The incident had happened so suddenly that Paul Smith, having narrowly escaped death, was left dazed for a moment.
He looked around and realized that all the people lying on the ground were unfamiliar faces. He instinctively murmured, "Could some black market operation have resurfaced... and we just happened to stumble into it?"
"I don't think it's that simple." Wizet gently shook his head and looked at Paul Smith. "Mr. Smith, did you follow a fixed route during your patrols?"
"A fixed route?" Paul Smith forced himself to focus, then slowly nodded. "I... suppose we did have one?"
"Although we had to deal with sudden incidents across different areas while on night duty, there were several places we focused on during patrols."
"Like the old docks and warehouses where we first trained, and then here... this old factory district."
Wizet's tone was more serious than before. "If the route was fixed, then their ambush here had a very clear target."
"From the very beginning..." Paul Smith raised a hand and thumped his forehead a few times, finally clearing his head somewhat. "They were after us?"
"Yes." Wizet nodded and raised his wand, pointing it at the Acromantula's head beside him. "Mr. Smith, I don't know how much you know about Acromantulas."
"Uh... Acromantulas..." Paul Smith gave an embarrassed, awkward laugh. "I've mainly dealt with smuggled Acromantula venom. As for anything else... I really don't know much."
He looked at the Acromantula's head where the wand pointed and hurriedly asked, "Is there something wrong with its head?"
"Perhaps it will become clearer with a Tracking Charm." Wizet spoke the incantation. "Apparition Trace!"
With a light flick of his wand, a cloud of golden dust poured from its tip and drifted onto the Acromantula's head.
Paul Smith's eyes widened. Under the Tracking