Hongjing Municipal Detention Center, Female Interrogation Room, Ground Floor.

Shen Lian was beautiful—that was Lin Chen’s first impression when he saw her again.

Outside the iron railing was a large expanse of concrete ground, looking dull and gray with only a few scattered green trees in random corners, far from the high walls. Further away, the sky above the high walls was divided into regular strips by the electric fence, just like a prison.

Lin Chen averted his gaze, pulled out a chair, and sat down at the table.

Shen Lian’s fair wrists were shackled by slender iron handcuffs. Against the gray background, even wearing the pale blue prison uniform, her bright and beautiful features couldn’t be concealed.

Lin Chen nodded to her and placed his phone on the table.

Shen Lian smiled and asked, “Lin Chen, how do you feel?”

Her tone was sweet, like a doctor caring for a patient, but Lin Chen was well aware that she must have spoken in a similar manner when caring for the lab mice.

“No need to worry. I can get through it,” Lin Chen replied.

“The acute withdrawal symptoms aren’t easy to bear, right?” Shen Lian asked.

“Better off dead,” Lin Chen answered.

“You were conscious for a bit longer than I expected. It seems individuals have varying tolerances to the drug,” Shen Lian summarized in a tone like writing a paper.

“Of course,” Lin Chen replied with just two words.

Shen Lian was taken aback by his response. The heart of a woman seeking revenge was always strong. Her face stiffened, then she said, “When will you fulfill your promise to me?”

Shen Lian was referring to his promise to report on how public officials used their lives to prevent criminals from committing suicide.

Lin Chen replied directly, “The fairness of the deal lies in the fact that I promised to do something for you, and you also promised to do something for me. But I’m afraid someone like you might suddenly drop out of the game, so I need something from you to ensure that your promise is meaningful.”

“You’re not qualified to negotiate conditions with me,” Shen Lian retorted.

....

Hongjing Municipal Police Department, Conference Room.

Before answering the questions, Xing Conglian looked down at his watch and then said directly, “He’s conducting an intensive interrogation with Shen Lian.”

With this statement, the room fell silent again.

Recalling the scene of Lin Chen injecting the drug yesterday, many people had doubts in their hearts.

“Can Lin Consultant’s current physical condition sustain a prolonged interrogation?” someone asked.

“Barely,” Xing Conglian answered truthfully.

Some officials couldn’t bear the expression on their faces.

But others who were stubborn, like Huang Ze, began to whisper to each other.

Seeing this, Huang Ze decided to voice what these people wanted to say to Xing Conglian directly. “What Lin Chen is doing now is a bit like a lone hero.”

Xing Conglian’s cold gaze swept over. “Detective Huang, why do you say that?”

“All departments are cooperating in the case, and yet Consultant Lin is the one charging into the front line. Can’t anyone share the burden for him?” Another person spoke ambiguously.

“Because this case is indeed related to him.” Xing Conglian paused and said coldly, “To be precise, according to his own words, he is regarded as a typical target by the criminals. Everyone here, I’m afraid, has the same ‘honor’ as him.”

“What do you mean by typical target?” A detective from the Serious Case Department asked.

“He represents a certain type of rational and self-proclaimed righteous individual,” Xing Conglian answered. “In other words, he is the epitome of all of you here.”

The slender earphone wire passed behind Xing Conglian’s ear as he stood on the stage. With his short-cropped hair and a calm gaze sweeping across the audience, he exuded an air of authority without anger.

His words were like stones thrown into a pond. Everyone, whether the detectives in the front row or the members of the Serious Case Department, as well as the Special Operations team and other public officials in the back, fell silent but trembled in their hearts.

Finally, it was a high-ranking officer among the laptops in front of Xing Conglian who broke the silence and said, “Tell us more specifically.”

Xing Conglian withdrew his gaze, looked at the officer, and answered, “I have a complete chain of clues proving that an unknown criminal organization has planned a series of recent incidents in Hongjing and nearby cities. The same group of criminals from four years ago has returned.”

Huang Ze’s heart trembled violently. He looked at Xing Conglian almost incredulously. The events from four years ago that were related to Lin Chen could only be that case.

Xing Conglian met his gaze, and every word he spoke seemed directed at Huang Ze.

“The bizarre murder case that occurred in Hongjing last year was the prelude to their return.”

On the projection screen, timely photos of white sand and Feng Peilin appeared, but Huang Ze couldn’t spare the effort to look at them. He clenched his fists tightly and stared at Xing Conglian’s eyes.

“The accidental death of drug enforcement officer Fang Zhiming was proven to be related to the tampering of the backend time of the highway emergency call system by Yang Dianfeng. The suspect, Yang Dianfeng, also died in an explosion during transportation.”

Xing Conglian pressed the control button in his hand again, and a large amount of data was displayed on the projection screen. Several records were highlighted in red boxes, making them particularly eye-catching. “We checked the backend data of the system and found over a dozen instances of tampering with driving records, including the major highway robbery case at Yaqin Jewelry 723. The only survivor of the case, Cheng Weiwei, subsequently died in the Yongchuan University suicide case.”

There was an uproar among the crowd, but Xing Conglian’s statement didn’t stop. He continued, “In the Yongchuan University dark web live-streaming incident, the organizer identified by the students, Mr. Meijing, was found to be involved in the planning of the Yongchuan Christine Cultural Center fire incident. After the incident, Meijing committed suicide.”

“Another suspect, Xiang Ye, also committed suicide in the detention center.”

Death, death, and more death. Xiang Ye’s and Meijing’s bodies in the pool of blood were particularly terrifying.

But it was not just them; every person involved in the related cases chose to end their lives in an extremely cruel and loyal manner.

....

Lin Chen leaned back against the back of the chair. The setup in the detention center was hard and uncomfortable. He looked at Shen Lian. “You’re not afraid of death anymore. There’s nothing left in this world that scares you.” Lin Chen thought for a moment and asked calmly, “Is that what it means?”

“Of course.”

“But it’s not necessarily true. I have another view.” Lin Chen leaned slightly forward. “They say the dead don’t talk because all their secrets are buried with them. So, do people choose death to bury their secrets, or because they are afraid of the day their secrets are exposed?”

“Consultant Lin, you talk so much. Is it to force yourself to keep talking and distract yourself from the discomfort?” Shen Lian smiled playfully, completely evading his question.

Lin Chen shook his head and got straight to the point with Shen Lian. “Shen Lian, let’s have a chat.”

“Aren’t we already chatting?” Shen Lian replied.

Before she could finish speaking, Lin Chen interrupted her. “Tell me first, do you know him?”

....

“How can you confirm that there is a complete and unified mastermind behind this series of cases?”

The person asked, adding, “I mean, we understand the connection between these four cases, but how can you be sure that there is a relationship between the online betting targeting our region, these four cases, and Shen Lian?”

One of the detectives from the Lin City Major Case Unit asked.

Xing Conglian pressed the control button of the projector again.

The pattern on the screen flashed, and a very old photo of the book “Discrete Mathematics” appeared.

“This is the codebook used by the criminals and students to communicate during the collective suicide incident at Yongchuan University,” Xing Conglian explained. “The final code was cracked by Professor Ye from the Mathematics Department at Yongchuan University. Now, similar encryption methods have also appeared in the text message photos that Lin Chen received.”

Huang Ze saw the photo of the mobile phone message that Lin Chen received, and his mind was in chaos. He could hardly hear any other sounds.

But each word spoken by Xing Conglian forcibly penetrated his mind.

“We found the information left by the criminals in the journal room of Hongjing Municipal Library. There was a similar codebook to ‘Discrete Mathematics’, but with some differences in usage.”

Huang Ze suddenly looked up, and on the screen, a row of gentle handwriting entered his sight: “My Dear, did you make your choice?”

With each stroke, Huang Ze seemed to smell the strong scent of iron, and countless discarded memories flooded like a torrent. Completely red, it was piercingly painful.

However, very soon, almost without needing any adaptation time, Huang Ze was surprised to find that, although his current state was almost as if someone had hit his temples with a heavy hammer, his thoughts and consciousness were surprisingly clear.

After Xing Conglian provided his ideas, a brief silence followed. He could clearly hear the speculation rising around him.

Another person beside him suddenly said, “I have read the case file. At the beginning of the White Sands case in Hongjing, the fruit vendor went on a rampage and attacked people on the street. At that time, stimulant drugs were detected in his body. But could it be that the drug that truly triggered his violent outburst was the one developed by Shen Lian?”

“Has Captain Xing communicated with Interpol? Since the perpetrator wanted to silence Fang Zhiming, is it possible that the drug manufacturing factory he went undercover in is developing and producing this new type of drug?”

“So, were the previous live-streamed deaths and the jewelry robbery all to raise funds for the organization?”

“But what does this have to do with them setting the fire and trying to murder Song Shengsheng’s fans?”

“We need to do a lot of work to confirm..”

“Even if we can prove that the text message Consultant Lin received is connected to the collective suicide case in Yongchuan and the old case from four years ago, it still doesn’t prove that this matter is related to Shen Lian’s involvement with drug poisoning and the newly discovered drug. The dark web bets on our surrounding cities and the drugs on Shen Lian’s side may be completely separate cases?”

“That’s true..”

Various speculations continued without stopping. Everyone present was skilled in their field, naturally connecting all the clues together. Huang Ze’s mind was in a mess; he felt that he urgently needed concrete evidence to link all the details, but at the same time, he instinctively felt that something was off.

Therefore, after listening for a while, Xing Conglian interrupted the escalating discussion. His metallic voice sounded incredibly clear in the noisy space as he said, “You’re all experts in solving cases, but at the moment, we need to change our approach.”

The discussion in the room came to a halt, and everyone looked up at Xing Conglian.

“There is a simple way to verify the connection you all seek. As long as the criminals use the isomer of TERN to attack Meicun, and we find that component after the incident, we will have the evidence you need for ‘the connection exists’.” Xing Conglian then asked, “But does that make sense?”

Huang Ze frowned; this was also the instinctive reaction of everyone present.

However, Xing Conglian ignored them and continued forcefully, “We don’t have time to confirm the connections between each detail now, so we must cut off the branches. In terms of handling the problem and investigating the truth, finding evidence to convict the criminals is no longer our primary task. We must make predictions and prepare for everything that lies ahead.”

He looked at everyone in the room and said, “Although it’s difficult and may not be foolproof, the road ahead will leave us with no reliable options to choose from.”