Chapter 252 22: Progress

"A person from a small coastal town in the Balkans came here to take pictures at this time and disappeared. He was really bored."

"Hey, don't say that. The Ministry of Tourism won't be happy to hear that."

"I beg those tourists not to come. It won't increase my income anyway. I strongly suggest that the police should also promote the tipping culture, ahem, targeting tourists."

"Come on, just tell me about these topics, but don't let your superiors hear them. Hmm? We're here, the third lavender field that's still in good shape in late summer, let's fly a drone first."

Provence-Valence area.

Two police officers on duty took out a drone and started flying it, observing the surroundings to see if there were any traces that matched the information.

After flying for half an hour, I found that even the tourists were quite scarce, and the car and the person in the record were not there.

After all, the lavender here is blooming quite ordinary now. It can only be said that it is okay at this time. The difference with the vast sea of ​​purple flowers in the past is too big.

“Well, go ask the farmers here.”

The two men who had no results found nearby farmers to find out if they had seen the car and the man in the photo in the past few days.

"I have seen this person before. He asked me if I knew where else the most beautiful lavender flowers bloomed." The farmer squinted his eyes, looked around, and nodded slowly.

The two police officers looked at each other, both of them could see a hint of joy, so they asked, "So where did you point him to?"

"It's here. I was on business some time ago and passed by this flower field. I found that the lavender there was blooming like it was in June or July. It was very beautiful. I wanted to ask the person for any tips, but I saw a sign saying that tourists are not welcome and that it is private territory, so I didn't go in. But I recommended it to the person who asked, thinking that if I just take a few photos outside, it should be okay."

The farmer marked a spot on the map.

The two police officers continued to ask more questions, but when they found out there was no more information, they said goodbye and left, intending to rush over while it was still early.

"We are almost at Apt, about 50 to 60 kilometers away. You are so persistent."

"It's your turn to drive. I'm sleepy."

The two drove all the way to the location marked by the farmer, and indeed saw a stretch of lavender fields still in full bloom. And because this is not a tourist attraction at all, there was not a single tourist. The place was also remote, and there were few passing cars.

After passing the sign that read "Private Territory, Do Not Enter," the two drove towards the buildings in the distance with a clear goal. They planned to ask the people here first to see if there were any clues. If not, they would let them know before releasing the drone.

But when the car was halfway through the journey, they were stopped. They saw a tank pressing into the middle of the dirt road!
No wonder I found tracks on the ground just now. I thought it was some kind of tractor. It turned out to be this kind of military tractor.

There are also military patterns on the tank, and the soldiers around it are also dressed like they are from science fiction movies, with both full-body high-strength mecha materials and exoskeleton auxiliary systems.

The two police officers swallowed their saliva, followed the instructions stupidly, got out of the car, and accepted the interrogative looks from those people.

"Looking for someone here? Go check the police number."

The leader looked at the two police officers carefully and handed his police ID to his colleague beside him.

"Yes, we are here to investigate a missing foreigner case. Someone said he might have been here, so we thought of looking for him."

The man nodded without saying anything. The soldiers around him remained on guard until his colleagues brought back their police ID cards and confirmed their identities. Only then did the man's gaze relax a little.

"Then I'm afraid you will return empty-handed. We are from the European Counter-Insurgency Department. This place has been blocked. I am not in a position to reveal the specific details. I can only tell you that it is related to the Supernatural. The personal information you investigated must also be sent to us for review. If there is anything follow-up that I can tell you, we will notify your authorities." The leader narrated calmly.

The European Counter-Department, whose full name is the European Emergency Rapid Response Force, is composed of elite personnel from various countries within the alliance. It is specialized in responding to extraordinary events or cooperating with friendly extraordinary forces in combat.

Even the Northern League, which had always been expelled from European membership, joined in for the first time.

The police officers looked at each other, knowing that this was just a polite remark. However, in that case, they no longer had the authority to continue the investigation.

So, they had to return empty-handed.

At this time, in the main building of the farmer's house, two grace sorcerers from the [Grace Tower] were cooperating with several trace identification personnel to investigate the situation.

"This is not a normal farmer. The food they stock is too little, and they don't even have a dog. But this lavender field is nice and is still in bloom."

A divine sorcerer who claimed to be from a decent farming family said to the people next to him.

"From the traces of use on the stove, it looked like it was still in use a few days ago. It looked like it was left in a hurry."

"Hey, won't you come in and take a look, 'Cowboy'?"

"She might be resonating with you and can't hear you. Look, does this mean she has discovered the devil's blood?"

"Let me see. Yes, this should be the base camp of those demons. Could it be that people from other forces have broken in? Or is this an internal fight among the demons?"

In the room, the two who discovered the devil's blood looked at the instrument and fell into thought.

Outside the house, a brown-haired woman who looked to be about twenty years old and dressed like a cowboy with a revolver in a holster on her waist was checking the cars that looked intact in the garage.

Although the people here left, not a single car left.

She opened the doors of each car and checked them one by one. If they couldn't be opened, she would just break the window until she found an SUV with an out-of-town license plate.

The door was not locked, so she opened it directly. Her eyes lit up. The interior was decorated in a very ordinary way, completely different from the previous ones. This one was how a normal person would treat a car, with decorations, tissues, pillowcases, and even a few dolls on the back seat.

"There's blood." She frowned as she looked at the obvious bloodstains on the passenger seat, then opened the passenger's storage box. There were some sundries in it, the most important of which should be a camera.

She reached for the camera and finally found something that resonated with her, which was exactly what she was good at.

Soon, a chaotic memory flashed by: a sick child, a lavender field, a man taking pictures, and then the fishy smell of a demon.

Breaking free from the resonance, she heaved a sigh of relief. It seemed that this was a car that a demon had snatched from an ordinary person, and that person had undoubtedly ended up dead.

She was not too sad, because she understood that as long as these evil spirits were not cleared up, people would die every day.

All I can do is try my best to eradicate these monsters.

After looking through the photos and not taking any pictures of the devil, she put the camera back and looked in the trunk. There was only a specimen frame with a processed lavender on it. The rest was of no value.

The information has been recorded in detail. When the ban here is lifted, someone should notify the family of the missing person. But optimistically, it will take several months. I hope the family can mourn their loss.

Leaving the garage, she walked into the country villa.

"Did you find anything?"

"There are quite a few cars parked in the garage that have not been driven away. One of them must have been stolen from a tourist from another place. As for the others, there are nothing else." The woman codenamed Cowboy shook her head.

"See if there is anything here that resonates with you." "You've all been to Mr. Blood's class in vain." The cowboy sighed.

"Sorry, everyone has their own strengths and specializations. This is what Mr. Li taught me." The other party spread his hands and smiled.

"Excuse me, sir, ma'am." The person from the identification department walked downstairs with a serious face, "We seem to have found something."

Upon hearing this, the three people from the Tower of Grace perked up and followed.

"It's this painting. We found signs of movement, but we're afraid there might be a trap, so we'd like you to check it first." In a room on the second floor, there was a long picture frame hanging on the wall. The content of the painting seemed to be related to Joan of Arc being burned at the stake, and it was obviously out of tune with the rest of the room.

One of the divine sorcerers stepped forward and checked it with a spell. After confirming that there was no trap, he and another person slowly took down the painting and placed it on the ground. At the same time, a line of bloody words slowly appeared before their eyes.

"Kill Olivier."

Someone read it out loud subconsciously, then his eyes widened, he quickly covered his mouth and looked at other people.

Fortunately, no one noticed him. Everyone was staring at the line of words above. It was just a simple sentence, but it made them mesmerized for a long time.

"It seems that they took the initiative to leave clues for us."

the cowboy muttered.

"Please, help me find him. I haven't been able to contact my husband for a week. He would have told me before even if he was delayed for half a day. It's impossible for him to be out of touch for such a long time. My child will be hospitalized soon. She needs her father, and I need my husband too!"

In the interview room of the police station, a woman was crying to the police officer, the stress of many days collapsing out, anxiety, panic and hope flowing down with her tears.

The policewoman felt the same way and quickly took a tissue to wipe her face.

Another male police officer sighed helplessly: "Ms. Talia, we understand your feelings, but we also hope you know that this involves a foreign case. We do not have the power to enforce the law there. We can only ask for help. According to the current progress, the police in the Provence area are already expanding the search. I believe there will be new progress soon."

It was another new round of consolation. With words like this changing each time, she didn’t know how many more times she could endure.

After a long time, Talia didn't know how she walked out of the police station, but she knew that Phaedra couldn't see her like this.

So I found a bathroom, went in to wash my face, and then sat in the toilet holding my bag, calming down for a long time.

But she didn't notice that the blue lantern she always carried with her was flickering slightly.

After returning home and standing at the door, Talia took out a mirror and carefully checked her makeup. She took a few deep breaths and practiced her smile before she dared to push the door open.

At home, Phaedra was sitting in a chair with crayons, drawing a picture of her Mr. Crow.

"Mr. Crow, please don't move. It's almost done."

".good!"

Soul Crow responded numbly.

After a few days of getting along, it seemed that it could communicate with Phaedra barely.

But it can only be very simple vocabulary.

For example, whether to eat or not, good night, good morning and so on.

"It's finished, Mr. Crow! Take a look!"

The Soul Crow jumped a few steps to Phaedra's shoulder, tilted its head to take a closer look, this is the first time it has been drawn, let me see where it is.
In the picture, there are three people and a crow that is bigger than humans, standing against a purple background. There is bright sunshine and smiles. Even though they are not drawn, you can still feel the breeze blowing and the purple flower fields floating.

The Soul Crow thought this was a portrait of itself, but it turned out to be a family portrait.

As for the purple background, it couldn't recognize what it was, and it didn't know how to ask in the local dialect, but it guessed that it was the kind of flowers and plants that the family had posted everywhere. It didn't care what they were called.

Black is the most beautiful color. Soul Crow thought so. Every Soul Crow is proud of its own fur color.

"Mom, look, are they beautiful?" Phaedra showed the flowers to Talia.

Talia took it and forced a smile, "Yeah, it looks good."

"Mom, the cake has gone bad. Why hasn't Dad come back yet?" Fedra asked curiously.

Talia's smile became even more forced: "Dad has to go out for work temporarily, so I have no choice but to come back later."

"Can't I call? I want to hear dad's voice." Phaedra said pitifully.

"There is no signal in that place, and the work must be kept secret. Phaedra, listen to me, as long as two people miss each other, the other party will be able to sense your presence. You see, when you miss your father, it is also your father who is thinking about you."

"Really? Then I think about my dad a hundred or a thousand times every day!"

"What about mom?"

"Then, let's do it five hundred times each." Phaedra counted on her fingers, but couldn't find the correct number.

The Soul Crow jumped aside and turned its head to reveal a serious look.

It seemed to sense a hint of restlessness in the soul lamp.

Strange, the Soul Lamp has never reacted like this before.

From the universal word baba, Soul Crow could guess that they were probably talking about Phaedra's father, but what did it have to do with the Soul Lamp? Although the souls inside had not been teleported to heaven due to insufficient quantity, based on the vast number of souls he had come into contact with in recent years, most of them were unconscious. A small number did, but they were also very limited. He had never seen any that could react after entering the Soul Lamp.

Of course, it had never entered the soul lamp, and it didn't know whether the soul inside the soul lamp could sense the situation in the outside world. It was just based on experience and had never encountered such a situation.

More importantly, they left the soul lamp as soon as they arrived at it, and would not continue to actively absorb the ownerless souls nearby, so there should be no relatives of theirs here.

Or is there a soul inside that has had similar experiences and is feeling the same way?
This level of mental thinking is beyond the intelligence of the Soul Crows. Although they firmly believe that they are smarter than humans, in fact they cannot match the complex emotions and deep thinking of humans.

How strange! This is so strange! The Soul Crow plans to find an opportunity to ask the local little Soul Crow if it knows what happened to this family.

However, this is just to repay the care during the period of recuperation. The wise crow said that as a crow, you must also be grateful and repay the kindness. A potato is worth a piece of paper money.

Unfortunately, most soul crows don’t like smelly papers, unless they happen to pick one up and there happens to be a chip shop nearby.

It also doesn't like paper money, so it thought of repaying the favor in other ways.

(End of this chapter)