Chapter 138: Duke, You Go

Chapter 138: Duke, You Go

The female orc stood up, performed an orcish salute, and said, "Captain Wu Heng, I am 'Marta', a level 7 ranger."

Uh...

Wu Heng paused in his steps.

Right, his squad wasn't fully staffed yet; he had forgotten about this.

"Did you bring your information?" Wu Heng asked.

The female orc handed over her personal details prepared by the Guild.

Wu Heng glanced at it and saw that it matched what was written on the form.

The person recruiting her was Steward Gomez.

"How old are you this year?" Wu Heng continued to ask.

"22, Captain!"

"Alright, welcome to the team...," Wu Heng glanced again at the name on the form, "Marta."

"Thank you, Captain," Marta quickly responded.

Wu Heng felt that orcs were easier to deal with than humans.

At least the two squad members showed him some respect.

"Take a seat!" Wu Heng motioned for her to sit down and continued, "I'm Wu Heng, captain of Squad 12, and this is Duke, a member of our squad."

"We introduced ourselves before you arrived," Duke said directly.

Luntam City was actually quite large and was divided into several areas.

Even though they were both orcs and local residents, they didn't know each other.

"Alright, from now on, we're teammates. Let's watch out for each other."

"Yes, Captain." Marta nodded again.

After a brief chat, Duke scooted forward and said, "Captain, I came here today to talk to you about some information regarding a wanted criminal."

"Do we have a lead?"

"We do, but I'm not sure how reliable it is," Duke scratched his head.

"Let's hear it."

"Captain, do you remember the last time we investigated the tavern and dealt with that wanted criminal who was bleeding people out?" Duke asked.

"Yeah, I remember. Is something happening again over there?"

The first mission after arriving in Luntam City had been to investigate the deaths at the tavern.

Some maniac was luring women into an alley with money, then slitting their throats and bleeding them out.

Wu Heng had cornered the guy in the alley and shot him dead.

He had even mentioned the incident in his letter to 'Yuri' and 'Slater,' so it stuck in his mind.

"Nothing's happened at the tavern, but something similar has been happening in the outer city. The guy we killed was a wanted criminal, and I think this one might be too," Duke said.

"Killing and bleeding people?"

"Yeah, the wounds are very similar, so I think we could be dealing with another wanted criminal," Duke continued.

Wu Heng turned to the newly joined female orc, "Marta, have you heard anything?"

"I've heard a little. Recently, the 'Warhammer Gang' has been stirring up trouble, especially in the outer city, which has been pretty chaotic," Marta said.

Wu Heng nodded and glanced at the dimming sky outside.

He said, "Let's go. We'll head out and take a look."

"Got it, Captain!" Duke jumped up excitedly.

The group grabbed their weapons and headed outside.

They stepped out of the Guild's main entrance.

Marta whistled towards the sky.

A black-feathered eagle swooped down from the sky.

It landed on Marta's leather-covered arm, its sharp eyes scanning the group.

"This is my beast companion, Black Feather."

She then spoke to the black-feathered eagle, "This is my captain, and these are my teammates."

The black-feathered eagle looked at the two of them and, quite human-like, nodded its head.

Wu Heng glanced at it but didn't say much.

Human rangers typically had smaller eagles or tamer birds as companions.

This one was more like a vulture.

Its neck was long and slightly drooping.

Ugly but in a cool way.

After the introduction, the group headed straight to the outer city.

......

After passing through the city gates, they arrived in the outer city.

Aside from the main road, both sides were filled with a mix of tall and short buildings.

Perhaps it was due to the bad weather, but there were hardly any people on the street.

Instead, it gave off a rather eerie feeling.

Duke led them to the door of a wooden house, knocked lightly, and a man cautiously peeked out through the crack.

Seeing it was Duke, he opened the door and said, "Oh, it's you, Duke!"

"Yeah, this is my captain. We're here to investigate the recent deaths," Duke introduced.

"Oh, Captain, hello. What exactly are you looking to investigate?" the man asked.

Wu Heng said, "There have been deaths. Are the bodies still here?"

"Yes!"

"Take us to see them."

"Oh, this way, please."

The man led them to a wooden house near the edge of the area, "It's inside. The victims are all women or children. Everyone's scared, and even the gangs couldn't find anything out."

Wu Heng nodded, "Alright, leave the rest to us. You can go back now."

"Oh, okay." The man added, "We've pooled some money together, and if you can solve this, we're willing to pay you."

It seemed he feared they wouldn't investigate properly, so they gathered some money to speed up the process.

"Alright, we'll let you know if we find anything," Wu Heng said.

"Thank you." The man stepped back, muttering about how hard life had become, and left.

Inside the room, several bodies covered with linen were laid out.

Judging by their builds, some were human, and others were orcs.

Wu Heng cast [Dancing Light] to illuminate the room.

He gestured for Duke to uncover the first body.

It was a woman, looking fairly young, with a deep gash across her neck. Her skin was pale, as if all the blood had been drained from her.

It really was just like the murder that happened at the tavern.

Without saying much, Wu Heng cast [Speak with Dead].

The corpse, pale as paper, suddenly sat up, its hollow eyes staring at them.

The newly joined female orc, 'Marta,' turned pale and instinctively took a step back.

Wu Heng directly asked, "How did you die?"

"I was attacked by several people, then they slit my throat," the corpse answered.

"Did you recognize them?"

"No, I didn't see their faces clearly."

"Where were you attacked?"

"In the outer city, on a small path to the north."

"What time...?"

"After dusk!"

Wu Heng thought for a moment and asked one final question, "Did you notice any distinguishing features?"

"They smelled of blood and wore black cloaks."

After speaking, the corpse fell back onto the floor with a thud.

Wu Heng then moved on to the second corpse, this one a female orc.

Her green skin had turned grayish from blood loss. She had clearly fought, as her face and body were marked with wounds.

But the fatal wound was still on her neck.

Her pale flesh was turned outward.

Wu Heng asked the same questions as before.

The location and time of the incident were different, but the attackers' characteristics were the same.

After finishing with five questions, he moved on to the remaining bodies, gathering as much useful information as possible.

After finishing all the interrogations,

the three gathered back together.

"Captain, do you think this is the same as last time?" Duke asked.

"Yeah, it's definitely the same."

"Could they be wanted criminals?"

"Whether they are or not doesn't matter. By handling this, we'll be ridding the people of a menace," Wu Heng said.

"Right, that's a great way to put it," Duke said.

Marta interrupted their conversation, asking softly, "Captain, what do we do next?"

The corpse interrogation was efficient.

But this time, there was no clear direction.

They couldn't just go door to door, searching for black cloaks or sniffing people for the scent of blood.

Wu Heng thought for a moment and said, "Actually, it's simple. The attackers only target women, so we'll use that to lure them out."

"Got it!" Duke glanced at the newly joined female orc.

Marta nodded, "Alright, I have no problem with that."

Although orcs were large, the dead included female orcs.

The attackers didn't just target the weak; they primarily focused on women.

That's actually pretty twisted.

Wu Heng glanced at 'Marta' and shook his head, "They act in groups, it's too dangerous for you to be bait."

In this world, rangers aren't the high-agility class that vanishes without a trace.

They're more like a scouting and ranged support class.

If she got surrounded, and we couldn't provide support in time, the outcome could be irreversible.

She joins the squad in the morning and dies in the afternoon.

That would be a real joke.

"Should we find a woman?" Duke asked.

"Duke, you go!"

"What? Captain, I'm a guy! Aren't they attacking women?" Duke said, shocked, while patting his chest.

Proving that he was a man and didn't have any female traits.

Marta awkwardly smiled on the side, not knowing what to say.

The idea of sending the strong Duke to pretend to be a woman... uh, that was quite an idea.

"Disguise." Wu Heng pulled out a 'Shapeshift Veil' and handed it to him, saying, "Put it on. Let me see!"

Duke, confused, took it and, under Wu Heng's guidance, put it on.

A beam of light shone from above, and his body began to change, transforming into the appearance of a female orc.

His appearance now had a layer of illusion over it, but his height remained the same.

Wu Heng looked at Duke and nodded, while Marta's eyes widened.

This had to be a special item.

"No change...," Duke began to speak but quickly shut his mouth.

Because his voice had changed, sounding much more like a woman's.

"Alright, the effect is good. You head to the northern area for a walk, and we'll protect you from the shadows. Duke, don't look like you're about to cry, or you'll scare the culprits away."

"Huh? Captain, this isn't gonna work!"

"Quit complaining. If I weren't a mage, I'd go myself."

"But, this... isn't..." Duke stammered for a while, then, in his new female form, walked off into the distance.

......

The sky grew even darker.

On a small road in the northern area, a female orc glanced around nervously.

Her strong physique and waterfall-like long hair were exactly the type most admired among orcs.

Rustle, rustle~!

Suddenly, footsteps echoed from an alley nearby.

Three figures darted out, surrounding the female orc from three directions.

"Damn, she's huge. What the hell did she grow up eating?"

"As long as it's a woman, that's enough. The bigger, the more blood."

"Shut up. People outside the city have been investigating these murders, so hurry it up."

"Damn, she's even winking at us..."

They continued to talk without any restraint.

The female orc, upon hearing the mention of winking, instantly flew into a rage.

With a loud roar, she charged straight at them.