S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 224

The Intelligent Killer 29 – Not Dangerous

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Zhan Zhao being wary of Zhao Jue's revenge was one thing, but Zhao Jue being hungry was another...

When one was hungry, one naturally needed to eat, and the sooner the better. However, before eating... Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had another important matter to attend to – Yu Yang was being followed.

According to the previous situation, everything was within the scope of the SCI's plan.

Furthermore, after the trip, they all basically confirmed that among everyone at Magic Company, the receptionist who called himself "Xiao Du" might be the biggest fish.

Of course, they couldn't rule out the possibility that there was a big boss behind the scenes, but this receptionist, who disguised himself as a harmless newbie, was currently the most notable clue.

Jiang Ping investigated this person.

It turned out that this "Xiao Du" was not actually surnamed Du, but Li, and his full name was Li Hedu. Besides the identity disguise, his name was also misleading.

Jiang Ping remarked with a slight sigh, "One name, three surnames..."

According to his resume, Li Hedu seemed to be a rather clean individual. He was thirty-three years old and had been working at Magic Company for only three years. Before that, he had not worked in the gaming industry or any reception-related jobs... Before the age of thirty, his profession had been a caregiver.

That's right, the kind who takes care of patients in a hospital.

Just looking at his work history, there didn't seem to be a strong connection between his past and current jobs. However, that didn't necessarily mean anything, as people are free to choose their careers.

But beyond this, there was nothing else on his resume.

After reading the resume, Bai Chi concluded, "This person... seems to have a lot of secrets!"

Jiang Ping asked Zhao Jue for his opinion, but Zhao Jue was in a strike phase, refusing to work without food – hungry!

Meanwhile, Bai Yutang was contacting Luo Tian to ask where Yu Yang was currently driving.

Luo Tian reported that he was following the previously planned route.

Bai Yutang drove his car near the surveillance van, and almost simultaneously, Bai Ye and Issel's car arrived as well.

The two cars parked next to the surveillance van, and everyone got out.

Zhan Zhao directly got into the surveillance van.

Issel got into the car with Zhao Hu and Ma Han, who arrived soon after.

Bai Ye and Bai Yutang got into a nearby parked car... a police "prop" that looked exactly like Yu Yang's car, complete with identical licence plates.

Jiang Ping monitored Yu Yang's position, reporting the time and location to Bai Yutang like a dispatcher.

Bai Yutang drove into an old district with relatively low traffic and parked at an alley entrance.

After a short while, Yu Yang's car entered the district from another side, and after a few turns, parked in an alley diagonally behind Bai Yutang's car.

The car following them also turned the corner and saw Bai Yutang's car about to enter an alley.

Because the car model and licence plate were identical, the trailing car followed Bai Yutang's car, not noticing that Yu Yang's car had driven away from the other side of the alley.

......

Bai Ye reclined the seat and lay back in the car, while Bai Yutang drove around in circles with the tailing car following them.

At another intersection, Yu Yang's car stopped.

Luo Tian and Qin Ou's car arrived shortly after and parked next to it.

Qin Ou got out of the car and opened the door.

Yu Yang got out and entered Luo Tian's car, which then drove him back to the hotel.

Qin Ou drove Yu Yang's car back to the police station.

In the surveillance van, Zhan Zhao and Jiang Ping watched the monitors, relieved to see that Bai Yutang and Bai Ye had successfully swapped the vehicles.

Jiang Ping had Bai Chi keep an eye on the display while he reviewed the earlier road surveillance footage.

There seemed to be two people in the trailing car.

Zhan Zhao, with his arms crossed, asked, "Are these the number two and number three players that Li Hedu mentioned earlier?"

Jiang Ping successfully extracted the faces of the two followers from the road surveillance footage and began a search...

As expected, they both turned out to be wanted criminals.

"Impressive," Jiang Ping said as he pulled up their warrants. "There are rewards for them!"

"How much?" Zhao Jue, who had been listless earlier, suddenly perked up.

Zhan Zhao and Jiang Ping glanced at him – Aren't you supposed to be rich?

Zhao Jue sighed, "There are too many freeloaders at home, the expenses are high..."

Zhan Zhao looked at him sceptically.

Zhao Jue squinted at the bounty amounts on the wanted posters, then called out to Bai Ye through the microphone on the table, "One is three hundred thousand and the other is two hundred thousand!"

Bai Ye, still comfortably lying in the passenger seat, asked Bai Yutang, "Is that amount considered high or low?"

Bai Yutang said it was neither high nor low, probably indicating they both had blood on their hands, but they weren't at the level of serial killers.

Jiang Ping alerted, "Both of them are violent criminals, physically strong, and possibly armed."

Zhan Zhao asked Jiang Ping, "Can you find their address?"

"The vehicle registration has an address." Jiang Ping checked the surveillance near the address, "They might live there, this car often parks nearby."

Jiang Ping sent Zhao Hu the address, and Zhao Hu, Ma Han, and Issel went to check it out.

After advising Bai Ye to make money to support the family, Zhao Jue leaned back on his lounge chair and complained about being hungry.

Zhan Zhao asked him about the chocolate.

Zhao Jue said he'd left it in the office and added that snacks couldn't replace a meal.

Zhan Zhao rummaged through a drawer and found a bag of chips for him.

Zhao Jue turned his head away disdainfully at the sight of plain-flavoured chips, "Mediocre!"

Zhan Zhao was hungry too, so he opened the bag and ate a piece.

After crunching on it for a while, Zhan Zhao handed the chips to Jiang Ping, inwardly agreeing – Indeed, quite mediocre.

Jiang Ping took the chips and shared them with Bai Chi, giving the two a sidelong glance – You two are so picky!

Zhao Jue had already lost patience and asked Bai Yutang and Bai Ye, "How much longer?"

By then, Bai Yutang had driven into an abandoned factory with few people around.

After parking the car, he didn't move, just turned off the engine, unbuckled his seatbelt, and sat waiting.

The trailing car arrived shortly after.

After being led around for so long, the followers probably guessed that Yu Yang had realised he was being followed.

To be honest, these two, as "dangerous individuals" and wanted criminals with police bounties, naturally didn't take someone like Yu Yang seriously.

As higher-level players in the game, they understood the capabilities of lower-level players.

Although the "customer service" had notified them to deal with a "low-level player" whose "danger level was unknown," some things couldn't be changed... It's like weightlifting, just because you can normally lift a hundred pounds doesn't mean you can lift two hundred pounds when you lose control. In these two high-level players' eyes, Yu Yang's build and combat ability were only good enough to overpower women with little resistance. Due to their experience and stereotypes, they didn't think much of Yu Yang.

Seeing that Yu Yang's car was turned off, the two men thought the desolate area was a good place to make a move, so they opened their car doors.

Each of them grabbed a metal pipe, thinking that if Yu Yang locked the car doors, they would smash the windows.

In the car ahead, Bai Ye handed the newly bought baseball cap to Bai Yutang as he lay down.

Bai Yutang glanced at him, "Aren't you supposed to be making money to support your family?"

Bai Ye pointed to the passenger door beside him, "If I get out from the passenger side, it'll give us away, won't it?"

Bai Yutang helplessly took the cap, put it on, and got out of the car.

Just as number two and three approached the car door, they saw someone unexpectedly step out. They paused, surprised... After all, they remembered Yu Yang as a sleazy guy, so who was this handsome man stepping out? Even though the baseball cap was pulled down low, they could see the nose and jawline... an exceptionally handsome guy!

As the two were momentarily stunned, Bai Yutang looked up.

At that moment, two thoughts flashed through number two's mind – Even more handsome up close, this isn't Yu Yang!

Just as number three thought, something feels off, Bai Yutang whistled at the dazed man.

Number two suddenly realised the situation and was about to raise the metal pipe when Bai Yutang's fist connected with his cheek.

Number two, who was quite chubby, especially around the cheeks, felt Bai Yutang's punch land on his soft, oily face.

Disdainfully shaking his hand, Bai Yutang pulled out a napkin from his pocket and wiped his hand while looking at number two, who had been knocked sideways against the car door, the metal pipe falling from his hand.

The other guy, seeing this, was about to help when the car door suddenly opened... and by coincidence, the door swung right into his midsection, hitting him in the groin.

"Ow..." Number three doubled over, clutching his legs, only for the door to be closed and then opened again, this time hitting him in the head.

Bai Yutang looked at the greasy face print left on the car window from the number two's impact and then at the car door, which had served as the "weapon." He shook his head – this car needed a wash...

Bai Ye opened the glove compartment, pulled out a pair of handcuffs, and tossed them to number three, who was lying on the ground in pain.

Bai Yutang also picked up the dazed number two and cuffed him.

Within thirty seconds, the two dangerous players, number two and number three were captured.

In the surveillance van, Zhao Jue complained, "Are we done yet? I'm starving!"

On the other side, Bai Yutang replied that they were done and heading back to the station.

The two men were shoved into the back seat, and Bai Yutang returned the cap to Bai Ye. He glanced at the two wanted criminals in the back seat and shook his head, "Making money is too easy. These two are worth half a million, but even fifty yuan would be too much."

Meanwhile, Zhao Hu and Ma Han had found the residence of number two and number three. Despite being dangerous individuals, they lived the life of shut-ins. The only household appliances they had were gaming devices, and the place was littered with instant noodle cups.

Zhao Hu searched the room with a look of disgust, pinching his nose.

Among the mess, they found some documents and CDs, which seemed to be game-related at a glance.

Under the bed, Ma Han found a diary. Zhao Hu looked over and almost laughed out loud. Despite his rough appearance, number two had the habit of keeping a diary.

"In this day and age, who seriously writes a diary?" Zhao Hu said, pulling out an evidence bag, into which Ma Han placed the diary – Zhan Zhao's favourite reading material, The Diary of a Criminal.

Bai Yutang and Bai Ye brought the two criminals and the car back to the police station, where Bai Ye successfully collected the bounty.

During this time, the phones of number two and number three kept ringing, with the caller ID showing as "Customer Service."

Looking at the words "Customer Service," Bai Yutang couldn't help but feel a sense of retribution – he really wanted to play some hold music for the caller, to give them a taste of "The line is busy, please try again later."

‿︵‿︵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