An Ordinary Person's Daily Life (3)

In an instant, all the hairs on Barton's body stood on end.

Although he couldn't be sure that what he smelled was the scent of blood, his intuition, which was slightly sharper than an ordinary person's, told him that it was the smell of blood.

Had Fernal met with misfortune? Like the archaeological team I was in back then? No, there was no blood residue on this envelope, so how could it emit the smell of blood? After a brief moment of extreme fear, Barton stood up abruptly.

As an ordinary person, facing this kind of situation, he had only one instinctive reaction.

That was to call the police!

Barton had just taken the envelope and left his seat when he suddenly remembered something:

The "Loen Ancient Artifact Collection and Preservation Foundation" has clear internal regulations on how to handle similar situations: if a project encounters a frightening or incomprehensible phenomenon, immediately suspend everything and report to the "Compliance Department", and they will be responsible for the follow-up.

Barton had never quite understood why he had to go to the "Compliance Department". In his understanding, it was a department that handled terms and reviewed whether projects had any violations, and had nothing to do with dealing with unknown dangers.

However, when the founder of the foundation, Miss Audrey Hall, had reviewed the internal work rules back then, she did not make many changes, only adding this one rule. Therefore, the senior management were unwilling to argue with her over it.

"Obviously, I'd rather go to the security director…" Barton muttered as he walked out of the office and all the way to the Compliance Department at the end of the corridor.

Knock, knock, knock. He tried to calm down and knocked three times in a gentlemanly manner.

"Come in," a rather nondescript voice came from inside.

To be honest, Barton knew almost nothing about his colleagues in the "Compliance Department", only that they were cold and ruthless, acted swiftly, and had caught one after another of internal parasites who had defrauded the foundation's funding.

Taking a deep breath, Barton turned the doorknob and pushed open the door.

In his imagination, the "Compliance Department" should have been working in an extremely dark environment, with everyone staying silent, occasionally exchanging low voices to decide the fate of a project and its person in charge. However, the first thing that came into his sight was bright sunshine, colorful decorations, and a spacious and airy layout.

"Can I help you?" An employee of the "Compliance Department" with black hair and brown pupils, and a rather ordinary appearance, came up to him.

He was wearing a heavy black woolen coat, as if he could not quite bear the wet and cold winter climate of East Chester.

In addition, Barton noticed that the "Compliance Department" employee's accent was more like that of Backlund, either born there or having lived there for a long time.

Not so cold, mechanical, or difficult to get along with, even felt approachable... Barton quickly dismissed such thoughts and spoke hastily:

"One of our partners seems to be in trouble!"

"The letter he sent has only an envelope, no content, and it has a bit of the smell of blood on it."

That "Compliance Department" employee's expression did not change, and he nodded slightly:

"Let me take a look at the envelope."

Barton then handed over the "letter" from the archaeologist Fernal.

Only at this moment did he realize that he had been a bit impolite just now, and hurriedly asked again:

"Sorry, how should I address you?"

That "Compliance Department" employee held the envelope up to the sunlight, looked at it carefully, and casually replied:

"Pacheco Dawn, Deputy Director of the Compliance Department, a senior solicitor. You can just call me Pacheco."

Before Barton could respond, Pacheco lowered his arm, his expression turning somewhat serious, and said:

"There is indeed a certain abnormality."

"Preliminary judgment, this letter came from the Clough Hotel within the city. I once stayed there for a while, and I know they like to print a lavender castle pattern on special envelopes and letter paper."

"Should we call the police?" Barton blurted out.

Pacheco shook his head:

"Not for now. We'll go to the scene first to confirm the situation."

"This requires you to provide some help. I don't know that partner."

"...Alright, I'll go with you." Barton replied somewhat hesitantly.