The Villain Saint is my secondary account

Van Helsing was surprised.

"What can we do if they don't listen? The Holy Church knows her identity. Besides, the elders who came out with her are all high-ranking members of the Fog City Holy Church. Even those high-ranking members behaved obediently, so how could the other believers dare to disobey?"

"At first, the vampires were a bit unconvinced and wanted to cause trouble, but they calmed down after a while thanks to the Holy Maiden's persuasion."

"That's strange. Those vampires shouldn't be so easy to talk to, right? How did she persuade them?"

Van Helsing paused in his action of inserting the macaroni.

"Hmm... She waved her hand and split the entire square in two, and the vampires instantly fell silent."

Fanhesin nearly choked after hearing this, grabbed a few mouthfuls of water from the side, and said, "That was indeed a good 'advice'."

"Then, officials from the royal family also rushed over."

Greg leaned back in his chair. "With the Home Secretary stepping in and vouching for both sides, guaranteeing that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police will investigate the truth, this matter will be dropped for now."

"Alas, the royal family..."

Van Helsing curled his lip. "So in the end, the pressure still came on to us."

"There's no other way. Maintaining peace is the royal family's policy, and no one really wants the city of Fog to face war in this day and age."

Greg shrugged helplessly. "However, it's said that the Kingdom Knights stationed in the western suburbs might be transferred back to Mist City."

"Even the army has been deployed? Is the situation really that bad?"

"Just in case."

Greg turned his head and glanced out the window at the clear blue sky. "It's not just the vampires and dark cultists in the city; there have been several monster tides in the wild recently as well."

"Tsk, tsk."

Van Helsing shook his head.

"All I can say is, I hope things don't get too bad in the future."

Greg smiled.

……

The area around the Grand Theatre is now a ruin, and in order to preserve the information of the site, the restoration work will not be carried out so quickly for the time being.

The nearby streets were patrolled by detectives, while Sherlin Ford, the private investigator, was now crouching in a blood-stained ruin, carefully observing it.

Since the incident last night, he and Van Helsing have rushed to the scene from the Royal Police Station and worked with a group of detectives to search and collect evidence all night.

By noon on the second day, Van Hessin was feeling tired and decided to go back to rest before returning in the afternoon, leaving Ford to continue investigating the ruins.

The detectives on duty had already changed shifts, but Ford was still rummaging through the ruins with a magnifying glass.

Because of his outstanding performance in the bomb case last night, Greg instructed his detectives to cooperate more with the detective's work. However, Ford himself still felt deeply guilty for not realizing last night that the "palace bomb" was just a diversionary tactic.

Looking back now, the other party's elaborate and insidious scheme was truly insidious. First, they used a fake cannon "bomb" to attract the attention of the entire police station. Then, they used a heavy bomb that could be easily placed in the factory area to establish that the "bomb" incident was real. Finally, they used a werewolf attack to disrupt the police station's investigation.

Finally, they fabricated an unverifiable rumor that "there is a bomb in the palace," which firmly attracted the attention of the police station.

Given the preceding events, the police department must, in any case, devote a great deal of effort to searching the palace.

Meanwhile, the other side destroyed the theater to bury many clues and evidence, and also used many counter-surveillance methods during the attack.

So after a whole night and morning of work, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, including Detective Ford, still couldn't figure out the origins of the vampires who planned the attack.

Ford stood on the dilapidated stage, leaning on his cane, his eyes surveying the empty, dark space below. He sorted through the fragmented information he had gathered in his mind, trying his best to reconstruct the situation at the time.

The spot beneath my feet is where the vampire count, then known as "Valentine," once stood.

Before me lay the site where the Dark Cult had brutally executed the audience; the large pool of dark red blood was so thick it was almost black.

On the floor tiles of the corridor, you can see the runes that those guys drew when they set up the teleportation array.

According to Van Hessing's analysis, the medium mainly consisted of fresh human blood and cloves. However, this only indicated that the other party had a warehouse capable of storing large amounts of blood, but it was difficult to trace its source. The hospital had not recently experienced any cases of large-scale blood loss, and according to investigations, the blood bank of the Fog City vampires also had normal reserves.

They seem to have been taking a long time to collect the blood in order to avoid being tracked.

The bombs were placed in very clever locations, precisely to destroy the theater's load-bearing structure. The bodies of theater guards who had been killed were found in some of the original backstage passageways, presumably because they were there to plant the bombs.

The bombs that triggered the explosions appeared to have been brought into the theater in something like a gift box, and remnants of similar items could be found at the epicenter of several explosions.

The main material used is unstable crystalline ore, and the police are investigating its distribution source throughout the city, but so far they have not found any clues.

Over there, around the seventh row, is where Evelyna, the Black Mountain Clan Chief, was captured. According to witnesses, a priest from the Sanctuary appeared to be with her at the time, but he was killed by the vampires.

There was a broken priest's cane on the ground, which is now being temporarily kept by the police station as evidence.

However, the pastor was not found during either the inventory of the victims' bodies last night or the assessment of the survivors' conditions.

The police are also secretly investigating the bizarre disappearance of the priest, but in order to prevent the relationship between the sanctuary and the vampires from deteriorating further, the matter has not yet been made public.

Chapter 138 Clues and Foresight

At this point, this is all the information the police have.

However, trying to find out the other party's origin based solely on this information is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Ford surveyed the dilapidated and dimly lit theater. Although some sunlight had shone through the breach due to the collapse above, it was not enough to dispel the dense darkness that enveloped the space.

Regarding the purpose of this group of unknown vampires kidnapping Evelina, the Black Mountain Clan's answer was "unclear".

As for whether this uncertainty stems from genuine ignorance or a reluctance to comment, Ford has no idea.

But one thing is certain: the fact that the other side dared to act so blatantly means that their entire plan must have reached a critical stage.

This means that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police may not have much time left.

Ford rubbed his chin, looked away from the distance, and decided to do one last search on the stage before going back to rest.

I hadn't slept a wink all night, and finally, weariness washed over me.

But just then, his gaze was suddenly drawn to a reddish-brown mud spot next to a collapsed pit at his feet.

Ford initially missed this mud spot, looking at it with a magnifying glass and mistaking it for a trace of blood, so he didn't pay attention.

But now, as noon approaches, the light in the theater changes, and the luster reflected from this small speck of mud appears subtly different from the surrounding dark bloodstains.

Ford crouched down, picked up a speck of mud with his gloved fingers, and held it in front of his eyes. His thick eyebrows immediately furrowed slightly.

He then put his muddy fingers to his mouth and licked them lightly with his tongue.

It has a slightly bitter, rusty taste, with a hint of saltiness.

This type of red soil should be located near the southern part of Chongqing.

The saltiness is a characteristic of the soil near the riverbank affected by seawater salinization. According to Chongqing's hydrological records, the Thames River, the main river that flows through Chongqing, has only three tributaries that extend into the interior of the coastal city of Coral Harbour that are relatively close to each other. This situation may occur.

Adding to that bitter, rusty smell, which is the kind of smell that comes from the long-term pollution caused by the smoke from the coal-fired power plant built in recent years, and considering that the winds blowing through the city in autumn and winter are mostly from the northwest, the area can be narrowed down to two blocks on the southeast side of the Thames River in the city, excluding the westernmost tributary of the Hai River.

Those two blocks are quite far from Westminster. Ford is currently in a location that is not where the audience member was killed, and according to the investigation, the actors and staff of the theater company should have been in Westminster preparing that day, so they wouldn't have been exposed to such a situation.

This means that the soil was likely on the shoes of one of the attackers, and that place was very likely their hiding place.

After tasting the soil, Sherlinford's rapidly working brain deduced everything almost instantly.

He breathed a sigh of relief, then carefully took out an oilcloth bag from his coat, used tweezers to pick up the mud spots on the ground, and put them into the bag.

After nearly a day and a night of searching, he finally caught these guys red-handed.

Ford didn't notice that while he was intently observing the mud spots on the ground, a furtive figure was also silently watching him from the shadows of the dimly lit stands in the distance.

……

The bustling city of Fog quickly descended into night amidst the busy activity of its inhabitants.

The Grand Theater massacre, the Ripper, the unknown vampires... the shadows left by these events, like the lingering smoke, haunt the hearts of the citizens.

Just one day later, the foggy city was no longer as lively as before at night.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police issued a security notice, advising citizens to go home as early as possible after sunset.

The streets were much sparsely populated in the evening. Apart from some workers who had no choice but to work overtime, there were gang members and homeless people. Even in Westminster, where the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are stationed, few ordinary citizens dared to wander the streets these days.

Beneath the foggy city, in the intricate network of underground waterways, a man in a tattered tuxedo lay on a straw mat laid on the cold floor tiles, his brow furrowed as he tossed and turned.

He seemed to be having a nightmare; his face was pale, and sweat was pouring down his forehead like raindrops.

A moment later, he suddenly opened his eyes and let out a heart-wrenching scream, "Evelina!!!"

The sound echoed for a long time in the empty, dark waterway until the man finally realized the environment he was in.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police probably never imagined that the missing priest Lucas, whom they were desperately searching for, was right beneath their feet.

"woke up?"

The soft words suddenly drifted into Lucas's ears. He quickly turned his head, but the movement aggravated the wound on his chest, causing him to wince in pain.

"hiss……"

Before him stood a tall figure shrouded in a black robe, sitting on a stone slab, seemingly observing him with great interest.

"Where am I... Damn it... Where is Evelina...?"

Despite feeling a sharp pain in his chest, Lucas gritted his teeth and tried to question the person opposite him.

"I suggest you don't move so much, or you'll tear the IV tubing."

The black-robed man's voice was mocking. Lucas heard it, turned his head, and saw that there was indeed a semi-transparent leather tube with a needle inserted into his left arm, and the other end of the tube was connected to a dirty blood bag.

Despite lacking modern medical knowledge from Earth, Lucas still instinctively resisted the filthy blood bag being injected into his body, reaching out to pull the needle out.

"Hmm? If I had known you wanted to die, I wouldn't have wasted my holy blood."

Lucas paused for a moment.

Holy blood? The stuff in that blood bag was wriggling like living mud. Was that blood?

"You can't judge an object by its appearance; it might be saving your life."

The figure beside them offered an explanation.

Lucas pursed his lips, finally withdrew his hand, and turned his gaze again, seeing the pale mask that the black-robed man had placed beside him.

To be honest, it doesn't really matter whether the person in the black robe is wearing a mask or not, because her face is tightly wrapped in bandages, so you can't even tell if she's a person or not, let alone her appearance.

However, Lucas recognized the other person's identity through the mask, "The Ripper...?"

"I don't really like the idiot title the Royal Canadian Mounted Police gave me, but you can call me that if you want."

The Ripper waved his hand.

Although her hands were also wrapped in bandages, their slender shape suggested they belonged to a woman.

Why...did you save me?

For some reason, Lucas felt that his voice was weak and listless, as if something was missing from his chest.

"Pfft... Save you? You're not even fully alive yet."

The Ripper chuckled and pointed to Lucas's chest. "Take a closer look."

Upon hearing what the other person said, Lucas lowered his head.

Then, all he saw was a gaping, bloody hole in his chest, its edges covered with wriggling, curled hairs like a sea urchin, and inside, a deflated heart was beating, wrapped in some dark fluid.

"What...what are these?!"

"Holy Blood, are you an idiot? Didn't I just tell you?"

Lucas was pale; he wanted to touch it, but hesitated.

"Now that you're awake, I won't waste any more words."

On the other side, the Ripper's words drifted to his ears again.

"You have two choices now: one is to give up treatment and die completely; the other is to receive a new heart."

The Ripper's voice carried a sly laugh.

"However, let me make it clear beforehand that the heart is not a human heart... So, are you willing to become a monster in order to survive, priest of the Holy Temple?"

Chapter 139 Midnight Gathering

"Do I even have a choice?"

Lucas looked down at the hole in his chest. At this point, whether he could still be considered human was questionable.