God Eater Sequence: The Devourer

Because the wooden apartment building had already aged, just as Qin Siyang left, the entire building caught fire immediately after.

The raging flames were completely uncontrollable.

By the time the fire brigade arrived, they could only watch helplessly as the fire consumed everything.

In just half an hour, this wooden building, which had stood for three or four decades and witnessed events before and after the end times, was reduced to ashes.

As the firefighters searched through the ashes, they eventually found a charred corpse with a knife, already blackened by fire, embedded in its chest. They immediately contacted the police station.

Upon receiving the report, the police station quickly dispatched personnel to the scene.

Leading the team was still Detective Olov.

Olov kicked at a piece of standing blackened wood, which immediately crumbled and shattered into many pieces.

Looking at the area, he shook his head,"This kind of fire seems to be happening quite often lately."

Roylena said,"Yes, ever since my [Fragrance Tracker] sequence became widely known, people have realized that only fire can completely erase the scent they leave behind. So, criminals especially like using fire when committing crimes."

"Criminals? So this fire wasn't an accident? You've already surveyed the scene?"

"Yes, Detective Olov. Among the ashes, there is a charred corpse with a knife in its chest, its hands tied behind its back. It was likely murdered."

"Take me to see it."

"Alright."

Both of them were sequence ability holders, with physical abilities far exceeding ordinary people. Kicking aside some charred wooden planks along the way, they arrived in front of Liu Dazhi's unrecognizable corpse.

Olov squatted down, took out a cigar, clipped the tip with a small pair of scissors, then lit it using a still-burning piece of wood nearby.

He took a puff of the cigar and carefully examined the corpse.

"At first glance, it does seem like he was tied up and then stabbed directly in the chest. Give me a pair of gloves."

A nearby officer handed Olov a pair of white gloves.

With the cigar in his mouth, Olov put on the gloves and started examining Liu Dazhi's corpse.

"This man's jaw is broken, looks like the result of being struck by something heavy. Any clues?"

A nearby officer shook his head,"No. The fire burned up a lot of evidence. Judging by the deformation of his bones, it seems to be the result of a baseball bat strike."

"This is a poor area; baseball bats aren't common. Even if there were, they'd probably be wooden. So, we have no way of finding this murder weapon."

Olov nodded, agreeing with the officer's analysis.

"Did any neighbors know anything?"

"Yes. The deceased is named Liu Dazhi and worked as a network administrator at a local internet café. The estimated time of the crime is around 7:20 to 7:25. Before the fire started, his neighbors heard someone knocking on his door, telling him to take out the trash, and it seemed there was an argument."

"Based on the timeline, the person who entered, killed Liu Dazhi, and robbed his home should be the one who knocked."

"Does anyone know what that person looked like?"

The officer shook his head,"No one saw. It was too early in the morning, and most people weren't awake yet. Those who heard Liu Dazhi arguing were people getting up early for work."

Olov didn't respond immediately but lowered his head in thought. Then he asked,"Was Liu Dazhi's home the best-off in this building?"

"No. There were two female workers from a cosmetics factory in this building, and their incomes were higher than Liu Dazhi's. Both of them had mobile phones—it was actually them who called the fire department, which brought the firefighters."

"Are they married?"

"One is married, the other lives alone."

After hearing this, Olov shook his head,"Let's not classify this case as a burglary just yet."

"Why not?"

Olov didn't answer immediately. He squinted, took two puffs of his cigar, and said,"If it were a burglary, why not rob the single woman from the cosmetics factory instead of Liu Dazhi, a mere internet café admin?"

"This… maybe it was spontaneous?"

"Spontaneous? This person doesn't seem like it. First, they argued to make Liu Dazhi open the door, then they entered, murdered him, looted his home, and set the place on fire. The execution was skilled and deliberate."

"If it was a spontaneous crime, they would have just waited around here and grabbed whoever went out alone first, then stolen their keys to commit the burglary."

Roylena asked,"Detective Olov, are you saying someone wanted Liu Dazhi dead?"

"I'm just saying it's possible. We need to investigate further before drawing conclusions. By the way, you said he worked at an internet café?"

"That's right."

Olov glanced around,"For someone to run an internet café at the edge of a safe zone, they're probably not just an ordinary resident with a simple background. Let's go talk to him—maybe we'll learn something useful."

At the internet café, Wang Defa was lounging idly when Olov and the others arrived.

"Oh, officers, what brings you to my little internet café? Is there anything I can do to assist you?"

Wang Defa wore a respectful expression, but in his heart, he was wondering which of his shady dealings had been exposed and brought the police to his door.

Operating an internet café here, he had done plenty of things in the gray areas of the law. Any one of them, if uncovered, would be enough to land him in trouble with the police for a few miserable days.

"We're not here because of you, we just want to ask about someone."

"Who do the officers want to know about?"

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