Chapter 102: Aurora would do it!
Chapter 102: It Was All the Aurora Order's Doing!
On the way to the Tasok River in the East Borough, the carriage rattled along the road, and inside the compartment, Lu Ze and Dunn exchanged silent glances.
The atmosphere was a bit awkward, I need to find something to talk about.
Lu Ze thought.
"Oh, right, Captain. How is your potion digestion going?"
He quickly thought of a topic and asked.
"It's been quite smooth. I've already digested the Sleepless potion, and I'm currently re-enacting 'Midnight Poet'."
Dunn replied.
But I didn't see you buy any poetry collections.
Lu Ze recalled Leonard's usual frivolous demeanor and couldn't quite guess how to portray a "Midnight Poet." "That's good. Once you've finished portraying the Midnight Poet and digested the Nightmare potion, you can seek a promotion."
Unexpectedly, Dunn shook his head.
"My portrayal at Sequence 7 will likely not be very smooth," he said calmly. "It will probably take more time than a typical Sequence 7, perhaps even an extra two or three years."
"Why?"
Lu Ze asked subconsciously.
"…"
However, Dunn merely remained silent and did not answer.
There seems to be some hidden reason, it's best not to ask further.
Lu Ze wisely closed his mouth.
Thus, the carriage continued on its way until it reached the bank of the Tasok River in the East Borough.
The place where the body was found was three blocks away from where Lu Ze had dumped the body. The body must have floated downstream after surfacing and then got stuck on the bank, where it was discovered.
It was afternoon, and the Tasok River bank was bustling with activity. Besides the curious onlookers in the distance, there was a large contingent of police maintaining order and investigating the scene. Klein and Frey stood on a slope by the riverbank, at their feet a human-shaped object covered by a white sheet.
So noisy.
Lu Ze couldn't help but frown as soon as he got out of the carriage. He adjusted the sensitivity of his hearing before walking over.
Before he even reached Klein, a putrid stench of decaying flesh wafted over. It was an indescribable smell, as if it wanted to rush into one's head, making one feel an innate revulsion and nausea.
"Ugh!"
Several policemen nearby immediately covered their mouths and backed away.
Lu Ze also couldn't help but stop. He looked at Dunn, only to find that he continued walking forward as if he hadn't smelled anything. He could only pinch his nose and follow behind him, arriving in front of the corpse.
The corpse was covered by a white sheet, yet the shocking wounds on its surface were still visible. The corpse fluid had soaked through the sheet, bleeding out a pale yellow water stain.
"Captain, Lu Ze."
Frey and Klein said to them.
"How is it?"
Dunn asked while putting on black gloves.
"I found no clues," Klein shook his head. "The body was interfered with by a ritual, so no useful information could be divined. Moreover, the time of death was too early, making spiritualism impossible."
Dunn looked at Frey.
The cold-tempered Corpse Collector said without any emotion, "The deceased's internal organs were all removed, but the direct cause of death should be the gunshot wound to the head."
"Gunshot wound? Can you determine what type of gun it was from?"
"The police are searching for shell casings nearby, but they haven't found any yet."
Go ahead and search, it'd be a miracle if you found any, because I retrieved all the shell casings.
Lu Ze chuckled inwardly. This feeling of scheming with his own people was quite interesting.
"Also, the killer shouldn't be very familiar with human anatomy. From the wounds on the corpse, it's clear that his technique was very clumsy when removing the internal organs."
Frey said.
Hearing him say that, Lu Ze's mouth twitched slightly.
Heh heh, no dissection experience or anything, I'm really sorry about that!
After listening to their report, Dunn nodded, reached out, grabbed the white cloth, and slowly lifted it. As Mrs. Sharon's corpse was exposed to the air, the stench of decay grew even stronger. The stench was so overwhelming that Lu Ze couldn't breathe and even felt a bit like vomiting.
Just as Lu Ze was feeling uncomfortable, Frey handed him a small, tin-colored square flask to his nose. After uncorking it, a mixture of peppermint leaves, tobacco, disinfectant, and other things wafted out, stimulating and refreshing, instantly easing his breathing considerably.
"Thank you."
Lu Ze said to Frey. Seeing as he helped him, he forgave him for saying his dissection technique was clumsy.
"You'll get used to it."
Frey, however, merely nodded coldly, retrieving the tin-colored flask and placing it in his pocket.
Lu Ze regulated his breathing and returned to the front of the corpse.
Good afternoon, Mrs. Sharon. It's been a while, and you're still as graceful as ever.
With a mischievous thought, Lu Ze greeted the corpse in his mind.
He saw that Mrs. Sharon's body had turned pale from soaking, and because the weather was still very hot, the body had decomposed very quickly. Coupled with his opening of her chest and abdomen and the bullet tearing open her skull, her upper body was already a mess. Only the expensive dress she wore could prove her owner's originally noble status.
"How is it? Did you find anything?"
Dunn noticed Lu Ze's gaze and asked. The other two also looked over, with a certain expectation in their eyes. In a situation where divination, spiritualism, and on-site investigation were all ineffective, Lu Ze was their last resort.
Unfortunately, the person they were relying on was precisely the culprit of the case.
"I see traces of Beyonder powers on the corpse."
Lu Ze deliberately frowned, feigning discomfort. "Her flesh and blood have a degenerate and mad aura… it seems to come from the Secrets Supplicant Sequence…"
As expected, after he uttered these words, the expressions of the three became solemn.
"Aurora Order?"
Dunn said in a deep voice.
"I can only say, it's very likely."
Lu Ze pointed to the marks on the wound and said, "There are traces of Flesh Magic on the body. I know this ritual; it should have been used by the murderer to extract internal organs."
What he said was entirely correct, he just concealed some facts. For example, the person who used the Flesh Magic ritual was himself.
The three of them fell silent for a moment, then Klein whispered, "When I divined just now, I was interfered with by invisible whispers and found nothing."
His statement further corroborated Lu Ze's words.
Dunn took a deep breath, his voice slightly cold:
"…It hasn't been long, and the Aurora Order's influence has returned to Tingen. I truly hope we can find their traces soon and uproot them."
That's right, it was all done by those Lunatics from the Aurora Order!
Lu Ze said in his heart.
"However, why Mrs. Sharon? And why remove her internal organs?"
After Dunn expressed his feelings, he thought of the crucial questions again.
"Regarding this, I actually have a guess."
Lu Ze said, "Besides the aura of madness, I also sensed an aura similar to Triss's on her corpse."
"Are you saying that there was also a Demoness among her killers?"
"No, I mean that she herself was very likely a Demoness."