To prevent strangers from seeing him, Song Zhouzhou put on specially made black-rimmed glasses. In his field of vision, Jian Yunxian's face was blurred with a mosaic, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Come."
Having regained his energy and spirit, Song Zhouzhou even moved with a newfound elegance. He waved his hand like a proud commander-in-chief, turning the entire office into his personal stage.
The bare white wall in front of him flipped and folded, revealing a dense array of screens on the back, while the desk in front of him instantly unfolded, transforming into a high-tech workbench.
Looking at the scene before him, Yi Heye glanced warily at Jian Yunxian and asked Song Zhouzhou:
"If a guy with bad intentions and a little bit of technical skill were standing here watching you operate, would he steal any of your secrets?"
While typing rapidly on the keyboard, Song Zhouzhou said without turning his head, "No, my children only listen to me."
Jian Yunxian pretended not to hear and moved closer to them, watching the big screen together.
"This is the deceased's activity trajectory before death." A trajectory map appeared in front of Song Zhouzhou. "His nightlife was quite vibrant."
The results provided by Song Zhouzhou showed that the deceased had attended a private party that day, and after the party, he went to the "Doomsday Wheel" bar, where he met Yi Heye. After leaving the bar, he went to an arcade in Dirty Street to play games all night.
"He entered the 'Clockwork Horse' arcade at around 8:14 p.m. and left at 8:57 p.m. He died not long after."
“Private party, bar, arcade,” Yi Heye recalled. “He was holding an X100 in his hand at the time. I guess he ran out after getting high at the party.”
“But his cause of death was neither shooting nor drug overdose, but sudden cardiac death,” Yi Heye said. “The forensic examination also found electrical marks on his scalp, proving that he died of electrocution.”
Yi Heye frowned, suddenly remembering Pei Xiangjin's question on the phone—"Another sudden cardiac death?"
A thought flashed through Yi Heye's mind, and he turned around and said, "Could you help me check the police reports for sudden cardiac death in the last six months?"
Song Zhouzhou: "Okay, please wait a moment..."
Clearly, Song Zhouzhou is also a guy with a weak sense of law-abidingness.
Just as he was about to pick up the keyboard, Yi Heye's communicator suddenly rang. He looked up and saw a sheep-faced avatar appear.
Yi Heye quickly turned around and looked at the message with his back to Song Zhouzhou.
"You are welcome."
"Attachment: Records of reported unnatural deaths within the jurisdiction this month."
Yi Heye had no resistance to SHEEP's unpredictable appearances and disappearances. He immediately downloaded the file, and details of the reports of unnatural deaths over the past six months unfolded before him.
Looking at the case studies covering an entire wall, before Song Zhouzhou could even ask where the data came from, he exclaimed, "Do so many people die every month?"
The documents record a wide variety of causes of death—drowning, homicide, suicide, sudden death, electrocution… Every day, many lives are lost for various reasons.
Yi Heye first categorized sudden cardiac death into major categories, then eliminated cases with undisputed causes, and finally reviewed the autopsy reports one by one.
The sheer number of cases and the dense text gave Yi Heye a headache—he wasn't one to patiently read, and having two onlookers watching only made him more agitated.
Seeing his expression, Jian Yunxian sat down next to him and sat with him, looking at the case study with a serious expression.
Yi Heye found him annoying and, having no clue what to do, turned away, wanting to get away from him. Just then, the man beside him, seemingly unintentionally, pushed a case study in front of him.
Yi Heye subconsciously looked up, but Jian Yunxian was no longer looking at him. He simply adjusted his glasses and continued to stand to the side retrieving cases, looking refined and cultured, like a proper university professor.
Yi Heye stared at his profile for a few seconds until the man noticed his gaze and turned his head to look back. Only then did Yi Heye snap out of his daze and open the case study that the man had given him.
This is a case of the death of a female high school student, Fan Mengqing, who was only seventeen years old. She died suddenly while doing her homework at home with her friends. The autopsy results showed that she died of sudden cardiac death.
Yi Heye glanced at the autopsy report and was quickly drawn to a line of text: "The deceased's brain-computer interface chip was damaged and its contents were lost."
As if he had been inspired, he highlighted this message in red.
Soon, the intelligent filtering function helped to select two more cases from the massive amount of information—
One of the victims was a long-term unemployed shut-in who died suddenly in his rented apartment. The property management robot detected the abnormality and called the police.
Another was a game company tester who died at his workstation while working overtime.
All three individuals died suddenly of cardiac origin, and autopsies revealed that their brain-computer interface chips were damaged and their contents were lost.
"Has this batch of chips been inspected?" Yi Heye murmured. "Could it be a product safety issue?"
“No,” Song Zhouzhou said. “The security department asked me to check before. The brain-computer interface chips of these people are from different manufacturers and different batches. Although the contents of the chips have been completely lost due to damage, it is certain that it is not a problem with the quality of the chips.”
Yi Heye carefully examined their information, then stared at the photo of the last game developer, and suddenly murmured, "Chip...game?"
Song Zhouzhou asked in confusion, "What?"
"Is there any way to find their last internet records before they died?" Yi Heye said. "There's something I need to confirm."
On one side, Jian Yunxian carefully examined Yi Heye's profile, a slight smile playing on her lips, her eyes filled with undisguised admiration.
It's like anticipating a great show that's about to unfold.
Author's Note:
Professor Jian looked on with admiration: No wonder he's the man who broke my finger!
Chapter 8, No. 008
Yi Heye stared at the first case file, that of a high school girl named Fan Mengqing—this girl died suddenly while doing her homework at home with her classmates.
He then looked through the records made by the security department. The student's name was Chen Sike, a boy. Because it was not treated as a criminal case at the time, the record was almost just a formality and did not contain any valuable information. However, he was the only eyewitness in several cases.
At this moment, noticing that Yi Heye had taken notice of the case, Jian Yunxian gently raised the corners of his mouth: "It seems that our capable commander already has an idea."
Ignoring his boundless teasing, Yi Heye looked up and said seriously, "Let's go find him."
Jian Yun chuckled and said, "Okay."
Yi Heye packed up a batch of documents for Song Zhouzhou and took them away. Team Leader Song finally breathed a sigh of relief after seeing his guest off.
Yi Heye located Chen Sike's home, which was their current destination.
On the way to the garage, Yi Heye was engrossed in sorting through information, so Jian Yunxian walked ahead and led the little leopard, who couldn't concentrate on finding his way once he started thinking, to the garage.
Before getting into the car, seeing that Yi Heye had finally come to his senses, Jian Yunxian seized the opportunity to ask, "Is that Team Leader Song from today your good friend?"
Seeing his inexplicable obsession with such a trivial matter, Yi Heye suddenly felt a surge of satisfaction and sneered, "Mind your own business."
Jian Yunxian opened the passenger door for him, watched him get into the seat, then leaned against the car and looked at him sincerely: "I just want to get to know you better as a friend."
Yi Heye slammed the car door shut: "I'm not happy about it."
The car was filled with flashy, scented interiors, and its driving mode was extremely intelligent. Meanwhile, the fat sheep that was always by Jian Yunxian's side was wearing small sunglasses and casually enjoying the scenery by the back window.
Somewhat comically, Jian Yunxian's right little finger was wrapped in a thick layer of gauze and sticking up high, making it impossible for him to drive; he could only rely on autopilot.
But Jian Yunxian, who was disabled but determined, was not affected. After Yi Heye sat down, he smiled and said, "Mr. 404, you are the first person to sit in my passenger seat. This is very special to me."
Yi Heye stared coldly ahead: "I don't care."
Jian Yunxian looked hurt, but he still obediently drove away.
Chen Sike and Fan Mengqing live in Block B3, which is close to the city center. This area is considered a middle-class community with an overall economic development level that is above average. Its medical, educational, and entertainment resources are far superior to those in Block D13, which is at the bottom of society.
According to the records, the two were classmates at B3 Senior High School. Their families lived in the same residential area, not too far apart, so they walked to and from school together and would visit each other's homes on weekends to study and do homework.
Yi Heye flipped through Fan Mengqing's personal profile, and a young face in a school uniform appeared on the holographic image—this 17-year-old girl was pure and beautiful, both of her parents were teachers, she had good grades in school, and was well-regarded by her teachers and classmates.
The eyewitness they were going to visit, Chen Sike, had parents who were both government employees. He was a sports enthusiast and multi-talented. Judging from his academic performance in school, the two were equally outstanding.
But unlike the spirited and handsome young man in the photo, the boy who opened the door for them looked haggard, his eyes were lifeless, and his mental state was visibly poor. There was not a trace of youthful vigor in him.
Chen Sike stared blankly at the strangers knocking on the door, asked nothing, and let the two of them into his home.
Before setting off, Yi Heye was struggling with how to start the conversation when he received a message from SHEEP saying that they had contacted Chen Sike and found a way to get his parents away, so they could just go ahead and ask them questions.
Yi Heye stared at the sheep's head in the message with a stern face, reluctantly admitting that this guy was actually quite reliable this time.
I just don't know what methods or excuses they used.
As Chen Sike opened the door, he asked wearily, "Officer...wasn't Xiaoqing's case already closed...?"
Hearing this, Yi Heye understood—SHEEP must have used some means to trick Chen Sike into thinking they were police officers on a follow-up visit, which is why the boy let them into his house without any suspicion.
Impersonating a police officer to enforce the law is serious enough to land him in jail. Yi Heye felt a surge of helpless frustration—he should never have trusted that guy to be reliable.
Perhaps it was because his expression was indeed too fierce, but when Chen Sike saw Yi Heye's blood-red eyes, his face turned pale.
Seeing this, Jian Yunxian helplessly pulled Yi Heye behind her and gestured with her eyes for him to stop talking.
Yi Heye wasn't very good at speaking to begin with, but being stopped by Jian Yunxian like this inevitably made him angry—so his aura became even more intimidating.
The overwhelming murderous aura sent a chill down Chen Sike's spine. After about ten seconds of mental preparation, the clever boy finally mustered the courage to look at Yi Heye warily:
"Excuse me, are police officers allowed to dye their hair and get their ears pierced?"
Clearly, he began to doubt the identity of the fierce-looking man before him—Yi Heye had put in a lot of effort to make his youthful face look more menacing, and it seemed to have had some effect.
However, he got up at the wrong time. Yi Heye, who was not good with words, was unable to answer the question and could only look up at Jian Yunxian with a resentful expression.
The man seemed to have been waiting for his request for help. After meeting his gaze, he smiled and said calmly, "You're very smart. This is actually an AI police officer assisting us in the case. He looks quite convincing, doesn't he?"
As Yi Heye's increasingly shocked gaze grew, Chen Sike's doubts remained: "AI...? Then why isn't it wearing a distinguishing tag?"
To clearly distinguish between AI and humans, the Artificial Intelligence Management Law makes it clear that humanoid AI must wear conspicuous identification to travel; otherwise, they will be forcibly retrieved and disposed of by AI hunters.
Yi Heye, who was usually in charge of recycling, had his identity switched by AI BenI, and even the greatest humiliation could not express his anger.
But he didn't want to complicate things further—he didn't care about being arrested for impersonating a police officer, but he didn't want to waste any more time here because of his identity.
So he chose to loosen his fist and continue listening to Jian Yunxian's nonsense: "Because we are in a special industry, we need to carry out special tasks at any time, so of course we have to handle things specially."
Chen Sike glanced again at the fat sheep struggling to squeeze into the door frame.
Jian Yunxian: "This is the team's police dog, its name is Xiaoyunduo."
Little Cloud: "Meow~"
Chen Sike felt horrified, but he couldn't resist the allure of Xiaoyunduo's fur, so he mustered up his courage and reached out to touch its head.
Seeing that the boy was gradually lowering his guard, the man pressed his advantage and showed Chen Sike the evidence sent by SHEEP, finally dispelling Chen Sike's doubts.
The child actually believed his nonsense. Sitting to the side, Yi Heye quietly clenched his fists and took a deep breath to keep himself from getting up and grabbing Jian Yunxian by the throat.
It must be said that Jian Yunxian was quite convincing when he was putting on an act. Holding the case file and notebook, he exuded the composed demeanor of a refined police chief: "Student Chen, we've come to you this time to ask you about the case of student Fan Mengqing."
Chen Sike looked up, his eyes bloodshot with exhaustion: "Wasn't it already confirmed as sudden death?"
Jian Yunxian shook his head: "Some doubts have arisen in the case. We now suspect that Fan Mengqing's death is very likely a homicide."