From Robinson Crusoe

The crowded, single-story hotel was particularly stuffy on this summer night.

A little alcohol couldn't give Chen Zhou any tipsiness. His gaze swept across everyone's faces, looking at those black, white, or brown faces, listening to their different accents, and trying to catch the words he was looking forward to hearing.

However, Ambrose truly seemed like a forgotten place; amidst the cacophony, there were no words related to it whatsoever, not even words like "missing" or "murder."

After listening for a while, Chen Zhou felt his thoughts were a bit chaotic because he had received and processed too much information in a short period of time, so he turned his head to look out the window to take a break.

Even though it was late, there was still a lot of traffic on this road.

Although the town is small, it is located at the junction of three counties and is one of the main routes to Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas. Both delivery drivers and travelers going to big cities pass through here.

Under the lights, various motorcycles were parked in the night.

Not long after, a slightly dilapidated car drove off the road and headed straight for the hotel.

The driver was a young man who seemed eager to show off his driving skills. He demonstrated a drift when he got off the road, kicking up a cloud of dust and making a mess in front of the gate before finally parking the car at the entrance.

The parking lot in front of the hotel was almost full, and coincidentally, this person parked his car next to Chen Zhou's Chevrolet.

In 1947, the American civilian automobile manufacturing industry had only recently recovered after the war. Such new cars were quite common in big cities, but in these remote towns, it was rare to see such avant-garde vehicles.

After the dilapidated car stopped, four young people, two men and two women, got out. They looked like students and seemed to be going to rest at the hotel.

After getting out of the car, the tallest and strongest young man was drawn to the Chevrolet next to him. He walked around the Chevrolet twice, talking to his companion.

Chen Zhou had noticed these young people who had just arrived long ago. He assumed they were just young people who liked new things and wanted to visit and discuss things.

Unexpectedly, the tall young man's behavior became increasingly outrageous. At first, he just looked at the car, but later he started to reach out and touch the car body, and even tried to pry open the door handle. If the car door hadn't been locked, he probably would have already gotten in.

His three companions clearly thought his behavior was inappropriate and tried to dissuade him, but since they were friends who had gone out together, they couldn't be too aggressive in their attempts to dissuade him, so they were unable to stop his behavior at all.

……

"Paul, how long have you been out of prison?"

Sophie crossed her arms and looked helplessly at her brother who was about to damage the car.

She tugged at her brother's hand, but it was no use.

Even after spending two months in prison, Paul didn't change his willful nature. He would always do whatever it took to get what he wanted, and he would never allow himself to wait even a moment.

Beside her, Sophie's boyfriend Cohen gently nudged her, gesturing for her to look towards the hotel.

When Sophie looked over, she saw an exceptionally tall and muscular man walking straight toward them.

"Paul!"

Feeling that the man was the car owner, Sophie called out his brother's name loudly again.

Paul was so engrossed in figuring out how to open the car door without damaging the window that he had no time to pay attention to his sister.

Behind him, his new, hot girlfriend, Delina, seemed oblivious to his criminal act, even looking at Paul with adoration as if it were something glorious to be proud of.

……

"It's almost ready."

Squatting in front of the car door, Paul took out a long wire and spoke to his girlfriend behind him without turning his head.

After he finished speaking, he didn't hear a response from his sister or girlfriend, but instead heard a strange voice.

"Hey kid, that's my car."

Paul stopped what he was doing and slowly stood up.

He was a full 1.85 meters tall, with a shaved head, fair skin, and tattoos on his face and arms. Although his appearance wasn't exactly fierce, you could tell he wasn't a kind person when he was unhappy.

While in prison, few dared to mess with Paul.

This is partly because Paul is indeed tall, and partly because he has trained in combat and has a lot of practical experience; ordinary people are no match for him.

Paul's parents divorced when he was young, and he was a notorious bully and thug in school. Over the years, Paul has always acted arrogantly.

An ordinary thief would have run away long ago upon learning that the car owner had discovered him, but Paul showed no fear whatsoever.

He turned around and glanced at Chen Zhou. Although he was shocked by the man's physique, he still looked self-righteous.

"It will be mine soon."

Paul stretched out a hand.

"Give me the key."

Chen Zhou turned his head and glanced at the man's three companions, quite puzzled by the man's behavior—

Has he always been this arrogant?

Not wanting to be too high-profile and attract the attention of the Ambrose serial killer family, Chen Zhou didn't respond to Paul. He simply reached out and gently nudged the hothead, trying to move the car to the side.

Paul, who didn't want to be easily pushed aside, felt that Chen Zhou's behavior was an insult to him, and without saying a word, he raised his fist and punched him.

Chen Zhou didn't pay any attention to the ordinary man's attack and casually reached out a hand to catch Paul's fist.

Paul's hand landed in Chen Zhou's palm, as if it were embedded in a cement wall, unable to move an inch. Even if he used all his strength to pull back, Chen Zhou's palm did not budge, and there was not even a slight tremor.

After trying twice, Paul felt as if he were being shackled by this person.

He gradually realized that this Asian man was not an enemy he could bully at will, so he lowered his stance.

"Dude, I was just joking, can you let me go?"

Compared to his sister who was still in school, Paul was someone who had been through the ups and downs of society. After dropping out of school, he had dealt with gang members quite a bit, and he knew very well the importance of immediately backing down when things went wrong.

Those who are tough often don't have a good ending, after all, no matter how hard the bone is, it can't outrun a bullet.

Although Paul didn't know how to become a gang leader or where to find big business opportunities, he was still quite adept at changing his stance depending on the situation.

With a slightly stiff smile on his face, Paul stared at the tall car owner.

Finally, Chen Zhou let go of his hand, and Paul withdrew his fist without saying "sorry" or "apology," and turned to leave.

In gang conflicts, the best outcome is for the losing side to leave without paying any price. Paul didn't think there was anything shameful about him backing down.

The US doesn't have the idiom "where there's life, there's hope," but anyone with a brain can understand this principle.

However, Chen Zhou did not let him leave so easily.

Paul turned around, but before he could take a step, Chen Zhou grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him back.

Seeing this, Sophie and Dalena were both very nervous and took a step forward at the same time, fearing that the car owner would not let it go.

Only Sophie's boyfriend, Cohen, did not express any emotion.

Of the three, he disliked Paul the most. The car he was using for this trip was his, and he had only wanted to spend a sweet vacation with his girlfriend, but that damned Paul always managed to find an excuse to interfere.

Cohen wished the car owner would send Paul back to prison so he could continue his journey with Sophie Delina, so he didn't react to Chen Zhou's behavior.

If Paul hadn't been Sophie's brother, he might have even laughed out loud.

……

"You want to steal my car? You can't just let this go."

Since you don't want to apologize, how about buying me a drink and a meal?

To Paul and Sophie's surprise, the "compensation" the car owner demanded was surprisingly simple.

Seeing that he didn't call the police and didn't want to get beaten up, Paul readily agreed, afraid that the car owner would change his mind.

A moment later, the five arrived at the inn, sat down at a table by the window, and ordered a few drinks and some food.

Both Sophie and Cohen were somewhat reserved in the face of the unfamiliar Chen Zhou, while Paul, being outgoing, acted as if nothing had happened and chatted enthusiastically with Chen Zhou.

Chen Zhou saw that Paul's appearance and behavior resembled that of a gang member and had hoped to get some information from him about missing persons or murder cases.

The night was long, and at first he just wanted to find something to pass the time.

After all, they still didn't know where Ambrose was. They only knew the approximate locations of a few mines from the newspapers and books they had bought and had browsed some information.

Whether or not Ambrose can be found based on the information in the book remains to be seen. It is indeed quite difficult to find a hidden area in this unfamiliar country based on just one word.

Under these circumstances, having another channel to obtain new information is a good thing.

If he hadn't exchanged a few words with the shop owner, he wouldn't have been able to find Ronald, and thus wouldn't have been able to obtain information about Ambrose and the serial killer family. He might still be wandering around Prescott like a headless fly.

Gang members seem to have an easier time accessing these darker messages than small-town shop owners.

After talking to Paul for a while, Chen Zhou was initially disappointed to learn that Paul had little contact with the gang since his release from prison and was not very familiar with the major events that had occurred in the past month or two.

Unexpectedly, Paul provided him with a new clue—

During his imprisonment, Paul heard from fellow inmates that there was the largest prison in all of Arkansas located in the southwest of Little Rock, the capital city, on the outskirts of Pallasca County.

That prison held many notorious serial killers, some of whom had long been sentenced to death and should have received their due punishment long ago.

However, his fellow inmates had witnessed a notorious serial killer still active in the prison.

That man not only had a good relationship with the prison guards, so he didn't have to wear handcuffs and shackles, but he even had his own private cell. Sometimes he could even find bar girls from outside the prison to sleep with him. It could be said that he disregarded the laws of Arkansas.

The people in the prison gave the murderer a nickname: "The Bear in Skin".

"Peipi" refers to the fact that this guy likes to skin his victims and sew the skin into clothes to wear, while "Xiong" refers to the fact that he is bear-like in size.

The special treatment given to the teddy bear attracted many envious and jealous glances.

Driven by curiosity, his fellow inmates dug up his background.

The Pippi Bear is said to have come from a mining town in southern Arkansas, a place that once produced diamonds and briefly prospered decades ago, but soon declined.

However, although the mine has declined, those who mined diamonds and made a fortune in the early years have made a fortune as a result.

Rumors circulated that the Pippin Bear's family profited from the diamond mines, and because of their wealth and influence, the Pippin Bear received preferential treatment, not only escaping the death penalty but also enjoying a leisurely life in prison.

In addition, there is an even more sensational rumor—

The murderers who were spared the death penalty in prison were not just the "Flat-skinned Bear" (a nickname for a criminal), but several others.

However, the others did not behave as conspicuously as the "Pink Bear." They lived in another area of ​​the prison, enjoying special treatment and sometimes even being allowed to go out.

This rumor seems absurd, but someone swore on it with his life that he had seen the same person in newspapers, prisons, and bars in Little Rock. It was not a twin or a similar-looking person, but the same person appearing in different places.

……

Paul thought Chen Zhou just wanted to hear some interesting stories about prisons and gangs, but he didn't expect that every word he said would be incredibly precious to Chen Zhou.

Crime always leaves traces, and across Arkansas, when all the traces of crime point to one place, that's most likely where Ambrose is, the end of the Devil's Nest.

Unexpectedly, Chen Zhou obtained a lot of useful clues from Paul. He also asked a few young people if they knew which towns in Arkansas had declined due to mining.

But these people were all too young. They could talk a good game about which rugby team was the most popular or which celebrity had the best and most popular songs, but Chen Zhou couldn't get any information about minerals.

Of course, knowing that suspected members of the serial killer family could occasionally be seen near the Little Rock prison was already a rare piece of good news.

Chen Zhou originally planned to go to another thriving mining town, hoping to find some clues there.

After listening to Paul's story, he wanted to go to the supposedly dilapidated diamond mine first.

Since the "skinned bear" originated there, Ambrose is very likely a declining diamond mine.

Of course, even if that's not the case, it doesn't matter. He can still go to Little Rock, catch death row inmates who are out having fun, and see if he can squeeze any information out of them.

Serial killers who are spared the death penalty and clustered in the same prison—even if they are not members of a killer family, they can be killed without any burden. Moreover, given all the abnormalities, the possibility that they are not members of a killer family is extremely slim.

Moreover, Ronald was also heading to Little Rock with his daughter, and he had assumed they were going in different directions, so he parted ways with Ronald early on.

Looking back now, if I could reunite with Ronald, maybe I could find a solution for my identification documents and firearms sooner.

Venturing alone into Ambrose requires not only caution and meticulousness, but also top-notch equipment. After all, one against a hundred, there's no way to be careless. (End of Chapter)