The real life of an American police officer: Winning over others with virtue

Chapter 197 Inhumane
Cartman's breakdown was like a floodgate being opened; he collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down his face, and began to incoherently pour out more and more horrifying things.

If you then add to it the expressions of other people, you can further elaborate.

One after another, egregious cases that shocked the entire United States surfaced.

Looking at the group of demons from the nearby town of Ravenbrook, Eric's face had turned an extremely cold expression.

Because what this group of people did was both disgusting and infuriating, and abhorrent.

If we were to reorganize, these demons were already quite cruel in their first offense.

They took advantage of Ronaldo's cooperation...

……

……

This was only a first offense, the first time, and the methods used were so cruel. The nature of this is even worse than some serial killers.

This group can no longer be called human; they are a bunch of demons from hell.

No, even the devil would be humbled in comparison.

Moreover, starting with this incident, this group of demons went on to commit a total of thirteen cases, each more heinous than the last.

"So you have a dedicated base?" Eric asked calmly, his face expressionless, as he looked at the group of demons who seemed increasingly timid the more they spoke.

"Yes, it is."

Seeing the demons nod, Eric put away his phone. He noticed a dark shadow always floating behind the screen: "So who exactly intervened and rescued the person from your clutches?"

However, the demons wore expressions of considerable hesitation, gritting their teeth, and did not immediately explain, but this was in light of Eric's specific targeting of Cartman.

Cartman said haltingly, "It's Theo Stuart."

Eric frowned slightly and asked, "Is he also from this town?"

Cartman suddenly showed a hint of fear: "Yes."

Upon hearing this, Eric stood up and began to search the demons for the cable ties they had prepared beforehand, binding their hands and feet one by one.

Even though they tried to move him with pitiful expressions and blamed everything on external factors, such as their parents not raising them well, etc.
But Eric remained resolute. He knew perfectly well that apart from Cartman, who had a tiny, pitiful chance of regaining his conscience, the rest were basically beyond saving.

Because these demons all suffer from antisocial personality disorder, are generally and severely ruthless, and lack empathy, remorse, and moral conscience.

This is a fundamental flaw at the personality level, which is extremely difficult to change through conventional means.

In other words, this is a group of hopeless individuals whose minds have been completely corrupted by darkness and whose behavior patterns have been fixed as predators.

Any existing psychological correction or rehabilitation methods are inadequate, or even completely ineffective, in the face of such deep, early, and comprehensive antisocial personality disorder and violence addiction.

Letting them continue to flaunt their power is harming others.
Because their personality and behavioral patterns are already highly dangerous and irreversible, the risk of recidivism is extremely high, and the risk of recidivism is almost inevitable.

Ignoring the demons' cries and pleas for mercy, Eric stood up and looked towards Tifa.

Judging from the look in her eyes after she nodded over, Tifa had already finished her own work.

Finally, under the watchful eyes of Steve and Jenny, who were embracing each other for comfort and warmth, the two began to reunite and do some initial preparation.

“Darling, the waters of this town run deep.” That was Tifa’s first sentence.

Eric nodded in deep agreement. From the words of the group of demons behind him, he could always sense that a dark shadow was standing behind them.

This is what Cartman refers to as Theo Stuart.

It wouldn't be accurate to say he was just observing coldly, because this person appeared precisely at the peak of the demons' cruelty, when the victims reached their limit.

According to Eric's count, in a total of fourteen cases, a man named Theo Stuart appeared six times and saved a total of eight victims.

Importantly, these eight surviving victims did nothing, allowing the evildoers behind them to remain at large.

This is something Eric couldn't figure out: if it were just one or two victims, that would be one thing, perhaps there was some reason behind it.

But a total of eight victims survived. The probability of them not seeking revenge and reporting the perpetrators to the police is too low. Moreover, this incident, which could obviously shock the entire United States if exposed, has been completely ignored, with no news from the whole country.

Eric concluded that either the victim was rescued by this man named Theo Stuart, or he killed him.

Either he's keeping them locked up at home or somewhere else, and they haven't been released yet.

Tifa frowned immediately after hearing about Eric's situation.

Seeing her expression, Eric knew that Tifa had obtained some important information from Jenny.

He glanced at Jenny subconsciously; she was being comforted by Steve, and both of them were looking in their direction.

"So what is she trying to tell us?" Eric asked, turning his gaze away.

Tifa let out a soft breath, her brows still closed: "When she came down, she saw a boy who looked about the same age as the others over there."

At this point, Tifa seemed to be absorbing and processing all the information. She paused for a moment and then continued, "The boy had drawn a picture, so Jenny went over to look out of curiosity and found that he was drawing a horrific scene of a cult's blood sacrifice."

Upon hearing this, Eric and Tifa exchanged glances, and the same thought occurred to them.

That's because a cult was entrenched in Crow Creek Town. They may have known that these demons had early-stage antisocial personality disorder and exploited them.
With the additional information from Tifa, Eric felt as if his brain had been completely opened up. His mental attributes had increased to 15.5, and his memory, logical thinking, observation, perception and other functions all skyrocketed. Even his intuition had increased dramatically.

So, combining all the information he had, he quickly pieced together a line of reasoning.

In psychology, antisocial personality disorder does not appear suddenly. Its core characteristics, such as apathy, manipulation, violent tendencies, and lack of remorse, are clearly manifested in childhood and adolescence and will gradually worsen.

There is a clear developmental trajectory, from childhood conduct disorder to escalating adolescent behavior and then to the solidification of ASPD personality in adulthood, which is a progressive pathological evolution.

The behavior can escalate from minor violations such as lying or truancy to physical aggression such as fighting, and eventually to serious violence and abuse such as injuring people with weapons or sexual assault.

Emotional indifference is deepening.

Data shows that approximately 40%-70% of children with severe conduct disorder develop antisocial personality disorder in adulthood.

Therefore, there is a window for correction of such fundamental personality defects in the early stages.

But why did these demons skip the initial trajectory of deterioration after their first offense? Why did they directly evolve into a stable personality structure with solidified behavioral patterns?
Eric had a fairly clear picture in his mind: he seemed to see someone discover the behavior of these demons and then determine that they had rather extreme personalities.

Finally, this person deliberately led them from the very first step, such as having them torture animals or watch more gruesome scenes, gradually guiding them to the final step. This is why this group of demons had such a clear goal, and why their methods were so cruel even in their first offense.

Because their behavior, under this person's guidance, has escalated to this final step.

Then, this person remained a detached observer throughout the entire process, only showing up at the very end to rescue the victim.

Based on this act alone, this person would definitely have the charisma of a savior in the eyes of the victim who had gone through hell, because this person brought her from hell to heaven.

Thinking about this, Eric's eyes began to change, because he sensed the style of a cult from this.

To become a high-ranking member or leader of a cult, a person's appearance must meet the requirements; they may not be extremely handsome, but their demeanor must be impeccable.

He will definitely be calm, focused, and even have an almost divine compassion.

His movements were extremely gentle, his eyes deep and focused, looking at the victim as if he were gazing at a lost treasure.

He would whisper words of comfort, not empty words of solace, but words that directly addressed the deepest fears and sources of pain in the victim's heart: "They can no longer hurt you; your pain has been seen by the Holy Spirit."

This stark contrast between extreme brutality and extreme tenderness can create a powerful cognitive shock and emotional dependence in victims under traumatic stress.

This is why, even though eight victims have been rescued, these demons remain at large. The sins here are like stones sinking into the sea, protected by a layer of darkness.

This Theo Stuart certainly knows his stuff; he's a true 'person' in a cult, or rather, a cult leader has his own set of methods.

Eric sighed inwardly and said to Tifa, whose brow was now furrowed in a knot.

"Do you think it's possible that these victims have become sacrifices on this stage?"

He believed that Tifa could keep up with his thinking; after all, Tifa might seem like just a pretty face, but she was actually a top student in the psychology department at Stanford University.

A genius who can be recommended by his mentor to BAU and directly occupy a core position.

Compared to Tifa, he was at best a cheat-like genius with Deep Blue's stats artificially boosted.

“There’s a high probability,” Tifa sighed, understanding Eric’s expression.

"Otherwise, there would have been more news. If it weren't for people like us stumbling upon them, they probably would have..."

Tifa didn't finish her sentence, but Eric understood and glanced at Jenny and Steve over there.

These two people are definitely relatively civilized, and in the assessment, it would be very difficult for them to escape the clutches of these demons.

No, it's absolutely impossible for an average person to escape.

After all, they weren't as familiar with the geography as others, and they had other burdens. Besides, even a skilled fighter can't beat two fists, and two fists can't beat four hands.

In addition, the other side also has a Lovina.

"Should we call the police?" Tifa asked instinctively.

Eric shook his head: "I don't trust the people here."

The administrative structure here is divided into four levels: federal government, state, county, city (which is actually directly under the state's leadership), borough, town, and village.
According to this four-level division, the police are in charge of their own areas. For example, the FBI is in charge of major national cases, state police are in charge of highways and more remote suburbs, and city police are in charge of urban areas. So, a town like Ravenbrook is naturally under the jurisdiction of the locally elected sheriff.

In other words, the person in charge here was elected, and given the presence of a cult in the area, this sheriff lacks basic trust.

Tifa understood: "I'll talk to my supervisor, but these conditions alone aren't enough to get the FBI involved."

Eric nodded and said, "They have another base, and I reckon there'll be even more stuff inside. I think the FBI will be very interested."

Tifa nodded in agreement.

“Let’s go take a look then,” Eric said, looking at Jenny and Steve over there.

"Take them with us too. I don't want anything to happen to these two as soon as we leave."

Tifa also looked back.

Jenny and Steve, who had narrowly escaped death, were completely bewildered and looked at each other in confusion.

------------------

Soon after, Eric and Tifa took them to visit the gruesome real scene.

Only in this way can they know how lucky they are, and they will no longer have the thought that the demons are not worthy of death and that they should not have done this.

If so, then in Eric's opinion, this person definitely has something wrong with their head.

Including the controlled demons.

During the incident, the boy with the knife, whose injuries had been treated briefly, briefly woke up. Before he could shout or make any threats, Eric swiftly knocked him unconscious with a single karate chop.

This also made the controlled, cowardly demons tremble and fall silent.

The group thus arrived at what the demons called the House of Pleasure.

It's not far from the lake shore, but it's hard to find because it's located deep in the woods.

The narrow path was just wide enough for a car to pass through.

Finally, a clearing surrounded by tall, twisted, and withered trees appeared before Eric and his companions.

A rather simple wooden hut stands in the open space, similar to an abandoned hut used by forest rangers.

Several windows were boarded up, the remaining glass was covered with thick grime and suspicious dark splatter, the chimney was half collapsed, and the porch planks looked rotten.

Eric and Tifa got out of the car and looked around the cabin.

Jenny and Steve, who were deep in thought and looked somewhat melancholy, also got out of the car. They had just learned some things about this group of people and what kind of devils they were.

"Are you sure you want to come in?" Eric turned to look at the couple.

Jenny and Steve exchanged a glance, and finally Jenny shook her head: "I'm afraid of having nightmares."

Only Steve gritted his teeth and nodded, saying, "I wonder what Jenny and I might face."

Eric and Tifa exchanged a glance, then nodded and began leading Steve toward the cabin.

(End of this chapter)