No More Talk, Just Arrest Him

He had spent the whole day running errands with Li Wanyun. What else had Sister Sheng been up to?

Sheng An said, "I've been reviewing the investigation results on Song Linwei."

Hao Jingye immediately sat up straight and asked, "Did you find anything?"

"Something is a little strange." Sheng An swiped across the screen.

Yesterday, she had ordered an investigation into Song Linwei's living environment, family circumstances, relatives, and everyone he had come into contact with over the past three days.

It was a vast web, encompassing a great deal of information.

But Sheng An had spent the day sorting it all out.

Song Linwei's background was clean.

His parents were university professors. They had been rehired after retirement and were both still teaching.

His sister and brother-in-law were in business, and both were doing very well.

He himself had earned a graduate degree from the country's best university and worked in physics-related research.

The whole family lived in Capital City, and everyone was busy with their respective careers.

Aside from them, Song Linwei also had a nephew, sixteen years old and in his second year of high school.

According to the investigation, everyone in the family had a good temperament.

Song Linwei himself was especially bright, receiving excellent evaluations both at school and at work.

He lived comfortably, had a harmonious family, and his relatives were all successful in their own ways...

There wasn't a single fault to be found.

Furthermore, ever since publishing the post, Song Linwei had taken leave from work and stayed home.

Over those three days, apart from seeing his family, he had spent all his time holed up in his own home.

His monitored phone calls revealed nothing unusual.

He had also come into contact with very few people during those three days. They had all been listed: food delivery riders, couriers, supermarket clerks... Again, nothing unusual.

In short, the investigation results suggested that Song Linwei was as normal as anyone could possibly be.

Hao Jingye looked puzzled. "That all seems pretty normal. What do you find strange, Sister Sheng?"

Sheng An asked him in return, "What kind of person do you think Song Linwei is?"

Hao Jingye answered without hesitation, "A smart, good person."

His intelligence was evident from their several encounters and the background investigation.

He was a good person because he had published a post warning of the apocalypse, hoping to alert everyone.

Sheng An smiled-

"Then let's work backward. Suppose my intuition is right and something is off about him. If we can't uncover a single irregularity, doesn't that mean he's even smarter than we imagined?"

Hao Jingye nodded.

"In that case, why would someone so smart publish a warning post that accomplished almost nothing except drawing our attention?" Sheng An narrowed her eyes slightly, a meaningful look in them.

Hao Jingye was stunned.

Right. That was a contradiction.

And they could take the reasoning further. Suppose Sheng An's intuition was wrong, nothing was off about Song Linwei, and he really had seen "Iron Man." Would an intelligent researcher post about it online, or seek help from the authorities?

He would seek help from the authorities!

He would notify the government of "Iron Man's" existence as soon as possible.

Posting online was itself an action that didn't quite fit an intelligent person.

Hao Jingye drew in a sharp breath. "So something really is off about Song Linwei. What's his goal, then? What exactly is he hiding? If he's not Iron Man, who is?"

"The investigation into Song Linwei is still ongoing. Do you know what today's findings were?" Sheng An kept him in suspense.

Hao Jingye shook his head, his gaze eager.

Sheng An said, "Before today, his parents, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew were all going to work and school as usual."

She smiled, her eyes curving into crescents. "But today, they all took leave and went home."

Hao Jingye froze.

After a long moment, the gears in his mind turned, and he said slowly, "So he only confirmed last night that the apocalypse was coming!"

Then that post...

Sheng An tilted her head and said softly-

"Yes. Iron Man Who Believes in the Light must be someone close to him. He's protecting that person. As for the post..."

"Song Linwei was fishing."

He was fishing for government agents.

He wanted to confirm whether the apocalypse was coming, make contact with them, and obtain information.

After a long moment, Hao Jingye slowly exhaled.

Song Linwei really was smart.

There was nothing wrong with his plan. Unfortunately for him, he had run into Sheng An.

Hao Jingye looked at Sheng An and suddenly understood why the government had made her one of the heads of the Doomsday Special Affairs Office.

They believed she could keep those Aberrants in line.

Perceptive, intelligent, and terrifying-she could already handle Aberrants without an ability of her own.

What if she awakened a powerful ability?

Hao Jingye suddenly found himself looking forward to it.

At the Song family home.

Only after spending an entire day digesting it did the whole family finally accept the news-the apocalypse was coming.

Father Song wore a deep frown and seemed to have aged all over.

His mother was equally bewildered. "How could the world suddenly be ending?"

Song Linwei's sister, Song Linlin, asked him, "Why did you publish a post to attract the government's attention? What if they..."

Song Linwei sighed and explained:

"Because I wanted to confirm whether the apocalypse was coming. It was just an ordinary post. Unless the government was already watching for this, it wouldn't have attracted any attention at all.

"But they came to my door immediately. That means they've been watching all along. And they aren't watching for people who post about the apocalypse-they're watching for anyone unusual. The government is looking for people with special abilities!"

Last night, he had heard the answer he wanted from the government agents.

A terrifying answer, but one he had expected.

Song Linlin asked, "So the government is watching now? Will they notice Xin?"

Song Linwei shook his head. "They probably won't. There wasn't a single slipup from beginning to end. I only revealed that people with special abilities exist, not that Xin is one of them."

In the car.

Hao Jingye asked, "Sister Sheng, who do you think it is?"

Sheng An pointed at a name, her expression calm. "Li Xin. Song Linwei's nephew."

Her tone held certainty, not speculation.

Song Linwei's mother said worriedly, "That post of yours was too specific. You exposed all of Xin's abilities. It's still too dangerous. From now on, we have to keep him well hidden and not let the government discover him."

Li Xin's father, Li Huai, shook his head. "The government is looking for people with special abilities. Li Xin doesn't necessarily have to keep hiding."

If the apocalypse was coming, someone with special abilities would have a better chance of surviving than an ordinary person.

Song Linwei agreed. "Exactly. That's why I described Xin's abilities in my post. Now that we've confirmed the apocalypse is coming, Xin probably isn't the most exceptional person out there, but he's still highly unusual."

He looked toward the closed room, took a deep breath, and said slowly:

"We can use this to negotiate with the government. Of course, we need to do it before they identify Xin. I still need to probe their attitude toward people with special abilities."

There wasn't much time left. Only nineteen days.

Song Linlin looked worried. "You're looking out for Xin, but that boy does whatever he pleases and never listens..."

Song Linwei said, "I still have to secure his rights and interests. Xin is special, after all. It shouldn't be difficult."

Sheng An said, "If I'm right, Song Linwei exposed his nephew's metal-type ability so he could negotiate with us and secure rights and benefits for him."

"Then that makes things easy." Hao Jingye pushed up his glasses. "It's just a negotiation, isn't it? As long as we figure out-"

Sheng An cut him off. "No. We're not negotiating."

Hao Jingye froze.

Sheng An sneered. "This Aberrant wants to negotiate, that one wants to negotiate. Who has time for all that? Once they're in my department, they'll do as they're told."

She raised a hand and tapped the steering wheel.

"Let's go. We'll head back and see how Little Fish's studies are coming along. Tomorrow, we'll arrest that 'Iron Man Who Believes in the Light.'"

Arrest him?!

Hao Jingye's eyes widened.

This was the first time Sheng An had used that word!