Chapter 195: I'll Be The Bait!

Usually, the more powerful the demon is, the fainter its scent would be. Once they entered into the Metamorphosis State and discarded their mortal body, it would trigger an evolution. Hence, they would no longer emit any scent unless it was intentional.

Therefore, once Kimura Kazuki stepped into the room and noticed this unfamiliar scent, he was delighted as this showed that the demon had not gone through metamorphosis. Based on his current ability, handling any demon and cultivator below the Metamorphosis State was as easy as pie for him. Of course, if it was a cultivator or demon with special skills, then he would have to give it further thought.

Excluding any factors that are not bargained for, he could probably be regarded as the most powerful cultivator below the Metamorphosis State in this Dharma Ending Age. If there are no cultivator or demon in the Metamorphosis State, then he would be the most powerful man on earth now.

Even so, he could not escape from large weaponry. As for light weapons such as pistols, although he was still vulnerable to it, he had a strong consciousness and was hypersensitive to danger. When someone points a gun at him, he can detect danger before a shot is fired and able to dodge it in time.

However, even though he could smell the scent, he was perplexed when the breath began dissipating rapidly. This made him somewhat hesitant.

It was important to note that, according to substantive experience. However, the dissipation of a demon's scent would happen slowly over time, it would require more than three days for a demon's scent to fade away from the place completely. If the demon had lingered in the place for a long time, it would then become a reiki contamination area. Such contaminated areas required a special eradication process to clear the contamination, and it would take a longer time, as in years, for the area to self-cleanse.

Therefore, at this moment, Kimura Kazuki was uncertain and curious. He had a peculiar feeling about the rapid dissipation of the demon's scent. As he pondered, he gazed on the Otake Police Department and asked, "How long ago did Ri Takayanagi die?"

Ryo Otake did not speak, but instead, he turned to the forensic doctor who was reporting the situation to him. The doctor glanced at Kimura Kazuki and started to speak after seeing the indicative gesture from Ryo Otake for him to speak, "We got here as soon as we received the call, the estimated time of death was two hours ago."

Two hours... The demon's scent is dispersing too fast. It should not dissipate at such a rate even for a demon reaching the Metamorphosis State.

Keeping the issue to himself, Kimura Kazuki walked into the living room and spotted Ri Takayanagi.

Her body was still on the floor. Her eyes wide open and intense fear imprinted in her eyes as if she had been terrified in the last moments of her life. Examining it closer, it seemed that her body was in a condition similar to Kotone Mikami and Ritsuko Yasuhara's, severed at the waist.

The parts were scattered across the floor, and the blood drained from the faces of several rookie officers as they walked into the crime scene. Besides being shocked, it was most probably the horrible condition of the body that caused their discomfort. Ikioi Ito, who tagged along with Kimura Kazuki, was in an even worse condition. After following him into the living room, one look was enough for him to rush over to the other police officers and grab a bag to throw up. Following a series of vomiting and dry-retching, he waved his hand at Kimura Kazuki, his expression pale and shocked, indicating his early retreat from the crime scene.

This was the first time Ikioi Ito had ever seen a dead body, and the strong stench of blood, along with the horrific state of the body, had made him extremely uncomfortable.

As Kimura Kazuki was approached the body, Ryo Otake followed behind him closely with a slight expression of discomfort similar to that of everyone else. However, as the Deputy Chief Inspector, he remained professional, composed, and calm. When Kimura Kazuki was observing the body, he intervened hastily, "Remember to wear a glove if you'd like to move the body." Upon stating this, he stared at Ri Takayanagi's body, feeling that this was going to be a rather tricky case.

Since the installation of the Skynet System in Japan, security had been very good, and murder cases rarely happened. It was impossible to have death scenes daily, as was usually portrayed in detective anime. After all, those animes were just the result of art productions.

"I'll just look around," replied Kimura Kazuki as he frowned, feeling the complete dissipation of the scent.

At this moment, Ryo Otake felt his phone vibrating. Staring at the notification of the incoming call, he felt heavy-hearted to answer it as he seemed to be always receiving bad news when he answers calls nowadays. He picked up the call anyway.

"Hello, who is this?"

After a pause, Ryo Otake's face turned ghastly pale as he ended the call.

Kimura Kazuki stared at him with curiosity. Another dead body?

Ryo Otake understood Kimura Kazuki's expression and began, in a rather grating voice, "It's not a fourth victim... but I just got the news that the murderer had already started committing crimes before Kotone Mikami. In addition to Kotone Mikami, Ritsuko Yasuhara, and now this lady, there were three other female victims before them, and their time of death was six months ago, three months ago, and a month ago, respectively. The modus operandi was exactly the same as the latest cases. All the victims were cheaters, and their photos were sent to their boyfriends by the murderer."

Before Kimura Kazuki could speak, Ryo Otake's distressed speech continued, "I promised the police department that I would solve this case in a week... so I investigated previous cases to see if there were any similar cases. Turns out that there were such cases."

"Why did you make such a guarantee of a week?" Kimura Kazuki was baffled. The case at hand is extremely complex, and such a snap decision in making a guarantee was absolutely reckless.

"My father will be retiring from the police department soon, I have to take advantage until then, and right now, this case is my only way out."

Kimura Kazuki's face softened in understanding upon hearing the remark. He did not pursue the matter as he shifted his focus back to the case and said in a thoughtful tone, "Why did the murderer take so long in between each murder in the earlier cases, but murders three girls within the span of two or three days now?"

"Maybe the killer was unfamiliar with killing people previously? Now that he's learned the skills and had enough experience, he can kill without hesitation?" As a police officer, Ryo Otake's considerations were more realistic and practical.

Hearing this, Kimura Kazuki simply shook his head in disagreement. He was absolutely certain that the killer was not a human but a demon. Do demons need the experience to kill? Of course not!

However, he kept his thoughts to himself and replied, "The killer's motive is obvious, he targets female cheaters. We can start from there and lure the killer out."

Upon hearing his suggestion, Ryo Otake came closer to Kimura Kazuki and whispered, "Actually, I had the same idea earlier, and we have female officers in the department too. But they refused when they were told they would be luring an atrocious murderer like this."

There would definitely be a policewoman who had a great sense of justice, but apparently, they did not exist in the police station under Ryo Otake's jurisdiction. Life could only be lived once and as such everyone held it something precious.

"I'll be the bait."