Chapter 28

Cannibal 3: The Devil's Offspring

On the way to the crime scene's phone booth, Angell kept looking at the puzzle Osmond had given him. Osmond, leaning on the front seat's backrest, asked, "What do you think? It's eerie, isn't it? Does he really look like this?"

Angell nodded and said, "I've seen someone like this before... well, more accurately, in a picture."

"What?" Osmond asked in surprise, "You mean like a poster about aliens invading Earth?"

Anger rolled his eyes at him, "But it's highly unlikely to be found here..."

"Hey," Osmond tapped Angell's shoulder with his finger, "Tell me more about it!"

Angell put down the puzzle and asked, "Ever heard of a ghost town?"

Osmond blinked and asked, "You mean like a horror story?"

"Is it the Devil's City in Xinjiang?" Moffey inquired, "A tourist spot?"

Angell shook his head, "No, not that one... I mean Pripyat in Northern Ukraine."

Confused, Osmond asked, "Why call that place a ghost town? Sounds spooky."

"Pripyat was actually quite pleasant, a scenic place," Angell spoke calmly, "Unfortunately, it's near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. After the 1986 disaster... everyone evacuated, leaving the town uninhabited. Animals affected by radiation mutated, rumors say rats grew as big as pigs. But the most tragic were the newborns, suffering from severe physical deformities - snow-white skin, oversized heads, distorted bodies, and extremely thin limbs... These children were known as 'demon babies.'"

Aust frowned deeply as he muttered to himself, "No wonder Ukraine and Russia have strained relations."

Mo Fei glanced at Aust and said, "Aust, the Soviet Union hadn't even dissolved 86 years ago..."

"Uh..." Aust blinked, and Angele turned around with a look of disgust, seriously telling Mo Fei, "Mo Fei, in the future, if there's danger, let's handle it ourselves without calling the police. Their quality is too low."

Aust's face turned even paler, and he sneezed.

Angele laughed and said, "Aust, don't think you're not a fool just because you can catch a cold!"

Aust's eyelids twitched as he gritted his teeth and said, "Angele, why do you always pick on the easy targets?"

Angele glanced at him and said, "Only a fool picks on the tough ones!"

"You..." Aust was speechless and could only suppress his anger, mumbling quietly in the back seat, "No one appreciates me here. What have I done to deserve this? It's not like I caused the poor security or brought those lunatics here."

Listening to Oss muttering to himself, Anger stroked his chin, seemingly struck by a thought.

"Right." Mo Fei asked him, "You mentioned 'demon babies' earlier. Does that mean the white creature they saw in the sewer is a demon baby?"

"It's possible," Angele thought for a moment and said, "However, there were millions of victims from the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster. Most demon babies can't live independently, let alone move so freely... That creature was agile, I wonder if it's... Besides, it's strange how it managed to come all the way here."

"Exactly," Aust nodded, "It's tragic coming all the way from Ukraine, living in the sewers, and not even speaking the language."

After pondering for a while, Anger said, "Humans are quite a remarkable species. Our bodies can adapt to changes in our environment... About this white-headed being... I've read a report on it too."

Oss, lounging in the backseat, clicked his tongue, "Anger, what kind of reports do you read? With all that clutter in your head, don’t you have nightmares?"

Seeing Anger squinting as if about to scold Oss again, Mofei quickly asked, "Can a normal person really transform into that?"

"Hmm," Anger nodded, glaring at Oss as if to say, remember this, I’ll get back at you next time. Then he settled himself and asked, "Ever heard about the English Town Killer?"

Mofei shook his head, listening patiently as Anger continued. Indeed, Oss was right; Anger's mind was filled with an array of bizarre things.

"About fifty years ago, in the northern part of England, there was a small town with less than a thousand residents, mostly farmers. The only exception was a small inn." Anger crossed his legs, finding a comfortable position in his seat, and began, "The inn's owner was a doctor named Bob, in his forties, single. He came to the town for health reasons and bought this century-old house, turning it into the inn. By chance, Bob helped a passing prostitute deliver a baby girl. The woman didn't want the child, so she left her at the inn the next day and disappeared. Bob had no choice but to adopt the baby, naming her Winslet."

Oss and Mofei listened intently, drawn by Anger's flat, emotionless tone.

"Winslet had a tragic upbringing because Bob kept her confined in a crevice between the walls, like a mole," Anger said.

"In the wall crevice?" Mofei and Oss were shocked, "So narrow, could someone live there?"

"Not like the cracks in our kind of houses," Anger explained, "It's usually cold in the northern part of England, so many old houses have hollow designs for insulation... This was something Bob discovered by accident. Since it was an old manor, supposedly left by a duke, Bob found many of the duke's diaries in a hidden layer of the rooms, detailing some little-known secrets."

"Secrets?" Oss frowned slightly, "I feel like those old European noble houses always have some secrets."

"Hmm," Anger nodded, "This duke was obsessed with the legend that consuming blood could preserve purity. Therefore, his servants captured many children, keeping them in special crevices within the walls, starving them to purify their blood... for his consumption."

"Typical of a psychopath!" Oss twitched his mouth in disgust.

"Later, an unexpected tragedy occurred. Perhaps due to starvation, the children began to kill each other. They murdered the weakest among them and consumed his corpse. Their bodies also mutated; deprived of sunlight, their skin turned very white and their bodies became frail. Confined to the cold, damp, and narrow gaps in the walls, their physiques grew unusually thin and smooth," Angele explained. "Malnutrition caused their heads to enlarge as well."

"Disgusting psychopath," Aust commented. "Then what happened?"

"The duke's diary entries abruptly ended, stained with blood. Bob discovered an adult's skeleton in the wall gap, surrounded by the duke’s clothes and pocket watch," Angele continued. "The bones were marked with teeth indentations."

"He was eaten by those children he raised?" Mo Fei asked, shocked.

"Yes, quite likely," Angele nodded. "After studying the duke's writings, Bob had a bizarre idea. He raised Winslet in the wall gap from a young age, feeding her raw meat… Indeed, as she grew, Winslet developed pale skin, an oversized head, and a bloodthirsty nature."

"Why would he do that?" Aust frowned. "What was the purpose of turning a child into that?"

"It seems the vampire descriptions in the duke’s diary were too enticing. Bob firmly believed in them. He installed a small door in each room, accessible only to Winslet. Whenever guests stayed, he meticulously chose his victims, gave Winslet their room number, and let her attack them at night. She dragged the bodies into the wall gaps for them to consume together," Angele detailed. "Because the town was so remote, and mostly visited by long-distance travelers, their deeds went unnoticed for twenty years, until Winslet killed Bob and was discovered eating his flesh. The police later found nearly a hundred skeletons in the wall gaps."

"That's utterly revolting," Aust said, distressed, rubbing his head. "My appetite's going to suffer for a month or two now."

"Why did Winslet kill Bob?" Mo Fei asked, puzzled.

"Well… it’s said to be due to a twisted love," Angele replied. "Bob also kept a diary. Later, a famous novelist adapted it into a novel called 'Twisted Love', which topped the bestseller charts for thirteen weeks."

"'Twisted Love'?" Aust furrowed his brow. "What does that mean?"

"To Winslet, everyone in the world except Bob was merely food. She fell in love with him. As time passed, they grew apart. Bob aged and realized that blood-drinking wouldn't keep him young forever. Meanwhile, Winslet, growing stronger and hungrier in her youth, craved more human flesh. One wanted to stop; the other wanted more. Amidst this peak conflict, Bob fell in love with a lady, planning to marry her, burn down the inn, and leave Winslet, the demon, to start a new life in the warmer south of England. It was this decision that led to his tragic end," Angele shook his head. "A simple choice can often lead to a lifetime of misfortune."

"Do you suspect the person found in the sewer, like Winslet, was raised in a dark, cramped space for years?" Mofei asked, "But do such places still exist now?"

Anger shrugged and said, "There is a limit to cleanliness, the cleanest being spotless. But there is no limit to filth; the dirtiest places are more than just dusty."

Oss and Mofei exchanged glances, speechless. At that moment, the car finally arrived at a remote area in the suburbs, stopping beside a secluded phone booth.

They got out of the car to see several police cars parked outside the phone booth, with officers searching the area. The booth was cordoned off with yellow tape.

"This place is quite secluded," Mofei observed, looking around, "Why would a woman come here alone in the middle of the night?"

"We're not sure either," Oss replied, "The nearest residence is quite far, and we've asked around. No one recognizes the victim. She was found by a passing truck driver."

At that moment, an officer collecting evidence came over to hand a bag to Oss, saying, "Detective, we found these jewelry items on the female victim, but nothing else that could identify her."

Oss nodded, taking the evidence bag, and saw a necklace and a pair of earrings inside, all shaped like crosses and seemingly part of a set.

Suddenly, Anger reached for the evidence bag and examined it closely before saying, "Mofei, the person who called that night must have been her."

Oss and Mofei turned to look at Anger, who handed the jewelry back to Oss and said calmly, "I know this woman."