Chapter 303: Just an Accident
Meng Chao’s expression did not change. “When you add the mine exploration teams from Sky Pillar Corporation and Universe Corporation together, you get dozens of people. They encountered a major underground explosion from a crystal mine, but in the end, only three people managed to escape. It’s something that is really worthy of investigation. So, did you find anything?”
“We did find some clues, but they don’t support the theory of Lu Siya killing Shen Yulong in secret. Later, the case was taken over by the abnormal beast research department. Due to Lu Siya’s unique status, we have to be extra careful. After all, she has a position in both Sky Pillar Corporation and the abnormal beast research department. In the end, the records for this case have been locked by the secret police,” Shen Yupeng said. “That’s why you don’t have to worry, Meng Chao. Our cooperation won’t be affected by Shen Yulong’s death.”
“I’ve never been worried, anyway. My hands aren’t stained with the blood of innocents.” Meng Chao looked at Orchid, who was skilled in mind attacks while saying those frank words. Then, he changed the topic. “Since you came to me so early in the morning, is it because you gained progress with the case of the murderous pets in Blessed Paradise?”
“Based on our rules, we shouldn’t leak information, but thanks to you, after working for an entire night, we’ve successfully captured a higher-up from Heavenly Works Machines, who, we believe, is the mastermind. Today, at ten in the morning sharp, the Supernatural Tower will organize a briefing of the case and tell the media about the case. So, even if we tell you this now, it’s fine.”
Shen Yupeng ordered a bowl of congee for Meng Chao and started wolfing down his own congee without caring about his image.
It was likely because he was really hungry and had worked overnight. There was stubble on his face, which took away some of the fierceness from his hook nose and the n.o.ble air he had because he came from a powerful family.
His wrinkled trench coat dragged on the floor, and he looked like the uncle-next-door you could find anywhere.
While he ate the congee, he talked tirelessly about the case.
“Most of your guesses were correct. Heavenly Works Machines has been competing for the construction deal of Subway No.20 with Spirit Creation Creatures, but they ran into some technical difficulties; they aren’t able to find the way to carve an ancient runic symbol, so there’s a lot of noise and tremors from their new tunnel boring machine. If they dug the tunnel under the river, accidents could happen at any time.
“Meanwhile, the modification of Giant Sandworms at Spirit Creation Creatures’ side was going great.
“During the previous two technical tests, Spirit Creations won out in seven out of ten technical indices, and there was a high chance that they would get the tempting deal.
“The higher-up from Heavenly Works Machines in charge of the development of the new tunnel boring machine and the tendering of construction deals chose to take risk and looked for Jin Yongqiang to think of something.
“He picked Jin Yongqiang because he often went to Golden Tooth Lair and had numerous social relationships. He had ways to get unorthodox tools and drugs. The second reason is because Jin Yongqiang is not a core member of the higher management in Heavenly Works. The department where he is located has nothing to do with the tendering of the construction deal. Besides, his financial situation is pretty bad, so it was easy for him to a.s.sociate himself with bad elements.
“After Jin Yongqiang received an order and promise from the higher-up, he remembered the underground pharmacist he got to know at Golden Tooth Lair, who is Mr. Liao, nicknamed Small Insect.
“At the end of last year, the two of them had offended Black Bone due to creating illegal drugs that cause monsters to go berserk just so that they could cheat during the monster fights. One of them had his legs broken, while the other came to owe a major debt. They could be said to be brothers facing the same distress, so they shared a great friendship.
“Jin Yongqiang spent a lot of money to buy a few of the drugs from Small Insect, and his first target was, naturally, the Giant Sandworms. He decided to attack them in Trash Site 4, because it was quite easy to sneak into that place.
“He managed to easily inject the drugs into five Giant Sandworms. But unexpectedly, the Giant Sandworms were too large, and the structure of their nervous systems was different from mammals, so they did not go berserk instantly. They just went out of control and fled underground.
“This result was not satisfactory to the higher-up in Heavenly Works Machines. He could not get the deal during the tendering in one go either. So, he asked Jin Yongqiang to cause something even more shocking and dangerous.
“Jin Yongqiang was forced into a corner, so he could only cast his sights on the pets in his residential area. He bought a Contest Tiger modified by Spirit Creation Creatures and began to mingle among the owners who had the same type of pets in the residential area. He also used his status as an employee in Heavenly Works Machines to surf the net and look for related information regarding Contest Tigers. It allowed him to successfully gain his neighbors’ trust.
“At the same time, he asked Small Insect for a method to silently and swiftly inject the drugs into a pet without it reacting.
“At this point in time, Small Insect had already become a full-time pharmacist for Black Bone. His daily job was to inject drugs into the incredibly fierce and violent monsters. Naturally, he had methods and tools for it.
“In the end, Jin Yongqiang found a chance and used the method Small Insect taught him to inject the drug containing mutated rabies virus into the ear ca.n.a.ls of two Contest Tigers. He then created a terrifying and tragic case.
“Now, the truth is revealed. We’ve successfully destroyed the mental defenses of that Heavenly Works Machines’ higher-up, and he confessed to his crimes.
“Small Insect has also spilled the beans and told us everything. He said that he didn’t expect that Jin Yongqiang would do something so outrageous. He thought that he was just going to stimulate those biochemical pets a little so that they would injure their owners. He never thought that he wanted to kill them. Ever since he saw the news, he had been really scared, which is why he hid so many mechanisms in his mechanical legs.
“We’ve also discovered other proof, such as video evidence of Jin Yongqiang entering Golden Tooth Lair, him researching the layout of his residential area, video evidence of him avoiding the surveillance cameras, records of him buying his biochemical pet and him going online to search for related information, and most importantly, the tools he used to modify the drugs and inject the drug into the pets. This is already more than enough evidence.
“This is a case that has a really bad influence on society, and it might cause the conflict between various forces of power to become really tense, but we managed to figure out the truth a few days after the case happened. Meng Chao, you’ve contributed greatly, so I will ask for the organization to reward you.”
Shen Yupeng told Meng Chao that due to the unique nature of investigating and capturing criminal superhumans, there were a lot of times when they had to ask for help from various parties in society. They often relied on the power of the superhumans who were on the good side to fight against those on the evil side.
Hence, there was already an existing model in the organization about how to reward kind citizens who provided clues and helped them capture criminals. Everything was based on their contribution.
The rewards were naturally Supernatural Coins, which provided the most material benefits.
To superhumans, this was hard currency that was even more valuable than money. It allowed them to buy treasures in the Supernatural Tower, create amazing weapons, and even release their own missions to hire elite squads formed by other superhumans.
But this was not what concerned Meng Chao the most right now.
“But what’s the deal with Jin Yongqiang’s death?” he asked Shen Yupeng.
“Our tentative guess is that when he injected the drug into the two Contest Tigers of his neighbors, his own pet was accidentally scratched or bitten by the infected pets. In the end, he suffered a backlash because of it,” Shen Yupeng explained.
“While he was thinking of ways to send his neighbors away, the three pets must have been together, and after he injected the first biochemical pet with the drug, he must have been really tense because he was wary of his surroundings. It was impossible for him to notice what one of the pets and his own tiger were doing while he injected the drug into the second pet.
“We got some information from Small Insect. After a monster is injected with the drug, even if there is a delay in the drug taking effect, they are still affected by the slightest stimulus, and their aggressiveness increases slightly. Hence, when they play around with their kind, it’s possible for them to accidentally scratch or bite their own kind and transfer the virus.
“That’s the conclusion. The two neighbors died tragic deaths in this murder case with great ill-will. But the death of Jin Yongqiang is an accident. Karma just decided to strike him back, that’s all.”
“...”
‘You’ve got to be kidding me’ were practically printed on Meng Chao’s face as he stared at Shen Yupeng.
Shen Yupeng calmly finished a bowl of congee while under Meng Chao’s stare and started eating the second bowl.
“What about his wound?” Meng Chao asked. “If Jin Yongqiang’s pet was scratched or bitten by his own kind and infected because of it, where is its wound?”
“The wound might be on the flesh that is lost,” Shen Yupeng said. “You know that this biochemical pet was incredibly aggressive. The neighbors who subjugated it had to attack it violently, and it ended up in a b.l.o.o.d.y mess. Many of the wounds are gone because of it.”
Meng Chao stared at him in disbelief. “But Jin Yongqiang’s wounds show that he was killed in a single blow. Don’t you think that the berserk biochemical pet attacked a little too smoothly and cleanly?”
“It’s not strange for all sorts of attack styles to be used by biochemical pets who have been injected with drugs that make them go wild,” Shen Yupeng said. “You must have come to another possibility toward Jin Yongqiang’s death with exciting deduction and imagination, but when it comes to cases, we don’t talk about possibilities, just evidence.
“We have already examined all the surveillance cameras in Blessed Paradise before and after the accident. This residential area is a high middle-grade residential area that has been built recently. There are few blind spots in its surveillance system, and we didn’t find the presence of any suspicious strangers. Those who appeared were all residents of the area.
“And during the period of time before and after Jin Yongqiang’s death, the entire residential area was shocked awake due to the two out-of-control biochemical pets fleeing outwards. At that time, the security guards launched the highest security protocol, and not even a fly could escape. It was impossible for anyone to enter the area and kill Jin Yongqiang while making it look like his pet killed him.
“Besides, you admitted it. If the higher-up from Heavenly Works Machines wanted to kill him to silence him, he wouldn’t have chosen that time to do it.
“And while Jin Yongqiang owes a lot of money to Golden Tooth Lair, it’s not to the point where others will want to kill him. The people in the lair exercise a great sense of propriety. There’s no need for them to do anything out of bounds.
“As for his other relations in society? Jin Yongqiang is just a member of the middle-rank management in Heavenly Works Machines and has been in dismay because he couldn’t achieve his ambitions. Who would want to plot his death and elusively kill him while making it look like his pet killed him?”