S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 231

The Intelligent Killer 36 – Eager to Get Away

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Xu Lie looked at the suddenly appearing red rain boots with a face full of disdain. Estimating the shoe size to be a forty-two, he had no desire to see what the person wearing them looked like.

However, even though Xu Lie didn't want to look, the person outside seemed eager to make an appearance...

With a click, the door handle of the cubicle turned, and the door slowly opened.

Outside the door stood a tall man, nearly a metre eight, with a full beard. He was wearing a red dress, with legs that looked like they were covered in black fur leggings due to the dense hair, and a pair of large red rubber boots. In his hand, he held a fire axe, making for a rather eye-catching sight...

However, Xu Lie was not inside the open cubicle.

The man in the red dress seemed stunned for a moment, then a whistle sounded from above.

He looked up, only to be kicked in the face.

The man in the red dress was kicked out, and Xu Lie jumped behind him, stepping on the cubicle door... But as he rushed to the washroom door, another person walked in from outside.

This new person was also dressed in red, looking exactly the same as the one who had just been kicked.

Xu Lie felt a bit disgusted. Seriously, there are even twins?

The situation was not looking good, with Xu Lie being surrounded front and back by two men in red dresses holding axes.

However, Xu Lie remained calm. After all, it was Zhan Zhao who sent him here, and Zhan Zhao wouldn't let him die here, right?

These two big guys might look scary, but they didn't seem too bright.

The one outside walked in holding an axe, while the one inside was still covering his face. Xu Lie, being a professional Muay Thai fighter, had kicked the man's nose, probably breaking it.

Xu Lie assessed the situation and felt confident he could handle it alone. After all, they were just two big fools...

Just as Xu Lie was preparing to deal with the two men, footsteps suddenly sounded from outside.

Zhao Hu and Ma Han burst in with a group of officers, quickly subduing and handcuffing the two men, then pushing them out.

The officers moved like the wind, rushing in and out, leaving Xu Lie standing alone in the bathroom – What just happened?

At the door, Chen Yu watched the two men in red dresses being escorted out and then looked back at the stunned Xu Lie, waving at him – Was this a rehearsal? It's your turn.

Xu Lie, face full of question marks, followed Chen Yu back to the rehearsal hall.

As they passed the hallway window, they heard a commotion below. Looking down through the glass... they saw a crowd of reporters outside the theatre.

There had already been many reporters and fans watching their rehearsals in the past few days. Now, with a large number of police cars arriving and two eye-catching men in red dresses being escorted out, the reporters were in an uproar.

Cameras flashed continuously, and the news spread quickly online.

Although internet trends change rapidly and memories are short, there had recently been a viral incident involving a "woman in red" ghost.

Now, two men in red dresses had been caught at Xu Lie's rehearsal venue, causing a stir in the public.

There were many online sleuths, and with their incredible skills, they discovered that the two men were actually serial killers, the kind with a large bounty on their heads. Even more bizarre, the two men had always shared the same identity in real life, making it difficult for the police to solve the case. It wasn't until they were caught in the act that they realised the two were twins.

In just the short time it took for Xu Lie and Chen Yu to return to the rehearsal hall, the internet had exploded. People were joking about Xu Lie's strange experiences, from finding a mummified corpse at home to ghostly incidents during his school days and now encountering serial killers in the rehearsal washroom.

While people were joking about Xu Lie's bizarre luck, the "woman in red" aspect became blurred.

Interest in the concert tickets surged, with Xiao Ding fielding various calls and ticketing agents considering adding more shows. Many people were now planning to see if any more ghostly incidents would occur at the concert.

The twins, holding their phones, couldn't help but sigh – A'Lie, you were born to be a star!

Everyone else was happy, but Xu Lie was quite displeased – What on earth was going on? Were they really going to brush off those two hairy-legged cosplayers of the woman in red?

Seeing Zhan Zhao approaching, Xu Lie immediately went over to confront him.

Zhan Zhao, clearly knowing what he was up to, gestured with a wave of his hand – Calm down.

Xu Lie suppressed his anger and asked Zhan Zhao, "Brother, what's your plan here?"

Zhan Zhao told him to focus on rehearsing and not worry about anything else. Once the case was solved, everything would become clear.

Xu Lie looked dissatisfied at Chen Mi.

Chen Mi shrugged with his hands in his pockets, and the twins pulled Xu Lie onto the stage.

Just then, Zhan Zhao's phone rang. Seeing that the caller was Bai Yutang, he quickly answered.

Zhao Jue curiously leaned in to listen.

After answering, Zhan Zhao asked Bai Yutang, "What's the situation?"

Bai Yutang, holding the phone and looking at the horrifying scene in front of him, shook his head and said, "Terrible... absolutely terrible."

Just moments ago, after narrowly avoiding a falling object, Chen Youfu had secretly slipped a USB drive to Bai Yutang before running off like a madman.

Across the street was a parking area within a residential complex. Behind the parking area was a small artificial lake with a fountain and such. The water level was low this season, almost drained, leaving only a few puddles, and the fountain was off.

Chen Youfu seemed to be running towards a car. At first, Bai Yutang thought he might be trying to escape by car, but after pulling the car door a couple of times, he suddenly screamed miserably again.

Bai Yutang, Luo Tian, and Qin Ou followed him, watching Chen Youfu's series of puzzling actions, wondering if he had taken something... He seemed out of his mind.

But then, Chen Youfu yanked out an earphone and threw it away.

Bai Yutang glanced down at the earphone that had landed at his feet, noticing it had blood on it... What was going on?!

At that moment, Luo Tian shouted, "Hey! Watch out behind you!"

But Chen Youfu kept retreating, appearing frantic... Behind him were some rocks used for decoration, beyond which was the artificial lake without any fencing.

Chen Youfu stumbled over the rocks and fell backwards into the lake.

Luo Tian and Qin Ou reached the edge of the rocks, and Luo Tian was about to jump in to save him, but before he could, Bai Ye grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back...

Qin Ou slammed on the brakes when he saw this scene, and at the same time, saw sparks flying from the lake.

Bai Yutang stood by the shore, looking down at Chen Youfu lying in a puddle, his whole body convulsing, with smoke rising from his body and a burnt smell in the air.

Bai Ye pointed to a sign at the edge of the lake – Under Construction, Danger of Electrocution.

Both Qin Ou and Luo Tian felt that everything happening seemed unnatural, like a scene from Final Destination.

Bai Yutang also felt uneasy. If Bai Ye hadn't been there, Luo Tian could have had two accidents today.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao briefly discussed the situation.

"Should we go check out Chen Youfu's house?" Bai Yutang had the address but was worried there might be traps like bombs.

Zhan Zhao looked at Zhao Jue.

Zhao Jue took the phone and asked Bai Yutang, "Is the customer service guy dead?"

Bai Yutang looked at Chen Youfu, who was being carried away by the fire brigade, with the body bag's zipper already closed...

"Mhmm," Bai Yutang nodded. "dead."

"If he's dead, there's no danger, going to his house should be fine," Zhao Jue said, handing the phone back to Zhan Zhao, indicating – Time to call it a day.

Zhan Zhao told Bai Yutang they'd meet up at the SCI office in a while.

Bai Yutang hung up the phone and, along with the others, went to Chen Youfu's house.

As Zhao Jue said, there were no traps at all in Chen Youfu's home. In fact, the place was packed with various materials, including notebooks, tablets, and even voice recorders, all filled with evidence of crimes related to Magic, as well as detailed profiles of hunters and their prey.

After calling the forensics team to collect evidence, Bai Yutang, Luo Tian, Qin Ou, and Bai Ye returned to the car.

Sitting in the car, everyone was silent... until Luo Tian suddenly asked Qin Ou, "Do you have a strange feeling?"

Qin Ou nodded quickly.

Bai Yutang thought for a moment, then put on his headset to contact Jiang Ping, informing him that Chen Youfu had given him a USB drive before he died.

Jiang Ping instructed Bai Yutang to plug the USB into his tablet.

Bai Yutang inserted the USB drive into the tablet... It contained no deadly viruses, only two folders, one filled with documents and the other with videos and pictures.

Jiang Ping opened the files and, looking shocked, exclaimed, "Chief! It's all information about Magic! There's video evidence of their organised hunting games, and the current company's management are all behind it. The locations of the Magic mainframe and backup storage are also listed. Should we notify the SWAT team to check it out?"

Bai Yutang nodded and told him to contact Xiao Fei to investigate.

When Bai Yutang and the others returned to the police station, Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue also arrived. The SWAT team reported finding the AI mainframe and arresting the relevant personnel.

The criminal investigation team, using the documents found at Chen Youfu's house, arrested a large group of dangerous individuals involved in the games, many of whom were wanted criminals like the two men in red dresses.

Standing in the SCI office, everyone felt an odd sense of disbelief...

After working as police officers for so many years, it was the first time they'd felt like all the clues had been handed to them on a platter, eagerly inviting them to solve the case.

"It's ridiculously smooth," Gongsun couldn't help but comment.

In fact, everyone felt the same way. They had cracked a huge case, but it didn't feel real, like they'd solved it but not fully!

"It feels less like cutting off a limb to survive and more like burning down the entire garden, leaving only a few seeds," Zhan Zhao remarked, asking Jiang Ping, "There should still be backups, right?"

Jiang Ping agreed that there should be.

"The other side has been very cautious and decisive, not giving us any chance to negotiate," Bai Yutang frowned, thinking that Yu Yang, who had been set up as bait, ended up being unnecessary.

Unlike the somewhat pessimistic others, Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue waved their fingers, indicating there was more to the story.

"Originally, everything was going normally," Zhan Zhao pointed to the USB drive, "but suddenly, it felt like they were in a rush to close everything down and escape. When did this sense of urgency start?"

"We've been investigating for over a month, and then in half a day, it's all wrapped up... It feels especially bizarre, especially from when the customer service representative contacted us today," Zhao Hu added.

"But Chen Youfu self-destructed," Jiang Ping said, tapping his keyboard to pull up Chen Youfu's information. "He died in the most inexplicable way."

Bai Yutang, Luo Tian, and Qin Ou, who had witnessed Chen Youfu's seemingly suicidal actions, all nodded – Indeed.

"Are we sure the one who died is Chen Youfu?"

At that moment, Bai Ye, who had been indifferent until now, spoke up.

Bai Yutang looked at Bai Ye – He also had his doubts, not entirely sure that the person they had been tracking was actually Chen Youfu.

"Didn't that guy fake his death several times before," Ma Han also expressed his suspicion. "He should be quite experienced."

"Oh?" Gongsun put his hands in his white coat pockets. "Faking death?"

At that moment, the elevator doors opened, and Ma Xin and Xiatian pushed a gurney past, calling out to Gongsun, "Master, the body has arrived!"

Gongsun smiled, squinting his eyes, "Let's cut him open and see if it's really a fake death!"

‿︵‿︵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 16, 2024 by Angel

Edited: December 31, 2024 by Soojin