Chapter 210 - Unexpected Birthday Gift
Thanks to Luke’s effort, the SUV didn’t crash into the red convertible.
The two cars brushed past each other, but one of the SUV’s front wheels clipped a bump in the road.
Luke quickly pulled Selina into his arms.
The SUV flipped 270 degrees in the air, and the tire came off. It flew ten meters and bounced for a moment, before stopping in the barren land next to the road.
Two seconds later, Luke pushed open the deformed door and coughed at the dust as he crawled out with Selina.
Then, Luke craned his head and looked back inside the car. “Don’t be too quick to move. Check whether you feel injured anywhere first.”
Feeling himself for a moment, Nick shook his head. “I’m fine. No broken bones.” He spat out blood as he spoke.
Luke was speechless. “Bro, you’re vomiting blood!”
Nick said, “It’s my mouth that’s bleeding. My teeth might’ve been knocked around a bit.”
Luke nodded his head. As a forensic specialist, Nick knew the human body quite well. He wouldn’t be wrong.
Luke then looked at Hodges. The man said solemnly, “Well, I don’t think I’m dying either.” He also pushed open the door and got out.
After examining himself, Greg said, “I’m fine, too.”
But Henry said, “Hm, I think I twisted my ankle.”
Everybody was speechless. Was it true that the man was unlucky on his birthday?
They looked at each other. Nick and his fellows had bruises on their faces, but it wasn’t very bad.
Luke and Selina, on the other hand, were utterly fine. The others looked at them strangely.
When the car was flying just now, Luke had pulled Selina into his arms and protected her without any hesitation. He could’ve died!
Luke certainly couldn’t explain to them that with Elementary Self-Healing, his injuries weren’t a big deal at all.
The pain had already disappeared after he just stood around for a few minutes. Clearly, he had already recovered thanks to Elementary Self-Healing.
They checked their phones, only to see that there wasn’t a signal.
Greg tried to start the car, but to no avail.
Luke’s modified phone had a signal, and it wouldn’t be hard for him to repair the car with Tony Stark’s abilities, but he had the feeling that he and the CSI technicians were about to run into something interesting.
So, he simply remained silent. He could always make a call when it was really urgent!
Nick asked, “What do we do now?”
Greg said, “We’re less than a mile from Henry’s Hog Hideout.”
Nick suddenly laughed, and so did everybody else. “Should we continue?”
Henry said, “But my ankle’s hurt.”
Luke gave him a hand and said, “Let’s go. I’ll help you.”
Twenty minutes later, they saw a rural restaurant in a valley.
On the billboard was a pink pig standing upright and waving its hooves at its customers. Next to the pig was the restaurant’s name.
This was the place!
Everybody was ecstatic, like tourists in a desert finding an oasis. Even Henry moved faster.
But a moment later, when they reached the restaurant, their legs turned heavy. Selina even felt like crying.
It was because they saw the big notice on the door of the restaurant, which read: “CLOSED.”
The restaurant had closed down.
When they got closer, Nick read the details on the notice. “This restaurant was suspended by the Department of Public Health on 7 December 2003 due to an outbreak of hepatitis B.”
Everybody was lost for words.
Hodges said, “So, this place has been closed for five months?”
Nick asked, “Greg, your friend who told you about this place – what is he ill with?”
Greg said, “…Hepatitis B.”
Everybody was lost for words.
With a complicated look on his face, Henry patted Greg’s shoulder and said, “Thank you for giving me hepatitis B as a birthday
present.”
Greg said, “You’re welcome, and happy birthday.”
While they were talking, there was the sudden sound of a gunshot, followed by the sound of glass breaking
Luke quickly took out his gun and gestured at Selina.
10
Selina drew her gun too and moved forward with Luke.
Greg and Hodges helped Henry hide behind the building, while Nick followed Luke and Selina to where the gunshot had come from.
Luke didn’t advance too quickly, as he was using Sharp Nose.
A moment later, he frowned and expanded the range of Sharp Nose carefully.
But there was nobody around.
Five minutes later, Nick returned to collect his fellows. “It’s… really weird. Let’s take a look together.”
They all went to the restaurant and saw a large hole in the glass. Clearly, this was the source of the earlier noise.
Luke and Selina were standing in front of the hole.
Seeing that the technicians had arrived, Luke said, “Well, we’ve found a dead man.”
They looked through the hole and saw a person who had turned black all over and had collapsed against the counter.
Hodges said, “Do I smell roasted meat?”
Henry agreed. “That’s right. I think he was set on fire.”
Everybody was lost for words. Why had a roasted man appeared in a barbecue restaurant that had shut down?
Luke wasn’t surprised. His guess that something would happen if he stayed with these four guys proved to be true.
They entered the restaurant and checked the weird body.
The body was weird because it wasn’t just a man; there was also a burned, black raccoon fused to the man’s face, as if they had always been one.
Luke and Selina didn’t step forward. Nick crouched down and observed the bodies of the man and the animal. “The victim is holding a. 38 revolver. There are no obvious bullet holes, nor any blood around him. Hm, did this raccoon hate him?”
Observing from one side, Nick discovered that the raccoon’s tough snout was glued to the man’s right eye.
It was probably what had killed the man.
Nick said, “Hodges, give me a hand. I need to examine his back.”
Hodges complained, “I’m not a coroner…”
Greg quickly stepped forward and helped lift the man’s body. Observing the man’s back, he said, “There are no obvious wounds on his back. His upper torso looks like it was burnt, and so does this raccoon.”
Hodges said, “This raccoon looks like quite the specimen. I bet it weighed at least thirty pounds when it was alive.”
Henry said, “Maybe the raccoon jumped out of nowhere and bit the man’s face with its sharp teeth and killed him like a ninja, you know?”
Everybody was rendered speechless.