Chapter 204: The Terrifying Sewers

“Nine years ago, he ordered a modular aluminum-magnesium alloy room from our factory. It was one of those custom-built, assembled types. After that, he ordered some other stuff, like special beds and frames. But I haven’t seen him since. To be honest, I’ve been running this factory for nearly fifteen years, and that was the first time anyone ordered an aluminum-magnesium alloy room…”

The factory owner rambled on for a while.

“What was the delivery address?” Xiao Yu cut him off.

“I don’t know the exact address,” the owner shook his head. “Once we finished the order, he came to pick it up himself.”

Xiao Yu and Wang Dong both felt their hearts sink.

“If he built an aluminum-magnesium alloy room in the city, he’d need a construction permit,” Xiao Yu reasoned. “He wouldn’t be that careless. The room probably isn’t out in the open.”

“Did he take it out of the city?” Wang Dong frowned.

“Not sure,” Xiao Yu shook his head. “But even in the outskirts or rural areas, a structure like that would stand out.”

“Could it be…” Wang Dong’s eyes widened in surprise.

Xiao Yu spoke at the same time, “Underground.”

It had to be underground—where no one would notice it.

“Underground construction requires approval,” Xiao Yu continued. “Check if there were any private underground construction permits issued nine years ago, the year Luo Fei bought the aluminum-magnesium alloy room. This isn’t a small project. No one would dare to build it secretly.”

If it was underground, it was likely an underground facility. Even a small project like that couldn’t be completed quickly. This kind of construction would require a permit for earthworks.

“And another thing,” Wang Dong’s eyes lit up, “he’d need to own a piece of land.”

Exactly, without owning the land, how could you just start digging? Whose property would you be on? 

That was a huge deal.

They began investigating whether Luo Fei owned any land and whether he had applied for an underground construction permit.

Forty minutes later, they found it.

Indeed, it was outside the city—a deserted factory compound in the suburbs. The land wasn’t under Luo Fei’s name but under his father’s. The factory had once belonged to his father before it went bankrupt.

***

The dark sky before dawn was violently torn apart by the piercing sound of sirens. A long line of more than a dozen police cars and two military vehicles sped out of the city, heading towards the outskirts.

Twenty minutes later, the convoy came to a stop. Countless police officers and armed forces jumped out of the vehicles, weapons ready. Xiao Yu and Wang Dong stepped toward the entrance of an abandoned factory. A large group of police cars and armed forces surrounded the factory.

After two SWAT officers broke down the factory gates, Xiao Yu’s nose twitched, and a cold, sharp light flashed in his eyes.

This was the place.

There was a scent inside that matched the smell at Luo Fei’s home.

“Search!” Wang Dong ordered.

The detectives and SWAT officers began searching the warehouse, while the armed forces maintained a perimeter outside.

Why such a massive operation?

Twelve potential victims.

The Ji family of three. The nine victims who were skinned alive. Twelve lives.

The nature of the crime was extremely heinous.

After more than half an hour of searching, the entire factory was scoured, but no sign of anything was found.

“Playing games with me?” Wang Dong was furious and sneered as he ordered, “Get some excavators here. Even if we have to dig three feet deep, I want him.”

“Hold on!” Xiao Yu couldn’t take it anymore. “Let me handle this.”

Wang Dong chuckled with a “go ahead” expression, clearly enjoying pushing Xiao Yu to do the hard work.

But Xiao Yu couldn’t be bothered to argue, especially since Wang Dong owed him two boxes of special supply cigarettes.

Activating his Eagle’s Eye and Monarch Butterfly’s Nose, Xiao Yu carefully followed the scent, step by step, until he arrived outside a warehouse.

The warehouse door had been smashed open, and the inside was pitch black. Under the beam of the police officers’ flashlights, it appeared completely empty.

Empty?

Xiao Yu walked inside. His eyes scanned the ground, searching inch by inch until he spotted a drainage system near the wall. It was a small sewer drain covered by an iron grate.

Xiao Yu crouched down to examine the ground.

No dust?

That meant this warehouse was regularly cleaned, and with careful steps, it wouldn’t leave footprints. Although invisible to the naked eye, Xiao Yu’s Eagle’s Eye detected something—footprints and drag marks.

He turned his attention to the sewer grate, reached out, and lifted it up.

Crack!

It didn’t budge?

The iron grate seemed to be stuck on something below. Xiao Yu sneered.

A police car drove into the warehouse, and the detectives secured a steel cable to the grate, then attached it to the car. The police car revved its engine, and the cable went taut.

The grate, along with a chunk of concrete, was ripped out of the ground.

Xiao Yu, who had walked back, peered into the pitch-black sewer below and shone a flashlight down.

No ladder.

But there were small indentations in the sewer walls that could be used for climbing. The depth of the sewer was also unusual—around seven or eight meters.

Raising his hand, Xiao Yu drew his service pistol from its holster, checked it, released the safety, and returned it to the holster.

Without hesitation, he climbed down into the sewer.

As he descended, Xiao Yu activated Python’s Sense and Wax Moth’s Ear, biting down on his flashlight while also using Eagle’s Eye.

If anything seemed off, he wouldn’t hesitate to draw his gun and fire.

He reached the bottom of the sewer without encountering any issues. Wang Dong soon followed him down. The two moved through the sewer.

After walking about ten meters, Xiao Yu suddenly stopped. He had caught a whiff of something foul—the stench of decay. He noticed a metal sliding door embedded in the sewer wall. After examining it, Xiao Yu placed his hand on the door and gently pushed.

The door swung open easily.

Supporting the door with his arm, Xiao Yu shone his flashlight inside.

He froze.

“What’s wrong?” Wang Dong asked quietly, leaning over to take a look.

He froze too.

What did they see?

Under the beam of light, a horrific scene unfolded before their eyes. An unknown number of corpses were piled up inside. Every single body had been skinned. The bodies were covered in lime powder.

The most disturbing sight was the countless rats scurrying over the bodies, scattering in fear of the light. Even more horrifying, some of the rats were crawling out of the corpses’ mouths and bodies.