If I'm not mistaken, he even knew we were coming here and had arranged all of this. Just as we fell silent, Gao Mingqiang said, "According to my recent investigation, that person just now is the 'Sin Bearer.' He appeared on the island last time. I was the mysterious guest then. In fact, the reason I acted mysteriously was because I was afraid you would discover that person was me. I couldn't reveal my identity then, let alone let you know I was still alive."
"But how did you do it?" Liu Yuning pressed.
"Hahaha, if I told you I was resurrected, would you believe me?"
"Resurrected? You're joking, how is that possible?"
"Never mind that for now, the rats are here!"
Gao Mingqiang suddenly clutched his wound, took out bandages and alcohol, and treated it. He looked as if he were completely fine. His eyes had become much more mature than before, his strength was more astonishing, his willpower and endurance had significantly improved, his fingers were calloused, and there were even scars on his face...
If I’m not mistaken, this guy must have gone somewhere mysterious during this period and undergone some special training.
After standing up, Gao Mingqiang took out a matchbox, struck a match, and ignited a strange sulfur bomb. However, it didn't explode. The fuse burned, and it transformed into a searchlight, emitting intense light around them. The rats immediately fled in disarray, not daring to linger. It was much more effective than the sulfur we used before. We were all stunned, looking at him.
When we left Lester, my companion Liu Yuning and I couldn't help but ask Gao Mingqiang where he had been during this time.
Gao Mingqiang handed me a cigarette: "Team Leader He, I'll tell you this slowly."
This time, Liu Yuning, uncharacteristically, didn't stop Gao Mingqiang from giving me a cigarette. I took it, lit it with my lighter, and soon the air was filled with smoke.
"Team Leader He, Yuning, the person who crawled out of the tomb that time wasn't me! In fact, the first time I was buried, a certain drug was administered to me, causing me to enter a state of suspended animation in the soil. Of course, at that time, I thought I was dead. Theoretically, I had no feeling, but when I miraculously survived, I found myself waking up in a hospital room with white walls all around. A person was sitting gently beside me. It was Gao Meng. That's when I realized she was one of the Sin Bearers."
"Someone from the Sin Bearers?" My companion Liu Yuning and I were both deeply shocked.
"Please bear with me, let me continue."
We immediately quieted down, and Gao Mingqiang went on, "The Sin Bearers and Polaris are not allies, but they are both criminal organizations. The two have been engaged in a 'criminal competition' for years, each looking down on the other, and aspiring to become the leaders of the criminal world. Over the years, they have constantly employed various ingenious criminal methods to compete for the top position in the criminal underworld. This world has more than just two international criminal organizations. Besides Polaris (the international criminal organization that the He family has been fighting), there are the Sin Bearers, Eternal Star, Jiangbei Divine Hands (rumored to be a criminal gang operating in the Jiangbei region, said to be in conflict with the Song family), Northern and Southern Madmen, as well as other famous criminal organizations like The Redeemers, The Addicts, and The Sin Eaters. However, there must be a larger power supporting them from behind, but I don't know what that is. Therefore, the Polaris we are dealing with is just the tip of the iceberg."
"What did you say?" My companion Liu Yuning and I stared at Gao Mingqiang in disbelief.
I remembered The Redeemers, The Addicts, and The Sin Eaters being mentioned in some films and television works. At that time, I didn't understand they were criminal organizations and thought they were creations of novelists. Gao Mingqiang ignored our reaction and continued, "Let's not talk about criminal organizations for now. I'll tell you what happened after my sister saved me. I recuperated at her place. Of course, I knew I couldn't associate with a criminal gang, but I knew Gao Meng had been brainwashed. I had to be patient. My goal was to save myself and then take her with me! I pretended to join the Sin Bearers, offered no resistance, and did it meticulously. They all thought I had been brainwashed. Gao Meng and I stood in the Sin Bearers' sacred place, a strange bamboo forest, and attended criminal courses. They would give lessons every day to those who wanted to become high-IQ criminals. It felt similar to university classes, except they instilled criminal knowledge. It was a bit like the 'Black Night Forest' association from the case we solved before, the 'black humor' and 'candy' stuff. I've forgotten the exact names, but they were like that. However, the Sin Bearers are on a completely different level from those gangs. They have many members, with guards surrounding almost the entire bamboo forest. The students were in an open space in the middle of the forest, facing a lake. A 'mentor' was using a ruler, chalk, and a computer to lecture these students on criminal theories, including murder, rape, kidnapping, arson, extortion, and so on, as well as how to leave no evidence after committing a crime, how to escape unscathed, and various criminal methods and knowledge for evading the police.
I was stunned, never expecting these criminals to be so knowledgeable about law and crime. If all these scoundrels were to commit crimes, they would likely be the bane of the police. I was actually very scared at the time, fearing that being constantly exposed to such an environment, I might one day become like Gao Meng, a naked criminal. But I persevered. I wasn't corrupted, and I maintained my disguise perfectly. I also performed diligently within the Sin Bearers organization, gradually gaining their trust. Recently, they sent me to Lester to assist that biologist or scientist. I knew my chance to escape had arrived. I had wanted to take Gao Meng with me then, but the organization didn't intend for her to go with me. If I had taken her, those people would have quickly known I was trying to escape, so I didn't do that..."
As Gao Mingqiang said this, I immediately interrupted him: "Wait, in the case of the fish scale disease, didn't Gao Meng already die?"
"No, she didn't die. Team Leader He, you need to distinguish between dying and discovering her body."
"What???"