Devil's Prisoner of Love by Prefer

The file bore the name "Li Ming," as plain and unremarkable as it could get. His face matched the name-ordinary to the point of blending into the crowd.

"Joe Hopkinson, 32 years old, freelancer."

That was the information he had registered when boarding the ship. Many others had similar profiles. The difference was that he came alone, unaffiliated with any company. As for the invitation, getting one wasn't particularly difficult with some effort-just look at Ivy as an example.

"From the registration times, it's clear Ivy and he didn't board together, which rules out an alliance between the two. This aligns more with what we previously suspected- perhaps this is a case of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind." "I've been observing him for half the day now. There's something off about him. His habits reveal that he's not as ordinary as he seems."

The group exchanged glances.

"It seems this murderer is quite bold. After committing the crime last night, he still dared to remain on the ship."

"I bet he's arrogant-probably thinks killing a woman is too trivial, too easy to be a real challenge."

Julian's eyes burned as he stared at the surveillance footage. Even if this man hadn't directly killed Aurora, he had tampered with the railing. That alone made him guilty of murder in Julian's eyes.

Nick felt the chill radiating from Julian and quickly tried to calm him.

"Don't act rashly. If he's a professional killer, there are still many innocent people on this ship. What we need to do is capture him without causing panic or putting others in danger."

"I'll try to control myself," Julian said, taking a deep breath to steady his emotions. "Leave it to me," Vortex said coldly. He was more than familiar with handling situations like this.

"Alright."

Police officers began boarding the ship. The moment they saw Vortex, their

was assisting in the case, but no one had

major cases before, so they greeted

the pleasantries. Let's get to work," Vortex said curtly, clearly unimpressed by their

situation. What we need now is to question everyone about their whereabouts last night

the way he carried himself

statements

restrained any arrogance or defiance. In the crowd, Joe Hopkinson stood with a calm demeanor, as

Before the questioning began, Vortex had already instructed his team to take extra precautions. If things escalated,

the room with an air of composure. His psychological resilience was impressive-despite the intense pressure,

Vortex wasn't fooled. He had already noticed discrepancies in the surveillance footage, and now, observing him up close, his suspicions deepened. The man's footsteps were unnaturally light, a trait typical of someone with professional training. From the surveillance room, Julian and Nick watched the interrogation. Julian's anger flared as his

like this.

was still uncertain. Even the possibility of her being abducted was preferable to the thought of her drowning

Joe Hopkinson's file before addressing

"Mr. Joe Hopkinson, correct?"

Joe's eyes, the kind one might expect from a

lending a hand. So

devoid of hostility,

"Alright, ask away."

last night, where were you? Who were you with? Can

later met a beautiful woman named Luna. She was with me the whole evening. She can vouch for

Hopkinson, I've reviewed your file. It says you

always want to have some fun. I figured there'd be

you work, Mr. Hopkinson? What's

Officer, surely you're not suspecting me just because I don't make

answers were seamless. Claiming he came