S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 193

Special Files – Witches 40 – Arrest

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The Bai Group's building was currently in a state of high alert.

Using the police surveillance system, Jiang Ping identified a total of six highly dangerous criminals.

Among them, the murderer codenamed the "Hammer Butcher" had already been captured by Bai Ye.

As for the remaining five, aside from the well-known "Leapfrog Killer", there was also the "Devil Nurse" who attempted to assassinate Zhou Hao at the hospital last night.

The remaining three were also infamous.

One of them, disguised as a chef, was currently squatting at the back kitchen entrance, preparing to sneak into the kitchen and then into the banquet hall by delivering food. He was a serial killer known as the "Octopus Chef."

The Octopus Chef was actually a cook, around fifty years old, physically strong, and had once been a five-star chef at a famous hotel, known for his exceptional cooking skills, especially with octopus.

However, this chef had a severe tendency towards violence, leaning towards a Hannibal-like direction, and became dissatisfied with ordinary ingredients. After making a few human flesh dishes, a gourmet diner at the restaurant noticed the meat texture was off. Upon calling the police and investigating... the hotel staff in charge of purchasing meat products was found in the fridge, already half-eaten.

Another was a woman in her thirties, dressed unusually. She always carried a backpack containing a few cans of spray paint, wore a flamboyant hoodie, and had tattoos all over her body... known as the "Flame Artist."

Although her appearance was quite distinctive, her tattoos were all just body paint.

The "Artist" originally was a tattoo artist who enjoyed graffiti and was highly skilled.

Zhan Zhao had analysed her case before; she had some antisocial tendencies, but her violent tendencies were vented through her work. If she had received timely psychological treatment and was guided to channel her inner darkness into artistic creation, she might have been able to control her condition and avoid committing crimes.

Unfortunately, instead of meeting someone who could heal her, she encountered a scumbag who provoked her. The Artist once had a boyfriend, a philandering scoundrel who cheated on her multiple times. Consequently, her dark side was unleashed on him. Some things are like a dam breaking; it might start as a small hole, but once it's not plugged... the whole dam collapses...

The Artist began attacking clients who came to her studio for tattoos, using her artistic skills for murder.

Today, many key figures of the film crew were present, some of whom were dressed fashionably or even eccentrically.

The Artist disguised herself as a crew member and infiltrated the hotel.

The last one was a man in his forties, scholarly-looking, dressed in a grey three-piece suit, frameless glasses, meticulously combed hair, and carrying a briefcase. From his appearance alone, one might think he was a white-collar worker in the financial industry, possibly holding a high position.

This serial killer was nicknamed the "Accountant". He often posed as an accountant or financial advisor to commit fraud. Originally just a scammer, he once targeted a small business where the elderly owner habitually hid large amounts of cash in a safe. The Accountant then upgraded from scammer to robber. From then on, he turned to murder and robbery.

These notorious criminals all converged at the Bai Group's building.

At this time, a large number of reporters and staff were entering, allowing the criminals to blend into the crowd or pose as staff, silently approaching the banquet hall.

In fact, many plainclothes officers were already mingled within the crowd, ready to make arrests at any moment.

However, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were particularly keen to figure out one thing – What were they here for?

Currently, there were only three crew members deeply involved in the case: Su Feifei, Tony, and Xu Lie... Surely they weren't targeting Big Brother Bai and the twins, right?

But letting them all in wasn't an option either. After discussing, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao decided to arrest some first, leaving one behind to find out their purpose... and the one left behind would be the Leapfrog Killer.

It wouldn't be easy to capture this gang; they had to avoid harming innocent people and arresting officers, and it was best to capture them alive to prevent a bloodshed incident that could cause panic, making the others flee.

These individuals had varying degrees of lethality, so Bai Yutang decided to make rational use of the "resources" at hand.

Among them, the Chef was the most difficult to deal with because he was physically strong and could easily blend into the kitchen to obtain a weapon.

The task of dealing with the Chef was given to Bai Ye – the Chef had a bounty similar to the Butcher, and Bai Ye happily accepted the task, heading downstairs to the kitchen, looking quite pleased.

The Artist carried several cans of spray paint and could use a lighter and spray paint to create a flame gun, making her capture rather tricky.

Bai Yutang asked Zhao Hu and Ma Han to think of a way to capture her.

Zhao Hu was full of cunning tricks, making him better suited for dealing with such a person through devious means rather than direct confrontation.

The Devil Nurse harmed people mostly through drugs, and his combat ability was relatively weak. Bai Yutang asked Ai Hu to lead a team to capture him, being especially careful of syringes or similar items he might have.

The Accountant might have weapons in his briefcase, there had been instances of him being armed before. Therefore, this task was assigned to the fully armed SWAT team, with orders to shoot if he was indeed armed.

......

After making these arrangements, Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue entered the banquet hall, moving to Su Feifei and Xu Lie's side, while Bai Yutang monitored the surveillance in the corridor, keeping an eye on the Leapfrog Killer.

Upon Bao Sir's command, the operation began.

The first target was the kitchen.

Around noon, the kitchen was at its busiest, and no one paid attention to unfamiliar faces as everyone was focused on preparing dishes.

The "Chef" smoothly infiltrated the kitchen, stealthily hid a boning knife in his sleeve, and pushed a food cart, ready to move out.

Suddenly, something flew towards him.

With a loud thud, the Chef fell flat on his back, landing on the floor, and the knife flew out of his hand.

Everyone in the busy kitchen paused, and a kitchen helper washing potatoes looked up to see Bai Ye grabbing another potato.

Bai Ye had just hit the Chef squarely on the forehead with a potato.

The Chef, dazed as if hit by a stone, staggered to his feet, only to be met with another potato...

This time, it hit his nose, breaking it with a crack and causing him to slip and fall again.

Being tall and robust, the Chef could withstand a beating. Angered by the two blows, he roared and got up again.

By this time, Bai Ye had reached the food cart and kicked it.

Food carts usually have a handle at a height between the chest and abdomen, near the rib area.

Bai Ye's kick sent the cart handle crashing into the Chef's ribs.

The Chef bent over in pain, and Bai Ye stomped on the front of the cart, causing the back to lift up and the handle to hit the Chef's chin.

The Chef, bent over and with his mouth open from the rib pain, had his mouth snapped shut, biting off the tip of his tongue, filling his mouth with blood.

Nearby, the counter was being used to make bread, with eggs, flour, and a rolling pin all within reach.

Bai Ye grabbed an open half-bag of flour and poured it over the Chef whose mouth was full of blood.

The Chef lay on the ground, his face covered in flour and blood. Bai Ye, thinking the mixture wasn't "thick" enough, grabbed two eggs from the table.

With expert cooking skills, Uncle Ye cracked the eggs one-handed, dropping the yolks and whites onto the Chef's flour-covered face.

The Chef's face was now a wall of paste, obscuring his features entirely.

Seeing the Chef thrashing about, seemingly trying to grab something to attack with, Bai Ye picked up the rolling pin and struck his hands and feet.

The Chef attempted to resist, but Bai Ye had the kitchen helper bring over the hot oil pot used for frying fries.

Terrified, the Chef froze; with his face covered in flour and egg, a pot of hot oil would have fried him alive...

The officers at the door rushed in, handcuffed the Chef, and took him away.

Bai Ye grabbed a tomato, took a bite, and left. This was a good trip, as he made two million in one go.

......

Zhao Hu and Ma Han went to capture the Artist.

The Artist initially blended into the crowd and entered the Bai Group's building. However, she lacked a work permit and would have to undergo a security check before entering the elevator, where her bag would be inspected.

Taking advantage of a moment of inattention, the Artist snuck to the stairs, slipped past the "No Entry" cordon, and went upstairs.

In fact, this blind spot was deliberately left by the Bai Group's security arrangements at Bai Yutang's request.

As the Artist ran up to the second-floor staircase, she suddenly saw someone coming down from the third floor. Looking up, she saw it was Ma Han.

Ma Han glanced at her without any expression and pointed behind her. "The banquet hall is that way."

As he spoke, a click-click sound came from behind her.

The Artist, holding a can of spray paint behind her back, shook it and raised it towards Ma Han, with her other hand reaching for a lighter.

But before she could light the lighter, she heard a click from behind.

Turning around, she was suddenly hit with a spray of white foam with a shhh sound.

It turned out that Ma Han had been distracting her while Zhao Hu snuck up behind her with a fire extinguisher.

The Artist's face was covered in foam, causing her to drop the lighter and spray can, frantically rubbing her eyes.

Zhao Hu shook his head, holding the fire extinguisher, "The weather is dry, be mindful of fire prevention!"

The Artist rolled on the ground, screaming, "I'm blind! I'm blind!"

Several police officers rushed over from the stairwell.

Zhao Hu took the Artist's bag, unzipped it, and found it filled with spray cans and lighters.

The officers handcuffed her and led her away.

Zhao Hu, showing some consideration, said, "Find a couple of bottles of mineral water to flush her eyes."

Having completed their task, the two took the elevator up to the banquet hall.

......

The arrests of the other two criminals also went smoothly.

The Devil Nurse was arrested by the criminal investigation team, and he indeed had several syringes on him.

The Accountant's briefcase had been modified, but the SWAT team was prepared. They shot him in the shoulder before he could fire, arresting him.

Both the criminal investigation team and the SWAT team were overjoyed as they escorted the Butcher and four other serial killers back to the station. Bao Zheng felt that the new year might be a good one, with such a great start! If all went well, the Leapfrog Killer would be arrested soon, making it six in one go!

Seeing that everyone had been arrested, Bai Yutang returned to the banquet hall.

Now, only the Leapfrog Killer remained...

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, through surveillance, noticed that the Leapfrog Killer was currently on the seventeenth floor, only a few floors away from the banquet hall.

Dressed as a hotel staff member, the Leapfrog Killer didn't hurry up but took out his phone and dialled a number.

As he connected the call and put the phone to his ear, three phones rang simultaneously in the banquet hall...

‿︵‿︵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: June 28, 2024 by Angel

Edited: December 24, 2024 by Soojin