Chapter 698: Cheetah Appears (3)
Diana's Encounter
Night, a park, a neighborhood street, a homeless man, a dagger, a woman walking alone... a series of conditions described the unpleasant event taking place.
Diana was in a bad mood, but unlike Luke, she didn't have a habit of taking it out on others. After assessing the man, she took out her wallet.
"How much do you want?"
The homeless man tremblingly held up three fingers.
"Th-three... three hundred dollars!"
Diana took out a stack of bills and placed them on the ground.
"There's a thousand here. Use it to treat the wound on your left hand. It's summer, and high temperatures mean easy infection. If you don't treat it soon, your hand will be useless."
With that, she turned to leave. After a few steps, she stopped abruptly. Her body blurred, and she appeared in front of the homeless man at lightning speed. She snatched the dagger from his hand and tossed it aside.
Bang!
The dagger plunged deeply into the concrete wall.
"Find a job and stop robbing people. You won't be this lucky every time."
The homeless man stood frozen until Diana's silhouette disappeared. Then, he shivered violently, picked up the money on the ground, and walked over to the wall.
The dagger was buried up to the hilt. The force must have been immense, as cracks appeared in the concrete wall. If that blow had landed on a person, the result would be unimaginable.
The homeless man swallowed hard, secretly vowing never to rob women walking alone again. It was too terrifying.
The Huntress Emerges
"Do you know who that woman you just tried to rob was?"
Just then, an unfamiliar voice came from behind. The homeless man quickly turned around. In the corner, a sexy woman with flowing hair and a fiery figure slowly approached. Her steps were light; although she wore high heels, they made no sound on the ground.
"Diana Prince, also known as Wonder Woman. One of the six superheroes who saved the world. And the girlfriend of the world's richest man, Luke Shaw."
"Did you really try to rob her? Don't you think you've lived long enough?"
The homeless man's face went stiff. He couldn't help but back away. The girl in front of him was beautiful, but her eyes radiated cold, emotionless killing intent, like a leopard hunting on the savanna.
"Men. Trashy men."
"A few years ago, I was constantly harassed by trash like you. Diana helped me. Now, it's my turn to repay her."
Barbara opened her mouth. Her teeth slowly elongated, and vertical slits appeared in her pupils, turning them amber. Her body grew taller, tearing through her clothes, exposing her perfectly sculpted body. Pale yellow fur sprouted from her pores, adding a strange, exotic beauty to her youthful figure.
Puff!
Blood splattered onto the ground, reflecting a dim light in the moonlight.
A Growing Mystery
The next morning at the museum, Diana overheard her colleagues whispering. A body had been found near the park—a homeless man. His hands and feet were intact, but his internal organs were missing, and his body was covered in bite marks, just like several previous murder cases.
Diana approached them and asked,
"What murder cases are you talking about?"
"You don't know? Cases like this have popped up recently in Lake Park, the East End, University City, and the suburbs. All the victims were homeless men. People are saying a man-eating beast has appeared in Washington."
Seeing Diana frown, the colleague quickly reassured her.
"Don't worry. The beast only preys on the homeless; it won't target others."
Diana said heavily, "Is there any news from the police department?"
The colleague waved his hand, his face full of disdain.
"What can those police do? So far, they've only found crime scene footage; not even an eyewitness." With that, he tried to invite her. "Diana, I'm having a dance party at my place tomorrow night. Want to come along?"
"I'm sorry, I have plans tomorrow night."
Diana smiled politely and walked away, her slender figure disappearing around the corner, leaving the colleague looking dejected. His friend nudged him.
"Forget it. She's out of your league."
"I know, but I'm just curious. She's never dated anyone in all this time. Do you think she might be..." He gestured vaguely. His friend immediately shook his head.
"Probably not. I think she genuinely doesn't have any interest in that."
"You don't think so?"
"Who knows?"
The Hunter's Identity
Diana wasn't overly concerned about the murder case, but she habitually looked into it. With the help of the base AI, the case details and victim's information quickly appeared on her screen.
"It's him!"
"The homeless man from last night. How did he die?"
"The time of death is 10:15 PM. I hadn't returned home yet."
Diana murmured to herself. She carefully recalled last night's events. She left the nightclub at 10:00 PM and encountered the homeless man around 10:10 PM. The man died just five minutes later.
Something was wrong.
As a demigoddess, her senses, while not as powerful as Clark's, were certainly "abnormal." If she chose to, she could hear every sound within a radius of three kilometers.
At the time of the incident, she was definitely no more than 1,500 meters from the park. At such a short distance, she should have heard the man's screams before he died.
Unless he didn't even have time to scream.
What kind of beast could move that fast?
Diana scrolled the mouse, carefully reviewing the camera footage. Due to the darkness, the image was blurry, only capturing a fleeting figure.
A slender, agile form, with dark yellow fur and a long tail. Based on the appearance, it should be a cheetah, but its hair was very long.
"A cheetah wearing a wig!"
Diana shook her head in disbelief. How could a cheetah wear a wig, unless it had a master, or—it was originally a person.
She froze at the last thought.
The library in the Rock of Eternity contained records of many Gods who could transform into beasts. Divine blood passed down through human descendants could occasionally manifest as superpowers.
Could that monster be a shape-shifting meta-human?
Diana rested her chin on her hand, her expression becoming serious. Once a beast tastes blood, it activates its animalistic nature, transforming it into a predator. If the killer was indeed a shape-shifting meta-human, they must be struggling greatly now.
Humanity? Brutality?
It wouldn't be an easy choice.
The Struggle Below
In a slightly secluded building in the Washington suburbs.
Thud-thud-thud sounds echoed from below, along with occasional muffled roars and the scraping of claws against concrete walls.
The sightline extended downward, passing through the floor and into a concrete basement.
Bang!
The wall shook, and large cracks appeared, followed by a roar.
ROAR!!!!
A shockwave blasted outwards, sweeping through the room like a hurricane.
After a long time, the suppressed sounds of panting slowly subsided. A pair of blood-stained hands reached out from the corner, followed by a completely naked body. Even covered in blood, the body's strange allure could not be hidden.
It was Barbara Minerva!
The Queen of the daytime, the Hunter of the night, now returning to her original form: that simple, kind girl.
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