S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 54

Misplaced of the Three Murderers 01 – Bug

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After I was captured, three months passed in a flash.

In the beginning, the entire SCI team was in high spirits, waiting for those legendary misplaced to come to their door to snatch I so that they could follow the clues to find N and then find K and then destroy the evil king organisation in one fell swoop, to put an end to the half-century-long crime.

However... there is often a gap between ideals and reality.

Those so-called misplaced didn't appear, the bunch of black-clothed people that SCI caught at the airport were all judged to be professional killers, and even the employer who hired the murderer was found, it was one of Yue Hai's business rivals. In the words of Zhan Zhao, a middle-aged uncle who looked like a scapegoat at first glance...

As time passed, Zhan Zhao started to get cranky little by little.

Even more cranky than Zhan Zhao was Gongsun Ce.

Ever since I was captured, Gongsun had been involved in the research team formed by Mura and Fu Min, and after further understanding I's situation, Gongsun's entire being wasn't too good anymore.

As time went on and on, Zhan Zhao and Gongsun, the two most knowledgeable people in SCI, began to show signs of going berserk.

Zhan Zhao was extremely high from time to time, feeling that there was a breakthrough in the investigation and that he was about to see the sun in the clouds! But he soon fell to rock bottom, his head drooped and his interest lacking. He felt that the direction of the investigation was originally psychology, but it started to develop towards biology, which was not interesting, and there was no hope...

In addition, there was another thing that made Zhan Zhao unhappy – Zhao Jue ran away!

Zhan Zhao's teeth ground loudly when he thought about it. This kid dug such a big hole and ran away on his own, it was simply ridiculous!

Gongsun's emotional ups and downs were also relatively big. The high times were usually when he received the investigation report that Mura and the others had passed on to him.

But Gongsun's high spirits were full of doubt, and every now and then the sound of various pots and pans being dropped could be heard coming from the forensic room, accompanied by Gongsun's roar of, "How can this be! Why?! Why on earth is this?!"

Compared to Zhan Zhao who just wilted, Gongsun in his down state was a bit more intimidating, especially when it came to eating. All the meat was dissected into strips by him, and the fish and shrimp were disassembled and reassembled, causing the dining hall to be cloudy, with no one daring to get close to him...

The two brothers, Bai Jintang and Bai Yutang, looked at the two famous scholars beside them who were in a state of lifelessness and looked to be on the verge of collapsing, and they both felt that going on like this was not the way to go.

Three months passed by in a flash, and N ultimately didn't give a single clue, so Bao Zheng had the SCI crowd close this inheritor case for the time being.

I was put into a special prison, enjoying one of the most closely guarded incarcerations ever.

......

There haven't been any big cases lately and it's hit golden week, so Bao Zheng suggested that the whole SCI crew go out and have some fun, as a stress reliever.

It just so happened that the Bai Group had recently completed the construction of an amusement park and was ready to put it into operation.

The twins enthusiastically invited the crowd to go to the amusement park, which hadn't opened yet, and gave them a priority experience.

S City has quite a few playgrounds, both large and small. What made the Bai Group's different was that there were no roller coasters, no pirate ships, no aquarium and no zoo. This playground had a series of simulated real-world combat games, escape rooms, and detective scenarios... as well as a host of other popular games that the Bai Group had brought to life.

The playground was located in the northern outskirts of S City and covered a wide area. There were two game buildings, ten or so scene sheds, and a large area of grassy woods and whatnot, with a wide range of functions. In addition to being a playground, it is said that it was also a film and television base of the Bai Group, and it's full of gimmicks.

The twins would also play, bringing a large group of people from SCI to experience the actual game, so they should be able to get more professional feedback, right?

The north side of S City was by the sea. This large playground had a sea-side road on one side, as well as a gym, a coffee bar, a café and other things built halfway up the hill so that you can enjoy the wind, look at the sea and bask in the sun.

Bai Jintang learned a lesson from the past, and now no matter what project is opened and unveiled, there would be no publicity, no celebrities, no ribbon cutting, and he and the family's band of bad luck stars could not be present.

Therefore, the Bai Group has been peaceful recently, with good performance and no chaos, and Big Brother Bai is very happy.

Although this playground has not yet opened, it has already been hyped up on the Internet, after all, the theme was appealing. Real-life games, escape rooms and such, they are the most popular entertainment for young people nowadays, and it is said that the first month's tickets have already sold out.

......

The whole SCI team, including all the family members, met at an open-air café in the playground with a view of the sea. This time, there were a lot of people, and even the parents of the families came with them.

Bao Zheng greeted the group of parents and went to the rooftop indoor café to drink tea and chat.

Qi Le, Ma Xin and their group of beautiful women ran to the indoor water park. It is said that this water park was built like a fairyland.

The entire SCI staff, their families, and all kinds of people who like fighting games gathered together, divided into four teams, received all kinds of advanced equipment and entered the actual combat field to start playing games.

In addition to the hardware of this playground being quite advanced, the most important thing was that the software was also very strong.

The actual combat games all had special levelling tasks, and because they were involved in the creation of the game, Jiang Ping and Xiao Bai Chi, the two technical advisors, did not play with them. The two of them and the twins were in the monitoring room observing the entire game process so that they could make final improvements.

Just like that, in the sunny holiday playground, the girls jumped into the pool, the boys ran into the woods, the uncles and aunts drank tea, the tech geeks picked up their keyboards, and Big Brother Bai abducted Gongsun... everyone's body and mind were liberated...

Of course, everyone excluded Zhan Zhao.

The possibility of letting Zhan Zhao participate in the actual game was zero, because to do the mission, in addition to Zhan Zhao himself being lazy, none of the groups wanted him to slow them down.

Before Bai Yutang left, he stuffed a hundred yuan into his hand, pointed to the café across the street, told him to go have an ice cream and look at the sea, and then mercilessly went off to play.

Zhan Zhao clutched the hundred yuan and walked towards the counter of the café with the equally lazy Lisbon.

Fortunately, the ice cream looked pretty good. Zhan Zhao was holding the ice cream in one hand and a spoon in the other, standing on the terrace and looking at the café seats in front of him, ready to pick a more comfortable angle and sit down to read a book or something.

Scanning the area, Zhan Zhao narrowed his eyes slightly – He saw a familiar face!

Slipping over with his ice cream, Zhan Zhao greeted the person sitting at a table, reading a book, "Dr. Hao."

Like Zhan Zhao, Hao Ling was also alone.

Hao Ling raised her head, smiled and nodded to Zhan Zhao while reaching out and touching Lisbon's big furry head.

The two brothers Lan Qi and Lan Xi went to play the game with Bai Yutang, and Hao Ling couldn't go swimming with Ma Xin, for a simple reason... because Hao Ling was pregnant.

Zhan Zhao sat down next to Hao Ling and asked, "How many months?"

Hao Ling smiled and touched her stomach, "Seven months."

Zhan Zhao smiled and nodded, then said to the cell phone on the table, "Lan Qi, I'll take care of her well, play the games in peace."

Hao Ling laughed and picked up the phone, and sure enough, there was a call connected.

From the other end of the phone came the sound of Lan Qi's embarrassed thanks, and the sound of laughter from Lan Xi and the others.

Pressing the end call button, Hao Ling put down the phone and looked at Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao was holding an ice cream and said as he ate, "It's best for pregnant women to eat less raw and cold things."

Hao Ling couldn't laugh or cry. She just saw the ice cream in Zhan Zhao's hand and there was a flash of thought in her head, she wanted to eat it so badly! It's been a long time since she ate it... She didn't know how Zhan Zhao could tell, can he read minds?

Zhan Zhao ate the ice cream while observing Hao Ling, then put down the cup and asked her, "What do you want to ask me?"

Hao Ling was once again surprised.

Zhan Zhao stroked his chin, "Not sure if you should ask? Why don't you tell me, we're just sitting around anyway."

Hao Ling smiled helplessly and asked Zhan Zhao, "You saw that student of mine just now, right?"

Zhan Zhao blinked. Hao Ling's students, other than the group of little baddies in the mad doctor case, were Ma Xin and Zhao Qin. While Ma Xin was seen every day, Zhao Qin was less frequently encountered. He glanced at him earlier without paying attention, and he should have been divided into groups with Yutang and the others to go and play on the battlefield.

Zhan Zhao asked, "You mean Zhao Qin?"

Hao Ling nodded.

"What happened to him?" Zhan Zhao had always felt that Zhao Qin, like Zhao Hu, was someone who was rather comical. Although Zhao Qin looked tall and powerful, he cried easily. The day he learnt that Hao Ling was not dead, the kid cried a lot.

Hao Ling shook her head, "He's okay, it's his teacher."

Zhan Zhao thought for a moment, "Chen Yin?"

Hao Ling nodded.

Chen Yin was the veterinarian who scolded Luban into successfully losing weight. Later, they learnt that he was a famous zoologist and Gongsun's old friend. He had helped a lot with previous cases. Zhao Qin was Chen Yin's student as well as his assistant, and just like Ma Xin and Xiatian, he was a good student, but blindly worshipped his teacher and was helpless because his teacher was too tough, so he was often bullied.

"Zhao Qin said that Chen Yin has been a bit agitated and more irritable lately." Hao Ling said.

Zhan Zhao looked at the sky. So many people have been agitated lately, he and Gongsun were also cranky...

"What is he agitated about?" Zhan Zhao finished eating the ice cream and a sweet taste remained in his mouth. He asked Hao Ling to wait for a moment, then stood up and ran to the café.

Hao Ling was puzzled, but not a moment later, she saw Zhan Zhao running back with a food box. Opening it, there were two chicken legs in it.

Hao Ling looked at Zhan Zhao with some confusion – She suddenly wanted to eat chicken legs just now... How did Zhan Zhao know? Is this a sensing ability?

Zhan Zhao took a pair of fast food gloves and gave them to her, and wore a pair himself, so the two of them chatted as they ate the chicken legs.

Hao Ling told Zhan Zhao, "Chen Yin recently encountered a strange thing, and several of his friends encountered the same thing."

Zhan Zhao was puzzled – Chen Yin's peers would all be zoologists. This profession is actually quite peaceful, as long as they don't mess with things in the way that Jurassic Park did, they shouldn't come across any big troubles, right?

"Several local nature museums have been burgled recently."

Hao Ling's words stunned Zhan Zhao.

"Nature museums?" Zhan Zhao was bewildered, "What did they steal? Fossils?"

Hao Ling shook her head, "Animal specimens."

Zhan Zhao was even more confused – If one were to rank the various museums in the world, the security level of nature museums would definitely be the lowest. Apart from large fossils, there were only animal and plant specimens inside, why steal those?

"What kind of animals?"

Zhan Zhao's curiosity was piqued... If one nature museum was robbed, it's okay, but many of them were robbed, that means there's a gang or a repeat offender... Which thief is so unconventional and aims to steal specimens?

"They are all specimens of rare insects." Hao Ling was helpless, "The general security level of nature museums is really quite low, so there are no clues at all now."

"Chen Yin is irritable because of this?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"Zhao Qin said that he's been talking furiously for the past two days, saying something about how there might be someone who wants to destroy the world..."

"Cough cough..." Zhan Zhao almost swallowed the chicken bone, and asked with a laugh, "How can a few bug specimens destroy the world? Is it really Jurassic Park? Or a raccoon virus biohazard?"

"Zhao Qin told me about bugs and genes the other day, but I didn't pay much attention to it." Hao Ling was also helpless, "Zhao Qin has to write a thesis these days, as well as help his teacher check all kinds of information, but he also has to work a part-time job. We invited him to our home for dinner the other day, and he suddenly fell asleep while eating... His face almost smashed into the bowl."

Zhan Zhao laughed when he heard it, "Chen Yin and Gongsun are the same, if there is something they can't figure out, it's easy to get caught in the crossfire, and the people around them are more miserable. Gongsun has also been cranky these past few months, checking a bunch of information, Xiatian and Ma Xin have been crying to Yutang every day about their lord buying people's lives."

At this point, Zhan Zhao finished gnawing on his chicken leg, drew a tissue and asked Hao Ling, "You told me about this matter... to suggest that you think Chen Yin's words are reasonable?"

"How should I say it? Chen Yin, like Gongsun, is an industry top, and he's not someone who will talk nonsense." Hao Ling gently touched her stomach, "I hope that the baby will be healthy and happy for eternity, if there really is a hint of something that can destroy the world, it's better to snuff it out first!"

Zhan Zhao was quite idle recently, so he nodded, "When they come back in a while, I'll talk to Chen Yin and see what the situation is..."

Before he finished speaking, his phone suddenly rang... The caller ID was from the police station.

Zhan Zhao frowned – It was golden week and they still called? It's not a big case, is it?

Answering the phone, the caller was the officer on duty at the police station, "Dr. Zhan, have you bought any contraband recently?"

"Huh?" Zhan Zhao was dumbfounded for a moment, "Contraband?"

"I received a parcel addressed to you just now, and the biochemical alarm went off during the inspection."

Zhan Zhao gasped coldly, the biochemical alarm? So advanced? Who sent him some virus? In an instant, anthrax, virus, sarin, poisonous gas and such all flashed through Doctor Zhan's mind.

"But the experts from the security department came and checked just now, and after scanning, no biochemical virus was found." The police officer on duty also gasped.

Zhan Zhao was wondering why that biochemical alarm went off when the police officer continued, "But through X-ray fluoroscopy, we saw what's inside, and it's a bit unusual... The biochemical alarm went off because what's inside can move."

Zhan Zhao was shocked, "Is it possible that it's alive?"

"Mhmm! It's a big bug, kept in an ecological box." The police officer replied, "The people from the security department said they want to open the box and take a look."

Zhan Zhao naturally agreed, "You can let them open it and take a look. Does the receipt have the sender's information written on it?"

"No." The police officer on the other end replied, and at the same time, Zhan Zhao could hear the sound of unpacking.

Not a moment later, the police officer's voice came, "Dr. Zhan, there's only an ecological box in the package, and there's rocks, moss and a colourful beetle in it. The people from the security department said that there is no danger, should I put it in the storage box for you?"

"Oh... can you take a picture to show me?" Zhan Zhao was quite curious.

Not a moment later, the police officer sent the photo over.

Zhan Zhao took his cell phone and looked at it with Hao Ling...

The box was a very common kind of ecological box. After all, Zhan Zhao and their family had two children, Luo Yang and Xiao Yi, who used this kind of box in the summer to raise scarab beetles, longhorn beetles, and other such bugs. The bugs were all caught by Zhao Hu, who climbed up the trees to help them. Sometimes the lid of the box was forgotten and the bugs disappeared. Bai Yutang would go on a rampage, and the whole family would have to clean up immediately! Bucket after bucket of disinfectant water was poured, and the entire room smelled like a hospital.

"This is a scarab beetle, right?" Zhan Zhao asked Hao Ling.

Hao Ling stroked her chin, obviously not having done much research on bugs, "Mhmm, it looks quite similar, but aren't all scarab beetles black, why is this one bluish-purple?"

Zhan Zhao also felt strange, "Is it dyed? Aren't all flowers dyed in various colours nowadays?"

Hao Ling thought for a moment, "Can you send it to Chen Yin?"

Zhan Zhao then sent the picture to Chen Yin and asked, "What kind of bug is this?"

After roughly only three seconds, Zhan Zhao's phone rang, and it was Chen Yin calling.

Hao Ling wondered, "Isn't he playing in the field battle?"

Zhan Zhao simply pressed a speakerphone, and he heard Chen Yin's shouts from over there, "Ahhhhhh..."

At the same time, Zhao Hu's voice came, "Don't shout!"

"Damn, exposed!"

"Run!"

"Surrounded!"

"Ah! Those grandsons opened fire!"

"Captain is dead! Captain is dead!"

There was a pinging and a jumble on the other end of the phone, interspersed with Chen Yin's shouts, "Miracle! It's a miracle ahhhhhh...."

Zhan Zhao held the phone and stared at Hao Ling, who was stunned for a while as she held half a chicken drumstick, and asked, "Shall I go buy you a bottle of water?"

Hao Ling nodded silently – She just wanted to drink water... so amazing!

‿︵‿︵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: February 16, 2024 by Angel

Edited: May 16, 2024 by Angel