The current White Stone Town was quite different from the dilapidated state it had been at the beginning. Wooden houses were scattered all over the place, and wisps of smoke could be seen curling up from the chimneys.
Several citizens clustered around Bai Xiaowen and the others as they arrived at the scene of the latest tragedy.
More than a day had passed since the incident, and the citizens did not have the awareness to protect the scene. Placed in front of Bai Xiaowen were only two incomplete skeletons.
These two skeletons had died in a tragic manner. One of them had a large hole in his stomach, and the dark red blood had coagulated. The other had his neck twisted 180 degrees, and even his tongue was sticking out.
In addition to these two fatal wounds, the deceased's body was mottled with blood, and there was not a single piece of flesh that was intact.
Li Shuyi endured the discomfort in his stomach and frowned. "What kind of monster was it? When you saw it, didn't you find any clues? "
Anton shook his head. "We suspect that it was a monster that could fly … because there were no monster footprints at the scene."
Bai Xiaowen squatted down and began to identify the skeletons.
"It shouldn't have been done by a monster," Bai Xiaowen said. "Look, the wounds on the deceased's thighs, calves, and arms have traces of sharp blades. It should have been done by someone … If that's the case, it's easy to understand why there are no footprints. The murderer was more cautious and erased the footprints."
Bai Xiaowen stood up and continued, "From the state of the deceased's death, we can restore part of the scene at the time of the crime. For example, the second victim's head and left shoulder were severely bruised, and the fatal injury was his neck being twisted. Among the murderers, there must be a very tall guy. He held the deceased's shoulder with one hand and grabbed his head with the other. Then, he twisted it … "
Bai Xiaowen demonstrated a movement that made everyone present, especially the citizens of White Stone Town, feel a chill on their necks.
Li Shuyi quickly took on the role of Detective Conan. "If that's the case, the murderer has to be at least two meters taller than the victim … Is there anyone in White Stone Town that tall?"
Anton shook his head repeatedly. "Those burly and strong people have long left White Stone Town with their families. Now, there are not many residents of White Stone Town who are taller than me, let alone someone who is so much taller."
As a miner, Anton was tall and sturdy, with a height of 1.8 meters. There was no doubt that the murderer was not from White Stone Town.
"Did you notice that the victim's body was covered in wounds? His skin and flesh were cut off in many places," Bai Xiaowen said.
They nodded in unison.
"Generally speaking, unless the murderer is a psychopath, they wouldn't do anything unnecessary. Of the two victims, one had his neck broken, and the other had a large hole in his stomach. They were fatal injuries that could have killed him on the spot. Why did the murderer cut off their flesh? "
Bai Xiaowen muttered to himself, "There's a ten percent chance that the murderer is a psychopath. There's a twenty percent chance that the murderer tortured the victims before they died for revenge. And the biggest possibility … is that the murderer needs the meat as … food! "
Everyone's expression changed.
"Brother … Xiao, it shouldn't be that bad, right?" Li Shuyi's face was a little pale. She had only heard of ancient stories of "cannibalism" in history books. She had never thought of such a terrible thing.
"There's no need to make such a fuss. If the last conjecture is correct, the murderer should be a remnant of the Sin Realm. Only the demi-humans among the remnant would see us humans as moving rations. Moreover, many of the demi-humans are quite tall, so it's normal for strong men to be more than two meters tall. "
Bai Xiaowen voiced his judgment and summoned the Wrath Claw.
"If it was a simple case of monsters eating humans, I wouldn't have gone through so much trouble. I would've just moved the residents of White Stone Town away. But if it's a remnant of the Sin Realm, it's necessary to investigate. At least, we should first understand the general strength of the remnant of the Sin Realm. "Bai Xiaowen said.
The Wrath Claw sniffed the two corpses, then rubbed its big head against Bai Xiaowen's waist. It faced the north and scratched its claws.
"Let's go after the murderer. An Dong, pass on my order. Let the villagers pack their luggage, gather, and wait in the open space in front of the Lord's house. When I come back, I'll take you to Maple City. There are strong walls there. Even if the remnant of the Sin Realm invades the Northern Frontier, they can resist. "
Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi rode the Wrath Claw and ran all the way north.
Along the way, the Wrath Claw would occasionally stop, dig and sniff the ground, and then continue running.
"The Wrath Claw can be used to chase after the murderer. Its nose is like a dog's." Li Shuyi hugged Bai Xiaowen's waist and whispered.
"Wolves and dogs were originally a family. Dogs have been domesticated by humans for a long time and lack experience in hunting in the wild. Biological evolution is the law of advancing and discarding, so wolves have a better sense of smell than dogs. The Wrath Claw is the leader of the mutated wolves, so of course, its sense of smell is more sensitive. "Bai Xiaowen said.
… …
North of White Stone Town, in front of a small remote valley, the Wrath Claw quietly stopped, its claws digging, and its mouth made a low whining sound.
"Traces of human activity."
Bai Xiaowen squatted down and identified the messy footprints on the ground.
Judging from the direction of the footprints, it was a humanoid creature walking upright on two feet. However, the shape of the footprints was very strange. At the front of the long foot, there were only two toes, one big and one small, and there was a small protruding part of the heel, which seemed to be the third toe.
Bai Xiaowen used the Black Soul Stone's accompanying skill, Return of the Dead, and a group of undead summoned creatures appeared beside him.
As for the Zombie Doctor, he had an independent consciousness and personality. Under the premise of Bai Xiaowen's consent, he could not respond to Bai Xiaowen's summons.
As usual, Bai Xiaowen ordered the Shadow Assassin to turn invisible and sneak into the valley.
There were a few animal skin tents in the valley, and in the center was a bonfire. Meat of unknown origin was being roasted over it.
Around the bonfire, there were three humanoid creatures sitting in a circle. All of them were tall and slender, with green skin and sharp fangs extending from their mouths. Bai Xiaowen was very familiar with this appearance. Before entering the Cain Plane, he had drawn this template of a humanoid creature — a troll.
When the shadow assassin approached, one of the trolls grunted in response. It tilted its head slightly, and its pointy ears perked up slightly.
This troll's perception was very high. Bai Xiaowen controlled the Shadow Assassin to slowly retreat, not stepping into the range of the troll's alert.
After that, Bai Xiaowen ended the vision sharing with the Shadow Assassin, opened his eyes and said, "A total of three trolls. Looks like they are all elite creatures. They won't be much of a threat to us. Let's just go. "
Li Shuyi nodded. She couldn't wait to teach these flesh-eating monsters a lesson.
When the summoned creatures rushed into the valley and blocked the entrance, the three trolls were still leisurely having a barbecue feast.
A string of incomprehensible language came out from the mouth of the troll in the middle, but Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi couldn't understand it. When they first entered the Cain Plane, they only received the common language (ancient Latin) for 100 mana points. These trolls were obviously speaking another language.
If they couldn't understand the language, there was no need to communicate. Just as the trolls' attention was attracted by the skeleton swordsmen, the Shadow Assassin made the first move. With an assassination skill, it hit the back of one of the trolls.
Bai Xiaowen used the Insight skill on the troll.
[Sogg Juetooth (Elite Level 5)]
[Race: Humanoid/Troll]
[Class: Troll Headhunter]
[Attributes: STR 15, DEX 25, CON 24, INT 10]
[Skills: Rage, Regeneration, Blood Explosion Assassination]
Bai Xiaowen was surprised by the Level-5 Elite's strength, mainly because the three skills were quite powerful.
[Rage] was a skill that continuously stacked attack speed. Normal attacks had a chance of triggering it. Every time it was triggered, it would stack a stack. Each stack would increase attack speed by 10%, up to 50%!
[Regeneration] was a passive skill of the trolls. It increased their HP recovery rate, and they could use a certain amount of stamina to recover their own broken limbs.
The last one, [Blood Explosion Assassination], was an ultimate skill. It consumed half of the user's HP to cast an ancient troll spell on the battle spear, dealing magic damage to enemies in a straight line!
Of course, in terms of skill, this Level-5 Elite Troll Headhunter might not be stronger than Apprentice Knight Bonita.
However, Bonita herself was a Knight of Divine Grace. She had a high chance of evolving into a leader at a high level, which was why she had such powerful skills! Other than that, most of the knights in the Holy See didn't have Bonita's potential, let alone a fake like Keats.
If this Elite Troll Headhunter's skill was an ability that all Troll Headhunters had, then the combat strength of the survivors was quite terrifying. If a few more Elite Troll Headhunters came, they could probably kill a leader of the same level without caring about their own injuries.
Fortunately, the Shadow Assassin's attack was effective. It successfully pierced through the back of the first troll, dealing high damage and inflicting a bleeding status.
When the three trolls saw Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi, they quickly gave up on communicating. They roared and charged at Bai Xiaowen. Their attack method was also very special. They used the spears on their backs to shoot, but the distance was relatively close.
After a round of spear throwing, the 4 Skeleton Swordsmen rushed into the melee range of the 3 Troll Headhunters. However, the three Troll Headhunters took out their spears from their backs and held them with both hands. They fought against the Skeleton Swordsmen without any intention of retreating.
"They can attack and defend at close range. What a powerful unit."
Bai Xiaowen ordered the Wrath Claw to pounce and bite the injured troll's arm. With a crack, the crippling effect of Tear was triggered. Half of the troll's arm was bitten off.
The injured troll roared. Its left hand pinched the broken arm and it took a step back. The other two troll quickly came to its rescue. Their passive ability stacked together. Two spears stabbed the Wrath Claw one after another, then pulled back and stabbed again!
The first troll beat its chest with its remaining left hand and roared. Blue veins popped out on its forehead as if it was in great pain. At the place where his right arm had been severed, a pale green arm suddenly sprang out. Compared to the rest of his skin, the color was a little lighter.
This was the troll race's ability [Regeneration]. It was indeed very powerful. However, the first troll seemed to have used up a lot of energy. It took two deep breaths and didn't continue attacking.
On the other side, Bai Xiaowen ordered the Wrath Claw to take two rounds of four attacks. Its health dropped to 60%. Under the effect of the Lv4 skill [Blood Frenzy], the Wrath Claw's eyes quickly turned red. It had an additional 40% critical hit chance!
The skill [Laceration] was used and triggered a critical hit. The second troll's stomach was almost split open and it was bleeding heavily! The Wrath Claw jumped up and bit the troll's throat.
Critical hit. Another critical hit!
The second troll's neck was bitten off. Blood spurted out. With this kind of terrible injury, no matter how strong the regenerative ability was, it couldn't be saved. It was an instant kill!
The third troll yelled. It bit its middle finger and smeared its blood on its battle spear. It muttered something and stabbed its spear at the Wrath Claw. This spear had a terrifying blood-red glow. The wind was so strong that it was hard to open one's eyes.
"… There are too many unnecessary actions."
Bai Xiaowen was waiting for this moment. He immediately activated [Deterrence]!
Enemies whose Spiritual Power is lower than 11 (including 11) will fall into a coma! Even if it was higher than 11, they would enter the Fear state after the Deterrence skill passed. This was the special effect of [Deterrence] after it was upgraded to Lv4, "Crushing"!
The third troll's Mental Strength was slightly higher. It entered the Fear state and its ultimate skill [Blood Explosion Assassination] was killed. The first troll, whose arm had just been regenerated, was stunned. It was killed by Li Shuyi and his summoned creatures.
As for the third troll, it wasted half of its health but it was useless. Bai Xiaowen's Desert Eagle was pointed at its forehead. He directly shot its head and didn't give it any chance to escape.
After the battle ended, the Spiritual Realm's rules notified them:
"You have eliminated the troll scout team of the Sinful Realm Alliance."
"Your reputation in the Human Race Alliance has increased. Current status: Friendly."
"Your reputation in the Sinful Realm Alliance has decreased. Current status: Hostile."
"You have received 107 Merit Points from the Human Race Alliance. Please go to Basil Heber, the quartermaster of the Black Rock Fortress, to check and exchange for military supplies. "
Li Shuyi also received the Merit Points notification. The two of them calculated that killing a Level-5 Elite troll would reward them with 50 Merit Points. The points would be distributed according to the contribution of the kill.
"It seems that the survivors of the Sinful Realm Alliance have begun to infiltrate before the battle. Then we'll have something to do while we're researching the antidote. We'll get a lot of Merit Points if we find these scouts and kill them, "Bai Xiaowen said.
Li Shuyi nodded in agreement.
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