A Core Ship From The Start
Chapter 665 - Chapter 665 Chapter 493 Reporting the Incident_1

Chapter 665: Chapter 493: Reporting the Incident_1 Chapter 665: Chapter 493: Reporting the Incident_1 For Anthony Howard, it was just a typical morning.

When he awoke from the same recurring nightmare, he was still drenched in sweat, so he showered and picked up some sandwiches for breakfast, before heading directly to the police station to start his day.

However, for Anthony, this day was no different from his more than ten years of police work.

Or to put it another way, his life as a policeman had completely changed ten years ago.

“Hey, Chief.”

As Anthony stuffed the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth and walked into the office, a freckled young man ran up to him with a smile. The young man, Dominique, was a good guy – young, ambitious, and passionate about his job.

To be honest, Anthony felt that being passionate about your job at such a young age wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

“What’s up?”

“There’s a U-class case file that needs your approval.”

“U-class?”

Looking at the thick case file that Dominique handed him, Anthony frowned. In the police department, a U-class case file was code for investigator’s case file. In simple terms, these were the clues sent by investigators after they had encountered trouble and resolved it. Next, all the police had to do was follow these clues for their investigations, however…

“Where did this happen?”

“Innsmouth.”

“Innsmouth? Ah, I know that place. Heard it’s a pretty strange place.”

Anthony casually took the files, walking forward with apparent calmness, but in reality, he was trying to delay opening this damned file as long as possible. It was like how when school students delay as much as they can before turning in homework, treating every second gained as a small victory.

As for Anthony, he didn’t want this job either. But there was no choice. His life had changed completely from that day ten years ago.

Back then, Anthony was just a naive rookie. One day, he responded to a report from the public claiming that there seemed to be a ferocious animal in the local sewers. Anthony, not taking it seriously, took his partner and went to the scene, and then… experienced the most unforgettable night of his life.

After that, the world in front of Anthony collapsed completely, and his once unwavering beliefs also flipped 180 degrees. He didn’t even know what to believe anymore. However, as a police officer, Anthony soldiered on and eventually joined a special team within the police.

This group outwardly handled regular cases, but their real job was to process paperwork for the investigators — and as someone who had firsthand experience, Anthony was naturally qualified to join. Upon joining, he ended up working there for ten years.

But… honestly, he’d now prefer to deal with trivial matters such as traffic accidents than do his current job.

Unfortunately, he could not avoid this. His desk was now right in front of him.

“But why’d this case get passed on to us? Aren’t the local authorities supposed to handle it?”

Anthony was with the Federal Police Department, and usually local cases were confirmed by the city or state police; there was no need to send them all the way here.

“Ah, apparently something major happened. It seems like the entire town of Innsmouth was destroyed.”

“An entire town? Destroyed?”

Hearing the reply, Anthony was taken aback. He had to admit, he was stunned. True, he had handled such cases before, but from what he remembered, the impact of these cases usually wasn’t that large. It would be a new experience for him to handle something that affected an entire town.

No wonder the file ended up on his desk.

Hearing this, Anthony soberly opened the case file and started going through the contents.

The report inside was rather detailed. In short, an investigator named Duanmu Huai saw an advertisement and went on vacation in Innsmouth. During his vacation, he accidentally discovered that the locals seemed to be hiding some kind of sinister secret. One night, he happened to find out that they were kidnapping out-of-towners on the streets, so the investigator began his own investigation.

Without a doubt, the evidence provided by this investigator was shocking. Not only did it include evidence of bribes between Innsmouth and members of Congress, there was also footage showing that a local hospital was conducting human experiments under the guise of treating patients. Not to mention how local criminals were abducting tourists for their sacrificial rituals.

Following these leads, the investigator then discovered that a group of cultists were secretly holding a terrifying ritual, attempting to summon a horrific sea monster to conquer the world. He infiltrated their midst and ultimately disrupted the ritual, the backlash from which destroyed the entire town of Innsmouth…

It must be said that the whole process seemed very normal, and the local police had also included photographs in the file. Indeed, they had found numerous human bones and suspected ritual sites in the local buildings.

However…….

Anthony always felt there was something off about this report.

On the surface, there was no problem with the trails of evidence. There were physical proofs aplenty, and local law enforcement had taken photos as indirect proof. It was conclusive that rituals involving live human sacrifices and experiments on the human body were a reality in Innsmouth.

But…… Anthony always felt that the report was a bit…… procedural.

Yes, procedural.

As a police officer responsible for U-class cases, Anthony had read countless reports written by investigators, even directly conversing with many of them. In fact, investigators who had been through these incidents were often rather worked-up, excited, frightened. This is perfectly normal, as an experienced officer, Anthony understood it well. He had made it out alive that night ten years ago, but his partner had vanished forever.

Truth be told, Anthony did not fear drug dealers or criminals but the horror he had witnessed that night, an abomination not of this world, had become an inescapable nightmare deep in his heart. In the year following that incident, Anthony attempted in vain to numb his nerves with alcohol and drugs, fleeing that terrifying nightmare.

He could very well understand the investigators who were on the brink of mental breakdown. Just a single experience of that nightmare was horrific enough, having to write it down all over again was simply an impossible task for many. As for those who broke down in the middle of writing or whose handwriting was so messy it became illegible, and those who were in floods of tears, they were numerous.

As a matter of fact, many investigators, after experiencing a single nightmare, either fell into the abyss of alcoholism or became so depressed they would eventually end their own life. Those who survived several such incidents… were extremely rare.

But the report written by this investigator was, how shall I put it… formatted.

The entire process was clear, it was written with a calm demeanor, even when describing the ritual later on, it was dry and to the point, unlike most investigators who would vent out emotionally with statements such as “I have never seen such terrifying scenes” or “such horrifying creatures should not exist in this world!”.

The report was calm, as if it was describing a traffic accident——on a certain day of a certain month and year, XX vehicle collided with another XX vehicle on XX street, as proved by on-site investigations, XX vehicle was at fault for the red-light violation……

And then it ended.

Although it follows the facts, can’t you be more emotional?

Honestly, Anthony thought the reports from the local police were more emotional than this investigator’s. Because according to the investigations by the local police, the photos and footage showed piles of bones in the underground altar, and the human tissue chopped into pieces in the basement of the hospital, such visuals were disturbing even for hardened officers. That was just after the incident, how was it possible for an investigator who personally witnessed all that to show no emotional burden at all?

Was he even human?

Not to mention the final picture of Innsmouth, which made Anthony gasp. The entire town of Innsmouth was burned to black, a large pit resembling a meteorite crater on the moon created by the massive shockwave, most buildings also completely destroyed in this disaster.

Although Anthony was not sure of the specifics, simply looking at the current tragic scene was enough for him to imagine how terrifying the destruction of Innsmouth must have been.

As a result…… Aren’t you, as an involved party, emotionally affected at all?

After all, according to the police investigation, all the people of Innsmouth had been killed! Judging from the photographs, most people appeared to have been burnt by fire, leaving nothing but charred humanoid remains!

He was getting chills just looking at the photos and reading the report, and that person who crawled out of there was the one who reported it at the local police station!

Anthony now finally understood why the case was escalated to federal level, the destruction of a small town is not as simple as a haunted house or a factory. Even though Innsmouth was located in a remote place, with little fame, federal government powers were definitely needed to handle this. The local government could only keep the local media quiet, but what about the media from out of town?

There must be an explanation……

Of course, that wasn’t something Anthony needed to bother with, his task was to review the leads and archives one more time, then follow the procedure.

But…… after going through the archives, Anthony silently rose from his seat.

“Young man, is that investigator still here?”

“Yes, he is still in the Newburyport police station.”

While the investigator was indeed an investigator, he still had to finish the entire process before he could be let go. If it were just a haunted house or two, then it wouldn’t matter, but a whole town had been destroyed, with thousands of deaths, naturally, they couldn’t just let him go.

“We’re going to Newburyport.”

Picking up the archive, Anthony left his office.

He wanted to see for himself, just what kind of investigator could handle such a thing!

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