S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 4 Chapter 75

Ghost Ship Murderer 39 – Circular Thinking

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Zhao Jue's beard was finally shaved off under the joint efforts of Zhan Zhao and Bai Ye.

So, in the cabin, Zhao Jue sat off to the side pouting and grumbling, Zhan Zhao was in a good mood eating the sandwiches that Bai Che had brought, and Bai Ye leaned against the side of the boat looking at the slowly approaching ship in the distance.

"Are you going to eat?"

Bai Chi boldly walked over to Zhao Jue and handed him a cup of milk tea and a sandwich.

Zhao Jue turned his face slyly to look at Bai Chi, then pounced on him and wrapped his arms around him, “Wu wu wu..."

Zhao Zhen hurriedly pulled Bai Chi away, and without tears in his eyes, Zhao Jue crossed his legs and feasted on the milk tea and sandwich.

Lin Ruo had quite a few injuries on his body, but he didn't remember the pain at this point, tilting his face to examine the two brothers, Han Wei and Han Ling, who were really almost identical.

"There's something I don't quite understand." Bai Jintang walked to Zhan Zhao's side with great interest.

"Ask." Zhan Zhao chewed on his sandwich, in a good mood because he had just shaved the beard and won.

"Ding Yuan's and their deaths were fake, they really didn't die, but rather it was their twin brothers who died, right?" Bai Jintang asked, "The ones who did it were actually the real Ding Yuan, Ryan and the others... who created the illusion of their own deaths, but what was the whole process like?"

"This is complicated to say the least ah, the case this time is complicated." Zhan Zhao stroked his chin and began to ramble, "In fact, the beginning of everything is like the universe..."

"Speak properly!"

On the other end, Bao Zheng, who was wearing a headset to listen to the case, couldn't help but interrupt Zhan Zhao, "Speak human!"

Zhan Zhao bristled, "It's like the Milky Way..."

"Try talking nonsense again!" Bao Zheng was a little cranky.

Zhan Zhao sighed, "The solar system..."

Bao Zheng stopped talking, holding his forehead and sighing.

"Why did the solar system form?" Zhan Zhao asked Bai Jintang.

Bai Jintang frowned at him for a long time, "Speak properly."

The crowd sighed helplessly.

"Simply put, planets always orbit the sun because of gravity." Zhan Zhao stretched out a finger and spun it around, "Many things in this world are attracted to each other! The attraction between normal people has nothing to do with the laws of nature, but for those who are not normal, it's a different story, do you understand?"

Bai Jintang leaned against the window sill and listened, nodding, "Wouldn't it be fine for you to just say that those people are all abnormal people who are attracted to Lin Ruo?"

Zhan Zhao blinked.

The crowd clapped – As expected of Bai Yutang's brother! Amazing comprehension!

Zhan Zhao stretched out one finger to scratch his cheeks, and on the side, Zhao Jue gloated and laughed.

"I don't understand." Lin Ruo didn't quite understand the situation, "What does it have to do with me? I didn't join a terrorist organisation, nor did I conduct human trials."

Everyone laughed. Throughout the entire process, Lin Ruo was indeed innocent, it was simply a typical case of being shot while lying down.

Zhan Zhao smiled and pointed at him, "Snow White didn't mess with Her Majesty either, but Her Majesty simply wanted her dead, why was that?"

Everyone frowned and continued to look at Bai Jintang.

Bai Jintang was helpless, "Just say that Lin Ruo's aura is close to Bruce's, that's why they are naturally attracted to him. Isn't that the end of the story? You nerds always complicate simple things."

"Big Brother!" Zhao Hu got excited, "You really are the conscience of the business! We are destroyed by nerds every day!"

Zhan Zhao glanced at Zhao Hu, and Hu Zi hurriedly hid behind Bai Jintang.

"I'm assuming that, back then, the twins were split into two sides after being swept away by the tsunami. On one side, there's side A, which is Xiao Mi and the rest of them. The other side is side B, which is Stephen and his gang. Side A is kind hearted, and side B... can't be said to be evil, even if they're a little bad." Zhan Zhao spread out both hands to the side, each hand representing one side, "Among the experimental products that were washed away, there was a pair of A twins, which were Han Wei and Han Ling, and there was also a pair of B twins, which were the Emilia sisters. Emilia seems to be a test subject that predates their batch, which means they weren't from the same batch, so they're a bit more special."

"Han Wei doesn't remember what happened back then, right?" Zhan Zhao asked Han Wei.

Han Wei nodded, "I was hit on the head during the tsunami and was saved by a fisherman when I was drifting while clutching a plank. Later, I was adopted. In fact, I wasn't too clear about my past because I lost my memories, and I thought that I was born to my adoptive parents. Although my family's situation was average, I had a happy childhood. After hitting my head again and becoming a vegetable, the blood clots dispersed when I woke up, and I regained my memories from back then and remembered everything."

"Right." Zhan Zhao nodded, "With excellent grades, you and Lin Ruo entered the same university, and coincidentally became roommates, became good friends, and participated in the sailing regatta together, which can be said to be the starting point of all the ill-fated relationships!"

Everyone nodded and sighed at the same time – It was not wrong to call it ill-fated at all, if there hadn't been this one intersection back then, the events of today probably wouldn't have happened.

"Although Han Wei lost his memories, his instincts were still there, he was instinctively attracted to Lin Ruo. The Han brothers are the best A side work Bruce has ever created, do you know what that means?"

Everyone shook their heads, not understanding.

Zhan Zhao narrowed his eyes, having the illusion of playing the piano to a cow.

“He's bound to be the most pleasing to Bruce." Bai Yutang spoke at the right time, "Lin Ruo's temperament and personality as well as his appearance are all somewhat close to Bruce. Geniuses are probably all on the same spectrum, so their tastes and hobbies are similar, thus the more Han Wei looked at him, the more pleasing he was to his eyes."

"Oh..." The others nodded, sort of understanding!

The corner of Zhao Jue's mouth twitched as he looked at Zhan Zhao, seemingly disgusted that he was working with a bunch of lower class animals.

"If the encounter with Han Wei and the others was a coincidence, then the encounter with Stephen and the others was an inevitability, just like a planet to the sun, gravity ah gravity!" Zhan Zhao continued, "Stephen's group of B-class individuals were saved by the crew of a luxury cruise ship, and thus became the adopted sons of the wealthy people on the cruise ship, and with their innate variety of talents, they became what people call the representatives of the elite world, the fighters within the high and mighty."

Everyone laughed – Zhan Zhao was desperately trying to speak Mandarin...

"Han Wei forgot about the past, but Bruce and the others didn't, so..." Zhan Zhao gently clapped his hands, "Mars collided with Earth."

The crowd nodded – One could imagine Stephen and the others recoiling at the sight of Han Wei at first, for some reason.

"After Stephen and the others found out that Han Wei didn't have memories of his past, they were slightly relieved, but in the end, it was a calamity, so they hated him and didn't allow him to integrate into their circle. But of course... it was natural that an individual from side A wouldn't be able to integrate into that group of side B. This is normal! "

The crowd nodded – That's how it was.

"But Han Wei's appearance has created a certain anxiety in Stephen and the others." Zhan Zhao reminded, "This is a side effect that occurred during Bruce's experiments, as I mentioned before."

"The unique proud son of heaven naturally won't allow there to be another existence that is exactly like himself, and even more perfect!" This time it was plain and easy to understand, everyone understood, and Qin Ou asked, "So Stephen and the others want to find the twins from back then and destroy them?"

"This is one aspect." Zhan Zhao stretched out two fingers, "There is another aspect, what is usually the single most important quality of a successful person?"

The crowd looked at Bai Jintang.

Bai Jintang and Lin Ruo spoke in unison, "Ambition."

"Correct." Zhan Zhao nodded, "What are business people most passionate about?"

The crowd looked at Bai Jintang again.

Bai Jintang and Lin Ruo almost spoke in unison again, "Resources."

"Sure enough, he's tall, rich and handsome!" Zhan Zhao shook his head, "That's why it's said that poor people buy cooking oil and rich people sell oil, ah, sinful."

"Don't digress!" Bao Zheng patiently looked at his watch while listening to Zhan Zhao solving the case, while wondering – Why is that ship sailing so slowly, it hasn't arrived yet!

"What is the most precious resource in this world?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Zhao Hu jumped to answer, "People!"

The others nodded, and Bai Jintang and Lin Ruo uttered a “che" and laughed.

"Isn't it people?" Zhao Hu asked.

Lin Ruo pointed to his head, "It's excellent people."

Zhao Hu looked at the sky, just step on these tall, rich and handsome men!

"Bruce and his research projects are the best and most valuable resources, because perfect humans can be created!" Bai Jintang looked at Zhan Zhao, "So apart from finding the twins and getting rid of them, Stephen and the others also want to go back to that island, find Bruce, find the resources, and even peek at the truth of the experiments back then, because it's actually a treasure!"

"Correct." Zhan Zhao laughed, “However, a small island on a vast ocean is so hard to find, until two things come along!"

"The shipwreck of PT1001, and... the shipwreck that Han Wei and Lin Ruo encountered?" Gongsun was considered to be the only one whose thinking could follow closely behind Zhan Zhao without being left behind, apart from Bai Yutang, "After PT1001 encountered pirates back then, the pirates took the ship off course, only to run into the Emilia sisters, everything was ill-fated!"

"But how did the Emilia sisters get on that ship?" Zhao Hu wondered.

“The same analogy." Zhan Zhao smiled, "Those twins were rescued, so why weren't the Emilia sisters?"

Everyone frowned.

Bai Yutang spoke, "No matter what people on whatever ship the Emilia sisters were saved by, or how many ships they encountered, the result was always that they killed everyone and took control of the ship!"

"Correct." Zhan Zhao nodded, "As I said earlier, the Emilia sisters' batch is different from these twins’. In other words, the Emilia sisters are older than everyone else, and they may not have been born on the island! It would be impossible for someone who had never left the island to know the location of the island, but if they were outsiders, they would know the location of the island clearly. The more powerful Emilia's ability is, the deeper their love for Bruce is... so..."

"Whatever ship they controlled, they would find a way to return to the island... In the process, their ship encountered PT1001, which was being attacked by pirates." Bai Yutang nodded, "They needed a bigger ship to go back to the island, so they boarded the boat and cut down all of them like watermelons, but... left one behind."

"Nguyen Van Gao!" The crowd remembered the creepy drug lord.

"Nguyen Van Gao was rescued from the sea three months after the ship lost contact, so... where did he go in those three months?" Zhan Zhao reminded.

"Taken to the island and met Bruce?" The crowd felt that this was the only reasonable explanation.

"In the case of Nguyen Van Gao, his situation is that he was implanted with a personality, and it's unknown whether he was released back or escaped on his own. What's noteworthy is that later on, a mysterious tycoon helped him out of his predicament, and... one important point is that Nguyen Van Gao created so many seals and is the ultimate scapegoat!"

"You mean, back then, the ones who spent a lot of money to bring Nguyen Van Gao to S City and used those stamps he created to kill people were Stephen and the others, and they were the ones who wanted to use Nguyen Van Gao as a scapegoat?" Zhao Hu was finally enlightened, "They thought of this scheme many years ago, the way to kill those twins after finding them is to create a series of serial killings, and in the end, the crime will be pushed onto Nguyen Van Gao... But why did Nguyen Van Gao want to kill Lin Ruo? And why does he still look like he's possessed by Emilia?"

“Hu Zi, deducing many things from one, circular thinking!" Zhan Zhao reached out and gently tapped Zhao Hu's head, "Stephen and the others loved Lin Ruo because of Bruce, and Nguyen Van Gao hates Lin Ruo because of Bruce."

"Nguyen Van Gao's well-timed escape and appearance to kill Lin Ruo, and being caught by us at the right time, conveniently pinned all the charges on him and cleared Stephen and the others of all suspicion." Zhao Hu turned the corner, "That is to say, it would have been a perfect plan, they just didn't expect..."

“They didn't expect a wild card to come out halfway, right by Lin Ruo's side, witnessing everything and guessing everything. She intervened as a third force, making the situation even more complicated." Zhan Zhao said.

The crowd thought for a moment, "That ferocious maid in Lin Ruo's house, Aria?"

"Aria and Xiao Mi's situations are similar." Zhan Zhao said with slight interest as he crossed his arms, "Xiao Mi has produced a certain amount of mutation due to her fever, this can be said to be a new direction for experimental research. Perhaps there is some sort of defect within her genes, and this defect has caused her to turn into a destabilised body. Similarly, what Xiao Mi has, Aria definitely has, whether she had a cold or flu or some other kind of experience, in short, she has also developed a mutation."

"But her basic goal is clear." Bai Yutang said, "She wants to kill Bruce, why?"

Zhan Zhao twirled his fingers and pointed to his head, "Circular thinking ah circular thinking!"

Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow, "The deeper the love the deeper the hate, Aria wants to kill Bruce because she feels betrayed by Bruce."

"This point was inspired by Jiang Nan." Zhan Zhao smiled, "All of Stephen's and the others' murder cases are all linked together with a clear purpose. The people they killed apart from the twins were all those who had something to do with the Emilia's voyage to sea, including that Jin Liang, who should have been silenced because he knew too much. Only Jiang Nan... she should not be someone that Stephen and the others want to kill, so why would she be killed? And using such a bizarre technique, letting her live such a painful and fearful life... is completely different from Stephen's and the others' tactics of reaching their goal and then stopping, so it seems that the hatred is even deeper?"

"I see, circular thinking?" Bai Yutang didn't need to be reminded by Zhan Zhao this time, "Because Jiang Nan is pretending to be Emilia, and Aria hates Emilia! Why that much? Continuing the circular thinking, she feels that the doctor betrayed her, probably because when she was swept away by the sea, Bruce didn't go to save her, but chose to save Emilia instead, so... she hates Emilia! And also hates Jiang Nan who played Emilia!"

Zhan Zhao nodded, "Smart."

"So it turns out that thinking in circles makes it smoother and smoother." Zhao Hu couldn't help but lament.

"You guys stop going round in circles for now."

At this time, Bao Zheng couldn't help but interrupt the crowd, "It's been more than half an hour, why hasn't that boat of Stephen and the others arrived yet?! Are they paddle it over?!"

Bao Zheng's words reminded the crowd.

Bai Ye, who had been leaning against the window without saying anything, said, "That boat has stopped moving since earlier."

"Stopped?" The crowd looked at each other in disbelief and all came to look around.

"Why?" Zhan Zhao didn't understand.

At this moment, Zhao Jue suddenly frowned and spoke to Bai Ye in a low voice.

Bai Ye's face sank.

Zhan Zhao vaguely heard the words that Zhao Jue said to Bai Ye, to be exact, there was only one word – Chameleon.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

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

Translated: July 29, 2023 by Angel

Edited: August 11, 2023 by Angel