128: Chapter 128 Catching the murderer on a rainy night

Wild Dog Cheng Yu bared his teeth and grinned foolishly for a while longer, before remembering that he wasn't here just to stroll the streets; he had quite a few things to take care of.

He first went to the nearest clinic to register and get a tetanus shot. The doctor, Cheng Yu, told him, "Tetanus doesn't have different types, so you don't need to wave that butterfly knife around in front of me like a hoodlum. Also, this shot needs to be taken three times; remember to come back in a while."

Next was buying Freon. However, the Cheng Yus Clones selling the Freon said that the Hive City Central Control wouldn't allow sales for the time being because Freon would decompose the ozone they produced. Wild Dog Cheng Yu gave him an extra fifty, and that clone changed his tune immediately, no longer mentioning anything about the Central Control.

As an aside, the Cheng Yu Empire has no constitution, which means there is no supreme law, because the Emperor is the embodiment of the law, and it is impossible to establish such a thing to restrict himself.

But apart from that, the Empire has already promulgated over two thousand written laws to restrict every aspect of the lives of the Empire's residents. The fewer words a law has, the higher its legal effect. For example, the "Criminal Law," "Civil Law," and "Marriage Law." Violating these will most likely result in jail time and fines. However, for something like the "Electric Scooter Purchase and Sales Ordinance," violating this generally just means a fine if you are caught, and if you aren't, then so be it.

Because there are too many strange and bizarre things in the Warhammer Universe, for those matters that have never been encountered before but are too few in number to warrant separate legislation, it is generally left to the discretion of the Imperial Court. Subsequent courts then follow the previous precedents. The Empire's judicial practice combines these methods; overall, it is based on statutory law, supplemented by case law.

Take, for example, Wild Dog Cheng Yu purchasing Freon during the Hive City disinfection period. This actually violated the "Illegal Procurement, Transportation, and Use of Prohibited Chemicals" clause in the "Hive City Health Management Regulations" and the "Small and Micro Enterprise Management Measures." The catalog of prohibited chemicals can be found in the judicial interpretation of the Imperial High Court in the eighth year of the Imperial Calendar, with different fine amounts for different chemicals.

For two five-liter bottles of Freon, the fine is two hundred if caught.

Wild Dog Cheng Yu didn't care at all, carrying one bottle of Freon in each hand as he walked back. That's just the kind of unrestrained man who loves freedom he is.

By the time he headed back, the rain was falling even harder. The rainwater falling from the sky touched the warm ground of the Mid-Hive and quickly evaporated into water vapor that permeated the surroundings, further reducing visibility.

At this point, no matter how rough Wild Dog Cheng Yu was, he had to find a place to take shelter from the rain.

After all, there were some neurotic Cheng Yus Clones who just loved to speed on their electric scooters in this kind of rainy weather; who knows what they were supporting.

The Mid-Hive commercial street usually has a lot of people coming and going. Although there were fewer people now because of the rain, it was still shoulder-to-shoulder.

"Pardon me, could I borrow a light?" Wild Dog Cheng Yu placed one of the Freon bottles on the ground and freed up a hand to fish out a cigarette. After putting it in his mouth, he realized he hadn't brought a lighter, so he had to ask a stranger nearby, who was covered from head to toe in a raincoat, for a light.

The other person didn't say anything, simply rubbing their fingers together to produce a flame. Oh, it was a Psyker. Wild Dog Cheng Yu really wanted such convenient psychic powers; think of how much money he'd save on lighters in a year.

Just as Wild Dog Cheng Yu was about to make a joke, he caught a glimpse of a dagger strapped to the person's waist. Calling it a dagger wasn't quite right; it looked more like the kind of ox-ear knife that meat vendors in the wet market used to cut small pieces of meat.

"Damn, bad luck, I really ran into one." Wild Dog Cheng Yu squinted and exhaled a smoke ring, then gave the other person an awkward smile, preparing to slowly back away. He didn't mention the courage he had back when he roamed the streets; in reality, he was just an office worker in a gang who looked after the turf, a low-level thug who had just put in the time to climb the ranks, and honestly, he wasn't very good at fighting.

The other person placed their hand on the hilt of the knife and turned their body to face Wild Dog Cheng Yu directly.

Normally, Wild Dog Cheng Yu didn't have the authority within the shared consciousness, but fortunately, the main body was wise and had left an alarm button for all the Cheng Yus Clones. The moment Wild Dog Cheng Yu realized there was a problem, he had already started calling for help, but the nearest Security Forces were a block away, and it would take at least three minutes to get here.

Traffic jam, traffic jam! No matter how wide the Hive City roads are, when they get blocked up, even electric scooters can't move.

The other person's speed was lightning fast. In the split second Wild Dog Cheng Yu was distracted, the tip of the knife had already thrust forward.

Fortunately, Wild Dog Cheng Yu still had a bottle of Freon in his hand. He reacted quickly and blocked, but his arm was still slashed with a deep cut.

"Damn it, if I had known, I would have bought the Freon first and then gone to get the tetanus shot!"

However, this rainy night assassin was impulsive this time. Previously, this killer always committed assassinations in places with relatively less foot traffic, and by the time the surrounding Cheng Yus Clones rushed over, the killer had long since run away.

This time, the place where the killer committed the crime happened to be a five-way intersection, with tons of Cheng Yus Clones around, all of whom had entered a special conscription mode within the shared consciousness.

At this moment, they were all soldiers.

Wild Dog Cheng Yu also quickly entered the Bloodthirsty Conscription mode; his eyes became bloodshot, his strength increased, and his teeth even sharpened.

He used an incredible amount of strength to twist open the Freon cylinder, which originally required a special wrench to operate, and then sprayed the refrigerant wildly at the killer. The effect was outstanding.

After the massive amount of refrigerant absorbed heat, it froze into a thick layer of frost on the killer's raincoat visor, and now the killer had no visibility.

Although the surrounding Cheng Yus Clones were unarmed, they weren't completely without things to use as weapons.

Those holding briefcases used them to smash, and those carrying grocery baskets used them to cover. The Cheng Yus Clones even formed simple melee formations; some held cutting boards as shields, some held umbrellas like spears, and others used milk tea and salty soda as projectiles to pelt the killer.

The killer was soon submerged in the vast ocean of the surrounding Cheng Yus Clones. He wasn't beaten down; he was trampled down.

That's how the Bloodthirsty Conscription mode is; as they fight, the Cheng Yus Clones begin to lose their sanity. After finishing off the enemy, they start looting and smashing things in the surrounding area. It's hard to tell if these Cheng Yus Clones are truly out of control or just pretending, so this mode can't be used often; the economic losses are too great.

"Stop, everyone stop!" The Security Officer Cheng Yus finally arrived. They fired warning shots into the air, and the Cheng Yus Clones who were currently "zero-dollar shopping" at the shops along the street scattered in a rush, leaving behind only the unconscious killer and Wild Dog Cheng Yu, who was frantically looking for a tourniquet inside the pharmacy.