a low voice.

“These shelters were not on record because even medical personnel could not guarantee their own safety. During the worst of the plague, many shelters were completely destroyed overnight. One day they were receiving patients, and the next day they were dead silent. Even the church's medical personnel could not come out because they were completely sealed off.”

The speed at which the plague claimed lives was terrifying.

So it's easy to imagine how many corpses were hidden in this abandoned shelter forgotten in the valley.

The layers of wooden planks stacked at the mouth of the valley say it all.

After several years of wind and rain, the barrier at the entrance of the valley has rotted and been covered by vegetation. Perhaps in a few more years, this place will be completely returned to dust.

The valley was completely silent.

At this moment, Milo and Rebecca stopped talking, because among the many rotten logs, they could clearly see some fresh footprints and signs of broken vegetation.

This indicates that someone had entered and exited the valley before they arrived...

……

He didn't know when it started, but the torch in Milo's hand had become completely soaked with dew, and he could only use it as a stick to clear the way.

Confirming that there was a third person in the pitch-black surroundings, Milo unconsciously tightened his grip on the wooden stick in his hand.

The two entered the valley without saying a word.

With the faint moonlight filtering through the smog, the desolation of the valley was laid out before us.

On the other side of the blockade, there were more than a dozen skeletons piled up.

These skeletons were lying on the inside of the gate in extremely twisted and desperate postures. The tattered clothes on their bodies showed that they were civilians and medical personnel, which indicates that on the day the valley was sealed off, not all the patients in the shelter had actually died.

Milo and Rebecca exchanged a glance, both seeing the coldness in each other's eyes.

The hunting dogs, on the contrary, became increasingly excited.

It kept pulling Rebecca forward, and the two of them and the dog went deeper into the lifeless valley.

Many of the makeshift tents and wooden cabins in the valley are rotten and entangled with branches and vines.

In front of an abandoned wooden hut deep inside, the hunting dog let out a very piercing bark.

They both knew this was the place.

Rebecca handed the dog leash to Milo, drew her knife from her waist, and kicked open the broken door of the cabin.

Both of them were mentally prepared to face any creature that might leap out of the house.

However, inside the overgrown wooden cabin, only one girl lay quietly on the grass.

"It's that child."

Rebecca recognized Daisy at a glance.

She rushed forward to check on Daisy, then turned to look at Milo:

"He's just unconscious; there's no danger to his life."

Milo nodded.

This was the first time all day that he had seen a look of near-happiness in Rebecca's eyes, or more accurately, a look of relief.

It seems that the earlier incident of almost letting the church burn the girl alive did not leave her without any psychological burden.

Fortunately, the child is unharmed.

but……

"That's strange. Isn't this different from the previous cases?" Milo muttered.

Rebecca simply sheathed her blade: "We'll talk about that when we get back."

At this moment, with both of them remaining silent, the ticking sound of the execution lock on Milo's wrist became extremely jarring.

Milo raised his hand and gave Rebecca a look.

The other party immediately understood, took out a key from his waist, and prepared to unlock the execution lock for Milo.

However, at that moment, a huge black shadow suddenly appeared outside the wooden house behind Milo!

"Get out of the way!"

Rebecca, who was facing Milo, yanked Milo away, drew the pistol from her right hand, and fired directly at the dark figure outside the house without saying a word!
"boom!!"

……

Milo didn't care about anything else. He saw Rebecca throw the key to the execution lock on the ground, cursed under his breath, and immediately crawled down to find it.

Then, a bizarre scene unfolded.

Rebecca's marksmanship was excellent; the bullet pierced the shadowy figure's chest with perfect accuracy. However, the tall figure didn't even take a step back, remaining standing upright in place.

When Milo finally found the key in the weeds, he turned around and saw a strange man wearing a black shroud barging in!

"grass!"

As soon as Milo inserted the key into the lock's keyhole, everything went black.

He was sent flying horizontally and crashed into the wall behind him.

It was that shroud-covered monster who kicked him.

While Rebecca was on the other side, she took the opportunity to reload her gun and prepare to give the guy another shot, but his large hand had already grabbed her neck.

Before she could even fire a shot, she was pulled up and flung away.

The force was so great that Rebecca's small body smashed through the outer wall of the wooden house.

The strange man who suddenly appeared made no sound at all. His movements were stiff and awkward, but he seemed to have immense strength. After being thrown, Milo saw black stars all over his vision and was stunned for a long time before he could recover.

……

Rebecca, being a professional law enforcement officer, was able to rush back into the cabin almost instantly after being thrown out!

She grabbed the strange man's waist with both hands, let out a muffled groan, and forcefully flipped his body, which was more than twice her size, backward!

Bang! ! !
After the two of them crashed out of the wooden house, Milo staggered to his feet.

"Holy crap, what a fierce woman."

(End of this chapter)