S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 2 Chapter 36

Murderer vs Murderer 09 – Use

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“Why did they come here?" Zhao Zhen looked at the terrorists who were arrested by the SCI members and asked Bai Yutang. “I don’t remember offending them.”

“You didn’t offend them.” Bai Yutang shrugged. He glanced at Zhan Zhao who was still communicating with Lisbon and helplessly said, “Cat, don’t you have something to ask Zhao Zhen?”

“Ah, yes!” Zhan Zhao walked over and asked Zhao Zhen, “Can you do me a favour?”

Zhao Zhen blinked, “I have tried to breed Lisbon with the lions at the zoo but the zookeepers refused to give me some of the cubs. And it’s not like I can take him to Africa to breed; there are not many wild white lions and all of the female lions there all belong to their own prides.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were a little embarrassed. Zhan Zhao waved his hand, “I didn’t want to ask about lions cubs.” Even though he said that, he was unable to hide his disappointment.

Zhao Zhen smiled, “Then, how can I help you?”

“Will you come back to the police station with us?” Zhan Zhao asked.

Zhao Zhen nodded and got into his Jeep with Lisbon. Zhan Zhao them for the drive. Along the way, he told Zhao Zhen the details of his plan and Zhao Zhen readily agreed.

After arriving at the police station, they saw Benjamin sitting in the lounge. The team unloaded the weapons and clothes that the terrorists used, bringing them to the office, and the terrorists were taken away. Bai Yutang called Benjamin over into his office to identify the weapons. Benjamin glanced at the guns and nodded, “Those are the same as the ones that the people that attacked us that night used.”

Zhan Zhao took the clothes and looked at them carefully. He noticed a watch that piqued his interest; it was a watch that had a mirrored ZJ logo in the side. If it was pressed against skin hard enough, it would leave a mark in the shape of ‘ZJ’.

Bai Yutang nodded and let Benjamin go back to the lounge to wait.

As Benjamin left Bai Yutang’s office, Zhao Zhen entered. The moment the door closed, Zhan Zhao asked Zhao Zhen, “Did Zhao Jue really visit you two days ago?”

“En.’ Zhao Zhen nodded and said, “He told me that he is with Leonard now.”

Behind the closed door, Benjamin walked away, deep in thought.

Zhao Zhen looked back at him and asked Zhan Zhao “Was that good?”

Zhan Zhao nodded in satisfaction “That was great.”

Benjamin walked back to the lounge and sat down. He saw Lisbon on the sofa across from him. Although he was a massive adult lion, he was unusually docile; he was just laying on the sofa and calmly licking his fur.

Luoyang leaned on him as he read and would rub Lisbon’s head from time to time, “Lisbon, what do you want to eat for lunch?” Luoyang read an English book while talking to Lisbon. “Do you want to eat roast beef? I will buy you beef skewers later. Do you want spicy ones?”

Lisbon let out a low chuff, seemingly communicating with Luoyang.

Benjamin looked at them with interest and asked Luoyang “Is that white lion called Lisbon?”

“En.” Luoyang nodded.

“It looks very docile.” Benjamin walked over and asked, “Can I pet it?”

“En.” Luoyang nodded, “Lisbon in the best.”

Benjamin smiled and stretched his hand out. As he tried to pet Lisbon, Lisbon suddenly raised his head and snarled at Benjamin; he seemed to be angry and he looked a little scary.

“Lisbon, why are you so rude?” Zhao Zhen had left Bai Yutang’s office and walked over. He sat next to Lisbon and patted his head. Lisbon immediately rubbed Zhao Zhen’s hand obediently.

Benjamin smiled slightly and said “He probably doesn’t like the smell on me.” After he spoke, he stood up and walked out of the lounge.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang watched Benjamin as he left the lounge.

“Cat.” Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao, “Now that we pushed everything onto Leonard, is it going to cause problems?”

Zhan Zhao smiled faintly, “This is called treating one the way he treats others. The people posing as ZJ are just trying to slander Leonard. This time, Zhao Jue is with Leonard, so let them fight between themselves.”

“But they won’t give up this easily, right?” Bai Yutang asked.

“En.” Zhan Zhao frowned slightly. “It won’t be that simple. Let’s see what tricks they will pull. I still don’t understand their intentions.”

Bai Yutang, Zhan Zhao, and Ouyang Chun then went to interrogate the terrorists that they arrested. They were all well-trained mercenaries; these people were not afraid of being tortured for a confession, let alone undergoing ordinary interrogations.

Jiang Ping located their information using their fingerprints; they were all registered as international criminals.

After the interrogation ended, Gongsun’s autopsy report was completed.

“How is it?” Bai Yutang asked.

“Nothing special.” Gongsun reported the autopsy results to him and said, “There should be no other clues from the bodies.”

There was peace for the next three day and the incident seemed to have reached a standstill.

“Cat,” Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao as he uninterestedly played darts in his office, “Why hasn’t that group made a move?”

Zhan Zhao continued to type on his keyboard, writing his new book, as he spoke, “Right now, they are not in a position to provoke Interpol and Leonard. They also don’t have a reason to ask us to hand over Zhao Jue using ZJ’s name. As such, the situation has reached a standstill.”

“What about the Interpol case?” Bai Yutang asked, “Who was behind the attack?”

“Their intention is actually quite clear.” Zhan Zhao said. “On one hand, they want to provoke a conflict between Interpol and Leonard using the murder of the Interpol members. On the other hand, they want to find out where Zhao Jue is. It’s a pity that their two plans have been thwarted. Now they are in a difficult situation; if they make another move and they are too careless, they may reveal their true identity.”

“Is that why Leonard was looking for you?” Bai Yutang asked.

“The reason? This is only one of the reasons.” Zhan Zhao answered with a smile, “There is another trick that we can use later.”

While they were chatting, Ouyang Chun entered Bai Yutang’s office “Xiao Bai, Xiao Zhan, my team and I are going home.”

“Going home?” Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao stood up. “What about the case?”

Ouyang Chun shook his head and said, “It’s a long story. The director just called and said that it is simply TVA infighting. Now the situation has turned into a mess and Interpol members got caught in the crossfire. Their real purpose is most likely to keep us focused on their activities in S City so that they can continue to fight in Europe without our interference.”

“Oh…” Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang glanced at each other, knowing the answer in their hearts. “So, no matter who wins or loses this fight, the infighting will weaken TVA, which in turn will make ZJ cheaper. They created this incident in order to delay the growth of ZJ.”

“Who is the person who fought with Karula?” Zhan Zhao asked curiously. “Their mind is very active. They get the best results from the smallest sacrifice.”

Ouyang Chun frowned and nodded, “Their background is not small, but I have to go back to get more details. I must thank you two this time. Let’s keep in touch, I may ask you for help later.”

“Of course.” Bai Yutang shook hands with Ouyang Chun and walked him out.

“By the way, I will take him back.” Ouyang Chun said, referring to Benjamin, “Interpol has decided to investigate him.”

“Okay.” Bai Yutang nodded, “He didn’t come to the police station today, he’s probably still at the hotel.”

The three spoke as they walked out of the office. They soon saw Ai Hu rushing in from outside.

Zhao Hu and Ai Hu are very familiar with each other. When he saw him rushing in, Zhao Hu shouted, “Ai Hu, you haven’t been here for a long time!”

Ai Hu was sweaty with anxiety and ignored Zhao Hu. He ran straight to Bai Yutang and said, “Captain, Ben is gone.”

“What?!” Everyone was taken aback.

“Didn’t you send a small unit to watch over him?” Bai Yutang frowned. “How could he run away?”

“Don’t mention it.” Ai Hu frowned. “Many of my brothers died. It was as if Ben was snatched away by an army. I went to take a look this morning and it was crazy.”

“Snatched?” Bai Yutang was taken aback, when he suddenly heard Zhan Zhao exclaim, “Oh, what about Luo Tian?”

“En, he was responsible for watching Ben 24 hours a day.” Ma Han added.

As soon as their voices fell, they heard a small turmoil outside. Zhan Zhao wanted to go out and take a look, only to see Luo Tian walk in. He had blood dripping down from his shoulders.

“Call an ambulance.” Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao stepped forward. “What happened?”

“It’s this person.” Luo Tian took a camera out of his pocket and said, “I took some photos, but he was very skilled and he found me. When I chased them outside, they had already driven away. The car they used didn’t have a license plate.”

Hearing all the noise, Gongsun walked out from the forensic room. Luo Tian’s expression because gross as he saw him. “What is this? A bloody officer? Don’t look to me, go to the hospital!”

Ma Han stepped forward and took Luo Tian to the hospital with Luoyang. Bai Chi also followed along as he was Luo Tian’s partner.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang took the SD card from the camera and watched the video.

Luo Tian had been watching Benjamin from a hidden location. He saw Benjamin receive a phone call. Benjamin wandered around anxiously before picking up the phone call.

They could hear him say, “How is your business going? Come and pick me up as soon as it’s done! Interpol is already suspicious and watching me!”

In another video, a person walked into the room. Bai Yutang frowned as soon as he realised that it was the person that he saw in the bathroom that day.

“Is that Karula? Zhang Long asked.

“We can’t be sure.” Zhan Zhao said, “It’s the Karula in Ben’s sketch.”

They listened to Benjamin talk to the man, “Are you done your business?”

The man nodded, “It’s almost done, we don’t need to stay in S City anymore.”

“Okay, let’s go!” Benjamin nodded and wanted to leave.

The man smiled slightly and said “You really are useless. Someone has been watching you, did you really not notice?” As he said it, he looked up and fired his gun at the camera.

The camera shook; Luo Tian was probably injured at that moment.

“This shouldn’t have been that long ago.” Bai Yutang knew that Luo Tian would have come back as soon as he was injured.

“Jiang Ping.” Zhan Zhao said, “Check if there is any record of Ben’s departure from the airport. Also check if there are any private planes that have left or that are scheduled to leave.”

“Okay.” Jiang Ping hurriedly contacted the airport. He relayed the result of his call to Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao “There is indeed a record of Ben leaving. Instead of taking a commercial flight, he took a private plane.”

“Where did he fly to?” Bai Yutang asked.

Jiang Ping shook his head, “They wouldn’t tell me.”

“They should have gone back to Europe.” Ouyang Chun shook his head. “Can this video be copied for me? This information is very important.”

Jiang Ping made a copy of the video for Ouyang Chun. Before he left, Bai Yutang spoke to Ouyang Chun, “It seems that this person was with us from the beginning to the end. If it’s possible, we will apply to help you with this case.”

Ouyang Chun smiled, “This trip was indeed quite depressing. I also hope that you are able to help us. I will notify you as soon as we make progress.”

After sending Ouyang Chun off, all of the SCI members went to the hospital to see Luo Tian. Zhan Zhao was blaming himself because he was the one who sent Luo Tian to watch Benjamin.

“Don’t blame yourself Cat.” Bai Yutang reached out and gently touched the back of his neck. “If you hadn’t been suspicious of Ben, we would have had no clue about what was really happening.”

When everyone got to the hospital, they saw Luo Tian holding Luoyang with one hand and walking out. Ma Han and Bai Chi chased behind him, “Wait a minute, shouldn’t you stay in the hospital?”

Luo Tian was a little helpless, “The bullet was taken out and it doesn’t hurt. Why would I stay in the hospital?”

Bai Yutang and the others all had the same thought – ‘Luo Tian really doesn’t feel any pain…’

“Stop him for me!” Before anyone knew what to say, they heard a woman’s voice coming from the door of the hospital.

Everyone instinctively looked over. They saw Ma Xin standing there with an unhappy expression on her face.

“Xin Xin, why are you here?” Ma Han looked back and was surprised to see his sister.

A breathless male doctor came up behind Ma Xin. He was holding a report in his hand and pointed at Luo Tian, “That… He can’t go home. He needs to stay for a week so we can observe his recovery.”

“En.” Bai Yutang nodded. “Even though it doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t mean that you don’t need to be hospitalized.”

Luo Tian was a little awkward; it seemed as though he didn’t want to stay in the hospital. Zhan Zhao smiled and asked, “Luo Tian, do you have a history with hospitals that makes it so you want to avoid them?”

Luo Tian hesitated for a while before nodding and saying, “I… would rather stay at home.”

Everyone knew how stubborn he was, but Ma Xin was determined. She walked over, took Luoyang from Luo Tian’s arms, and said, “Yang Yang, your dad doesn’t want to be hospitalized.”

“Well, he’s not obedient.” Luoyang nodded and glared at Luo Tian. “He is going to be hospitalized!”

“Oh, how about this?” Ma Xin said with a smile, “If he agrees to be hospitalized, Yang Yang will be here to accompany him. However, if he doesn’t agree, Yang Yang will ignore him for the week. How about staying at my house?”

Luoyang nodded and said “Okay…”

Everyone was speechless; Ma Xin hit Luo Tian’s weakness with one move.

Finally, the helpless Luo Tian was dragged into the hospital and admitted.

“Are you Ma Xin?” Gongsun looked at Ma Xin and said, “I have read your anatomy report and you have passed. You can be transferred to the forensic lab next week to start your one-month trial period. If you pass, you will be transferred full time.”

“Ha…” Ma Xin, who was listening intently, took a breath of fresh air.

Zhao Hu grabbed Bai Yutang with tears in his eyes. “Captain... This is great… SCI will finally have a female…”

On the side, Zhan Zhao suddenly touched his chin and asked Bai Yutang, “Xiao Bai, do you think that someone has a lioness at home and can’t find a male to breed with? Maybe we could try to post a search on the Internet.”

Everyone is speechless – ‘He hasn’t given up yet?’

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

I love that Zhan Zhao hasn't given up on getting a lion. I really hope he gets one eventually.

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

Translated: March 27/28, 2021