Chapter 24: A Subtle ‘Disguise’, The Cousin Who Won’t Leave
“Captain, regarding this serial murder case, we’ve temporarily locked down an area and identified four suspect targets within the group.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Yunbin pulled the car over to the side of the road.
“Everyone, look at the suspect information.”
Everyone picked up their respective tablets.
The main intelligence for this analysis was: multiple frames captured by the spiritual energy cameras during the first and third murder cases.
If the murderer wasn’t too cunning, their movement trajectories from the two incidents, along with the locations of the three crimes, could be used to pinpoint an area.
Another issue with the intelligence was that no spiritual energy cameras captured any footage during the second murder case.
One theory is that the murderer was very close to that crime scene.
Through this analysis, even considering indiscriminate killings, the area could be narrowed down to the electronics factory vicinity.
The four suspects currently identified were selected based on the victims’ independent social circles.
After all, a perpetrator with extraordinary power, as long as they have self-awareness, will generally choose to retaliate against those they hate. This is human nature, and not all criminals are high-IQ offenders.
Bai Yu saw a suspect in the intelligence that perfectly matched his known information, and his heart settled.
It was just a little awkward.
The case analysis mentioned the record about ‘dropouts’ that he had sent to the analysis team.
He was still thinking if the group leader could pretend not to see it and let it slide.
It was like when he used to make small movements in class, hoping the teacher wouldn’t notice.
Thinking of this, he slightly turned his head and stole a glance at Li Yunbin.
As it happened, their eyes met.
Li Yunbin offered a very faint smile and asked, “Bai Yu, which of these four suspects do you think would be suitable to approach first?”
Seeing this smile, Bai Yu’s heart suddenly sank, feeling as if he had been seen through.
But his reaction was still quick.
It looked as if Li Yunbin was posing a question to test him, and he was seriously contemplating it.
“We’re closest to the Yunan Electronics Factory, why don’t we go there?”
Saying this, Bai Yu scratched his head a bit sheepishly, “My cousin from my aunt’s side works there, I wonder if she’s still there.”
As he spoke, he glanced at Li Yunbin’s eyes.
He couldn’t discern anything unusual.
However, Bai Yu vaguely felt that Li Yunbin disliked this kind of ‘pretense’ from him.
Zhao Bin and Jiang Chen might have also noticed something was amiss.
As for Qin Wanqing… outwardly, she appeared to be a cool and intelligent goddess, as if she could understand everything. However, there was also a hint of cluelessness about her. So, the conclusion was: it was unclear if she had figured it out.
As for Liu Feifei…
She said excitedly, “Your cousin? It’s a good chance to meet her and see if she’s suitable to be friends with.”
“…You definitely wouldn’t like being friends with her.”
“Why?”
“You’ll understand when you meet her in person.”
The conversation ended, and Bai Yu began to ponder Li Yunbin.
As the group leader of the Seventh Group, and with a strong background.
From their brief interactions, Li Yunbin was a cold and assertive person.
To be able to serve as a group leader and manage a large team, he must possess some leadership qualities.
Bai Yu knew clearly that someone like Li Yunbin would definitely want to have a thorough understanding of all the members in the group.
Compared to Li Yunbin, Bai Yu was clearly too mysterious, outside of ‘control’.
To put it exaggeratedly: when humans face the unknown, they often feel fear.
Li Yunbin couldn’t be said to be afraid, but he would always worry that Bai Yu might pose a threat to the team.
What if Bai Yu was a pawn of the Alien Gods, hence his behavior?
This possibility was not zero.
Bai Yu understood this concern, which gave him a headache.
‘Coming clean is impossible, after all, we haven’t even known each other for a full day.’
‘However, I shouldn’t overdo the pretense. Actions like deliberately scratching my head and shifting the topic to my cousin just now wouldn’t fool people like Li Yunbin; instead, it would make them more vigilant and create distance.’
‘The best outcome would be to reach some kind of tacit understanding.’
He couldn’t possibly think that the people in this world were all fools.
Just like Zhang Youpeng, he wasn’t stupid either, and might have guessed something.
Bai Yu could pretend nothing happened because his status was much higher than Zhang Youpeng’s!
But with Bai Yu and Li Yunbin, it was the opposite.
Yunan Electronics Factory.
It only took the group about five minutes to reach the entrance.
They had also made prior arrangements to enter the factory for investigation.
Coincidentally, the Yunan Group, located behind them, had sent people to the factory for an inspection today.
Upon learning of the Investigation Bureau’s arrival, several leaders rushed over enthusiastically to greet them.
Leading them was a middle-aged man wearing glasses, with a slightly protruding belly, exuding an aura of leadership – Deputy Director of the Production Department, Xu Guangsheng.
He said enthusiastically, “Haha, Group Leader Li! I didn’t expect it to be you.”
Group Leader Li exchanged pleasantries.
Judging by their demeanor, this Deputy Director was being more deferential.
After a brief chat, Deputy Director Xu looked around. It was half-past eleven in the morning, nearing the workers’ break time, with a large flow of people. He said, “Shall we find a place to talk in detail?”
“Yes. But let’s not make it too complicated.”
He was worried that a formal reception process would be too time-consuming.
Deputy Director Xu inwardly wondered if the Seventh Group’s leader was here because there was some tricky extraordinary monster in his factory.
He had heard about the incident where an employee died in the dormitory last time; the corpse was said to be terrifying.
But the investigators hadn’t searched his factory thoroughly back then.
And now they had come.
Could it be that they had now confirmed the murderer was still in the factory?
That would be troublesome! He needed to get to the bottom of it, at least to have some idea.
It was now the end of the shift, and workers were streaming out of the factory buildings in batches.
Chen Man was walking and chatting with some familiar friends. As they passed an intersection, she saw the leaders who had come to inspect the factory that morning.
A friend next to her said, “It’s these old guys. Because our group’s production wasn’t standardized, they docked each of us two hundred yuan! I’m so angry!”
“By the way, who are those six young people? Why do these leaders seem so respectful to them?”
“They must be rich second-generation heirs, with higher status.”
“The men are all so handsome!”
Chen Man, however, remained silent. She was intently staring at one person in the crowd, examining him closely.
The girl holding Chen Man’s hand asked, “Manman, who do you think is the most handsome?”
But Chen Man stood still.
“What’s wrong?”
Chen Man still didn’t speak, but walked directly towards the group of leaders.
The other girls looked at each other in confusion, “What’s wrong with Chen Man?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is she going to go up and flirt?”
“Don’t even think about it. These rich second-generation types only care about looks, and who knows how many women they’ve been with behind the scenes.”
“Even if I know it’ll end in a breakup, I’m still willing to start!”
“That’s roughly the situation. Currently, they are only suspect targets, not confirmed as the murderers.”
“Understood. Then should we call them over? Or will Group Leader Li go directly?”
“Let’s call them to an empty building within the factory. It’s best to act on behalf of the factory and not alert them.”
“Don’t worry, this matter will definitely be handled properly!”
After speaking, Deputy Director Xu looked at the Factory Director, who was about to instruct someone to call Zhu Chen over.
Then, a shout came from behind them.
“Bai Yu, cousin!”
Hearing the voice, Bai Yu instinctively turned around.
Li Yunbin and the others also turned around, and the accompanying leaders curiously looked back.
They saw a girl with streaks of green hair looking excitedly at Bai Yu, then running over and opening her arms for a hug.
Due to the height difference, she only managed to hug his neck, looking as if she was hanging on.
Chen Man’s eyes quickly scanned everyone present, then she let go and said excitedly, “It really is you!”
Bai Yu’s expression was one of helplessness.
He knew his cousin quite well.
Starting from middle school, she had been extremely rebellious, a typical delinquent. Later, she attended vocational school and often stayed out all night. During winter and summer breaks, she was always out and about. No one knew how she managed her accommodation.
A definite problem child, she had given her aunt high blood pressure.
They had almost no contact.
Yet now she was acting so excited and enthusiastic.
It was purely because she had ulterior motives.
