big devil holmes

Chapter 161 Crimson, and the Hound of the Baskervilles
In fact, things like law are always only applicable within a certain range.

For example, a deranged murderer, on the day he is arrested, he will be punished by the law. When he is executed, the people under the gallows will definitely be indignant, waiting for him to kick his legs to die, and then applaud wildly.

No one thought it was wrong because he committed a crime, but no one would dig deep into why he killed people, and no one wanted to know that he worked in the factory 18 hours a day without a break, earning a considerable amount of imperial currency for his boss every month, but when he settled the bill, he could only get a few tens of dollars. In the end, seeing his daughter die in a damp and dark room because of medical expenses, his wife couldn't stand the excitement and jumped off the bridge across the river around the city.

Anyway, he killed someone, so he is the criminal. Although the boss of that factory is also hateful, he will be scolded and condemned, but he didn't stab people with a knife, he just enjoyed life with a lot of money.

There is no crime in enjoying life.

The current price of workers is like this. The murderer can't make money because of his own ability. If he was a banker, his daughter's illness would have been cured long ago.

The operation of society is like this, and the law is only a tool to maintain social stability.

And if the existence of a certain person is the cornerstone of social stability, then no matter how one thinks about it, it is impossible for this person to be punished by law.

Even, the law was made to protect him.

The food in the restaurant is very good. Most of the people working in the School of Life Sciences are very concerned about the quality of the food, because they seldom have time to have a serious meal. This has led to even a roadside fast food stall, paying attention to balanced nutrition.

Moreover, the nutrition you sell is not balanced, and other customers can see it, and they really understand.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Sherlock and Catherine came to a huge experimental base. This is the scene of the crime, where the old dean died.

The Academy of Life Sciences is the most cutting-edge institution for demonology research in the entire empire. There are more than [-] dedicated demon observation rooms, large and small anatomy areas, and even many places that occupy a huge area and are dedicated to testing the combat effectiveness of demons.

Along the way, through the glass on both sides of the corridor, he saw many people in isolation work clothes holding a buzzing circular saw, cutting open the bodies of demons of various shapes. Some of these demons were alive, some were dead. Anyway, different colors of blood sprayed out with different strengths, but the people around them did not respond to this. This is the environment they work in, and they have long been used to it.

Soon, under the leadership of Catherine, he entered an observation room. Looking at the two huge demons soaked in some unknown solution, Sherlock really felt in his heart that this trip was enough to be called a worthwhile trip.

There should be few people in this world who can observe a Tier [-] big demon so closely.

Although I have also come into contact with a large demon before, but that guy is in a crazy state of hammering at anyone, and it is impossible for him to focus on the level of 'watching'.

And the two in front of him stood quietly in front of him at this moment, motionless, like two sculptures with weird shapes but also extremely violent beauty, let him appreciate every detail of them without any scruples.

While watching, Sherlock suddenly discovered an interesting phenomenon, or a coincidence.

That is. It seems that all the powerful demons he has encountered have different degrees of tendency towards [human form].

To be more specific, there are parts that can be called [head] [limbs] [torso], and there is also a posture of [standing].

For example, the black giant at the peak of the second level that I saw in hell, or the third-level demon that was like an ancient giant ape that I met at the disaster scene where the airship crashed, and these two in front of me now.

One of them reached a height of nearly 20 meters, causing Sherlock to stand under it and look up, feeling like looking up at the giant clock on the banks of the Thames in London. Its limbs are very strong, and every inch of its skin is covered by a kind of hard scales. Because the scales are too thick and dense, it makes its body look uncoordinated. At this moment, it is slowly floating in the liquid of constantly changing colors. It is like a colorful waterfall, which creates a strong visual contrast with the dull gray and white of the whole body.

The other one is much smaller, but it is also seven meters high. It is red and white intertwined. The red is the exposed skin or flesh and blood, while the white is the bones growing on the body surface. The three-dimensional head outline, the slender red eyes, and the exposed teeth all look crazy, as if the next second, they will rush out of the container and tear everything in front of them to pieces.

"This demon is the test object that my father has been trying to establish a contract with over the years. It was transported from Redek Strait many years ago. Eleven crusader contractors and eight steam chariots died for it." Seeing Sherlock looking at the demon with slightly surprised eyes, Catherine explained from the side:

"Judging from the experimental records, it became my father's contract demon two years ago, but it may be because of the difference in the contract method that my father's death did not have a backlash effect on it. At least until now, it has not shown any visible damage to the naked eye. It just...doesn't move."

"Not moving?"

"Yes, my father died at that time, and then this guy never moved again. I think this may be the manifestation of its backlash, such as uh, a vegetable or something like that."

Sherlock raised his head and looked at the terrifying red and white demon in front of him again, inexplicably feeling a certain kind of regret and sadness in his heart. He felt that if he could only lie on the bed one day without moving, it would be better to die.

"Does this guy have a name?"

"Yes, subject number 19 in laboratory No. 1070."

"...It's really in line with the habits of a scientific researcher." Sherlock said with a wry smile.

"However, a few days ago, I heard some staff in the laboratory call it 'Crimson'. I guess the code name is too long, so it's convenient to call it that way."

"." Sherlock was silent for a while, looking through the opponent's bones, and fell on the crimson body: "It seems to be in line with the nature of the staff here to name them directly by color."

After watching the crimson demon in front of him, Sherlock took advantage of the opportunity to look at the extraordinarily huge guy on the other side.

In terms of size alone, this one is two to three times the size of the Crimson Demon. The thick scales make it almost impossible to distinguish the arc between its head and body, and one leg is thicker than the Crimson Demon's waist.

"So this one is the one that killed Dean Darwin?" Sherlock asked.

"Yes. This one was only transported from the giant island of Odlia. I should have told you before that it originally belonged to an officer on the front line of Hell's Gate. Because of the need for experiments, he was recruited five years ago. However, it was not until two and a half years ago that my father fully contracted the Crimson Demon that he put it into use."

Listening to Catherine's explanation, Sherlock walked around the huge demon, carefully observing every detail of him, but because of its size, it took several minutes to walk around it.

"Does it have a name?" Sherlock asked.

"Yes" Catherine responded, but for some reason, this question seemed to have caused her some kind of discomfort, causing her to take a deep breath before continuing: "It is called [The Hound of the Baskervilles]."

".?" Sherlock was a little puzzled, and glanced at the giant demon in front of him again, and found that this thing didn't seem to have any elements that could be related to [Hound Dog], but its mouth protruded a little bit, barely a bit like a dog.

Seemingly seeing what was going on in Sherlock's mind, Catherine explained:
"Actually, the subject of this appellation is not the devil, but its owner.
Its summoner was Baskerville, the chief of staff of the First Covenant Legion on the front line of Hell's Gate, and was directly under the command of General Patton.

And because the demon controlled by this person is too powerful and precise. As I said before, his contract ability was once praised by Lord Dante.

In short, in the eyes of others, his contract demon is like a hound trained to the extreme.

So there is such a name.

Of course, this is just the name given to him by those who have seen his abilities on the battlefield.

As for himself, he has never given any name to his demons. Perhaps in his view, demons are always just a tool to serve the contractor. "

This explanation made Sherlock nod his head first, expressing that he knew where the word "hound" came from, but then he became even more puzzled, because he didn't know until then that there was a position of 'chief of staff' in the establishment of the contracted legion on the front line.

During the time Catherine was talking about, he searched back and forth in his mind several times, and found that he had never heard of [Baskerville].

But according to common sense, this person should have already been well-known among the people of the empire!
The First Covenant Legion on the front line is undoubtedly a well-known existence in the empire, because almost all areas are reclaiming the front line, and this legion can be seen in the most difficult battles and the most impossible tasks.

They are a special operations group formed by a group of pure contractors. Each of them is the most powerful crusader fighter. The front-line military section of the Holy Journal will have a report on the legion's performance almost every month. During the rescue mission, they are a spear that tears through everything, piercing the center of the tundra group, and bringing back all the besieged soldiers; For a long time, the suffering and death experienced during this period are enough to break the spirit of any human being, but these fighters will not retreat a step; in the battle of annihilation, these people will become the craziest butchers, leading their contracted creatures to set off a monstrous rain of blood at the forefront of the war;
In short, in the 12 years since the formation of this legion, there has never been any failure record in the missions performed. It seems that in the eyes of this group of people, there is only death, no retreat, only completion of missions, and no failure. The death of every soldier among them will be reported in a whole page in the Holy Journal, and their bodies will be buried in an extremely honorable posture in accordance with the highest standard of hero funerals in the entire empire.

And it is the most powerful and elite legion among such crusaders.

Its chief of staff has been unknown, and the existence of such a person has not even been mentioned in any newspapers.
No matter how you think about it, something is wrong.

So Sherlock pondered for a while, and then thought of the biggest possibility. He looked at Catherine and said:
"Is it because he has done something that will affect the image of the crusaders among the people of the empire, so the newspapers obliterated all reports about him?"

Catherine hesitated a little, she didn't know whether she should tell Sherlock about this kind of thing, but seeing that the other party had already guessed it, she nodded her head: "Indeed, as the chief of staff of the First Covenant Legion, this person undoubtedly has the most outstanding combat exploits in the entire Crusaders.

But he did do some extremely cruel and bloody things.”

Speaking, Catherine frowned slightly, and then corrected:

"No, it's not 'did'. It's just that he has been doing cruel things. Because his behavior is too out of humanitarianism, it will definitely affect the acceptance of the crusaders in people's hearts. Therefore, General Patton has issued a military order. His name is not allowed to appear in all front-line reports.

But Chief of Staff Baskerville didn't seem to care much about this either.

He never cared about his own reputation, let alone whether the people of the empire knew about his existence.

In short, he seems to have been an oddball from the start.

If he is not really a genius that has been rarely encountered in the battlefield for centuries, he may have been executed by military order long ago."

Hearing Catherine's words, Sherlock's expression became more and more solemn, but at the same time he became more and more interested. He thought of the extremely cold place far away from the civilization of the empire, where killing and blood were the main theme, and he couldn't help asking:
"So... what did he do?"

(End of this chapter)