In the dark Wokan Town, a circle of police officers surrounded the Police Station entrance, their faces uneasy as they looked at the Corpse Puppet lying on the ground. The police officer on duty who had been scared earlier was vividly describing the terrifying scene to his colleagues, and a faint sense of panic spread among the crowd.
Around the corner of a street a considerable distance from the Police Station, Dorothy was looking at the situation outside the Police Station entrance in the distance, then silently turned and left.
Everything had been arranged properly; all that was needed now was to wait for their respective actions.
From the letter obtained from Edrick, Dorothy learned the contact method for the mysterious organization's personnel dispatched to Wokan. According to their agreement in the letter, after Edrick succeeded, he only needed to put Dorothy's photo into the mailbox at 24 North Street, Wokan, and the mysterious organization's dispatcher in Wokan would, as agreed, wait for Edrick in the woods west of Wokan the next evening.
At that time, they would exchange the person for the goods; the mysterious organization would get Dorothy, and Edrick would get the reward that could supposedly allow him to enter the so-called "Extraordinary Realm."
And now, Edrick was dead, but no one knew this news except Dorothy. Even the locals in Wokan hadn't yet discovered the death of the local big shot, let alone the outsiders sent by the mysterious organization.
Utilizing this point, Dorothy, who was originally the kidnapping target, took a photo of herself and sent it to the designated location. The mysterious organization's dispatcher who received Dorothy's photo would believe this was the signal of Edrick's success, and he would wait for the transaction at the designated location tomorrow night.
To ensure her actions were correct, Dorothy spent almost the entire day in Wokan, paying attention and inquiring about news of Edrick everywhere, confirming that no one knew he had met with an accident.
To ensure the photo studio was not a base for the dispatched personnel, thus avoiding walking into a trap, Dorothy specifically investigated how long the photo studio had been open in Wokan. From the letter, she knew that the mysterious organization had no influence in Wokan before contacting Edrick, so a photo studio that had been open for nearly ten years could not be related to that organization.
Even when finally sending the letter, to be safe, Dorothy had someone else deliver it on her behalf.
Up to now, Dorothy had been very careful every step of the way.
After obtaining the photo from the mailbox, the organization members hidden in Wokan would be drawn out and head to the "transaction location" in the woods west of Wokan tomorrow night.
Of course, this didn't mean Dorothy wanted to confront the other side head-on. The number of opponents was unknown, and they might have some extraordinary abilities. It would be too dangerous for her, a thirteen-year-old girl, to handle it alone, even with two Corpse Puppets setting some traps.
For this, Dorothy's countermeasure was that professional matters should be handled by professionals.
She thought of the two organizations mentioned in the letters between Edrick and that mysterious organization: the Hidden Security Bureau and the Church...
Based on the content of the letters, the mysterious organization was clearly wary of the Hidden Security Bureau and the Church, and might even be in a direct hostile relationship!
The enemy of my enemy is my ally. Since that mysterious organization was wary of the Hidden Security Bureau and the Church, she could find a way to leak crucial information to them and stage a 'drive the wolf to swallow the tiger' scenario...
Between the Church and the An Yin Bureau, she chose the Hidden Security Bureau. The reason was that those guys had mentioned in their letters that there was a Hunter Squad of the An Yin Bureau active near Wokan...
The next difficulty was how to contact this so-called An Yin Bureau. In Dorothy's original memory, she had never heard of an organization called the An Yin Bureau, let alone known how to contact them.
Dorothy judged that, judging by the name, the An Yin Bureau was a government department, likely an institution under state authority specifically dealing with extraordinary events, and if it was a government institution, it would be easy to handle.
If she couldn't contact the An Yin Bureau herself, then other departments that were also government institutions should have corresponding channels.
Therefore, Dorothy forged a reply letter from the mysterious organization to Edrick, wrote all the key information into it, and had a Corpse Puppet carry it and "die" directly in front of the Police Station.
Then, all Dorothy had to do was wait for the Wokan police to help her notify the An Yin Bureau and wait for the so-called Hunter Squad to find the letter on the Corpse Puppet...
"Now I just have to wait until tomorrow night..."
Walking on the deserted street, Dorothy looked up at the bright moon in the sky and muttered to herself.
"Then, there are still some final preparations needed..."
Quickening her pace, Dorothy's figure disappeared into the darkness. She didn't want to be just a simple spectator in tomorrow's good show.
...
The night deepened, and the lights on the streets of Wokan gradually decreased. Slowly, apart from the sparse streetlights, there were almost no flickering lights, and a thicker darkness enveloped the streets of Wokan.
At the Police Station in Wokan, the lights were still flickering, but unlike before, there were no police officers at the entrance.
Lifeless corpses lay on the cold ground, a strange smile frozen on their faces. Beside the corpses, two figures were standing, and they were not police officers.
In the cold night wind, figures in uniform stood upright in front of the Police Station. They were all wearing black double-breasted formal suits, with tight upper bodies, raised collars, and coat tails reaching their knees. They all wore gloves, and each person had a black short top hat on their head. The faces beneath the short top hats were covered by lifeless, expressionless iron masks.
These figures dressed in black surrounded the body, carefully examining it.
Inside the Police Station, all the police officers had also disappeared. In the Police Chief's office, a figure was sitting in the position that originally belonged to the Police Chief.
This figure was dressed in the exact same attire as the black-clad figures standing outside the entrance. His feet were propped up on the Police Chief's desk, his mask was thrown on top of a cabinet to the side, and his hat covered his face. He seemed to be napping.
On the other side of the Police Chief's office, another figure stood in front of a map depicting Wokan. She was also wearing the same black uniform, and the fitted upper body showed clear curves of her chest and waist, indicating she was a woman.
The female black-clad figure scanned the Police Station map, occasionally flipping through the Police Station's archives, seemingly investigating and contemplating. Suddenly, she seemed to have found something and turned her head to look at her colleague sitting in the Police Chief's position.
"Hey, Grego, there's something here..."
Seeing the appearance of the man in the Police Chief's seat, the female black-clad figure was startled, then suddenly raised her voice and spoke sternly.
"Captain Gregorius! It's work time!"
Startled by the female black-clad figure's raised volume, the man who had been napping woke up with a jolt, his whole body trembling, and the hat on his face fell to the ground.
"Uh... I said, Eilina, keep it down, we're working on a case..."
The startled man quickly lowered his feet from the desk, then immediately picked up the hat from the ground and put it back on his head.
The man sitting in the Police Chief's seat, named Grego, was a young man with short chestnut hair, brown eyes, a high nose, and deep-set eyes, with a handsome face. Although a hint of weariness still lingered on his expression, it could not hide the determination emanating from his brows.
"You know you're working on a case? I thought you were about to fall asleep, your state is too bad, Captain..."
Standing in front of the desk, still wearing her mask, the woman named Eilina said exasperatedly, and Grego scratched his head, looking a bit helpless.
"Ah... there's nothing I can do about it... I was originally supposed to go back to Igwinte tomorrow, but suddenly I ran into this case and had to work overtime. Now I'm inevitably a bit unhappy, I have important things to do when I go back..."
Grego complained, and Eilina paused slightly listening to his complaints, then said.
"Yes... I almost forgot, Captain Grego's sister is on her way. She should be arriving in Igwinte soon. If you, as her brother, aren't there, no one will pick her up..."