Familiarity

"Junior, please stop!"

Seeing that Lu Bai was about to leave, Li Shan quickly called out to him, "You're a member of the City Martial Force, why don't you come with us and take a look?"

Lu Bai turned around and glanced at him.

Seemingly sensing something in his eyes, after thinking for a moment, I decided to accompany them to the crime scene.

The reason is actually not complicated.

Don't forget, in the previous crisis involving the Heavy Element Reactor, in order to intercept that missile, Lu Bai conveniently took away Li Shan's [Wind Riding] ability.

This has resulted in a significant reduction in Li Shan's current strength.

However, out of a desire to keep Lu Bai's identity a secret, Li Shan did not report that she had lost her abilities.

City Martial Force judged Li Shan's work ability based on past experience, and the tasks assigned to him under such circumstances sometimes inevitably exceeded his ability to handle.

It's ultimately my own doing; if I hadn't run into it, it would have been fine. But since I have, there's no harm in going with someone to see it.

The Livability Building where the incident occurred.

Upon seeing Li Shan, the Security Department officers stationed outside the cordon immediately saluted. "Third Seat Li, Sixth Seat Feng."

Clearly, the City Martial Force had already issued the notice in advance, and the Security Personnel at the Security Department knew who was coming.

At the same time, a middle-aged man dressed as an officer, somewhat balding, came out to greet them, followed by two armed Security Personnel.

"Third Seat Li, Sixth Seat Feng, you've finally arrived."

The bald, middle-aged man was very enthusiastic, rushing over to shake hands. "If you hadn't come, I wouldn't know what to do."

After responding politely, Li Shan didn't bother to introduce Lu Bai and went straight to the point, "What's the situation now?"

Sensing Li Shan's work ethic, the bald man could only swallow his words of trying to curry favor and turned to lead the way. "Let's go straight to the crime scene, we can talk as we go."

"Based on the information we have, there are supernatural forces involved in this case, meaning it involves deadly combatants, which is why we asked you to come."

"So far, we have only identified this one victim, but we suspect there are other undiscovered victims."

Hearing this, Li Shan paused in her steps. "Reason?"

"Although it sounds strange, it's clear that the killer's methods were very sophisticated. It's definitely not a first-time crime, and at the very least, it's not a one-time offense."

"Actually, you only need to see the body to know that the blood in the deceased's body was drained by some force in a short period of time. The autopsy results show that the victim did not lose vital signs before the blood was completely drained, that is, the deceased was still alive after the blood was drained."

The group entered the elevator. After pressing the floor button, the bald man continued, "Based on the evidence collected by the forensic technicians, this is the primary crime scene. However, we searched the entire Livability Building and found no blood from the deceased."

"The killer was collecting blood?" The abilities of death fighters were incredibly diverse, Li Shan didn't show too much surprise.

It could be an ability that requires blood to activate, or an ability that grows over time.

Feng Yixuan suddenly asked, "Have you investigated the deceased's interpersonal relationships?"

"We've checked. He was an ordinary white-collar worker, unmarried, and single. His interpersonal relationships were very simple. According to his colleagues, he was kind and never argued with anyone. After get off work, he would just go home and play games. We've never heard of him having any conflicts with anyone."

As they were talking, the elevator doors opened. There was no strange smell, not even the smell of blood.

Li Shan stepped out of the elevator, glanced around, and finally fixed her gaze on the security camera at the end of the corridor. "Where are the surveillance records from the corridor cameras?"

"Uh... this."

Hearing this question, the bald man looked a little embarrassed and lowered his voice slightly. "The camera is still under repair, Third Seat Li. You know, security cameras in Livability Building are usually quite troublesome to repair."

Li Shan gave a knowing "oh".

In fact, every month, a number of cameras in various Livability City are reported for repair, and the city council allocates funds depending on its mood.

It's not that the city council is irresponsible or unwilling to exercise more detailed control, but rather that the only residents of the Livability Building are ordinary people. Managing these Livability Building doesn't offer much profit, and people usually skim off whatever they can; this has almost become an unspoken rule.

Therefore, when the city receives such repair requests, the city government assumes that it is paying extra salaries to the management personnel, and sometimes it will be too lazy to pay them, since it won't actually benefit them anyway.

Li Shan didn't dwell on it and quickly walked into the room where the deceased was.

The deceased's house was very clean, which shows that he paid attention to hygiene during his lifetime.

After passing through the entryway, you can see a mummified corpse lying stiffly in the living room, which is about ten square meters in size.

The video recording equipment on the tripod was flashing a green light indicating that it was in normal working order, and the technicians were busy in the crowded room, collecting as much evidence as possible.

Lu Bai, who had remained silent throughout, involuntarily raised an eyebrow when he saw the mummified corpse.

This corpse...

It gave him a sense of familiarity.

It wasn't that he knew the deceased, nor that the method of the crime seemed familiar to him; he simply felt that there was something incredibly familiar remaining on the mummified corpse, but he couldn't quite pinpoint what it was.

Li Shan wandered around the room, then picked up a box of game cartridges lying in front of the TV: "I don't even have any of these original cartridges."

"Tsk tsk tsk."

Feng Yixuan was anything but the delicate girl she usually was. She squatted down beside the mummified corpse with great interest, even poking it with her index finger. "If this wasn't a revenge killing, what kind of ruthless ability would it take to kill someone so badly? There's not a single good bone left on the body."

"Is that an exaggeration? It's just draining the blood, isn't it?"

Lu Bai glanced at the location of the mummified corpse, then looked towards the entrance hall; there was no obstruction between the two.

Li Shan noticed Lu Bai's gaze and her expression shifted slightly. "It seems that after the murderer knocked on the door and lured the victim to open it, he directly drained the victim's blood in the entryway, casually threw the body into the living room, and left. Was it a random murder?"

The operation was so swift; they didn't even enter the room, so naturally, no trace of the crime could be found.

"No, it should be called random foraging," Lu Bai said softly.

He already knew what this sense of familiarity was, but it only made him feel a sense of disbelief.

Feng Yixuan stood up, hands on her hips. "We don't have a single clue, what are we going to do?"

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out at the other end of the corridor, immediately attracting the attention of everyone present.