The Secret Code of Monsters.

Chapter 202 Ch.201 The Baby Stealer

Child stealing is extremely rare.

Rare because of trouble.

From the time a child is born to the time he or she is able to work, he or she has to eat free food for at least five or six years - not counting the time of death in infancy, the cost of these five or six years is enough to hire several easy-to-use and obedient child laborers.

Which family doesn’t have a few children these days?
An endless supply of labor grows out of the mud like endless weeds. What foolish thief would steal a baby that needs care?

There are plenty of good ones on the market that are six or seven years old.

baby.

Roland instinctively felt that something was wrong.

"Yes, I heard from my friends that many people have lost their children recently." William said as he tied four leather ropes on the iron ring. The four strands were continuously intertwined to serve as the first layer of whip core.

Roland groaned: "Well, your friend..."

The cobbler glanced at him.

"The Collins family all have a good mouth... Don't listen to that guy's nonsense. I can't keep up with the times, but I still have a few good contacts."

Mr. Cordoni obviously knew what his neighbor would say in private, and his usually gentle tone was also slightly dissatisfied: "What did old Collins say about me? An antique from the last century? A stubborn iron hook that will starve to death if it can't keep up with the trend?"

He pulled the leather rope hard, bit one of them with his teeth, and with his arms muscles bulging, he yanked it several times to both sides, tied a knot, and separated the strands again.

"Uncle only said that you are a good father."

The cobbler chuckled twice, held his knees, and tilted his head to look at Roland. "Do you know how he mocked me when we first met?"

Cordoni opened his two hands and shook them next to his ears.

"'Long live the tough guy,'" he said, imitating old Collins's unremarkable tone, "'If you could put some of the fat on your body into your head, you wouldn't have to rely on me all day long.'"

Roland hugged Alice and laughed a few times: "Uncle helped you a little."

"It's a life-saving 'little favor'... otherwise who can stand his mouth." The leatherworker shook his head and went back to fiddling with the leather rope. "I asked Alice to go out less recently, for fear that the thief would take a fancy to her. Although the children lost are all under one year old, who can be sure?"

A baby thief.

"I'm just telling you casually, so just listen. I have some knowledge, and I know that you are different from those black-skinned wooden sticks - you are more capable, but you don't interfere in everything... Oh, how is that kid?"

He didn't lift his buttocks, but held the stool in his hands, and pushed his legs backwards, and continued to make up the second half: "...I heard from them that they haven't seen that family for a long time."

They are all in the dungeon of the Inquisition.

Roland wrestled with Alice with his index finger and answered casually, "It may take some time, sir. I'm just an executive officer. I can't say what crime he has been found guilty of..."

William sighed secretly.

He could probably guess the fate of those ignorant young people.

Roland's actions made him secretly happy and terrified.

He was secretly happy because the person with this terrifying power was familiar to him, and his uncle was an old friend for many years; but he was terrified because, in addition to those young people, their families were also captured...

This action made William Cordoni think of the rumor:
It is said that these cold-faced black-robed priests have no emotions.

He is a cold-blooded venomous snake, a monster who can watch his family being burned to death.

Utilitarianism and ambition are natural instincts, which force and roar at William Cordoni to contact Rolando; and blood ties also roar in his brain, warning him to tell his daughter to be careful of the cold-blooded Collins and stay away from Roland who lives in the pharmacy.

'To die for God is the greatest honor.'

He had heard about the people who had been burned.

Terrible.

Gradually, Roland and William Cordoni stopped talking.

The only sound in the room was the creaking of the leather rope being tightened again and again.

Alice fell asleep in Roland's arms.

…………

……

A few days later, it turned out just as Roland expected.

In the courtroom, Roland met the detective from the Supervisory Bureau who was in charge of the case.

According to statistics, within half a month, a total of 137 babies went missing in London, with the highest number occurring in the East and South districts.

One hundred and thirty-seven.

According to the detective from the Inspectorate, this number is not quite accurate: some families did not report it to the police at all.

When the inspectors came to their homes, many people lied that no newborns had been born recently. When the detectives presented the testimony of their neighbors, the couple argued that the baby was just a distant relative's child. It was not until the detectives "invited" them to stay in the cell for a night that they said that a stranger with a masked face and a voice that sounded like a man bought the baby for three shillings.

Taking this as an example, detectives subsequently uncovered more than a dozen families who had not reported the case.

Most of them sold their children for a few pennies or shillings, and then lied to the detectives who came to their doors: either the children were from relatives, or they had never had any children.

Those who were a little smarter would just look worried and say that their child was missing and they were about to call the police.

Getting ready.

All in all, the number of one hundred and thirty-seven is not accurate, and the actual number of lost babies is far greater than the statistical figure.

This was a gang crime.

Moreover, the ritualists were definitely involved.

——No mortal organization has any reason to contain these creatures that only know how to shout "me, me, me" and "eat, eat, eat" but cannot provide anything in return.

Plus, the missing person in this case is a baby...

The detective naturally went to the court.

This case is difficult to investigate.

"That's why they pushed it to the Inquisition."

Fernandez has never had a good impression of the vultures in the Inspectorate, but this case involves hundreds of babies, and he cannot let it go because of his conscience.

"baby."

There are not many rituals involving babies.

According to the current records in the Tribunal's library, the most likely ones are the Eighth Crown God: the followers of the White Crown of the Wasteland, and the Ninth Crown: the lunatics of the Flesh and Blood Creator.

But Fernandez was certain that it was definitely the Cradle of Flesh and Blood who did it.

Roland asked why he could be ruled out as a suspect of the Ring of Eternal Silence. Perhaps he was a wandering ritualist who walked the path of "Elegy" or "Dry Bones" but had never joined the Ring of Eternal Silence...

'Because in the city of London, the Circle of Eternal Silence does not allow any wandering ritualists to set foot on these two roads - unless they join the Circle of Eternal Silence or the Holy Cross.'

Roland asked again: "So, could this be done by a member of the Ring of Eternal Silence?"

Fernandez still shook his head.

"If they are the Ring of Eternal Silence, there is no need to conceal their identity - it is legal for them to purchase or raise ritual materials."

Ceremony material.

That is: a baby in swaddling clothes.

The purchase price offered by the Ring of Eternal Silence was not like that of the hooded thief. They would pay at least one pound for each baby so that the woman would have enough money to live on after giving birth, and even buy some meat.

Very fair.

Most importantly: they are legal.

Legal acquisition.

The Crown God sect, Crown God believers, ritual materials.

The first time Roland heard Fernandez mention this "unimportant" thing, he found it difficult to understand - the question was "the difference".

'the difference?'

Fernandez didn't understand Roland's doubts.

'Of course it's very different.'

"The Cradle of Flesh is a cult, my dear second-in-command. They steal and buy babies, of course, to perform their - unholy rituals."

Roland asked again, what about the Ring of Eternal Silence?
Are their rituals, their rituals using live babies, so 'not evil'?

Fernandez explained:
"Of course not, Roland. It's just that the Ring of Eternal Silence is legal. If you believe that justice and evil are clearly distinguished, then there is no need to question the position of the two."

Who gets to judge what is illegal and what is legal—in other words, who decides a cult is a cult and a saint is a saint?

It is mentioned in the Book of Eden.

This holy book, which is extremely noble and brilliant in both the secular and transcendental aspects, records the maxims left by the gods to mortals.

'You must pray for whatever I ask for, in all sincerity, worship and reverence.'

'To those who are unclean and evil, exalt my holy name, unite your children, property and marriage, and pour them out into the church. Those who have been blessed by heaven, hold on to the vision and build my body.'

'I will come among you, purify the flesh and drive out the impurity.'

(End of this chapter)