Hero of Darkness

Chapter 1235: The Modus Operandi

Morpheus now stood in front of the Cleaning Crew of the Jopoke. These were the sole unit that did the dirty work, which others wouldn’t dare touch.

Whether it was using chemicals to remove the bloodstains or using their own butchering equipment to cut down bodies into small pieces so they could put them in small biodegradable bags to transport the bodies without making it obvious...

These guys wiped out murder scenes by hunters. Especially because a lot of hunters couldn’t control their mana properly and left a trace behind.

This division had equipment and means to remove any trace of mana, and the team leader himself was a B-rank hunter with an ability to restore the environment, so no traces, such as broken shelves or cracked walls, during the skirmish were left behind.

In the following weeks after his training was done... He was finally allowed to join the field work.

Morpheus saw a lot of rape and murder cases from both male and female hunters. In some cases, both sides had younger high school girls and boys as the victims.

Their service not only got rid of the evidence but also removed security footage and whatever logs they had from the tech support team.

But this worked only when there were no witnesses, so the clients had to make sure of that first.

There were many times Morpheus had to gulp down his saliva and still do the messy job, cleaning the broken and mangled corpses.

A lot of the time, he directly saw the perpetrator who called them for the cleanup job, paid in cash, and just casually sat in the same room or house as they did their work.

But he did not show a hint of rage or disgust when doing the job.

Just like in his childhood... he quietly observed and absorbed every bit of information about the client, the methods to do the job, and how to remove every bit of clue that could be tracked by the authorities.

Even the bodies were burned in the waste-burning warehouses where the furnaces didn’t even leave the bones behind.

The underworld was well-connected and resourceful for a reason.

But why did Morpheus join the Cleaning Crew in the first place?

Because he had made Father Joseph Constantine promise that he would not target a single innocent life just because he had to kill hunters to level up.

He was no saint himself... but he was not a demon either.

Father Joseph had helped him over the years through confessions and guidance. It was he who helped Morpheus get over his guilt of killing Trevor and tried to help the latter walk a better path.

Even though his efforts failed because Morpheus was fundamentally scarred for life, and he had already witnessed the most gruesome kind of violence at an early age.

But even after joining the Jopoke, he did not turn into a monster who did not value human lives.

He wished to survive and live by his promise over the years, but he simply did not have any means to do so in the past 2 decades.

But with his sudden awakening and his Hunter Killer class... he had a way to mete out justice while also becoming strong.

His path may not be righteous... but his cause was noble in every right.

Through this method...

He would have access to names, places, and get to work for, and gather information about his targets, their ranks, their powers, and their weaknesses by pretending to be a member of the cleanup crew.

He had to do it by becoming part of the problem and then cleaning the house from within.

The only problem he would face was that most of these hunters weren’t necessarily weaker than him or of the same rank.

And even among the fitting candidates, their abilities and strength need to match his requirements so he can swiftly finish the job without any problems.

Hide in the shadows, use the underworld to find the criminals, clean up the site of the job, make a list of names, gather their information, and then hunt them down.

Morpheus was not in a hurry, but rather played the long game since the cops and the government of this country were just as corrupt as anywhere else.

He wanted to make sure that he was never found and all the bodies were gotten rid of.

The ones Morpheus wrote about in his list, if they were strong, he would come for them later after he would rank up and become stronger to hunt them like prey.

And this was going to be his Modus Operandi.

******************

3 Years Later...

In a secluded place outside of residential areas, there was a dilapidated warehouse that had been inoperational for a couple of years already.

And within this warehouse, there was a highly isolated room that no one would imagine to find it in a place like this.

Compared to the dirty and rusty outside, this room was posh, clean, had plastic drapes and mats covering the walls and the floor, while in the middle was a long rectangular table.

On this table was a blonde woman lying unconscious, her mouth covered with duct tape and her entire body naked, bound to the table by multiple layers of industrial-grade plastic wraps, which made it impossible for her to move.

It was right then, the unconscious woman opened her eyes.

”MHMM!!”

”MHMMMMM!!”

Her head was all groggy, and her body shivering due to the cold in the room as she regained consciousness.

It was right then...

”Oh, you’re awake!”

A sudden voice rang in her ears, sending a jolt across her body.

A man with long black hair, wearing a black attire and apron with industrial long boots and gloves, as well as a transparent glass helmet, usually worn by warehouse workers to protect their faces.

”MMM!!!”

”MMMM!!!”

She tried to speak, and her body vibrated the table as she struggled to get out.

”Don’t worry. This isn’t my first rodeo. I don’t make mistakes anymore.

Your hunter abilities and stats aren’t going to help here. I have set up this room with multiple artifacts that nullify the use of mana and stop hunters from using their overwhelming strength.

In this moment, both you and I are no different than normal humans,” stated Morpheus with a charming smile.

”Though I must say that you are not like my usual targets.

Their appearances are obvious to a fault sometimes. Anyone could tell that these people are either criminals or have had that kind of past.

You, lady... are utterly gorgeous and look innocent from every angle.” he stated and took a small knife out of his black apron.

Stab!

He stabbed it on the right side of her face, where she could see the reflection of her eyes.

”HMMM!!”

Her body flailed haphazardly as she tried to break free. But to no avail, it made no difference.

”Capturing you was easier thanks to an ability I recovered recently, which makes the target fall asleep for 2 hours instantly.

The fucker was raping young girls using this ability, and none of them had any idea who it was.

But don’t worry. He’s met the same fate that’s waiting for you.” said Morpheus, and soon, he opened a briefcase and took out some photos, and hung them with clips on a wire above her.

4 photos.

An elderly woman, a grown-up man, and two young children.

The photos revealed the corpses of the victims.

”You might not remember me... but I was there on the day you used your ability and poisoned your mother-in-law, your husband, and both of his children, and asked us to make it look like it was done by your sister-in-law.” spoke Morpheus.

”I get that you married into that family for his wealth after his wife died years ago...

But did you really have to kill those kids too, just because they were not your own?” he asked with a grim tone.

”Women marrying only for money isn’t something new. But killing an entire family just so you could be the sole beneficiary of their wealth while putting all the blame on the daughter...

That’s diabolical. I’m impressed.” iterated Morpheus.

”And your ability to create untraceable neurotoxin that automatically disappears after 2 hours is simply... enticing for me.

Police wouldn’t even be able to do a postmortem report before it disappears.” spoke Morpheus, revealing her ability.

”Thankfully, you never registered yourself as a hunter. So no one would be looking too much into your disappearance.

While you were asleep, I booked an airplane ticket in your name through your phone to a foreign country and cleaned your accounts. Thanks for the money, by the way...” he said with a sly smirk.

”I also left a note with your handwriting, admitting to all the crimes and scheduled it to be sent next month to the police department and your sister-in-law’s family.” he spoke with a grin.

”Now, even if someone looked into your disappearance... They will most likely think that you’ve fled the country.” he revealed his orchestrated plan.

”So cheer up! You are doing a good thing even without intending to.” he said and started preparing his next move.

She struggled again after hearing that all her efforts were futile.

”And honestly, I will be recovering your skill as well. It will help me kill scumbags like you far more effectively now that I have that sleep-inducing skill as well.

I’m going to take out a lot of scums from this society, just like you who kill for their greed and pleasure.

I already have a list of more than a hundred people that I’ve wanted to kill in the past 3 years. Though it took a long time for me to become a B-rank hunter... my ascend will be far many times faster from now on,” he revealed.

”Now... shall we get started?” he spoke with a smirk, and soon, he walked on the right side, and soon, he picked up a chainsaw.

Vroom!!

Vroom!

He pulled the lever and started the chainsaw. The blades started revving and soon, the room filled with the noise of chainsaw roaring like a voracious monster.

”MMHHHH!!!”

The woman started shaking violently, her eyes filled with mortifying fear, but her body could not escape the tight tapes.

Morpheus was planning to butcher her... alive.

Kacha!

And the butchering finally started as the floor was filled with fresh blood.

******************

Two days later...

At evening, Morpheus looked at his phone screen and checked the time.

He saw the setting sun in front of him and spoke with a calm but composed tone...

”Tonight’s the Night.”