There can't be a Harvest Moon in the RimWorld.

"As a doctor, I will never allow anyone to trample on life like this! Sheriff, Marcus, you must tell me which bastard did this!"

I never imagined that Dort, who usually enjoys using me for human experiments, would be so indignant. Even more unexpected is that Gots' body, covered in seaweed and mud, suffered such a severe attack!

Fortunately, Gotz was very strong, and my hasty carrying of him down the mountain prevented him from aggravating his internal injuries. Otherwise, ruptured kidneys and liver could have killed him within ten minutes.

"Doctor, I really don't know what happened. When I got there, Gotz was already lying in the mud." I couldn't give Dr. Dort the answer he wanted, so I could only stick to my own version of events as best I could.

Seeing that neither Sheriff Harris nor I could answer, Dr. Dort took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and apologized, "I'm sorry, I got too excited..."

“No, Dort, you’re right, this shouldn’t have happened here,” Sheriff Harris said in a deep voice.

Dr. Dort nodded gratefully: "As a doctor, I can also do some forensic work, and I'd like to share my thoughts with you. The wounds on his body, if they were from an animal, could only have been caused by a mad bull or a charging bison. But as a human, anyone with a sufficiently heavy blunt object could produce a similar effect."

"It just goes to show that humans have an immense talent for destruction. The mud and weeds on his body prove that someone wanted to drown him! They must have attacked and beaten Gots, thinking he was dead after faking his death, and then planned to throw him into the lake to hide his body. But unexpectedly, Gots regained consciousness in the water, climbed ashore, and was rescued by Marcus!"

Dr. Dort's analysis was very logical, explaining the method and process of the crime perfectly and connecting Gotz's ordeal in a reasonable way.

Normally, I would definitely choose this explanation as the truth.

But last night, I experienced the battle with the invisible creature. Only I know that the details that Dr. Dort rejected are the only verifiable parts of the story at present. The truth he spoke of is elusive!

Unfortunately, only I could accept this truth at the time. My explanation was so confident yet so difficult to verify. Not to mention outsiders, even Gray, who met me on the way, wouldn't have easily believed it.

But my memory, my reason, the bite marks on my arm guard all remind me that this is not a dream. The victim is still lying unconscious in the hospital bed, and everyone needs the truth.

“Dr. Dort, thank you for your analysis. I will launch an investigation immediately and bring the murderer to justice! But for now, I need to ask you to take care of Gotz. Is there any possibility that he will regain consciousness?” Sheriff Harris asked.

Dr. Dort shook his head: "Götz's injuries are both internal and external. When he arrived at the hospital last night, he was already in shock. Shock means that the body has given up most of its functions to prevent death. After resuscitation, his heartbeat and pulse are gradually stabilizing, but whether he will regain consciousness is still unknown."

"Will he remain in a coma?" I asked.

"It's hard to say. If the body repairs itself to a certain point, it will cancel this self-protection and regain consciousness. But how long it will take, whether it's three or five days, or a year or two, is unpredictable."

At this point, Dr. Dort sighed, "Then I won't bother you any longer. I need to go back and check on Gotz's condition. I'll leave the rest to you!"

After the doctor finished speaking, he left the police station, leaving only Sheriff Harris and me staring at each other in the huge station.

It took a lot of courage for me to finally ask the question that had been lingering in my mind for so long: "Officer... can I ask you a question?"

"what's up?"

Harris's large nose was particularly noticeable.

"Could you... take off the handcuffs?! I'm not a criminal! Let me out!"

Chapter 148 Even in prison, you get used to it after a while.

Harris gave me a serious look, sat down in the seat opposite me, took off his police cap and placed it beside him, and opened a notebook.

"What's your rush? We're only starting to interrogate you now."

Harris's eyes flashed with a wise gaze, seemingly piercing straight to my heart: "Name?"

"...Marcus."

"gender."

"...You decide what to do."

"Work?"

"Farmers."

"age?"

"Forever Second Year of Middle School".

"Where did this chuunibyou kid come from... and why was he at the crime scene?"

"Would you believe me if I said I went for a walk to cut down trees?"

This is a really hard question for me to answer. I said I only tricked Gray into becoming a superhero, which caused Gray to become withdrawn. Then Sebala asked me to persuade him, and we impulsively went up the mountain to find a secret base.

In the middle of the night, he built a secret base on the mountain and got into a fight with Gray. After the fight, he shook off Gray and went to the lake, where he happened to run into Gots, who was seriously injured.

Would the police believe this explanation?

“Okay, Harris, you don’t need to be so serious. I know I’m a prime suspect. But you need to understand, I had no motive! Gotz and I have no grudge against each other, why would I maliciously attack him?”

Sheriff Harris sighed and said, "Marcus, I'd love to clear you of suspicion, but out of everyone, there are just too many suspicious things about you."

He wrote down suspicious points on a piece of paper while asking me questions.

"Besides the fact that your timing was too coincidental, your strength is also astonishing, as the townspeople all know. And the fact that you were carrying an axe at the time is hard to explain."

"Secondly, Gotz has a good relationship with the town's residents, and you are the only new resident in the entire town. We have no way of knowing whether there are any conflicts between you, which is an unavoidable question."

"Third, throughout the whole incident, you were too certain about the attack on Gots by that invisible creature, and the whole thing was too bizarre to be trusted."

“In this situation, if you cannot actively provide evidence to clear yourself of suspicion, even if I cannot presume guilt, you will suffer social death and be burdened with an invisible shackle that you cannot escape.”

Have you thought all of this through?

I fell silent.

I never imagined that this time I would actually be caught in the biggest crisis since I came to the ranch.

My disadvantages here were twofold: firstly, I lacked any industrial foundation, and economically, I was starting from scratch. My dilapidated ranch originally didn't even have any living creatures. Through my efforts over this period, I finally earned enough money to improve the environment, raise animals on the ranch, and start farming, making the ranch truly live up to its name.

Another disadvantage was the lack of interpersonal relationships. Although I made a number of new friends in Mineral Town, these short-term friendships could never compare to the friendships that other residents had for three to five years, or even more than ten years.

In the face of such a heinous incident, my disadvantage became glaringly apparent. Would the townspeople suspect a long-time neighbor or a new, young person?

The answer is self-evident.

I felt like I had a fishbone stuck in my throat, and after a long while, I finally managed to utter a sentence.

"How is Gray?"

Gray was the only one who knew the inside story. Even though he didn't know what had happened by the lake, he knew that my purpose in going up the mountain was to build a secret base, not to attack Gotz.

There is still a chance to salvage the situation if he can come forward to corroborate my statement.

“Gray was taken away by Sebala. He stole old Sebala’s collection, got a severe beating, and was locked up at home,” Sheriff Harris said calmly. “I know you want Gray to corroborate your story, but Gray’s actions this time have greatly angered Sebala, who has been berating him as a shameless thief all the way here. His testimony will probably have to be taken with a grain of salt under these circumstances.”

"Although the final conclusion will not identify you as a criminal, this is by no means the end for you."

This is bad. Even Gray is caught in a vortex of suspicion. I'm starting to worry about Sebala; he might accuse me of instigating Gray to steal the greatsword. If his big mouth says something like that, I'll have to add another charge against me: inciting a juvenile to commit a crime.

"I went up the mountain on a whim. For now, we can only wait for Gotz to wake up and explain everything."

I lowered my head and stated my final conclusion, indicating that I did not need to provide any further explanation.

But suddenly, I remembered the visit that evening when Harris and Gotz came together.

"Officer, have you ever considered that Gotz's attack might not have been an accident?" In my desperate situation, a possibility suddenly came to mind, and I hurriedly asked.

Harris said calmly, "What could it be? Have you recalled any clues?"

I shook my head: "It's not a clue, but a guess in my mind. Can I say it?"

"Of course you can. You are only suspected of a crime, but you have not been tried. You are still a good citizen of the town."

“Then I’ll ask my question.” I slowly straightened my gaze from my bowed head, my eyes gradually filling with gloom. “I don’t want to speculate that there’s such a killer in the town, so I’d like to ask you, officer…”

"What exactly is in the lake on Mount Mads?!"

My thoughts were constantly being drawn to that invisible creature, and I was determined to convince everyone of what I had seen and clear my name of suspicion.

But once I gave up arguing, my mind suddenly opened up. It was as if Xu Zhu had casually added a piece to the Zhenlong Chess Game, which in turn revitalized the overall situation on the board.

Admittedly, I was the only person on the mountain who was closest to the crime scene at the time, but there was an unknown, enormous creature in that lake!

Isn't that unidentified creature, which lives at the bottom of the lake and is estimated to be up to three meters tall, also an absolute threat?

If I remember correctly, Harris had some knowledge of this creature's existence, so why did he never suspect it?

"Tell me, officer, what's in the lake?!"

Harris's deep-set eyes held an unreadable expression: "There's nothing there."

"I don't know what your stance is in hiding this fact from the town. But knowing the truth is everyone's right!"

“I’m the town’s police officer,” Harris said, putting on his cap and pointing to the badge. “My job is to find out the truth, and secondly, to protect the people from panic. I can assure you that what you’re saying has nothing to do with Gotz. Please, for the safety of the residents, stop making trouble.”

"Then who can pinpoint Gotz's exact whereabouts?"

“Nobody! Gotz is a ranger who patrols the mountains irregularly; nobody can track his whereabouts,” Harris said confidently.

"So how did I, who was just cutting down trees on the mountain, manage to chase down Gotz, the forest ranger, in the deep mountains and defeat him in one fell swoop?"

I clasped my handcuffed hands together in front of me, obscuring most of my face: "So I suspect that Gotz wasn't being followed and ambushed... but rather that he deliberately showed up there to meet the killer!"

“Alright.” Harris looked at me helplessly. “Marcus, you’ve essentially been ruled out as a suspect in the attack, so this officer hereby declares…”

"Release immediately?"

Unexpectedly, Harris showed no intention of removing the handcuffs, saying, "...you are hereby detained for three days."

"Huh? Why?" I suddenly felt that something was wrong.

"You just said you were cutting down trees, right?"

Harris used his quill to put a period on the interrogation file, writing the conclusion of the case, and showed it to me.

"The offender, Marcus, is guilty of timber theft. The crime took place at Mads Mountain. He is sentenced to three days of detention."

Chapter 149 The Strangeness of the Prison

I really didn't expect that!

Harris, you big-eyed guy with thick eyebrows, you'd actually do something like eliciting confessions!

"Let me out! I don't want to stay here! I'm innocent! You can't just lock me up like this!"

I stood by the cell door and yelled at Harris.

Harris kindly turned on the light for me, handed me a blanket, and patiently explained, "Marcus, everyone makes mistakes. Some people like to litter, some people like to damage plants and are proud of it. But in the eyes of the law, all littering, damaging plants and the like are illegal."

"Oh, I see..." I was taken aback by what he said, then suddenly realized, "Wait a minute! What law do littering and damaging flowers and plants violate! If these two things are illegal, then the whole world is a criminal, you bastard!"

"Is that so?" Harris frowned. "That's the rule in Mineral Town. Is there a problem?"

"..."