Panda was at home watching a video on the nature channel; today had a bamboo special. It didn't eat, but it liked bamboo. There was no bamboo in the Docking Area. Bamboo was an ornamental plant in developed regions, its price was exorbitant, and even the virtual data sold for a lot.

When Yan Junxun opened the door, Panda was drooling. It didn't know how to explain itself to the two people who had just entered, so it could only wipe its mouth with its paw and say, "I was so moved by what I was watching... Welcome home safe!"

"Your tears are flowing into your mouth." Yan Junxun entered the kitchen carrying a reusable bag.

"Pandas are just like that sometimes," Panda said, talking nonsense with its eyes closed. It scooped the Turtle crawling on the floor into its arms and greeted Shi Shanyan, "It's hot outside, isn't it? The news says the Docking Area is getting hotter every year."

"It's so hot I'm covered in sweat," Shi Shanyan said, putting down the milk. Before unbuttoning his shirt, he asked, "You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course," Panda thought he was very polite, "of course I don't mind."

Yan Junxun was organizing the vegetables in the kitchen. He placed his favorite carrots on top to hint that Panda should cook them soon. He heard the conversation in the living room, felt his pants pocket, and threw the melted lollipop into the trash can.

He wanted to take a shower.

Shi Shanyan undid a button, making his already loose collar look even more casual. He drank the water Panda had poured and watched the video with it, as if he were also a master of the house.

"I was worried you two would miss each other," Panda said, placing a fruit platter in front of Shi Shanyan and patting its chest dramatically.

Shi Shanyan's gaze shifted to the kitchen. "I happened to see him buying a cold beer from a vending machine near the vegetable market."

"I urged him not to drink too much cold stuff," Panda said, squishing its own face sorrowfully. "It's a pity he never listens to me." As it spoke, it returned the Turtle to its terrarium and continued speaking to Shi Shanyan, "Mr. Shi, you must stay for dinner tonight."

"If..." Shi Shanyan said suggestively, "that's okay."

'How pitiful he sounds.' Panda clasped its paws and blinked its eyes. "Of course it's okay, you're Mr. Yan's good friend. Actually, I was just planning a picnic yesterday. You're on vacation too, we could go together..."

The Light Rail passed by right on schedule, shaking the pots and pans in the kitchen. Yan Junxun glanced at the door curtain, unable to hear what Panda and Shi Shanyan were talking about. He put away the groceries, emptied his pants pockets, and discovered his cigarettes were gone.

...Damn it.

Yan Junxun squeezed his empty palm.

That evening, Panda stewed pumpkin soup. It also meticulously prepared pre-dinner bread, and was just short of lighting a couple of candles in the simple and cramped living room. While they ate, it was still in the kitchen pan-frying steak, as if deliberately leaving space for the two of them to be alone. Panda did all this because its base programming included the option to "help Yan Junxun find a beautiful friendship."

The table was too small, so they couldn't stretch their legs out underneath it. The slightest movement would cause them to touch.

Yan Junxun stirred the thick pumpkin soup and said, "You took my cigarettes."

"I put them on the coffee table." Shi Shanyan broke a piece of bread and looked at Yan Junxun. "You're very lenient with yourself, putting lollipops and cigarettes together."

This was a signal of self-indulgence. Yan Junxun's resolve to quit smoking was as easily shaken as his resolve to not sleep. In life, he was quite permissive of his own mistakes.

"You can go home after dinner," Yan Junxun said, not wanting to be observed by Shi Shanyan any longer. His spoon tapped lightly against the edge of his plate. "We don't need to see each other again until there's a new job."

"Speaking of a new job," Shi Shanyan asked in return, "how long do you usually rest?"

"I don't know," Yan Junxun looked up at him. "Every day I pray that no cases occur."

"I hope so too," Shi Shanyan's eyes were captivating in the light, "but that kind of wish is hard to realize. So that we can cooperate better in the future, you have to tell me, is there anything about this kind of..." He stuffed a piece of bread into his mouth. "serial murder case that you find unacceptable?"

When Yan Junxun heard the words "serial murder case," he felt like he could smell it. His excellent memory had stored too many images for him, each one a high-definition picture where he could zoom in on the smallest details.

"No," Yan Junxun's expression was calm. "There is nothing I find unacceptable."

Panda was in the kitchen, humming the theme song of the nature channel. It carefully controlled the cooking heat, completely unaware of the conversation in the living room.

Shi Shanyan studied Yan Junxun's micro-expressions. He liked this table under his elbows; it made them sit face to face. He cherished Yan Junxun's teardrop mole and often wanted to touch it.

He would touch it. He would use his thumb, rubbing it red from above in a domineering way.

Maybe he would even get to hear a cat's meow then? Shi Shanyan filed away the memory of that vending machine into his mind, saving it along with Yan Junxun's expression from that moment, wanting to savor it repeatedly before bed.

"This job is tough," Shi Shanyan said with emotion, his expression natural and serious. "And there's no salary. Why don't you run away with me," he said, as if joking, glancing at the light screen in the room, which was also monitored by Black Panther. "I have an Oasis Villa in the Light Rail District. If we sell it, we can buy the fastest Light-Transporter Vehicle. No one would be able to catch us."

"Oasis Villa!" Panda came out carrying a tray, letting out a gasp of amazement when it heard that sentence. "Its total price is enough for us to eat beef for several lifetimes."

Oasis Villa was a top-tier luxury residence in the Light Rail District; the Docking Area had no such region. Panda knew of it because it was featured in today's bamboo special. Many of the homeowners there had set up genuine, small-scale botanical gardens in their homes.

"Fu Chenghui gives you special treatment," Yan Junxun said, pulling his steak closer and seeing his favorite carrots among the side dishes. "He'll give you special treatment when it comes to hunting you down, too."

No Lead Dog could escape Black Panther's surveillance alive. Expelled members like them were just being monitored in a different way; at any necessary moment, they could all be recalled by Fu Chenghui.

Shi Shanyan cut through the surface of the steak. The dinner knife slid through the tender, juicy meat without any resistance. He put the beef in his mouth and smiled. "Who wouldn't want to assassinate Fu Chenghui first?"

Medium-rare was just right. Panda had the potential to be a master chef.

Yan Junxun chewed on a piece of carrot without answering.

"What should we watch?" Worried their conversation wasn't pleasant, Panda had the light screen play the news. "We haven't watched the news in a long time... Oh, that guy, it was him last time too."

Yan Junxun looked over. The person on the screen was Liu Chen.

The guy had already cleaned himself up, as if he weren't the same person whose legs had been trembling with fear on the rooftop two days ago. He sat next to the host, an expression of lingering fear on his face, and said, "The situation back then was truly perilous. Her basement was filled with the smell of blood. The Supervisory Bureau has now confirmed that her dismemberment site was right there." He glanced at the screen. "I also wrote about the details on my personal homepage at the time. How should I put this... the most innocent person in this whole affair is still me. The reports I wrote were all based on the results of the trial..."

"Change the channel," Yan Junxun crunched down on the carrot. "I don't want to see him."

"...The Supervisory Bureau responded swiftly this time, and I'm very grateful to them, but I still have to say, investigating cases requires evidence. For a wrongful conviction like Huo Qingjun's, does the Supervisory Bureau take responsibility? Sigh, there are still many instances of regional injustice. In the past, I always focused my attention on 'sexual assault,' but now I'm gradually reflecting on myself. I need to broaden my perspective, to see other vulnerable groups. I will persist in speaking out against social injustice." Liu Chen pondered for a moment, feigning profundity. "Actually, while reporting on Chen Xiulian's case, I was also working on another case. I imagine not many people here know about it; four or five people died in that one too. Never heard of it, have you? Why? Because all the deceased were girls who were professional prostitutes..."

"He's like a dog with a keen sense of smell," Shi Shanyan said, looking at the light screen. "He knows what will attract the public's attention."

Chen Xiulian's case was all about "sexual assault." "Sexual assault" had been a hot topic online these past few days, and Liu Chen quickly seized on the "sex" aspect, striking while the iron was hot to pull the public's attention toward a prostitution murder case.

The word "licentiousness" is very eye-catching. Liu Chen amplified this word in his talks and articles to satisfy the public's voyeuristic tendencies.

"Do 'prostitutes' have human rights? I believe they do," Liu Chen said seriously. "This is also a marginalized group. We must always understand how they are formed, why things are this way. The public cannot always avoid these topics. The case I'm talking about now, the Supervisory Bureau is also investigating it, but there hasn't been much progress. As far as I know, there are already four confirmed deceased victims in this case, all of them prostitutes..."

Jiang Lian sat in his chair watching Liu Chen speak. He felt that Liu Chen was like an unkillable cockroach.

In a way, this person was formidable. He could use his own experiences as a selling point, always in a state of content output, completely immune to online verbal abuse. His moral bottom line was different from that of an ordinary person; he set it very low. When it came to manipulating public opinion, he liked to seize the initiative and never cared about the consequences.

Chen Xiulian had failed to be his wake-up call. He was living very well, even about to step on Chen Xiulian's corpse to take his career to the next level.

"No one can make him shut up..." Jiang Lian threw the file for the new case onto the table. "The fact that Black Panther made him stop posting is already enough material for him to talk about. Whoever tries to stop him is supporting Fu Chenghui's dictatorship."

Just seeing Liu Chen filled him with rage.

"And the new case, who said the victims are all prostitutes? That fucking idiot!"

Piao Lin and his colleagues were all silent.

Just then, a phone rang. Jiang Lian thought it was his, but when he felt for his Communicator, he realized it was Liu Chen's Communicator on the video that was ringing.

"Someone told me he is willing to explain this case to us in detail," Liu Chen said, making a look of eager anticipation for the camera. He put the call on speaker. "Hello?"

The person on the other end of the call was swallowing, as if he had just finished exercising. He stuttered a little, but seemed to be in a good mood. He said, "He-hello."

Liu Chen asked cordially, "Is there something you want to tell us?"

The other person hawked a few times, as if clearing thick phlegm from his throat. He paused for a moment, then said, "The killer is, is me. The, the Profiler from the Supervisory Bureau, did you hear, uh, did you hear that?"

Piao Lin suddenly looked up. He felt that the frequency of the panting and the speed of the swallowing were very similar to the call from two days ago.

"In half, half a month..." the person said haltingly, "I'm going to kill another one."