5: A coward's report, and the birth of a brilliant detective!
On the other end of the line...
Zhao Dahai's roar was suddenly cut short, as if an invisible hand had seized his throat.
It stopped abruptly.
Dead silence.
A dead silence that lasted for ten long seconds.
In the receiver, only the crackle of static and Zhao Dahai's heavy, bellows-like breathing remained.
"Address."
After a long while, Zhao Dahai's voice rang out again.
Hoarse and dry, every word sounded as if it were squeezed out from between his teeth.
"Send me the address immediately!"
"Yes, sir!"
Su Qingxue hung up the phone and looked at the hellish scene before her.
Suppressing her physical discomfort, she began taking photos for evidence.
...
Twenty minutes later.
Over a dozen police cars tore through the night, roaring as they arrived and surrounding the dilapidated tenement building so tightly that not even a drop of water could leak through.
Zhao Dahai was the first to jump out of the car, his face ashen.
Ignoring everyone, he charged straight into Room 104.
When he saw the uncovered underground entrance, his tall frame visibly swayed.
He said nothing and climbed down the ladder.
A few minutes later, when he climbed back up...
This veteran detective, who had worked on the front lines of criminal investigation for over twenty years and was accustomed to life and death, had a face as white as a sheet of paper.
The fury in his eyes was almost ready to erupt, threatening to burn this building of sin to ashes.
"Seal off the scene!"
"Technical Team, investigate! Collect evidence! Don't miss a single strand of hair!"
"Information Center, immediately initiate a city-wide manhunt for the suspect, Zhang Weiguo! I want him found, dead or alive!"
Command after command issued from his mouth.
The entire police network of Jiang City was instantly activated at two in the morning because of this cold case that had been silent for ten years!
Zhao Dahai walked up to Su Qingxue and looked at her with a complex expression.
"How... did you find this place?"
"It was that mysterious person."
Su Qingxue handed over her phone, showing the decisive text message.
Zhao Dahai looked at those few lines of text, his hands trembling slightly.
He wasn't afraid.
Rather, he was feeling lingering fear and shame.
If it hadn't been for Su Qingxue's persistence, if he had truly forced her to stand down...
This demon would still be at large.
Continuing to hide in this dark corner, desecrating that departed soul!
"Trace this number!" Zhao Dahai growled.
"I already checked. It's an unregistered SIM card. The last known signal location was the waste treatment plant in the south of the city. The card has long since been destroyed," Su Qingxue replied.
Zhao Dahai's fists clenched until they cracked.
This mysterious person was meticulous to the extreme.
They hadn't left any possibility of being traced at all.
Who exactly was he?
Friend or foe?
"Captain, what do we do now?" an officer asked.
"Wait."
Zhao Dahai spat out the word, his gaze fixed on the endless darkness.
"The killer will definitely come back."
"This is his temple, his spiritual sanctuary. Now that his 'temple' has been breached by us, he will surely go mad."
"Notify all units on lookout to focus on screening all major traffic routes and surveillance blind spots near this residential area!"
"He's nearby!"
...
Early morning.
The first rays of sunlight pierced through the thin mist, spilling onto the window of the cold case Archives Office.
Chen Mo stretched.
He hadn't slept all night, but he was in an unusually excited state of mind.
He knew it was time to close the net.
He picked up the internal phone on his desk and dialed Director Wang's office at the Academic Affairs Office again.
"Hello, who is it? Disturbing someone's dreams so early in the morning!" Director Wang's impatient voice came through.
"Director Wang, it's me, Chen Mo."
"Chen Mo?"
Director Wang paused for a moment, and then his tone became sarcastic.
"Oh, if it isn't our 'Great Theorist Chen'? What, did the dust in the Archives Office not choke you to death? Say what you have to say, I'm busy!"
"It's like this, Director."
Chen Mo's voice sounded somewhat timid, perfectly matching his 'Coward' persona.
"Yesterday, while I was organizing the files for Cold Case Number 037, I seemed... I seemed to have found some suspicious points. I wanted to... report them to you."
"Report?"
Director Wang acted as if he had heard the world's biggest joke and laughed out loud.
"You, an archive manager, found suspicious points? What did you find? Find that the paper was moldy?"
"Chen Mo, let me tell you, stay in your corner peacefully and don't spend all day thinking about making trouble! With that little bit of theoretical knowledge of yours, it's fine for fooling school teachers, but in actual work, it's useless!"
"I..."
"Enough, enough, I don't have time to listen to your nonsense!"
Director Wang impatiently prepared to hang up.
Just then, his office door was slammed open.
A young clerk rushed in with a face full of horror.
"Director Wang! Something huge has happened!"
"What's all the fuss about!" Director Wang scolded displeasurably.
"The... the Campus Female Corpse Case from ten years ago has been solved!"
Clatter.
The phone in Director Wang's hand slipped and hit the floor.
The sneer on his face instantly froze.
His whole body seemed to have been hit by a freezing spell, his mouth hanging open wide enough to fit an egg.
"What... what did you say?"
"Early this morning, the Criminal Investigation Detachment caught the suspect, Zhang Weiguo, at the West Suburb Red Brick Factory! Caught red-handed! I heard they even found a basement in his house filled with... filled with the victims' belongings!"
"The entire Municipal Bureau is shaken! I heard the Bureau Chief rushed over there overnight!"
Boom!
Director Wang felt his mind go blank, his ears ringing.
The Campus Female Corpse Case... solved?
How was this possible?!
That was a cold case that had been unsolved for ten years, a case that had left countless veteran detectives helpless!
He suddenly remembered that the phone hadn't been hung up yet.
With a trembling hand, he picked up the receiver, from which Chen Mo's still "weak" voice emanated.
"Um... Director Wang, are you still there?"
"I just wanted to report that based on my analysis of the files, I felt the cleaner from back then, Zhang Weiguo, was highly suspicious... and I speculated he might have hidden evidence in the basement of his old house..."
Chen Mo's words were like invisible slaps, fiercely striking Director Wang's face.
It stung with a burning pain.
He... he had just thrown this "Coward" into the Archives Office like trash yesterday.
As a result, on this "Coward's" first day of work...
He solved a ten-year-old cold case just by relying on a moldy file?!
What the hell, did he see a ghost?!
Director Wang's face turned shades of blue and white.
It felt as if a fly were stuck in his throat; he couldn't say a single word.
He finally understood.
Just what kind of monster he had personally sent into a treasure trove!
"Di... Director?"
"I know!"
Director Wang almost roared it out as he slammed the phone down.
He slumped into his chair, cold sweat instantly soaking his back.
...
Archives Office.
Chen Mo put down the phone, a faint smile appearing on his face.
This effect was exactly what he wanted.
He didn't need praise from others, but he had to use this method to find a reasonable origin for his "discovery."
An archive manager finding suspicious points by organizing files and reporting to his superior.
Perfectly logical.
Just then.
[Ding!]
The cold system notification sounded in his mind!
[Congratulations to the host for successfully solving the 'Ten-Year-Old Campus Female Corpse Case'!]
[Case Rating: Major Cold Case (Ten Years)]
[sin value Reward: 10,000 points!]
[Newbie task completed, system functions upgraded!]
[Core Function 2: Heartbeat Localization (Elementary) activated!]
[Heartbeat Localization: Once the host locks onto a criminal's 'sin frequency' through 'Thought Synchronization', they can perceive that criminal's heartbeat within a 500-meter radius. Perception is enhanced when the target's emotions fluctuate violently (nervousness, fear, excitement).]
It's here!
Chen Mo's gaze instantly became sharp.
This was his true trump card!
With this function, any disguise or lie would have nowhere to hide before him!
While he was immersed in the joy brought by the new function...
The heavy iron door of the Archives Office was pushed open with a "creak."
Zhao Dahai and Su Qingxue walked in.
Both had gone without sleep all night, with dark circles under their eyes, but their gazes were incredibly bright.
They stared straight at the thin figure who was looking down and organizing files.
The "Coward" who had been mocked by the entire Police Academy for four years.
The shame of the Police Academy who had been kicked around like a ball until he landed in this "graveyard."
It was he who, with a single file, had awakened a soul that had been sleeping for ten years.
And dragged a demon hidden in the darkness into the sunlight.
"Chen Mo."
Zhao Dahai's voice was somewhat hoarse.
"Director Wang said it was you who, by analyzing the files, found the key clues to solving the case?"
Chen Mo looked up, his face showing a timely hint of fluster and awkwardness.
"I... I was just lucky, like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse..."
Just lucky?
Zhao Dahai and Su Qingxue glanced at each other, both seeing disbelief in the other's eyes.
How could there be such a coincidental stroke of luck in this world!
Su Qingxue stepped forward, her gaze like a torch, staring intently into Chen Mo's eyes.
She wanted to find some trace of a clue from these eyes.
However, she failed.
Chen Mo's eyes were clear and frank, even carrying a hint of nervousness and fear typical of facing a superior.
He was a completely different person from that mysterious person on the phone who had strategized and seen through everything.
A world of difference.
Could it... really just be a coincidence?
"Regardless."
Zhao Dahai took a deep breath and said solemnly, "On behalf of the Municipal Bureau and the families of the victims, I express my gratitude to you."
He gave a solemn salute to Chen Mo, this fresh graduate.
"In this case, you've earned the top merit!"
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