Chapter 317: 317 important clues
It’s essential to foster good relationships with fellow team members during our first meeting. Even if it’s just a temporary alliance, we’ll still be part of the same system eventually.
For Wang Lan, he could conduct the investigation alone if necessary, but that’s just the way society works.
Wang Lan chose a barbecue restaurant that prided itself on its authentic style. It didn’t add any unnecessary seasonings, allowing customers to taste the pure flavor of the meat.
The restaurant had been open for less than half a year, but its reputation was already quite good.
The four of them ordered portions fit for ten. Casual conversations flowed as they dined, allowing the five of them to formally start getting acquainted.
The four quickly changed their initial impression of Wang Lan. They thought that since Wang Lan was promoted to major at such a young age, he must be from a distinguished background, and those with such backgrounds often shared a common flaw: arrogance.
Even if they seemed approachable on the surface, they might occasionally reveal an air of arrogance through their expressions and words. However, none of these traits were seen in Wang Lan. To the two men, he seemed good-natured and easy to get along with, speaking in a tone that was never aggressive.
To the two women, he seemed warm, as girls are usually more sensitive in this regard.
After the meal, Wang Lan started checking out each crime scene. Yang Yang had already dealt with some aspects of this case before but not in great depth. With reference to the available information, he barely managed to reconstruct the scenes.
"The bar manager also said that those two were first-timers and seemed quite restrained. They just sat at the bar and watched quietly without hitting on the girls," Yang Yang recounted.
"How can he be so sure they were first-timers?" Wang Lan asked.
"This bar is a quieter establishment, favored by an executive clientele. The whole bar environment is rather peaceful; people come here to relax. Those who are out for wilder entertainment usually head to those noisy bars with dance floors and long-legged beauties. So, most of the bar-goers are regulars. The manager may not know everyone personally but recognizes their faces. Those two were very restrained, and the manager is quite sure they hardly ever, or have never been to such a place before."
"The victim’s identity is unknown, the killer’s identity is unknown, and the motive for the murder is unclear. There’s simply no way to start with this case."
"Let’s move on to the next place."
An afternoon was spent visiting five locations, all of which resembled the first, with no information to be found. No ID cards, no mobile phones, no clues that could be used to trace their identities.
"No wonder the colleagues from the Intelligence Department are so troubled; it’s like trying to find a way into a hedgehog rolled into a ball," Yang Yang mused.
"Bai Xu, what did you say?" Wang Lan suddenly looked up from his thoughts and asked.
"Nowhere to start?"
"No, the other thing, what was it like?"
"A hedgehog rolling into a ball?"
"Rolling into a ball..." Wang Lan quickly took out his phone to pull up the map. "If we change our perspective, this is the Qinghai District. All the crime scenes are densely concentrated within the East Forest Town area. Doesn’t it strike you as odd? Why do these people without identities appear? We have sophisticated support equipment and can make use of all resources in Modu City to investigate their identities, yet we’ve found nothing. How does the killer accurately locate them? It’s easy for people without identities to hide. Leaving is also too simple for them. All they have to do is hide somewhere, and the killer would not be able to track them down, unless the killer was watching them nonstop. But there’s only one killer; it’s impossible to keep an eye on many people at once."
"Maybe there’s more than one murderer?"
"If there were more than one, there would be no need to kill one by one. To closely watch them, at least twice the number of people would be needed, and the killer could easily take down several at the same time."
"Could it be someone secretly stalking, with only one person actually committing the murders?"
"Xiao Ai?"
"I’m here!" Is this thing even aware it’s hiding its intelligence? This formulaic reply was just like that of the most common AI.
"Compile all the surveillance footage from the crime scenes. Check for anyone who might have been watching the victims or followed them there before the incidents."
"Got it."
"Team leader, is this... your cyber sprite?"
"Yeah, I was really into robotics in high school, so I wrote some intelligent code to handle some monotonous tasks for me."
"Pretty good. It’s no worse than those artificial intelligences on the market," Liu Yifeng commented objectively.
Heh, Xiao Ai is deliberately downplaying itself. If it went all out, it would outmatch everyone except Ice Snow. Just analyzing the data collected by the Tianjian Bureau? Impossible, Xiao Ai must have hacked into every surveillance system in the area to carry out its analysis.
While Xiao Ai was checking all the surveillance footage, Wang Lan had already started marking out on the map the areas where the victims were found. The markings formed a crescent-shaped trajectory on the map.
"Team leader, do you think there’s a pattern to this trajectory?" Bai Xu asked, looking at the marked routes on the map.
"Right now, I’m just taking a shot in the dark. Though they say that solving cases shouldn’t rely on luck, in the absence of any clues, we’re left with no choice but to chance it."
"BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. Wang Lan, the big data search is complete. No individuals fitting your described parameters have been found. Would you like to update the search criteria?"
The last sentence is pure nonsense. With Xiao Ai’s level of intelligence, it’s impossible for it not to know what Wang Lan is looking for. It has definitely searched through all possible options. If there’s nothing, then there truly is nothing.
RING RING—
Suddenly, Wang Lan’s cell phone rang.
"Hello, Director Ming? What? I’ll be right there."
Wang Lan hung up the phone, his face instantly darkening. "East gate of Dongming Hospital, another murder case has occurred. Two people were killed in the street by a red-clothed masked killer. We must go immediately."
The SUV roared, transforming into a ferocious beast as it charged through the streets. When they arrived at the scene, police guards had already secured the area. Beyond the cordon, there was a crowd of onlookers.
Wang Lan and his colleagues showed their credentials and were allowed to enter.
"Captain Lu, people from the Tianjian Bureau have arrived," a police officer said in a low voice as he approached a detective.
Detective Lu quickly stood up and walked towards Wang Lan and his four companions. "You got here quickly. This case is similar to the previous ones. There are plenty of witnesses, but the killer was masked and killed in broad daylight. We don’t know where he came from. So, even with witnesses and security cameras, he doesn’t hold back. These two people just happened to walk to the entrance of the hospital when suddenly a person in a red tight-fitting suit appeared, drew two deadly weapons from behind, and killed one of them. The other seemed to be about to use a Star Martial Skill but was beheaded by the killer before he could use it."
"Captain Lu, still no identification?" Wang Lan asked in a low voice.
"None. We’ve checked the facial recognition system, and there’s no match for this person. Our facial recognition system is linked to the Cloud Sea Central Hub and can analyze one million faces per second. No cell phone, no ID card, no money, nothing that could prove their identities."
Wang Lan surveyed the scene; it was brutal and bloody. The one who was first killed had been cut in half at the waist, their lower and upper body separated by at least two meters, with intestines and internal organs spilled all over the place. The second one was decapitated, blood sprayed like an ink painting.
"Have you conducted a reverse investigation?"
"We could only track a one-kilometer route; before that, they seemed to intentionally avoid surveillance cameras, so we couldn’t continue the investigation."
"Are these guys nuts? Knowing that someone is hunting them, they still bloody well run around outside?" Yang Yang spat out angrily. "Even if they’re thick-skulled, they should at least leave us some clues!"
Against victims and perpetrators whose identities were both a mystery, Wang Lan was also at a loss. The entire population of Jade Country didn’t include these people. Where to find their identities, their social connections, the killer’s next target?
RING RING— Detective Lu’s phone suddenly rang.
"Hello? What? Where? Okay!"
"Major Wang, three kilometers east, someone has reported the killer chasing down five Star Martial Warriors."
"Let’s go!" Wang Lan said, and with a WHOOSH, he shot into the sky. Seeing Wang Lan fly into the sky and disappear in the blink of an eye, Yifeng also quickly leaped up into the sky.
Both had flying-type Star Martial Skills. Three kilometers wasn’t particularly far or close, but to leap three kilometers through the sky took at least three to five minutes. From a high vantage point, they quickly spotted the disturbance. Below, in a narrow alley, a crowd of onlookers blocked the entrance.
Wang Lan could never understand why these people were so keen on watching the excitement. Moreover, they never considered whether this kind of excitement should be watched or whether it was dangerous. You dare watch a Star Martial Warrior battle? If they dare to fight in a major city, they certainly wouldn’t care about mistakenly killing a few civilians, right?
Wang Lan landed. "Everyone go back home! No one is allowed to come near!"
By the time of the alert, it was likely already over. When Wang Lan arrived, all that was left was a dreadful scene and nothing else.
In the alley lay six bodies, all freshly killed. The blood staining the walls was still warm.
Wang Lan walked past the bloodstains and carefully examined the corpses. They were all killed by swords, which showed that the killer was a master at using them.
From the security camera footage Detective Lu had seen, it was evident that the killer was not only adept with sword skill but also had an extremely fast movement technique and a sort of invisibility Innate Ability. This was because the first person to be cut in half at the waist hadn’t realized it until it was too late.
Of the five people in front of him, apart from the one furthest away who did not react before death, the rest had postures indicating attempts to run or twist their bodies. Yet, even though they knew the grim reaper was upon them, they were helplessly slaughtered.
"Yifeng, go and ask if there are any eyewitnesses. Find out what happened," Wang Lan directed.
"Yes!"
There were six bodies: one bisected at the waist, two beheaded, one pierced through the heart, one through the throat, and one cleaved in half right through the head. Despite the disgusting mess, Wang Lan endured his queasiness and observed carefully.
The cuts were clean, especially the one that split a head open. Either the killer was an expert in wind attributes, or their sword was extremely sharp.
Among the six, the clothing style of five was exactly the same as those previously killed, but one young man’s attire did not seem like that of someone living in seclusion.
Wang Lan tried to search his personal belongings.
Suddenly, a look of surprise appeared on his face as he found a cell phone in the young man’s chest pocket. Having a phone meant potential access to his identity.