Mysteries On Marvel

Following Eren's gaze, Vinnie quickly noticed the pile of ashes now occupying the alley.

He opened his mouth, his mind filling with a flood of question marks.

The massive, bloodied head from earlier—how had it suddenly turned into a pile of ashes?

Eren, noticing Vinnie's bewildered expression, smirked. "Strange, isn't it?"

Thinking back to Junior Abbott's grotesque head, which had been capable of speech despite being severed, Vinnie couldn't help but feel that the head self-combusting into ash... somehow wasn't the strangest thing he'd encountered tonight.

Still...

When had cultists become this bizarre?

Vinnie had dealt with cases involving cultists before, but most of them were con artists masquerading as religious leaders, swindling money and exploiting followers.

Even the rare, genuine fanatics were simply extreme and irrational in their actions—nothing like the supernatural horror he'd witnessed tonight.

After a moment of silence, Vinnie shook his head vigorously, as if trying to clear his thoughts of the strange notions taking root.

"How am I even supposed to write this report? If I include what just happened, everyone's going to think I've lost my mind."

Eren glanced at him and said meaningfully, "This is just the beginning. The extraordinary is about to become commonplace. You might find yourself dealing with things like this more often, Detective Vinnie. And when that happens, you'll have bigger headaches to worry about."

"Hmm?"

Vinnie frowned at Eren. "What do you mean by that?"

Before Eren could respond, a squad of heavily armed SWAT officers, clad in tactical gear, arrived at the scene.

The squad leader approached Vinnie, asking, "Detective Vinnie, what was that explosion about?"

Reluctantly abandoning his line of questioning, Vinnie turned to the SWAT team. "We encountered Junior Abbott in this alley, and there was an altercation. He exited from the stairwell of that building over there. The cold storage just exploded, and Abbott sneaked out right afterward. I suspect he's connected to the explosion—probably triggered it to destroy evidence."

Hearing that the cold storage explosion was linked to the mangled remains in the alley, the SWAT officers exchanged grim looks.

If Junior Abbott weren't already dead, they wouldn't have hesitated to riddle him with bullets.

Despite the warnings from Eren and Vinnie, several officers hadn't escaped the blast radius in time. Some were injured even outside the cold storage by debris and shockwaves.

The casualties were enough to stoke the SWAT officers' anger toward Abbott.

"Understood. I'll take a team to check the building. Five and Six, secure the site and look for any additional hazards."

"Yes, sir!"

"Yes, sir!"

The squad leader and three officers headed into the stairwell to investigate, while the remaining officers secured the alley.

One officer took up a defensive position at the far end, weapon at the ready, while the other two began sifting through the debris.

Among the wreckage, Junior Abbott's lower body became the focal point of their investigation.

Moments later, an officer pulled a damaged remote control from Abbott's pocket.

"Reporting: found a damaged remote control, likely the detonator."

Another officer called out from the opposite side of the alley, holding up a mangled pistol.

"Reporting: found a damaged firearm..."

Hearing that a detonator had been recovered, Vinnie's face darkened.

"Damn it, so he really was behind the explosion," he muttered.

A quick analysis confirmed that the detonator matched the explosives used in the cold storage.

The case against Junior Abbott was airtight—evidence and testimony ensured that even if he had survived, he wouldn't have escaped justice.

After giving a brief statement, Eren was driven home in a police car, experiencing yet another ride courtesy of the NYPD.

When he arrived, he saw that the officers collecting evidence at his home still hadn't finished.

Outside, curious Chinatown residents had gathered near his building. But as Eren stepped out of the police car, the crowd avoided his gaze, their expressions wary.

Clearly, the recent visits from gang members and police officers had left his neighbors uneasy, leading them to label Eren as a "dangerous individual."

Eren ignored their stares, more amused than bothered. Only now did he realize that despite everything that had happened tonight, only a few hours had passed.

In that short time, he had uncovered and destroyed the mastermind's hideout and even reduced Junior Abbott to ashes.

The thought made the corner of Eren's mouth twitch.

Why bother? Living peacefully wasn't an option for him? Now he's nothing but ash.

Wait, was it my fault for killing his precious humanoid spider first? Is that why he retaliated?

Ridiculous. None of this would've happened if that spider hadn't tried to kill me in the parking garage. I would've been home hours ago without all this nonsense.

After seeing the officers off, Eren grabbed fresh bedding from his third-floor room and set it up in the second-floor guest room.

Though the police had removed the spider specimens from his bedroom, the stench of decay lingered, making it impossible to sleep there.

After a refreshing shower, Eren settled into bed.

But then, as if remembering something, he leapt up and rummaged through the guest room's closet. From a compartment at the bottom, he retrieved the small safe he had purchased earlier that day.

(End of Chapter)

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