Chapter 31: Battle Royale?
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
"…"
The silence stretched for as long as ten seconds.
In the end, Chu Chongtian was still the one who had to break the silence while being somewhat embarrassed.
"Aren't there any special changes when the mission is completed? Like a ray of light shining down from the sky or our injuries healing? Actually, I'm a little hungry now. Can it take my hunger away?"
"We'll know when it comes. Now's not the time to be talking about this," said Zhou Zhenguo. "Looks like this guy isn't the Ripper."
"How can that be? He came back after going missing. Every aspect fits perfectly," said Chu Chongtian. "Does our mission even include the hidden condition of catching him? Why is the mission so vague!?"
Chu Chongtian was rather worked up, so he was unable to keep his indignation under control anymore.
Zhou Zhenguo remained very calm. "Missions have always been rather careless in the way they're set. It'll be fine once you get used to it."
"The address, the address."
Chu Chongtian looked back down and found Grimm Bree's residential address.
"Come, let's go and catch him!" Chu Chongtian lifted his head and shifted his gaze to Zhou Zhenguo and Tang Luo.
"Calm down." Zhou Zhenguo said, "In my opinion, it may not necessarily be this guy."
'Why?" Chu Chongtian gasped sharply.
"Very simple," replied Zhou Zhenguo. "Do you think someone who survived being abducted and forced to undergo cruel human experiments would still show himself so openly in the city again?"
"This…" Chu Chongtian realized his oversight.
If he had been the one who had survived being abducted and experimented on, even if he had to face the choice of taking revenge instead, he still wouldn't openly show himself for sure.
Wasn't that simply sending himself straight to death's door?
"There's a higher chance that the Ripper is among these people instead." Zhou Zhenguo pointed at the ten-odd people who were still marked as Missing. "Master, what do you think?"
Tang Luo shook his head. "Amitabha, this monk's thoughts are not on these issues."
"Huh?"
Both Zhou Zhenguo and Chu Chongtian were stunned for a moment.
'What's the meaning of that!
'Master, don't give up on thinking!
'You're the most important combat force h… uhh, fine, it seems like it's alright even if you give up on thinking about this.'
"This monk is only waiting for the Ripper to show up and then kill him. The two benefactors here can decide our next course of action. This monk will join you in the operation," said Tang Luo.
"Just like the other time on the second night," mumbled Chu Chongtian.
What had happened on the second night?
He had dressed up as a woman to act as bait and attracted Hodge and Jack the Ripper's attention.
The situation right now seemed pretty much the same.
The trio was going around the city. They were prey but also hunters at the same time.
When thinking about it this way, it didn't seem like there was much use deliberating so much over this, right?
No wonder Master Xuanzang stopped thinking altogether—no, more like he couldn't be bothered to think that much anymore.
"Wait." Something suddenly occurred to Chu Chongtian. "Surely there's a limit to Jack the Ripper's operable range when he wants to possess someone! It can't possibly cover the whole city, right?"
"What you mean is—!" Zhou Zhenguo also thought of something. "The map!"
The two of them gathered the files and headed downstairs.
It was naturally impossible for most typical small cities to mass-manufacture maps for sale.
However, as the public security bureau, the Cotland Yard detectives needed to be very clear on addresses and whatnot during deployment.
As such, a hand-drawn map of the city was hung in the main hall downstairs, so that the detectives could refer to it and keep it in mind when going in and out so as to prevent embarrassing incidents, like getting lost while out on an investigation, from happening.
The map wasn't very new, probably made quite a few years ago. It wasn't very detailed, either. But to Zhou Zhenguo and the other two, it was sufficient.
"The church, the hotel, Hodge…"
The few spots where they had encountered Jack the Ripper were marked out and then followed by the addresses of the people that were still missing and the places where murders took place before the large-scale massacres began.
Even if the Ripper had been tailing Tang Luo and the others ever since they had appeared, he couldn't have been tailing them before that too, right?
Surely someone who wanted to go into hiding after returning to his hometown would at least loiter a bit more near his home no matter what?
There would more or less be a range of activities for his murders.
To Cotland Yard, this range of activity was too large. There was no way to determine it at all. But if they were to include the addresses of the missing persons too, then it would be a different matter altogether.
"The slums, that's right. Places like these are the best for hiding. How many people would pay attention to one more homeless person? It's these five people!"
The two of them determined the five that were the most likely to be Jack the Ripper, as well as their old residential addresses.
"Do we go over to their homes?" Chu Chongtian asked, "The Ripper may not necessarily be hiding at home, right?"
"No, we're going there to look for evidence," replied Zhou Zhenguo.
"Will he leave any conclusive evidence at home?" asked Chu Chongtian.
"Maybe." Zhou Zhenguo added, "Even if there isn't any, we should still head there anyway and destroy the houses."
"Huh?" Chu Chongtian didn't quite understand.
This wasn't the time to be venting their anger on these people's houses, was it?
Upon seeing how puzzled Chu Chongtian was, Zhou Zhenguo explained, "The Ripper is watching us, right? So… If he sees us wrecking his house, what would he do?"
"We'll be able to lure him out just by that? No, wait." Chu Chongtian's eyes lit up. Then, he lowered his voice and said, "Should we be attacked after we've destroyed a certain house, that would prove that that particular house belongs to him. That way, we'll be able to determine who the Ripper is."
Zhou Zhenguo nodded and said, "But there's also a possibility that we'll be constantly under attack the entire way and be unable to differentiate which house belongs to him."
"Then how do we determine which is his?" asked Chu Chongtian.
"We don't need to. We'll just act according to Master's plan and let the Ripper show himself on his own," replied Zhou Zhenguo. "Everyone has a temper. What do you think will happen?"
The three of them had already exited Cotland Yard while they were talking.
The weather outside was even colder now, as compared to when they had first gone in.
White vapor came out of their mouths as they spoke.
Chu Chongtian's spectacles even turned foggy as a result, but they went back to normal in no time.
"We'll destroy his home and kill his targets of possession." Zhou Zhenguo's tone was resolute. "And lure him out for a final showdown."
"Isn't it enough if we determine his identity?"
"No, I've come to understand everything now." After putting together his past experiences, Zhou Zhenguo said, "There are likely two ways to complete this mission. The first one is to find Jack the Ripper's true identity while he's still in the hiding phase. That way, we'll complete the mission.
"The second one is the second phase right now—dragging it out until the Ripper has become so strong that he can do anything he wants. At this point, he may not necessarily continue to hide. In that case, the way to complete the mission would probably be for us to kill the Ripper.
"The true core of the mission doesn't always stay the same."
"I see." Realization dawned upon Chu Chongtian. "But if that's the case, then doesn't that mean that we can't just put on a show and try to get by anymore?"
In the case of this mission, the longer they dragged it out, the stronger the Ripper would be.
How were they supposed to fight him at the end?
Not to mention that the city was already doomed. The only thing waiting for them at the end was death. Or perhaps it might turn into Battle Royale mode, where they would be pursued by the Ripper and go on the run for a few months, half a year, or even as long as a year.
But that would actually already count as having failed the mission.
"In the first place, the probability of putting on a show and getting by is very low," replied Zhou Zhenguo. "Excluding this one, I've gone through five missions."
He was very open in his speech now. They were in this together, and Chu Chongtian wasn't an insidious and treacherous person either. There was no need to hide such information from him.
"Two successes, two failures and one that was neither a success nor a failure.
"But that one time was because there happened to be an expert like Master Xuanzang who completed the mission. That's why the mission didn't fail.
"How often do you think there'll be a situation like that?"
The smooth and discreet flattery skills of a middle-aged man, who had gone through the struggles and adversities of society for several years, took Chu Chongtian's breath away.
"Indeed, kind and powerful experts like Master Xuanzang are definitely one in a million." Chu Chongtian felt the need to learn from him as much as possible.
Zhou Zhenguo let out a cough, indicating to him to know when to stop. "Thus, be prepared for a hard battle."
"Alright." Chu Chongtian nodded and patted himself a couple of times to make sure that his weapons, including the ammo pouch, were still with him.
Chu Chongtian suddenly asked after they had walked on for a while, "Master, should we gather the residents of the city to search for Jack the Ripper together with us? Even if we must lie to them to get them over!"
They had been fighting by themselves all this time.
Now that there was an extremely high probability that there would be a hard battle ahead, why not borrow the strength of external forces?
Things like the more effort one put in, the better the rewards would be could just piss off!
What was most important was to clear the mission and survive.
"We can try, but I think the chances aren't high," replied Tang Luo.
"Let's give it a go!"
Chu Chongtian ran over to the house next to them and pounded on the door. He shouted, "Open the door! We're detectives hired by Cotland Yard. We've found Jack the Ripper! Come with us to capture him now! We even have documents too! You can check them if you want!"
He even took out Cotland Yard's files and waved them about wildly.
He had even taken into consideration situations where people might reply, "I don't believe you. Show me proof!"
His voice echoed in the silent night.
The surroundings were still as quiet as before after his shout.
None of the dark windows lit up. Neither were there footsteps, cursing and swearing or the sound of doors or windows opening.
None of the reactions that Chu Chongtian had expected happened, or rather, there was no reaction at all.
Even a stone sinking into the ocean would at least cause a ripple or two.
But at this moment, other than the soft rustling of snow falling onto the ground, their surroundings were so silent that it was as though this was a ghost town with only the three of them inside.
"Amitabha, Benefactor Chu doesn't need to shout any further. There probably isn't anyone around here anymore."
Tang Luo stopped Chu Chongtian from shouting any further.
"No one?"
"Benefactor Zhou mentioned that this is a race against Jack the Ripper," replied Tang Luo. "This monk strongly agrees. The Ripper is also racing against us. While we're searching for him, he's also killing and becoming stronger."
The meaning behind his words was that this area, perhaps even a larger range, had already turned into a place of doom.
"Then what are we still waiting for? Let's go!"
Chu Chongtian was nowhere near as calm as Tang Luo, who could still be zen even when he knew that the enemy was becoming stronger with every passing moment.
Trudging through the snow, he began to run.
All of a sudden, he felt as if this detective mission had already evolved into a Battle Royale-style survival mission by now.
At the very least, this was the case for him.
-- Gift
received