S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 221

The Intelligent Killer 26 – Deceive

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Late at night, in Yu Yang's neighbourhood.

The once bustling streets and apartments had quieted down, with only a few late-night returnees passing by.

In the surveillance van, the bored Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue were playing a game of Old Maid.

Initially, everyone in the van played together, but Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue, these two superhumans, seemed to have clairvoyance, winning every time. They never drew the Old Maid from others, while their own Old Maid was immediately picked by others, ultimately leading to their disqualification. Then these two "psychological freaks" started playing on their own, getting so engrossed that no one else could bear to watch.

On the other side, opposite Yu Yang's safe house, Zhao Hu and Ma Han had rented an empty house to continue their surveillance.

Zhao Hu, munching on a piece of bread, chatted with Ma Han, "Just now, Master Zhao and Dr Zhan seemed to have split that stalker."

Ma Han, holding a can of juice, was also curious, "I wonder what state Yu Yang is in now."

Meanwhile, Bai Yutang and Bai Ye were lying in ambush outside Yu Yang's room.

The door was open, and Bai Yutang occasionally glanced back. Since Zhao Jue and Zhan Zhao had "brainwashed" Yu Yang, the kid had been in a strange state.

Bai Yutang originally thought he would be controlled, at least adding to the chaos, staying unconscious or something, but the reality was different.

Yu Yang now seemed to be possessed, sitting alone on the edge of the bed, swinging his legs, and mumbling something indistinctly, as if reciting letters and numbers with a high repetition rate.

Bai Yutang was a bit curious and asked Bai Ye, "What is he doing?"

Bai Ye shrugged, "Reciting his ID number, maybe."

Bai Yutang was baffled, staring at Bai Ye as if to ask – Seriously? Why recite his ID number?

Seeing Bai Yutang's serious expression, Bai Ye suddenly understood why Zhao Jue loved teasing them, it was indeed quite amusing.

Taking out his phone, Bai Ye gestured to Bai Yutang – Follow my lead.

Bai Ye recorded a segment of Yu Yang's mumbling, then played it back, putting the phone in his pocket.

"Oh..." Bai Yutang understood immediately and recorded a segment of Yu Yang's mumbling on his own phone.

This recording could be used to deceive their opponents.

Bai Ye explained, "To impersonate someone, you need to mimic their most distinctive trait. If they don't have one, create one for them."

With everything ready, Bai Yutang and Bai Ye started discussing their action plan.

As time ticked by, around one in the morning, a car quietly drove into the neighbourhood.

Jiang Ping noticed the suspicious car and nudged Zhan Zhao, who was catching up on his manuscript next to him.

Zhan Zhao glanced at the surveillance screen and informed Bai Yutang about the situation.

Everyone, whether resting or on duty, became alert, ready to act at any moment.

Zhan Zhao put down his laptop and noticed Zhao Jue sleeping soundly on a recliner nearby. Bai Chi had nudged him twice, but he hadn't woken up.

Zhan Zhao smiled slightly, walked over, and pinched Zhao Jue's nose.

Zhao Jue continued to sleep with his mouth open.

Bai Chi whispered, "Is he tired? Older people need more rest... aiya."

Before he could finish, Zhao Jue suddenly pinched his leg, and Zhan Zhao hit Zhao Jue with a pillow.

Bai Chi, feeling quite aggrieved, rubbed his leg – It would surely bruise!

Zhao Jue sat up, yawned, and stretched, "Why do villains always choose to do evil at night? For the atmosphere? It's actually super inconvenient at night!"

From the surveillance screen, two helmeted individuals were seen getting out of the car.

Zhao Jue snorted, then lay back down and waved his hand dismissively, "It's not that difficult."

Zhan Zhao asked Jiang Ping, "Why are they wearing helmets in the middle of the night?"

"They probably have night vision capabilities and maybe even remote tech support..." Jiang Ping reminded Bai Yutang. "These wearable devices definitely retain video footage, Boss... They have night vision, won't you be exposed?"

Upstairs, Bai Ye and Bai Yutang heard this.

Bai Yutang glanced at Bai Ye – Should we stick to the original plan?

Bai Ye nodded.

Following their previous division of labour, Bai Yutang disguised himself as Yu Yang while Bai Ye hid nearby to assist.

Reluctantly, Bai Yutang put on Yu Yang's jacket, and Bai Ye handed him a hat.

Bai Yutang eyed the hat with full-bodied rejection, his eyes filled with disdain.

Bai Ye chuckled, "It's new."

Only then did Bai Yutang take it and put it on.

In the command vehicle, Zhan Zhao clicked his tongue twice, Uncle Ye sure is thoughtful!

He looked back at Zhao Jue, who was soundly sleeping on the recliner, shook his head, and continued watching the surveillance screen. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the marker pen beside Jiang Ping.

Zhan Zhao squinted slightly, picked up the pen, and glanced at Zhao Jue, a mischievous smile spreading across his face.

Bai Chi watched Zhan Zhao sneak up on Zhao Jue with the pen, shaking his head vigorously – Brother, think this through, messing with him might feel good now, but there will be retaliation later...

Zhan Zhao uncapped the pen – Messing around feels good for a moment, but it feels good all the time if you keep messing around!

......

The two helmeted men arrived at the apartment building where Yu Yang was staying, taking out a handheld terminal-like device and fiddling with it.

Across the street, Zhao Hu, holding binoculars, asked Ma Han, "How do we deal with them without being noticed? Put a sack over their heads and beat them up?"

Ma Han wasn't sure either. He looked up and saw Bai Yutang coming out with two sacks.

The two of them exchanged a glance – Simple and crude!

After a brief discussion, the two men downstairs split up, one taking the elevator and the other the stairs.

Zhao Hu relayed their movements to Bai Yutang and Bai Ye.

Bai Yutang stuffed the two sacks into his jacket pockets, leapt out onto the balcony, and crouched down on an air conditioning unit outside a lower-floor apartment, lying in ambush.

Zhao Hu and Ma Han watched from across the street, shaking their heads – Don't try this at home if you're not a professional.

Soon, the elevator door opened.

One of the helmeted men crept along the wall towards Yu Yang's door, taking out a lock-picking tool to unlock the door... unaware that Bai Yutang had silently climbed back inside and was behind him, slipping a sack over his helmet.

Inside, Bai Ye opened the door and dragged the bewildered man into the room.

Bai Yutang leapt back outside to his previous ambush position.

Ma Han timed it, the whole process took only seven seconds.

After Bai Yutang resumed his position, a short while later, the second helmeted investigator arrived.

He had come up the stairs, taking slightly longer than the first.

At the door, he noticed it was ajar, assuming the first person had already entered.

He glanced around, reached out to push the door slightly, and suddenly everything went black... because Bai Yutang had already slipped the second sack over his head.

The two sacked investigators were tied up by Bai Yutang and Bai Ye.

These unlucky guys saw nothing, only experiencing darkness and hearing faint mumbling through their helmets.

Bai Yutang tied them up tightly and tossed them into the bathroom.

After tidying up, the two brought Yu Yang to the surveillance van.

Yu Yang remained silent and vacant-eyed, as if possessed, obeying Bai Yutang and Bai Ye's every command.

Bai Yutang waved a hand in front of his face, but Yu Yang didn't blink, as if frozen, becoming increasingly eerie.

The first step of the plan arranged by Zhao Jue was complete, and the team moved to a small motel nearby.

This motel appeared ordinary but was actually a police shelter with surveillance equipment throughout.

Zhan Zhao settled Yu Yang into a room, making it look like he was the one staying there.

Once everything was set, Yu Yang lay down and entered a sleep state.

Everyone else went to rest. When Yu Yang woke up the next day depended on when SCI's operations began.

Zhan Zhao drove back with Bai Yutang.

Bai Ye looked at Zhao Jue, who was hugging a pillow and sleeping soundly in the surveillance van, with the "king" character drawn on his forehead...

To avoid getting caught up in the mischief, Bai Chi and Jiang Ping quietly slipped away. Bai Ye picked up the marker pen and, figuring it was already drawn, added a few more strokes to give Zhao Jue a moustache, completing the look.

......

After drawing, Bai Ye pocketed the marker pen and nudged Zhao Jue.

Zhao Jue groggily woke up, and Bai Ye gestured for him to go home, "Go back to sleep."

Yawning, Zhao Jue got up and followed Bai Ye home.

......

The next morning, Bai Yutang woke up early, checked his phone for surveillance updates, and saw that Yu Yang was still asleep, lying motionless all night without even turning over.

Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao, who was brushing his teeth, "What did you do to him? Why does he look like he's been possessed?"

Zhan Zhao gargled and, wiping his mouth with a towel, explained, "We just put him to sleep."

"Put him to sleep?" Bai Yutang was puzzled.

"Have you ever had the experience of arriving at a place you've never been before, but having a sense of déjà vu, as if you've been here before?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Bai Yutang nodded, "I have."

"That's actually a glitch in our brain, mistaking current memories for past ones," Zhan Zhao said, pointing to his head. "It's not only memories that can be misread, the brain often misinterprets images, dreams, and various other information as past memories. For instance, statistics show that sightings of monsters spike whenever a monster movie is popular."

Bai Yutang asked, "What about Yu Yang's state then?"

"Zhao Jue triggered his brain's error function," Zhan Zhao said. "He's actually in a sleep state, so he's unconscious. But his eyes are open, so he can see things. His brain fills in these visual gaps with what it perceives as memories."

"Oh..." Bai Yutang understood. "So when he wakes up, he'll think he did everything himself..."

"He'll have some fragmented memories, enough to make him doubt himself," Zhan Zhao said.

"Won't he remember us?" Bai Yutang asked.

"That's the genius of Zhao Jue," Zhan Zhao said, lighting up as he delved into psychology. "Did you hear him muttering yesterday?"

Bai Yutang nodded, "It was a bunch of letters and numbers."

"Those were his game ID and some in-game commands. In Yu Yang's subconscious, he thinks he's in a game. As a player, he has a first-person view, and you guys are his assistants," Zhan Zhao winked. "In this game, there's also a god-level support character."

Bai Yutang thought momentarily, then realised, "The witch?"

"Mhmm-hmm," Zhan Zhao nodded. "In Yu Yang's memory, he's in the game, and all the supporting characters are seen as witches. Anything he can't understand will automatically be attributed to witch behaviours."

Bai Yutang not only understood but also found psychology interesting for once. "So his brain tricks him into thinking everything happened from his perspective, and anything inexplicable was done by the witches. This isn't just hypnosis, it's the brain making sense of things independently."

Zhan Zhao snapped his fingers, "Exactly... It's similar to being a chef, the more expertise you have, the better you are at utilising the ingredients themselves. The same goes for hypnosis. Zhao Jue's methods have become more refined over the years, turning techniques into art. This guy is a genius, truly brilliant!"

Bai Yutang looked at the somewhat excited Zhan Zhao praising Zhao Jue, "So you drew a cat face on him out of spite?"

"It's a tiger face!" Zhan Zhao corrected, pointing to his forehead. "The character for king! It's obviously a compliment!"

Meanwhile, a certain "king" was furiously scrubbing his face at the sink.

After returning last night, Bai Ye had some questions for Zhao Jue, so he asked him to sit on the sofa, where Zhao Jue predictably fell asleep.

Throughout the night, everyone who passed by the sofa saw the "king" and the marker pen Bai Ye had left on the coffee table...

Everyone picked up the marker pen, thinking the same thing – Since it was already drawn on, why not add a little more...

The next morning, no one got up right away, straining to listen.

Sure enough, as soon as Zhao Jue opened the bathroom door, a scream echoed.

Satisfied, everyone got up.

Zhao Jue, grumbling, washed his face, while the girls took turns recommending face washes and makeup removers. Mia even plucked a couple of aloe leaves from the garden for him to use as a mask.

‿︵‿︵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: August 4, 2024 by Angel

Edited: December 30, 2024 by Soojin