S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 198

The Intelligent Killer 03 – Hotpot and Claw Machine

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Bai Yutang saw that the men in black were all wearing mall staff badges and guessed they must be mall security. Could that young man be some sort of criminal?

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao wanted to go over and ask, but Zhao Jue was unhappy. "If we don’t go to the hot pot restaurant within half an hour, we’ll have to queue again!"

At this moment, they saw the four security guards return. It was evident that they had lost their target and were looking around.

Bai Yutang signalled to Zhao Jue and Bai Ye – I’ll just go and ask, it’s on the way.

The four of them walked up, and Bai Yutang showed his credentials to one of the security guards and asked, "Were you chasing that person just now?"

The security guard, seeing that they were police, nodded helplessly. "That, we were trying to catch Thief S."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were both puzzled – Who was this Thief S? Was there a major thief in the city they didn’t know about?

The security guard sighed and said, "This person is a master at claw machines who has been roaming around S City recently, calling himself 'Thief S'."

"A master at claw machines?" Zhao Jue suddenly became interested.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang saw Bai Ye shaking his head at them helplessly.

They didn’t know that Zhao Jue had some personal grudges with claw machines.

One weekend, Luo Yang and Xiao Yi wanted to go see a movie, and since the adults at home were busy, Zhao Jue offered to take the kids.

Bai Ye, worried that Zhao Jue might lose the kids, decided to go along.

Everything went smoothly. They watched the movie, bought stationery and books for the kids, and had ice cream before preparing to go home.

Trouble started when they passed by a claw machine before leaving the mall.

Xiao Yi, who had a collection of stuffed toys, saw one in the machine he didn’t have and wanted to get it.

After the two kids tried four times and failed, Xiao Yi decided to give up, saying he would ask his dad to get it for him tomorrow.

Zhao Jue tilted his head and clicked his tongue, saying it was a simple task, and they shouldn’t give up so easily!

Bai Ye, sensing trouble, held his forehead.

Zhao Jue rolled up his sleeves, ready to show the kids how it was done... then, there was no then...

Two hours later, Bai Ye stood with his hands in his pockets, leaning against a handrail. The two kids, tired of standing, sat beside him, saying they wanted to go home and do their homework.

Zhao Jue was still battling with the claw machine. In the end, Luo Tian and Qin Ou came to pick up the kids and looked at Zhao Jue in confusion.

Zhao Jue had tried multiple claw machines but failed to get a single toy until Bai Ye dragged him home by his collar.

From then on, Zhao Jue bore a grudge against claw machines. Oddly enough... Zhao Jue seemed to be completely incompatible with them.

The next day, Qin Ou went to get the toy for his son, and Zhao Jue followed.

Qin Ou, an expert at claw machines, could get anything Xiao Yi wanted within three tries. But despite teaching Zhao Jue for half a day, Zhao Jue couldn’t get a single toy... It’s rare to find someone who is good at grabbing the toys, but it’s also rare to find someone so bad at it. Even if you calculate the probability, you should be able to get something at least once by chance, but Zhao Jue couldn’t.

No one would have thought that Zhao Jue’s greatest nemesis would be a claw machine.

Seeing Zhao Jue’s interest, the security guard explained, "This guy seems to have hacked the claw machine’s program. Every time he shows up, he clears out the machine within half an hour and leaves an 'S' card. The machine then breaks, and anyone can get a toy. It can’t be fixed."

"Is the machine now in that unfailable state?" Zhao Jue wanted to go downstairs to try.

As a result, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang each grabbed one of his arms and pulled him into the elevator. "If we don’t go to the hot pot restaurant within half an hour, we’ll have to queue again!"

Zhao Jue struggled, "I just want to experience what it feels like to win!"

Bai Ye shook his head and got into the elevator, pressing the close button.

......

The elevator arrived at the twentieth floor, and the group followed the waiter into the restaurant.

Hot pot restaurants are probably the most lively places on this planet. This one was very large, occupying an entire floor. Each table was separated by screens; you could see the neighbouring tables but not clearly, and you could hear them but not distinctly... It was bustling yet vague, creating a perfect atmosphere.

Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue sat down and scanned the QR code on their phones to order food.

Bai Yutang carefully inspected the cleanliness of the utensils, while Bai Ye looked around, seemingly curious.

"Uncle Ye, is there anything you don’t eat?" Zhan Zhao asked as he ordered a bunch of dishes and handed the phone to Bai Yutang, also asking Bai Ye.

Bai Ye shook his head – Anything was fine.

Bai Yutang was quite relieved that this hot pot restaurant's menu was normal, without any unusual items like mango or strawberry hot pot.

They ordered a half-and-half pot for the soup base. After Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang finished ordering the dishes, they went to prepare the dipping sauces for everyone. Zhao Jue had a bunch of specific requests for different sauces, so Zhan Zhao dragged him along to help.

Bai Yutang asked Bai Ye what he wanted, but Bai Ye shook his head again – Anything was fine.

So, Bai Yutang decided to prepare the sauces according to his own preferences for him.

Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue were ladling the sauces into bowls while occasionally glancing back.

Zhan Zhao noticed Bai Ye looking around and curiously asked Zhao Jue, "Does Uncle Ye like it here or not?"

Zhao Jue pouted, "He’s never had it before, so how would he know?"

Bai Yutang, walking by, stopped and turned around. He and Zhan Zhao spoke in unison, "Never had it?"

Zhao Jue frowned at them, "What’s the matter?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged looks of disbelief. "How can anyone not have had hot pot before?"

Zhao Jue laughed, "What’s so strange about not having hot pot? He’s only been a normal person for a short time."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged looks again and simultaneously handed their bowls to Zhao Jue, telling him to take them back while they got new bowls for Bai Ye, who didn’t like spicy sauces.

Zhao Jue pouted, carrying the three bowls back first.

Bai Ye picked up the chopsticks from the table and unwrapped them, noticing someone walking by... He only caught a glimpse of a pair of shoes that looked familiar.

When he looked up, Zhao Jue had returned, setting down the bowls and giving the spiciest one to Bai Ye.

Bai Ye looked at him, then put that bowl in front of Zhao Jue and swapped Zhan Zhao’s and Bai Yutang’s bowls.

Zhao Jue looked at Bai Ye suspiciously.

At this moment, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang returned, the pot was boiling, and the waiter brought the cart of food.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao placed three different dipping sauce bowls in front of Bai Ye, asking him to try the flavours.

Zhao Jue snorted, using his chopsticks to dip meat into the pot.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang watched Bai Ye eat, and seeing him enjoy the food, they smiled and dipped their own chopsticks into the sauce, but Zhan Zhao smacked his lips – There was no flavour!

Bai Yutang’s face scrunched up from the spiciness, and he drank water from his cup.

Both of them realised that the sauce bowls were swapped and quickly exchanged them back, glaring at Zhao Jue simultaneously.

With an innocent expression, Zhao Jue pointed at Bai Ye – He swapped them!

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang shook their heads – How dare you wrongly accuse Uncle Ye! I don't believe you!

Zhao Jue was furious and glared at Bai Ye.

Bai Ye smiled and used a spoon to dip the food. Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang competed to help him with the spoon, while Zhao Jue, under the table, kicked at Bai Ye, but ended up kicking Bai Yutang several times.

They were eating when they received a message from Gongsun.

It turned out that Gongsun and Bai Jintang had returned to the SCI office and found it empty, so they asked where everyone had gone and if they had eaten.

Zhan Zhao sent the hot pot restaurant's address to them, asking if they wanted to join...

Not long after, Gongsun arrived with Bai Jintang.

Two more sets of utensils were added, and Gongsun said he wanted to eat pig brains.

It was rare for Big Brother Bai to appear at a hot pot restaurant. He sat down and asked Bai Ye if he wanted to drink alcohol, saying he would have the twins come and drive later.

Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue raised their hands to ask for beer.

Bai Yutang looked at the drinks menu and discovered that although the hot pot dishes weren’t unusual, the beers were. There were pumpkin-flavoured and durian-flavoured beers... Wouldn’t drinking durian-flavoured beer would make your mouth taste like a sewer?

Bai Jintang took off his suit jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his vest and shirt, while Gongsun shared a plate of cooked pig brains with him.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao prepared food for Bai Ye and Zhao Jue. Zhao Jue opened the packaging of the hoverboard and read the instructions, saying he wanted to ride it back later...

The six of them clinked their oversized beer mugs and ate from seven-thirty until past nine o’clock.

As they left the mall, a movie had just ended, and there were even more people than when they had arrived.

Xiao Ding had parked the car downstairs and went to buy milk tea. When he received a call from Bai Jintang, he rushed out.

Zhao Jue and Zhan Zhao, possibly tipsy, insisted on going to the dessert shop opposite the police station to get some desserts.

A car arrived, and Bai Jintang asked Xiao Ding where Da Ding was.

Xiao Ding rolled his eyes at his boss, who only cared about having fun – There had been a major incident in the afternoon, he’s cleaning up the mess.

Bai Jintang pointed at Zhan Zhao and the others, indicating – They were the ones who caused the mess.

One car couldn’t fit everyone, so Bai Yutang and Bai Ye decided to walk back, stopping by the dessert shop to get some dark desserts for the two drunk cats.

Xiao Ding drove the other four back first.

Bai Yutang and Bai Ye walked back leisurely. Not far away, the large screen on a high building was showing the afternoon news.

Lin Tian might not have been a top star, but he was a well-known actor. It was one thing for him to have a scandal, but it was hard for the public to accept that he was revealed to be a serial killer from twenty years ago. The shock was too great, and many people on the street were discussing it.

Besides the news screens, other large screens displayed advertisements, and some tall buildings had light shows.

Bai Ye suddenly pointed to a distant tall building, telling Bai Yutang to look.

Bai Yutang saw the light show on S City's landmark building, showing the word "magic" and a witch’s head logo, similar to the coin Tony had placed on the table earlier.

"Are there some differences in the details?" Bai Yutang asked.

Bai Ye nodded, "The cloak on the previous coin covered the face with three folds, this one has two."

Bai Yutang also noticed, "And the face shape seems slightly different, this one has sharper lines."

After the logo’s light show, an advertisement appeared.

Bai Yutang frowned at the advertisement, "A robot competition?"

Bai Ye saw it too, "Is this company organising it? The prize money is substantial, so many people will probably participate!"

"The timing feels a bit odd." Bai Yutang took a picture of the ad, planning to have Jiang Ping investigate it tomorrow.

They reached the dessert shop near the police station.

This shop was truly an internet sensation, even at this hour, it was packed with customers.

As soon as Bai Yutang and Bai Ye entered, the store was filled with whispers, and many people taking photos. Bai Yutang didn’t know that besides selling dark desserts, this place was also an SCI fan club. Many people came here hoping to spot SCI members.

Bai Yutang didn’t know what desserts Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue wanted, so he glanced at the menu and found the names simply outrageous.

In the end, he just ordered a bunch of new items, all of which looked strange from the packaging to the combinations.

By the time they returned home with the take-out, it was already past ten o’clock. 

Bai Yutang eyed the two large bags of food with some concern. Such weird flavours, eating them as a late-night snack might not be a good idea.

Zhao Jue hadn’t gone back either. Since Big Brother Bai’s villa had guest rooms, he decided to crash there for the night. So, Bai Ye and Bai Yutang returned together.

They opened the door and walked along the gravel path towards the villa.

After Xiao Ding had returned, his car was parked by the roadside.

As Bai Yutang passed by the car, he paused slightly... something seemed off.

The trunk of Xiao Ding’s car appeared not fully closed, the back wasn’t level, with a slight upward tilt indicating the trunk was ajar.

Bai Yutang initially intended to stop and check, but Bai Ye placed a hand on his shoulder and guided him forward.

Bai Yutang looked at Bai Ye.

Bai Ye subtly shook his head, continuing their conversation about reporting the dessert shop as they walked towards the villa without drawing attention.

Once they had walked some distance away, the trunk of the car opened slightly more...

‿︵‿︵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: July 9, 2024 by Angel

Edited: December 30, 2024 by Soojin