North American Detective: I am Proficient in All Kinds of Gun Quick Draws Chapter 270 - 180 You Can Call Me - Demon (Additional update

It was a little past nine in the evening. At this ti, many shops on the street had already closed for the night. rck and Dean were sitting on the steps, talking.

rck was a senior agent. Dean wasn’t clear on rck’s capabilities, but the man’s storytelling ability was genuinely impressive.

"In this era of the United States," rck began, "material wealth is abundant, but social strata are rigid, and the pursuit of spirit is hollow. Many young people have all sorts of bizarre habits: objectophilia, homosexuality, pica. And then there are even more perverse desires: cannibalism and the wish to be consud! The Cannibal Demon is one such person.

He first appeared on the internet. The video showed a crude dining table. On the table lay a fresh, still-bleeding arm. The Cannibal Demon, knife and fork in hand, dined before the cara with gentlemanly elegance. In just over ten minutes, he had eaten half of the arm before ending the video.

So thought it was just a clown’s performance. Others believed it was a prank. But there were also so who, watching him savor human flesh bit by bit, felt a strange yearning. They didn’t want to eat; they wanted to be eaten—to be consud piece by piece by the Cannibal Demon, elegantly, as if cherished.

Every three days, the Cannibal Demon would post a video of himself enjoying a ’fine al.’ Sotis it was a hand, other tis a foot, or a torso. This continued until he presented a woman’s head... Soone recognized the woman as a female student who had recently gone missing. Only then was it confird that the items in the videos weren’t food props but actual human body parts!

The police quickly found his residence through his IP address. But it was nothing more than a deserted house. And in the basent where the videos were fild, he had left a ssage."

rck paused at this point, quite scoundrelly, took out a cigarette, and looked at Dean as if expecting him to light it. After a brief pause, rck realized the man before him wasn’t his protégé but a hot-tempered Chief Inspector.

He asked awkwardly, "Chief Inspector Dean, do you have a light?"

Dean, annoyed by this bastard stalling mid-story, irritably pulled out his lighter. "Spit it out. What ssage did he leave?"

After lighting the cigarette and taking a deep drag, rck’s eyes glazed over as he stared into the darkness. He continued his story of the Cannibal Demon in a hollow voice, his words mingling with the smoke. "It’s a ssage that still sends chills down my spine whenever I recall it."

"’Cold-bloodedness stems from transcendence! When humans transcended monkeys, they no longer sympathized with the monkeys’ deaths. Therefore, humans could eat monkeys. When a creature transcends humans and consus them, what would humans call this creature? Good evening, little snacks. You may call —the Demon!’"

rck took another deep drag from his cigarette and looked at Dean. "In him, I saw elegance and cruelty, nobility and decadence. But even now, I still don’t understand the aning of the ssage he left."

"He’s spreading an ideology!" Dean said calmly. "He likens himself to a Demon who has transcended humanity, thus justifying his consumption of humans. If anyone accepts his ideology, they’re dood. It’s also how he lures his ’food’."

This whole act seems incredibly pretentious, Dean thought. But in essence, it’s no different from religious brainwashing or cult fundraising. In his past life, Dean had encountered so-called ’female Bodhisattvas’ in small Southeast Asian countries who practiced ’corporeal charity.’ These won had been brainwashed from childhood about the greatness of their deities and the profound, sacred aning of this charity. Before globalization, they were rely tools for the monks to vent their desires. But after globalization, these liberated won not only continued their ’charity’ but also raised the children born from such encounters to beco the next generation of ’female Bodhisattvas.’ Their worldviews were completely warped. To them, corporeal charity was a spiritual practice, not promiscuity. Once one’s fundantal values are twisted, any madness can seem normal. Like offering oneself to a Demon.

After listening to rck’s description, Dean realized that the Cannibal Demon was doing just that.

He was using the internet to spread his twisted ’faith,’ attracting a following of spiritually empty and numb individuals who ca to worship him, believing his acts to be sohow ’sacred.’ Once that seed of thought was planted, their tragic end was inevitable. Because a thought is the fastest-growing thing in the world...

After listening to Dean’s explanation, rck gave a thumbs-up. "Your psychological analysis is impressive. That’s exactly what the Cannibal Demon does."

He sighed. "Ever since we found the place he used for filming, we’ve lost all trace of him. We initially thought he’d fled the area. But soon after, the Cannibal Cult appeared online. Its mbers were all followers and worshippers the Cannibal Demon had attracted through his videos. So envied his power and twisted charisma. Others worshipped his philosophy. A small minority even believed that being eaten by him was a sacred and grand affair; they hoped the Cannibal Demon would consu their flesh to help them escape this filthy world. By the ti we caught on, it was too late. He had a plentiful food supply and could accurately identify our bait. It wasn’t until our colleagues in the Cybersecurity Investigation Departnt managed to identify a few of his core followers that we almost caught him. But during the operation... sothing went wrong."

"What about his behavioral patterns and your tracking thods?" Dean asked, gesturing towards a distant trash can. "Fresh human flesh and carrion are completely different. If he’s been forced to eat carrion, it ans he doesn’t dare hunt the living anymore. That must be due to your efforts."

rck nodded. "Yes, I must admit, you’re truly excellent. You hit the nail on the head. The Cannibal Demon has a peculiar way of eating. He likes to treat parts of the body like a steak, sprinkling them with sage and salt before carving and consuming them. So, normally, the remains we find rarely show teeth marks. They’re mostly rotting corpses he’s discarded. He prefers fresh ’ingredients.’ So, after luring his ’food’ to his lair, the Cannibal Demon usually keeps them captive and savors them slowly. During that process, all ten out of ten so-called devotees end up regretting it. But apart from one lucky soul, no one has escaped. The reason we’ve been able to continuously track and force the Cannibal Demon to flee is because, thanks to this survivor, we’ve identified his physical appearance. Now, if he dares show his face, we have a high chance of identifying and apprehending him! But miraculously, he seems to anticipate our thods. The Cannibal Demon remained on the run, sohow suppressing his cannibalistic urges, until today, when we received your call and learned he’d started scavenging carrion."

After rck finished, Dean shook his head in disappointnt. "rck, I’m certain you’re mistaken. The Cannibal Demon hasn’t suppressed his urges. He has devotees willingly offering themselves to him; you just aren’t aware of it. The internet connects the entire United States. He likely has followers in Los Angeles providing cover and support. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have co here."

rck looked sowhat embarrassed and displeased by Dean’s assessnt, yet a flicker of doubt also crossed his mind. Their brief exchange had already convinced him of Dean’s sharp investigative mind.

"You an the severed hand wasn’t the Cannibal Demon’s work?" rck asked tentatively.

Dean nodded confidently. "Soone who needs seasoning for human flesh wouldn’t scavenge carrion! Psychopaths like him are typically extrely narcissistic and egocentric, with incredibly strong principles. He sees himself as a Demon superior to humans and has looked down on your pursuit from day one. My psychological profile suggests the severed arm found today is either the work of a copycat, or another cannibalistic psychopath has erged, or..."

Dean grinned at rck. "...or he thinks you’re so incompetent that he’s decided to give you so clues himself—to make the ga more amusing and build his own legend!"

After all, legends need grand deeds to be recounted, Dean mused. That’s how he’ll get more people to worship him.

Dean relished this kind of opponent. Criminals like this usually offered a high amount of Experience Points!