"Is this... Mr. Iron Eagle didn't come with you?"
After hearing Zongchen's explanation, Mo Zhi first noticed that only two of the opponent's three-person team had come.
After asking unexpected questions, Zongchen, Akali, and even Captain Vera had solemn expressions on their faces, and the atmosphere suddenly became a little more solemn.
With a sigh, Zongchen's eyes showed deep sorrow, his tone was low, and he said slowly:
"Mr. Iron Eagle Westow, he died gloriously in a mission a few days ago."
"He dedicated his life to Pandora and shed the last drop of blood for the Punisher Council. He..."
Zongchen was a little choked.
Unexpectedly opened his mouth, paused for a few seconds, and then sighed:
"Mr. Iron Eagle..."
Although they are just acquaintances, the punisher in white is also a colleague, and he performs almost the same duties as himself...
Not long ago, everyone was fighting side by side at Xinglong Villa.
Now, Iron Eagle is gone...
At this time, Mo Zhi felt the same words that Vera often said: "The punisher will face the test of life and death at any time", and he lamented the impermanence of fate.
Zong Chen showed a bitter smile: "This is the job of a punisher, especially Baiyi..."
"I'm very proud of Mr. Westow."
After saying this, Zongchen, dressed in white, beat his chest with his right hand to express his condolences.
After Captain Vera followed suit and also beat her chest to express her grief, Mo Zhi realized that something was wrong...
Now that Zong Baiyi has arrived, why did the captain still call him over?
I originally thought that a case had occurred, and Captain Vera wanted him to come over to help find clues... But when Bai Yi arrived, it became clear that this matter was not simple.
Not to mention the strange situation in Hongshi Village in front of us, Zongchen and others arrived before the case. Why did they come?
For a moment, Mo Zhi secretly screamed that something bad was going on, and felt that something big was going to happen.
A mournful silence passed among the people. After a while, Zong Chen pursed his lips and said:
"Let's... get on with the matter at hand."
After saying that, he raised his head and turned to the side: "I just passed there and noticed something strange."
Unexpectedly, looking in his direction, it was the Hongshi Village Square.
The square is small in area and is flat yellow land. It is located in the center of the entire village and is surrounded by various private houses...
A plane tree surrounded by ten people stood in the square, with a bronze bell hanging on its branches.
Like other places, there were several villagers sitting around under the sycamore tree, and they had also turned into corpses at this moment.
Zongchen pointed to several dead villagers:
"Look at their actions!"
After hearing the words, Mu Zhi checked them one by one, and in a flash of his mind, he immediately discovered what Zong Chen was referring to.
The dead were six old people who were very old. They gathered in the square under the warm afternoon sun... In this peaceful village, gathering here to chat should be one of the few ways for the elderly to spend time.
In the braided basin next to it, there are various foods such as peanuts and melon seeds, which is proof...
Unpredictable quickly imagined this scene. After lunch, the old people gathered here, chatting while eating. Most of the topics were probably about the family's personal differences.
The key point is...the gazes of these people are obviously pointing in roughly the same direction.
Zongchen said: "Look, these people are looking in almost the same direction..."
"We all know that these people should have died in an instant, and then immediately turned into statues. And the direction these six old people were looking in... you see, there is nothing unusual in this direction."
He unbuttoned his white clothes, stood behind the six corpses, and looked in the direction the six corpses were looking...
In the square in front, there were no corpses that had turned into "statues", and there were no other abnormalities. Farther away, there was a low mountain outside the village, which also had no abnormalities.
"Why do these six corpses look in the same direction? At the moment of losing their lives!"
Zongchen said in a deep voice:
"There are no corpses in this direction. If there are, it can be explained that a certain village is passing by here. The old people are looking at him at this time, but... there are no corpses, and there are no traces that can attract attention in this direction. , that means..."
Vera already understood and frowned and said:
"What they are looking at is the murderer!"
"Yes, this possibility is very high." Zongchen looked solemn:
"The murderer is a contractor with unknown abilities. It was the contract ability that suddenly activated while standing here in the middle of the village."
"As the symbol spreads, the entire village will be killed instantly."
Luo Qing and Douglas looked at each other, and both could see a hint of admiration in each other's eyes.
Based on these details alone, Zongchen was able to speculate to such an extent that he was worthy of being called the punisher in white.
Vera nodded and looked at Zongchen: "Your guess is very reasonable. Let's make a more accurate simulation..."
After speaking, she walked directly in front of a corpse, observed the dead man's motionless eyes, and slowly backed away.
At the same time, she pulled out a sniper rifle and pressed the barrel to the ground...
As it retreated, a shallow straight line was drawn on the ground.
After that...sequentially.
Soon, the lines on the ground showed more obvious clues.
Six straight lines, six gazes almost looking in the same direction, but after accurately drawing with these lines, a slight deviation is revealed.
Four lines intersect at one point, and two lines intersect at another point. The distance between these two points is less than one meter.
"Huh..." Vera breathed a long sigh of relief:
"It's obvious."
Zongchen in white nodded: "The murderers are two people!"
"They quietly entered the village at noon, arrived here directly, and activated their contract abilities under the gazes of these six old people..."
"This is the crime scene."
Vera nodded and motioned Uncle Cat to look for footprints along the straight line... Unfortunately, to no avail.
"Unknown abilities... There are many abilities that can kill an Ironborn instantly, but one that can preserve corpses to such an extent... I have never seen one. I can only go to the Pandora archives to check the corresponding Rune Source Words... .”
Real-breasted Akali, who has been waiting behind Zongchen, analyzed along the lines of thought:
"The motive for committing the crime is unknown. Who would do something to such a small village? Why do they do it?"
Zongchen shook his head and said that the clues were not enough to deduce these situations.
Turning his head, he found that Mu Yi was staring at the six corpses in front of him.
"Unpredictable, what are you doing?"
Hearing this, Mozhi whispered: "Looking at their expressions..."
"Expression?" Vera was a little surprised.
"Don't forget, I am an intern psychiatrist." He nodded incomprehensibly and continued:
"Since they died suddenly in front of the murderer, the expressions on these people's faces should have been frozen at that time..."
Zongchen and Vera suddenly realized and blurted out almost at the same time:
"What did you find?"
Unpredictable remained silent, and after thinking rapidly for a few seconds, he used his finger as a pen to draw the corpse's face in the air:
"Although there is not enough information...but it can be seen that there is no fear in the expressions of these people...this."
Unpredictable pointed at another person: "The muscles at the corners of this person's mouth have changed slightly, and it seems... He seems to be smiling. No, it's not the kind of smile in our usual sense, but... very relaxed. .”
"The third one... Although this person's pupils are dilated, the focus is very focused, as if he is enjoying a movie and seeing the most exciting plot..."
"A few others... are actually in similar situations."
Unpredictable turned around and reported to Zong Chen in a very polite tone:
"There should be nothing unusual about the murderer. There should be no appearance or other features that should be alarming. Otherwise, these people would not be able to watch the murderer's actions so easily."
"It can be seen that these people did not know what the murderer was going to do, and even looked at the two murderers with interest... In other words, the murderer should look like ordinary people, and may have used some deceptive methods. , for example, give these people some lies that are similar to performances, attracting the attention of these people..."
"Then, the contract ability is activated in full view of the public."
After saying that, Mo Zhi spread his hands and made a helpless gesture:
"I can only speculate this far, but I still can't find any clues about the motive or suspect."
Zong Chen nodded approvingly: "It's not completely useless. It still provides a lot of ideas."
Unpredictable shook his head humbly and continued:
"Zongchen Baiyi, a contract item or contract ability that can cover the entire village... What level must it reach at least?"
"The red level will definitely not be able to do it. The orange level may try hard, and the yellow level will have it easier..." Zongchen looked around the village and answered subconsciously, but his eyes lit up:
"Yes, this is also a useful clue. It can at least narrow down the scope."
"The murderer must be at least orange level or above."
Unpredictable nodded.
Why would a contractor above orange level slaughter all the villagers in a village, and what contract ability did he use to do this?
After collecting the information on the scene, everyone split up again and went to various locations in Hongshi Village to search carefully...
Unexpectedly, after verification one by one, it was confirmed that Zongchen's guess was correct. Under the sycamore tree was the place where the murderer took action.
Villagers died in every room, with different circumstances, but no clues could be found.
When he returned to the square again, Director Yang Yi had arrived with the inspectors and was arranging his subordinates to handle the follow-up of the scene.
Unexpectedly, the forensic doctor who followed quickly discovered another situation.
When the inspector was carrying the corpse back for autopsy, one of the corpse's arms broke like a fracture!
The forensic doctor who came with him only conducted a simple examination and immediately determined the cause of death without waiting until he returned to the Inspectorate for an autopsy.
The muscles of the corpse... were petrified from the inside out!
That's right, it's the petrification of muscles under the skin...
This is not to blame for the punishers being careless, because the body has been tested and there is no trace of talisman left on it, and everyone has touched the body with their hands... but the touch is no different from that of an ordinary corpse that has stiffened.
No one can speculate on the cause of death of these corpses. They can only guess that the contract ability instantly killed the villagers and made their bodies stiff, thus maintaining their movements and expressions at the moment before death.
As for the post-mortem work, it is natural for ordinary inspectors to take the body back for examination, and it is inconvenient for the punisher to do it on the spot...
Unexpectedly, I discovered this situation before I even returned to the Inspectorate for autopsy.
There was a collision while transporting the wax figure-like body, and the forensic doctor unexpectedly discovered the cause of death during the on-site repair of the arm that was broken like a fracture.
The bones are still bones, but the inner layer of muscles around the bones has turned into a solid structure as hard as marble, and then spreads from the inside out.
Touching from the outside of the skin, through the skin and fat layer, you can't find this...
Vera immediately ordered the forensic doctor to randomly examine several other corpses on the spot.
The results were as expected. All the corpses sampled had petrified internal muscles. Note 1
"Muscles... petrified." After receiving this result, Vera frowned and looked at Yang Yi and Zongchen in white.
Zongchen said: "This determines the cause of death in advance. It should be the contract ability that causes muscle petrification... After the source of symbols spreads, the internal muscles of all villages are petrified, and they die instantly."
"It is precisely because of this that all corpses maintain various movements before death."
Yang Yi heard this and curled her lips: "Another...strange contract ability! What the hell, monster!"
Immediately, he glanced at everyone:
"It should be an abolition of the contract!"
When Mobi heard the words "abolished contract", his heart suddenly moved.
This is the second time I have heard this term... The little girl Zongchen Baiyi and the others took away last time was "blinded" by the invalidated contract.
If any effect of an ability or price only affects ironborn or other creatures, it is a void contract.
Hearing this word, Zongchen looked a little ugly and sighed:
"Another invalid contract..."
"Again?" Mozhi noticed the key points very sensitively.
Zong Chen nodded and glanced at Vera and Yang Yi:
"The exiled contractor who abrogated the contract? A free country?"
But he immediately changed his mind: "No, it's not certain that it's a free country, it could also be an unorganized contract-breaking exile."
Seeing the team members looking at each other in confusion, Vera glanced at Zong Chen and explained to the unpredictable people:
"The headquarters sent out a notice to each department ten years ago. An exiled contractor organization composed of those who have abandoned the contract has recently appeared on the mainland, which is what Bai Yi calls a free country!"
Another secret organization? Are they all composed of contract breakers? Unpredictable guess...
Zongchen looked around at everyone and sighed:
"Tell the team members, it's okay. Although this news is only sent to the captain level now, it will be made public to the team members level soon."
"The Free Country... This is indeed a new organization, almost entirely composed of contract breakers... As you know, Pandora spares no effort to manage and attack the contract breakers."
"However, for these contract breakers, they cannot decide whether their awakened abilities are contract breakers, and the definition of contract breakers itself is also defined by Pandora..."
"Purely speaking, hey... the contract-breakers are also a group of cursed poor people. They obviously did nothing wrong, but they were forced to be managed by Pandora just because they threatened the existence of others... maybe because of their resistance. It's an unfair fate that the Contract Breakers established this organization to fight against Pandora's forced management."
"So, they call themselves...a free country."
"There is one more thing..." Zongchen's eyes showed sadness again:
"Iron Eagle Westo...just a few days ago, when our team destroyed a Free Nation stronghold in Kyushu City...we were killed by the Contract Nullifier."
...........
Note 1: Muscle petrification is a rare genetic disease, caused by heredity...it actually exists, but the number of affected people worldwide is less than 1,000.
Thanks, Mo is not the migrant worker village leader named Jiang, Yuan Ergou, the master of the beacon wolf, zanderx, bound by Hehao, Lei Shadou, shadoi, bloody shadow, I hope it will be sunny tomorrow and the unlucky Dian Dian everyone’s monthly votes.
Thanks to Shadoushadow and naive Qin for the reward.
