Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 205 - 125: Crime Scene Investigation

Chapter 205: Chapter 125: Crime Scene Investigation

Genuine experts can be recognized at a glance in a crowd.

The touch of gray in his hair attested to his years of service, while his disheveled beard and hair accentuated his bold temperament; the odd odor that emanated from him was proof of his battles with evil spirits.

As soon as Zheng Liu descended the stairs, he instantly identified the renowned expert.

The expert was resting on a bench in the lobby with his eyes closed; Zheng Liu walked straight toward him, woke him up, and spoke with respectful air, doing his best to leave the expert with a good first impression.

"Hello, Master, my name is Zheng Liu, I am a rookie in the Criminal Investigation Department."

...

Through subsequent conversations, Zheng Liu comprehensively learned about the master’s life story.

Just as Zheng Liu expected, the master’s legendary life began during his high school years, when he was reprimanded by the school for harassing a class bell in the neighboring class and later expelled for repeated offenses. From that day on, the master set out on the path of a legendary thief.

In the year he was about to turn twenty, the master was arrested for theft and imprisoned. Over the next few decades, he was jailed six times for theft, essentially treating Siyang City’s prison like his home. He had been released from prison just a week ago and appeared at the police station today for sleeping naked in front of a shopping mall, disturbing the city’s appearance, after being reported and brought back to the station.

The only fly in the ointment was that Zheng Liu, for bringing a vagrant to the Criminal Investigation Department’s meeting room, faced criticism from the chief after the meeting.

The master’s above-mentioned legendary life was only known to him after the criticism.

And the real expert...

Zheng Liu silently scrutinized the man before him who looked only a few years older than himself, dressed in a standard business suit and carrying a briefcase, completely indistinguishable from the working class people that can be found everywhere on the streets.

When Zheng Liu had come downstairs earlier, he had also seen this office worker.

He mistook him for a small-time Calami at first glance.

"Is there something you need?"

Duan Mingyuan also stared at the young police officer blocking his way.

The Criminal Investigation Department’s meeting hadn’t provided him with any new findings; they already knew the information which Da Jiang had compiled and sent to him the day before, and now he just needed to visit the company where the crime took place to investigate for himself.

"Uh, Master."

"My name is Duan Mingyuan."

"Master Duan."

"Just call me Old Duan."

Duan Mingyuan certainly didn’t want to be called ’master’ in a public setting by someone his own age, as it would draw attention and could easily lead to being mistaken for a scammer, especially since the title of ’master’ had been tainted by fraudsters in that field and become a pejorative. Moreover, it carried a mocking tone in online discourse.

"Alright, Old Duan, my name is Zheng Liu. I am the officer assigned to work with you. I’ll drive you to the crime scene at the company shortly; they have now indefinitely ceased operations."

With such a significant incident occurring at the company, and almost all the senior staff being victims, naturally, no one dared to work in the office. Even the security guards had gone home, fearful of becoming the next one to disappear.

Zheng Liu also made a trip to the crime scene company with the large group. Although he had been a staunch atheist, from the moment he stepped into the company building, he felt a chill and a sense of suffocation. Just entering the boardroom where the incident happened made breathing difficult for him.

It wasn’t until he left the building that these feelings gradually faded, and even more bizarre was that many of the seasoned veterans who took part in the investigation that day fell ill after returning.

However, the police did not release this information publicly afterward as it could potentially fuel further rumors and speculation.

But now, there were no mere rumors—eight or nine out of ten, the company had gotten involved with something sinister, and now they had even called in a hunter.

The expert before him, however, was quite different from what he had envisioned, making it hard to see him as someone with an abundance of experience.

Zheng Liu steadied himself and added, "Just call me Little Zheng."

Mingyuan felt the prefix "Little" was inappropriate, as it sounded like a hierarchical relationship between a superior and a subordinate, so he said, "Old Zheng, do we have background checks on the missing persons?"

"Yes, let me go get it for you."

Zheng Liu said, feeling that this address of "Old Zheng" instantly brought him much closer to the expert.

Before long, the identity information of the thirteen missing persons was brought to Mingyuan; this was internal data from the Siyang City police force and was not included in the files prepared by Da Jiang.

The book "Theories of Criminal Case Investigation" had mentioned that behind any case that seemed bizarre, there were hidden connections, and an excellent detective could always piece these together.

The two of them got into the bureau’s car, with Mingyuan sitting in the back seat flipping through the files.

The meeting earlier had touched upon the issue of several people’s identities, but had not continued the discussion.

The thirteen missing individuals were alumni from the same university, and they had started their strategic investment company brimming with ambition after graduation. However, the harsh realities of society immediately taught these students, who had been living in an ivory tower, a lesson. In just a few months, the company faced bankruptcy due to poor management and employee oversight.

The thirteen spirited young people were left disheveled by successive failures, beginning to doubt their life choices.

Until suddenly, one day, these thirteen people just "got it."

They not only became masters of company management, but they also bravely paved their way in the field of investment, developing their company into one of the most competitive investment firms in Siyang City and even the whole country within three years.

After that, no matter the size of the project they invested in, they were successful. The meeting before their disappearance was about the next overseas investment—they had plans to expand their business into the vast universe.

Having achieved success at a young age, they walked on air, becoming the envy of many and often featured on various investment shows, as well as lectures on success.

But with the disappearance case, this "getting it" seemed rather abrupt, their level of "cheating" being akin to rebirth novels prevalent in the market today:

In a past life, I faced investment failure, bankruptcy, betrayal by a girlfriend, and my family falling apart. Given another life, I’m determined to take back what’s mine.

However, the police investigation failed to provide any clear explanation.

"Old Duan, have you figured anything out?"

"Not yet, but their disappearance might be related to that ’enlightenment’ they had when they were younger."

Mingyuan believed that everything in this world came with intangible stakes; the more one gained, the more one often had to pay a price unimaginable to ordinary people.

The service car stopped in front of the company enclosed by isolation tape, with quite a few reporters from tabloids gathered nearby. Seeing Zheng Liu and Mingyuan get out of the car, they immediately started taking photos from a distance.

Mingyuan looked up at the top of the company building; the building itself seemed to say it all.

As he gazed at the company, the company seemed to gaze back at him.

Black tentacle-like substances were wrapped around the building, the top floor windows turned into wide-open eyes, and the entrance was a gaping mouth that opened and closed.

And so, a new question emerged in his mind.

How exactly had these thirteen people stayed alive until recently before their disappearance?