Chapter 305 - 171: ’Two-headed Dog Experiment’, ’Freak Show’, ’Beast Creation Technique!’, ’Prostitution!

Zhao Shui gulped, staring blankly at the Hei Gou before him.

"Something like that, but with a hint of revenge."

Xu Huo crouched down and examined it before reaching a conclusion.

"This is the so-called ’Beast Creation Technique’."

"Something that exists only in rumors and legends."

The Beast Creation Technique was also thought to be a creation of the seemingly carefree Beggar Gang.

It goes hand in hand with Life Collection and Cutting.

Unlike simply throwing acid, this technique turns people into animals—like dogs or human-faced bears—to be used for street exhibitions and performances.

However, due to certain biological and medical impossibilities, the Beast Creation Technique has never been proven to exist.

But it could certainly be used for revenge.

"You twist and fold a person’s limbs in a certain way, drape a dog skin over them, and shatter their mind. And just like that, a Hei Gou is complete..."

"This person is one of the deceased’s family members."

"It looks like he became... this... as revenge from the killer."

Xu Huo stood up and sighed.

The person in the cage didn’t look very old, probably just barely an adult.

According to the file, this was Zhao Shan’s son.

But now, his mind was so broken that he completely believed he was a dog, devoid of human thought.

"I wonder what methods the killer used..." Zhao Shui murmured.

"Probably the same methods the deceased used on them," Xu Huo said with a sarcastic smile.

Then he stopped, his expression hardening as he looked seriously at Li Jianye.

"Take him to the hospital for treatment. And get a few leading psychologists and psychiatrists on the case."

"Also, tell the team searching for the source location to hurry up!"

Li Jianye paused for a moment, then nodded. He then spoke:

"We just got word. The source location has been confirmed. It’s not the construction site, but an abandoned factory next to it."

"There are still some signs of life inside."

’They found it?’

Xu Huo paused. Without a moment’s hesitation, he turned, got into a police car, and sped toward the target location.

Watching his retreating figure, Li Jianye sighed. He then stopped and turned to look at the person before him.

"Beast Creation Technique..."

He murmured, watching the ’Hei Gou’ that kept growling at him, radiating hostility.

After a moment, Li Jianye shook his head to clear the distracting thoughts and began making calls.

’Perhaps... even if this ’dog’s’ body recovers, with no external injuries or deformities... his mind will most likely never return. He’s already gone insane. That’s probably why the killer let him go.’

Sometimes, being alive isn’t truly living. It can be more torturous and painful than death.

"Zhao Shui, call some people over..."

"I’m going to check out the scene."

...

...

The source location was where the killer had gone after leaving the crime scene, heading east before disappearing.

It was an abandoned factory.

The large machinery inside had already been removed. Almost no one ever came here, except for a few idle riffraff looking for scraps to sell.

But after coming many times and finding nothing left to sell, even they stopped coming.

But now, things were different...

There were signs of recent occupation!

At this moment, the vast, abandoned factory was filled with police. The echoes of their footsteps reverberated all around.

Countless blue police uniforms moved about, searching every corner.

"Traces of a fire, food supplies like rice and flour, a basement, and some excrement..."

"Judging by the timeline, it fits this case."

Xu Huo sniffed the air.

The smell inside the factory was identical to the one at the crime scene.

He had followed the scent of the ’Hei Gou’ to its source and found a basement.

Inside the basement were two twisted, deformed bodies.

One had been turned into a ’human swine,’ with its arms and legs removed, leaving only a torso. Its tongue, throat, ears, eyes, and nose had all been mutilated.

He had died in a void of sensory deprivation.

The other had been twisted into the shape of a cube, a truly horrifying sight.

"First, dispatch some people to search the surrounding area for anyone who escaped and underwent this... modification. We need to prevent public panic."

After a moment of thought, Xu Huo gave his first order at the scene.

A Police Chief nodded and immediately turned to make the arrangements.

As Xu Huo was pondering his next move, a voice suddenly cut through his thoughts.

"Find anything?"

Xu Huo paused and looked up to see Li Jianye, who had just arrived. He was frowning, his eyes constantly scanning the surroundings.

"Based on the information we had before," Xu Huo explained casually, "the masterminds tortured these individuals, who have now become the killers. After they escaped, they used the same methods to torture the families of their original tormentors."

He pointed to a vehicle outside.

There was a truck outside. It wasn’t large, but it carried several iron cages inside.

’If I’m not mistaken, the killers were likely transported back to Jiangsan City from the masterminds’ location under some pretense. But for some unknown reason, they managed to escape.’

And after that, people like Zhao Shan and Sima Kong were the ones who suffered.

"These methods..."

"Torturing people like this just to get so-called adrenochrome?"

Li Jianye frowned, starting to speculate on the masterminds’ motive.

Adrenochrome, a codename for an elixir of youth, not the actual chemical compound.

Places like Loli Island conduct these kinds of experiments.

If they truly believe that a substance secreted by a child’s body under extreme fear can be made into an anti-aging, youth-preserving potion... then, morals aside, using such methods to extract that substance would indeed be very effective.

Unfortunately, they still hadn’t found any clear evidence, only confirmed the methods used.

Xu Huo wasn’t concerned about that.

"Captain Li, do you think... how did they get money for food?"

Xu Huo frowned, crouching down to look at the remains of the fire.

"The killers are full of hatred. They didn’t touch a single cent of Sima Kong’s or Zhao Shan’s money, which they’d gotten from selling people."

"But, given their physical condition... they somehow had money to eat!"

"And they were even eating meat."

"How did they manage that?"

As Xu Huo finished speaking, Li Jianye finally noticed a wallet among the evidence bags. It was Sima Kong’s, and judging by the amount, none of the money was missing.

"They must have had a way to make money!"

"What way?"

Xu Huo’s brows furrowed.

’Without electronic payments, they would have had to get cash from someone in person. Begging? It’s efficient, sure, but if they were begging, the police would have likely found some leads.’

Of course, Xu Huo knew how they made money; he just couldn’t quite wrap his head around it. Their method of earning money...

"Check the construction site next door. See if anyone there was paying the killers for sex."

Xu Huo sniffed again, catching the faint scent of heather.

At the same time, there was another foul, fishy smell... the same one he’d smelled before in the Capital City, during the Lin Miao case.

"Paying for sex?" Li Jianye paused.

It was true that prostitution was common around construction sites. After being cooped up for so long, the workers often needed an outlet.

’But... which of the killers could possibly be selling themselves?’ Li Jianye frowned.

"Who knows? Maybe there’s a woman among them who still looks relatively normal," Xu Huo said offhandedly.

He then paused, looked at Li Jianye, and after a moment of silence, said:

"The killers were transported to Jiangsan City. There’s no way they could have crossed several provinces in their condition without being discovered."

"It’s highly likely they were shipped in through a port or harbor. And a port... means they came from overseas."

"Overseas... That’s beyond the reach of our police force for now."

"Report it up the chain."

Li Jianye paused, then nodded.

"Okay."

...

...

「Meanwhile, in the Capital City.」

Things hadn’t been easy for the Capital Special Fifth Bureau and National Security lately. They were pulling all-nighters and working overtime almost every day.

Everyone was running on fumes, completely drained.

Fortunately, the government had invested significant resources, and on the 4th, the workload suddenly dropped.

Inside the Special Fifth Bureau, Zhang Liang rubbed his aching head. He took a deep breath and exhaled as if a great weight had been lifted, a smile appearing on his face.

"Finally, we’re done with all this work."

"As long as nothing unexpected happens..."

"We’ll be able to have a good New Year this year."

Hearing this, Zhao Gang, who was nearby, also showed a faint, almost unnoticeable smile.

Indeed. Normally, there weren’t many major cases throughout the year.

Especially at the end of the year. Getting one major case was already an anomaly; a second one was basically unheard of. Now that they had just finished one, the rest of their time...

"We can finally celebrate the New Year!"

...

...