S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 4 Chapter 115

The Murderer Who Returned From Hell 15 – Apple Core

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Time passed minute by minute.

Bai Yutang leaned against the huge iron door, staring at the dark grey concrete floor, lost in thought.

The surroundings were very quiet, with only the sound of Zhan Zhao turning the pages of his book, a sound that made Bai Yutang clearly feel that time was passing by bit by bit.

During this time, Bai Yutang's eyes would uncontrollably recall the scene he had just seen in the hospital corridor... in the darkness of the night, the silhouette on the roof of the distant building staring into the void.

Bai Yutang frowned slightly. Although he couldn't see it clearly, that silhouette gave him a feeling that some kind of intuition was struggling with his objective and rational mind.

After another unknown amount of time, Bai Yutang heard the sound of books being flipped through over there suddenly stop, so he walked over.

Behind the bookshelves, Zhan Zhao was leaning against the side of the bookshelf, already asleep. There was a pile of books as high as a small mountain in front of him, and the row of shelves labelled F in front of him was already empty.

Bai Yutang silently picked up all the books and put them back in their original places in alphabetical order.

When they were all put away, he found that Zhan Zhao was still holding a cup in his hand and that he had fallen asleep with a book in his hand.

Bai Yutang took the book out of Zhan Zhao's hand and looked at the cover, and saw that it was a travelling almanack. Turning to the page separated by Zhan Zhao's fingers, it was a set of landscape photos that seemed to introduce garden villas...

However, what Bai Yutang noticed was that behind the large expanse of small houses, there was a billboard that unexpectedly made it into the picture. That billboard was quite small, and on it was an advertisement about an artwork exhibition, and among the exhibits listed on the advertisement were the Wheel of Caleb and the Wife and Daughter sculpture. These familiar names immediately attracted Bai Yutang's attention. And the name of that exhibition was surprisingly – Return from Hell Artwork Exhibition. At the bottom of the billboard, there was the time of the exhibition, the address, and so on... but it was all just the beginning, and the details at the end were covered up by the garden villa! On the last line, there was the contact person, "Mr. F", and a mobile phone number, which was half covered up.

But...

Bai Yutang looked at the almanack again, it was the almanack of S City! He then looked specifically at the detailed time, it was three years ago.

Bai Yutang stood frozen there with a frown... Three years ago? Wasn't the Wheel of Caleb just found in a cave by Song Jiajia and their archaeological team? How come it came to be displayed in S City three years ago? And this Mr. F...

Thinking of this, Bai Yutang carefully looked at the several pictures and introductory texts listed on the billboard. Because of the resolution, the details weren't quite visible, but besides the Wheel of Caleb and Wife and Daughter, there was one more thing – Pripyat's apple core...

Bai Yutang opened his mouth slightly and looked down at Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao was sleeping very deeply. He should have flipped through too many books in a short period of time to the point that his eyes were overworked, so he was forced to go to sleep... However, this cat didn't fall asleep halfway through reading it, but rather, he finally found what he was looking for, and as soon as he relaxed, he fell asleep.

Bai Yutang reached out and took the almanack, gently picked up Zhan Zhao, left the huge "playground" and drove back to SCI.

As he drove, Bai Yutang repeatedly pondered the words "Pripyat's apple core" in his mind.

"Pripyat" was a dead city left behind after the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, resembling a huge graveyard.

Bai Yutang had read about this unfortunate little town in some publications before. What caught his attention wasn't the two-metre-long catfish or the rats the size of pigs that the world was talking about, what puzzled him even more was... the colours.

Bai Yutang originally thought that a deserted city was equivalent to a ruin, however, it was unknown whether it was the photographer's method of taking photos that was too high end or whether the pictures printed by the magazine were too saturated... but the ruins Bai Yutang saw had splashes of colour. In particular, there were various plants. He didn't know if it was the general law of nature that the more poisonous the creature, the more beautiful it was, but the plants in the ruins became more and more colourful.

Nothing in the city of Pripyat was brought out because it was all strongly radioactive, and even the buildings were buried... However, as for the apple core...

Bai Yutang inexplicably thought of the football that was stolen from Xu Lie's house. Could the slight radioactivity detected in the football be related to this Pripyat apple core?

Zhan Zhao was still sleeping. Given Bai Yutang's understanding of him, it would take at least four to five hours for this cat to wake up if he was exhausted.

So, while waiting for a red light, Bai Yutang fished out his phone and pressed the speakerphone button, calling Jiang Ping.

"Head." The crowd on Jiang Ping's side was actually waiting for Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, and when they finally called, many of them gathered around.

"Check something for me." Bai Yutang started the car, but instead of driving to the police station, he drove towards one of the several garden villa districts in S City.

"Check what?" Jiang Ping received the high-concentration coffee distributed by Ma Xin, and his spirit soared as he prepared to tap on the computer.

"Pripyat's apple core." Bai Yutang said.

"Wow..." Jiang Ping said as he tapped the keyboard, "Head, you have such heavy tastes?"

"And," Bai Yutang said, "help me check if there was any record of the Wheel of Caleb entering the country for an exhibition three years ago."

"Three years ago?" The others who were gathered around Jiang Ping and listening to the call were puzzled, "Wasn't the Wheel of Caleb just found this year?"

"There may be others."

At this time, Gongsun interjected.

"There are others?" Bai Yutang also heard it and asked, "More than one?"

"The Wheel of Caleb is just an ancient spell." Gongsun said, "Equivalent to a totem-like existence. This one is precious because it's the first time a physical object has been found."

"Head."

Jiang Ping first checked the domestic exhibition information, "There's nothing, I've checked all the major art galleries, exhibition halls, museums, even the planetariums and science and technology museums, there's no relevant exhibition record of the Wheel of Caleb in the country, and the Wheel of Caleb's entry this time is the first time it's ever entered the country."

Bai Yutang couldn't help but frown slightly as he drove to the entrance of a neighbourhood and parked by the flower bed. He picked up his cell phone and snapped a photo of the billboard that was in that almanack, and sent it to Jiang Ping, "Look into this."

Jiang Ping looked at the photo and frowned, "Wow... there is even Wife and Daughter ah? Isn't it a scam?"

"This is a billboard for an underground exhibition, isn't it?" Bai Chi suddenly came over and said.

"Underground exhibition?" Bai Yutang was puzzled. He reached over and took a blanket from the back seat to cover Zhan Zhao.

"It's like how circuses or some underground establishments in some parks often exhibit things like human-headed snake-tailed monsters, mermaids, all kinds of lizards and cobras, and whatnot. It seems like there are also dried corpse exhibitions and zombie exhibitions and whatnot." Bai Chi said.

Bai Yutang nodded, drove the car a little further and stopped, picking up the almanack and turning his face to compare...

At this time, the sun was gradually rising in the east and the morning sunlight poured down, illuminating this garden villa area. Except for the fact that the premises looked slightly older and the trees were slightly taller...

Bai Yutang lifted that almanack and compared it, it was almost exactly the same.

In the distance, the billboard still stood, only, the advertisement on it had been changed, and it was now an advertisement for a certain property that was ready to open.

Bai Yutang leaned against the back of his seat, looking at that billboard in a daze.

"Head."

At this moment, Jiang Ping's voice came, "The information related to the Pripyat apple core has been found. Damn, another amazing case!"

Bai Yutang slightly raised an eyebrow, "Tell me about it."

"It's like this." Jiang Ping said, "Even though Pripyat is empty, there are still people coming and going, for example, cleaners and gardeners wearing protective clothing."

Bai Yutang frowned, "Gardeners and cleaners? It's a dead city, what's the point of going in?"

"I don't know, probably out of some kind of habit, or for work?" Saying that, Jiang Ping added, "You also know that the Eastern Europeans have a high demand for graves."

Bai Yutang looked at the sky, "Continue."

"It's like this, one of the gardeners was a native of Pripyat, and after the nuclear leak happened, he left the area with his family along with the rest of the local residents. Of course, probably because of his frequent travels in and out of the nuclear radiation area, he suffers from leukaemia." Jiang Ping continued, "His daughter happened to be pregnant at the time of the nuclear leak, and thus... gave birth to a deformed child suffering from leukaemia and found out that she herself was suffering from a terminal illness."

Bai Yutang couldn't help but frown, "A terrible calamity."

"And then, you also know that compensation for a disaster like a nuclear explosion is complicated, and it's hard to assess the damages because they are consequential." Jiang Ping said, "That gardener's son-in-law was a truck driver, and he happened to be out of town when the explosion occurred, so he was spared. However... he was faced with a mess when he returned and decided to abandon his daughter."

Bai Yutang frowned and nodded, "Ruthless, and then? Where's the apple core?"

"That old man hated his son-in-law for abandoning his sick daughter and grandson, so... he invited his son-in-law to eat a few apples." Jiang Ping said, tsking twice.

Bai Yutang froze, then frowned, "Apples from Pripyat?"

Jiang Ping nodded helplessly, "Yes, Pripyat produced an abundance of apples, but after the nuclear disaster, no one dared to pick the apples even when they were ripe, much less eat them. That gardener grandpa hid two big bright red apples and went back and fed them to his son-in-law as if he was Snow White."

"And then?" Bai Yutang asked, "What happened to his son-in-law?"

"He died." Jiang Ping said, "There's a large amount of toxins deposited in the nuclear fallout area, especially some radioactive elements like americium, plutonium and so on, so messy. It's said that one capsule can poison hundreds of millions of people to death."

Bai Yutang frowned slightly and rubbed his chin, "And then?"

"And then..." Jiang Ping frowned, "Wow... it's not what I thought it was. So scary."

"Continue!" Bai Yutang urged.

"It's like this Head! After that gardener's son-in-law died, the local police autopsy found radioactive apples in his stomach and rushed to his house. At the gardener's house, both his daughter and grandson were already dead." Jiang Ping sighed, "The gardener gave them the same apples because, judging by the way his son-in-law died, he probably thought it tasted good and that the death was tremendously quick and without much pain."

Bai Yutang frowned.

"But... something terrible happened after that!" Jiang Ping said seriously, "The local police wanted the escaped gardener, but he just disappeared. However, a month later, the other staff members in Pripyat reported that all the apples on the apple trees in the radiation zone were gone."

Bai Yutang was slightly stunned, "The apples were all picked?"

"Wow..." Zhao Hu, who was listening on the side, couldn't help but say, "How many Snow White's would have to be poisoned? There aren't enough princes."

Everyone also frowned. What was the name of that internet phrase that I saw on the pop up screen the other day? That's right... Thinking about it carefully, I feel extremely scared..

"After some searching, the police found a large sack of apples in a ruined warehouse, only..."

"Only what?" Bai Yutang was anxious, "You should finish at once, don't have so many twists!"

"Only, only the rotten apple meat was left, all the apple cores which are also the apple seeds were gone!" Jiang Ping finished in one breath, "According to the detailed statistics, there are around one hundred to one hundred and twenty apple seeds. If they are put into a bag after drying in the sun, they can probably be casually put into a pocket, or..."

"In a football?" Bai Yutang picked up.

Everyone looked at each other in disbelief.

"Mhmm." Gongsun nodded, "Apple seeds are very small and are inside the apple, the radiation they contain really won't be very large, and if there's a radiation-proof bag wrapped around them, it'll be even less of a problem."

Saying that, Gongsun asked Bai Yutang, "Do you suspect that what was hidden inside Xu Lie's football was that bag of apple seeds?"

Bai Yutang held his forehead and sighed, feeling a little tired, and asked, "I just want to know, the apples grown from this kind of apple seed, are they poisonous?"

Everyone opened their mouths, but no one could answer.

"Evidently, it's not too difficult to destroy mankind."

Bai Yutang turned around and saw that Zhan Zhao had already woken up at some point, wrapped in the blanket and moving, somewhat lethargic. Probably because he was too tired, he was still sleepily spread out on the seat, and spoke slowly, "A single capsule can poison hundreds of millions of people, and a few boxes of pills can make the earth go back to the distant past. What nature took billions of years to create, mankind can destroy it in an instant, truly the most powerful prodigal son."

"Cat," Bai Yutang gently rubbed his eyebrows, "don't talk about something so horrifying, there's something worrying about where this case is going."

"If what was in the football was really the legendary Pripyat's apple core," Zhan Zhao turned his face, looking out the window at the same scenery as in the almanack, as well as the piece of billboard that was still conspicuous and eye-catching after a few years of being exposed to the wind and sun, "we need to find this F as soon as possible!"

Just then, the sound of tapping on the computer from the other side suddenly stopped, and Jiang Ping's slightly excited voice then came over, "Head! I seem to have found that Mr. F!"

Bai Yutang laughed, reached out and touched Zhan Zhao's head beside him, praising, "Really capable."

On the other end, Jiang Ping giggled happily. Bai Yutang's tone was slightly mushy, but it was quite enjoyable to listen to.

‿︵‿︵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: December 4, 2023 by Angel

Edited: December 7, 2023 by Angel