S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 2 Chapter 109

Love Murderer 16 – Chip

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“Why did the emblem of an ancient European family appear in an urban-rural junction, and why did it show up so many years after the family had fallen?” Luo Tian asked.

“There’s more.” Ma Han nodded, “Why did Zhang Miaomiao have this pendant and why was she attacked?”

“The strangest thing is that Zhang Ying and Zhang Miaomiao have the same face…” Bai Yutang sighed.

“That’s right.” Zhan Zhao suddenly took his cell phone out of his pocket, opened the list of incoming calls, and found the number that Zhang Ying called him with that night.

“Didn’t Jiang Ping check it and say that the phone couldn’t be tracked because it was outside the network?” Bai Yutang asked.

Zhan Zhao held the phone, saying, “Probably, but we can try it.” After he spoke, he dialed the number.

After the phone was silent for a short time, suddenly, a ‘beep…beep…’ sound appeared, and it was not the busy tone.

Zhan Zhao pressed the hands-free button, and everyone glanced at each other, so shocked that they couldn’t speak.

After ringing about three times, they heard someone answer the phone, and a familiar woman’s voice came through, “Dr. Zhan?”

Zhan Zhao was stunned for a while, then he heard Zhang Ying chuckle and ask, “What’s the matter? Do you have something you need to find me for?”

“Uh…” Before Zhan Zhao could speak, Bai Yutang asked, “Do you know Zhang Miaomiao?”

On the other end, Zhang Ying froze for a while, answering after a long time, “You are really fast, you are indeed an elite.”

“Do you know her?” Zhan Zhao asked.

“Have you been to the village?” Zhang Ying asked.

“En, we just left.” Zhan Zhao said, “We also saw the two graves.”

Zhang Ying sighed softly before asking, “How is Mother?”

When Zhan Zhao heard this, he was taken aback, and looked at Bai Yutang… What is Zhang Ying’s real name? Mother?

Zhang Ying was silent for a while, then said, “You two, help A Tian and I take care of the elderly.”

“You are…” Zhan Zhao frowned, “Are you Zhang Miaomiao?”

Zhang Ying laughed and asked, “What’s wrong? You’ve seen the photos and you still doubt it?”

“You don’t look like someone in their fifties.” Bai Yutang said.

“Because I take good care of myself?” Zhang Ying joked.

“Why do you not seem old?” Zhan Zhao asked, “Also, is Xu Tian really dead? Who on earth attacked you that night?”

Ater listening to Zhan Zhao’s words, Zhang Ying said, “If you want to know, do you remember the list I gave you? Help me get revenge, and then… I will tell you everything!” After speaking, she hung up.

Zhan Zhao called again, butn  it became impossible to reach the number.

“Huh…” Putting down the phone, everyone looked at each other. Luo Tian focused on driving, and Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang frowned in contemplation.

This is also very weird.

When it was dark outside, Zhan Zhao and the others returned to the SCI office. Sure enough, everyone was there and had ordered takeaway. Zhan Zhao and the others were starving, so they stuffed their mouths when they saw something they liked. Zhan Zhao chewed and asked, “Jiang Ping, what is in the chip?”

Jiang Ping turned on his computer and asked Zhan Zhao, “Do you want to eat and watch, or do you want to watch after you eat? It affects your appetite!”

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other, and Zhan Zhao said, “Don’t worry, I have nerves of steel! Play it!”

Jiang Ping nodded and opened the file. There were three videos: the first was named 1980, the second was named 1990, and the third was named 2000.

“Every ten years?” Zhan Zhao looked at the files and asked Jiang Ping.

Jiang Ping started the first video.

They saw that it was a black and white video. Looking at the quality of the image, it was shot on film.

The video first showed a group of children playing soccer. The children laughed, and Zhan Zhao tilted his head to look at it, but couldn’t see why. After the clip of the children playing soccer ended, the video shifted from the outdoors to indoors, where a young man was practicing fighting. This man was in his twenties, he was in good shape, and had a fair appearance. Soon, this group of images disappeared, and it changed to a third clip. The clip was of an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old woman sitting in front of a mirror combing her hair. The woman had a very graceful figure, and was pure and sweet. The last clip was of a man drinking tea with his back to the camera. His hairstyle reminded everyone of Marlon Brando’s character in 《The Godfather》 back then. He was sitting elegantly on a white chair, with a white cup in his hand.

“Xiao Bai, look at his finger!” Zhan Zhao pointed to the man’s finger, and saw that he was wearing a large ring on his thumb.

“Pause it!” Zhan Zhao said to Jiang Ping.

Jiang Ping paused the video. Zhan Zhao leaned over to look at it, and said, “Can you zoom in on the image? I want to see the ring on his hand.”

Jiang Ping nodded and zoomed in the image. Everyone looked at the ring… there was a pattern in the middle of the ring in the shape of a cross with a snake wrapped around it.

“Same as this.” Ma Han took out the pendant.

Gongsun nodded, “According to his body shape and hand, this person should not be Asian, he looks more like a Caucasian man. His hair is not black, but there is no colour, so it may be brown, light brown, or maroon, however, it can’t be identified because it’s a black and white film.”

Everyone had noticed that the backgrounds of each clip seem to be the same location; it is a relatively large manor, with a white house and a small villa in the distance. The design is simple but quite big, with a large lawn.

Jiang Ping went back to the first clip of the children playing soccer on the lawn, and could see the man drinking tea in the distance.

“Can you make it clearer?” Bai Yutang asked.

“It’s somewhat difficult.” Jiang Ping tried to make the picture clearer. In the end, everyone saw the man’s outline… He was indeed a foreigner, but what he looked like was not clear.

The man who was practicing punching sandbags should be in a room on the first floor. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, they could see a child running in the distance.

“According to the structure of the house, it should not be in China.” Ma Han said, “Eighty years ago, it was hard to imagine such a house in China.”

“En, indeed.” Jiang Ping nodded, “I logged all the features of the scenes. In the architectural records, there are no buildings similar to this one. In addition, I suspect that this building is on a small island.”

“Small island?” Zhan Zhao was curious.

“En.” Jiang Ping paused the clip of the woman dressing up. The view outside the window reflected in the mirror, showing the sea in the distance…

“Huh?” Zhan Zhao suddenly exclaimed.

“What’s wrong?” Everyone looked at him.

“Uh…” Zhan Zhao pointed at the image and asked, “Isn’t that a mirror?”

“En.” Everyone nodded.

“Is the picture taken from in front of the mirror?” Zhan Zhao asked.

“Yes…” Bai Yutang suddenly understood what Zhan Zhao meant, and asked, “Who was the one who took the picture? Why didn’t they appear in the mirror?”

Everyone was stunned and carefully looked for a long time. They found that there was indeed a problem; no one was taking the photo!

“It’s too evil!” Gongsun touched his chin and asked, “Is it because the camera is invisible, or…”

“Unless, it was taken from another angle… Certain angles are used when filming a mirror in front of a camera.” Zhan Zhao said with a headache, “I hate geometry problems!”

“Are there four clips in this video?” Zhan Zhao asked Jiang Ping.

“En.” Jiang Ping nodded and played the next video.

Everyone calmed down and took a closer look.

They saw that the second video was also in black and white. At the beginning, it was a group of teenagers with knives in their hands, wearing special equipment… There were a lot of animal carcasses at their feet; they should be hunting. The background has changed, and they are in a jungle.

Everyone was about to take a closer look when suddenly, they heard a ‘clang’.

Everyone was shocked. When they turned their heads, they saw that Luo Tian had accidentally dropped his cup on the ground. Bai Yutang looked at him and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Luo Tian pointed to the teenagers and said, “Jungle hunting, I also did it back then… and… those teenagers, they are the ones who were just playing soccer!”

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had both paid attention to the actions of the teenagers and didn’t really pay attention to their appearance. Jiang Ping took screenshots of the two videos and conducted a professional comparison to make sure — They were the same people!

“Luo Tian is amazing!” Gongsun said with a smile, “We only noticed after watching it three times.”

“Why?” Zhan Zhao widened his eyes in confusion and asked, “Ten years passed between 1980 and 1990, so why didn’t these teenagers grow up?”

“Keep watching.” Gongsun patten Zhan Zhao on the shoulder, “The horror is coming up!”

Jiang Ping resumed the video. After a while, they saw another young man appear in the video. With short knife in his hand, he was fighting with a few living people. After the fight, all three people who were with him had been hacked to death, and blood was splattered all over the ground. It was the young man who was training in the first video; he was not at all old, but stronger and younger.

“He is quite skilled!” Bai Yutang frowned.

“Could he be bad?” Zhan Zhao smiled bitterly, “He had been practicing for ten years.”

The third clip was a woman who was getting ready. After changing into attire befitting of the 90s, she was still pure and sweet, put her eyes were lifeless.

In the last clip, it was the back view of the same man drinking tea, but this time, he was using a mahogany seat and the tea cup had become a black coffee mug, however, the ring was still on his hand.

“Pay attention!” Gongsun then asked Jiang Ping to pause the video, and said, “His fingers… the skin has changed to a certain extent, and looking at the density of his ears and hair… this man is old!”

Everyone nodded, indeed!

“The following is the last video.” Jiang Ping said with a grim expression, then he looked back at the crowd, “You guys get ready, the next bit will challenge your nerves!”

Zhan Zhao nodded and saw the first bit… A group of weird dwarves appeared on the screen. Their skin was wrinkled, bit they were short and small, like teenagers.

Jiang Ping used the same technology to compare the people, and said, “This is what those teenagers should look like after seventy years, but their bones had not grown, anyway… it’s just abnormal!”

“How is that possible?” Zhan Zhao frowned, “If we counted their age, those children should be in their thirties at most. How can they age such a wide span at once?”

“This is indeed the quality of a video shot in 2000.” Jiang Ping said, “I have checked it, technically, there is no way to fake it.”

“What about the next part?” Bai Yutang asked.

Jiang Ping continued to play the video. The strong and fierce man was already limp on the chair, and the beautiful woman became an eighty-year-old woman with white hair.

“Look at the last part!” Gongsun reminded.

They saw the back of a figure appear on the screen. Viewed from behind, they could tell that it was a young and tall figure who was only in their twenties. Their clothing was similar to the one who was drinking tea with their back to the camera before. The back of his hand was facing the camera, and he had the same ring on the thumb of his left hand.

“I checked them with the software!” Jiang Ping said, “It’s that person!”

“He’s young?” Zhan Zhao asked.

Everyone nodded. Zhao Hu pulled Ma Han and asked, “Look, isn’t it weird?”

Ma Han nodded, Luo Tian frowned, and Bai Yutang sighed and said, “Why did they not grow old over the first ten years, but then became so old over the last ten years?”

“It seems that is starts as not aging, then turns into progeria.” Gongsun said. (Angel: Progeria, also known as Hutchinson-Gilford Syndrome or Benjamin Button Disease, is a rare genetic condition that results in a child's body aging rapidly)

“Is there such a disease?” Zhao Hu asked Gongsun.

Gongsun nodded, “It is real, but it is quite rare, and the symptoms are not exactly the same as this case.”

Zhan Zhao thought for a while, then took out his cell phone, found the number that Zhao Jue had given him, and dialed it.

The phone rang twice and was connected. They heard Zhao Jue’s unique and empty voice, “Zhao?”

Zhan Zhao trembled unconsciously, and said, “Don’t be so affectionate, what is on the chip you sent? Why did those people not age at first, then age prematurely after?”

Zhao Jue smiled and faintly spat out a few words, “They… are defective products.”

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

And Zhao Jue returns.

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

Translated: June 2, 2021