Chapter 30: War Council

"Yes, we have an S-rank, but this is the first mission for S-rank," Philimon nodded, not reprimanding Lancelot for interrupting because it was obvious to everyone.

Even if Lu Chen was present, they wouldn't have enlisted new recruits without waiting for a few days to finish the ace commissioner's other mission.

In addition to Lu Chen, there were five freshmen present: Chu Zihang, Lancelot, Susie, and Milanra.

Although Cassell Academy aims to train elites, they are not crazy enough to throw all A-ranks into this mission. It's too risky and the team structure is unreasonable.

In a normal war practice class, the ratio of old commissioners to freshmen should be 3:1, and freshmen wouldn't be involved in direct combat unless absolutely necessary.

The same ratio applied this time, but Philimon wasn't sure if they could rely solely on the old commissioners to accomplish the mission.

"I'm not saying this to dampen everyone's morale, but to make you aware of the danger of this mission," Philimon said, rotating the screen again.

The screen showed other females in different scenes—a dilapidated building, an alley, an apartment... There were a total of nine victims, all young women, with signs of assault and brutal dismemberment.

"The location is Birmingham, England; there are currently nine victims, all young women. Since they all show signs of assault, we have targeted a male suspect," Philimon said, pausing as someone raised their hand.

It was Susie who spoke, her tone flat but questioning. Philimon's expression darkened not because of her doubt in the capabilities of the task force, but because of the harsh reality.

"Although it's embarrassing, we currently have very little information about the killer. Marion was the one closest to the truth, but she was also killed," Philimon explained, his anger evident.

Susie nodded, reluctantly accepting the explanation. The fact that even A-rank commissioners were brutally murdered showed the strength of the killer. Unlike China, where security cameras are abundant, England's security is not as good, and the chosen crime scenes indicate a strong anti-tracking awareness.

"Below is the detailed plan for this mission. Based on our analysis of the victims, they are young, exceptionally beautiful, tend to be blonde, and are between 165-168cm tall. According to the profiling experts, the killer likely has some special fixation, causing him to only target women who meet these criteria," Philimon explained, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere with a joke. "Luckily for us, his standards are so high; otherwise, the number of victims could have been several times higher."

But even as he joked, his face remained grim, indicating his extreme hatred for the killer.

"After discussion, we've devised a plan: send out two commissioners who fit the above criteria as bait, while the other commissioners remain hidden. Once the killer appears, we'll take them down immediately," Philimon explained.

Lu Chen listened, his face showing a strange expression. After all that fuss, they're resorting to seduction?

However, baiting tactics like this, though old-fashioned and simple, have been proven effective countless times in history. While the task force may have considered other tactics, they ultimately settled on this plan.

But in a city like Birmingham, England's second-largest, finding an unknown dangerous hybrid within a ten-kilometer radius is like finding a needle in a haystack. Can only two commissioners lure them out?

"Has the target area been determined?" Chu Zihang raised the question that Lu Chen was worried about.

Philimon pointed to a circle drawn on the map on the screen. "The task force has compiled the killer's historical crime locations to plan the perpetrator's psychological safe zone, which can be pinpointed within a radius of ten kilometers."

It seemed that the task force did have some findings. While a ten-kilometer radius was still quite large, there was still a chance the bait would encounter the killer.

Lu Chen scanned the people present, most of whom were male members of the task force. Among the freshmen, there were only two females, and Susie was Chinese. While Milanra matched the bait conditions, they were still short of one person.

Just then, Philimon clapped his hands, and the door of the meeting room opened. Walking in was a tall, blonde beauty—none other than Lutixia!

"This is your senior sister Lutixia, with a bloodline rating of B+, from the Dustless Realm. She also has some profiling abilities and has been specially invited to participate in this war practice class as bait, along with Milanra," Philimon announced. Lutixia greeted everyone with a smile, albeit somewhat forced.

Could she not feel forced?

Last night, she went to bed after a relaxing spa session, only to wake up to an email from Norma saying she was assigned to this semester's war practice class. Fine, there's a war practice class every year, and as they say, the sooner it's done, the better—oops, scratch that. Anyway, finishing it early means not having to worry about it for the rest of the year.

But when she saw the task, she was dumbfounded: an AA-rank mission, and they wanted her to act as bait.

Come on, my ability in the Dustless Realm is undeniable, but my bloodline rating is only B+. Can't they assign this dangerous task to more elite sisters?

Is it my fault that I happen to match the killer's preferences?

Especially after she peeked through the door and saw those photos, she almost fled. She thought, in this day and age, being beautiful is truly dangerous!

But in the end, she didn't run away—not because of anything mentioned in Norma's email, like her perfect GPA, or because she could execute the mission with handsome junior brothers. It was because her pride wouldn't allow her to retreat.

She couldn't trample on her own pride, nor could she tarnish her own name.

Moreover, with many commissioners secretly protecting her and her strong Dustless Realm protection, as long as she was careful, there shouldn't be any problems.

Lu Chen looked surprised at Lutixia, then glanced at Milanra, who remained calm. The latter seemed to have known this would happen, or perhaps she simply wasn't bothered by the brutality of the killer.

Lutixia and Milanra exchanged a glance, thinking to themselves, "Indeed, she's an A-rank junior sister, she's different. Look at her—this calm demeanor is completely genuine. Confidence comes with a high bloodline rating."

But Milanra wouldn't say it. When she heard she would be bait, she was a bit dazed, and she still hadn't quite recovered.

However, she wasn't afraid. With an A-rank bloodline, she believed that as long as precautions were taken, the killer couldn't possibly kill her instantly.