S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 70

Misplaced of the Three Murderers 17 – New Monster

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The man who suddenly appeared in the computer video, calling himself the pharmacist, attracted everyone's attention.

Gongsun, as a doctor, judged from a professional point of view. This person's physical condition looked very bad, and it was likely that he was already very sick... Of course, everything was judged through the video footage, and it was possible that it was just the effect of make-up.

The pharmacist coughed softly, cleared his throat, leaned against a desk behind him, and spoke slowly.

"At 3:40 p.m. yesterday, the last patriarch of the organisation died." The pharmacist gently shook a document in his hand, "I, as the sole survivor of the mid-level leadership, inherited the entirety of King's legacy, as well as control of the organisation's time."

As the pharmacist spoke, he seemed to find it a little amusing, and the change in mood caused him to cough violently.

After he coughed for a while, he pulled a handkerchief out of his pants pocket and wiped his mouth, which was bloodied at the corners.

"All six generations have serious genetic defects." Zhan Zhao had read the research data that Zhao Jue had given him earlier and had a general understanding of the organisation's main generations of test subjects.

"As you can see, I'm also showing symptoms of overaging." The pharmacist waved his hand lightly, "But this is not the point... In this world, many old traditions have been subverted, and newborn forces have developed and grown. The originally mainstream ones have been squeezed to the periphery, while the originally peripheral ones have begun to gradually occupy the mainstream position. This kind of competition in a short period is like a long-term evolution, the rise is unstoppable and the decline is unsalvageable."

The SCI crowd listened to the man's unhurried narration, but there was nothing to refute. What this man said was true, the world was indeed changing at a rapid pace.

"The organisation was originally created because of ambition, and some occasional talents." The pharmacist continued, "However, the research along the way did not go well, and many detours were taken."

With that, he gestured behind himself, reached for the camera on his desk, and turned it around to the surrounding area.

Through the computer screen, the crowd realised that he was in a huge display hall similar to a library, surrounded by a large number of bookcases and display cabinets, with all kinds of photographs hanging on the walls, as well as batches of information, rows of specimens, experimental vessels, workbenches and so on.

With a cursory glance, Zhan Zhao discovered many familiar elements, several of which they had encountered in previous cases they had investigated.

"This is all of the organisation's research results. Of course, those that were too useless have already been destroyed, whether it's information or test subjects." The pharmacist continued, "The experiments were developed to the end, and the top pieces that were cultivated were nothing more than imposters like G."

Zhao Jue whispered to Zhan Zhao, "Some of the hallucinogenic drugs that G relies on should all come from his handiwork."

Jiang Ping also identified the true identity of this "pharmacist" through facial recognition, and handed the tablet to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang.

According to the information, this "pharmacist" was originally named Socita, a chemist of South American descent, who was officially labelled as having disappeared for many years.

"Cough cough."

After showing the "collection room" he was in, the pharmacist returned the camera and continued his conversation, "As you can see, like G, it's all a pile of junk, however... the road to certain failure is often accompanied by accidental success. You should have come across a number of derivatives of the organisation's experiments, many of which you have caught with your own hands. Especially recently, I've shown you a more comprehensive look at the witness, the inheritors, and the misplaced..."

Hearing this, the crowd couldn't help but frown – Show? Meaning this series of cases were all arranged by him?

"They're all side projects of some experiments, things that were born by chance." The pharmacist spread his hands, "At first glance, they are no different from ordinary people, but in essence, they are vastly different from ordinary people."

After saying that, the pharmacist turned back, picked up a stack of folders from the table, and showed them to the crowd, "The bad assets left behind by the organisation, I have passed them on to you for elimination. There are still some excellent assets that have survived, which are all in my hands."

The crowd couldn't help but frown – What did that mean?

"The witness, the inheritors and the misplaced were created through the study of skin." The pharmacist put down the information and went behind the desk, pulling down a roll-up projection screen and walking over to switch on the projector.

On the screen, a large number of photographs and data were projected.

Like a teacher, the pharmacist pulled out a pointer and explained the pictures to the crowd one by one.

"This project was initiated by G. Back then, he went into the jungle with an expedition team and discovered a large number of legends about the 'skin' in the local indigenous culture. Combining the jungle's herbal-based hallucinogenic drugs and modern hypnosis patterns, then collecting a series of biology-related items, he relied on a group of science monsters, including Zhou Anming and Qian Yumin, to create a project. However, at the beginning of the experiment, Zhou Anming and Qian Yumin were essentially out of G's control, or rather, G had forgotten about this project because of other projects. It wasn't until recently that G found out that the forgotten project had actually shown new results that could be the organisation's saving grace, so he lost his mind and went looking for the inheritors, only to expose himself and eventually get caught. Of course, this was inevitable, after all, in front of absolute strength, all speculation is meaningless."

After saying that, the pharmacist took a slight break, picked up a teacup and took a sip of water.

"But... you also captured the hunting family and that mathematician, right?" The pharmacist smiled, "In addition, when you guys were handling cases before, you also found some not-so-good ones, such as Amelia, Ghost, and so on."

The pharmacist's narration aroused some memories in the crowd. There were indeed a large number of dangerous people that were related to these experiments, those people were like time bombs that could explode at any time and were extremely harmful.

"The mathematician was just one of the inheritors, but G also knew that there was no way to capture him, so he foolishly tried to take advantage of you guys." The pharmacist picked up the stack of documents from earlier again and showed them to the crowd, "There are quite a few more terrifying existences like the mathematician, Amelia, Zhou Anming... and many more. These are all accidental success stories on the way to the organisation's failure... Of course, they're not necessarily successes, it's only fair to say that these are the new monsters that have replaced the monsters of the old times and climbed to the top."

The crowd couldn't help but frown – New monsters...

"These people, some of them are still within the organisation's control, some of them have escaped, and some of them have set up their own ambitious units... Of course, with the destruction of the organisation, they will all be 'free' in the end!" The pharmacist reached out, scratching his messy curls, "These monsters mingle in the crowd, some hiding in dark corners, others standing grandly in the spotlight, but they all share the same traits, extremely unstable, highly dangerous, and possessing traits that are above average, either physically or mentally. "

"There are records of their basic information in these profiles. Even if it's just a description and a few scattered pictures, it's the only way you'll be able to get to know them and capture them." The pharmacist said, coughing again.

He was seen reaching off-screen and bringing forth a pill bottle.

Opening the bottle, he poured out a few pills and took them.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both stared at the height of the hand he had just reached out to the screen and deduced – there was probably another person off-camera, and that pill bottle was handed to him by someone.

"Back to the point." The pharmacist reached out and took something else as he said, "What is the purpose of this video I'm recording for you?"

With that, he placed the object in his hand in front of the camera.

It was seen to be a timer, and the time on the timer was thirteen days, twenty-three hours, fifty-nine minutes, and sixty seconds.

"That factory from earlier," the pharmacist prompted, "I knew it was a trap set by you guys, but I hired someone to blow it up anyway, just to show you that I am capable of destroying such a large building."

"This timer," the pharmacist pointed to the timer, "it's the explosive timing device I set up. Based on the symptoms, I reckon that I have about two weeks of life left at best, and within two weeks, I will be dead... And as a final curtain call to this mediocre life of mine, I am going to give you guys a puzzle, which would fall under the category of being a challenge I am setting for you, right? Think of it as a contest between a man-made test subject and a naturally powerful person."

"The rules of the game are simple. Within two weeks, no matter what method you use, if you can find me, you will be able to turn off the detonator and take all the information in this experimental building." While saying that, the pharmacist shook those documents, "Especially the files of these new monsters, you guys can follow the files and catch these monsters. It's hard to say if you will save the world, but at least you can save some lives, right?"

"On the contrary, if you don't find me within two weeks, then this building, along with the entire legacy of the organisation in it and these files will all be blown up." The pharmacist smiled, "Of course, this is not much of a loss to you, and anyway, even without the test subjects, there are countless monsters in this world... that you shouldn't be able to catch even if you exhaust your entire lifetime. But this competition, in the event that I win, all of these monsters will be completely free."

Everyone glanced at the progress bar on the screen and realised that it was about to be filled to capacity.

"Of course, there are still a few hints for you guys." A small smile finally appeared on the pharmacist's sickly face.

"The entire clue to where I am, lies in the murder of Dr. Mark Fan." The pharmacist held out two fingers. His fingers were dry, thin and long, the tips showed signs of being burned by chemicals, and his index finger had a slight bend in it.

"First of all, Dr. Mark Fan didn't commit suicide, he was murdered." The pharmacist withdrew one finger, "Second, the person who killed him was certainly not me, and it has nothing to do with the previous inheritors, misplaced or any of that. It was an elaborate murder, and as long as you catch the murderer within a fortnight, you will be able to get hints to clues that will lead you to me. These are all of my last words, and I hope that within two weeks, we will meet."

After the pharmacist finished speaking, he reached over and hit the timer, and the footage finished playing.

The playback screen on the computer screen automatically turned off, and in its place, there was a black countdown screen.

After a beep, the countdown began, and the string of numbers, thirteen days, twenty-three hours, fifty-nine minutes, and sixty seconds, began to decrease second by second.

The entire SCI looked towards Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang.

After the two of them, Zhan and Bai, exchanged glances, they turned back to look at Zhao Jue and Bai Ye.

Zhao Jue's face was filled with disappointment as he let out a "humph" and went downstairs.

Bai Ye helplessly showed his hands to the crowd before following Zhao Jue downstairs and out of the villa.

When they arrived at the entrance of the villa, Bao Zheng arrived with Zhan Qitian and Bai Yunwen, and the three of them saw Zhao Jue leaving the villa with a black face, walking towards his car with big strides, getting into the car and slamming the door in one motion, with an air of resentment.

Bao Sir and the two fathers, Zhan and Bai, were baffled and asked Bai Ye what was going on.

Bai Ye gave a general explanation, then caught up with Zhao Jue and drove away.

Bao Zheng walked to the entrance of the villa just as Bai Yutang and the others came down.

Bai Yutang did the handover with Ai Hu and the others and told the rest of the police force to go back first, they were going to take over the investigation of Dr. Mark Fan's murder.

Bai Yutang asked Ma Han and Zhao Hu to take his father and Zhan Zhao's father down to the basement to take a look around. However, because the murder was a serious matter, nothing in the villa could be touched or moved.

Bao Zheng, on the other hand, walked into the doctor's office where the murder scene was and looked for Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao asked him, "Where did Zhao Jue and Bai Ye go?"

Bao Zheng thought for a moment, "Went to the grave, I guess. There has to be an explanation."

Zhan Zhao's eyes were wide open and very bright, "To the grave? Whose..."

Bao Zheng glared at him, "If you can solve the case within two weeks, I will tell you all the gossip from the past, but if you can't, all of you will go to clean the toilets for me!"

After that, Bao Zheng ran away and bumped into the two fathers who were shaking their heads as they came out of the basement, and the three of them left together, leaving the SCI members in the villa, ready to crack this seemingly very "ordinary" murder case.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

And that's the end of this case, but is it really? 😭 That being said, because this is the last chapter of this case, it will just be a single upload today, and Case 21 will start Monday.

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

Translated: March 4, 2024 by Angel

Edited: June 6, 2024 by Angel