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In the midst of heart-wrenching screams, John just knelt on the ground, his entire body beginning to tremble.
It was several seconds before he reached out with both hands to lift the puppy out of the cardboard box.
Then, the despondent man cradled the puppy in his arms, gently stroking it.
As if he were hoping for the dog’s resurrection.
But the puppy hung its ears and was stiff-limbed, no longer having the strength to respond to its owner.
The despondent man sat slumped in a daze, his posture gradually loosening, shifting from kneeling to sitting cross-legged. He seemed completely defeated just a moment ago, but now a coldness was slowly emanating from deep within him.
The despondent man suddenly spoke up.
Having said this, John rose to his feet with the body of the puppy and left straightaway.
Who he was, was self-evident.
Jason had no intention of objecting.
Someone else dealing with trouble for him was more than welcome, especially when no ’food’ was involved.
Watching John depart, Jason also headed toward the alleyway’s exit, preparing to hail a cab home.
When leaving his room earlier on, Jason had deliberately brought his wallet, just in case.
With more convenient transport available, Jason would not choose such a primitive method.
Though he could move faster, he had not forgotten where he was.
Compared to the ’menu’ worlds before, the current world was undoubtedly the most advanced, with surveillance cameras all over the streets. Jason certainly did not want to be detected by these cameras.
Similarly, he had no desire to take a long detour just to avoid them.
Standing at the mouth of the alley, Jason stood in the taxi stand area, quietly waiting for a cab to appear.
However, what he got instead was Police Chief Davide.
Following him was the young Assistant Hunter.
At that moment, the assistant looked at Jason with a suspicious gaze.
Clearly, he must have realized he’d been played by John’s ’little trick’ but wasn’t sure who exactly had tricked him.
"I’m so glad to see you’re okay, Mr. Jason."
The middle-aged police chief seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, looking at Jason with a warm smile.
Jason feigned ignorance.
"Just now Hunter was lured away by a guy. We thought the man was an imitator and sent a large number of people to chase him, but he managed to escape."
"Then we knocked on your door and found no one answering."
"It really scared me; I thought something had happened to you."
"Luckily, someone reported seeing you here."
The face of the middle-aged police chief showed a somber, relieved expression.
Then, he shifted gears in his conversation.
"Can you tell me why you came back here?"
As he spoke, the middle-aged police chief looked toward Jason.
His kindly smile remained, but a gleam inadvertently passed through his eyes.
Jason caught this flash despite its brevity.
Is this his true face?
Jason thought to himself but remained expressionless outwardly.
He answered this way.
"Yeah, that makes sense."
"As the author of ’The Cross Street Stalker,’ suddenly there’s an imitator, naturally, you would be curious."
The middle-aged police chief nodded in understanding.
After a slight pause in his words, he then suddenly spoke up again.
"Mr. Jason, could you tell me why you describe the scenes so vividly?"
"As if... you witnessed them yourself."
As he said this, the middle-aged police chief’s eyes were fixed on Jason’s, not allowing any lapse in attention.
"I strive for realism."
"But it’s because of that, some inconsistencies that shouldn’t have been there have arisen."
Jason answered with a response he had already prepared.
When he had previously browsed through ’The Cross Street Stalker’ he had authored, he had considered the possibility of such a scenario arising.
After all, Davide and Hunter had not struck Jason as incompetents.
And the current situation reinforced to Jason just how necessary it was to prepare in advance.
"So that’s how it is!"
The middle-aged police chief nodded as if it suddenly dawned on him, and then, as if he had just realized Jason was standing in the cab stand area, he immediately flashed that same warm smile.
"Mr. Jason, are you planning to return to Apartment 3A?"
Jason nodded without concealing this fact.
"My men are headed there. Would you mind if they give you a ride?"
The middle-aged police chief asked.
He certainly knew what the police chief wanted to do.
It was nothing more than wanting to monitor and observe him more effectively.