S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 141

Screen Murderer 37 – Monitoring and Guarding

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After some questioning, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang roughly understood what had happened.

In summary, after Anna learnt about Dong Yuan's accident, she brought a mysterious individual or organisation who had been monitoring her since childhood and seeking "revenge" for her to this place, targeting Wang Meiyun and Qian Yu behind her.

Anna hoped to see both of these organisations die together.

After hearing the entire story, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang raised some questions. Due to the large amount of information they received all at once, they needed to go back and study it with their team.

Zhan Zhao asked Anna why she buried the assets, did she need to raise money?

Anna said she wouldn't give up on the Dong Group, that was Dong Yuan's life's work. She wanted to move here with her child, as Leonard had advised her to.

"Leonard?" Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were curious.

Anna nodded. "Leonard said that even if the two monsters fight and one survives, it can be handed over to the SCI, they are the best monster hunters here."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged glances. Leonard seemed to have some substance... at least he could talk.

At the moment, the most important and helpful thing for solving the case might be to clearly understand the recent series of events and who did what.

From this incident, it seemed on the surface that it was done by the "angels"... but what about that Viper that poisoned Dong Fei? Who hired him?

After a long conversation with Anna, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang left the villa and returned to the police station.

On the way, they kept discussing the matter.

Bai Yutang raised his own doubts first. "Cat, is Anna completely trustworthy?"

Zhan Zhao smiled. "I don't know, her story sounds unbelievable, especially after all these years, not realising who was tracking her."

Bai Yutang asked, "Do you think she could be lying?"

Zhan Zhao thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I'm inclined to believe she's telling the truth because if she were lying, she should have fabricated more details."

Bai Yutang nodded. "Who could have been monitoring her? How did they manage it?"

"Doesn't this plot resemble The Truman Show?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Bai Yutang nodded.

"But The Truman Show is easier than this. Truman lives completely in a studio-like environment, everyone around him is an actor, deceiving him. He doesn't feel like he's being watched or deceived. But Anna's situation is completely different. She lives in a normal environment with no boundaries. And the most amazing thing is... that angel can even come to S City for 'revenge'."

"It's indeed boundaryless, and the extent of influence is somewhat unbelievable." Bai Yutang said. "What kind of organisation is it?"

"What doesn't have boundaries?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"The universe." Bai Yutang replied.

Zhan Zhao thought the idea was good. "So it's aliens?"

"Hmm... the internet?" Bai Yutang suggested a different perspective.

"The online world..." Zhan Zhao seemed to have an idea. He reached out and gently touched his chin. "The new world..."

Bai Yutang parked the car in the police station's parking lot. Upon hearing Zhan Zhao's remark, he asked, "The internet and gaming?"

"Mhmm... I'm thinking, how is the angel going to eliminate the group behind Wang Meiyun?" Zhan Zhao suddenly asked.

Bai Yutang parked the car. "How will they eliminate them?"

"Wang Meiyun wants to use someone else's knife to kill, to make both sides suffer... Will the angel use a similar method?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Bai Yutang inquired, "Whose knife would the angel borrow? Ours?"

"Or perhaps, it's Qian Yu wanting to borrow our knife to deal with the angel?" Zhan Zhao pondered. "This time, Wang Meiyun's encounter seems to be truly meaningful, linking back to Anna's previous case."

"It feels more like some kind of hint." Bai Yutang agreed.

"Moreover, this incident is beneficial to Wang Meiyun in every aspect. From the planning to the whole process, Wang Meiyun may have been completely unaware. And at the scene, she was still unconscious. Even if I hypnotise her, I won't be able to extract anything. This actually clears Wang Meiyun of any suspicion."

As the two entered the elevator, Bai Yutang was a little helpless, "How do we differentiate what the angel did from what Qian Yu's group did? And Qian Yu seems to be quite calm, he hasn't shown up at all so far, and everything seems to be orchestrated by Wang Meiyun."

Back in the office, they found many people. Jiayi and Qi Le had also arrived, bringing supper... or rather, breakfast.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao felt a bit guilty seeing them. They had been resting at home, and suddenly they were called in to investigate the case again, and it lasted until dawn. Moreover, Ma Han had just gotten engaged...

Thinking of the engagement, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang glanced at Ma Han's desk and noticed that his drawer wasn't closed properly.

They then went to see the large bag in Jiayi's hands.

Jiayi's bag was bulging, indicating that Ma Han had given her something.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang went to find Jiang Ping. As they approached Jiayi from behind, they glanced into her bag... Sure enough, the gift box from Eleven was in Jiayi's bag, seemingly untouched.

The two of them were so curious – What exactly had Eleven given them?!

"Boss!"

Jiang Ping saw the two of them over but did not know that the two of them just came to gossip, he thought they were asking about progress in the investigation. "I just asked Zhang Yong, those sixteen digits are the invitation code to the game."

With Jiang Ping's words, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang immediately snapped out of their gossipy mood and asked him together, "Invitation code?"

Jiang Ping nodded.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a glance, thinking about what Zhao Zhen had mentioned before – Anna's ex-husband once told him that he wanted to kill Anna because there was only one invitation. Was there a connection between these two?

Thinking about it, they both had a question – If Anna and her ex-husband were just acting regarding their divorce, why would her ex-husband mention killing Anna because there was only one invitation?

And why mention it to Zhao Zhen?

Zhan Zhao looked around and saw Bai Chi flipping through documents at his desk, so he called out to him, "Chi Chi, is Zhao Zhen in the lounge?"

Bai Chi shook his head, saying he was at home.

Zhan Zhao wondered if Zhao Zhen would pick up if they called him now.

"I heard him talking to the twins yesterday about getting up at four in the morning to watch the finals or something." Bai Chi replied.

Bai Chi dialled Zhao Zhen's number without delay.

Sure enough, the call was answered soon, and it sounded quite lively on the other end.

Bai Chi told Zhao Zhen that Zhan Zhao wanted to speak to him and handed the phone to Zhan Zhao.

Taking the phone, Zhan Zhao asked Zhao Zhen, "Have you ever been invited to join any mysterious organisations?"

"Cough..." On the other end of the phone, Zhao Zhen seemed to have choked on his drink and coughed.

Bai Chi muttered, "You can't join dangerous groups!"

After finishing his coughing fit, Zhao Zhen chuckled and replied, "There have been plenty! Some are after my wealth, some are after my good looks, and of course, some are after my skills..."

"Have any of them been related to games?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"Games..." Zhao Zhen pondered for a moment. "Not that I recall. I'm not much of a homebody... and I'm not really into computers either."

"Has Anna's ex-husband ever mentioned anything related to games or the like to you..."

Zhan Zhao asked, but there was suddenly silence from Zhao Zhen's end, as if he had fallen into some kind of contemplation.

After a moment, Zhao Zhen softly exclaimed, "Oh," as if he had figured something out.

Zhan Zhao put the phone on speaker and placed it on the table, asking what Zhao Zhen had thought of.

Zhao Zhen said, "Anna's ex-husband was obsessed with magic, and he liked various competitions and games. He did ask me if I wanted to join him in a game once, with my abilities, I could have received an invitation. But I didn't take him up on his offer, mainly because I didn't care at the time, nor was I interested..."

Bai Chi breathed a sigh of relief – Luckily he didn't pay attention! It could have been dangerous...

"Perhaps..." Zhan Zhao suddenly had an idea after hearing what Zhao Zhen said, "it really is like The Truman Show."

Bai Yutang was puzzled, as Anna didn't live in a studio.

"It's a simplified version... the person monitoring Anna might be right beside her" Zhan Zhao said. "Who else could place an angel ornament by Anna's pillow? Apart from her parents."

Bai Yutang pondered for a moment, seeming to understand Zhan Zhao's implication, and asked, "The maid?"

"Who could monitor Anna's every move without being noticed?" Zhan Zhao continued his questioning. "The daily life of a girl in a girls' school revolves around home and school, and their circle of friends is roughly controlled by..."

"In her student days, it was classmates..." Bai Yutang frowned, "After marriage, it was her ex-husband..."

The other members of the SCI still hadn't grasped what was going on because Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang hadn't explained Anna's ordeal in detail to them, so they all appeared puzzled.

"Could it be that the ones monitoring Anna were the maid, those three deceased classmates, and her ex-husband?" Bai Yutang felt a chill run down his spine as he suddenly realised, "The monitoring disappeared after Anna married Dong Yuan, but reappeared after Dong Yuan died. Could it be..."

"The one monitoring Anna after marriage might have been Dong Yuan." Zhan Zhao said. "If these people were monitoring Anna, it would explain why Anna didn't notice anyone watching her because these monitors were all killed. It had never been considered before that the monitors and the angel were working together. Perhaps in every stage of Anna's life, there was always someone or a few people present. We all have different social relationships from childhood to adulthood, and at some point, these relationships are severed and we no longer have contact, such as neighbours, family tutors, maids, and so on. There's a group of people, assuming different identities, monitoring Anna at various stages of her life. And among these monitors, some were killed, and some left... could this in itself be a game?"

Bai Yutang took quite some time to digest this bold idea. Finally, he asked Zhan Zhao, "Cat, do you think Anna's life is a game, and the monitors and protectors are engaged in some kind of competition or contest around her? If the monitors lose, they're killed, like those three girls, the maid, and her ex-husband. And some people who left her might be because the monitors won, like the maid who left her home before, or even the close friend who severed ties with her. If the monitors leave alive, it means there's an angel dead. Then new monitors and protectors enter the game, and the angel starts a new contest?"

Zhan Zhao nodded. "Until there was a slip-up with Dong Yuan. If Dong Yuan was also a monitor, then the one who killed him should have been an angel, right? But he died at the hands of Sun Xi. So, if we're following the rules of the game, shouldn't the angel be the one to kill the person who killed Dong Yuan, so that it would count as a win?"

Later, the team gathered in the conference room and meticulously compiled a timeline of Anna's experiences over the years, then assigned each relevant person to a specific point on the timeline.

By the time dawn broke, the SCI team felt that on one hand, this idea was incredibly crazy, but it seemed to make sense!

On the other hand, everyone felt both mentally exhausted and sleepy.

Before they could untangle themselves from the chaotic clues, something new happened...

Just as they exited the conference room, Bao Sir rushed out of the elevator and exclaimed to everyone, "Quick, turn on the TV and watch the news!"

The members of SCI all sighed – Can they not watch it?

‿︵‿︵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: May 6, 2024 by Angel

Edited: November 4, 2024 by Angel