Writing criminal investigation articles resulted in a life sentence, so I had no choice but to actua

Chapter 9: Death Forecast

Ding.

In the interrogation room, Su Wan's phone suddenly vibrated.

She glanced down and her expression changed drastically.

"Jiang Chen, what are your readers' email addresses?"

Jiang Chen was taken aback: "What?"

"Stop talking nonsense and get to the point!"

Jiang Chen recited a string of numbers, and Su Wan immediately searched for them on her phone.

A few seconds later, she shoved her phone screen in front of Jiang Chen.

"Is this the only official contact email address for your readers?"

Jiang Chen stared intently, and his mind went blank.

The screen shows a screenshot of an email; the sender is displayed as a string of gibberish, and the subject line contains only five characters.

I will write the next chapter.

"...It's my email address." Jiang Chen's voice was a little dry. "Who sent it?"

Su Wan didn't reply, but instead scrolled down the email.

The email body contains only a few lines:

"Jiang Chen, you write well. But real crimes don't need a script. I'll write the next chapter, and you can read it. By the way, guess who the first one is? — Your loyal reader."

A photo was attached at the end of the email.

The photo shows a bloody hand with a watch on its wrist.

Jiang Chen stared at the watch, his pupils suddenly contracting.

He recognized the watch.

That was the watch worn by the third victim in the serial murder case in the western suburbs—the case is still unsolved, and photos of the watch have never been released to the public.

In other words, the person who sent this email is either the murderer himself or someone who has access to undisclosed physical evidence.

"This madman..." Jiang Chen murmured.

Su Wan had already dialed the technical department, her voice urgent: "Trace this IP immediately, highest priority! The email was just sent, they should still have a signal!"

After hanging up the phone, she stared at Jiang Chen with a complicated expression.

You've gotten yourself into trouble.

Jiang Chen smiled wryly: "I didn't even leave the house. He's the one who came to provoke me, okay?"

"I mean—" Su Wan lowered her voice, "The whole internet is watching the live stream now, and the murderer has seen it too. The more impressive you appear on camera, the more he wants to play 'games' with you."

"Then what am I supposed to do? Play dumb? Let the missing team members die in the mountains?" Jiang Chen's tone suddenly hardened. "Officer Su, I'm not one of your police officers, I have no obligation to help you solve cases. I'm helping because I don't want to see innocent people die."

"But now the killer has come knocking, and I have no way out. Neither do you."

Su Wan fell silent.

Outside the interrogation room, Director Zhang watched this scene through the one-way glass, his brows furrowed deeply.

He picked up the phone and dialed Zhou Guoping's number.

"Old Zhou, the situation has changed."

On the other end of the phone, Zhou Guoping had just emerged from the underground fortifications. After hearing the situation, he said in a deep voice, "Two choices. First, have Jiang Chen withdraw, and we'll proceed with the case according to standard procedures. Second, let him continue, but we must prepare for the worst."

Director Zhang took a deep breath: "What's the worst-case scenario?"

"He led us into the trap, or the killer acted sooner because of his intervention."

"And what's the best-case scenario?"

"The case is solved, we owe him a favor."

Director Zhang paused for three seconds before making a decision.

"Let him continue. But you must keep a close eye on him, and if anything goes wrong, immediately withdraw your attention."

"clear."

Zhou Guoping hung up the phone and turned to look at the live broadcast camera.

"Jiang Chen, what can you tell from the photos the killer sent?"

In the interrogation room, Jiang Chen closed his eyes and recalled every detail of the photo in his mind.

The detective's insight, instilled by the system, was running wildly.

A bloody hand—to be precise, a left hand.

Her skin was fair with no calluses, her nails were neatly trimmed, and there was a faint mark on her ring finger, indicating that she had worn a ring for a long time but had recently taken it off.

The watch on my wrist is an old-fashioned mechanical watch with a minor crack on the dial and wear on the inside of the strap, indicating that it is an old item that is frequently worn.

Background – a blurry gray wall that looks like cement plaster, dimly lit, possibly a basement or abandoned building.

Jiang Chen opened his eyes.

"The hand in the photo does not belong to the third victim."

Su Wan was taken aback: "How did you know?"

"The third victim was a construction worker who spent years carrying bricks and building walls, his hands covered in calluses and scars. But his hands were fair-skinned and his nails were neatly trimmed, making him look more like someone who works in an office."

"Furthermore," Jiang Chen paused, "there are traces of a ring on her ring finger, but she wasn't wearing it in the photo. Either she just took it off, or the murderer deliberately removed it."

"So whose hand is this?" Su Wan pressed.

Jiang Chen's expression turned serious.

"Either he's the killer—he's showing us that he can target people beyond a specific group."

"Want one—"

He took a deep breath.

"He'll be the next victim."

The temperature in the interrogation room seemed to drop several degrees.

Su Wan clenched her fists instinctively.

The comments section has completely gone crazy:

"Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap! The killer sent an email to Jiang Chen!"

"This is outrageous! Provoking the entire internet's police force in front of them?"

"Jiang Chen's analysis is brilliant! He even noticed the calluses and ring marks!"

"I'm starting to seriously doubt whether ordinary people can have this kind of observational ability?"

"Stop arguing, all I want to know is whose hand that is!"

He Yuting also received the news and quickly broadcast to the camera: "Viewers, breaking news! The killer just sent a provocative email to Jiang Chen's readers' inbox, attaching a photo that appears to be a new victim. The police are currently urgently tracing the IP address, and Jiang Chen is analyzing the photo..."

Meanwhile, outside the interrogation room, the technical department called back.

Su Wan answered the phone, and after listening to the call, her expression turned even uglier.

"The IP address is virtual, and it goes through at least seven layers of intermediaries, making it impossible to trace the source." She looked at the camera. "The other party is an expert."

"Not a master." Jiang Chen suddenly spoke.

Everyone looked at him.

Jiang Chen's gaze was unusually calm: "Someone who can set up multiple stepping stones wouldn't make such a basic mistake. But there's an obvious flaw in this email."

"What flaw?"

"The timestamp on the photo," Jiang Chen pointed to the screen. "The email shows it was sent at 9:13 PM, but there's a tiny shadow in the bottom right corner of the photo that looks like a window frame."

"Window frame?" Su Wan leaned closer to the screen.

"Enlarge the photo and enhance the contrast in certain areas," Jiang Chen said.

The technician immediately took action, and a few seconds later, the outline of the window frame became clear.

"The light from outside the window is coming in at an angle from the left," Jiang Chen analyzed. "Based on the direction and time, the filming time should be around 5 pm, not 9 pm."

Su Wan understood: "Were the photos taken in advance? The killer was prepared in advance?"

"No," Jiang Chen shook his head, "The killer sent the email at 9 p.m., but the photo was taken at 5 p.m. There was a four-hour gap—he was waiting."

"What are you waiting for?"

"Wait for my performance." Jiang Chen's voice deepened. "He's watching the live stream to see just how good I am. He only sent this email after I proved myself worthy of 'playing a round' with him."

The interrogation room was deathly silent.

Su Wan looked at Jiang Chen and suddenly had a strange feeling—this man in front of her was not "helping to solve the case," but was engaging in a game with the murderer that only the two of them could understand.

She, along with the entire task force, were merely bystanders.

"Jiang Chen," Su Wan's voice was somewhat hoarse, "how much more do you actually know?"

Jiang Chen glanced at her but did not give a direct answer.

"Officer Su, now is not the time to ask that. The killer gave us a time lag—the photo was taken at 5 p.m., and it's almost 10 p.m. now, nearly five hours have passed."

"He's telling us that he has plenty of time to prepare, while we're wasting our time."

Su Wan took a deep breath, suppressing her doubts: "So what should we do now?"

"Two lines of inquiry." Jiang Chen held up two fingers. "First, find out who owns this hand. Second, find out where the filming took place."

"How can you investigate? Just based on a blurry photo?" Zhao Gang asked skeptically.

Jiang Chen ignored him and stared at the photo for more than ten seconds before suddenly zooming in on a corner.

"Here, do you see the marks on the wall?"

Everyone crowded around to look.

In the corner of the photo, there is an irregular dark stain on the wall that looks like a water stain.

"What's so special about this?" Su Wan asked.

"It's not water stains, it's mold," Jiang Chen said. "The way this mold grows indicates that this place is very humid and has been without light for a long time. Only a basement, a cave, or—" would fit these conditions.

"Underground fortifications."

Zhou Guoping's voice came through the phone, carrying a hint of barely perceptible tension.

"Jiang Chen, are you saying that this hand was taken inside the underground fortifications beneath our feet?"

"It's highly likely." Jiang Chen didn't rule it out completely, "but I need more evidence. Captain Zhou, are there similar walls in the fortifications? Gray cement plaster with mold of this shape in certain areas?"

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone, then Zhou Guoping shouted, "Xiao Wu, quickly go to that passage we just passed through and take pictures of the wall, then send them to me!"

Two minutes later, the photo was displayed on the screen in the interrogation room.

Everyone gasped in shock.

The same.

The wall color, the texture of the cement plaster, and even the shape and location of the mold all closely matched the photos sent by the killer.

"He took the picture from here." Jiang Chen's tone remained unchanged. "In other words, the murderer has at least been inside the underground fortifications and is very familiar with its structure."

"It's even possible—he's inside."

The atmosphere in the corridor instantly became extremely tense.

All the team members instinctively gripped their guns tighter, and the beams of their flashlights swept back and forth in the dark passage.

Zhou Guoping lowered his voice and ordered into the walkie-talkie: "Everyone, load your weapons, two people per group, each group no more than five meters apart. Report any abnormalities immediately, do not act without authorization."

He Yuting's live-streaming team was required to stay outside the fortifications, and only she was allowed to follow the team to film.

She held up her phone; the camera lens trembled slightly, but her voice remained steady.

"Viewers, we're now following the task force into the underground fortifications. According to Jiang Chen's analysis, the killer is very likely hiding inside..."

The barrage of comments just wouldn't stop:

"I watched it with the lights off, and now I feel terrible!"

"This is so exciting! It's even more thrilling than a movie!"

"Jiang Chen is truly amazing; he can even spot the patterns in mold!"

"I'm too scared to watch anymore, but I can't bear to turn it off..."

"Does anyone else feel the same way I do, that there's a strange sense of destiny between Jiang Chen and the murderer?"

"Upstairs +1, it feels like two geniuses are playing a game of chess, and the police are just pawns..."

In the interrogation room, Su Wan looked at Jiang Chen and suddenly asked, "Aren't you afraid?"

Jiang Chen was taken aback for a moment: "What are you afraid of?"

"The killer has his eye on you." Su Wan's eyes were serious. "You're not a police officer, you don't have a gun, and you have no protection. You can leave once the case is solved, but the killer is out there. He's seen your face, knows your name, knows where you write, and knows when you update your posts."

"Aren't you afraid that one day you'll open your door and find him waiting for you?"

Jiang Chen fell silent.

To be honest, he was afraid.

He was just an ordinary writer who transmigrated to this world to copy books and make a living. He had never experienced anything like this before.

But now that he has the system in his hands, the entire internet's attention is on him, and he has no way out.

"I'm afraid," Jiang Chen answered honestly, "but what's the use of being afraid?"

"He wants to play games, so I'll play with him."

"However—" Jiang Chen's eyes sharpened, "I shall set the rules."

At that moment, Zhou Guoping's voice came through the walkie-talkie: "Jiang Chen, we've penetrated deep into the fortifications. There's a fork in the road ahead, three paths. Which one should we take?"

Jiang Chen pulled up the fortification diagram in his mind and quickly analyzed it.

"The left side leads to the equipment room, the middle is the main passage, and the right side is the ventilation duct maintenance passage."

"If the killer wanted to hide, they wouldn't use the main passageway, as it would be too easy to spot. Nor would they use the ventilation ducts, as the space is too narrow and not conducive to movement."

"He should go to the left, to the equipment room area. It's spacious there with multiple cubicles, which would be a good place to hide."

Zhou Guoping waved his hand: "Everyone, move to the left!"

The group filed into the left-hand passage.

The passageway was much narrower than the main passageway, allowing only two people to walk side by side. Every few meters along the wall, there was a rusty iron rack piled high with long-abandoned equipment.

The air was thick with the smell of rust and mildew, mixed with a faint, almost imperceptible...

"The smell of blood." Zhao Gang, who was walking at the front, suddenly stopped and his nose twitched a few times. "I smell blood."

Everyone was on edge.

The beam of the flashlight searched frantically in the darkness, finally settling on a half-open iron door at the end of the passage.

A dark figure could be vaguely seen through the crack in the door.

Zhou Guoping made a gesture, and two team members, pressed against the wall, silently approached the iron gate.

"Three, two, one—"

boom!

The door was kicked open, and the beam of a flashlight shone inside.

Everyone saw what happened inside.

It was a room of about twenty square meters, filled with old filing cabinets and desks.

In the very center of the room, there is a chair.

A person is sitting in the chair.

A living person—at least, for the time being.

A woman in her forties, dressed in a business suit, had her hands tied to the armrests of a chair and a gag in her mouth. Her face was covered in terrified tears. When she saw someone enter, she struggled desperately and made muffled noises.

But she is still alive.

Zhou Guoping rushed forward and ripped the gag out of her mouth.

"Who are you? Who tied you up here?"

The woman was panting heavily, her voice trembling so much that she could barely utter a complete sentence.

"I...I'm a reporter from the West City Daily...I received an anonymous tip this afternoon that there was big news...I was knocked unconscious after I arrived...and I woke up here..."

Su Wan's voice came through the walkie-talkie, filled with shock: "The West City Daily? Isn't that the media outlet that first reported the serial murders in the western suburbs?"

The woman's pupils contracted sharply, and her voice trembled even more.

"You know about that case? I... I'm the reporter who covered it..."

In the interrogation room, Jiang Chen frowned.

A reporter covering the serial murders in the western suburbs was tied up in an underground bunker.

This was not a random kidnapping.

This was premeditated.

The killer chose this reporter not only because she was an easy target—

"He's cleaning up the scene," Jiang Chen suddenly said.

Zhou Guoping was taken aback: "What do you mean?"

"The reporter who wrote the report on the serial murders in the western suburbs was this one. She knows many details that the outside world doesn't." Jiang Chen spoke very quickly, "The killer tied her up here not to kill her, but to—"

Before he could finish speaking, all the lights in the room suddenly turned on.

The blinding white light made everyone instinctively close their eyes.

Immediately afterwards, a voice, altered by a voice changer, came from a corner of the ceiling and echoed in the empty room.

"Welcome to my studio."

Everyone instantly raised their guns and warily scanned their surroundings.

"Don't be nervous, I'm not here." The voice carried a hint of mockery. "I just installed the speakers and cameras beforehand and wanted to say hello to everyone."

"Who exactly are you?" Zhou Guoping asked in a deep voice.

"An audience member. Or rather—" the voice paused, "a critic."

"Jiang Chen writes novels, I write about reality."

"His story needs logic, mine doesn't. Reality is inherently absurd, isn't it?"

In the interrogation room, Jiang Chen's fingers trembled slightly.

It wasn't out of fear, but out of anger.

This person is using his novel as a "script" and treating real human lives as a "performance".

"What do you want?" Jiang Chen's voice came through the walkie-talkie, as cold as ice.

The voice paused for two seconds, then laughed.

"I want to play. Just you and me."

"The rules are simple—every time I do something, you write it in your novel. After you finish writing, I'll do the next thing."

"The faster you write, the faster the truth will be revealed. The longer you drag it out—"

"Someone will be buried with you."

"The first one is a reporter, and who's the second one? Guess!"

The lights suddenly went out.

The passageway was plunged into darkness once again.

Then, a crisp metallic clang came from afar, as if something had been triggered.

Jiang Chen's expression changed drastically.

"Get out of there! That's the sound of a detonator!"

Zhou Guoping didn't hesitate: "Everyone, evacuate the fortifications immediately! Quickly!"

The team members lifted the bound female reporter and ran desperately toward the exit.

Behind them, muffled explosions rang out one after another, shaking the entire passage. Dust and rubble rained down from above.

He Yuting was dragged away by her teammates, her phone still tightly clutched in her hand, the camera shaking violently but never turning off.

The screen was filled with comments like "Run!", "Watch out!", and "Oh my god!"

In the interrogation room, Jiang Chen leaned on the table with both hands, his face pale.

Su Wan looked at his profile and saw, for the first time, genuine, undisguised fear on his face.

But not fear of myself.

It is not for the innocent, but for those who are innocent.

"Officer Su." Jiang Chen's voice was soft, but unusually firm.

"I want to go out."

"I want to catch him in the act."