How to Choose

Meanwhile, at the Project Center of Tianxing Club in Meilong Building.

Zhao Han was running back and forth with Xu Yunshuang and Wu Shanshan, sometimes checking materials with Team Leader Hu, sometimes calling the Dongshui Patrol Division, and sometimes requesting data from third-party companies. She was busier than ever.

As the afternoon passed, her notebook had become densely filled with notes.

Under Xu Yunshuang's guidance, she quickly mastered many note-taking techniques.

For example, she categorized the evidence and testimony they obtained by credibility, marking them with different symbols.

Physical evidence collected from the scene and other related locations, as well as retrieved third-party data such as telecom call records and surveillance video recordings... were all relatively reliable evidence. The least credible, naturally, were the unverified statements of those involved in the case.

That way, when she thought things through, she could focus on the right points and know which conjectures were supported by evidence and more reliable, and which were merely brainstorming.

The whole case was beginning to take shape.

In a small conference room, the three women were summarizing the materials.

"Xiao Han, you go first. Teacher will test you tomorrow," Xu Yunshuang encouraged her.

"Mm. The Referee Incident that occurred today, July 5, was directly connected to a Wife Murder Case that took place on June 21 in Room 703, Tiantong Huiyuan Building 8, in the city's West District. The husband murdered his wife in a rage after discovering that she had been betting on sports, taken out huge short-term high-interest loans, and even mortgaged their property deed. Referee He Sancai and the victim had been in close online contact between June 6 and June 14. On June 15, they arranged to meet in a private room at an Internet Cafe, where they had close contact in person."

"There's a small detail here. In the initial scene report provided by Team Leader Hu, He Sancai stated at the scene, 'his wife Liu Fangfang.' But what's terrifying is that his wife was actually Wang Qingyue, while Liu Fangfang was the name of the previous case's victim—the murderer's wife!" A trace of lingering fear flashed across Zhao Han's face.

If they had not sorted through and verified everything that afternoon, she really would not have noticed that detail. Thinking of the mutation that had occurred to He Sancai when Wenren Sheng questioned him, that swelling cloud of dust and mist, she had a terrifying conjecture.

"Why are you so surprised? It seems your memory isn't very good," Wu Shanshan said with a faint sneer. "When He Sancai and Liu Fangfang were chatting online, they were already calling each other 'husband' and 'wife' after only a few days. When he was arrested, he was emotionally agitated and under the influence of Alien Power. It was perfectly normal for him to confuse their names."

Zhao Han stuck out her tongue and continued, "The Wife Murder Case wasn't simple either. The reason Liu Fangfang was able to meet He Sancai online was because she had also posted a question online about how to win at betting. She received a mysterious link and then joined the Mysterious Website that He Sancai had registered with. The two of them were brought together by that website."

"Liu Fangfang was an artist at a game company. She usually went online to place bets using her work computer rather than her phone or home computer, which was why her husband never discovered it."

"As for that Mysterious Website, it can no longer be accessed. We only obtained a web link, and we suspect it shut down when the data on He Sancai's phone was destroyed."

"According to the records retrieved from the Patrol Division, of the twenty-four murder cases that occurred in the West District over the past month, twenty-one were confirmed to be related to this Mysterious Website. The Patrol Division had been investigating it all along, but the site suddenly shut down only after the Referee Incident occurred."

"The site's full name was Great Austria Sincere Test Online. Its operating model was that registrants had to answer a series of truthful questions, and after a period of time, it would send them a solution to whatever difficulty they encountered."

At that, Zhao Han closed her notebook, her face full of confusion. "Senior Xu, Senior Wu, I don't understand something. So many suspicious cases had already occurred. Why did they wait until the Referee Incident before seeking the Club's help and asking Teacher Wenren for tactical guidance?"

"Xiao Han, what do you think the reason was?" Xu Yunshuang asked softly, once again twirling a strand of her silver hair.

"Hmph, it must have been for the sake of their pride. They didn't want Teacher to get involved too early. Just like those idiots in anime who are always one step behind and blindly reject the help of a great detective," Zhao Han said as if it were obvious.

Wu Shanshan gave a derisive laugh. "Idiot!"

"Enough, Shanshan. She's only seventeen," Xu Yunshuang said with a smile.

"That's all the more reason not to let her off... so she won't cause us trouble in the future. The Patrol Division is our foundation and our guard. Without them, we wouldn't be able to move an inch." Wu Shanshan suddenly turned serious and stared into Zhao Han's eyes. "Remember this. Throw away all those pointless anime notions of yours. This is the real world. Learn to respect others, cooperate with others, and work with others. Don't create difficulties for yourself for no reason, because that could very well mean the difference between life and death!"

Zhao Han instinctively shrank back. Fortunately, that terrifying black dust and mist did not appear around the other woman this time.

What a hypocrite. When you kept making things difficult for me, why didn't you think of that principle? Hmph, it must be because I'm too kind-hearted, and this girl saw right through me, so she dares to act so recklessly.

Mr. Zhou had said it before: Was it because I was a good person that you dared point a gun at me?

"All right, everyone gradually went through this stage," Xu Yunshuang said, smoothing things over as she patiently explained. "The gentlemen of the Patrol Division simply didn't want to alert the enemy. Teacher Wenren is very famous in the mysterious world. If he gets involved, the enemy will often choose to retreat and hide, such as the Mysterious Website's sudden closure. That was probably related to this."

"This is the mysterious world, entirely different from the world of Ordinary People. Murderers in the ordinary world have no ability to fight head-on. Their only options are hiding and fleeing, and even those are very limited. Once exposed, it is the end."

"The masterminds in the mysterious world are highly mobile, skilled at hiding, and often formidable in combat as well. Once they sense too much danger, they quickly relocate and hide in lawless places. After things calm down, they return to choose new targets. It is common for the perpetrators of certain mysterious cases to strike again years later."

"To deal with this, the Patrol Division has always proceeded slowly, drawing out the threads and casting a net from all sides, seeking to finish things with a single blow. A trump card like Teacher Wenren is only deployed when they finally close the net. This time, they used him early because the public had been affected."

"It's good that you value life. But reality is not an anime without casualties. Sometimes, certain sacrifices must be made to avoid even greater losses."

Zhao Han vaguely understood. She lowered her head slightly and said sadly, "But I still find it hard to accept."

"That is why everyone has to work hard to improve themselves. If we become stronger, we will have a little more strength to fight the shadows in the darkness," Xu Yunshuang encouraged her, then sighed. "It would be nice if there were Alien Species with divination or prophecy abilities, but they're far too rare. Our city can't get one assigned to it."

Hearing this, Zhao Han's expression froze, and she immediately felt deeply conflicted.

She understood very well that if she revealed her true ability, it should be of great help in this case.

But once she revealed it, the type of her Alien Species would be in great danger of being exposed.

Wu Shanshan was right. The real world was not a two-dimensional anime. None of these sharp people were blind. They would not be like people in anime, watching some elementary school kid court death every day while only a few people ever noticed.

Only then did she understand why some forum posts said that the common Emotion Seed was actually the best, because it was the easiest to hide unless one exposed oneself or someone had ulterior motives.

And she was still just a fledgling. If she revealed herself, she would have almost no ability to protect herself. Even an Ordinary Person might be able to kill or subdue her.

No wonder the Alien Species had reminded her to stay close to Wenren Sheng. She would be safest by his side. If she could follow him twenty-four hours a day, it would be like having a free Expert Level bodyguard...

And from what she had learned before, as well as their actual contact today, he was a patriot and a good person.

The Alien Species' warning had not been wrong.

Without realizing it, she seemed to have been lost in thought for quite a long time.

What puzzled her, however, was that neither Wu Shanshan nor Xu Yunshuang urged her. It was as if they were waiting for her to make some sort of decision.