A Core Ship From The Start
Chapter 740 - Chapter 740 Chapter 540 Hellhound_1

Chapter 740: Chapter 540 Hellhound_1 Chapter 740: Chapter 540 Hellhound_1 “Splash!”

A bone-chilling cold swept over him as Duanmu Huai moved forward, looking at a corpse being slid out of the frozen morgue drawers. The body was a man in his forties, his eyes wide open, a look of extreme panic on his face. But that wasn’t the point: the point was…the wound on his chest.

In the center of the man’s bare chest were four marks that looked as though they had been brutally torn by a savage beast. Just by looking, one could guess that this was the work of a monstrous animal, something like a giant bear, its sharp claws ripping off the victim’s flesh and bones, leaving horrendous wounds behind.

Duanmu Huai stretched out his hand for comparison–it was slightly smaller than his palm.

“Did you find any trace evidence? Like hair?”

“Animal hairs were found in the wounds, but we couldn’t identify the specific type of animal.”

While talking, the fat coroner pulled open another drawer.

“What about this one?”

“He was also attacked by that beast.”

Looking at the body in front of him, the rotund medical examiner frowned.

“Can you believe this? The analysis revealed that the cause of death was from being hit head-on by a massive truck moving at least 150 kilometers per hour. But how could such a truck be in the heart of the mountains?”

As the fat medical examiner said this, Duanmu Huai could see the devastation on the man’s chest. It looked as if he had been struck by a large object, leaving a compressed and collapsed scar. Though the suggestion of a truck seemed preposterous, Duanmu could understand the coroner’s fear. Using the word truck was just a metaphorical representation of the unbelievable and absurd conclusion derived from scientific evidence.

“So you are suggesting, somewhere in these mountains, there’s a creature that’s about two meters tall…”

Duanmu Huai compared this to the injuries on the previous body.

“…A Hellhound that can run at speeds over 150 kilometers per hour?”

“That’s beyond my recommendations, sir.”

The plump coroner chuckled bitterly and took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his forehead. Even in this icy morgue, he couldn’t stop his sweating.

“To be honest, I don’t know what happened, and I don’t want to know. I’m just a coroner; I just provide the results of my investigations. Of course, if you’re asking my personal thoughts–I have been going straight home after work these days, not wasting time at the pub like before. Perhaps most people here are doing the same until all these damned troubles are fully resolved.”

“Alright, what about the other bodies?”

“Most of them have been claimed by their families. These two were guards from out of town, their relatives haven’t arrived yet, so they are still here.”

“Who should I talk to if I want to know more about the incident that night?”

“You should look for Chief of Police Taister, he’s been in a terrible mood recently… well, you’ll understand when you see him.”

Duanmu Huai soon understood what the fat coroner meant. Indeed, when he arrived at the Chief’s office, he saw a haggard, dejected old policeman. That was understandable; according to the fat coroner, the Chief had been in charge of the hunting party with Baskerville’s young master. Seeing so many officers die under his watch must have been devastating.

Fortunately, Duanmu Huai didn’t need to try hard to get the dejected Chief to talk.

“Truthfully, I might not know that much more than you guys.”

Sitting back in his chair, toying with his pipe, Chief Taister spoke calmly.

“I was contacted by Fred… He insists that it was a wild beast that attacked and killed his parents. I saw the scene myself then and, thinking of the local residents, thought it unlikely that a sporadic beast was the culprit.”

“But why at night?”

Duanmu Huai voiced his doubt.

“Frankly, I think there is no more foolish choice than going into the mountains at night.”

“I thought so too, unfortunately Fred didn’t agree.”

Chief Taister sighed helplessly.

“At the time, I tried to convince him to wait until the morning and then head out when our preparations were complete. But all of a sudden, this grotesque howling echoed from outside…”

“A howl?”

“Yes, it sounded like a wolf or a dog, but I have never heard such a chilling howl before. Fred also heard it and immediately became restless. He gathered the Baskerville family’s guards and set off into the mountains, intending to find and kill that beast. As a policeman, of course, I couldn’t let him risk his life alone, so I led a team to go with him.”

Speaking to this point, the Chief’s face began to stiffen.

“As you said, heading into the mountains deep in the night is a poor idea. We came as prepared as we could, carried torchlights and hunting dogs. To be honest, we didn’t even really know what we were looking for. A wolf, a wild dog? The temperature in the mountains was low, and fog filled the air. We aimlessly roamed around, without any real track to follow. Then, all of a sudden… screams echoed in the air.”

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