S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 2 Chapter 29

Murderer vs Murderer 02 – Terrorist

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Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang drove to the gate of the construction site. The taxi driver had already arrived and pointed them the direction that the person had gone. Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang took a look and found that the person had indeed entered the construction site.

"The construction site was sealed up because of a building collapse and it hasn't been used for a long time." The driver said, “That’s why I thought he was very strange. He didn't look like a Chinese person, so I remember him."

Bai Yutang nodded and asked the driver to go to the police station to make a sketch of the man. The driver was very earnest and he drove to the police station by himself.

"Cat, be careful." Bai Yutang walked a few steps forward and found that the ground was full of loose bricks and rubble, "What did the person you saw at the fitness club look like?"

"Well, he was very tall and he had a burly body." Zhan Zhao recalled, "However, I didn't see what his face looked like."

"Heh..." Bai Yutang smiled, "You only cared about the bag, right?"

Zhan Zhao squinted, "Xiao Bai, why are you asking this? Didn't you see that man too?"

Bai Yutang nodded and said, "Just now, the driver said that he did not look like a Chinese person. It made me think of the person I saw in the bathroom of the fitness club."

"In the bathroom?" Zhan Zhao wondered, "Is it that pervert?"

"No." Bai Yutang said, "There was actually another person who was in the shower stall next to mine."

"Really?" Zhan Zhao was surprised, "But it didn’t feel like there was someone there at all."

Bai Yutang thought about it for a while, "When I went into the bathroom, he was probably in the shower stall already. Later, when he noticed that something was going on, he stayed hidden and didn’t come out.”

"He didn't come out to help you kick that pervert? He didn’t want to be a hero?” Zhan Zhao smiled.

"Heh..." Bai Yutang shook his head and said, "What I care about is that the way he hid himself was very professional, almost like he has a military background."

"Oh?" Zhan Zhao was a little surprised, "Was he working out in the gym?"

Bai Yutang shook his head, "I was exercising in the gym for more than half an hour and I glanced at the people inside; he was not one of them."

"Then he just went in to take a shower?" Zhan Zhao smiled, "In this kind of weather, it makes sense to take a shower when it gets hot."

"The bathroom of that gym is very distinctive." Bai Yutang said, "Its lockers are very large, whereas most gyms have small lockers."

"Oh..." Zhan Zhao nodded, "So he was looking for a place to put his large bag, or possibly someone else had placed it there and he went to retrieve it.”

The two walked for a while and they saw a large hole not far away.

Zhan Zhao was a little surprised, "Why is there such a big hole here?"

“It was probably caused by the use of directional blasting when the building was demolished.” Bai Yutang motioned for Zhan Zhao to wait on the side as he jumped into the hole himself. He squatted down and gently moved the soil with his hands. As the soil gave away to sand and was taken out, some white bones appeared.

Bai Yutang looked back at Zhan Zhao and was shocked. Zhan Zhao, who was standing next to the hole, had suddenly disappeared.

"Cat!" Bai Yutang yelled and climbed up the hole in two steps. "Cat..." As he was feeling anxious, he saw Zhan Zhao squatting not far away. Hearing Bai Yutang calling him, he turned around and held a big black bag in his hands, "Xiao Bai, look."

Bai Yutang frowned slightly. He suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Zhan Zhao, causing both of them to roll to the side. At the same time, they heard two gunshots. There was a bullet hole in the two places that they were just standing.

There was nowhere for them to hide. Bai Yutang noticed that the bullets were fired from two different directions. Before he had a chance to think about it, he grabbed Zhan Zhao and took him down into the hole. Bai Yutang drew his gun and shot it at the abandoned roof not far away. Then there was a flash of light that appeared on the rooftop of the opposite building.

"Xiao Bai?" Zhan Zhao picked up a skull from the ground and placed the black bag over it.

Bai Yutang instantly understood what he meant and raised his gun to prepare.

Zhan Zhao slowly raised the black bag using the skull. When the edge of the bag was exposed just a little bit, he heard a "poof" and a bullet hole appeared on the bag. At the same time, Bai Yutang stood up fiercely and fired.

The action was completed in one smooth motion and lasted no more than two seconds. This was also the time needed for their opponent to finish their first shot, and to prepare, aim, and fire the second. When the first gunshot sounded, a man fell from the rooftop.

Bai Yutang helped Zhan Zhao up, and the two climbed to the edge of the hole.

"Was this a trap that was deliberately set for us?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"This is just a greeting." Bai Yutang's expression was not very good, and he said, "If this hole was dug ten centimeters shallower, we would have been dead." After he finished speaking, he raised the gun and fired one shot at the rooftop of the building next to them for an unknown reason.

After shooting, he put the gun back into its holster. Bai Yutang took Zhan Zhao back to the car and called someone from SCI to come and search the hole.

On the rooftop, there was a man standing and watching Bai Yutang’s car as it drove away. The binoculars in his hands had been shattered. The man let out a sigh of relief. Looking at the broken binoculars and the bullet lodged inside it, he said to himself with a smile, “It this a courtesy greeting? Bai Yutang… a well-deserved reputation.”

Throwing the binoculars down and turning back, his phone rang and picked up the phone, "Hello. It's me... It's not suitable here. Let's change the location."

The person on the other end of the phone seemed to say something, causing the person to laugh, "No, the police here are too powerful. We can't compete fairly."

......

By the time the SCI team had transported the bones from the hole and the two corpses from the construction site back to the police station, it was already evening.

"Boss." Ma Han hurried back, "Do you know who the two you killed were?"

"Who?" Bai Yutang was curious, "Are they famous?"

"They are listed killers from TVA!" Ma Han smiled, "Two big fish in two shots. You’re awesome boss!"

"TVA?" Bai Chi approached curiously, "Isn’t that the famous killer organization?"

"There are dozens of professional killers wanted in that organization, right?" Zhan Zhao asked as he took a look at the information. "Both of them are in their forties."

"They are retired soldiers." Bai Yutang said lightly, "They were probably used to test the waters."

"Test the water?" Luo Tian didn't understand.

"Testing the water is the jargon of those killer organizations." Zhan Zhao said, "Generally, if an organization like this has any big plans, it will first test the police strength of the location. If the water is deep, they change the place. If the water is shallow, they proceed with their plan."

"Going directly to SCI to test the water." Jiang Ping shook his head, "It seems that TVA is going to make some big moves."

"But the boss gave them a good show. They shouldn't start here, right?" Zhao Hu asked.

While they were chatting, someone knocked on the door and they saw Lu Fang walk in, "Xiao Bai, someone is looking for you."

Bai Yutang looked up and saw a tall foreigner behind Lu Fang. They had blond hair, a high nose, and deep eyes; it was a very standard foreign appearance. He was wearing a military uniform.

"Hi Bai." The foreigner greeted Bai Yutang enthusiastically when he saw Bai Yutang.

"Ben?" Bai Yutang stood up in surprise, "Why are you here?"

The foreigner named Benjamin stepped forward and gave Bai Yutang a warm hug, "We haven't seen each other for two years."

Bai Yutang greeted the man while looking at Lu Fang, as if asking, "What is he doing here?"

“Benjamin is the senior commander of the U.S. counter-terrorism force." Lu Fang explained, "He is here for a skill exchange program. During this time, he is a guest of our police station. He will stay here for a while."

Everyone looked at each other, wondering, what are the anti-terrorist forces doing here?

"They asked me to participate in the exchange." Benjamin smiled to Bai Yutang, "So I took this opportunity to come and see you."

Zhan Zhao rubbed his chin and looked at that Benjamin for a while. There are so many people in the office, but Benjamin is only looking at Bai Yutang and doesn’t pay attention to anyone else. It seems like he and Bai Yutang are very close and that he is quite arrogant. In his final analysis, he is an arrogant and stinky foreigner who has feelings for his white mouse.

Bai Yutang was a little embarrassed, and finally took his hand from Benjamin's hand, asking, "Aren't you doing an exchange with the counter-terrorism force? What are you doing with the SCI?"

"This country is very safe and there is no threat of terrorist attacks, so I just wandered around." Benjamin's Chinese was unexpectedly good, "I haven't seen you for a long time, so I made a special trip to come see you."

"You guys can chat." Lu Fang smiled. He raised his eyebrows at Zhan Zhao who was on the side, and fled.

Zhan Zhao thought it was funny; even Lu Fang could see that the foreigner was interested in Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang looked back at Zhan Zhao and said, "When I went to a foreign country to handle a case, I worked with Ben."

"Yeah." Benjamin nodded. He glanced over Zhan Zhao, then he scanned the crowd and asked, "Are these your subordinates?"

"They are all my colleagues." Bai Yutang said lightly, "You can just sit down, we still have work to do."

"Ok, you guys can continue your work." Benjamin smiled and sat down on the sofa to the side, looking around.

Bai Yutang winked at Zhan Zhao, motioned for him to come with him, and entered the office.

"Ahem." Zhan Zhao entered the office, Bai Yutang closed the door of the office and said, "Cat, don't misunderstand."

Zhan Zhao smiled and looked at Benjamin sitting on the sofa outside, “It’s amazing. He came all the way from America to see you. The charm of Captain Bai is unstoppable.”

"Don't talk about it." Bai Yutang felt helpless, and took out the phone to call Lu Fang, "Hey, Lu Fang, why did you just leave him here?"

Lu Fang was also a little helpless, "Xiao Bai, just bear with it for a while. This man is temperamental and no one pays attention to him anymore. However, when ever someone mentioned you, he would be full of praise. Bao Sir told us to throw him over to you. You only have to deal with it for a week, then he will leave.”

Bai Yutang hung up the phone and looked at Zhan Zhao apologetically, "Cat, just bear with him for a week."

Zhan Zhao raised his eyebrows indifferently, "It’s not like he’s bothering me."

At that moment, Zhang Long hurried back with a sketch in his hand, "Captain, the driver's sketch is complete."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang came out of the office. Bai Yutang took a look at the puzzle and frowned, "It's him."

"The person you met in the bathroom?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Bai Yutang nodded, "That's right."

At that moment, Benjamin on the side also took a look at it. He frowned and said in a low voice, "Bai, are you checking up on this person?"

Bai Yutang turned to look at him, "Why, do you know him?"

Benjamin nodded and said, "That’s confidential."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other and asked, "Terrorist?"

"Yes." Benjamin nodded. He looked at the others and asked, "Can you keep this a secret? I can tell you his identity."

Everyone looked at Bai Yutang, and Bai Yutang nodded, "You can tell me, the people here are very professional."

"Okay, I believe you." Benjamin closed the door of the SCI office and said, "This person is called Karula. He is the head of TVA."

"What?" Everyone was surprised. The head of TVA is a world-renowned terrorist. There are nearly 100 professional killers on his team who specialize in terrorist activities.

"Why would he come to S city?" Bai Yutang asked.

Benjamin thought for a while, and said, "I probably know some of his intentions here, but I can only tell you." As he said, Ben looked at the other people.

Zhan Zhao frowned slightly, Bai Yutang looked at Benjamin, "Then it’s better if you don’t tell me.”

"Uh, don't be angry." Benjamin was a little anxious, "It's not that I don't trust you, but it's confidential information."

Bai Yutang nodded and turned around to continue his work. Benjamin followed a few steps and said to him, "Okay, let me tell you. He is here to compete."

"Competition?" Everyone was a little inexplicable.

"In fact, since Tabor's death, many forces have re-entered the market. TVA's recent business has been particularly good. Because there are many organizations that want to grab territory, many killers are needed."

Bai Yutang nodded, "What else?”

“It seems as though others are tempted by such a good business.” Benjamin explained. “A new killer organization was recently established under the codename ZJ; it is very mysterious. They have a lot of mobility and are more capable than the traditional TVA. They took a lot of business away from TVA, so…”

“So they found a clean place to test each other out.” Zhan Zhao asked. “Then, they will divide the business based on a competition?”

Benjamin nodded and looked at Zhan Zhao for the first time, asking, "Are you Zhan Zhao?"

Zhan Zhao nodded. He could see some resistance in Benjamin's eyes. He had refused to look at him when he first came in, which meant that he actually had a high evaluation of Zhan Zhao; so high that he didn't want to face him.

Benjamin sighed softly and said, "I have heard so much about you."

Zhan Zhao smiled slightly. He did not answer and instead reached out to Bai Yutang, "Xiao Bai, let me see the sketch."

Bai Yutang reached out and handed the sketch to Zhan Zhao. When their hands met, their matching platinum rings were in full view, revealing a dazzling sight.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

What a flex from Zhan Zhao. And he said that Benjamin wasn't bothering him (≧▽≦)

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: March 22, 2021