Max's enormous revolver was a marvelous object; its bullets, besides possessing some armor-piercing capability, were almost as powerful as hand grenades.
The bullet had just ripped the man's head open, and his left eyeball had popped out.
But the man only let out a cry of pain, then, with his only remaining scarlet eye, he smashed open the window in the corridor and jumped from the third floor.
The reason this guy ran away from the front was because there were two members of the "Mechanical Heart" squad guarding the back of the building.
Downstairs in front, there was also a member of "Mechanical Heart" guarding the area with two armed police officers.
However, the man's mangled head startled the two police officers so much that they forgot to draw their guns.
Thump thump thump~
The member of "Mechanical Heart" had a stronger mental fortitude and fired repeatedly at the man.
The man was shot twice more in the chest and abdomen, but he still turned at an extremely fast speed and ran towards the carriage, trying to use it as cover.
He ran incredibly fast. Compared to Max, who jumped down from the third floor to chase him, or the members of "Mechanical Heart" lying in ambush below, they were as slow as snails.
Fortunately, there weren't many pedestrians on the road. The few people who heard the gunshots immediately ran for cover, otherwise they would have been horrified by the bloody scene.
The man ran across the road and got closer and closer to the carriage.
Suddenly, a cold light shot out from a carriage; it was a metal arrow with a simple wind-elemental magic array.
The strong man quickly dodged, and although the arrow missed a vital spot, it pierced his shoulder.
But this injury was nothing to the man, and he was about to continue running when a second arrow came flying, this time aimed at his leg.
Although the man was extremely resistant to blows, being shot in the leg would affect his running, so he had to jump away to avoid it.
The third arrow struck the man's groin. The pain in his head, coupled with the urgency to escape, caused the man to roar and charge towards the carriage from which the arrow had been fired. He intended to overturn the carriage and kill the people inside.
Fortunately, Odis blocked their way, and Max and his teammates caught up with them.
Bang!
The oversized revolver fired again, hitting the man's left shoulder, tearing his skin open and exposing his shoulder blade.
The bullet's immense force caused the man to stagger and nearly fall.
Odis, who was ahead, seized the opportunity and shot an arrow into the man's heart.
The man stopped abruptly, letting out eerie roars as he frantically scratched his chest, trying to pull the arrow out.
Bang!
Max's oversized revolver was fired for the third time, striking the man in the back. Large chunks of flesh were blown away, and his heart, pierced by the metal arrow, fell out of his chest cavity.
The man let out a scream, fell forward, and lay convulsing on the ground.
Max approached and fired another shot into the man's back, only feeling relieved when the man's heart was completely shattered.
Several members of the "Mechanical Heart" squad gathered around one after another. Max put his gun back in its holster and gave a thumbs-up towards the carriage.
Odis, sitting in the carriage, smiled slightly, took the arrow he had just placed on the crossbow, looked at the man lying on the ground covered in blood and gore, and whispered, "Werewolf!"
Then he laughed and said, "This method is really tough."
After saying that, he guessed that this guy was probably a member of the "Rose School".
Odis had previously received information that the "Rose School" indulgence faction had exposed several of its strongholds after being severely damaged by the "Mechanical Heart".
However, the people in those strongholds have all been evacuated. Judging from the clues left behind, the "Rose School" seems to have withdrawn from Backlund in an orderly manner.
At the time, Odis found it strange that such an extraordinary organization, which everyone hated, would withdraw so "openly and honestly".
In his view, the fact that the "Rose School" exposed so many strongholds at once was tantamount to actively providing clues to the official Beyonders, just like leaving Backlund while shouting "I'm leaving" through a megaphone.
At that time, he suspected that the retreat of the "Rose School" was a performance for others.
It might be intended for official extraordinary individuals like "Mechanical Heart," or it might be for Sharon and her group; in any case, there are quite a few viewers.
With the werewolf's exposure, the previous "Rose School" retreat was all for naught.
Under Max's command, the "Mechanical Heart" quickly cleaned up the battlefield, and the blood and flesh on the road were also cleared away.
They dare not perform psychic rituals on such cultists; they simply take the body away and wait for the extraordinary characteristics to emerge.
Then, led by Max, they entered the "werewolf's" room.
Odis, who was in a carriage across the street, saw two policemen rush out of the room shortly after entering and vomit violently in the corridor, presumably because they had found something very bloody inside.
About twenty minutes later, Max, with a gloomy expression, came out of the room, boarded the carriage, and sat opposite Odis: "These lunatics."
Odis noticed the faint stench of decay emanating from the other person: "Is there a corpse on there?"
"There are three bodies," Max said. "One of them is badly decomposed, but the smell hasn't gotten outside because the windows are sealed."
"That's that guy's bedroom. He's been sleeping with a rotting corpse lately."
Odis frowned: "Alright, alright, no need to go into such detail."
Then he asked, somewhat puzzled, "Why didn't he dispose of the body? A normal person wouldn't leave their body exposed at any moment... Well, their way of thinking might really be different from normal people."
"There are some speculations within the church about this," Max explained. "Because similar things have happened before, some members of the 'Mechanical Heart' team believe that the rotting corpses should contain materials needed for some of the 'werewolf's' dark rituals."
Odis nodded: "That guess is reasonable."
Then he asked, "How long has this guy been living here?"
"It's been more than half a year," Max said. "I suppose he was a covert agent planted by the 'Rose School'."
"However, this guy doesn't seem to be in very good shape lately, so he needs some dark rituals to stabilize his condition. To avoid being discovered by the official Extraordinary Ones, he used his abilities to gain one or two subordinates..."
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
A werewolf can transform someone into a subordinate who obeys only their orders by allowing their venom to seep into that person's body over a period of time.
These subordinates will gain some of the "werewolf" abilities, but these monsters have very short lifespans.
Max continued, "This 'werewolf' is quite cautious. The subordinates he converts are all homeless people. If one or two of them were to disappear, or even ten or eight, no one would notice."
"Yesterday he sent a subordinate to the Gard Herbalist Shop in the western district to buy 'golden-edged sunflower' to dispel the traces of dark rituals in the room."
"That's why our first round of investigation didn't find any clues."
"Because werewolves possess the ability to counter divination, we were unable to find any clues even using extraordinary divination methods."
Odis frowned: "I have a feeling that a crucial part has been overlooked."
"Your feeling is right." Max took out two portraits, which were provided by Odis. One was of Bernie, whom Odis had recommended to buy the "Golden-edged Sunflower."
Odis didn't know the name of the person on the other card. It was a customer who was served by the shop assistant, Kena, when he wasn't in the herbal shop. He directly bought "Golden-edged Sunflower".
Max said, "Up there, we didn't find the body of this Bernie, but we did find the body of another person who bought the 'Phnom Penh Sunflower'!"
"He died not long ago. The 'golden-edged sunflower' he bought lived for a while, but he probably died this morning."
Odis clapped his hands: "I understand what that key part is! This 'werewolf' seemed crazy when he was running for his life, but he is usually quite cautious."
"Since someone already came to my shop this morning to buy 'golden-edged sunflowers,' even if they still need more, it's impossible for them to come to my shop again! Even if they did, Bernie wouldn't be so honest as to tell me the address here."
"It's like... it's like Bernie deliberately told me that there's a 'werewolf' in bad shape here."
Max took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a puff before saying, "This is also something I don't understand. Bernie's appearance is too strange."
"Someone tipped me off," Odis said with certainty. "They know I'm an informant for 'Mechanical Heart,' which is why they sent Bernie to attract my attention."
Max stuck his hand out of the car window: "That's certainly a reasonable guess, but who sent Bernie?"
Odis thought for a moment before saying, "I'll try to contact the members of the Temperance faction of the Rose School in Backlund, but don't get your hopes up too high; I might not be able to reach them."
The first suspect was Miss Sharon, who had obtained a clue about the "werewolf" but was afraid of exposing herself, so she passed the clue on to "Mechanical Heart" through Odis.
The problem is, before this, Odis had no contact with the Temperance faction, so how did Miss Sharon know about her informant identity?
Max nodded: "A clue is better than none. I'll continue searching for Bernie through the police. Maybe some wild extraordinary person has discovered the 'werewolf's' trail and will contact us through you."
Odis hummed in agreement: "That possibility cannot be ruled out."
Afterwards, a carriage with a "mechanical heart" took Odis back to the herbalist shop. When they arrived at the lounge behind the herbalist shop, Odis made sure no one was in the courtyard, and then suddenly said to the air, "I have something to discuss with the 'Mysterious Queen'."
After waiting a minute or two, and seeing no change in the situation, he repeated, "I need to speak with the 'Mysterious Queen'."
After repeating this for almost half an hour, just as Odis was about to give up, a short phrase suddenly appeared on the table in front of him: I have arrived.