The Erasure of Sin

In the footage, the back of another Black Shirt appeared.

He wore a thick protective helmet that completely hid his face. In fact, not a single patch of skin was exposed anywhere on his body.

Without hesitation, like the Roman Soldier who had slain Archimedes, he struck the Half-Bald Man in the neck with a chop, then put Patterned Handcuffs on him, followed by shackles.

In a real battle, there was basically only one situation where people wasted words on the enemy: when the enemy had hostages...

Seeing this, Liu Jian slammed his fist onto the coffee table, sending several cracks across its surface. Filled with indignation, he said, "Why didn't you give him a chance to speak?!"

"Do you want to hear him explain why he did it? I think you'd be happier not knowing." Wu Shanshan said disdainfully.

"He'll have a chance to speak, but it'll be here." Wenren Sheng opened another Video Recording.

The new recording showed an interrogation room.

A silver-white grille separated the interrogators from the person being questioned.

Inspector Liu and another unfamiliar young man sat outside the grille. Inside was the Half-Bald Man captured in the previous recording.

After the standard process of confirming his name, age, and social connections, the Half-Bald Man was quite cooperative.

Zhao Han already knew that this man was called Liu Bo. He was one of the people on the suspect list—Liu Jian's father. Seeing the complicated expression on her classmate's face, she felt a slight pang of sympathy.

"Talk. Why did you set up the Mysterious Website to fabricate revenge killings, and create unscrupulous mobile games to swindle money from ignorant youths?"

"Haha, I thought you'd investigated everything. Turns out you only found half of it." Liu Bo smiled.

"Tell the truth!" Inspector Liu rapped the table.

"Fine. At this point, there's no use denying anything. I set up the Mysterious Website and created those revenge killings and accidental conflict cases all for my son. He'll soon be taking the Otherworldly Species Host Qualification Examination. I couldn't let him repeat my mistakes, so I had to help him speed things up." Liu Bo gave an answer everyone had expected.

Liu Jian, who had been watching the recording, exploded on the spot. His face flushed red as he said, "You idiot of a dad, do you really think so little of me?"

"Keep listening," Wenren Sheng said blandly.

Liu Jian slumped back down, his fists tightly clenched.

"Where did you learn the network technology you used?" Inspector Liu continued.

"I was useless, stuck at home alone, unable to do anything. All I could do was surf the Internet and learn some technical skills. There are plenty of technical experts online, and they're easy to talk to. They're all willing to share their knowledge, so I slowly learned it," Liu Bo said, shaking his head. "A person never knows how much potential they have until they push themselves. I never thought I could teach myself into becoming an Internet expert, enough that even professional organizations like yours would need so long to crack it. Of course, compared to ordinary people's investigative agencies, you're still pretty efficient."

Inspector Liu remained expressionless in the face of his veiled mockery. "Over the past month or so, you often ordered your son Liu Jian to train his Otherworldly Species in the West District. Did he know about what you were doing?"

"He's a big idiot with an impulsive brain and a head full of chuunibyou justice. He never watches the news and only focuses on cultivation. Whatever I told him to do, he did. He knew nothing," Liu Bo said flatly.

"Bastard!" Liu Jian became even more agitated, but lowered his head as though trying to hide something.

"Then what exactly did you mean when you said we'd only investigated half of it?" Inspector Liu abruptly changed direction.

"Oh, that game I made had only one living player from beginning to end. But that one person alone was enough to pay for my son's Otherworldly Species tutoring classes at Tianxing Club. That place is really expensive, but it's worth the price. The teachers are indeed excellent." Liu Bo suddenly said.

"The living player you mentioned is him, isn't it?" Inspector Liu picked up a photograph from the table and held it up for Liu Bo to see.

The camera shifted, focusing on the photo. It showed a Youth with a face full of acne and a gloomy expression.

"Zhao Xu? It was actually him?" Zhao Han shot to her feet.

"Calm down," Wenren Sheng reminded her.

Zhao Han's mind went blank again. She truly hadn't expected that spoiled brat to be involved in this as well.

The recording continued.

"Oh, it seems I underestimated you just now. You really are professionals. Amateur players like us can never compare. The moment we achieve a little, we easily become arrogantly complacent." Liu Bo shook his head and mocked himself.

"Talk. What exactly is your relationship with him?"

"Obviously, the relationship between a player and a developer."

"So you don't intend to cooperate? You can think it over again."

Liu Bo's face turned cold, but he eventually spoke. "Fine. He was my other partner. I provided the technology, and he provided the funds. Together, we judged those ridiculous pigs and sheep, controlled their joys and sorrows, made them bravely face their own hearts, and released their most primitive emotions—anger and hate... To him, it was the most entertaining game."

"Forget spending 1.6 million; even if they spent 16 million, the wealthy among ordinary people probably couldn't play such a high-end game."

"Whose idea was it to murder Zhao Han this morning?" the young inspector beside Inspector Liu, who had not spoken until then, suddenly interjected.

Liu Bo did not hesitate and directly sold out his partner. "It was Zhao Xu's idea. He had me monitor Zhao Han's phone through his own phone, through the Villa WIFI. Last night, he discovered that she'd received a text message and had kept it for a long time. There was a suspect list on it. When I saw my own name, I realized I'd been exposed and told him. Then he deliberately argued with his father and fled the house. After leaving, he told me to find a way to kill Zhao Han."

As he spoke, he shook his head and smiled. "I tried to talk him out of it at the time. I told him it would be a waste of effort, and that since he wanted to be a player judging the fates of all living beings, he shouldn't personally enter the game. But a child was still a child. In the end, even he was controlled by hate."

"Then how did you manipulate Wang Qingyue? She doesn't know Zhao Han at all. She shouldn't have been able to feel any hatred toward her." The young inspector seemed especially concerned about this question.

Zhao Han immediately pricked up her ears. At this point, she seemed to vaguely understand. Alien Power could not be used however one pleased; there had to be some causal connection before it could influence someone's behavior.

"She doesn't know Zhao Han, but I do. And there actually is a connection between the two of them," Liu Bo replied directly, clearly understanding what the other man was asking. "Zhao Han and Wenren Sheng interrogated her husband together. Later, she was allowed to see her husband, He Sancai, alone. From He Sancai, she learned that several people had interrogated him, and that he wasn't mainly responsible, so he should be released soon. I found her through the Internet and told her about those two. So she came to hate them, believing that they were the reason her good life was about to end."

Hearing this, Zhao Han felt like she had been sitting at home when a pot fell from the sky onto her head. This was far too unfair. She had clearly just been a bystander the whole time...

Wait, hadn't she said one extra sentence back then? She'd cursed at He Sancai once. She hadn't expected the aftermath to be so serious.

"You really are cunning." After saying that meaningfully, the young inspector fell silent again.

"One final question. Where did the Anger Power and Hate Power you used come from?" Inspector Liu asked next.

Liu Bo opened his mouth as though about to answer, but the recording abruptly cut off there.

"All right. What comes next is highly classified information, not something you can know at your current level." Wenren Sheng closed the app.

Liu Jian had remained silent the whole time. Only when Wenren Sheng closed the app did he suddenly raise his head and stare at him seriously.

"Teacher, my dad... no, that man... will he be executed?"

Wenren Sheng looked at the young man. His features were well-defined. Nominally, he was Wenren Sheng's student, but he was actually a year older than him.

After a while, he said, "His fate depends on you. Just as your fate depended on him just now."

"I understand." Liu Jian stood up and gritted his teeth. "The sins he committed will be erased through me."

Then, without looking back, he headed for the door. His entire figure carried an air of tragic solemnity.

Looking at him, Zhao Han had a feeling that he would surely accomplish great things in the future. This was practically the backstory of a classic secondary protagonist from an anime...

Unfortunately, Narration Mister had been overused by her last night. Otherwise, it should have produced the most fitting line at a time like this.

"Who gave you the courage to walk away so matter-of-factly?" Wenren Sheng spoke, directly shattering the tragic scene.

Liu Jian staggered and turned around, his face full of confusion. He had been planning to go back and cultivate desperately.

"Wait here. Someone will be coming shortly to deal with your situation," Wenren Sheng said blandly.

Liu Jian offered no resistance and obediently sat back down on the sofa.

"Before that, you still have another issue to deal with," Wenren Sheng continued.

"What issue?"

"Pay for my coffee table first."