Ed left the orphanage building, and as he stepped out of the doorway, he suddenly felt a little itch on the back of his neck, as if someone was blowing cold air on his neck. He jerked his head back, but saw nothing.

With a strange frown, Ed licked his lips and shook his head, still stopping to think. He got back into the car, drove out of the orphanage gate, paused as he turned the corner onto the driveway, lowered the window, swept his gaze back at the building in front of him that glittered in the sunlight and seemed like a paradise, then turned around and left without saying a word. The car disappeared in a blink of an eye on the mountain road.

Ed spends his time thinking about how to find the missing child. Now that he has enough information on his hands, all that remains is to take action. But just then, his phone rang. He gave a strange look, it was a completely unknown number.

"Hello." He connected as he drove, his eyes kept looking at the smooth mountain road ahead, "I'm Ed." ”

“……”

"Hello?" No one spoke, and Ed let out a strange call.

"Hey, hey. Ed, Detective Ed. A shrill voice rang out, sounding like all the teeth in his mouth had turned into lead.

Ed's brow furrowed. "Who's talking here?"

"You know who it is," the voice continued to laugh, sounding very pleasant, "and I know what you're doing. You're looking for me. ”

“……”

An axe splits Eddard's head. He slammed on the brakes and brought the car to a sharp stop on the side of the road. Fortunately, the mountain road of the orphanage usually does not have many cars passing by, otherwise Ed's operation would have caused a big problem.

But he's not in the mood to bother with that right now. All of his attention was now drawn to the voice on his phone.

"Looking for you?" While calming his mind, he continued to answer quietly, took the mobile phone off the card holder, and put it to his ear, "Who are you, why am I looking for you?" ”

"Alright, don't be funny, you know what I'm talking about." The voice seemed a little impatient, "The kid is in my hands—the little guy named Barry." ”

“……”

"Rest assured, he's fine – at least for now."

Suddenly Ed understood something. "What do you want?"

"Hehe, hey, he's a smart guy." The voice sneered, "Let me introduce myself first, my name is Evil Wolf." ”

“……”

"Let's call alive. You don't really think I'm going to tell you my real name. The self-proclaimed wolf didn't stop and continued, "I want to play a game with you. ”

"What a game."

"If you're asking for the name of the game, I'll call it the 'Wolf Game.'"

"Good name."

"......," the wolf coughed dryly, "if you're asking about the content of the game, it's a murder game." ”

"From now on, for some time to come, I will start killing people one by one. And in the process, if you can catch me, then even if I lose, the prize is Barry. What do you think? ”

"How?" Ed gritted his teeth, a bit of anger rising in his eyes, "Is there a chance I can win?" ”

"Don't worry, I'll give you a chance." The wolf grinned, then suddenly became serious, "Remember, though, it's a game between me and you. If the police intervene before the two of us are decided, you'll receive the head in the mail from Barry on the same day. Do you understand? ”

“……”

"I'm sure you'll make a wise choice." The wolf continued in a casual tone, seemingly nonchalantly, "Then, now I'm giving you a hint of friendship at the beginning of the game—and a hint that saved your life—and the man I met with you today, the man next to Dean Ellie, whose real name is not Orin. ”

"What?" Ed frowned.

"At the same time, he is not a foreigner, he is a Belvedere local."

"You mean, his name and identity are disguised?" The detective's keen nerves made Ed react instantly, narrowing his eyes, "But why, why did he hide his identity?" ”

"Oh, yes." The wolf laughed exaggeratedly twice, worse than a wolf's howl, and then his voice suddenly lowered, "What a strange thing, why is this - why is he disguising his true identity?" ”

“……”

"That's it, detective." The wolf finally whispered quickly, "From this moment on, the game begins. ”

With that, the wolf ended the call. Ed clutched his phone tightly and slammed the steering wheel. His entire rhythm was disrupted at this point, and it was as if everything was different—really fucking everything.

He only knew one thing for sure now, and that was that whoever this wolf was, he was a madman. He abducted a child from the orphanage who was about to be adopted, and then called the detective in charge of investigating the matter, telling him that he was going to start a killing game, and that the detective would also participate in the game with him, and if he won the game, he would hand over the child, and then at the end he told the detective that there was a problem with his client, and this was his initial hint to start this killing game - Ed had no idea what was going on in this guy's head, I don't know what the fuck is going on right now.

Well, intermission, "intermission". Ed pulled out his humidor, pulled out a small cigar and lit it for himself, then sat quietly in the car for a while. Finally, after a cigarette was finished, Adrian cleared his mind and started the car again and drove back onto the mountain road.

At this point, the small characters will have to rely on the strength of some big people to break the deadlock.

……

In the evening, Marcy returns Ed's call.

Marcy, a detective at the Stuttgard Metropolitan Police Headquarters suspended in the air, arrived in the city around the same time as Ed, and met over a case, and the two later became friends. Ed often asks her for help, and Ed has helped her a lot. The relationship between the two is a bit special, both friends and a bit like partners. The unofficial kind, of course.

She received contact from Ed during the day, and then helped Ed look up some things based on Ed's request and the data sent to her. She made a very big discovery.

"You always get something interesting," the tough-minded woman said to Ed, who seemed to be gloating about what had happened to her, sitting on the couch in her home in a high-rise building in the center of the city, holding a data tablet cross-legged and munching on ice cream.

"You can make fun of me later." Ed sat by the window of the Belvedere inn, looking out at the bustling streets of the town at night, not at all in the mood to chat with Marcy, "Tell me what you found." ”

"The man in the video you sent me — the one named 'Mr. Orin' — I did find something interesting. How did you get his image? ”

"Well...... Hearing Marcy's strange inquiry, Ed subconsciously lifted the frame of his glasses, and the blue light of the data on the transparent glasses lens flashed and disappeared, "I naturally have my own way." It's been 186 years since the Star Era. ”

"I can probably think of what you're talking about. It's also funny to say, after the end of the war, the socio-economic and political level almost reminded people of the pre-apocalyptic earth, and only some small war technologies that had nothing to do with recovery and development were still well preserved. And, of course, there's the environment-building technology associated with interstellar colonization. ”

"Marcy."

"Alright, alright, I got it." Marcy took a bite of the ice cream and kept sliding her fingers over the data board, "That 'bad wolf' is right, he is indeed a native of Belvedere, and his identity is not ordinary. I remotely connected to the Belvedere police database through the city bureau and found out that this guy was a member of a local Belvedere gang, a lowest-level 'soldier', whose real name was 'Gerald'. ”

"Gerald, gangster?" Ed's brows furrowed, "What the hell is this going on?" ”

"I think it's interesting." Marcy's voice showed that she was visibly excited. Her interest was also aroused.

"It's very interesting." Ed also stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "This can provide a reasonable explanation for this guy to hide his real name and identity, but is it really that simple?" Did he want to adopt a child but this kind of thing happened, and he encountered someone who abducted the child he wanted to adopt, and because he didn't want the police and local people to find out and intervene, he brought me from the city center, or was there something else to hide? ”

"I think there's something else going on." Marcy showed her keen instincts as a police detective, drawing on her extensive experience to make her judgment, "We don't believe in coincidences. And it's all a little too coincidental. What's more, that evil wolf also gave you a special reminder. ”

“…… That's bad. ”

"Huh?"

"If there's something else going on," Ed said, taking a deep breath, "then there's something wrong with the orphanage itself." ”

“…… I'll check it out right away. Marcy groaned for a moment, and immediately made a decision.

"By the way, and!" Ed's voice suddenly quickened.

"What?" Marcy was calmly startled, "What's wrong?!" ”

"When you were chasturded, did you find out where his current address was in Belvedere?"

"Yes."

"Send it to me now!"

"Right now," Marcy asked, sliding her finger quickly across the datapad, "what's wrong, what did you think of?" ”

"The hint that the wolf gave me," Ed said, had put on his coat and rushed out the hotel door, "not only as a reminder for me, but also as the initial hint for the game, representing the beginning of the killing!" ”