Max's massive revolver was an Extraordinary weapon. The bullets it fired not only had some armor-piercing capability, but also had power comparable to a hand grenade.
This shot had just blasted the man's head open, tearing the flesh, and even his left eyeball had popped out.
But the man only let out a pained cry, then, glaring with his one remaining blood-red eye, smashed through the corridor window and jumped down from the third floor.
The reason this guy fled from the front was that there were two members of the Machinery Hivemind guarding the back of the building.
Downstairs in the front, there was also a Machinery Hivemind member guarding with two armed policemen.
However, the man's bloody and mangled head scared the two policemen so much, they forgot to draw their guns...
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
The Machinery Hivemind member had stronger mental fortitude and fired several shots at the man in succession.
The man was hit twice more in the chest and abdomen but still turned and bolted towards the carriage, intending to use it as cover. His running speed was extremely fast. Whether it was Max, who had jumped down from the third floor in pursuit, or the Machinery Hivemind members ambushing below, compared to him, they were as slow as snails.
Fortunately, there weren't many pedestrians on this road. The few who were there immediately scurried for cover upon hearing the gunshots, seeking shelter. Otherwise, they would certainly have been startled by this gruesome scene.
The man ran across the road, getting closer and closer to the carriage.
*Whoosh!*
Suddenly, a cold glint shot out from one of the carriages. It was a metal arrow with a simple wind-element array.
He quickly dodged. Although the arrow didn't hit a vital spot, it still pierced into his shoulder. But this injury meant nothing to the man.
Just as he was about to continue running, a second arrow shot towards him, this time aiming for his leg.
Although the man had extremely strong resistance to blows, being shot in the leg would affect his running, so he had to jump aside to avoid it.
The third arrow was aimed at the man's hip. The pain from his head and the urgency to escape made him roar and charge towards the carriage that had fired the arrows, intending to overturn it and kill the person inside.
Thankfully, with Odis's obstruction, Max and his men caught up...
*Bang!*
The oversized revolver fired again, hitting the man's left shoulder, instantly tearing the flesh open once more, exposing the shoulder blade. The immense force of the bullet sent him stumbling, nearly falling.
Odis, who was in front of him, seized the opportunity and shot an arrow into the man's heart.
The man stopped dead in his tracks, letting out some terrifying roars while desperately clawing at his chest, trying to pull the arrow out.
*Bang!*
Max's oversized revolver fired for the third time, hitting the man's back. A large chunk of flesh was blasted away, and the heart, which was already punctured by the metal arrow, fell out of the chest cavity.
The man let out a final scream, fell forward, and lay twitching on the ground.
Max approached and fired another shot into the man's back... Only after the heart was completely shattered did he feel relieved.
Several Machinery Hivemind members gathered around. Max put his gun back into its holster and gave a thumbs-up towards the carriage.
Odis, aboard the carriage, smiled faintly, unhooking the arrow he had just placed on the crossbow. Looking at the bloody man on the ground, he muttered, "Werewolf..."
Then he chuckled, saying, "Beyonders of this Pathway are really resilient."
Odis suspected that this guy was most likely a member of the Rose School of Thought. Previously, he had received news that after the Rose School of Thought's Indulgence faction received a heavy blow from the Machinery Hivemind, several of their strongholds were subsequently exposed.
However, the people in those strongholds had already withdrawn. Judging from the clues left behind, it seemed the Rose School of Thought had withdrawn from Backlund in an orderly manner.
At the time, Odis found it strange. He struggled to understand how a universally despised Beyonder organization could withdraw so openly.
In his view, the Rose School of Thought exposing so many strongholds at once was like actively providing clues to the official Beyonders, which was no different from leaving Backlund while announcing their departure through a megaphone.
He had suspected then that the Rose School of Thought's withdrawal was a 'show' for others. It might have been for the Machinery Hivemind and other official Beyonder organizations, or for Sharron and her group. In any case, the audience was not small.
With the exposure of this 'Werewolf', however, the previous act of withdrawal by the Rose School of Thought had been for naught.
Under Max's command, the Machinery Hivemind quickly cleaned up the battlefield, and the flesh and blood on the road were also cleared away.
They dared not perform spirit channeling on such heretics; they simply took the body away and waited for the Beyonder characteristic to emerge.
Then, led by Max, they entered the Werewolf's room.
Odis, who was in the carriage across the road, saw two policemen rush out of the room shortly after entering, vomiting violently in the corridor. Presumably, they had discovered something extremely bloody inside.
About twenty minutes later, a grim-faced Max came out of the room and boarded the carriage, sitting opposite Odis.
"What a bunch of lunatics." Max grumbled.
Noting the faint stench of corpses on him, Odis questioned, "You found bodies upstairs?"
"There were three bodies," Max nodded, saying, "One was already severely decomposed, but because the windows were sealed shut, the smell didn't escape outside. That was his bedroom. Recently, he had actually been sleeping with a rotting corpse."
Odis frowned, "Alright, alright, no need for such detailed descriptions." Then, somewhat curiously, he said, "Why didn't he dispose of the bodies? A normal person wouldn't keep an element that could expose them at any moment... Well, maybe their reasoning is different from normal people."
"The Church actually has some speculation on that point," Max explained, "Because similar things have happened before, some Machinery Hivemind members believe that rotting corpses might contain certain materials needed for some dark rituals for the 'Werewolf' Sequence."
Odis nodded, "That speculation is quite reasonable," Then he asked, "How long had this guy been living here?"
"For over half a year," Max said, "It seems he was a hidden agent placed by the Rose School of Thought. It's just that this guy's condition didn't seem very good recently, so he needed some dark rituals to stabilize his state. To avoid being discovered by official Beyonders, he used Werewolf Infection to acquire one or two subordinates..."
After a 'Werewolf' infuses their venom into someone's body for a period of time, they can gradually turn the target into a monster similar to that of a Werewolf. The monsters created by Werewolf Infection become subordinates to their creator and only obey their commands.
Though these monsters gain some of the Werewolf's abilities, they typically possess a very short lifespan.
Max continued, "This 'Werewolf' was relatively cautious. The subordinates he transformed were all vagrants. For such people, even if one or two go missing, let alone ten or eight, no one would notice."
He then glanced at Odis, "Yesterday, he sent a subordinate to the Gale's Herbal Shop in the faraway West Borough to buy 'Gold-rimmed Sunflowers' to disperse the traces of the dark ritual in the room. That's why we found no clues in our first round of investigation. And because Werewolves possess anti-divination abilities, we couldn't find any clues using Extraordinary divination methods either."
Odis frowned, "Why do I feel like we've missed a key part?"
"Your feeling is correct," Max said, taking out two portraits provided by Odis.
One was of Bernie, whom Odis had recommended to buy Gold-rimmed Sunflowers.
Odis didn't know the name of the person in the other one. It was the customer who was received by his assistant, Kain, when Odis wasn't in the shop. He directly purchased Gold-rimmed Sunflowers.
"Upstairs, we didn't find the body of this person named Bernie. We only found the body of this other person who had also bought Gold-rimmed Sunflowers." Max said, "He died not long ago. He lived for a while after buying the Gold-rimmed Sunflowers and probably only died this morning."
Odis clapped his hands, "Ah! I understand what that key part is! This 'Werewolf' was usually relatively cautious, but he seemed utterly insane while escaping for his life just now. Since he had already sent someone to my shop to buy Gold-rimmed Sunflowers in the morning, even if he still needed more, he wouldn't go to my shop again to buy them! Even if he did, Bernie wouldn't have given this address so honestly. It's like... it's like Bernie deliberately revealed that there was a 'Werewolf' in poor condition here."
Max took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a puff before saying, "This is also something I haven't figured out. Bernie's appearance was too suspicious."
"It seems someone was tipping me off," Odis said with certainty, "The other party knew I was an informant for the Machinery Hivemind, so they had Bernie appear to draw my attention."
Max stuck his hand out of the carriage window, "That is indeed a reasonable guess, but who could've sent Bernie?"
Odis thought for a moment before saying, "I will try to contact the members of the Rose School of Thought's Temperance Faction in Backlund, but don't get your hopes up too high... I might not be able to reach them."
The first suspect was, of course, Miss Sharron. She might have obtained the clue about this 'Werewolf' but was afraid of exposing herself, so she passed this clue to the Machinery Hivemind through Odis.
But the problem was, before this, Odis had no contact with the Temperance Faction. So how would Miss Sharron know about his informant identity?
Max nodded, "Having a clue is better than having none. I will continue searching for Bernie through the police. Perhaps some wild Beyonder discovered the Werewolf's traces and contacted us through you."
Odis grunted in agreement, "That possibility cannot be ruled out..."
...
Later, a Machinery Hivemind carriage took Odis back to the herbal shop...
Arriving at the lounge behind the shop, Odis confirmed no one was in the courtyard either, then suddenly spoke to the air, "I have something to discuss with the Queen Mystic."
After waiting for about two minutes and seeing no change before him, he repeated, "I have something to discuss with the Queen Mystic."
He kept repeating this for over half an hour...
Just as Odis was about to give up, a short phrase suddenly appeared on the table in front of him: <..I am here..>
....
{T/N: I'm struggling to find a suitable cover illustration for this fanfic... Any suggestions?}