S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 223

The Intelligent Killer 28 – Senior Players

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Zhao Jue and Zhan Zhao devised a fishing plan to use Yu Yang as bait to catch a big fish.

The plan was divided into three parts and would be carried out simultaneously.

First, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang would directly investigate the headquarters of Magic.

Second, Zhao Jue would direct Yu Yang to appear near the Magic Company to attract the company's attention.

Finally, Bai Ye and Issel would investigate the routes and environment to prepare for the evening's infiltration plan.

Once everything was arranged, they set off in different directions.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, accompanied by Zhao Hu and Ma Han, went straight to Magic Company to investigate.

As soon as they entered the company, it inexplicably gave off the impression of a shell company. The lobby was empty, and there was not even a receptionist.

The four stood in the lobby for a while before a robot slowly moved towards them.

The robot looked like a garbage can with a display screen on top. When it reached them, a form appeared on the screen, and a voice prompt said, "Please fill in the visitor information."

Bai Yutang looked around and saw that although the room was spacious, there were many surveillance cameras, many of which were pointed outside the windows.

He took out his ID and waved it in front of the camera.

After a while, footsteps were heard from upstairs.

A young man in a hoodie and sneakers, wearing a work badge, came running down the stairs.

He introduced himself as Xiao Du, responsible for reception at the company.

After Bai Yutang showed his ID, he said he wanted to see the person in charge of the company.

Xiao Du asked what the investigation was about. Was it a tax audit?

Bai Yutang said that tax audits were the work of the tax authorities. They were criminal police and were there to investigate a homicide.

"Homicide?!" Xiao Du looked shocked. "What homicide?"

"Are you the person in charge?" Bai Yutang asked in return.

Xiao Du quickly shook his head and invited them upstairs.

The situation upstairs was similar to downstairs, with a few desks and computers, and only a few people around.

Xiao Du asked them to wait in the lounge and then went to knock on an office door.

Not long after, a middle-aged man with glasses, looking quite capable, came over. He introduced himself as the company's technical director and gestured for Bai Yutang and the others to follow him.

They followed the director into a conference room.

The conference room had a long table and two rows of chairs, but nothing else except for a large screen on the wall.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao sat by the table, while Ma Han and Zhao Hu sat opposite them. Zhao Hu quietly remarked – This style resembles a movie theatre.

As he was speaking, the lights in the conference room went out, and the large screen facing the table lit up.

Ma Han glanced at Zhao Hu, who widened his eyes – Was this really a theatre?

......

In the SCI surveillance van outside the technology park, Zhao Jue sat watching the surveillance screens in front of Jiang Ping.

Bai Yutang wore a button with a camera, and Zhan Zhao wore glasses with recording functions.

The surveillance screens showed almost everything they could see, including the image that suddenly appeared on the big screen, the witch.

"Wow," Jiang Ping thought it was impressive.

The technical director introduced to the bewildered Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang that the game character "Witch" with a face like a black hole on the big screen was their boss.

Bai Yutang laughed, "Are you kidding?"

The technical director quickly shook his head and explained, "This is our company's AI. All decisions made by our management are calculated by this system, and the final operations are decided by the AI."

Zhao Hu and Ma Han looked up at the ceiling – Ridiculous...

Bai Yutang remained calm, nodded, and asked, "Does your company's annual profit go into this AI's account?"

The technical director opened his mouth, "Uh..."

Bai Yutang said, "If your company breaks the law, who would be responsible and go to jail? I want to talk to that person."

"We operate as an AI team..."

"And where are the team members?" Bai Yutang patiently asked.

"I need to call our operations director," the technical director said and went out to make the call.

At this moment, the receptionist Xiao Du came in with some tea.

Bai Yutang asked him, "Do you have a department that manages personnel?"

"Yes, we have a personnel director," Xiao Du nodded and said he would call them.

Zhao Hu wrinkled his nose and continued to complain to Ma Han, "So many directors... It feels like there are more directors than employees."

"And do you have a director for developing the Witch game?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Xiao Du kept nodding, "Yes, we have a game director and a project director..."

Opposite, Zhao Hu and Ma Han nodded – No surprise, they wondered if there was even a director of the reception.

Bai Yutang added, "Why not call all your directors here."

......

In the surveillance van, Zhao Jue listened and laughed while holding a cup of milk tea.

At this moment, Bai Ye's voice came through the earpiece, "How's it going?"

"Almost everyone has been sent away. When all those directors are in the conference room, we can start the second step."

Bai Ye received the message and, together with Issel, got out of the car, walked into the technology park, and wandered near Magic Company.

......

In no time, the conference room was almost full, with seven or eight directors and some technical staff responsible for AI and game operations.

One of them, an operations director surnamed Wang, also served as the company's vice president, presumably second only to the Witch.

Bai Yutang took out photos of Yu Yang and Huang Dong and showed them to everyone.

"These two were trial users of your game, right?" Bai Yutang asked.

The game director looked at the photos and said it was possible.

"Do you have a list of the game's trial users?" Zhan Zhao asked.

The directors all shook their heads, saying that these users signed confidentiality agreements when they participated, and both parties had confidentiality obligations. If the police needed to investigate, they would need a court order.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao didn't press further.

Bai Yutang pointed to Yu Yang's photo and said, "This person is suspected of murder."

Then he pointed to Huang Dong, "This person is suspected of harassment."

The directors exchanged glances.

"We captured Huang Dong, and he mentioned that your game's trial content included encouraging them to commit crimes..."

Hearing Bai Yutang's words, the directors and technical staff all shook their heads repeatedly, "Impossible... How could it be..."

"There's also a murder suspect, Yu Yang, who is at large, but he sent us a very interesting audio message." Bai Yutang said, taking out his phone and playing a recording.

In the recording, it was Yu Yang's voice. He first stated his identity and game ID, then gave a detailed description of the Witch game, explaining the process of using the game to classify users and "prey" to create specific criminal activities...

......

In the surveillance van, Zhao Jue felt the time was about right, so he picked up his phone and made a call.

Not long after, a car drove into the technology park and parked in an open space near Magic Company.

Yu Yang got out of the car, put on a baseball cap, slung a backpack over his shoulder, looked up at the company building, then lowered the brim of his hat and walked towards the building.

As he approached the building, he left the path and entered the green belt outside the company's outer wall, walking along the wall while observing the window positions.

Jiang Ping watched Yu Yang on the surveillance screen, thinking he looked very suspicious.

Yu Yang carried some glow-in-the-dark stickers and made marks in hidden, climbable spots.

......

In the conference room, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were still tangling with the directors.

The directors vehemently denied that their game encouraged people to commit crimes while at the same time distanced themselves from Yu Yang and Huang Dong, saying that these were the actions of the game users themselves...

Zhao Jue prompted Zhao Hu through the earpiece to get up and relieve himself.

Zhao Hu then stood up, saying he was going to the restroom.

Not long after Zhao Hu left, the receptionist Xiao Du's phone rang. He saw the caller ID, quickly got up, and ran out in a panic.

Ma Han looked at the others in the conference room, no one was answering their phones or checking messages.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao exchanged glances – It was actually the receptionist who got the notification?

Xiao Du covered his phone as he ran outside, walked to the window, and looked out.

From the window, he could see Yu Yang sneaking around near the flower beds below.

Holding the phone, Xiao Du listened and watched the scene below. His demeanour and expression were very different from earlier. Before, he had seemed panicked and timid, like a new employee just responsible for serving tea and water. But now, he looked calm and even a bit authoritative while holding the phone.

"Hmm, I see. Taking advantage of the police as cover, right? Contact the senior players to get the job done... Numbers two and three should try first, keep a low profile..."

After hanging up the phone, Xiao Du stood by the window for a while, frowning, then turned and walked back.

Returning to the entrance to the conference room, he shrugged his shoulders, seemingly relaxing, and his mouth moved a few times as if loosening his facial muscles.

Then, he reverted to his rookie state, rushing in with a nervous smile.

As Xiao Du entered the conference room, Zhao Hu emerged from behind a plant in the hallway corner, holding his phone.

Zhao Hu shook his head, tutting as he sent the video of Xiao Du taking the call to Zhao Jue and complaining, "Aiya, you really can't judge a book by its cover... Turns out he's not just a receptionist but the reception director!"

In the surveillance van, Zhao Jue, sipping milk tea, picked up his phone and watched the video Zhao Hu had sent.

After watching, Zhao Jue had a good idea of the situation.

Bai Ye and Issel had also finished observing the exterior terrain.

Zhao Jue sent Zhan Zhao an "OK" emoji.

Zhan Zhao knew that the fish had taken the bait and nodded to Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang interrupted a director who was explaining their game's world, suggesting, "I'd like to tour your company, especially the game section."

"Oh... sure, sure." The directors all got up to lead the way.

As they left the conference room, Zhao Hu happened to "return" and asked, "Where's the restroom?"

The personnel director, who also needed to go, offered to show Zhao Hu the way, and Ma Han went along too.

The others continued to accompany Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang on a tour of the game development centre.

......

In the surveillance van, Zhao Jue, with his feet propped up on another chair and hands behind his head, murmured, "Senior players, huh..."

At that moment, Luo Tian's voice came through the earpiece. He and Qin Ou were responsible for following Yu Yang's car. After appearing near the company for a while, Yu Yang returned to his car and drove off.

Luo Tian said, "A car is tailing Yu Yang's vehicle."

"It's progressing smoothly," Zhao Jue commented, picking up his phone to call Zhan Zhao.

Seeing the caller ID, Zhan Zhao answered the phone, pretended to listen, and then told Bai Yutang, "Yu Yang has appeared."

Bai Yutang immediately told the company staff, "Let's stop here for today..."

With that, he and Zhan Zhao hurriedly left.

As they walked out, Zhan Zhao continued to pretend to be on the phone, "What's the licence plate number? Have someone follow him..."

In the surveillance van, Zhao Jue put down his feet, stood up, and stretched, "Almost there. The bait is set, and the fish are hooked. Just wait to reel them in tonight..."

He then told Zhan Zhao, who was still on the phone as he walked out of the Magic Company building, "I'm hungry! Hurry and treat me to dinner!"

Zhan Zhao got into the car, hung up, and asked Bai Yutang, "Zhao Jue wants to eat at the cafeteria... Do you think he's planning revenge?"

Bai Yutang started the car, "Maybe... Or he might just be really hungry. Why not buy some good food to appease him?"

"He definitely plans to get back at us! Appeasement won't work." Zhan Zhao tapped his phone against his chin, "We can't let our guard down!"

‿︵‿︵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 5, 2024 by Angel

Edited: December 30, 2024 by Soojin