Clues

"Massacre."

Kang De strolled through the bloody, deathly space, surveying the gruesome pile of remains.

"Tyrannical."

The shattered corpses were almost unrecognizable, and a nauseating stench filled the room. Half of the face was broken, and the torso had most of its skin torn off. Large amounts of muscle tissue were laid out on the floor like a carpet. Radial impact patterns even appeared on the dirty walls, which were the images of an entire human body being slammed against the wall and then shattering and bursting apart, forming a horrifying totem.

"Powerful."

The head, stained with black blood, was split in two. The walls, floors, tables, and chairs, covered in blood and human tissue, were covered with deep scratches. Not to mention the body of the deceased, which looked as if it had been shattered by a rain of metal, revealing the grim bones covered with blood clots. This was undoubtedly a gruesome killing field.

There was no smell of gunpowder in the air, and the guns found at the scene showed no signs of firing. Most of the severed arms were armed with weapons, including machetes, pistols, and even shotguns. However, it was clear that modern human weapons could not protect them—there were no signs of combat at all.

"Cruel."

The congealed pool of blood on the ground was filled with traces of dragging and struggling. The man who had been cut in half crawled painfully for at least twenty meters. The human figure in the corner had his face peeled off, and his painful dying movements looked like he was begging for mercy. About a third of the people died while running away and begging for mercy. The killer showed no mercy and almost no one was killed with a single blow. It was all a messy but intricate torture.

"Calm."

Death began at the doorway. Sharp blades pierced the air, killing several people at the long table. A battle ensued, transforming into a metallic storm that swept across the entire area, displaying the splendor of death in blood and flesh. Kang De gazed at the bloody scene of death. Amidst the chaos, there was clearly an order. He could imagine the killer calmly stepping in through the door, manipulating supernatural means to kill these traffickers, and walking peacefully into the deep corridor.

"And... indifference."

Each of the dead was treated with the utmost patience; the wounds on their bodies were not merely for killing, but for a purpose beyond killing... Just as a cat hunts birds and mice sometimes not for food but for entertainment, the scene of death conveyed this message to Kang De.

Kang De stepped over the carpets of flesh, his gaze calm and indifferent.

The number of lives lost at his hands is countless, perhaps unmatched by anyone else on Earth. His motives for killing vary: sometimes to protect, sometimes to conquer, sometimes to torture. He can distinguish the subtle differences between each method of death and discern the killer's purpose, intention, temperament, and emotions from this cruel battlefield. He gleans the necessary information from the scene of death.

"This is a..."

Kang De concluded. "The ferocious and cruel superhuman enjoys the pleasure of killing, toying with and torturing his prey... and uses his abilities to torment, frequently using them, enjoying a sense of superiority over mortals; he is different, regarding mortals as insignificant pieces of meat..."

Horus said calmly, "Wouldn't it be some kind of punishment or vigilante justice? For human traffickers who assault, kidnap, and force innocent people into prostitution, such an end is just right."

"No."

Kang De said defiantly, "This is neither a messenger of justice nor a just punishment."

Iron Son asked in confusion, "Why?"

"Because..."

Kang De walked into the corridor that connected to the vast warehouse. Doors lined both sides, and each room was probably a torture chamber where kidnapped women were subjected to humiliation and coercion, as well as a place for receiving customers.

He pushed open the half-closed door, his expression cold and stern.

He showed no mercy to the weak.

Blood splattered all over the walls of the room, blackened blood soaking the entire mattress. A snow-white abdomen could be vaguely seen, but the living flesh had been torn apart, exposing foul-smelling intestines. The woman's eyes were wide open, her face stained with blood, filled with terror and pain.

As seen from Phoenix Vision, this blood-soaked, dark land is devoid of even the slightest spark of soul.

"Search all the rooms," Kang De said calmly, "... find An Youyi and her friends."

Horus dispatched drones, which roared down the long corridor. Kang De took out his satellite phone and dialed a communication link back home. "This is Kang De."

He briefly explained the current situation, "I started with the Albania mafia and identified the suspects in An Youyi's kidnapping as the 'Viking Skull' gang. I captured a prisoner to lead the way to their hideout."

Qin Mengjin sensed something was wrong. "What did you discover?"

"All gang members have been silenced, including the women they forced to work here," Kang De said calmly. "Torture and murder—the relevant departments need to create a file on this. It involves a brutal, cold-blooded, arrogant, and contemptuous superhuman—the most disgusting kind."

"Receive."

Qin Mengjin has already left Diaoyutai and joined the special task force established by the relevant departments to provide all logistical support and assistance for Kang De's trip to Britain. She said, "Would it be convenient to send photos?"

Believe me, you don't want to see this.

"It's okay, the photos from the scene can give us some ideas."

"If you insist."

Horus had already taken high-resolution photos, which Kang De transmitted. Because they were uncompressed high-resolution photos, the transmission was slow.

During this process, he checked the rooms one by one from the other side.

All the women who were kept and imprisoned were killed, without exception, and they were tortured and murdered in the same way as the human traffickers. The killer roamed the entire area, patiently and cruelly.

"All the victims died in ways related to metal; the bodies were mostly cut and dismembered, the pieces sharp and small, like some kind of sharp knife, and there were many of them... The killer's abilities may be related to metal."

Kang De maintained communication with his country, and his words seemed to be frozen in ice.

The faces of those women were imprinted in his mind, their pain and struggle before death. No one knew what they had experienced and how desperate they were before their lives ended. Their partially intact skin bore the marks of their terrible ordeals: needle marks, bruises, scars... Since being kidnapped by these human traffickers, their lives had been nothing but darkness, pain, and despair, even their deaths were like that.

These events all took place in the legendary, magnificent capital of a renowned developed country... This dirty and gloomy place, just a dozen kilometers to the south, lies a bright and bustling metropolis, with the towering London Eye, the magnificent Westminster Cathedral, and the serene Buckingham Palace.

This extreme contrast is simply the most hilarious joke.

"Father, six bodies of Asian women have been discovered. Most of them are unrecognizable, but judging from their body types, they don't match An Youyi at all."

Horus's voice rang in my ears. "At least there's one piece of good news."

Kang De paused for a moment, then slowly said, "It's absolutely terrible."

He heard a faint noise, looked outside, and saw someone scrambling and crawling out. Kang De flashed in front of the person, blocking their path, and whispered, "Where are you going?"

Xilei Hall stared blankly at the China man in front of him. He was too young, and even looked somewhat familiar. It took him several seconds to connect the man with A Chuan.

This is the man holding Dior.

He was initially surprised, but quickly became terrified. In extreme fear, some people's thinking speed becomes extremely fast, and the Albania quickly understood the current situation.

The reason I wore A Chuan's hood before was simply because he didn't want to show his true face.

However, the fact that they are not pretending now does not mean that the other party does not mind revealing their true colors.

Instead...

He screamed in terror and turned to run away, but time seemed to slow down. He saw the other person reach out and point at his forehead. The movement didn't seem fast, but he couldn't dodge it.

"You're just like them," Kang De said, "Not someone who can die too easily."

His fingertips touched Xilei's brow, and gently tapped it.

The next moment, an eerie purple bruise spread from the Albania's forehead.

A wisp of corrosive gas emerged, and the wound continued to widen. Xilei suddenly let out a scream, trying to wipe the wounds off his face, but then his hands also began to corrode. Some kind of destructive force was spreading continuously. He screamed and looked at his hands. His skin was deformed and twisted, growing huge growths, and ugly liquid spurted out of his skin.

He howled, agonized, and struggled. He wanted to retreat, he wanted to escape, but his feet seemed rooted to the spot. The terrifying substance permeating his body controlled him and obeyed a voice from the darkness that told them—"Don't move."

So he stayed where he was, and began his long death.

"This is what you deserve," Kang De said calmly. "He will too."

Horus asked with some concern, "Father?"

Kang De was silent for a moment, then slowly exhaled.

"I thought I would be indifferent to the suffering and death of foreigners, after all, they are not of my kind," Kang De shook his head. "But I was wrong; it's easier said than done—there's one more thing to do in Britain."

Iron Son's voice echoed with a calm yet resounding strength.

Agreed.

Just then, Alina contacted them via communicator. "Kang De? Have you found something?"

He hadn't spoken for a long time, and the reporter was somewhat worried.

Kang De thought for a moment, then frankly admitted, "Something unexpected happened. The Viking Skull's hideout was wiped out, and everyone died... including the poor women imprisoned here."

Alina exclaimed, "How could this be!?"

Then she lowered her voice, but still sounded somewhat hesitant, "Who did it?"

"Extraordinary individuals."

Kang De put it another way. "People who, like me, possess supernatural abilities that are different from those of ordinary people."

Alina was completely flustered and whispered, "I... what can I do? Like, expose this? Or mobilize the BCC's resources...?"

Kang De thought for a moment, then said gravely, "Let me think about it... If I'm not mistaken, this matter has become complicated, and you can't get involved; it's dangerous."

"You mean?"

"I'm not sure yet... I'll call you back in a bit."

Kang De interrupted the communication, paced back and forth, pinched his brow, and frowned in deep thought.

They had finally managed to pinpoint the Albania through the mafia route, but they had already been silenced, and the trail went cold. It sounded like terrible news, but...

"Father, what should we do next?" Horus asked. "Where should we begin?"

Kang De pinched his brow, as if talking to himself, "Calm down, things might not be so bad, because the act of silencing witnesses is itself a new clue..."

The Viking Skull's brutal and meticulous massacre is almost certainly related to the disappearance of An Youyi. Pressure from China was transmitted to the United Kingdom and then passed down from the United Kingdom government, leading to an investigation by relevant departments in London. This is most likely the reason why the Viking Skull was silenced.

"Silencing someone implies an attempt to cover it up, but why would you want to cover it up?"

This event seems extremely abrupt and is difficult to explain logically, but once it happens, it has its own reasonable internal logic. As long as we follow this clue to reason, we can find new directions.

The Divine Ring of Stellar Authority radiated light, Kang De, hovering in the air, drew line segments and their intersections.

"Let's start the deduction from the beginning."

"Let's see what clues we've gleaned from this murder case."

He drew a line.

"First, we can confirm a crucial lead."

Kang De said in a deep voice, "An Youyi's kidnapping is not a simple case of violence... it's not as simple as a local Albania gang kidnapping a young woman to sell."

"There must be deeper hidden motives and interests behind this."

"These Albania may simply be serving those behind the scenes, using human kidnapping to mask some need and sinister desire..."

He drew a line on the screen. "These deeper masterminds should have a certain influence within the United Kingdom political system. The evidence is that when the United Kingdom side received negotiations and requests from China, they were initially very proactive, but quickly became perfunctory and evasive. The surveillance cameras at the crime scene were damaged, and the hard drive was taken by the police, all of which indicate that someone within the police force wanted to drag this matter out until it was forgotten."

"Distrusting them is indeed the right thing to do... it would alert them."

"Then we can make an assumption."

"Suppose there exists a dark organization rooted within the United Kingdom elite, whose underlings abduct young women to satisfy certain desires and needs. They are very powerful, their tentacles extending into the United Kingdom government system, well-informed and wielding considerable influence."

Kang De stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, and then said, "But there are two new questions here. First, why silence them? Second, why send a superhuman to silence them?"

"They kidnapped a China man of considerable status, even prompting the China government to make urgent diplomatic representations. If it were me, what should I do?"

He muttered to himself, "Just a mere traveler, let him go. Spell him a bit and throw him in some trash can on the streets of London. If the China press him too hard, just pull out a few black-gloved men from the gang and throw them in jail to take the blame. Is it really necessary to go through this whole thing?"

There are only two possibilities for doing this.

"First..." A cold glint flashed in Kang De's eyes, "They can't hand over the person; An Youyi is already dead. Second, they don't want to release her."

"The first possibility is unlikely. Even if they killed An Youyi, they could chop her up and throw her in the trash, making it look like a heinous murder case and framing it on some homeless person. Making it a disappearance would only make the China side pursue her relentlessly, and the consequences would be too great."

"Then the second possibility... why don't you want to release them?"

Kang De's mind flashed back to An Youyi's face and figure. "She's a beauty, but just a beauty, nothing more. What great value does she have that would make the mastermind go to such lengths to keep her here and cut off all leads?"

"I think there's only one reason."

As he said this, his eyes flickered, and his expression became playful.

The fact that this place was massacred by superhumans indicates that superhuman forces were involved in this event.

An Youyi, the daughter of a wealthy China businessman, was not considered a beauty that could topple empires. After ruling out all other possibilities, the only possibility left was the correct answer.

"Extraordinary power..." he whispered, "This reason must involve extraordinary power."

That's all for now; the real reason is something only Kang De himself could investigate.

"Then the second point of doubt..." he continued, "Why send a superhuman to silence them?"

The forces behind this must have deep roots to be able to mobilize such powerful and ruthless superhumans. They could easily eliminate some gang members; why go to such lengths?

Keep in mind that the number of dead here is close to one hundred. Even in a China with little presence, this would be a shocking case that would reverberate around the world, let alone in London, United Kingdom.

If this situation were to be exposed, then the purpose of silencing them would be lost, and it might even...

--Kang De suddenly looked up, a flash of inspiration crossing his mind.

"We've found a clue!"

Upon hearing this, Horus exclaimed excitedly, "What?"

"We have the advantage... Horus, the enemy is in the open while we are in the dark, what is our greatest advantage?" Kang De laughed, "Of course, it's that the United Kingdom didn't know I was here from beginning to end!"

Iron Son looked bewildered. "Just give me the conclusion."

The conclusion is...

Before Kang De could answer, the satellite phone rang. It was Qin Mengjin. It seemed they had finished analyzing the on-site photos and had reached a preliminary conclusion and plan.

The call was connected.

Miss Qin said, "Comrade Kang De, the trail hasn't gone cold yet; we have a plan."

Kang De laughed, "What a coincidence, I also have a plan; perhaps we're thinking the same thing."

So what is your proposal?

"It's very simple."

Kang De looked up at the bloody and brutal slaughterhouse and said with certainty, "Stay here, and wait. Someone will come to collect the bodies. Someone will definitely come, and it won't be the police."

Qin Mengjin's tone contained a hint of a smile.

"Yes, that's our plan."

She stated, "An organization attempting to silence witnesses and cover up clues must wield significant and covert influence within the United Kingdom political system. The fact that the person responsible for the silencing was an extraordinary individual, not a well-trained Royal Special Duties Unit, indicates that this was a decisive and swift unauthorized operation."

"But acting without authorization will certainly receive cooperation from the relevant United Kingdom authorities afterward, because this place is a hideout for gangsters and also a brothel for the people in this area. The people coming to clean up the mess are probably already on their way. They won't let the bodies pile up here for too long. It's morning now, but by the afternoon, people will come looking for pleasure. If just one person calls the police in a panic, this matter will risk being exposed to the world."

"The deaths of hundreds of people, all brutally murdered, are enough to cause huge upheaval in the United Kingdom politics."

"The impact will inevitably be long-lasting and far-reaching."

"Therefore, regardless of who is involved in this matter, which organization is carrying out this private operation, whether the organization is official or private, and no matter how powerful they are, they will definitely choose to cover it up and clean up the mess after they've done it... In other words, it won't be long before someone comes to collect the body."

"So the solution is to wait and see who's responsible for collecting the body."

Qin Mengjin brought up the Kang De interface at this point.

Whoever comes is the clue.

His tone was cold and stern.

"They silenced witnesses, covered up the mess, and even forced the United Kingdom government to clean up their mess, but they overlooked one thing."

"They don't know I've come to the United Kingdom. They think this is just a matter of cleaning up their mess, but I'm here. I'll watch them, I'll follow them, I'll find them."

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PS1: I had explosive insomnia last night, for absolutely no reason, I just couldn't fall asleep... damn it.