Ning Zhuo straightforwardly replied, “I’ve been there.”
His tone was calm, yet he was already on high alert.
The reason was simple.
He possibly knew Lin Qin’s abilities better than anyone else.
When Lin Qin spoke, it wasn’t with a thick, serious, and imposing voice.
If someone unfamiliar encountered such a gentle police officer, they would easily feel a sense of contempt, thinking “he’s nothing special.”
Only Ning Zhuo knew that this person was a freak with five-star insight and execution skills.
The reason he admitted to the factory incident so readily was because he knew he had left too many traces there yesterday when he hurried to retreat with Shan Feibai.
There were too many of his marks left in the factory.
One must listen carefully.
Ning Zhuo had already guessed that the police who went to the factory yesterday was most likely Lin Qin.
Unlucky.
Meeting Shan Feibai never brings good fortune.
After completing a round of unreasonable resentment in his heart, Ning Zhuo felt slightly better and added, “I didn’t start the fire.”
“I know,” Lin Qin said. “But did you kill someone?”
Ning Zhuo corrected him, “A bioroid.”
Lin Qin said, “I only found the parts below the neck. Where’s the head?”
Ning Zhuo replied, “Took it with me.”
Lin Qin asked, “What exactly happened, if it’s convenient to…”
“It’s not convenient,” Ning Zhuo interrupted. “There are plenty of things in the lower city that ‘White Shield’ can’t handle. Why not take care of yourself?”
Lin Qin remained silent and didn’t continue to press for answers.
But as an old acquaintance, Ning Zhuo knew his temperament too well.
If Lin Qin couldn’t get what he wanted from Ning Zhuo, he would investigate himself.
It was better to divert his attention by bringing up the factory fire.
A few hours ago, probably to gain more viewers, “Justice Show” had another “leak” of some clips since its inception.
Among them was the scene where Charlemagne smashed a suspect’s face.
A serial killer who should have been executed a long time ago committed another crime under a new alias. The police superintendent, who rushed to carry out the execution, inexplicably shot the killer in the face, completely ruining the body.
“White Shield” embarrassed itself in front of the entire city and would surely organize an elite team for a thorough investigation to give the public an explanation.
As the deputy captain of Chang’an District’s third special task force, Lin Qin was naturally one of the key members.
However, although Lin Qin was a key member, his stubborn superior hated his tenacity.
Ning Zhuo was eager for Lin Qin to investigate the factory fire more, both to help himself find out who Shan Feibai had offended and to keep him away from this case.
Therefore, he deliberately avoided mentioning the “Justice Show.”
After a moment of mutual silence, Ning Zhuo asked, “Anything else? If not, I’ll hang up.”
Lin Qin replied, “I didn’t have anything earlier, but now I do.”
Ning Zhuo said, “Go ahead.”
“It’s not a big deal, just a bit of curiosity.” Lin Qin’s tone was pleasant, “…why didn’t you ask me?”
He gently asked, “White Shield, Justice Show. Aren’t you interested in what happened last night? Why didn’t you ask me a single question?”
Ning Zhuo’s scalp tingled slightly. His grip on the communicator tightened for a moment and then quickly relaxed.
His deliberate avoidance had actually been noticed.
Damn, this gentle blade gleaming with cold light.
“What happened?” Ning Zhuo’s voice remained steady, “I was busy as hell yesterday.”
On the other side, Lin Qin chuckled softly.
That should have been a pleasant and gentle smile, but the centipede-like scar extending from the corner of his mouth completely ruined its charm. “Check the news. It might improve your mood a bit.”
Lin Qin hung up the call and let out a light breath.
…It’s good that Ning Zhuo has nothing to do with this matter.
After all, Lin Qin still remembered five years ago, when he told Ning Zhuo that he had been accepted into “White Shield,” the intense and frightening disdain and indifference in Ning Zhuo’s eyes.
The higher-ups in “White Shield” messing up should make him quite happy.
So, in this way, there was at least one good thing among the bad.
Putting down the communicator, Lin Qin returned to the meeting room.
All the “White Shield” members at the level of deputy captain and above in Chang’an District were gathered here.
Each had an e-cigarette in hand, collectively making the meeting room smoke-filled.
Before entering, Lin Qin casually turned off the fire alarm to avoid false alarms.
Everyone uniformly ignored him.
Before he went out to make a call, the captain of the second team was expressing his views on last night’s events.
Now that he was back, the captain of the fourth team was passionately demanding an investigation into all the victims and their families disfigured by the serial killer.
His reason was, “With such cruel methods, it must be a vendetta!”
Amid the loud speech of the fourth team captain, Lin Qin turned slightly and softly asked Su Lan, the captain of the third team and his direct superior, “Have you spoken?”
“Yes,” she frowned. “‘This matter is serious, we will do our best in public opinion management, striving to buy everyone more time and space in public opinion’—all empty talk.”
Lin Qin gracefully responded, “Hmm.”
Su Lan equally softly asked, “What do you think?”
“…Do you want my opinion?”
Lin Qin said in his soothing voice, “Immediately cut off all external contact of Mr. Charlemagne, and investigate all his contact and transaction records in the seven days before the execution. His behavior was very unusual, obviously having an emotional connection with the murderer. I suspect there’s another face beneath Basil’s face. As far as I know, his son has been missing for a long—”
Su Lan pinched his wrist, stopping him mid-sentence.
She shook her head and said, “No one wants to hear that. Do you understand?”
Lin Qin’s eyes were covered by a white bandage, making his emotions unreadable.
He calmly shrugged, “So everyone knows, there’s no need for me to speak.”
…This incident had just happened a few hours ago, with no investigation results yet.
But Lin Qin had already guessed the outcome.
Surely, there would be a victim’s family member who had no alibi, sleeping at home, to take the blame.
Then, public opinion could be manipulated.
—The disfigured victim or her family, not wanting the killer to die comfortably, swapped the normal injection drug with poison in an unimaginable way.
It sounds just like a plot from a revenge thriller, logical and exciting.
After all, the killer was meant to die anyway, now just dying more painfully. It’s impossible to really punish the scapegoat.
Just lock them up for ten days to half a month, let the uninformed righteous citizens outside protest and march for a few days, then release the person intact, saying they have been given a warning and education, and it’s a happy ending.
As for how Basil became Raskin…
Come on, the disfiguring killer was already a vicious criminal. With today’s advanced technology, getting a loyal follower to be a scapegoat, switching faces, and continuing to evade justice—is that so hard to understand?
With such maneuvers, “White Shield” remains a powerful shield protecting the citizens’ safety.
All the blame will be buried under the dazzling light.
This is the “White Shield” of Silver Hammer City, the organization guarding fairness, justice, and the law.
Lin Qin sighed inwardly, thinking that Ning Zhuo was right.
In “White Shield,” he needed to take care of his own heart first, and then do whatever he could to help.
That’s the most important thing.
…
At this moment, Ning Zhuo, who was being thought of by his friend Lin Qin, was toying with Shan Feibai’s new spine.
To be precise, just the spine model.
Liquid gold, a resource mined near the coast in the southern part of Silver Hammer City, has excellent malleability.
Now, the entire resource line is controlled by Ruiteng Liquid Gold Company.
The bone, cast from liquid gold, felt slightly warm to the touch, glinting with a thin layer of golden light.
This new spine was being implanted bit by bit into Shan Feibai’s back next door.
From now on, he would be like Ning Zhuo.
Ning Zhuo’s fingers slid down the vertebrae one by one. Realizing this action was like stroking Shan Feibai’s back, he couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
He treated the spine like a whip, casually swinging it in the air a few times.
It felt quite handy.
But Ning Zhuo was very displeased.
On the floating computer screen beside him were the examination photos taken by Min Min for Shan Feibai.
Ning Zhuo swiped through them one by one.
Every scar on his body was Ning Zhuo’s handiwork.
Chest, lower right abdomen, calf, left arm…
Ning Zhuo could tell the origin of each wound.
Yet, such severe disabling injuries, which came so inexplicably, had nothing to do with him.
Damn it.
Ning Zhuo couldn’t describe his feelings, only broadly feeling irritated.
With this irritation, he swiped to the twelfth photo.
It showed Shan Feibai’s back.
A whip scar ran from his right shoulder, across his third vertebra, ending at the left scapula, with faint traces of flipped skin.
Old memories surged back, and Ning Zhuo suddenly felt a faint pain in his left ring finger.
Looking down, he saw a ring-like tooth mark at the spot of the phantom pain.
Old grudges surged in his heart, making Ning Zhuo’s palm itch, and he very much wanted to go into the operating room and slap Shan Feibai.
But he couldn’t do that; Min Min would scold him.
In the end, Ning Zhuo clenched the urge into his fist and opened the surveillance feed for the base’s detention room. He saw that the three “Panqiao” members he had imprisoned had finally calmed down.
This was clearly thanks to Phoenix.
She was the most composed among them, seemingly having anticipated that coming to “Haina” was like a lamb entering a tiger’s den, so she wasn’t panicked.
Ning Zhuo watched a bit longer and realized this wouldn’t do.
He pressed the call button that connected to the rest room of the entire base: “I need someone who can breathe. Nearest one, basement sixteen.”
Someone responded quickly.
He had a metal prosthetic leg below his left knee, shining with a metallic cold light.
Ning Zhuo had forgotten whether he was field or office staff and didn’t remember his name.
But he did remember that leg.
He remembered holding this guy’s severed leg in one hand and carrying him out of a pile of corpses on his shoulder. He had been so tired his bones felt like they were rattling inside his muscles, and the guy’s sobs had driven him crazy, making him curse all the way:
“Why are you crying? It’s annoying!”
“If we make it back alive, I’ll get it reattached for you. If not, we’ll get you a cooler one!”
“Keep whining, and I’ll pull your tongue out.”
He pointed to Phoenix on the screen: “Bring her out and watch out for her poison.”
The man whose name Ning Zhuo had forgotten, Yu Shujian, nodded lightly: “Yes.”
Ning Zhuo added, “Tell the other three that I fancy Phoenix and want to have some fun with her.”
Yu Shujian’s expression didn’t change: “Understood.”
Despite the words, Yu Shujian didn’t take it seriously at all.
Ning Zhuo had stayed away from romantic entanglements for so long that his subordinates were worried about him.
They had even coaxed Min Min to cross fields and research urology, only to be shut down by her retort: “Sure, who wants to tell Ning Zhuo to come see me for a urology examination?”
Life was precious, especially since most of their lives had been saved by Ning Zhuo.
They had to cherish their lives.
Task received, Yu Shujian immediately set off.
On his way to the detention room, he ran into Boss Fu, who was wandering around with an empty jar.
Seeing someone, Boss Fu, with his friendly office worker face, smiled and approached: “Just in time, I’m out of dates at home. Could you—”
Yu Shujian cut him off: “Sorry, Boss, Ning-ge asked me to bring someone.”
As he spoke, he didn’t stop, sweeping past Boss Fu like the wind.
Before he started speaking, he was in front of Boss Fu. By the time he finished his sentence, he was ten meters away.
He quickly disappeared from sight.
Boss Fu stood there: “…Hey.”
Ning Zhuo had no idea about this little interlude outside.
He was focused on surveillance.
After Yu Shujian entered the detention room and relayed his message verbatim, the two men on the screen predictably became agitated and caused a commotion.
Phoenix, however, quickly lowered her gaze as if she realized something. She didn’t resist and was taken to another nearby detention room by Yu Shujian.
Ning Zhuo was about to go have a chat with Phoenix when Min Min, looking tired, pushed the door open and entered.
He was inevitably surprised: “So soon?”
“You didn’t give me a deadline, so I took that to mean the sooner the better.”
Min Min removed her surgical cap and casually rubbed the back of her neck: “Besides, I’ve replaced countless spines. This is nothing.”
She took off her hair tie, held it in her mouth, gathered her black hair higher, and mumbled: “The best liquid gold, the best technology, just like you said…”
She pulled her hair up with one hand and reached into her pocket with the other, pulling out something and tossing it to him: “…The best controller.”
Ning Zhuo turned the small controller over in his hand with a serious expression.
If he wanted to, he could press this little device at any moment and paralyze Shan Feibai on the spot.
Ning Zhuo asked, “Did I say I wanted this? Something to shut his mouth would be more useful.”
“Better safe than sorry.” Min Min glanced at his left hand. “You don’t want to get bitten by him again, do you?”
Ning Zhuo said nothing more and pocketed the controller: “When will he wake up?”
Min Min shrugged: “Hard to say. I can control myself, but not his willpower.”
She paused and added, “It’s best if he doesn’t wake up now.”
With the advances in technology, society’s pace had become unimaginably fast.
Only the wealthiest could afford the luxury of a slow recovery when they got sick, enjoying leisurely rehabilitation.
For ordinary people, if they broke a leg at work, they’d be forced to wake up as soon as the cheap prosthetic was attached, given painkillers, and sent on their way.
This was to save bed space and time.
As for phantom limb pain, they had to deal with it at home.
But the spine was different from other bones; you couldn’t just tough it out.
He would be in unbearable pain, fainting and waking repeatedly.
Min Min had seen many big, tough men cry out in agony from spinal injuries, doing anything for relief.
Many black market bosses offered electronic opium services in such situations.
Many ended up hopelessly addicted.
With her faintly present medical compassion, Min Min thought it best for Shan Feibai to remain unconscious for now.
However, things often don’t go as planned.
In the room next door, Shan Feibai slowly opened his eyes.
The news broadcast played in his ears: “…Regarding Raskin’s sudden transformation into the already executed perverted r*pist-murderer Basil during execution, ‘White Shield’ claims the matter is still under investigation. Let’s revisit the dramatic and shocking scene—”
Shan Feibai blinked.
His left eye had changed color, no longer the dark, bright fox-like hue but a pure blue. Below the left eye, three faint blue electronic horizontal lines appeared, glowing and shifting with the movements of his spine as he sat up.
This was a sign of prosthetic modification, varying from person to person.
A body invaded by machinery would exhibit some unusual changes.
The muscles of Shan Feibai’s eyelids twitched slightly, and his pale lips pressed together as he closed his eyes, seemingly enduring dizziness.
Propping himself up with his elbow on the bed, he silently tried several times before finally exhaling a soft sigh.
Xiao Wen, who was outside following the progress of last night’s events, thought he was hearing things. He pushed aside the screen and peeked in, only to lock eyes with Shan Feibai’s oddly colored gaze.
This handsome and somewhat aggressive face was quite a shock to Xiao Wen, a reclusive mechanic.
Shan Feibai’s gaze fell on the screen behind Xiao Wen.
It was a replay of the scene where Raskin’s face transformed into that of the already executed serial r*pist and murderer, Basil, and the outlines of the innermost face were just emerging.
At that moment, a man rushed in and shot that face to pieces.
Shan Feibai quickly looked away.
His arm was still trembling, and his usually tied-up ponytail had come loose, sticking out messily. Sweat clung to his temples, adding a touch of color to his otherwise pale face.
While Xiao Wen stood there stunned, Shan Feibai casually greeted him, though his voice was hoarse as if he’d just coughed up blood: “Hey, buddy, it’s hot in here. Can I borrow a hair tie?”
———
Author’s Note:
Silver Hammer Daily
On this day in history: October 7th, Ruiteng Corporation announced the discovery of a seabed hydrothermal vent in the waters off Cape Beaufort and successfully extracted a new type of highly ductile metal!
Ruiteng Corporation named it “liquid gold.”
The development of this new resource greatly encouraged the citizens of Silver Hammer Island. We have designated today as Gratitude Day, in appreciation of the ocean’s gifts, the unending vitality of life, and the ceaseless hope.
On this day in history: Security Point 185 sank due to an earthquake, with the final survivor count at 3,500.
