"Yes, Annan likely witnessed the Dagon cult's sacrificial ceremony, which led directly to his capture."

"Damn those bloody cultists!" Roland exclaimed angrily.

"The members of the Dagon cult have moved underground from their once active presence, but their original evil intentions remain unchanged. They still use human sacrifices to conduct their dark rituals."

Alexander explained loudly, "The Dagon cult is quite powerful. Not only do they kidnap nearby tourists for sacrifices, but they also secretly bring in deceived illegal immigrants from overseas, torturing and sacrificing them to the sea demon."

"How is that possible?" Everyone looked incredulous.

"It's not baseless speculation."

Xu Lin gestured with his hand, "The local Dagon cult engages in smuggling activities. They gather people from around the world, capture them, and sacrifice them directly. Some victims' organs are even sold like commodities."

"The town's most famous doctor, Madara, acts as a middleman in this business. His current status and power come from these transactions. With the support of the Dagon cult, he even aspires to replace the mayor and become the de facto king of this town..."

"Annan is definitely in Madara's hands, and he might still be alive."

"Then why are we waiting here? Let's storm Madara's place and rescue him now!" Roland shouted impatiently, but Linda interrupted him.

"Roland, calm down and listen to what they have to say..."

"Rest assured, we will rescue him, but we can’t act rashly. If Madara decides to kill him and destroy evidence, we would be too late to regret it."

Xu Lin calmed everyone down. Rescuing Annan was a main plot task, and since it was only the second act, Xu Lin didn’t believe he could just charge into Madara’s lair and save him single-handedly.

Would the dark realm really set such a simple task?

If Xu Lin thought like that, he would be too naive.

Main plot tasks are crucial and are bound to be fraught with danger and difficulty.

"I checked Madara's background and found that the most likely place Annan is being held is the Innsmouth Maritime and Shipping Club..."

Xu Lin revealed this name, and a flicker of worry crossed Alexander’s eyes.

As expected, the script indicated that the club's name would be discovered by the group of four, and Alexander was required to act with them on the main plot, leaving him no choice.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Main plot tasks, especially those known as red-letter main plots, cannot be defied. Actions must strictly follow the main plot...

"The problem now is that we don't have enough evidence; otherwise, we could have the police intervene, raid the club, and expose everything..."

This was Xu Lin's plan: to use the local authorities to target the Dagon cult, which would be far better than risking himself.

He had seen the strength of the Deep One hybrids last night. Though he could handle them individually, their numbers would force him to flee.

"We still don’t have a clear understanding of Madara and the Dagon cult’s power. The town has a limited population of 2,000 to 3,000 at most, yet there were about a hundred Deep Ones. How could they have such influence?"

This was illogical. The Dagon cult of the past was formidable, but there weren’t so many people then, and even with the town's population having doubled, such a number of hybrids seemed impossible.

Unless... there’s something I’ve missed!

"Evidence? What evidence is needed? They're all just a bunch of monsters!" Roland jumped up from his chair, glaring at Xu Lin.

"True, but they're still hiding in the shadows. If we want the police to get involved, we need at least a reasonable 'excuse'!"

"We have an excuse; we're investigating the watch. Catching that man who escaped would give us a chance to get involved with the club." Alexander proposed the idea: "This person must be a member of the Dagon cult and the murderer of the Brazilian millionaire Dupuis. He is likely a sailor or a boatman, giving us a lead to capture him..."

"What do you mean?" Xu Lin asked, turning his gaze to him.

"First, Dupuis disappeared near Annie's Cape. He intended to go to Plum Island, and the last person he encountered before disappearing was most likely a sailor or boatman..."

Fengse whispered, "After analyzing many times, the murderer must be part of the Dagon cult. Otherwise, anyone who found such an exclusive watch would sell it instead of hiding it. Not selling it shows fear of the murder being discovered. Perhaps he kept it as a trophy, a mentality possible in a twisted hybrid."

"You make some sense, but you haven’t identified the killer," Xu Lin adjusted his glasses.

"I don't know who he is, but we can use elimination to deduce. First, let's list the clues: 1. The killer is a member of the Dagon cult; 2. The killer is a sailor or boatman; 3. The killer has the Innsmouth look, which everyone noticed—that’s a hybrid trait..."

Alexander continued speaking: "In retroduction, elimination is very useful. Combining what we know, we can deduce that the Dagon cult is closely linked to the club, and the club is connected to sailors and boatmen, some of whom are involved in smuggling activities and cult rituals..."

"We'll first exclude non-Dagon cult members, as they don't fit all three characteristics. Next, exclude non-club sailors and boatmen. Finally, exclude club sailors and boatmen without the Innsmouth look. This makes it easier to find him, as his changed appearance is highly distinctive."

"He's still monitoring us, proving he’s still active outside. This means he hasn’t used 'faking death' to abandon his real identity, or he couldn’t move freely in Innsmouth streets. But this also means he can't work or live normally, so he will remain incognito. Focus on crew and sailors recently given sick leave and haven’t shown up for three or four months..."

After his explanation, many present were taken aback.

"Are there actual detectives who can deduce like this in the real world?" murmured the young black man, Abigail.

Xu Lin suddenly laughed, and even Carmen chuckled.

"Your reasoning is excellent. I'll have the police investigate this. If we're quick, we’ll have news in a couple of days..." Carmen, who handled police communications, and the other veterans had methods unknown to Alexander and his group.

They remained in Elliott's villa, unaware that outside, an eye behind a sniper scope had everything in its sight.