Chapter 255
As it turned out, the man’s name was Xu. Mr. Xu explained that he had always wanted to start a business since he was young but he didn"t have any skills and wanted to make quick money. After a little contemplation, he decided to set up a live stream platform.
The first thing he did was hire a group of programmers to create a copycat Kuaishou website. However, he had overlooked the fact that he needed streamers to gain popularity. After half a year of operating, he lost almost all his money.
So Mr. Xu resolved to do something eye-catching to attract attention when he coincidentally came across news on the internet that a streamer had been dismissed for unethical content. Without a second thought, he immediately invited the streamer to work on his website, instructing her to stream content that was offensive, even morally unacceptable. Unexpectedly, her live streams allowed the website to gain steady traffic.
With the discovery of such means of making money, he specifically targeted streamers with disgraceful records and lack of integrity who specialized in streaming all sorts of revolting, unspeakable content such as eating excrement, self-mutilation, beating the homeless and destroying public property. And with that, the website entered a boom.
Unfortunately, the good times didn"t last and soon the relevant departments caught wind of the website and banned it. As luck would have it, he managed to slip between the cracks.
Marx once quoted economist Thomas Dunning: With adequate profit, capital is very bold. A certain 50 percent will ensure positive audacity; 100 percent will make it ready to trample on all human laws; 300 percent, and there is not a crime at which it will scruple, nor a risk it will not run, even to the chance of its owner being hanged.
This rationale was perfectly appropriate for Mr. Xu. Not only did he fail to repent after escaping a disastrous turn, he even intensified his efforts and re-recruited a team of people. Hence, the In-depth Live Stream website was born, streaming all sorts of unsavory, repugnant content in the name of exposing true human nature.
After learning a bitter lesson, he realized the website couldn’t be openly known to all. Most importantly, monetary conditions had to be made, such as a sky-high deposit that would prevent viewers from reporting to the authorities. So he designed a members.h.i.+p system where access to the website’s content depended on the amount paid–the more they contributed, the more extreme content they unlocked.
With this platform, certain perverted people were soon attracted. Even the words “sc.u.m” and “lowlife” were too good for these people. Many streamers had already violated the law and although Mr. Xu was afraid, the allure of wealth gave him the courage to continue.
But very quickly, the audience began to tire of the content and the website’s operation encountered certain difficulties. At this juncture, a group of mysterious people approached him, claiming to be interested in his website and offered to finance it. Mr. Xu retained the right to manage the site but they owned 50% of the income!
Upon Mr. Xu’s agreement, the website received a capital injection and soon regained its former glory. Various shocking live streams were launched one after another; murder and arson were merely child’s play. He admitted that several major cases that caused a stir in the province were actually live streamed on the website.
As the content on the website grew increasingly s.a.d.i.s.tic, the compulsory deposit inflated accordingly until the amount reached one million US dollars just to gain access to the website. Although they now had fewer members, they were all upper cla.s.s citizens who weren’t at all stingy with their rewards so their income was at an all time high.
Upon confessing the truth, Mr. Xu seemed aware of his fate, his entire face having been muddied with despair. Setting up an illegal website like this wasn’t a trivial matter, even the platform he built on his own was enough to sentence him for decades.
"Who’s your behind-the-scenes backer?" I asked.
"I really don"t know,” he blurted. “They’ve never contacted me by phone, only sent a car to pick me up whenever they wanted to speak to me. I would be blindfolded throughout the journey and when we arrived, they wore face masks."
"How did you split the income then?"
"I traded with a sh.e.l.l company under their name, using a fake transaction to send money to them," he answered.
"Do you know any other information about them?" I added.
Before the medicinal properties of the Dream Entry concoction had pa.s.sed, Mr. Xu"s mental state was still a little unstable. "They promised me even if I were caught one day, they would have a way to rescue me!" he broke into a wide grin.
Xiaotao and I exchanged a look of astonishment. The only people who could do such a thing was that mysterious, elusive organization.
Beyond a doubt, the In-depth Live Stream website was actually one of the organization’s outsourcing companies, much like the relations.h.i.+p between Honor of The Kings and Tencent. The power of this organization was unimaginable to be able to create such an atrocious website without so much as lifting a finger.
Once we obtained whatever information we could from Mr. Xu, Xiaotao instructed several officers to escort him to lockup and ordered them to keep a constant eye on him.
Although the computers in the studio had been burned, Lao Yao reported that the hard disks were still intact and the information stored within was enough to locate and arrest all the streamers who had broken the law. Now that we had demolished Storm Punisher’s base, we could concentrate on dealing with him.
When we were about to leave the public security bureau, the sky was already bright. Xiaotao sent us to the door hesitantly, but seemed to have something to say.
"Just spit it out. It’s not like we’re strangers!" I teased.
Xiaotao laughed. "Although we won the battle tonight, the main culprit is still at large. We mustn"t take it lightly!"
"I know,” I nodded. “I’ll rest for a bit and then return. Don"t drink too much Red Bull, it"s not good for your kidneys."
Dali and Lao Yao protested sulkily. "Are you done yet?” complained Lao Yao. “We"re about to drop dead from exhaustion! What’s there for a man and woman to talk about?!"
By the time I got up, it was already four in the afternoon and I had received a text from Xiaotao. "Come over now! We’ve found Pork Rong’s body..."
I went to wake Dali up and immediately headed to the location Xiaotao had sent. After several sleepless nights in a row, Dali couldn’t resist grumbling. "The murderer needs to rest too! Do we have to be so hasty?! Be careful, you just might collapse from overworking!"
"Why spend so much time sleeping while we’re alive?” I retorted. “When we die, we’ll sleep forever. What"s the big deal if we sleep a little less now?"
"Young man, you may continue with your endeavor,” Dali looked up to the sky and heaved a heavy sigh. “This old man needs a short nap!" he said, falling back asleep.
We came to a field of reeds in the suburbs. It was early spring but the reeds already reached our torsos, a vast expanse that fluttered in the wind. The officers’ caps were vaguely visible above the reeds, like blood droplets that marred the tranquility, rendering an almost artistic feel to the scene.
Xiaotao walked over and beckoned, "Come with me!"
"You haven’t stepped all over the reeds, have you?" I asked.
"Of course not!” she replied. “We entered from the other side. I’ve ordered the officers to cordon off the area with the murderer’s footprints."
As we walked through the reeds, Dali grabbed a reed and sighed with emotion, "This scene reminds me of the maize fields I used to play in as a child."
"With whom?" I asked.
"With my neighbor’s dogs–Big Fatty and Little Grubby!” he replied. “What? Did you think they were girls?"
Xiaotao cracked a helpless smile. “This might not be appropriate now, but I do have good news to share.”
Dali"s eyes lit up. "Is it a bonus?"
"You wis.h.!.+” Xiaotao shot him a mischievous look. “But there are other rewards!"
As it turned out, after the website was removed, the police froze Mr. Xu"s bank accounts and discovered that the money in his account was an astronomical figure. After the case followed the necessary legal procedures, the money would be placed under the disposal of judicial authorities and a part of it would be used to supplement police equipment.
Xiaotao planned to avail a large part of the money as pension to the family members of the officers who died in the line of duty and to set up a forensic laboratory with the rest of the money so that Bingxin and I would no longer have to borrow other labs when we performed autopsies.
"By the way, Song Yang,” she continued. “It’s not very convenient for you to travel back and forth every time. I’ll apply for the department to get you a car!"
"What’s a student like me to do with a police car?” I asked, surprised. “Isn’t it too ostentatious?"
"Not a police car!” she laughed. “I meant a private vehicle. You can drive, right?"