From the Ship of Fools to Earl of Wugang

Chapter 96 [Four Signatures] Three Ghosts and One Corpse

The warehouse, located by police based on fuel orders, was sandwiched between two coal sheds, with a loading and unloading platform on the river side and a drainage ditch behind it.

At 10 p.m., six police officers surrounded the area from the front and back, and Edmund and others followed Douglas into the main entrance.

The warehouse was filled with the strong smells of camphor, preservative oil, and old wood. Three open coffins were placed side by side against the wall, their linings still containing traces of grayish-white bone powder.

On a nearby workbench were bone saw pliers, copper wire, waxed wire, and strips of cloth, with several blank lead sheets piled up next to them.

Just as Edmund was looking around, a suppressed sob suddenly came from the corner.

He cautiously walked over and found a young man wearing a shipyard apron tied to a pillar, his mouth stuffed with tarpaulin, and large patches of blood already congealed on his forehead.

Just as Douglas raised his hand to signal the officers to disperse, the sound of wooden legs hitting the ground came from the side door facing the river.

A broad-shouldered man pushed open the door and entered, revealing a dark wooden leg beneath his right trousers, with an oilcloth bundle tucked between his arms.

The old scar on his face, which ran from his ear to his jaw, was particularly clear under the kerosene lamp, but after only a few steps, he seemed to notice the unusual situation in the warehouse and turned to leave.

"Jonathan Garn!" Douglas shouted. "Bartholomew Schoertau was poisoned. I'm certain the culprit is here. Make the arrest!"

Garn froze, but then came the sharp sound of metal scraping against the stone wall from the drainage ditch. A grayish-white hand emerged from the black water and gripped the edge of the ditch. The hand, with its skin torn and flesh ripped open, was like a swollen hair, with exposed finger bones at the damaged spots.

But Edmund then saw that the monster, which had used this strength to leap out of the ditch, was only as tall as a child.

However, the monster had three skulls of different sizes sewn together from its chest and abdomen to its shoulders and neck, causing everyone to gasp in horror.

【Corpse Spirit Ghost】

[Formed from the remains and resentment of three individuals who swore an oath together. The three souls retain parts of their former will, share hatred for those who broke their oaths, and will fight each other over the ownership of the treasure.]

The oath of the four men on the lead plate sustains its existence, with the sole survivor able to command the three dead through the oath.

Amidst the crowd's terror, the horrifying monster lunged at them with an overwhelming sense of oppression befitting its size.

Conrad drew his sword and stepped between the monster and the others.

"I swear to vanquish all evil with my courage!"

With a shout, a silver glint flashed along the blade, and he dodged the monster's first grab attack by sidestepping. The blade then sliced ​​into the monster's elbow.

The torn flesh was completely bloodless, with only black oil seeping out from under the blade.

The monster moved extremely fast, climbing up the pillar with a single push of its feet and then swooping down from the crossbeam.

Conrad retreated two steps, his sword precisely parrying the claws, and then left a second gash on its chest with a backhand strike.

In the brief exchange, neither side gained the upper hand.

The next moment, the two crooked skulls on the monster's shoulders simultaneously opened their jaws.

Two semi-transparent undead broke free from the stitched-up body and lunged at Conrad from the left and right.

Jiliu grabbed a hammer from beside the workbench and charged at the undead on the left, while Douglas fired two shots.

"Don't even think about it!" "Stop! Evil spirits are not allowed to obstruct law enforcement here!"

The hammer in Jiliu's hand flashed red as he swung it, directly repelling the undead; the inspector's command slowed the undead, and the bullet then pierced the chest of the shadow on the right, exploding in a dazzling flash of fire.

Conrad and his two companions fought off the evil spirit that suddenly appeared. Meanwhile, at the other end of the warehouse, Garn had already crossed the side door and was only a dozen steps away from the loading dock on the riverbank.

But Edmund kept his eyes on him the whole time. The former seized the opportunity, staring at an open space beside Garn, and determined his landing point in two seconds.

My field of vision then contracted inwards at the edges, and the ground beneath my feet briefly lost its weight.

The next instant after [Astral Blink], he appeared behind and to the side of Garn.

The dizziness from the teleportation was quickly suppressed as Edmund forced himself to take a deep breath.

Hearing the noise, Garn turned around, his hand already reaching for the pistol at his waist. But a sharp whistling sound erupted right in front of his face.

Having taken the brunt of the Banshee's Wail at close range, Garn dropped his short gun onto the wooden board, blood seeping from his nostrils and ear canals.

He fell to his knees, his wooden legs slamming heavily against the edge of the loading platform, and he screamed in agony while covering his ears.

Edmund's throat felt like it had been rubbed with coarse sand, and he could hardly speak again for a while.

Just as he was about to step forward and grab Gain, three overlapping roars suddenly rang out from inside the warehouse.

The stitched-together monster took a direct hit from Conrad's sword, its chest almost completely ripped open.

The two spirits simultaneously retracted into their bodies, smashed open the wooden crates, and rushed onto the loading platform.

The three main fighters chased to the side door, and the monster's arm suddenly exploded, swung out several tentacle-like things.

Conrad parried with his sword, forcing Douglas to retreat behind the door frame, but after taking a half step back, Torrent suddenly released his hammer.

She held the end of the hammer handle with her right hand, twisted her waist and abdomen, and threw the entire hammer out.

As it spun, a dark red light flashed along the handle of the hammer, and the heavy hammerhead struck precisely into the rift on its left shoulder that Conrad had cleaved open.

The spirit and the skeleton emitted a loud, bell-like sound at the same time, as if this invisible thing had been forced to accept the weight of steel.

The copper wires stitching the shoulder and arm broke in pieces, and the Corpse Demon was knocked sideways several steps, briefly loosening its grip on Garn's arm.

The torrent rushed over immediately, but the tentacles swept her ribs from the side again, throwing her back into the warehouse.

This shot bought Edmund time to fire. He raised his hand and fired two shots. The first bullet pierced the monster's damaged shoulder socket, and the second hit Garn's right arm.

The latter's oilcloth wrapping rolled off, and the Corpse Demon grabbed Garn again, leaping into the dark waterway with the shaky arm in tow.

The sound of the water was quickly swallowed up by the river, and chasing into the narrow waterway was clearly not an option.

Edmund picked up the oilcloth bundle and unwrapped it, finding a damp notebook, several half-carved fake ship nameplates, and a map of the eastern London waterways.

A quick glance revealed that Garn had recorded numerous voodoo techniques in his notes, including manipulating corpses, stitching together the dead, and preserving spiritual fragments.

He stole the remains of three companions from the cemetery on the island and pieced them together to create a vengeful spirit that could climb walls, poison, and obey commands.

Garn's records after arriving in London were more direct; he documented the river ports, routes, and donors, his purpose being self-evident.

There was a series of numbers repeatedly circled on the river map. Edmund, combining this with the tide level records in his notes, quickly found the corresponding location on the old shipyard map.

That was a group of long-abandoned dry docks downstream, where the Aurora could easily hide before the tide went out.

The shipyard assistant who had been rescued finally caught his breath. He drank some water, his voice still trembling.

"Garn forced me to make fake ship plates. When I was locked up here, I heard him arguing with that thing. There were three voices coming from its belly and head at the same time."

,

Douglas stopped flipping through his notes: "That monster can talk, so it's conscious?"

'

The assistant swallowed hard. "They kept saying the treasure belonged to four people," he said, "but Garn kept telling them to shut up..."