"You probably haven't realized the severity of this matter, have you?" Billy spoke again, his tone indifferent.
"Do you know how many people have died so far due to the materials you provided?" he continued.
"Don't try to shift the blame onto Wild Swan Pharma for their own product issues. I...," Ashton Erickson started to speak, but he was abruptly cut off.
Bang!
Before he could finish his sentence, he was sent flying, crashing heavily into a large desk behind him, blood dripping from a wound on the back of his head.
"If you don't start being honest, do you believe I can make you experience the sensation of your blood flowing in reverse?" Stout interjected, pulling out a silver needle from his pocket as he spoke.
"What... what are you going to do?" Ashton Erickson trembled.
Just then, three silver needles had already penetrated Ashton Erickson's body.
"Ah..." Immediately after, Ashton Erickson let out a miserable scream. He barely lasted for ten seconds before surrendering, "Stop! I'll talk... I'll talk..."
"I thought you were tougher than this!" Stout swept his hand, and a gust of wind sent the silver needles flying out of Ashton Erickson's body.
Ashton Erickson collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.
"Speak up!" Stout demanded.
"The person who instructed me is..." Ashton Erickson started to speak again after taking a deep breath.
But halfway through his sentence, he let out another cry of pain. In the next moment, he was rolling on the ground, trembling and contorting in agony. His face was twisted with boundless suffering. Within the blink of an eye, dark red blood surged out of his mouth.
"Hmm!?" Billy furrowed his brows and quickly moved to Ashton Erickson's side. He took out three silver needles from his pocket and inserted them into Ashton Erickson's heart area.
However, he was still slightly slow.
As the needles entered his body, Ashton Erickson fell silent. His eyes widened, his expression twisted in a grimace of pain, and his body was drenched in sweat.
"Boss, what's going on?" Stout asked, his face filled with surprise.
"He's been cursed!" Billy observed briefly and frowned. "And it's a highly domineering Heart-Devouring Curse."
"A curse?" Stout was taken aback. "So, there's something fishy going on!"
Stout knew well that cultivating curses wasn't a simple matter and required a lot of effort and time. Generally, unless necessary, it wasn't something people would use casually.
Billy nodded.
"Is this related to the people in the Southern Edge?" Stout asked again.
"I'm not sure!" Billy shook his head. "Although the origin of curses lies in there, it doesn't mean everyone who practices curses comes from the Southern Edge."
After saying that, he pulled out his phone and dialed Judge's number.
"Boss, have you found out the reason?" Judge's voice came from the other end of the line.
Billy had messaged him earlier, providing a brief overview of the situation with Wild Swan Pharma. So, Judge knew that Billy was investigating the mastermind behind it.
"Dispatch all of our brothers in Ozin, and have them search the city for anyone skilled in curses!" Billy instructed.
"Curses?" Judge was taken aback. "Did someone from the Southern Edge do this?"
"It's too early to conclude that," Billy replied. "Check with our contacts. If you find any leads, don't act rashly. Be cautious because if they can use curses, we need to be careful."
"Understood!" Judge responded.
"Also, I'll send you a person's name later. He's the owner of a medicinal herb company. Have someone check his call records for the past month and see if we can find anything." Billy continued.
"Got it!" Judge hung up the phone.
Five minutes later, Billy and Stout were on their way back to the company of Wild Swan Pharma Solutions.
After driving for a while, Harleen's call came in.
"Honey, is there something wrong?" Billy answered the call.
"Billy, I just received news. The bodies of those severely ill patients who died, they're missing!" Harleen Knight's voice carried a slightly heavy tone.
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