Unable to repay my student loans, I had no choice but to work part-time as a demon hunter.

Next, Gordon turned to the broken warehouse to continue collecting traces of the Otherworldly Demons.

Martin picked up his notebook and began observing the policewoman.

"New here?"

"Shireen Paisley." She leaped over the cordon and immediately saluted. "A rookie officer from the Lundnium Police Department, arriving at the scene at 6:40 this morning, reporting to Investigator Holt."

"What is your role here?"

"I will obey all your orders, sir," Shirin said solemnly.

"You're even more of a genius than the last one," Martin agreed, then introduced, "Gordon Vick, my assistant from the university. Vera Cartret, an active hunter."

Compared to the towering Vera, Shirin looked much more compact.

Vera and Shirin exchanged a glance, clearly unsure how the other had developed such a physique.

"Vic, examine the scene. I need you to find traces left by the attackers. It's time to test your investigative skills." Martin lifted the cordon rope.

"Is this the final test to become a trainee investigator?" Gordon walked toward the Black Gill Gang warehouse.

"It's the final piece of evidence. The trial sounds like some kind of myth." Martin would carefully analyze every joke Gordon made.

Shirin followed and crawled through.

The warehouse floor was black, and there were congealed bloodstains everywhere.

As Gordon walked, he tapped his cane around, recalling the afternoon he and Vera had come here to trade information about Harold with old Baz.

To outsiders, he appeared to be simply strolling around. In reality, however, he quickly absorbed everything that was happening.

[Ejector casing. 11.43mm caliber, police-grade size.]

[The police baton. The person holding it didn't let go until the very end, perhaps because they were frozen with fear.]

[A booklet. Even illiterate people need accountants.]

  

A pamphlet? Gordon noticed it was hidden under a warped wooden board, soaked through with water.

Judging from its thickness, it looks like an account book.

Gordon's heart skipped a beat.

This must be a sacred relic of the Black Gill Gang.

No wonder old Baz was so eager to come in; he wanted to take it back.

The Black Gill Gang deals in trade on the water, so this booklet must contain records of buyers, sources of goods, and regular customers.

With the gang gone, Old Baz will need to use it to reorganize his network of contacts and enemies, and may even use it to rebuild the Blackgill Gang.

Unexpectedly, it was Gordon who was the first to discover it.

By carefully examining the listings, you can understand the buyers and sellers, and then connect with them directly without needing a middleman.

Gordon used a thread to pull it out from the crack in the floor, intending to submit it as evidence.

Of course, this will have to wait until he has fully memorized the content.

Gordon then glanced around, getting a general idea of ​​what was going on, and the model in his mind gradually became complete.

The damaged warehouse was sketched out layer by layer in my mind: how the beams broke, how the walls collapsed, how much impact the floor had suffered, how many bullet holes were in the walls, and how many spent shell casings were scattered on the ground and in the water...

[Fragments of worn-out keratin. Skin flakes left behind by some enormous creature, who clearly didn't know what shampoo was.]

This thing was about half the size of a palm, grayish-white. Gordon dredged it up from the black water below the hole and put it into a sampling bottle. It could be used to track the dragon lizard demon.

Less than a minute later, Gordon walked through the scene and returned to the vicinity of the cordon.

"Shirley, you've been here for a long time. What have you seen?" Martin asked Shirley first.

"It was complete chaos," Shirin admitted. "The walls and roof were collapsing outwards; the force of the destruction came from inside the warehouse. There were ten spent shell casings at the scene, but that didn't stop the attackers."

"Gorden?"

"It is indeed chaotic, but there is a sequence to the chaos." Gordon pointed with his cane.

"First, the attackers broke in, rendering the attackers unable to resist. There were only bullet marks from patrol officers at the scene; there was no evidence of Blackgill Gang firing."

"Then the patrol officers arrived and tried to stop it."

"Then a large demon burst out from under the floorboards, destroying the entire warehouse. This thing was probably left behind when it rammed into the building with its horns or head." At this point, Gordon showed the fragments.

"Finally, the surging black river washed everything away," he concluded.

Shirin looked at Gordon with curiosity, really wanting to know how he had analyzed so much in such a short time.

Martin offered no comment, prompting everyone to step back.

"Give me the fragment."

He took the fragment from Gordon, knelt down on one knee, and pressed it onto the remaining floor of the warehouse.

Domain Expansion —

[Crime Scene: Silent Testimony]

The breeze froze, and the river ceased its gentle lapping against the bank. Gordon's abilities were instantly blocked, and Vera frowned.

The warehouse, which had already collapsed, has regenerated in front of everyone.

Strands of white mist rose from the ruins, rapidly climbing along the brick walls and the vanished roof ridges.

The walls were restored by the smoke, the floor was leveled again, the shattered window frames flew back from the river, and the tiles returned to their original positions.

Then, the smoke coalesced into a blurry human-shaped silhouette.

Nineteen white figures surrounded the table, and old Buzz was still dividing the spoils.

A door suddenly kicked open inwards, and two burly figures guarding the door collapsed, clutching their chests, while a terrifying creature bent down and entered.

Crocodile Man.

Its tail swept across the ground, and the ghostly figures simultaneously grabbed their throats, knelt down, convulsed, and struggled violently, like fish out of water.

Then, several men dressed as police officers rushed into the room, including a hallucination of Martin himself. The crocodile man turned to them and said a few words without making a sound.

Next...

The warehouse shook violently.

Even though it was just an illusion, everyone could still imagine the loud crash of wood and stone breaking, and a huge phantom bursting out from the ground.

A dragon-like head smashed through the ground, shattered rooftops, and sent tiles flying into the night sky. Walls crashed into the river. The rising water wall swept the living, the dead, and even tables and chairs into the Blackwater River.

"...!" Shirin clenched her fists, her eyes reflecting the monster.

"..." Gordon squinted and carefully observed, analyzing the alien demon's posture and movement.

Then, the walls, the figures, and the giant beast vanished, and the white smoke dissipated without a trace.

The real ruins reappear, with broken beams and gaps fitting together perfectly to catch every impact from the illusion.

Martin pieced together that bloody night from these clues, and this was the silent testimony.

He withdrew his power, the wind blew through the traces again, and the river flowed once more.

Gordon now understands why the housekeeper had refused to let the investigators into the house.

This kind of ability is too abnormal.

He looked back at the citizens outside the cordon; they were completely unaware. Martin's ability even isolated them from internal and external perception, allowing the footage to be shown specifically to them.

"The scales... they might have residual spiritual energy." Gordon reached out his hand.

"This is what we've been chasing, Gordon." Martin returned the bone fragments to Gordon for safekeeping. "A ruthless water-based ability user, and a gigantic alien demon, larger than any currently recorded."

"We need to send more police...and evacuate nearby residents," Shirin said in a low voice.

"It's swimming freely along the Blackwater River, and we can't move every single house. There's only one solution: kill it." Gordon looked up. "Vera, what do you see?"

"The crocodile-man sweeps its tail before activating its power." Vera surveyed the entire scene from beginning to end, her cold gray eyes fixed on the illusions of the crocodile-man and the giant alien demon.

"It could just be a habit. How can we prevent lung cancer?"

"Cut off his head before he activates his ability." Vera nodded. "As long as the enemy dies quickly enough, his ability manual will only be something he can read to himself."

"Where is the Dragon Lizard Demon?"

Vera recalled the book on the anatomy of the aliens that she had seen at No. 9 Knight Road.

"It's very long and very tall, completely unlike a normal size." She slowly revealed the correct answer, "So... its heart would be under a lot of strain, and it definitely has huge demonic organs to maintain its balance, so its blood pressure... is very high. If you just make a few holes near its arteries, it will bleed itself dry. I'm controlling it."

Indeed. The first detail Gordon noticed was that this dragon-lizard demon was enormous, with a dragon-like head and a giant snake's body.

It's so big it defies common sense, and defying common sense comes at a price.

This monster would have extremely high blood pressure if it wanted to pump blood throughout its body, so it could bleed very quickly by opening an opening of the same size.

"But the crocodile men and the monsters come together. That doubles the difficulty."

"So it costs more." Vera understood immediately.

"Money." Gordon turned to Martin.

Martin had clearly anticipated this. These two together would obviously not be wasting their time for the Empire.

"Shadows of Aston Street, 50 gold pounds; assassin, 50 gold pounds," Martin simply announced.

"This is certainly worth dealing with," Gordon finally said, emboldened. "This kind of threat is extremely evil and should be punished with justice."

"If the Fishing King is indeed the mastermind, then the assassins it sent have killed thirty-six people in the past three months. As you said that day, the deaths were not random." Martin finally revealed some information to Gordon.

He gave Gordon a document.

Gordon's gaze swept over the deceased's identity, occupation, address, and social relationships.

Rundnim's most famous river surveyor, hydraulic engineer, renowned building materials contractor who mastered new cement formulas, and a civilian member of parliament who voted in favor of river management on multiple occasions...

These names combined would have been enough to revamp the Blackwater River ten times, taming it into a gentle, clear, exemplary river, but now they've all vanished with the wind.

"All those capable of controlling the Blackwater River are dead." Gordon closed the document.

"Yes," Martin nodded. "The flood control committee is recruiting personnel from overseas again. Almost all the technical personnel in Lundenim who could serve as chief engineers have been murdered, and the few survivors have quickly left the city, clearly knowing they should no longer stay here."

"So the Tantric practitioners succeeded."

"Not necessarily." Martin's tone remained calm. "There's a brave citizen in this city who has been pushing for an investigation into cults, so I still have hope."

"Let's see who's so enthusiastic."

"You. Gordon. You are yourself."

"I?"

"The Secretary of State visited the Office last month, and she shared your insights."

Did she mention that Logris was incredibly powerful?

"no."

"That's not my opinion."

Martin refused to consider the circumstances under which Gordon had said those words to Lady Elizabeth the Gentleman.

"..." Martin took the octagonal badge out of his pocket.

The cold, precise octagonal badge is made of a cheaper material than a formal badge, but it is indistinguishable from a distance.

[Trainee Investigator Badge. A grand era of investigation has begun.]

"Approval?" Gordon nodded slowly.

"Yes, this means you can gain the cooperation of the citizens of Lundenim and the support of the Bureau of Affairs and the police, as long as your goal is to destroy the Blackwater Order. After completing certain tasks, you can also exchange them for the resources you want from the Bureau of Affairs. Now, I am officially issuing this recruitment."

"A decision by the higher-ups in the agency?"

"There isn't the kind of upper class you're thinking of."

"The Seven Ministers?"

"Irrelevant."

Who is that?

"The Emperor's will." Martin looked intently at Gordon. "Specifically, we must completely destroy the Blackwater Hermitage and the Fish King by September, whether they exist or not. There can be no shadow under the midday sun."

September. Gordon's heart skipped a beat.

He put the octagonal badge on his coat, and the ordinary old coat seemed to instantly gain weight.

With it by his side, no one in Lundnim would treat him like an ordinary person. Everyone would first reflect on how they had offended him.

"I have a plan, you have to trust me." Gordon smoothed his clothes, quickly making up his mind.

Martin pondered for a moment.

Based on his assessment of Gordon, Gordon's "plan" could trigger the next round of shocking events.

"Let's get this straight, there's a long road from trainee to full-fledged investigator." Martin turned to Shireen, "...Anyway, Mr. Vic is now an important field partner for the agency. Shireen."

"exist."

"Mr. Vic and the Blackwater Hermitage have an irreconcilable conflict."

"Of course, good and evil cannot coexist! Mr. Vic is clearly a partner of justice!" Shirin nodded.

Yes, Gordon's personal grudges, source material disputes, and industrial layout have all turned into punishing evil and promoting good, and he is very satisfied.

"Then, the partners of justice need the support of the police. Shirin Paisley, I want you to be in charge of cooperating with Gordon's plan to ensure that he can successfully defeat the alien calamity and wipe out the cult," Martin ordered.

Shireen turned to Gordon and saluted him.

"Shirin reporting to Investigator Vic! Please give the orders. I'm familiar with Lundnim, can mobilize residents to assist in the investigation, and am also an excellent marksman."

Gordon nodded.

"Shirin, please take note of the following arrangements I'm making."