Gamers Are Fierce-Chapter 565 - 563: Unexpected

The force constraining the old woman’s body vanished instantly. Terrified out of her wits and not even processing what the young man had said, she screamed and turned to flee.

However, before she could take a few steps, her feet seemed nailed to the ground. Her spine went CRACKLE, CRACKLE, forcing her to slowly turn back around.

"It was you! You killed them!" the old woman shrieked, her face contorted.

"Qi Lianxiang, right? Why have you come to the police again?"

"Someone... someone wants to kill me!"

"Who wants to kill you? Slow down and tell us."

"I don’t know! They’re all dead... everyone’s dead!"

"Calm down. You’re safe here. Who’s dead?"

"Officer, you must help me! After I was released from prison, I wanted to go home, but my two daughters despised me for having been a child trafficker and refused to take me in. They said that during the ten years I was in prison, they suffered the scorn and abuse of the villagers, and now, no matter what, they wouldn’t let me move back in. I knelt on the ground and begged them, but they just beat me away with sticks."

"I could only seek out old acquaintances. After I found them, I discovered that Zhang Deping, Tong Yongguang, Ren Fa, Zhao Haining... all of them, everyone I used to know, is dead! Someone is murdering them one by one, making their deaths look like accidents or suicides. The next one is definitely me, it has to be me! You must protect me; this is the only safe place for me right now..."

CRACKLE.

The recording ended again. Wei Linglan frowned slightly and pressed the recorder’s button once more.

Qi Lianxiang was once an ordinary rural woman. Enticed by the high profits in human trafficking, she became involved mid-stream, collaborating with a gang to commit crimes across various regions. Her testimony alone indicated she had trafficked over eighty children, more than sixty of whom are still missing.

However, Qi Lianxiang was not the gang’s mastermind but an accomplice. She showed a good attitude in admitting her crimes, actively cooperated with the police, and revealed all she knew about the gang’s network. Furthermore, she behaved well in prison and was released after serving just ten years, allowing her to return home.

As it turned out, after her release, her two daughters, who had remained in the countryside, refused to acknowledge her and turned her away. This left her to wander and beg for a living. She had a wretched time after her release, showed signs of mental instability, and firmly believed a serial killer was hunting her former accomplices.

"It was me," the young man smiled. "You see, you all permanently destroyed my life and the lives of others. If you had all been sentenced to death, that would have been one thing. But unfortunately, aside from Uncle Hou, Uncle Zheng, and a few other main culprits, the price the others paid was merely a few years, ten-odd years, or decades in prison.

From the principle of equivalent exchange, this doesn’t seem fair, does it? If it were someone else, maybe they would have comforted themselves and moved on. Even if they spent their days weeping, in utter grief, they could only watch as their enemies went unpunished. But I don’t want to let it go. My hatred is hard to appease. I must do something to vent this frustration. I have talent, determination, patience, and most importantly, the capability. The justice that wasn’t given, I will take back myself."

The young man looked at the old woman, who was filled with terror, and smiled. "Hmm... at first, it was quite difficult. I read many books, learned a great deal, and mentally rehearsed scenarios countless times. I had to make plans, conduct stakeouts, and, to eliminate suspicion, learn how to clean up a crime scene and fabricate an alibi.

The more I learned about criminal investigation, the more I revered the current criminal investigation system. The slogan ’All homicides must be solved’ had a Mo Da deterrent effect on me. But if a plan were exposed, I wouldn’t be able to proceed in order and eliminate everyone on the list. So I had to act cautiously."

The young man paused, savoring the look of despair on her face, and said leisurely, "When you gave your statement, because you were merely an accomplice at the bottom of the gang and didn’t know the specifics of the entire operation—not even fully aware of the details of other members—the list of individuals you provided wasn’t complete. There were omissions.

So, I first found a gang member who had luckily avoided capture and got the names of the others from him. That was my first attempt at erasing someone’s existence."

The young man shook his head. "Do you know what the most difficult cases are in the criminal investigation system? It’s not those Blizzard Manor-style mystery murders. Due to Locard’s exchange principle, even the smartest criminal can’t guarantee leaving no trace. In the face of modern criminal investigation techniques, the more one does, the more mistakes one makes.

The truly hard cases to solve are those with very few clues and almost no investigative direction, such as ’roadside falls’ and ’bodies in the water.’

’Roadside fall’ describes a case where a victim is found stabbed by the roadside at night, their valuables stolen. There are no surveillance cameras covering the area, so there’s no footage of the incident or the suspect. The crime is typically an opportunistic robbery-murder, offering no leads from the victim’s personal connections—unlike most murders, which are committed by acquaintances. Investigating such relationships can solve ninety percent of cases. With very few clues at the scene, these cases are extremely difficult to investigate and easily become cold cases, offering no clear direction.

’Water floaters,’ on the other hand, refer to victims who have drifted down a river and are eventually discovered floating on the surface downstream. Since the body has traveled along the river, the exact time and location of the crime are unknown. The corpse is often swollen from water immersion, which can obscure wounds, and the face may be too decomposed for easy identification. Unless the victim’s clothing contains items that can prove their identity, it’s very difficult to determine who they are and thus begin an investigation."

The young man raised a finger to his temple and said with a smile, "These types of cases are indeed hard to solve. But if too many of them occur, they’re likely to attract the attention of the System or people, eventually leading to an investigation. The modern computer system has indeed caused me a lot of trouble and concern. However, as my knowledge expanded and my physical strength grew, I also started using other, more covert methods. For example, accidents."