NOVPUBWes believed that revealing the purpose of their arrival in Isaac town would be inappropriate.
Hence, he had not planned on getting too entangled with the investigators from the Investigation Bureau.
What he hadn’t anticipated was the unraveling uneasiness that permeated their first night there.
Splitting into two groups, Daniel, Wes, and the others combed the streets before reconvening in the inn.
The search bore no fruit; Stanley remained missing.
Yet, a somber understanding lingered among them — the chances of Stanley being alive were slim.
Wes’s face was a canvas of worry, his brows furrowed tightly as he emphasized, almost pleading, "We must find him."
Fueled by a burgeoning recovery under Mike’s healing abilities, Liam, albeit pale, rose to join Wes in the search.
At this juncture, Daniel interjected coolly, "We couldn’t find him on the streets; you should be very aware of the implications."
Wes halted, turning back with a determined expression, "We need to find him alive or his body if he’s dead."
With analytical detachment, Daniel responded, "I couldn’t care less about whether you guys live or die." He continued, his words piercing like cold steel, "Going out now might just be handing experience to the creature on a silver platter, jeopardizing our subsequent actions. So, I think you should think carefully before acting."
"The fact that we couldn’t find him on the streets means that there are only two possibilities: he has been completely devoured, or he has been taken to a building in the town by the creature."
The small town, albeit not expansive, housed over a hundred buildings, making a thorough search unrealistic, especially considering the presence of the local populace.
Suddenly, Daniel recalled the coughing sound he had heard during the day on the street.
He mentioned this without a change in his expression, a cue that immediately sparked a realization in Wes.
"Stanley must be in there!"
Subsequently, Wes and Liam hurriedly left the inn. Once the pair was gone, Mike inquired immediately, "Aren’t we going too?"
Daniel cast a somewhat nonchalant glance at Alex, asking, "What do you think?"
Alex’s response was swift and decisive, "We go. We do everything we can to ensure they don’t die, at least not at the hands of that creature."
There was a pause before he added, a shudder of foreboding tinting his words, "I don’t know why but that creature gives me an uneasy feeling. We cannot allow it to become stronger."
With a nod of agreement from Daniel, the group promptly mobilized, chasing after the others with a shared determination girded by foreboding urgency.
Quickly, they arrived in front of a residential house – the very place where Daniel and the others had heard coughing during the day.
In the dead of the night, the dilapidated structure took on an added hue of horror, laying bare a dreadful painting sketched with darkness and despair.
Wes and Liam stood in front of the house, not rushing to go in.
When Daniel and the others arrived, Wes asked again, uncertainty sketching lines on his face, "There’s no sign of the creature’s presence in this house. Are you certain this is where you heard the coughing?"
Projecting a powerful beam from his flashlight onto the house, Daniel unveiled the edifice’s scars to the world, its shabby state vivid under the harsh illumination.
Without elaborating much, he took the lead and entered the premises.
Alex, Julia, and Mike hurriedly followed, fear of Daniel meeting an untimely fate urging them forward.
Inside, the house was vacant except for the aged dust dancing frenetically under the spotlight of their flashlights.
Reaching the second floor, a horrifying sight greeted them: a corpse lay on the ground, or more precisely, a desecrated corpse.
Its surface skin was entirely stripped away, revealing raw flesh reminiscent of skinned lamb, a vivid red exposure of flesh met their eyes.
A sudden shift in expression overcame everyone present.
Despite their extensive experience with supernatural phenomena, they couldn’t help but feel startled by the ghastly sight before them. It was truly fearsome.
Daniel squatted beside the body, observing it with a calm yet focused demeanor.
The flayed corpse wasn’t an unheard-of sight; deranged killers among humans could commit such acts, let alone monsters.
Yet what was peculiar was the missing eyeballs.
As Daniel furrowed his brows, deeply engrossed in the strangeness of the scene, it seemed the eyeballs had been brutally gouged out, leaving deformed sockets surrounded by a yellowish viscous fluid — likely brain matter.
Could it be that this creature had a preference for human eyes?
Wes also squatted down, his face contorted with distress as he held his nose, taking brief glances before affirming with a heavy heart, "This is Stanley. There’s no mistake."
The height and build matched exactly; in this small town where the population was scant and largely consisted of elderly people, it seemed unlikely for anyone to share such a striking resemblance to Stanley.
With this realization, a notable shift in the group’s demeanor transpired.
An Evolver had died.
Moreover, it was an Evolver with considerable skill, almost on par with Julia.
Even when faced with a Rank A danger level monster, one could reasonably expect to have a fighting chance, or at the very least, manage a desperate escape.
Yet here lay Stanley, robbed of even the chance to resist, a silent testimony to a grim fate that awaited even the brave.
All except for Daniel had a somber expression, including Alex, whose face was tinged with gravity as the situation seemingly began to eclipse their capabilities.
A lingering dread settled, as they acknowledged that an Evolver, even in death, could potentially detonate due to Gene Lock chain resonance.
To mitigate such a phenomenon, Wes utilized a specially crafted body bag to secure Stanley’s remains.
To Daniel’s surprise, the bag was fashioned from gold.
It seemed gold constantly affirmed its quintessential role to Evolvers, demonstrating its value in the gravest of circumstances.
They returned to the inn with Stanley’s body, a somber procession haunted by the absence of detailed information on the lurking entity and shaken by the loss on their very first day in the small town.
A pall of darkness hung in the hearts of everyone, the situation casting a long, ominous shadow on their mission.
Back in the inn’s main hall, Julia wore a somber expression, declaring, "The threat level of this creature far surpasses our estimations. It’s quite probable that it’s more formidable than any of us here, including Alex."
Her words carved a chasm of silence, eliciting a shared apprehension among the group.
Even Wes, who had initially maintained a hostile posture towards the Investigation Bureau, had been somewhat reassured upon learning of Alex’s presence, a figure seemingly synonymous with safety.
However, the grim reality now shattered that veneer of security, leaving them grappling with vulnerable uncertainty.
With a tone bearing regret, Wes spoke, "I apologize for my previous attitude towards you all, and I hope it won’t cause any hard feelings."
Daniel, clearly understanding Wes’s implication, feigned ignorance, asking, "What do you mean?"
Wes replied, "I believe we should unite at this point, otherwise there might be no one walking out of here unscathed."
In the realm of monsters, exiting was a zero-sum game — it was either them or the beasts.
At a juncture like this, collaboration seemed the wisest course of action, a sentiment echoed fervently within Alex. However, Daniel shook his head in refusal.
Witnessing this, Wes was taken aback, "You... why do you disagree?"
With an indifferent tone, Daniel responded, "I just don’t."
Wes found the retort unsatisfactory.
He had no desire to entangle himself in a fruitless debate with Daniel and directed his query to Alex, "Alex, you would agree with my suggestion, wouldn’t you?"
In his eyes, Alex was the leader of the Investigation Bureau’s present team, making Daniel’s opinion inconsequential.
Yet Alex’s response caught him off guard, "If Daniel disagrees, then let’s leave it."
Just leave it? This was a matter concerning the safety of everyone in exiting Isaac, and it was just to be left at that?
Wes was no fool, and in a flash of understanding, he realized he had underestimated Daniel’s standing within the Investigation Bureau.
The fact that even a personality as formidable as Alex was willing to be swayed by Daniel spoke volumes.
Somewhat at a loss for words, Wes recognized the imperative need to forge a collaboration with the members of the Investigation Bureau, particularly with Alex.
Facing Daniel, Wes could only try to persuade, opting for a rational plea, "The danger level of that creature far surpasses our imaginations. Without collaboration, death is the only path."
Seeing Daniel remain impassive, he pressed on, "Do you really want to see your colleagues here die senselessly alongside you?"
Daniel’s eyes narrowed, and the chilling gaze that ensued was utterly spine-tingling, causing Wes to involuntarily shrink back. The look in Daniel’s eyes was terrifying — not resembling that of a human but rather resembling a monster, indifferent to life and death.
Daniel’s previously calm voice turned cold, "You seem to be mistaken. If we don’t cooperate, the only ones dying will be you all."
This assertion baffled Wes. "I can’t comprehend where this confidence is coming from. Is it because of Alex?" Yet, even Alex himself believed that he might not be a match for that creature.
Daniel chuckled dismissively, "All you need to know is that as long as I am here, they absolutely will not die."
Wes was both infuriated and amused by this statement. Even Alex did not dare to claim such audacity; from where did this first-level Evolver muster such courage? Yet recalling Alex’s previous demeanor, Wes began to harbor doubts. Could it be that Daniel was not boasting, that he truly possessed such capabilities?
The emergence of this notion led Wes to vigorously shake his head, followed by a derisive smile at his own gullibility. He was oscillating despite knowing such a scenario was impossible.
With a softened tone, laden with a reluctant surrender to the enigma that was Daniel, Wes asked, "What will it take for us to cooperate?"
Daniel responded indifferently, "Simple. Tell me where the object you came here to retrieve is located."
At his words, the faces of both Wes and Liam stiffened instantaneously. How could he possibly know?
