Dajing Investigation Bureau!
The project meeting room on the third floor!
On the projection screen, the photos from around the world were magnified, revealing even more shocking details.
"What you are seeing are seven highly similar case scenes compiled from different regions around the world over the past eight years."
Carlson's voice was steady:
"They occur in Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, South America, and even Africa."
Local police initially took differing approaches until our crime pattern analysis experts, during a data cross-referencing exercise last year, discovered consistency among the cases.
His laser pointer's red dot landed on the photo of the interior of an abandoned air-raid shelter in Southeast Asia.
"Take this case that occurred in Southeast Asia as an example."
This was discovered three years ago in an abandoned World War II air-raid shelter on the northern border of Myanmar.
Officer Zhao took over the conversation; her Chinese was even clearer, but what she described sent chills down one's spine:
"When the bodies of eight missing persons were discovered, they were found at the scene."
But...they weren't lying there intact.
The photo was enlarged further.
On the ground of the air-raid shelter, illuminated by bright lights, a huge, complex, and extremely disturbing pattern of dismembered corpses occupied almost the entire space.
It was like a strangely blooming "flower".
Or more accurately, it is a mandala pattern made of human remains, imbued with a cultish atmosphere.
At the very center of the design is a huge number "8" drawn with thick, dark red, almost black blood.
The strokes of the numbers are thick and robust, and the outer edge is tightly enclosed by a perfect circle drawn with the same material. The circle's lines are uniform and without the slightest tremor.
The artist was clearly very calm and had a strong sense of control.
The red dot moves to the outside of the circle.
“Look here, in the ring area outside the outer circle of the number 8, there are eight inverted 'U' shaped patterns evenly distributed.”
Officer Zhao continued:
“The two bottom points of different inverted 'U' shapes are connected end to end.”
And it adheres closely to the central circle.
This is a common way to draw a mandala!
What horrified Shen Ting and the others was...
Within each inverted "U"-shaped arc space, there is a human head.
The head was severed cleanly from the neck.
They are "erected" in an inverted "U" shape with their necks touching the ground, like cruel artifacts displayed on a shelf.
All the heads' faces are facing the center of the pattern—
That blood-red "8".
Even more chilling is that the eye sockets of all the heads are empty, the eyeballs have been completely removed, leaving only dark holes that silently "stare" at the center.
"The eight heads correspond to eight inverted 'U' shapes, which also seem to correspond to the '8' in the center."
If Team Leader Shen fails to defuse the bomb in this case...
There were also eight victims inside the mine.
"Criminal profiler Liu Huiming said in a low voice, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the table."
"Yes."
Carlson nodded. "And at the outer vertices of these eight inverted 'U' shapes, the pattern expands again."
From the highest point of each inverted 'U', two line segments extend outwards, intersecting to form a larger 'Λ'-shaped pattern with the apex facing outwards, resembling a domed tent enveloping the surrounding area.
Officer Zhao zoomed in on a portion of the image, focusing on one of the "Λ"-shaped areas.
Unlike the inverted "U" shaped spaces filled with skulls, these "Λ" shaped interior spaces do not contain any human organs or remains.
Instead, strange symbols were written in blood at the center of the "Λ"-shaped area.
The symbols have twisted lines and a peculiar structure. At first glance, they look a bit like a deformed Korean alphabet, and also have a hint of Japanese katakana.
However, upon closer inspection, it does not match any known writing system.
It's more like a meticulously designed, pagan-style scribbling.
“We have invited linguists, semioticians, and even experts in ancient mysticism to identify it.”
Officer Zhao began:
"Everyone agreed that this does not belong to the writing system of any country, nation, or known civilization on Earth."
It was likely created by the murderer himself.
As for its meaning... it's currently a complete mystery.
The red dot continued to move outwards from the datura flower.
"Between the vertices of these 'Λ'-shaped patterns, there are closely spaced near-circles drawn."
Inside each small circle is placed a human heart.
The heart appeared to have undergone special treatment; it was not severely decayed and had a dark reddish-purple color.
The strangest thing is that strands of hair "grow" from the broken ends of the main blood vessels of the heart.
The hair was straightened and combed, like living red roots, all pointing towards the very center of the pattern—
That circle with the number '8' inside it.
These arrays of hair and hearts, surrounding the inner skull ring, look...like the first layer of the "stamen" of this terrifying mandala.
"And at the intersection of these heart-shaped circles..."
Officer Zhao's voice became slightly tense:
"There are eight complete human vertebrae, which extend straight outward from the inner circle like radiating axes."
The end of the vertebrae terminates in a forearm cross-section that has been neatly cut off.
Between each pair of vertebrae, two forearm bones join together, forming a graceful, outward-arching shape, like the outline of a flower petal.
At the very top of the arc are two lifeless hands, palms facing each other, fingertips together, pointing vertically towards the sky.
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