Chapter 60: Bloody Face

It is a recognized fact that the Executioners have always engaged in high-risk work.

Beneath the powerful and glamorous facade of this violent department, hunting down dangerous half-bloods, investigating signs of dragon revivals, and retrieving alchemical artifacts all harbor lethal perils. A single mishandling of any case inevitably leads to the grim fate seen before them now.

"The deceased is Andrew Rooney, from Unit C025. Twenty-seven years old, male. A 2005 graduate of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Cassel College, he served as a field specialist assigned to the Executioners for four years. His bloodline is 'C' rank, and his Spiritual Speech is—"

"His Spiritual Speech is 'Absolute'," Schneider interrupted the trench-coated woman's briefing, his gaze fixed on the headless corpse lying in a pool of blood on the floor. "I know him. A very fine young man. Although his bloodline was merely 'C' rank, he repeatedly clawed his way out of death's jaws to snatch victory from defeat and complete his missions."

The entire white hospital ward was smeared with copious amounts of blood, resembling a slaughterhouse. Merely standing at the threshold, the pungent stench of blood was enough to induce nausea.

"The time of death is 1:00 AM. As you can see, the cause of death is a severed neck, separating the head from the torso. No further external wounds were found on the body, though the possibility of poisoning cannot be ruled out. A proper autopsy requires moving the body to the morgue," the trench-coated man said, squatting beside the pool of blood to conduct his examination.

"I recall Andrew's 'Absolute' is a potent Spiritual Speech," the woman in the trench coat remarked. "It suppresses physical pain and accelerates adrenaline secretion to sustain prolonged combat."

"Yet he had no time to unleash his Spiritual Speech, and even if he had succeeded, it would have been entirely useless," Schneider said in a rasped voice. "The moment he stepped into the room, head and body were separated—a fatal blow. Ryder, what do the edges of the wound look like?"

"The cuts are exceptionally clean, with no micro-tears in the skin. It must have been inflicted by a sharp blade," Ryder, the trench-coated man, analyzed.

"Goliath, what is your assessment? If I remember correctly, you received an 'A' in cold weapons during your time at the college," Schneider turned his gaze toward the woman in the trench coat.

"This is a private ward, but the space is quite ample. A knife, sword, or dagger could all be wielded with great flexibility. I am sorry, Director Schneider, but from the clean-cut edges alone, it is impossible to determine the weapon used by the perpetrator," Goliath shook her head. "Perhaps if we wish to glean more intelligence, we must analyze the case from the beginning."

"Very well, let us start from the beginning," Schneider nodded.

"According to the autopsy report, the incident occurred at 3:00 AM. The Chicago Police Department received the hospital's emergency call at 3:15 AM. The caller stated verbatim: nurses heard the sound of gunfire within the hospital, and upon rushing to the scene, the night security guard discovered only a headless corpse without any sign of a suspected killer." Goliath drew a notebook from her trench coat and slowly recounted the details. "We located the security guard who first arrived at the scene. His description was that during his night patrol, he heard a gunshot. Following the sound, he found the door to Room 303 wide open, with massive amounts of blood gushing from behind it. Even the ceiling was dripping with blood, as if a bloody rain were falling inside the ward, amidst which lay a headless body."

"The corpse is indeed Andrew. According to the Executioners' reports, he was investigating a serial murder case. The killer is suspected to be a half-blood who haunts various hospitals across the United States, preying on young, beautiful female patients. After succeeding, the killer flays the skin from the victims' faces, which is why among the populace this murderer is also known as 'Bloody Face'," Goliath looked calmly at the Glock pistol clutched tightly in the dead man's hand. "Andrew's final mission report to the Executioners stated that he had picked up the killer's trail, and the location he was preparing to investigate was precisely Chicago."

"Did the surveillance cameras capture anything?"

"The surveillance system on the third floor was shut down beforehand, most likely by the killer," Goliath shook her head.

"Chicago has numerous hospitals, yet he died here," Schneider said, his voice turning somewhat hoarse after a brief silence.

"His operational plan was to systematically inspect every single hospital in Chicago. Northern Memorial Hospital happened to be one of them," Goliath said softly.

"I only wish he had chosen the wrong hospital," Schneider said. "You mean Andrew may have locked onto the killer's tail before his death, pursuing him all the way to this Ward 303 where he finally ran into the perpetrator, getting decapitated before he could fire more than a single shot?"

"No. According to statements obtained by the Chicago Police Department from patients in other wards on that floor, a few patients claimed they heard a woman scream in her sleep, followed immediately by the gunshot. Andrew was most likely in the vicinity of the third floor and rushed toward the source upon hearing the scream."

"A woman's scream?" Schneider frowned.

"Ward 303 originally had a patient occupying it," Goliath explained.

"Where is she? Was she victimized?" Schneider glanced around the modest ward, seeing no second corpse.

"No, the patient in 303 survived," Goliath said. "The security guards stated they were so shocked by the headless corpse that it took them a moment to realize a girl was still lying on the bed—the original patient of Ward 303."

Ryder, performing the autopsy beside the corpse, raised his head with a surprised expression. "Miraculously unharmed."

"The security guards rushed into Ward 303 within twenty seconds of hearing the gunshot. Combined with the earlier testimony from patients about hearing a woman's scream, our preliminary deduction of the events is that the serial killer 'Bloody Face' was about to assault the patient in Ward 303 when he faltered, causing her to let out a brief scream. Andrew, happening to be nearby on the third floor, rushed to the scene immediately upon hearing the cry... and thus sacrificed his life, while the killer fled in a panic, leaving behind a single survivor," Goliath said.

"It took the security guards roughly twenty seconds to charge into the room. Twenty seconds is more than enough time for the killer to silence a witness," Ryder lowered his gaze to Andrew's corpse. "Yet the only one who died was Andrew."

"The patient in Ward 303 stated that she did not see the killer's face," Goliath said. "She remains in a state of shock, making it difficult to extract much more information at present. She has already been moved to another floor and is under around-the-clock personal protection by our operatives."

"‘Bloody Face’—aka the Blood Face, a perverted serial killer who enjoys excising women's faces," Schneider said in a rasped voice. "Twenty seconds is ample time to accomplish many things. If the victim was not killed within those twenty seconds, it is abundantly clear that the killer was either not excessively panicked or had other motives entirely."

"According to FBI fugitive records, Bloody Face already has seven lives on his hands," Goliath said.

"A seasoned serial killer would never leave a living witness behind. Even if masked during the crime, perpetrators fear leaving behind physical traits for people to remember, such as height, hair color, or eye color. This killer of ours has murdered seven times and successfully evaded police pursuit time and again; he would not commit such a rudimentary error. Therefore, he had zero fear of leaving behind clues that could be used to track him. In those twenty seconds, instead of silencing the witness, he chose to calmly walk out of the ward and escape the scene. He deliberately and subjectively left behind this single survivor... Why do you suppose that is?" Schneider asked coldly.

"Serial killers love leaving their personal signatures after committing a crime, such as playing cards or riddles. More depraved ones carve mystical symbols onto the victims' corpses, or arrange the bodies into religious postures," Goliath said softly. "Bloody Face's signature is peeling away the facial skin of his victims."

"Yet the skin of the patient in Ward 303 remains intact on her face," Schneider rasped.

"He did not kill the girl in the ward not because he was pressed for time to escape, but because he felt twenty seconds was insufficient to perfectly peel off her face," Ryder said coldly. "Such perverted murderers invariably possess an indescribable obsessive-compulsive tendency. He regards the surviving girl as his prey; the reason he did not kill her is because he believes he will have another opportunity in the future to meticulously harvest her face!"

"A killer confident enough to think that must certainly be a half-blood," Schneider's eyes flashed with a terrifyingly sharp glint. "He will strike again. His target will be that surviving girl from Ward 303."

"That girl is currently in a specialized care ward on the fourth floor, with no fewer than three operatives deployed around her. The perpetrator has no opportunity to strike again in the short term," Goliath stated immediately.

"The criminal is highly likely still hiding within this hospital. He could hack the hospital's internal surveillance, but he cannot hack the street cameras outside. As a serial killer with strong counter-surveillance awareness, he knows that after reviewing the hospital's footage, the police's next step will be to scour all surveillance recordings around the facility. Thus, there is a high probability he has not yet left," Schneider swept his gaze across the surroundings and spoke coldly.