The Source of the Disaster
Lin Yu quickly flipped through the tablet, soon finishing the overview compiled by "Order".
All I can say is...
The members of this organization, who include a large number of Police and soldiers, produce reports that are concise, neat, and even aesthetically pleasing.
Useful information was neatly listed on the tablet, and the accompanying pictures helped Lin Yu organize all the information.
The deceased was "Carrot" from the "Player Mutual Aid Society," a fact Lin Yu had already confirmed.
He arrived at Sea City Station by express train at 4 a. m. last Friday, and was then led by the staff of the "auction" (which is also the operator of the "Hunter Society") to check into a five-star luxury hotel in the Sea City.
As the Founder of the "Player Mutual Aid Society," Carrot received extremely high attention and was arranged to stay in the highest-level river-view executive suite on the top floor of the hotel.
The suite had two bedrooms and a living room. Carrot was accompanied by two members of the "Player Mutual Aid Society" on this trip: one was a "Tier 3" henchman codenamed "Lotus"; the other was a "Tier 2" craftsman codenamed "Cassia Seed".
In the "Hunter Society" arrangement, Carrot was originally supposed to stay in the master bedroom of the suite, but based on what Lotus and Cassia Seed said, Carrot felt that he would be fine living in the second bedroom by himself, so he gave up the master bedroom to them.
Although the two were not entirely in agreement, they eventually gave in to Carrot's insistence.
The "Player Mutual Aid Society" seems to know that the most important [Item] that Carrot is carrying is very dangerous, so they are being quite cautious.
Although nominally participating in an "auction," the buyer had already been contacted through the "Hunter Society" beforehand—an unofficial member of "Order," similar to "The Tycoon" and "Sherlock." Although not an official member of "Order," their long-term cooperative relationship could Xingyi degree of guarantee for the buyer's reputation.
The buyer's code name was "Zhu Rong," and his Profession was also "farmer." He was from Lancheng, Gansu Province in Northwest China.
The item that Carrot was carrying, Item was actually meant to be sold, wouldn't go through the auction process; it was just a cover.
The above is the background of Carrot's arrival in Sea City.
In short, Carrot stayed in the hotel for three days and was active normally every day.
His daily routine has always been very regular. He gets up at six in the morning to do morning exercises, then has breakfast, and then starts handling organizational work. In the afternoon, he watches TV drama channels for a while, and after dinner, he washes up and goes to bed around ten o'clock in the evening.
Until Monday... that is, last night, around ten o'clock, the Cassia Seed and lotus flowers took turns.
After a long day, Cassia Seed was ready to wash up and go to bed, while Hehua kept watch over her in the living room.
Just as the two were changing shifts... Carrot, who was supposed to have finished washing up and go to bed, unusually took his phone and went to the balcony to make a call.
Lotus observed for a moment, and it seemed the call hadn't gone through, so Grandpa Radish went back to his room.
At the time, Hehua simply assumed that Carrot had called home but couldn't get through. Seeing that he seemed normal, she didn't pry into his private life.
At 2:15 a. m., Lotus suddenly woke up on the sofa in the living room, realizing that she had inexplicably fallen asleep.
According to Hehua's recollection, the last time he was conscious was while scrolling through short videos on his phone, around 1:40 PM.
In other words, he may have been unconscious for a maximum of thirty-five minutes—which Lotus found somewhat unusual.
So, Lotus went to call Cassia Seed in the master bedroom, and to her surprise, she found that Cassia Seed was awake and reading in the room.
After hearing that Lotus had inexplicably fallen asleep, Cassia Seed seriously, so the two decided to check on Carrot's condition.
Not wanting to disturb Carrot's sleep, the two quietly opened the door to the second bedroom and peeked through the crack in the door.
Although the Carrot was lying perfectly fine in bed...
But the room was unusually quiet; you couldn't even hear breathing, which made Lotus feel uneasy.
Ignoring Cassia Seed's objections, he pushed open the door and went inside, while trying to wake Carrot.
Then...
Upon closer inspection, he confirmed that Carrot had lost all vital signs.
Breathing and heartbeat have completely stopped, and body temperature has dropped to its lowest point.
After discovering all this, Lotus and Cassia Seed immediately summoned the person in charge of the "Hunter Society," as well as members of "Order" who came to assist in the management—including a doctor whose Profession was "Doctor," and who was indeed a chief Doctor at a top-tier hospital.
After attempts to resuscitate him failed, Carrot was confirmed dead.
Preliminary assessment suggests that the time of death, barring external interference or distortion, should be between 1:15 and 1:45.
This coincides with the time when the lotus flower described itself as being in a "dormant" state.
Carrot's body showed no obvious external injuries, and although his expression indicated slight pain, there were no signs of excessive struggle.
A careful examination of the cause of death revealed that it appeared to be a sudden cardiac death.
However, although Carrot is very old, his physical functions have always been very healthy and he has not shown any signs of overwork recently, which is of course very unreasonable!
Moreover, upon further investigation... it was discovered that although the body showed no abnormalities, a kind of residual power, similar to a "curse," remained within the soul.
Without a doubt, this was most likely the work of Player.
Meanwhile, upon inspection, it was discovered that the crucial [Item] that Carrot was carrying was also missing—now even the motive became clearer.
After Lotus explained the situation to the members of "Order" and made her request.
The "Order" Sea City branch immediately took over the matter and blocked the news.
"That concludes the entire account of the incident."
Looking at the last sentence of the document, Lin Yu silently turned off the tablet.
"Phew... this is really a troublesome case."
This is a rather unusual locked-room murder case.
The reason it's not quite standard... isn't just because the lotus flower guarding the gate took a nap.
More importantly, things like surveillance cameras and rooftop windows are meaningless to high-end "Player".
Although "Order" has not yet found any traces of [Item] use, it cannot be completely ruled out.
"I have a basic understanding of the situation. But before I go to the site for further inspection and speak with Sherlock, I have one more question."
Lin Yu looked at Li Hua.
Li Hua nodded. "Go ahead and ask."
"What is the missing Item that makes us so nervous?"
"Good Night only said that thing could potentially cause the deaths of tens of thousands of people, but I need to know the specifics."
Hearing Lin Yu's question, Li Hua nodded.
"To avoid unnecessary trouble and prevent intelligence theft, we have not directly mentioned this in any of our written reports, especially electronic reports."
"But I can tell you face to face."
"The missing Item is called [Super Genetically Modified Carrot]."
Upon hearing the name, Lin Yu was taken aback. "Huh? This thing... it's that powerful?"
Li Hua nodded again.
"This thing is a Carrot that can multiply indefinitely. As long as it is provided with energy, it can expand and divide in a controlled manner."
"This doesn't sound like a big deal," Lin Yu said, puzzled. "You said it yourself... this thing is even controllable."
"No, the growth and proliferation of this thing can be controlled, but... it is extremely addictive."
Li Hua sighed.
"It's tens of thousands of times more potent than any addictive drug known in our world... and its addictive properties are effective on most organisms."