In the pitch-black night, the massive steam beast continued to roar forward, spewing thick smoke. In a compartment of a first-class carriage, a long-planned ambush officially began.
In the Detective's conversation compartment, one party of the conversation suddenly erupted, sending a small knife into the Detective's chest. However, this did not cause the Detective to fall. The hand he extended was instead firmly gripped by the Detective, and at the same time, three strong men unexpectedly emerged from beneath the inconspicuous thin blanket.
Feeling someone attacking from behind, the assassin man, alias Kim, wanted to immediately sidestep and merge into the wall. However, Dorothy, who had already sensed his intention, had controlled Edrick to firmly grasp the man's hand. The strength was so great that the man could not break free at all!
Before the man entered the compartment, Dorothy had already controlled Edrick to quietly attach a Raw Consumption Symbol. The consumed "Cup" was provided to Edrick by herself via the Corpse Puppet Ring. At this moment, Edrick possessed strength beyond ordinary people, and the man could not break free at all.
Neither "Shadow" nor "Stone" could enhance the man's strength. Strengthening physical ability was the effect of "Cup", so his physical ability was slightly stronger than ordinary people but not by much, making it impossible for him to break free from Edrick's close-range restraint.
Just like that, three large Corpse Puppets specially selected by Dorothy swarmed forward, all pouncing on the assassin man, grabbing and pinning his waist, abdomen, hands, and feet, covering his mouth, lifting him off the ground, preventing him from touching the ground and walls, and thus unable to escape by merging into the wall. The strongest of these large Corpse Puppets also had Life Devour attached, enhancing its control ability.
Finally, under the combined close-range assault of the four Corpse Puppets, the assassin man was firmly restrained. He could not speak, move his hands, or lift his feet. He could not escape by merging into the wall or ground, nor could he use symbols to break free.
At this moment, he was in a state of being 'locked down by strong men' and'surrounded by men'.
His eyes wide, the assassin man was utterly astonished. He had checked this compartment before entering; there was no place to hide people for an ambush, which was why he sat down comfortably to talk with the Detective. But how did these three big men suddenly emerge?
In fact, before leaving the compartment, Dorothy had already opened the magic box and hidden it under the blanket. She had been controlling the three Corpse Puppets inside the magic box in her own compartment, ready to strike, and then had them crawl directly out of the box at this critical moment to give the other party a surprise.
The restrained man struggled frantically, but his struggles were meaningless in the face of so many people and more "Cup". After successfully controlling the enemy, it was time to deal with the opponent.
Edrick pulled out the small knife stuck in his chest, then lunged towards the struggling man who was restrained before him. The knife aimed directly at the opponent's throat. However, just as the small knife touched the opponent's skin, it was as if it had struck a hard object. With a clang, the tip of the knife snapped off directly.
'Damn... it's'Shi' (Stone) hardening again. If this guy's auxiliary Spirituality is'Shi' (Stone), then he must have some degree of hardness. I heard Aldrich say that hardening is a standard ability of'Shi' (Stone)...'
The assassin man had hardening, and the knife could not penetrate. At this point, Dorothy planned to use a gun. Only a Black Earth Stage "Stone" could barely defend against bullets; the opponent definitely couldn't. However, firing now would alert the train attendants outside the door. If they came in, the situation in the room would be exposed, and Dorothy did not want to see this happen at the moment.
After some thought, Dorothy controlled the Corpse Puppet that had Life Devour attached to begin fully covering the man's mouth and nose. Unable to breathe, the man's face began to turn red, and his body struggled even more violently, but he still could not break free from the restraint.
As time passed, the man's struggles gradually weakened and finally stopped completely. His entire body went limp. Dorothy used the Corpse Puppet Ring to confirm the opponent's death.
Just like this, under a well-designed ambush, this Black Earth Stage assassin was successfully hunted by Dorothy almost without a sound. Her record now included another Black Earth of a higher rank than her.
Dorothy first called people from Carriage Seven one by one under the guise of investigating a jewelry theft case. After talking, she sent them back to spread the content of their conversation, making the real target complacent. When he was eventually called, he would naturally come.
Then Dorothy utilized the characteristics of the magic box and Corpse Puppets to set up a trap, allowing a Black Rank to be quietly killed without any ability to fight back. This was Dorothy's method of dealing with the opponent.
"Phew... done..."
Letting out a breath, Dorothy controlled her Corpse Puppets to put down the dead Corpse Puppet man, then began to search his belongings. After collecting everything that seemed useful, she put a little money inside, then controlled the extra Corpse Puppets to crawl back into the magic box, and then Edrick closed the magic box.
After doing all this, Dorothy used the Corpse Puppet Ring to pull up the dead assassin man.
"Target successfully killed, but this Detective game still needs an ending."
In her own carriage, Dorothy murmured.
...
On the aisle of the first-class carriage, the conductor slowly walked over from the duty room with two attendants. Seeing the two attendants waiting in front of the compartment, he asked.
"How is that Detective Mr. doing with the case?"
"The Detective Mr. has been asking us to bring people from Carriage Seven for questioning. He has already questioned twelve, and is now questioning the thirteenth," an attendant replied to the conductor. The conductor's brow furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and then he continued.
"Having asked so many, has he... found out anything?"
"I don't know... The Detective Mr. hasn't revealed what he asked, but the current one has been questioned for a bit long. Others finished in four or five minutes; this one has been questioned for ten minutes now."
The attendant continued to reply. Just as the conductor was thinking about something, a sudden loud noise came from behind the compartment door guarded by the attendant.
Just as the attendants and conductor were startled, the compartment door suddenly opened, and a man in black rushed out in a panic, sprinting towards the aisle. Another figure followed closely behind him.
"Don't think about running!"
With a stern shout, Edrick caught up to the fleeing figure and grabbed his clothes. Seeing he couldn't escape, the figure turned back and threw a punch at Edrick. Edrick shifted his body to dodge the punch, then grabbed the arm the escapee used to strike back, and with all his might, executed a reverse shoulder throw, slamming the escapee heavily onto the ground.
Next, Edrick pulled out a handgun from his clothes, pointed it at the escapee lying on the ground, and then spoke sternly under the gaze of the attendants and conductor.
"It seems my deduction was correct, Mr. Kim. You are the murderer of Mr. Sodod. Trying to escape due to fear of punishment? It's not that easy. You cannot escape the judgment of the Kingdom's law!"
Kim, who had been thrown to the ground, slowly got up, looked at the gun-wielding Detective before him with resentful eyes, and then also replied.
"Tch... If it weren't for you, I would have almost succeeded, damn Detective..."