The Legend of the Fishermen of Sicily

Leo used a large, fat orange as a weapon for self-defense.

The weapon mistook Leo for being affectionate and started purring as soon as it was picked up.

Since Leo couldn't see any lights in any of the houses, he used his ears to follow the trail.

At first, all you could hear was the orange cat's purring. But after walking a dozen meters further in, you could faintly hear rhythmic 'clanging' sounds.

After walking several dozen meters more, the sound became increasingly clear...

"It's nearby."

Leo banged his head against the flashlight in his hand (because his other hand was holding a gun), hoping it would make it brighter so he could find that damn house as soon as possible.

As the sound became clearer, images automatically appeared in my mind.

Leo "saw" a tall figure wearing a raincoat.

With each clang, the man swung his axe, blood splattering everywhere, staining his raincoat even redder. He muttered maniacally, "You forced me to this! You all forced me to this!"

cough cough-

Leo quickly shook his head, trying to banish the image from his mind.

To suppress his unusually active imagination, he shifted some of his attention from hearing to sight, observing the surrounding buildings and environment.

Upon closer inspection, they actually discovered something.

He was standing near the spot where he first met the chubby orange cat.

There are people living nearby—Rosalia, the one who brought Monica home.

Then I remembered the day they met.

The poor quality of Rosalia's front door allowed Leo to hear every word of her whispered conversation with Monica.

If there really is a psychopath hiding nearby, then that door is practically useless.

"Why would this family live here?" Leo wondered, looking at the dilapidated houses around him.

He saw Rosalia at the fish market every day, which meant that someone in her family was a fisherman.

Fishermen are among the high-income earners in Sicily; they shouldn't have ended up like this.

Just as I was thinking about these things, the cat in my arms suddenly moved.

It broke free from Leo's embrace and jumped down with a "whoosh." When Leo used his lamp to look for it on the ground, it was gone.

Having lost his "weapon," Leo instinctively moved towards what he considered a safe zone—near Rosalia's house.

As the footsteps moved, the clanging sound became clearer, as if it were coming from next door!

Leo's heart skipped a beat as he realized the seriousness of the problem.

Could the "psychopathic killer" be living in Rosalia's house?

The tall man in the raincoat in front of him seemed to have turned around and raised the blood-dripping axe in his hand at Leo!

Suddenly, Leo bumped into something leaning against the wall, his body swayed, and the psychopathic killer in front of him vanished.

He looked down and saw that what had tripped him was a shovel dripping blood!

Leo reached out and touched it; it didn't look like blood.

I lowered my head and smelled it again... it was seawater.

After confirming that it wasn't blood, Leo quickly examined the oddly shaped shovel.

It is about 1.5 meters long, with a non-slip grip on a long handle made of hardwood, and a 45° angled round tempered glass mirror at the other end. Below the mirror is a small stainless steel shovel that is 7 or 8 centimeters wide.

"Long-handled mirror shovel".

This tool is specifically designed for prying open sea urchins. Since Leo loves eating sea urchins and has watched many related videos and read many books, he recognized it at a glance.

The equally damp collection bag placed next to the long-handled mirror shovel further confirmed Leo's guess—someone in the room had just returned from harvesting sea urchins.

But what's strange is that sea urchins should be caught during the day.

Although sea urchins leave the reef area at night and actively expose themselves on the rock surface to make them easier to find, the water temperature is low at night, energy consumption is high, and visibility is poor, so normal fishermen do not choose to go out at this time.

Did I misjudge the situation?

Leo was a little unsure...

To find out what was going on, he conducted a thorough investigation of the area, hoping to glean more information from the smallest clues.

There is a high probability that this is related to the mission involving the psychopathic killer.

"Why does that clanging sound sound so much like chopping ribs?"

"Regular pork ribs aren't this tough; it must be the thigh bone, right?"

"Feet bones are great. You can make soup from them, debone the meat, dip it in minced garlic, and the marrow inside is delicious too."

"Slurp—"

The fact that Leo started thinking about food indicates that he had subconsciously lowered his guard.

Rosalia's care and protection for Monica made Leo subconsciously believe that their family wouldn't produce a "psychopathic killer."

He guessed that the people inside were most likely processing the fish they had brought back from the sea.

I don't know the specifics.

He also found wet flippers, a mask, drag marks from a heavy object, seaweed, and scattered shell fragments around the area.

As the investigation deepened, Detective Leo believed the case could be closed—the fisherman from Rosalia's family had not only just returned from catching sea urchins, but had also brought back some shellfish.

"They really went at night?" Leo pondered, stroking his chin.

Although the investigation results were unexpected, whether he went during the day or at night had absolutely nothing to do with Leo.

In Sicily, never be interested in other people's private affairs.

He opened the system panel, wanting to see if it had anything to do with him.

The "Tracking" task in the system has not been completed.

"Isn't it sea urchins and shellfish being processed inside? Are there other things as well?"

Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed past Leo's eyes.

He instinctively looked over and saw the big, fat orange cat with its back to him, squatting in front of an old house without a door, licking its injured paw.

Leo whispered:

"Come here, we're going back."

The big orange cat ignored him and continued licking its paws. Leo went over and tried to pick it up.

"I'm not using you for self-defense this time. I brought you breakfast, and I'll take you there."

The chubby orange cat seemed to understand human speech, turned its head and meowed at Leo, then took the initiative to approach him.

Leo could clearly see that a small section of bloody intestine was stuck to the yellow fur around its mouth!

"Don't come any closer!!" Leo ran back the way he came like a madman.

Behind him... followed a lame little kitten with its mouth wide open, meowing.

......

"Where did you go last night? You look terrible."

In the morning, Andrei arrived as scheduled. Today, he brought a folding chair and even more snacks.

Leo rubbed his messy hair:

"I was chased by a cat at night."

Andrei laughed heartily and said:

"How can you be afraid of cats? The cats in Marzamemi are all adorable."

So, I'd like to ask, what if someone has intestines hanging from their mouth?

Big Fat Orange thought Leo was playing a game of cat and mouse with him, so he dragged his crippled body and chased him for two miles.

Leo fled to the rocky beach, and it followed, but dared not go into the water, so it just squatted and watched from a distance.

After daybreak, Leo went to check and found that the intestines around its mouth were gone, and he didn't know where they had rubbed off to.

But the thought of that section of intestine made him unable to look at the big, fat orange cat the same way... A rift developed between the two brothers.

"You watch over things for me for a bit, I'm going to the fish market." Leo helped Andre unfold the recliner.

"Go and come back quickly." Andrei tapped his wrist, reminding him that it was time for class.

"I'll be right back." Leo walked toward Rosalia's stall.

The fat orange cat disappeared near Rosalia's family.

That section of intestine might be related to their family.

Leo wanted to go to her stall and see what she was selling today.