"...You mean that serial murder case, right?" Gao Wei took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and had just pulled one out when he seemed to remember something and looked at his subordinate. "Your family..."
"Go ahead and smoke. I'm the only one who lives here, so it's fine," Zhang Zhiyuan said hastily. "Director Gao, I haven't been with the International Criminal Police for very long, but think about it. Have I ever done anything unreliable? Of course, you can verify it in person when the next Paradise game starts, but by then, we might miss our chance to get ahead. I don't know how many people know about Paradise, but there are already five participants in this round alone, and they're from different countries. If that place really is another real world, we have to make sure our superiors are prepared!"
That was why he had invited his superior to his home for a private conversation.
There were still plenty of other countries' representatives in the office building.
Besides, if this really involved another world, diplomacy would be the first issue. The police had no authority to get involved—not to mention him; even Director Gao wasn't high-ranking enough. But he had no other connections to turn to, and his own supervisor was already as high as he could go in the chain of command. So a private meeting was the best option. After all, the fewer people who knew before the information was passed up, the better.
Gao Wei took a long drag. "I understand what you mean."
"You believe me!?" Zhang Zhiyuan said, delighted.
"What good does it do if I believe you?" Gao Wei glared at him. "The people above us have to believe you! Anyway, there's no way I'm reporting your 'theory' as fact. In our line of work, evidence is everything."
"But—"
"Still, I'll include everything you told me about your experience," his superior interrupted. "Whether Paradise has access to ultra-realistic simulation technology or the key to another real world, it's worth devoting considerable resources to investigating. Whether they decide to act is another matter. Look at you, going on and on about it, and even I don't believe you without real evidence. But that won't stop me from informing my superiors."
Zhang Zhiyuan let out a breath. "I was afraid you'd think I'd gone crazy."
"If it turns out none of this is real, you can kiss your police uniform goodbye."
"I'm willing to take full responsibility!"
"Mm." Gao Wei nodded. "You don't need to be so nervous. Our organization values facts. No matter how unbelievable something is, if it happened, we won't deliberately look the other way. Besides, we can't just ring the alarm bell and call it a day. Think about what we should do next."
Zhang Zhiyuan opened his mouth, then hesitated. "...Director Gao, wouldn't it be better to hand this over to our colleagues back home?"
"You don't want to handle it?"
"Of course I do!" He stiffened and instinctively puffed out his chest. "I promise I'll get the job done!"
"Enough. I'll be frank with you." The tip of Gao Wei's cigarette glowed in the dimming living room like a red star. "If everything you've told me is true, this would be a major achievement. Don't worry about law enforcement authority; I can pull a few strings to get some people assigned. If we can handle it ourselves, why hand it over to someone else? As for keeping it confidential... I can set up a special task force. You decide how many people are on it. Oh, and you can bring Officer Cui along. She knows a lot about computers and the internet, doesn't she?"
"Cui Zhenen? But she's a special envoy from South Korea..."
"Don't worry. She's not what you think. I can't go into detail for confidentiality reasons, but she's trustworthy." Gao Wei got up, found a plate, and stubbed out his cigarette. "Of course, you don't have to listen to me. You can handle it your own way. So... I'm guessing you already have some ideas?"
"First, I want to contact another player from the game," Zhang Zhiyuan said, his expression turning serious. "His name is Zhou Zhi, and he mentioned that he lives in Jiangcheng. He's from a wealthy family and traveled abroad this month, so it shouldn't be hard to narrow him down."
As a participant in the Paradise game, he was undoubtedly an important witness.
Another piece of evidence would make their case that much more credible.
"Second, I think we should send someone to investigate the Caribbean Company." Zhang Zhiyuan paused. "I strongly suspect that one of Paradise's main organizers was aboard that cruise ship."
He was referring to the Heart of the Ocean, where Paradise had held its first game.
"Why?" Gao Wei asked.
"Before you got here, I had someone inspect the VR Goggles and found something strange." He pulled out his phone and brought up a picture of the disassembled device. It was the VR Goggles. "There's a hidden camera inside."
"Explain it in more detail!" Old Gao said irritably. "How am I supposed to know what tricks you youngsters' gadgets have?"
"The camera is pointed at the user's eyes—and ordinary VR headsets don't need that feature. In other words, the goggles Paradise sent me were specially modified. Their only purpose is to let someone see me while I'm wearing them." Zhang Zhiyuan hesitated. "I know it sounds far-fetched, but I suspect Paradise needs to see us in person when it sends us into that world."
Gao Wei rubbed his forehead. "This gets more absurd by the minute. Fine... even if you're right, couldn't the first game on the cruise ship have used the same method?"
"I'm afraid not." Zhang Zhiyuan quickly countered. "A ship in the Atlantic can't receive a service provider's network signal. I asked the relevant people, and they said that although there's Wi-Fi, it relies on satellite signals, and the connection isn't fast enough for real-time video transmission. Also, there couldn't have been cameras in the VIP cabins, and the Caribbean Company knew nothing about the Paradise game. That's why I suspect the game's main organizer and the Host who appeared on the cruise ship are one and the same. If we can catch him, we'll be close to the truth!"
"Setting aside whether the Caribbean Company would even give us a passenger list, there must have been thousands of people on the ship. How are you supposed to investigate them?"
"Only look at Chinese nationals."
Gao Wei furrowed his brow, his tone growing more serious. "Are you saying..."
"That's right. I suspect Paradise is a domestic organization, and that it has very few people," Zhang Zhiyuan said without hesitation. "During the first game, I noticed that all the participants they selected could speak Chinese. Zhou Zhi goes without saying. Asahara Naruko was nearby, and even the Russians and Americans could speak it. That's interesting. In other words, Paradise chose Chinese as the common language so the participants could communicate with one another—and from a psychological standpoint, it should also be the language most commonly used within Paradise."
Gao Wei already knew what his subordinate was going to say next.
If they narrowed down the list by native language, thousands of passengers could be reduced to a few hundred, perhaps even around a hundred!
Investigating a hundred people would still be difficult, but it was far less work than before!
That meant their own department had enough manpower to solve the case.
Gao Wei smiled.
He patted Zhang Zhiyuan on the shoulder and headed for the coat rack by the door. "Not bad. You've given me quite a story."
"Director Gao, what about the passenger list...?"
Gao Wei calmly put on his coat. "I'll get in touch with them."
Before you continue