Free Web NovelChapter 481: Chapter 482: The Bizarre Criminal_1
Aiden slightly moved his wrist, these refugees posed no threat to him, there was no need for Divine Words or even a gun, he could easily handle them with just the combat skills and dark magic he had learned.
Now he began to feel that his battle skills were a lot more polished than before.
Previously, he only had the memories and battle skills of the former Aiden. Even if he occasionally practiced to keep from getting rusty, he had never accumulated the on-the-spot experience and combat reactions of his predecessor—something that couldn’t be improved by practice alone, but only through real combat. Only by personally experiencing life-and-death situations could one’s body and mind adapt to the rhythm and intensity of battle.
Since taking the job as a prison guard, the events of the past half-year exceeded those of the previous years combined. Although he didn’t engage in personal combat often, every instance seemed to awaken a dormant memory in his body. Aiden could clearly feel his battle skills becoming increasingly fluid, which was somewhat of a silver lining.
"At this point, how credible do you think your words are?" Aiden waved his staff in front of the beggar, "Are you truly not an assassin sent by someone?"
"No, I’m just... We just, lost our minds for a moment... Please show mercy..." The other party shouted incoherently.
Aiden felt the same way; he couldn’t imagine any faction foolish enough to send such riffraff after him.
It seemed these were indeed isolated acts of crime, these refugees simply got carried away by their desires without thinking long-term.
For him, "a feeble woman" alone in pursuit of a person involved in mysterious incidents even the government was investigating, and carelessly agreeing to meet late at night in a deserted corner, the beggar never considered that such a woman might also be very dangerous. After all, witches did exist in this world.
However, if everyone in the world could think so clearly, prisons wouldn’t be so full of criminals. Aiden had seen all sorts of bizarre criminals with a variety of reasons for their crimes; among them, some quite peculiar. Some hurt or killed for reasons as trivial as a look, a joke, or an unfounded suspicion, while others committed grave crimes for a meager benefit that landed them in jail for the better part of their lives.
Compared to those, the actions of this group were at least slightly more logical, driven simply by blind desire.
When Aiden agreed to the meeting, he wasn’t worried about them setting traps. The most troublesome scenario would be if they were connected to the Revival Society led by Mr. Bloodcoat, such as Mr. Bloodcoat using the cult’s power to search for suspects as he sensed his enemy’s approach.
With Aiden’s current authority and combat ability, unless Mr. Bloodcoat himself showed up, cult adherents, or an acting proxy would still be manageable for him.
Conversely, capturing one or two adherents could provide an opportunity to interrogate them for inside information about the cult.
So discovering that the others were merely ordinary thugs was actually somewhat disappointing for Aiden.
Aiden raised his staff again, aiming at the beggar’s knee. He had no intention of showing mercy to these people; under his current circumstances, it was inconvenient to take them to the authorities, but he didn’t mind "lightly" punishing them himself, ensuring they wouldn’t dare repeat their actions for a while.
The beggar cried out in alarm, seeing he was about to be crippled: "He’s in the yellow tent piled with garbage by the pond!!"
"Hmm?" Aiden stopped, "Say that again."
"I’m not lying to you, that man really came! Truly!" The beggar’s voice became tearful.
"If I hear one more lie, it’s both legs," Aiden said coldly.
"Alright, alright, I heard it from the others... They said that ’patron with a dog’ came to the pond, looking for Tabus, who collected garbage," the beggar replied, covering the side of his face where he’d lost a tooth.
"Others..." Aiden realized something and turned to look at the other people lying on the ground, "Them?"
"Yes, yes, our turf is the eastern boulevard and the eastern residential area, Tabus’s group... is in the plaza," the beggar explained.
"So you’re not acquaintances at all, but rival gangs from this refugee camp?" Aiden began to put the pieces together, "And all this was just to lure me here?"
"Yes," the beggar unconsciously dodged Aiden’s gaze.
"Who told you that? I need to confirm with him," Aiden said.
"Um..." The beggar tried to make out his companions in the darkness, lifting his hand and pointing, "The one in the torn cloak."
Aiden grabbed the beggar by the collar with one hand and dragged him to look for the refugee lying on the ground clutching his arm and groaning—he had his upper arm broken by Aiden.
The beggar was surprised that a woman who looked so frail could possess such strength, he didn’t dare to breathe heavily, he could only stagger to keep up.
"Stop whimpering," Aiden kicked the refugee on the ground, "Tell me, is it true that the ’patron with a dog’ has been to the refugee camp?"
"Uh?" The other hadn’t come to his senses yet, but as soon as he saw the person who had beaten him up, holding a lantern and looking down at him with an indifferent face, he immediately quieted down.
Aiden repeated the question and emphasized with his walking stick, "I don’t want to repeat a third time."
"Yes, yes. That man, he’d give us money when he saw us, and he had a dog with him, we all remember him!" The other hurriedly replied, "He lives in the red house in the eastern residential area. That day, he handed out money to us and then found the garbage collector, Tabus."
"When did this happen?"
"The day before yesterday... no, I think it was last Saturday? I’m sorry, I... I can’t remember clearly, let me think..." The other began to panic.
"Enough," Aiden said calmly.
Seeing this reaction, it was unlikely a hastily concocted lie, Professor Dodge really had come looking for someone in the refugee camp. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
"Good," Aiden forced the beggar to his feet, holding onto his collar, "Take me to that garbage collector... wait, he’s not as stupid as you, is he?"
He realized that in his current form he was just a weak woman, the shell chosen by the avenging goddess was pretty by ordinary standards, and there were probably more than a few people like this beggar in that camp.
If any more idiots didn’t know any better and set their sights on him, he wouldn’t mind dealing with another batch of scum, but such investigations were a waste of time. freewēbnoveℓ.com
"Err..." The beggar hesitated.
It seemed necessary to make others realize that he was not someone to be trifled with.
"Turn your face here," Aiden ordered the beggar while holding the lantern.
The beggar, trembling with fear, turned around, his mouth stained with blood.
Aiden observed for a moment and, out of nowhere, lifted the hand holding the walking stick and punched the other’s nose.
"Ugh!!" The beggar clutched his face, unable to shout from the pain, as blood oozed between his fingers.
"Smear that blood on your face, a bit more, and when we leave, wail a few times, act weaker," Aiden said coldly, taking out a gun and pointing it at the man, "Let’s move, you lead the way."
