It was past ten o'clock in the morning.

Dean and Marco rushed to the Van Hersin Pet Clinic, a mall-like building on the side of the road, small in size and beautifully decorated.

The entrance is a front desk and waiting room, with telephones, pamphlets, and a TV showing pet videos.

But in the past few days, Marco cooperated with Dean's investigation, so the clinic was temporarily closed, and there was no other staff in sight.

After that, room by room, with the exam room, pharmacy, injection room, laboratory written on the door, operating room, Dean even saw an X-ray machine from one room.

"Your clinic is good, not smaller than the average hospital." Dean couldn't help but praise,

"Of course, my clinic has been operating in Reno for more than ten years, has a good reputation, is loved and trusted by customers, and although the income is not very rich, it can also make people eat and wear," Marco's serious face showed a hint of expert pride, and then shook his head and sighed, "But my son doesn't appreciate it, and he doesn't want his son to inherit his father's business." ”

"Get him back this time, maybe he can change his ways."

The two passed by the "inpatient department" along the corridor,

Barking!

Meow Woo —

Suddenly, a noisy cry echoed through the wooden door, one after another echoed in the corridor, Marco pushed the door with the corner of his mouth bent, and the room was filled with cages of different sizes on both sides, most of them empty, and a few of them contained oily, fat, fat cats and dogs.

"Good boy, haven't you missed me for a few days?" Marco Poker had a loving smile on his face, and his voice became lively, and that affectionate attitude seemed to treat these shorthairs, tabbys, and big golden retrievers as their own children.

He patiently and meticulously changed the water and food for the cats and dogs, opened the cage and touched their heads one by one, scratched their chin and stomach, and patted their buttocks.

"Marco, you're better off with these pets than you are with Luben."

Dean looked at the disobedient smile on the old man's face, and complained behind him,

"Or else. These little ones are much more obedient than Luben, and the pet only has its owner in its eyes... And Luben only had his damn fantasies and writer's dreams in his eyes, and he had no responsibility for me as a father and for the family to pass on the lineage. Marco had the look on his face that he should have been.

Dean didn't know what else to say, and then his heart moved, and he walked towards the honest big golden retriever who wagged his big fluffy tail and stuck out his tongue and smirked, and made a "ho-ho-ho" sound.

"Wang!"

The golden retriever yelled at him, then leaned down, limbs spread out, black nose wrinkled to show white teeth, and let out a low roar in his throat... As if threatened.

"Relax, Lucky, this is Dean, a good friend, relax!" Marco touched the back of the golden retriever, but the big dog was still grinning with his teeth unabated.

Dean frowned, and approached again in disbelief.

Five meters, three meters, two meters.

Whining...

The low roar suddenly turned into a cry of fear, and the big golden retriever suddenly retreated to the corner of the cage, clamping his tail and trembling all over.

Meow –

There was a shrill meow again, and a beautiful short-haired cat jumped to the innermost part of the cage with tense limbs like springs, its hair standing on end, and a hissing sound came out of its throat.

The cry was like a signal that instantly detonated all the animals in the inpatient unit.

Barking!

Woo!

Twitter!

Marco scrambled to reassure, and a hint of disappointment flashed in Dean's eyes, and he pulled back from the room and closed the door, and the messy screams instantly subsided.

After a few moments, Marco wiped the sweat from his forehead and headed out for the hallway, looking at Dean in surprise.

"Sorry, what the hell, this has never happened before. These pets have always had a good personality, they are not afraid of life, and they are very close to everyone, but they went crazy today. ”

"Don't blame them. Maybe it's my problem, like they see I'm a werewolf in human skin and are afraid I'll eat them? Dean grinned and showed his neat white teeth, "Let's go, look for blood." ”

……

After a small interlude.

The two of them hurried to the laboratory in the corner and took out a tube of blood that had been frozen into ice from a large freezer, "It's been frozen for seven or eight months, and it's all spoiled and broken, can you use it?" Marco glanced at the date on the test tube and handed it to Dean,

"I think it's reluctant."

Dean took the sample and stuffed it into his suit pocket, then quietly crushed it, and the moment the solid blood touched his body, a prompt flashed in Dean's eyes.

Is the original sample replaced with the blood of Luben van Hersin?

Be.

Countdown to analysis: 3:59:59

Dean breathed a sigh of relief, fortunately the mimetic had been upgraded once, otherwise he might not have been able to analyze this tube of frozen old blood.

……

After achieving their goal, the two quickly left the pet clinic and returned to Luben's apartment, gathering all the "black clothes" that fit the plot of the previous part. ”

As an otaku, Lu Ben's dressing taste is very monotonous, and he bought several sets of the same clothes and shoes, which saved Dean a lot of effort.

"Young people are broad-minded, you want to put on the clothes of the road book and pretend to be him?" Marble looked Dean up and down and shook his head, "But Luben is half a head taller than Ling. ”

"I have my own way."

"So when are we going to act? I can't wait to enjoy your wonderful performance. ”

"You're mistaken, it's not us," Dean shook his head, looking the old man in the eye, his tone irrefutable, "I'm acting alone, and you're getting involved and ruining the plot of the book." ”

"Boy, I have to go to the shooting range to shoot a few shots every month, and I won the championship of the hunting competition when I was young, so I don't need your protection." Marko's withered palm gestured, and a burst of spit flew,

"You need absolute silence and a lot of concentration to operate on your pet, and I have to do it without interruption. So it's not negotiable, if you don't listen to me, I'll go back to Las Vegas right away. Dean's face was cold, and he didn't give an inch,

Marco blew his beard and glared angrily, and the veins in his neck stood up tremblingly, but after a moment he nodded helplessly...

Dean put the package in the car and drove with the old man to a tree two hundred meters from the Virginia Street Bridge.

"You can do as you like now, and then after eight o'clock in the evening, you must stay in my car honestly, and when I find the roadbook, I will bring him to you immediately." Dean told the old man again, "Don't run around, don't come out when you hear any movement, or you will harm your own son." ”

The event requires Marco to witness the end of Luben with his own eyes.

Therefore, he can't be too far away from the bridge where the crime took place so as not to miss the opportunity to testify, and he can't get too close and ruin the plot of the book.

……

After the old man agreed, he temporarily left himself to prepare.

And Dean began the long wait.

Read Luben van Hersin over and over again to see if there are any missing details.

Take out the various weapons from the trunk and check them: Colt M1911A1, three boxes of .45ACP shells;

semi-automatic AR-15 rifle, three boxes of .223 Remington small-caliber rifle cartridges;

TAC-50 sniper rifle, three boxes of .50BMG, containing tracer, incendiary, armor-piercing rounds.

Three guns, which can be far or near, with the shooting skills of Dean LV3, can even be used to fight helicopters and armored vehicles, and it should be no problem to deal with physically powerful targets.

……

In addition to the gun, there are two barrels of gasoline and tracer bullets that are used to ignite the target, dealing fire damage.

A few oval M26 grenades were used just in case, because the movement was too great to be used unless absolutely necessary.

……

Rubbing his fingers over the cold hard gun shell reflecting the metallic luster, pulling out the magazine, pulling the sleeve and bolt, and carefully checking and confirming, Di Anxin was a lot more stable inside.

But I have to say that with these weapons, Dean has to bear a huge risk, only the M1911A1 and AR-15 are separated from the guns and bullets in his legal possession, and once the rest of the things are found, he will inevitably go to the police station for a trip.

"If only there was a storage space to carry with you."

……

Put your weapons back away.

Dean circled around the Virginia Street Bridge, repeatedly surveying the nearby terrain for shelter and bunker to prepare for a possible battle.

After the inspection, he returned to the car and closed his eyes to recuperate.

Time flies.

The sun sinks into the horizon and night envelops the city of Reno.

At eight o'clock in the evening, Marco came to the car.

At ten o'clock, Dean, dressed in a black suit, left the car, took a bag of clothes and hid in the shadows of the alley.

Click, rat hiss, bones crunch, and a suppressed hiss, the black figure on the ground expanded and contracted with teeth and claws.

A minute later.

A white young man who was more than 1.9 meters tall and wore a black trench coat walked out of the alley, with short flaxen hair, angular facial features, only his temples were slightly sunken, his lips were angled downward, and he looked sad, but there were beads of sweat hanging on his forehead, as if he had just exercised vigorously.

"Well, yes, the preparation time and the degree of pain of the mimetic are much less than before, and this face is exactly the same as in the photo. From now on, I'm Luben Van Hersin," Dean grinned in the vanity mirror, dropped it and swaggered towards the brightly lit downtown area.

In order to fit perfectly with the scene in the book, he did not carry anything else on him except for a wallet and a board.

……

"Get out of the way, buddy—" Dean tapped a tall leather-clad man on the shoulder and dodged into the lover's bar.

In an instant, a scorching heat wave and surging music rushed in.

Spherical lights swirl on the ceiling and glow brightly, and young couples huddle intimately on the dance floor to the music.

At the bar, at the wine table, the "hunters" who came to release their passion shook their wine glasses, and with a hint of sober eyes in their drunken eyes, they looked around looking for their prey.

Dean sat on a high stool in front of the bar across the dance floor, just about to order a drink, when he suddenly froze.

Luben, the protagonist of the book, is half-drunk at a lover's bar, and as a perfect imitator, Dean must also restore every detail.

One of the principles of Kordean's crossover is to prohibit drinking.

"If you don't drink it, it's ruining the plot and making the imitation give up halfway, but if you drink it, it's breaking my principles."

Dean struggled with himself for a moment, and a hint of determination flashed in his eyes,

"No, I've become a roadbook now, and it's not a violation for me to drink!"

He knocked on the table with his inverted index finger and looked up and smiled,

"Ten cups of mojito..."

The striped vest bartender who was wiping the wine bottle with a white cloth stiffened, and his eyes shot a trace of surprise under the refreshing flat head, the mojito degree is not high, but this guy has ten glasses at once.

"If you're going to get drunk, I'd suggest you choose whiskey, or pure vodka, tequila, or a Bloody Mary if you want to get excited... Uh, wait, God! Are you Luben, the long-lost fellow? ”

"It's a pity that I'm Ruben's cousin Pete, but everyone says we're alike, but it's a pity I'll never see him again..."

"Really? Poor Luben, the eternal virgin of the lover's bar. The bartender drew a cross on his chest and whispered a prayer, "May he be alive." By the way, he tastes exactly like you, and only loves mojitos. ”

Dean nodded, "Has Luben talked to you about his work before?" ”

"No, he's a listener and he's been listening to me tell stories about a hundred ex-girlfriends."

……

Soon.

Ten glasses of mojitos lined up in front of Dean, and the light illuminated the wine reflected an alluring glow, a spectacular sight that immediately attracted the attention of many people.

This is obviously a frustrated man who uses wine to drown his sorrows, who can comfort his wounded heart?

"How about a drink?" A lady with short nose rings, brown skin, and a deep groove of temptation under an elastic vest took the initiative to come over and exhale hot air into Dean's ear.

"Sorry, I'm not in the mood today."

Dean glanced at the place, picked up a mojito and sipped it off.

Cool, refreshing, sweet and sour liquor pours into the mouth and glides down the throat.

The long-awaited stimulation of alcohol made Dean squint his eyes comfortably.

……

Just cup after cup.

For two and a half hours, Dean drank non-stop for a moment, and then for the first time he felt that the strong body at 16 o'clock was a trouble, the ability to carry drunkenness was simply inhuman, and the strong kidneys made it impossible for him to go to the toilet to pee and excrete alcohol.

Mojito, Mojito.

Rum, sugar cane, mint, soda...

I don't know how many cups I took.

His eyes turned black and his wrists were about to break.

Finally, the time came to half-past eleven in the middle of the night.

Dean suddenly raised his hand to stop.

He raised his slightly hot face, the music around him became like a tide, and the bartender in front of him was divided into two people, and a hazy dotted line was drawn around him.

Dean was very drunk.

Standing together, his feet fluttered lightly as if he were stepping on cotton, and at the same time, he involuntarily swayed his shoulders and arms to the dynamic music, and danced a comical swing dance.

But the unprecedented relaxation and refreshment rises.

Suddenly, Dean seemed to have untied the shackles that had bound his body for a long time.

"Haha."

Dean grinned and smacked a few knives on the table and walked out of the bar.

……

The night breeze in spring is slightly cool.

The neon signs in bars and casinos dazzle the eyes.

A black trench coat, a tall drunkard of 1.9 meters, smirked one after another in his mouth, shook Xihuang and even threw a dog on the guardrail on the side of the road, which caused a burst of ridicule from the couples on the street.

Then head like a tumbler through the downtown area, towards the streets of the dead of night and the bridge over the Truckee River.

The night breeze blows and blows.

The half-closed eyes of the blushing face shifted between sober and intoxicated.

The heart is pounding.

Near, at night, the swarthy Virginia Street Bridge was already close at hand, and its rigid outline looked like a monster's grown bloody mouth.

Dean couldn't help but hold his breath.

Can fantasy be reflected in reality?

It's a matter of success or failure!

……

Hold at the bridgehead until twelve o'clock at midnight.

Click.

Amid the sound of heavy footsteps, Luben van Hersin finally couldn't help but step on the bridge, holding on to the guardrail in one hand, and slowly set off towards the opposite bank.

The moonlit river under the bridge was surging and a few bats were flying around in the air, like guests watching a play.

And it was only 100 meters from the head of the bridge to the end of the bridge, and the man dragged on for five minutes.

Then that drunken face became ugly.

There was no one around.

Twelve o'clock, drunken roadbook,

Everything fits the plot, but there is no woman in red!

"Am I wrong? Is the change in the progress of the investigation misleading? There is no such thing as Mary in Red at all? ”

"Or is there something missing from my imitation?"

He lay on the guardrail at the end of the bridge and sighed in extreme decadence.

The sigh crossed the bridge and was heard far away in the night.

Then, a gust of wind blew through the skin, and the air around it rippled like water, becoming damp and sticky, and a mist rushed across the bridge.

Dean heard a "pop" in his ears, as if a blister had burst.

In the next second, his disappointed face froze, he held his breath and turned around.

Ten meters away, on the other side of the Virginia Street Bridge, there was no place where there was anything, and without warning, there was an additional figure.

It was like appearing out of thin air, and even God's perspective failed to capture where she came from.

She sat on the railing with her back to Dean and looked down at the raging Truckee River below, a stunning red dress with long flaxen hair draped over her shoulders, fluttering gently in the night breeze.

And the graceful back, the neck is as beautiful and slender as a swan, and the exposed skin is white and glowing, from the back to the waist, the lines are rapidly narrowed, and then raised, graceful like a fertile hill.

But at this moment, this back is filled with a sad temperament, and at a glance, people can't help but feel pity.

The bright moonlight is also eclipsed here.

She is like a goddess in a red dress who is ready to fly away in the wind at any time.

……

Fako!

I guessed it right!

Fantasy shines into reality.

Mary, the woman in red, is here.

The intense excitement was like an electric current piercing through Dean's body, and a large goosebump bubbled up.

He rushed towards the woman!

(End of chapter)