After examining the crime scene at Hongda Company, Chen Linian led the young detective away.
The young detective asked, "Master, when will we investigate this case?"
Chen Linian waved his hand and replied, "Let's put this case on hold for now. Iron Blood has just been established and is severely understaffed. There are more challenging cases to handle in the Coastal region."
The young detective looked surprised and said, "But more than a dozen people died in this case. Isn't that challenging enough?"
A sharp light shone in Chen Linian's eyes as he responded, "This superpower user is very measured in their actions, only killing those who deserved death. Such a person, in ancient times, would be called a 'Ranger.' However, when a hero uses martial arts to break the law, we will need to catch this person once we have the resources."
He had read the case file before coming and knew what sort of people these victims were.
Moreover, he had made a discovery he hadn't revealed: he recognized that the murderer had used the Step Sword Seven Styles, a sword technique he was very familiar with.
"So where are we heading now?" the young detective inquired.
"To investigate Case 921 on Guanchao Road?"
"Yes, the perpetrator of that case has no bottom line and needs to be found as soon as possible," Chen Linian said as he shut his eyes and rubbed his temples.
"Master, I read the file for the Guanchao Road 921 case. The male victim logged onto the dark web, trying to sell a Demon Crystal Core, and then the whole family got killed. The murderer didn't even spare the seven-year-old child. If the murderer bought the Demon Crystal Core, why would they silence the seller's family?"
"You still don't understand the criminal psychology behind the case. Did the file mention the child had traces of Demon Energy on them?"
"The truth probably is that the buyer paid the money and was ready to collect the item when the victim's child accidentally broke the Demon Crystal Core and absorbed the energy inside. Unable to obtain the Demon Crystal Core, the buyer killed the whole family in a fit of rage."
Hearing this analysis, the young detective couldn't help but gasp in shock.
Iron Blood Investigation Bureau issued a warrant for the Guanchao Road 921 case.
There was no photograph on the warrant, only a sketch.
In addition to the portrait, there was a description of the suspect.
According to the warrant, the suspect was skilled in harming victims with shockwaves and explosives, among other methods.
Su Muyu stared at the warrant on the bulletin board for a while as she passed by.
When no one was around, she tore off a copy of the warrant, rolled it up, and took it with her.
Lu Heng was jogging on the river embankment road, practicing his movement technique and the proficiency of Gale Step.
When he finished his exercise and was about to head back to the hotel, he received a call from Su Muyu.
"I've seen a warrant with a sketch on it. It looks familiar to me; I want to show it to you."
"I'm now on the river embankment road, heading back to the hotel soon. Let's meet at the hotel."
After ending the call, Su Muyu was about to hang up when suddenly a loud boom came through from the other end of the phone.
It was so loud that the phone distorted the sound.
"Hello? What happened? Lu Heng, are you alright? Talk to me," Su Muyu urgently inquired.
There was no response from the other end of the phone, which made Su Muyu nervous. Then she heard a bang, sounding very much like a gunshot.
Su Muyu immediately realized something was wrong, started running towards the river embankment road, and released her reconnaissance hawk to find Lu Heng's location.
On the river embankment road, just as Lu Heng was about to hang up the phone, he heard footsteps approaching from behind.
Moreover, the footsteps were getting faster, clearly indicating hostility. Lu Heng immediately made an evasive maneuver, ducking to the side.
A shockwave exploded by his ear, its blast wave almost strong enough to send a person flying.
The blast had detonated too close, causing Lu Heng's right foot to throb painfully. His chest felt like it was churning with qi-blood, and he staggered before falling straight toward the ground.
Fortunately, his Agility Attribute was high enough that, just as he was about to fall, he pressed his palm against the ground, rolled to the side, and quickly stood up.
During his roll, Lu Heng swiftly swept a glance behind him and saw a bearded middle-aged man reaching into his bosom—an action clearly indicating... he was drawing a gun!
Lu Heng's gaze hardened as he estimated the distance between the two to be over ten meters.
This was a very delicate distance. At this range, no matter how fast one was, they could never be faster than a bullet.
Therefore, without hesitation, Lu Heng activated "Gale Step" and sprinted forward, increasing the distance between them. Before his pursuer could fire, he darted into an alley off the coastal road.
No sooner had he dashed into the alley than a gunshot rang out behind him, with a bullet striking the wall at the entrance of the alley.
"Huh! A Superpower User."
The bearded middle-aged man, having missed his shot, immediately pursued into the alley with his gun ready.
Lu Heng moved in a zigzag pattern, swiftly navigating through the alley, while glancing behind him with the corner of his eye.
With just one look, he caught a glimpse of a murderous gaze that held utter disregard for life in the eyes of the bearded middle-aged man.
From his words, Lu Heng gathered important information.
If he didn't know that Lu Heng was a Superpower User, why then was he attacking him?
The attacker's purpose seemed clear-cut. After missing with the shockwave, he immediately drew his gun. This was not the behavior of a random killer.
Since he didn't know Lu Heng was a Superpower User, there was no possibility of him being a hunter of such individuals.
Having excluded other possibilities, only one answer remained: the man was a hired gun.
Moreover, the power of the shockwave the bearded middle-aged man had unleashed was significant, indicating his Energy Level was not low, probably that of a Superpower User who had survived an encounter on the Abyss Battlefield.
In an instant, Lu Heng thought of all this while maintaining his zigzag movements to evade the angles of the handgun's shots.
The bearded middle-aged man kept hot on his tail, but when Lu Heng deliberately slowed down, the man also reduced his speed, maintaining a distance of over ten meters to prevent Lu Heng from closing in for hand-to-hand combat.
Between five and twenty-five meters was the golden dominance zone for handguns.
Within five meters, a Superpower User could get close enough for hand-to-hand combat, and once it turned into a brawl, the handgun would hardly have any room to be effective.
After two rounds of maneuvering, Lu Heng was certain that his opponent was experienced and difficult to handle.
As he ran, a scout eagle suddenly flashed by.
A gleam flashed in Lu Heng's eyes, and he immediately turned, dashing into another alley.
At the bend in the alley, a frail arm extended out.
A smirk appeared at the corner of Lu Heng's mouth as he ran past, slapping the hand, feeling a rush of energy transfer from the palm to him.
The energy formed a thin membrane that enveloped Lu Heng's entire body.
Encased in this sphere of energy, Lu Heng's figure rapidly became transparent as he entered an Invisibility state.
The arm, of course, belonged to Su Muyu. After locating Lu Heng with her scout eagle, she had rushed over to back him up and applied an Invisibility Veil, granting him Invisibility.
Once invisible, Lu Heng immediately turned back and charged in the direction he'd come from, drawing the Aurora Blade from the void.
The bearded middle-aged man followed into the alley, heard the approaching footsteps, and his heart tightened, realizing that his target possessed Invisibility. He swiftly raised his hand toward the footsteps, discharging a shockwave.
An explosive sound burst through the air, but the shockwave missed its target.
The bearded middle-aged man immediately sensed that something was wrong, his pupils contracted, but it was too late to defend.
Because Lu Heng was too fast.
Lu Heng surged forward at a speed that exceeded human limits, thrusting the Aurora Blade into the man's abdomen.
With a muffled groan, his eyes widened in panic as he looked down to see his blood flowing along the "Sharp Blade" and outlining the shape of a sword and the hand that held it.
And Lu Heng's figure also slowly revealed itself, at close quarters, his face a mere fist's distance from the man's.