S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 159

Special Files – Witches 06 – Out of Control

---

Zhan Zhao identified an issue from the data and, seeing that the others seemed unable to understand, offered a simple explanation.

"People's emotions change due to external stimuli. When encountering good things, people feel happy; when encountering bad things, they feel sad. This is human nature. Moreover, emotional changes are not always regular. One might be in a good mood today and in a bad mood tomorrow. Under different periods and moods, the same stimulus can elicit completely different responses. But these individuals' emotions seem to be controlled by a computer..."

As usual, everyone understood Zhan Zhao's words but not the meaning, so they asked, "What does that indicate?"

"It indicates a lack of emotions, a lack of feelings... all reactions are controlled by the brain, made through rational judgment."

"Are they all sociopaths?" The group thought it sounded like the typical profile of a serial killer.

Zhan Zhao shook his head, "Not necessarily. Not all people who lack normal emotions become serial killers. It depends on the environment they grow up in."

"How old are these children now?" Zhan Zhao asked Zhao Jue.

"The seventh generation of experiments started quite early and had some interruptions. The mid and late stages spanned fifteen years. The ones from the mid-stage are probably around forty, while the later ones are in their twenties." Zhao Jue summarised.

"That Dr. Dandelion himself looks to be only around forty." Zhao Hu said, looking at Dr. Ding Ying's information.

"He was only in charge of the later experimental projects. He wasn't the originator of this experiment." Zhao Jue explained.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked puzzled at Zhao Jue – Why are you looking for these people now, and why did a murder just happen?

Zhao Jue pointed at Ding Ying's photo, "He contacted me not long ago."

Everyone was stunned.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at him helplessly – Why didn't you mention this earlier?

"Ding Ying told me that when he was conducting the experiments, he was merely aiming to create the perfect human." Zhao Jue said.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang glanced aside, thinking – Jurassic Park wasn't aiming to have dinosaurs running all over the place either.

"Ding Ying himself had physical defects, he had a weak body from a young age, and he was short and had a speech impediment, which made him frequently bullied. That's why he hoped to use gene modification to cultivate superior humans." Zhao Jue continued, seeing that Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang seemed disapproving. He waved his hand dismissively, "In short, he was incompetent but ambitious. Once the embryos were developed and the experiment succeeded, he realised it was beyond his control. After the organisation was destroyed, all funding was cut off, and the experiment couldn't continue. Those involved either died or fled, and many test subjects were released into society. Ding Ying has been monitoring his test subjects, and recently he called me, saying that one of the seventh-generation subjects might have gone out of control and is extremely dangerous."

"Did he provide any information about that person?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Zhao Jue spread his hands, "I asked, but he refused to say. So I asked him why he called me, and he said that once he finds the person, he hopes I can conduct a psychological assessment."

Zhan Zhao frowned, "What happened afterwards?"

Zhao Jue pointed at the photo, "He hasn't contacted me since... Looks like he's in trouble."

Zhan Zhao and the others grew anxious, asking if Zhao Jue had any other leads.

Zhao Jue mentioned that Ding Ying should have some information. He had been monitoring these individuals closely over the years.

Bai Yutang asked where Ding Ying lived or if he had a studio or laboratory address.

Zhao Jue looked innocent, "I only knew he was alive when he called me. Besides, the seventh generation was supposed to be stable. Who knew it would have such a strong backlash..."

Bai Yutang asked Jiang Ping to check Ding Ying's address.

Upon investigation, Jiang Ping found that there was no such person; he might have been using a false name.

Zhao Jue complained that Mia had checked this long ago.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at him disdainfully – Why didn't you say so earlier? Were you doing this on purpose?

Zhao Jue looked a bit displeased, glancing at Bai Ye – He was trying to help solve the case out of goodwill, yet those dead kids have such a bad attitude.

Bai Ye looked at Bao Zheng.

"Ahem." Bao Sir cleared his throat and said, "Regarding the organisation's old files, cooperate in the investigation... Whether at the SCI office or Zhao Jue's place, just... solve the case as soon as possible!"

With that, Bao Sir didn't want to linger any longer. Glancing at his watch, he remembered he had dinner plans with Jiang Nan.

Before leaving, Bao Zheng turned back and pointed at Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue, who were glaring at each other, "No fighting! No causing trouble!"

Zhao Jue felt annoyed – Okay, Bao Xia Black, how dare you order me around like that!

But Bao Zheng didn't bother with him and entered the elevator.

Bai Yutang waved his hand between Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue, indicating – Stop quarrelling, let's investigate the case.

Bai Yutang asked Zhao Jue, "Did you contact Chen Feng after receiving Ding Ying's call?"

Zhao Jue opened his file folder and took out some documents, "The unique aspect of this experiment is that all the subjects were placed in the normal world to live, and the research was conducted quietly."

Zhan Zhao paused, looking at Zhao Jue, "Like... The Truman Show?"

Zhao Jue nodded, "The experimental staff hired by Ding Ying formed social relationships with the children. Each child thought they were just like ordinary kids and didn't know they were being monitored as test subjects around the clock, and that their parents were all fake."

Zhan Zhao frowned, "What happened after the experiment suddenly stopped?"

Zhao Jue clicked his tongue, "The staff either withdrew or fled, and in the end, all of them were disguised as having lost their lives in an accident."

Everyone had their mouths open and were stunned for a while, then asked together, "So, those experimental children suddenly lost their parents and ended up as orphans?"

Seeing everyone glaring at him with great dissatisfaction, Zhao Jue quickly waved his hand, "It's not like I'm the one who conducted the experiment... and besides, it's been years since it ended. These children should have grown up by now."

Bai Yutang shook his head, feeling it was still tragic... the organisation really had no regard for human lives.

"So, does the appearance of this murderer have anything to do with these sudden upheavals?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Zhao Jue shrugged – Maybe.

Bai Yutang frowned, "What's the deal with the painting you asked Chen Feng to find?"

"It's not entirely without leads." Zhao Jue continued, taking out more documents, "These children were raised as normal kids, so they must have had social connections. I found an introduction to a painting competition in the files, and Mia checked it out. This painting competition was only held once, and there were several award-winning works, one of which is this painting, titled The Wizard. When I saw this painting, I realised that it must have been painted by one of the seventh-generation subjects, and this child has shown a terrifying side since childhood."

Everyone thought it made sense. To be able to paint like that at such a young age was indeed remarkable.

Zhao Jue looked at everyone helplessly, "What scares me isn't how talented he is. These children are naturally gifted in many ways, so showing exceptional talent is quite normal. What scares me is that this child has an inherently evil nature, knows how to conceal it, but can't help but show it, challenging the world a little..."

Zhan Zhao nodded, seeming to agree with Zhao Jue's assessment.

"I had Mia investigate thoroughly, but she didn't find any clues. However, the murderer showed an obsession with The Wizard, so I asked the fortune-teller to help me look into it."

Zhao Jue closed the file in his hand. That's all he found out, and the events had progressed far beyond his imagination.

Zhan Zhao placed three photos of the victims on the table, "Then we have to start from the victims."

"There hasn't been a similar case before, right?" Bai Yutang picked up the drawing that the suspected murderer had drawn as a child, "After so many years, choosing this method of killing, and targeting these two victims... why?"

Zhan Zhao also found the situation suspicious and asked Zhao Jue, "Did Ding Ying tell you that the experimental subject suddenly went out of control?"

Zhao Jue nodded.

"The murderer placed dandelions in the victims' hands. Could it be that he discovered something about the experiment?" Zhan Zhao pondered, "After all, the experiment ended years ago, and he hadn't killed anyone before... Could the sudden loss of control be triggered by some stimulation?"

"There must be a trigger. He has had this tendency since childhood, and I'm not sure if he only started committing crimes now. Perhaps he has been active all these years, but at different levels, and only recently escalated. Ding Ying wouldn't tell me the details or let me contact them directly. Instead, he said he would bring the person to me... I feel like he has some emotional attachment to the experimental subjects. It's as if he has developed a strange affection for them, like they're his own children. I can't help but wonder why he started this experiment... and whose embryos he used..."

"No way?!" Zhan Zhao felt his worldview being shattered, "He wouldn't have... used his own..."

Zhao Jue raised an eyebrow.

Everyone frowned – feeling increasingly disturbed by the thought.

"If that's true, his own child buried him." Bai Yutang pointed at Ding Ying's photo, "This photo carries a distinct sense of humiliation."

"It does feel completely different from the other two bodies." Bai Ye agreed with Bai Yutang's observation.

"And the fingerprints of their respective cheating partners were found on the other two bodies, which is also strange." Zhan Zhao was still concerned about the fingerprints.

"That doesn't make sense either," Hu Zi felt the two deceased were quite unjust, "Both victims were the ones being cheated on in their relationships, they were both victims of this situation, so why were they the ones who died, and why were their bodies treated like this?"

Everyone shook their heads.

Zhan Zhao looked at Zhao Jue.

Zhao Jue spread his hands – No idea! I already said there were no more clues!

At that moment, a call came in from the criminal police team, saying that they hadn't found Fang Dongshun and Mei Wen, who were reported missing, but they had found some strange things.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao both asked what it was.

The officers said they found a very eerie painting on the wall in the backyard of Fang Dongshun's villa.

"A painting?"

Zhan Zhao asked them to send a photo.

Shortly after, the photo came through.

Zhan Zhao waved his phone towards the direction of the projection screen... and the photo appeared on the screen.

"Oh!" Zhao Jue found this interesting and asked Jiang Ping to make his do that as well.

Everyone looked at the painting on the projection screen.

It was a chalk drawing, with a very childish style. The content was simple, depicting a child holding hands with a man and a woman, all drawn in sketches. But on the faces of the man and the woman, there were two photos pinned with thumbtacks – one of Fang Dongshun and the other of Mei Wen.

Moreover... these two photos were Polaroid pictures, and the Fang Dongshun and Mei Wen in the photos looked different from the ones in the files obtained by Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang. Their expressions were vacant, and their faces were pale.

Gongsun couldn't help but furrow his brow, "These are photos of corpses!"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang frowned as well.

Bai Yutang asked, "What about the child?"

The criminal police said they hadn't found him.

Zhan Zhao pointed to the child standing between the two adults in the painting on the wall and showed Bai Yutang. There was a question mark drawn over the child's face.

Zhan Zhao spoke into his phone, "The child is likely still in the villa. Search carefully! He should still be alive!"

After saying that, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang rushed to the villa with the others.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter

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 29, 2024 by Angel

Edited: December 6, 2024 by Soojin