Clue

Early morning.

Caution tape and warning signs were strung up at both ends of the road. Police vehicles were parked horizontally across the middle of the street, their lights flashing as if warning passing traffic to detour.

"Officer Chan, your coffee!"

He Jia'an, with his CID badge hanging from his chest, watched Chen Guibin step out of a police car. He hurried over and handed the coffee he was holding to the other man.

"What's the situation at the scene?"

Chen Guibin, dressed in a black cotton shirt, rubbed his throbbing temples. He took the coffee from He Jia'an while asking about the scene.

"A total of two vehicles were found: a six-meter-long dump truck and a Honda sedan. There are six victims in total. Three of them suffered blunt force trauma and injuries from the crash, but the cause of death was having their necks snapped.

Two others suffered severe trauma to their lower vital areas; one died from a heavy blow to the chest that caused his ribs to break and pierce his heart and lungs, while the other died from a massive blow to the head. The last one suffered a heavy blow to the heart, and his face was skinned. We found the peeled-off skin and a small knife used for skinning in a plastic bag at the scene—"

He Jia'an followed closely behind Chen Guibin, reporting the details he had gathered upon arriving at the crime scene early.

"Have the victims been identified?"

Chen Guibin took a sip of coffee, his slightly agitated expression seemingly calming down, and asked again.

"Four have been identified through the ID cards they were carrying: Wu Xingsha, Dang Hongbo, Li Bang, and Shen Maode. According to information provided by the Anti-Triad and Narcotics units, they are all gang members. The victim whose face was skinned is Wu Xingsha." He Jia'an handed over the file he had prepared earlier to Chen Guibin.

"And the other two?"

Chen Guibin handed the coffee back to He Jia'an and took the file to flip through it.

"One is a foreigner, and the other has an Asian face. Both are extremely muscular, but there is no information on them to prove their identities," He Jia'an answered quickly.

"What about the vehicles?"

Chen Guibin quickly scanned the file, handed it back to He Jia'an, and walked briskly toward the crime scene, which was cordoned off by a second layer of police tape.

"The sedan belongs to the victim, Wu Xingsha. The dump truck involved in the crash is registered to a transport company, which reported it stolen to the police yesterday morning." He Jia'an followed behind Chen Guibin, continuing his rapid report. "Oh, right, an M1911 pistol was found inside the car; it hadn't been fired."

"Good work."

Chen Guibin paused, turned his head to compliment He Jia'an, and then strode into the chaotic scene.

The ground was littered with shattered car glass and debris, and the black tire tracks were clearly visible.

Chen Guibin crouched down to observe the ground closely, occasionally looking up at the dump truck and the overturned black Honda sedan. He looked thoughtful, his brows knitted tightly together.

"Officer Chan, did you find any clues?" He Jia'an stood behind Chen Guibin, asking his superior with anticipation.

"Judging by the angle of the dump truck, this crash was likely caused by that foreigner and the muscular man. Their target was the people in the sedan. But there are clear signs of a struggle at the scene. It seems something went wrong; the foreigner and the unidentified muscular man failed to complete their mission and had a fierce fight with a mysterious person."

As he spoke, Chen Guibin walked to the side of the road and carefully examined the scattered plastic fragments on the ground. Several of them had been flattened quite neatly. "A vehicle stopped here."

Suddenly, Chen Guibin walked over to the foreigner with the gruesome death, crouched down to look at his sunken chest, and continued to speak to He Jia'an. "An Zai, do you remember the case of the perverted taxi driver reported by the Tuen Mun Police Station earlier?"

"I remember."

He Jia'an nodded. This case had recently caused quite a stir in Hong Kong Island; not to mention the police, even the general public was talking about it.

Suddenly, as if thinking of something, He Jia'an blurted out, "That perverted driver also died from internal hemorrhaging caused by a severe impact to the sternum, with ribs piercing his organs. Officer Chan, are you saying these two cases..."

"Once the autopsy report comes out, contact the Tuen Mun Police Station and ask them for the files; I want to see them. Also, investigate the identities of those two foreigners and the muscular man. Everything that passes leaves a trace; they couldn't have just appeared out of thin air."

Chen Guibin spoke rapidly. He stood up from the ground and suddenly looked behind He Jia'an, his face displeased. "An Zai, go ask the boys how they're doing their jobs. Why is a child running around in here?"

"A child?"

He Jia'an was struggling to keep up with Chen Guibin's train of thought. Being asked this, he was momentarily confused. He turned to look at the empty space behind him and stared blankly at Chen Guibin. "Officer Chan, what are you saying—"

Chen Guibin's brows were locked, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the space behind He Jia'an.

"Officer Chan!" He Jia'an called out softly, looking at Chen Guibin with some confusion.

Chen Guibin finally withdrew his gaze, slowly closed his eyes, and tapped his fingers against his brow. "It's nothing. My eyes played tricks on me; I probably haven't rested well lately. Right, tell the boys to canvass the area and see if there are any witnesses."

The heavy, humming sound of electronic equipment echoed continuously.

In a room connected to a dark and damp basement, computers were lined up side by side. Thick electrical cables and fiber optics hung and extended along the walls. A two-meter-tall glass sleep pod, a high-end operating table connected to unknown display devices, and various strange, high-tech instruments were displayed all around.

One could tell just from this equipment that this basement was a secret base with a high level of technology.

"Captain, the people who went on the mission last night didn't return."

A sexy, enchanting woman in a red trench coat walked into the room from outside and came to a stop behind a long-haired man in black who was standing facing the wall.

The long-haired man in black was looking at two maps: one was a world map, and the other was a map of Hong Kong Island. On the map of Hong Kong Island, there were many marks circled and crossed out in red ink.

Upon hearing the report from the woman in the red trench coat, the long-haired man in black did not turn around, only tapping his finger on the map. "We don't have many people left. This plan is very important; I don't want any complications. Have someone go and finish it thoroughly."

"Understood." The woman in the red trench coat nodded, turned, and left the room.

After the woman in the red trench coat left, the long-haired man in black shifted his gaze from the map of Hong Kong Island to the world map.

The long-haired man in black traced his finger over a large area in the upper part of the world map, muttering in a low voice: "Great ideals, in the end, cannot withstand the ravages of reality. Tovarish, you can no longer find Stalingrad on the map, and we, these failed experiments, will never return to the pigsty."