Chapter 252: Chapter 252 I Found a Penny by the Side of the Road_1
"Then keep up the good work at your post, I’m leaving first," Aiden said after greeting his subordinate and was ready to keep his appointment, "Be cautious when entering or exiting the prison, it hasn’t been very peaceful around here lately."
"Don’t worry, Chief, I’m fine," Veronica responded subconsciously.
This confidence stemmed from her many years of habit, since as a Pureblood Werewolf, she possessed the strength to take down a Class-A wanted criminal in direct combat.
But Aiden, just about to turn around, reminded her seriously, "Don’t take your own safety lightly, I’m actually very worried about you."
He spoke from the heart, Veronica may have combat capabilities comparable to those of magical beasts, but the enemy lurking in the shadows this time was a Reaper’s agent with the power to kill any living creature with a touch.
The werewolf’s physique is robust; injuries and blood loss that would be fatal to ordinary people may not necessarily kill them, their resistance to poisons far exceeds that of a normal person, and their resistance to curses is absurdly high—but that doesn’t mean they are immortal.
The power of "death" itself is a concept of death; once activated, effective ways of dying will manifest on the target, whether it be werewolves or bloodlines, as long as the individual has the concept of death, they cannot escape their fate.
Veronica naturally wouldn’t think of such profound implications; upon hearing his words, she froze, "Worried about me?"
Since her birth, few had worried about her personal safety, including herself, even when she was a mounted police officer facing bands of horse thieves and gangs alone, or capturing Class-A wanted criminals—because she was a formidable Pureblood Werewolf, a consensus even she recognized.
However, the man before her now expressly voiced his concern for her safety, leaving Veronica somewhat at a loss.
Others might regard such concern as a subtle form of nosiness, but in her heart, her superior had always been a powerful figure, surpassing her in strength—after all, capturing a Prince-level Bloodline singlehandedly was something she could not do, so such worries coming from Aiden didn’t seem unnatural at all.
"Didn’t you hear what we got from that vampire yesterday? The person instructing her can kill with just a touch. I’m not exaggerating; I’ve already looked into it. That kind of power is gained by making sacrifices to the Evil God, even werewolves can’t withstand it," Aiden said gravely, "In the next few days, be extra cautious around strangers, try to avoid any physical contact... remember to tell everyone else, got it?"
"Oh..." Veronica felt her face grow hot.
"Did you really understand?" Aiden, noticing her voice was a bit low, frowned.
"Understood!" Veronica nodded hastily.
"That’s good, I really have to go now." Aiden felt it was almost time, and waved his hand.
"Okay..." Although she wanted to talk with him even a word more, considering she was only minutes away from being truly late, Veronica could only watch her superior leave, then turned and walked briskly towards the prison.
Just as she was about to turn into the alley where the prison’s side door was located, someone called out to her from afar, "Please wait a moment."
A woman clad in black clothes and wearing a sun hat was walking towards her.
"Stand there, don’t move," Veronica immediately became alert, having just parted with Aiden, his warning still fresh in her ears.
"Eh?" The woman seemed startled by her expression and words.
"If you have something to say, just say it directly," Veronica stated in a businesslike tone from about ten paces away.
"Excuse me, are you a prison guard working in this prison?" the woman asked with a restrained look on her face.
"Yes," Veronica sized up the woman before her, "The visiting hours for the prison have already passed, what are you doing near the prison?"
The nearby Heretic Tribunal was patrolling everywhere and setting up checkpoints; it was unlikely there were any casual passersby on this road today, and usually, there were very few people passing by. On the other hand, if someone of suspicious identity was around, they would find it very difficult to appear near the prison at this hour.
"Ah, actually, I just finished seeing a family member off and was about to take a carriage back..." The woman stretched out her hand, offering a small leather wallet, "Then I found this under that street lamp, I don’t know whose it is, may I hand it over to you for handling?"
"A lost item?" Veronica blinked, "Have you checked what’s inside?"
"Only some cash..." the woman replied.
Veronica let her guard down slightly, finding property on the roadside and handing it to a nearby police officer was a common occurrence, and it was very likely that the wallet was dropped by someone else visiting the prison. The side door of the prison was exclusively for prison guards to enter and exit for work, so it wasn’t surprising that the woman figured out that she was a prison guard when she saw her heading in this direction.
While it was important to stay on alert, cutting off contact with the public visiting the prison would likely impair the ability to perform normal duties.
Still, Veronica did not cross the line that would allow the other person to touch her. She pulled out a pair of white gloves and put them on, then extended her hand and said, "Alright, throw it over, and I’ll take it to the lost and found for you."
"Okay," the woman said as she tossed the wallet.
Veronica habitually focused her gaze on the wallet tracing its arc through the air, failing to notice the subtle, sinister smirk that appeared on the lips of the woman opposite her.
Suddenly, a bat swiftly swooped in, striking the wallet squarely and causing it to drop to the ground between them.
The woman in black’s face darkened, and at the same time, a wisp of grey smoke drifted from the wallet, quickly turning into a grey bat that flapped its wings and flew straight at Veronica’s face.
Veronica reflexively tried to grab it, but a strange "squeak" suddenly erupted from behind her, with several black bats sweeping over her shoulders from the rear. One of the bats collided with the grey bat that had emerged from the wallet, and both fell to the ground. The remaining bats concentrated their attack on the woman in black.
The woman in black instinctively covered her face for protection, but the bats turned away just in front of her, circling around her without making contact.
"Veronica, move away!!" A stern shout suddenly rose from behind.
It was Aiden’s voice. Veronica’s body moved before her mind, sidestepping to make room while looking in that direction—Aiden was aiming his gun this way.
The gunshot rang out, the bullet left the chamber, and the woman in black was hit in the shoulder. She immediately lost her balance as if violently shoved, toppling sideways onto the ground.
"Supervisor!?" Veronica was stupefied by her supervisor’s sudden act of shooting.
