Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 10 Task Force

"Dream training mode?"

This seemingly powerful thing actually interested Rean, as he was quite thirsty for power.

It's just marked with the dream limit, so he can only try again at night. His Hero Soul Card is still valid, so he can't waste it so casually.

"Time is limited, so let's get to work now. In addition to the case files, I have a list of items here. If you can help me get even a part of them, I will have a certain combat power." Although it was a bit excessive to make conditions to the boss right after taking office, it seemed that now was not the time to be polite.

"I'll try." Looking at the magic and witchcraft items on the list, Talia could only say that she would try her best.

After tidying up a bit, Rean simply put aside the trivial matters and followed Talia to the police station.

Immediately, Li En got the case file he wanted.

The price he paid was probably accepting the identity of a specially-appointed temporary consultant to the police station and the identity of "deputy team leader of the task force."

At this moment, Li En's bureaucratic sense took over and he noticed something was wrong.

"Task forces are a good thing. They draw on professionals to do professional work and break free from the constraints of the old system. They are often very efficient, but..."

This is the good side. As for Rean's identity as a veteran of the past institutions, he also thought of two other more realistic possibilities.

"It's also possible that the original organization is rotten and can no longer function. Or perhaps there are conflicts of interest, and the original staff are uneasy about using it, and information leaks are possible."

The most common thing is to dispatch police forces from other provinces to investigate local cases. This is actually quite common but rarely reported because once it happens, it is a slap in the face of the local police station.

This is not the worst.

"Or perhaps from the outset, the project was meaningless or impossible. A few junior members were assigned to form a special task force, just to go through the motions. If the deadline came and it didn't work, the responsible task force would take the blame and be disbanded."

Experts are selected to tackle tough problems, backbones are selected to do the work, and newcomers are selected to probably just go through the motions, except for doing odd jobs.

Rean didn't want to use the dregs of Earth to measure the task force responsible for major criminal cases in other worlds. That was the folly of empiricism.

But the development of the situation made him feel that not only was there nothing new under the sun, but he was also too young.
“All of the above, plus local flair?!”

He underestimated how murky the water was.

"If your target is this case, it may not be a good thing to get completely involved in the murky waters of the police station." Talia's golden eyes dimmed a little, and she began to explain with a bit of frustration.

"Although the task force is short-staffed and composed entirely of new recruits, they shouldn't leak any information. By the way, please don't share this information with any other officers."

The desperate reality is that both possibilities are the answer. The local police department is neither reliable nor trustworthy.

Describing the police station in the dock area as muddy water and mud is probably a compliment to it.

When one place is rotten to the core, other places may not be completely rotten, and the law enforcement agencies basically have big problems.

There are all the necessary gangsters, black police, gang spies, cultists, and nobles' servants, and occasionally a few who shouldn't be there will also pop up.

In other places, the older the police are, the more reliable they are, but here, the more senior they are, the less trustworthy they are, especially when it comes to nobles.

"This is the task force I formed. Apart from anything else, the people in it are trustworthy. I'm very busy with my daily work, so I can only ask you for help." The more Taliah spoke, the more helpless she became. This was truly a mess that couldn't be worse, but she had to let the other party take the blame.

Li En only took a quick look at the current progress and the task force members, and he knew that the police station could not be relied upon.

There are only five people in the task force, and the team leader Talia has to take care of the daily work of the police station and has almost no time.

Those who can do the job include myself and two new recruits. One has been working for half a year and the other has been working for a year. Both are pure new recruits. There is also a person on the list who has not been in the police station for a long time. It seems that he is just a figurehead and is drawing a salary without working.

Maybe the higher-ups were so annoyed with Talia that they had no choice but to draft these new recruits and invisible men to play with her.

Perhaps, from the very beginning, the local police brass didn't expect the case to be solved. Or perhaps, to put it another way, they didn't want to solve it.

Her own daily workload is extremely heavy, so she can be used as a thug in an emergency, but forget about daily work. As for the other two members...
"Meow, nice to meet you again. I'm Shanana."

This is a cute little kitten with its ears erected. I saw it once before in a hotel and it seems to be very capable.

The little yellow tail with a flower bow, the sweet face, and the smile reminded Rean of the calico cat in his hometown. He wanted to pinch the cat's ears and rub its tail.

But now, I really touched
"Brother, how did you suddenly become our consultant? That's amazing! Can you tell me about it? Are you a relative of the director?!"

"Well, it's because of cooperation. This case involves me."

"I can call you Brother Lien, right? You won't mind, right? You can call me Little Lisa or Sana. But you can't call me Nana, that's for Sister Liya and Mom."

Before Rean could finish his words, he started to chatter.

"I"

"By the way, isn't degeneration painful? And why can you have a fever? Why can you walk around outside, Rean-ge? Isn't it uncomfortable? Or are you just forcing yourself?"

"I" This is a bit difficult to respond to. How would I know what degeneration is?

"Brother Lien is a desert lizardman, right? Do all the lizardmen there have black hair? The lizardmen and snakemen here seem to have mostly blue and silver hair. I heard it's super dry over there, and it would be very uncomfortable for hair. But here, when the sky turns cloudy, the dryness is also very uncomfortable. I really want to go to the desert for a walk, but I don't have the money for the trip."

Li En was silent. Not only was it difficult for him to answer this question, but he also found that what the girl said seemed to have nothing to do with his response.

She just wanted to say it.

"Can I touch your butt? Uh, I'm not a cat pervert, I just want to see if the degenerated tail is really retracted. By the way, can I touch the scales? Can you give me a fallen one as a talisman?"

Li En was silent and turned his head away.

"Uh, this minotaur, tell me your story."

Rean ignored the chatterbox and turned directly to another member (Sha Nana: Why are you ignoring me? You told me about the desert scenery. Is my fur color better than the desert cat over there?).

He looked very reliable, tall, dark and strong, with tribal carvings on his horns and his sharp facial features that looked a bit like a door god.

"I"

"I?"

"I. I. I am. Yes. Yes." It's been more than ten seconds, just two words. After introducing myself, is it time to go off work?

Rean covered his face and felt a little numb when he saw the minotaur's red face and stuttering.

One of you stutters and the other one chatters, why don’t you just form a group and debut together.

But, on the bright side, at least I have someone to use my skills now, and I still have some funds for handling cases and office space.

This is the Black Pig Inn in the dock area, right next to the black shop where Rean used to live. Talia seemed to think that it was inappropriate for the task force to have their office in the police station and be watched when coming and going.

As for the current situation, Li En actually didn't care. He didn't have high expectations for the local police station in the beginning, and he had already gotten most of what he wanted.

"It's been nine months since the crime was committed. The number of victims has been confirmed to be 49, and including the missing and unknown numbers, the number could exceed 100."

After becoming one of his own, Rean received his own intelligence and material support.

After such a long time, the case should have been solved long ago. I'm afraid Talia has given up hope and handed over the initiative of the case to Rean, an outsider.

"interesting."

The most valuable contents in the files were all things that Rean had never been able to access before.

“The frequency of crime is problematic.”

The disappearance of Broken Tail went from once every few weeks in the beginning to seven or eight times a week in recent times.

The condition of the body was still changing. It was called the "Tail Severance Case" because initially, only the tail was missing, with no noticeable changes to the physical condition. Now, the body was found, dry as a bone, its life force drained away.

"A novice in the evil force, he is becoming more skilled. He is getting stronger, which may be the only good news."

This also revealed that the attacker was not as strong as previously expected.

If you are so strong, why do you attack in the dock area and target the weakest ethnic group in the city?

In Sur's experience with cults, the stronger the sacrifice whose vitality has been plundered, the better.

The big villains either sacrifice over a very large area, causing a city crisis at any time, or they target princesses or kings with special identities to cause trouble.

The dock area of ​​​​Glow City is the "sewer" or garbage dump of the entire city.

The civilians in other parts of the city have basically undergone racial evolution, while most of the civilians here are fragile raw stones that have not evolved.

"If it's a professional, it should be above level two, but it's impossible to be level four. It could be a thief or a sorcerer, and a corrupted priest is also very likely."

The locations of the crimes were marked on the map. They were all remote areas in the dock area, mostly slums.

Li En flipped through the file and found the key information, which was the clue he had stumbled upon.
"Diego La Boer, the third child of Baron 'The Weaver Spider' La Boer, spends his days drinking and partying without any formal education."

These basic information can be skipped directly, as they are obviously scumbags with the naked eye, but some of the content is very important.

"As the second generation of a wealthy noble, he had ample resources and advanced to the second level early on. However, his combat experience was limited, his class level was low, and no evidence of the Heretic God's power was detected on the corpse."

This was an appraisal personally done by the local church pastor, so it should be correct.

But Rean did detect a strong sense of "sin" in him, which was not something that could be achieved by simply seeking pleasure.

That's interesting. He should be a pure intermediary, a porter, borrowing his habit of having fun in the dock area to transport fresh goods to the aristocratic area. Who can order the son of a powerful baron to do such a thing? Who needs the almost unlimited "Life Fruit"?

Li En sighed, stretched out his fingers and clenched his fists, but he seemed to see the darkness so thick that he couldn't see his hands in front of him, as if he saw four walls suppressing him.

If the enemy is the upper class of the country, it may even be the kingdom itself.
He shook his head. It shouldn't come to that, otherwise there would be no need to make it so ugly.

If it is the behavior of the state and top figures, it can even be harvested systematically, it will not become a criminal case, and there is no need to use the most garbage dock area as a petri dish.

"It should be a small group, led by one or two high-ranking nobles? Furthermore, they are those nearing the end of their lives. If there's an evil god involved, it doesn't necessarily have to be a cat-man."

Based on Sur's rich experience in dealing with evil gods, this method of forcibly prolonging life and distorting normal evolution often leads to endless troubles and will not be chosen unless it is absolutely necessary.

With the information, Rean can make targeted arrangements.

"Pack up and go out for a walk with me."

As soon as he finished tidying up, Li En went out with his two little followers.

He perfectly fulfilled the style of the makeshift task force.
"These gold coins are enough." He directly took out some money from the case funds he had just received and spent it on the same day in the name of handling the case.

"Please grief"

A small bungalow, some crying or numb children, and a mother who has completely lost her life.

In the middle of the room stood a pencil sketch of Will, probably the work of some handy child, and beneath it lay a few small toys and cheap candies.

This is the end of him.

More importantly, this family cannot provide a normal funeral and so on.

The atmosphere in the small house was very depressing. The two young men couldn't stand it any longer, so Li En asked them to wait outside.

Facing his numb mother, Rean didn't say anything nonsense about avenging her. That was just a settled matter.

".Really? There's a way out. Good then."

He simply gave her a pension and invited her to work for him.

The three-story building is not small anymore, and we really need someone to help clean and take care of it. The salary offered is not high, but it is more than what we have now. At the same time, we can also leave this chaotic dock area.

As for the serious damage to his reputation that might result from letting a former female practitioner live in his mansion, since Rean had already jumped into the quagmire, he didn't care.

However, the other party timidly expressed his intention to seek refuge with his eldest child, who seemed to be relatively stable and at least could survive.

Did she not trust Rean? No, she was just afraid of anyone who might hurt her.

Rean tried to persuade him, but seeing his timid yet determined attitude, he did not force him and simply added a little of his own money to the pension.

After leaving, it’s time to patrol the streets and get to know the members, at least to understand the local situation and get to know the people.

When we returned to the task force, it was already afternoon and someone was waiting at the door.

"Hey, was the patrol going well? I brought dinner and tea, take a break." The one waiting at the door with a bag of things was the team leader Talia who had just finished her work.

Her sudden arrival was a visit to the set, a consolation, and also a response to Li En's previous request.

Seeing the big sister coming, the little cat, who had been a little depressed by the funeral atmosphere, suddenly perked up a little. The big minotaur who followed also hurriedly greeted the big leader.

Opening the door, she glanced at the small room, saw the unfolded files and maps, and nodded with satisfaction.

Looking at the female police officer whose face was filled with joy because the task force had finally taken action, Li En also smiled.

At least, it's not completely hopeless, at least it's not a desperate situation with no hope at all.

Since young people still have blood in their veins, it is still a long way from the worst.

If everything is really dark, or even the entire kingdom is in chaos, then Soul, as a heroic spirit, might be able to handle it. At this time, Rean, who is just "Little Soul", must consider turning away. Remember this grudge and take revenge when you have the ability.

The most likely possibility is a small group consisting of a senior official, a follower of the evil god, and some middlemen.

"The case was solved by Diego."

If it were the Theocracy in Suul's memory, the Knights would have rushed in and interrogated his servants and family members long ago. Although their statements were not as good as those of his family members, cases like this involving evil gods often lead to a long series of incidents.

In this era of underdeveloped information, many behaviors leave traces. As long as you check everyone he comes into contact with, you will always find out something.

However, the police station was instantly powerless when it came to the nobles. In fact, if it weren't for the efforts of the police top brass and Rean's "fiancée", the death case of this noble son would not have ended here.

Now both sides have taken a step back and pretended nothing happened.

"Let's take it one step at a time. Cut off that black hand first."

Guided by the experience of "Sul", Rean's eyes wandered across the map of the dock area. Cutting off the executor was the key at the moment.

When patrolling the streets on the way back, they also determined the location of each crime and speculated on the location of the next crime.

When the case is too complicated, catching the criminal in the act is always the most effective means.

The Oath Knights' approach to handling cases is that no matter who the criminal's backers are, on-the-spot execution can solve most subsequent problems.

But the problem is, even if we find that bastard now, we may not be able to keep him. No, we definitely cannot defeat him.

Rean looked at Talia who came to visit him with anticipation. Whether he could have a certain combat effectiveness in the short term depended on her response and whether she found what he had specifically requested.

"Sir Rean, armor and consumables are no problem, but the magic items you requested are a bit difficult, but there are ways around it."

(End of this chapter)