Late at night, the disturbance created by the Purifying Angel had been quelled.
Yan Xiu had been taken to the medical room, with Lin Lu carefully attending to him by his side.
The others gathered in the office to discuss the issue of the art album.
After Wen Wen had finished explaining the circumstances, Lin Zheyuan took a drag of his cigarette and said,
"Cases involving the soul are not our area of expertise, but next door in Baoya City, there is a Demon Hunter on the Hunter team who can communicate with souls. I could request her transfer here to assist with this case."
It was a common practice for superpower users with special skills to be transferred among various Hunter teams within the local Hunters Association.
The number of Demon Hunters in a city is limited, while the types of monsters are quite complex; sharing resources can solve many problems.
You Han, clutching the art album, scoffed disdainfully, "Whoever did this must be a dead pervert!"
Li Dazhuang nodded in agreement beside him, his gaze intermittently flicking to the album and then quickly darting away as if scalded.
He, once a high school student and a simple good boy, had looked at that album the previous night and it was as if a door to a new world had opened...
Ding Mingguang, sitting in a corner, abruptly struck the keyboard and looked up at everyone to say.
"The author of this original art album is named Guo Shengye, a manga artist who only started to become popular in the last six months and is quite famous in Sakura District."
"His career’s turning point was a manga released six months ago, which received widespread acclaim. It was from that time that Furong River City began to see women inexplicably becoming idiotic."
"So far, he has released thirty-seven mangas, this art album being one of them, and in these six months, around forty women in this city have gone mad..."
Wen Wen looked at Ding Mingguang with surprise and said, "There’s not even a signature on this album, and you only glanced at the cover twice. How did you find this out so quickly?"
Though his combat ability was not strong, his talent for gathering information was unmatched by even many powerful superpower users.
Ding Mingguang rubbed his bald head and said proudly, "Anything that circulates online is easy for me to trace."
He certainly wasn’t going to admit that he had once been a fan of Guo Shengye...
"Additionally, it’s worth noting that apart from the idiotic girls, over the past six months, more than ten people around Guo Shengye have died, each death extremely tragic. However, these cases were ruled as normal homicides, so they don’t fall within our jurisdiction..."
Armed with Ding Mingguang’s information, everyone began to formulate an action plan targeting Guo Shengye.
After listening to Ding Mingguang, Wen Wen yawned and went home.
At most, he was just a manga artist with a special ability, not any of the Disaster Level monsters indicated by the Surveillance Point, and he did not require personal handling.
All he needed to do was make him come to the surface; the capture could be left to Lin Zheyuan and the others, as that was their job after all.
Lin Zheyuan and his team, unaware of Guo Shengye’s strength, did not act recklessly but prepared for various potential scenarios.
While ensuring Guo Shengye’s capture, they aimed to keep the impact of the incident as minimal as possible.
"One book, two books..."
After moving to his new home, Guo Shengye one by one placed his original art albums on the bookshelf.
As a manga artist, though only a doujinshi artist, Guo Shengye needed inspiration. He had lived in his previous home for too long, and his inspiration had dried up; he needed a new environment to cultivate new ideas.
His so-called "inspiration" was actually the souls of pretty girls nearby.
When Guo Shengye finished playing games with his reflection in the mirror, and the reflection could no longer provide him with satisfactory material, he would move house.
This moving had already happened several times in half a year.
However, there was a bit of a mishap while moving last night. A monster, glowing all over, rampaged through the streets, almost destroying his moving truck.
Fortunately, Guo Shengye left there in time and avoided any trouble.
He didn’t want to get involved in any disputes. As long as he could quietly draw comics, that was enough for him. He’d be even happier if more people liked his work.
After he had put everything in place, Guo Shengye’s expression stiffened, and his face turned frighteningly fierce and horrifying.
One of his original comic books was missing!
With the new one he had drawn but not yet released, there should have been thirty-eight books in total. Why were there only thirty-seven now!
Could it be that he had left one behind in the haste of moving last night?
He had to get that comic book back. It was his possession, and it shouldn’t end up in someone else’s hands.
Just then, the door to Guo Shengye’s house was knocked on. Guo Shengye, disheveled, opened the door to find two tall men in black suits outside, one of whom showed Guo Shengye a badge.
"Hello, sir, we are Federation investigators. There was a serious incident near your house last night, and we would like you to come with us to assist in the investigation," one of the men said.
"Why would Federation investigators need me..."
Guo Shengye, utterly uncooperative, said, "I’m just a comic artist. Whatever happens, it has nothing to do with me."
The man in the black suit to the left said, "Sir, there are many items found at the scene that have not been claimed. We need you to come with us and help identify them. It’s a duty of Federation citizens to cooperate."
Upon hearing about identifying lost items, Guo Shengye felt a spark of interest – this could be his chance to retrieve his missing comic book.
So, he said to the two men in black suits, "Please wait a moment."
Then he went back into his room to pack his clothes and prepare to leave.
Seeing that Guo Shengye agreed to come along, the two men breathed a sigh of relief.
Actually, these two were supporters from Furong River City, and their task was to lure Guo Shengye out of his home.
Since Guo Shengye had chosen to integrate into society as a comic book artist, he naturally had to abide by its rules, even if just outwardly.
Indeed, there had been turmoil near Guo Shengye’s house last night, so calling him to assist in an investigation was a normal procedure.
As long as he wanted to retrieve his comic book, he would likely take the bait.
After they took him to a sparsely populated area, Lin Zheyuan and others could start their capture.
Meanwhile, at the small shop downstairs, You Han was sitting at the entrance reading a book, her long hair covering the earphones in her ears.
She was listening in on the conversation between the two supporters and Guo Shengye. If Guo Shengye showed any signs of irregular movement, she would rush up and capture him right away.
Just as Guo Shengye was throwing on his overcoat and getting ready to leave to retrieve his comic book, he noticed the image in the mirror twisting again.
The reflection showed a murderous look, positioned his hand across his neck, making a throat-slitting gesture...