Death Scene

Barrier Field District, Coal Mine Field.

The small building, still clean and orderly despite being surrounded by coal dust, was now packed with people.

More than a dozen officers were busy taking photographs and collecting evidence. A few newspaper reporters who had come all the way from the Radiance District after hearing the news were also furiously snapping pictures of the cold, hulking corpse.

"All the valuables in the rooms have been looted. We found no fingerprints belonging to the killer, but a comparison of the shoeprints on the first-floor living room carpet confirms that the suspect was the undocumented man brought into the district yesterday by the two now-deceased foremen. He registered for the train under the name Zhao Zihong and was accompanied by a relative who claimed to be his younger sister. The two were confirmed missing this morning."

"Our best estimate is that at 11:13, the suspect killed the two foremen who had brought him into the mine. After waiting for two hours, he slipped into Field Manager Xie's residence, ate some food in the first-floor dining room, and took a knife from the kitchen. He then went upstairs, threatened Field Manager Xie into handing over his valuables, and killed him to silence him."

The deputy police superintendent, who was investigating the scene while working separately from Tian Yuan, listened to his subordinate's report with a frown.

Given what they already knew, it was easy enough to deduce who was responsible.

It could only have been the prodigy Feng Zi, whose name had been on everyone's lips throughout the Radiance District, working with the biological test subject from Tian'en Company. They had found the two foremen and hitched a ride here on a labor train by pretending they wanted to work at the mine.

The two unscrupulous foremen had tried to kill the biological test subject and claim the compensation money, only to be killed themselves.

But the death of Field Manager Xie, lying before them, was harder to make sense of.

Killing the two foremen could be called self-defense, but what was the excuse for coming to this building, killing a man, and robbing him?

Would Feng Zi really make such a decision? She was said to have grown up in the Physics Institute's laboratories, and to have the childish personality to match.

Or had the biological test subject she rescued from Tian'en Company gone berserk and out of control, developing an antisocial personality?

As the deputy superintendent lowered his gaze in thought, a rising din from beyond the police cordon behind him interrupted his train of thought.

The understaffed officers could no longer hold back the reporters and their cameras. If this had been an ordinary murder, it wouldn't have attracted these journalists' attention, let alone brought them all the way from the Radiance District to this backwater.

News that Feng Zi had eloped and fled with a biological test subject had been spreading like wildfire for the past two days. Somehow, someone had leaked that Feng Zi was connected to the killings at the coal mine.

"Superintendent! The whole city is talking about this. Did Miss Feng Zi personally commit this crime? If she took part, what will the Sunlight Council decide?"

"Miss Feng Zi has long insisted that the Light Stone atop the White Tower doesn't belong to Sun City, and that the Council's leadership has tarnished Speaker Feng's ideals. Do you know the Council's position on this?"

"There are rumors that the Sunlight Council has been keeping Miss Feng Zi under house arrest. Was her escape an act of defiance? Has the police received a report to that effect?"

"Will Miss Feng Zi use her influence at Tian'en Company's headquarters and in the Central District to seize the Light Stone? If she does, how will the Council respond?"

"Superintendent—"

The scene descended into chaos. Microphones kept jabbing toward the deputy superintendent's face, making his expression darken by the second.

"I'm sorry, but this is a crime scene, not a press conference! Get the company's security team in the Barrier Field District here. No unauthorized personnel are to come anywhere near the scene!"

At the deputy superintendent's sharp command, the scene finally quieted down. But before he could rub his aching temples, steady himself, and resume analyzing the case, a loud crunching drew his attention.

The deputy superintendent looked up angrily and saw a young man with unkempt hair, wearing black casual trousers and a black shirt. He was eating potato chips while studying the bloodstain on the bed with keen interest.

Rather than address the young man in black, he grabbed a nearby officer by the collar and glared at him.

"Didn't I say no unauthorized personnel were allowed at the scene? Did you take my words for a joke?"

The officer stammered out a reply.

"S-Superintendent, he's with Tian'en Company."

At the words "Tian'en Company," the deputy superintendent reined in his temper.

He released his clueless subordinate and walked over to the young man, his expression still unfriendly.

"Hasn't your company already filed a report and handed the case over to the Police Department?"

Bai Qiulin smiled warmly and held out his hand.

"It's still a major figure from our own company who's involved. The executives trust the Police Department to do its job, but they also want someone here to keep track of the case and satisfy their need to stay in control. Isn't that right?"

"Hello, officer. I'm Bai Qiulin, a specialist at Tian'en Company's Sun City branch. Just call me Bai."

He was clearly good with words, nothing like the socially inept person he'd been when dealing with his direct superior.

The deputy superintendent's expression softened a little, but when he saw the grease on Bai Qiulin's hand, he paused before returning the handshake he'd instinctively started to offer.

Bai Qiulin raised an eyebrow and held out the bag of chips.

"Want some? I took them yesterday from a pastor's house. They're his granddaughter's favorite flavor. She cried when I took a bag."

"So, what does your company make of this?"

Seeing that the deputy superintendent had no intention of accepting his offer, Bai Qiulin didn't show the slightest embarrassment.

He tipped the remaining crumbs into his mouth, then tossed the empty bag into a nearby trash can.

"I'm just a specialist. My only job here is to be the company's eyes and ears. Who knows what the executives think?"

The deputy superintendent watched Bai Qiulin wipe his hands on his shirt. He decided the man was nothing but a slacker sent to go through the motions, and that speaking with him would be a waste of time. He was about to turn and leave when Bai Qiulin suddenly spoke.

"Still, if you're asking what I think, to be honest, I don't understand why the Police Department is focusing all its attention on that young woman."

The deputy superintendent stopped mid-turn. Frowning, he looked back at the disheveled young man.

"What do you mean?"

"When the company filed its report with the Police Department, I believe we made it clear that the biological test subject from the experimental facility had manipulated and abducted that young woman, and the two ran away together."

Bai Qiulin gazed at the large pool of blood on the flannel bedsheet and spoke calmly.

"Can't you tell from that account? Of the two, Feng Zi wasn't the one in control. It was the biological test subject, whose experiment designation was [Liang Xincheng]."