Cthulhu America, I can see the kill line.

In an apartment in Chinatown, Xinxiang.

On January 3, 2076, a bloodless male corpse was found in apartment building number 3, right unit, at No. 23 Jianni Street, Xinxiang...

On March 15, 2076, a bloodless male corpse was discovered in Settlement No. 4 of the Baoli Street Slum in Xinxiang...

May 31, 2076...

Inside the apartment, at a large round table, Kong Jiu slowly flipped through the records of the nine cases, his eyes gradually becoming exceptionally sharp, his brows slightly furrowed.

This is the residence of Viper and her partner. The living room on the first floor is used as a meeting room and is filled with various notes, files, and clues about suspects hanging on the walls.

"You seem to have no aversion to photographs of human remains. Do you also enjoy this detective game, Mr. Kong?"

Viper came out of the kitchen carrying a tray with three cups of dark yellow tea, exuding a strong aroma.

"No, I have absolutely no interest in solving cases; I only worked part-time as a forensic pathologist."

Kong Jiu shook his head as he accepted the dark yellow oolong tea offered by Viper.

"Xinxiang truly lives up to its reputation as a big city. Even in a semi-slum like Baoli Street, the police take over the handling of corpses." Kong Jiu took a sip of tea, nodded contentedly, and a hint of emotion appeared on his face.

In Hills, almost everyone who died in the city was either sent away by pharmaceutical companies to be used as test subjects, or they were taken away by Hills and refined like Gundams before being sent to be used as teaching aids.

It must be said that Xinxiang treats slum dwellers much better, at least in terms of the treatment of the dead.

Mina followed suit and took a sip of the tea, but the bitter taste made the beautiful woman, who also had an Eastern face, squint. She swallowed it with difficulty, stuck out her tongue, and showed a look of disgust on her face.

This made Kong Jiu and Viper look at her with a strange expression.

"Xinxiang is a large city, so the police station is naturally under a lot of pressure."

Viper put down her plate and pointed to the map on the clue wall.

On the map, nine red dots are arranged diagonally, four above and four below, and together with the red dot in the very center, they form a large X shape.

"The letter X clearly indicates that the murderer disposed of the body with a specific purpose, or rather, chose the crime location."

Viper frowned, her gaze fixed on the diagonal cross formed by the blood-red dots.

"After the seventh case, my partner and I warned the police station that the next possible location was in the letter X, but even so, the police still did not intend to take this case seriously."

Viper frowned, a hint of helplessness flashing in her eyes: "My partner, as a police consultant, had no choice but to turn his attention to other unsolved cases. He even gave me a hint, saying that the death toll was crucial."

Her finger traced the photos of the victims, her expression helpless: "I think so too. If this were just an ordinary murder case that would be reported and seen by the public, seven such cases in a row would have already caused widespread panic in Xinxiang."

"But as long as a case is related to psionics and is accepted by ICE, the police don't take it seriously and delay these files indefinitely."

"It's as if the fact that someone died at the hands of a blood descendant means we can't investigate the case openly and honestly."

Viper looked at the file folders covering the table, her expression clearly showing dissatisfaction, and her tone carrying a hint of sarcasm.

"It's good enough that there are any records at all."

Kong Jiu looked at the large X on the clue wall, "In more backward areas, illegal immigrants are dying in droves, and the police don't even bother to look at them."

X?

What does this mean?

Kong Jiu approached the map, leaned forward slightly, and examined it carefully for a few more moments, a hint of confusion flashing in his eyes.

"You've even been to one of them, Mr. Kong."

Viper pointed to the very center point.

"This central point is the residential building next to the Titan Building; you passed by here yesterday."

Kong Jiu's gaze deepened, and his expression became solemn.

Nine incidents, the letter X, Titan Tower, the victim's blood was drained completely, leaving no trace...

All indications suggest that this is not a routine case, and it is reasonable to transfer it to ICE.

But deep down, Kong Jiu felt as if he could guess what the connection was.

What do the victims have in common?

Kong Jiu turned to Viper and asked.

"No," Viper shook her head, a hint of confusion on her face. "From 7-year-old children to 82-year-old grandmothers, regardless of social status or skin color... the nine victims had nothing in common except that they all died at the point marked with the letter X."

"I even suspect that the murderer committed the crime with the mindset of collecting illustrations."

collect?

Kong Jiu was somewhat distracted as he looked at the dossier.

collect……

He was also collecting something else—"concepts".

Was the killer performing some kind of ritual by attacking the letter X, gathering what he needed to achieve some purpose?

Kong Jiu had dealt with many cult members and gangsters, and knew very well that these madmen would take other people's lives for some seemingly absurd logic.

X, the center point, Titan Tower.

Titan Building is the entrance to Lixin Township, Lixin Township, Lixin Township...

Kong Jiu casually asked, "Viper, I heard from ICE agents that you like to operate in the central urban area of ​​Lixin Township, supposedly to investigate cases?"

Viper nodded, glanced at Mina, and said, "If psychic politicians can even come up with a method to materialize souls to burst the Iron Curtain, they would naturally dare to send those suspects listed as 'banned from leaving Xinxiang' to cause trouble."

Mina stuck out her tongue, a mischievous look on her face; she was one of those people.

"So? You found someone in the central urban area of ​​Lixin Township who seems to be a descendant of the suspect?"

Kong Jiu asked, his gaze focused.

"They're wandering spirits." Viper shook her head.

The battle in the central urban area of ​​Lixin Township is a standoff between the top combat forces of both sides, each occupying half of the area to collect the souls of the dead, without interfering with each other.

Both sides "sealed" most of their experts in performing rituals for the deceased and their top combat power in the central city area to prevent the battle from spiraling out of control on a large scale. This was a respectable rule that allowed the ritual to continue.

"That ghost happened to be one of the victims in this case," Viper said, taking out a profile.

Leanna Fax, aged 82, was the sixth victim in this series of cases.

This old woman was a famous spiritual medium in Xinxiang in the last century. In her later years, she developed Alzheimer's disease, and after her death, her spirit was also somewhat demented and extremely difficult to communicate with.

But since she was the soul of the victim in this case, Viper placed a lot of hope on the old woman, hoping to get some clues out of her.

Unfortunately, Viperi had to represent the Red Team in Lixin Township and also extract intelligence from a dazed ghost, leaving her with no time to spare.

"Ms. Leona was probably already mentally unstable when she passed away, so very little information could be gleaned from her."

As Viper spoke, she took a mini recorder off her trench coat.

Kong Jiu took it and pressed play:

"Death is like a cool summer night, a time for peaceful sleep..."

A hoarse, elderly woman's voice came from within, followed by Viper's voice:

"Ms. Liana, I'm asking you, did you ever see any people of pale race during your lifetime?"

"Bloodline? Of course I've spoken with Lincoln; he hates bloodlines."

"Ms. Leona..."

"That's right, ten! Abel sealed away ten bloodline progenitors. Unless a descendant performs ten unsealing ceremonies!"

"Well, it seems we can't communicate again today."

As Viper's last recorded message was played, Kong Jiu looked at the two women with a complicated expression and a furrowed brow.

"A pointless conversation, right?" Viper shrugged, her face full of helplessness.

Kong Jiu didn't reply, stiffly turning his head and staring intently at the bright red X on the map.

"Viperi, your partner gave you a hint: the death toll is key, right?"

Viper nodded, looking at Kong Jiu with a puzzled expression.

Kong Jiu stared at the bright red X, his eyes growing increasingly deep.

"Is it possible that X isn't a letter, but the Roman numeral ten (X)?"