Infiltration

“The third victim was named Bai Jingqing. We believe she was special to the killer,” Piao Lin said, having Jue pull up the crime scene photos. “Because the killer performed an act of undoing at the crime scene. This was the only time.”

This killer liked to stage the scene. The bloodstains and the victim's posture were unnecessary for the crime; they were just his personal preference, including the act of leaving the “goodbye” note, which can also be classified as a signature. But an act of undoing is different. This behavior reveals something of the killer's inner mind—he felt guilty toward the victim.

Yan Junxun looked at the photos.

The scene was as bloody as ever, but the killer hadn't made Bai Jingqing sit up with a plastic bag on her head. He had placed her on the bed and even covered her with a blanket.

“Bai Jingqing, 24 years old, occupation: prostitute.” Jue gave them the introduction. “Place of origin unknown. The existing records only have her address in the Docking Area. Before her death, she was the mistress of a steel manufacturing plant owner. The owner bought her an apartment in Chunxi Residential Community, and she lived there when she wasn't performing.”

Yan Junxun recalled the files he had read and asked, “Performing?”

“She worked at the Lixing nightclub. After becoming the steel plant owner's mistress, she stopped taking clients, but she would still go there regularly to dance,” Jue said, browsing the files. “The investigation file from that time said she loved to dance.”

“Judging from the killer's act of undoing,” Piao Lin mused, “it's very likely they knew each other.”

“But the investigation at the time showed that Bai Jingqing had practically no friends, and her movements were restricted by the steel plant owner.”

“Her body was discovered half a month after she died.” Shi Shanyan once again handed the little monster to Yan Junxun. “Where does the steel plant owner live?”

“The owner lives in the Light Rail District. He and Bai Jingqing had just had a fight before she died,” Jue said, dimming the indoor lights again. “There's also a video of the owner's interrogation.”

Yan Junxun said, “Let me see it.”

The three-year-old recording was well-preserved, the image quality clear.

The steel plant owner sat on a chair in the interrogation room, wearing a wrinkled shirt and looking somewhat disheveled. He glanced at the camera more than once, and his first words were, “Can you turn that off?”

“The Alliance's regulations. This is a necessary step for the system archive,” the investigator at the time said from behind the camera. “You can try to ignore it. Relax a little.”

“I don't really like being on camera...” The steel plant owner's hands fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. He lowered his head, trying his best not to look at the camera.

“We understand how you feel. Everyone's like this when they're first interrogated,” the investigator said in a calm, conversational tone. “After all, we're all ordinary people. We get nervous when we see a camera. You can just sit for a bit. Want a cigarette?”

“I don't smoke,” the steel plant owner said, wrinkling his shirt hem even more. “What do you want to ask me?”

The investigator paused for a few seconds. The sound of him shifting his position could be heard in the video. After a moment, he said, “Did you and Bai Jingqing have a good relationship?”

“It was alright,” the steel plant owner said, staring at his thumb pressed against his shirt. “I paid a few thousand a month to keep her. There's not much of a 'good relationship' to speak of... A relationship like that is just for relaxing. She used to be good at helping me relax. I liked going to her place on my days off. The pressure is too much usually.”

“Did your wife know about Bai Jingqing?”

“She didn't before, but she found out later,” the steel plant owner said, looking at the investigator. “Bai Jingqing made our affair public knowledge.”

“Why?”

“Besides her monthly living expenses, she wanted spending money,” the steel plant owner said meekly. “...Her spending was pretty high, and she was always pestering me.”

The investigator was taking notes. He asked, “Did you two fight before the incident?”

“We had just fought. I went home right after,” the steel plant owner said, leaning closer to the table to speak to the investigator. “After I left, she kept sending me messages, cursing me out. I didn't even dare to turn on my Communicator.”

He was excessively afraid of Bai Jingqing, as if he were the one being kept.

The investigator also voiced his question, “Why are you so afraid of her?”

The steel plant owner glanced at the camera, a look of unspoken bitterness on his face. He pointed at the camera and pleaded, “Can you turn this off? I really don't want to say it on camera. What if it gets leaked later...”

“Our system is from the Light Rail District,” the investigator reassured him. “It's like your home system; it won't proactively leak information. You have a home system, right? Just think of this as the same thing.”

“...I am quite afraid of Bai Jingqing,” the steel plant owner shrank back to the other side of the table. “Women in their line of work have a certain... fierceness to them. They're very aggressive and don't have much of a moral compass. Me and Bai Jingqing... I've wanted to break up with her for a long time,” he said with a look of vexation. “But she, well, she was always blackmailing me with some private things, refusing to break up...”

“Photos or videos?”

The steel plant owner was on pins and needles. “Vid... videos. I made it clear to her the day we fought. I said we had to break up, that she shouldn't pester me anymore. She was crying and making a scene in the apartment, and I couldn't stand it, so I left. The moment I walked out the door, she started bombarding me with messages, saying things like I'd regret it. When I received your notice, I thought she had committed suicide.”

He relaxed after saying this, and his fingers stopped fidgeting.

“I even gave her that apartment. I was more than generous to her. A girl from out of town, from a poor family, and in that line of work... to have a home in the Docking Area...”

“The video the boss mentioned, the investigators didn't find it in Bai Jingqing's home. But he wasn't lying either, because screenshots of some indecent videos did appear in his chat history with Bai Jingqing.” Piao Lin said, “If Bai Jingqing didn't delete them herself, then the killer must have taken them.”

Yan Junxun zoomed in on the crime scene photos of Bai Jingqing.

When she died, Bai Jingqing had no makeup on her face. She was very beautiful, but her expression was too pained. The killer tortured her, but cleaned her body. The killer placed her clasped hands on her chest, putting her in a prayer-like posture, and then covered her with a blanket, as if worried she might catch a cold.

“Although Bai Jingqing seems very special among the victims...” Jue said, “the killer still performed the act of inserting a foreign object into her.”

Because the killer's fundamental reason for murder hadn't changed.

Yan Junxun's thoughts linked together like strange raindrops, pattering on his blackboard. He stared at Bai Jingqing, his gaze sliding from her clean face to her soft hair.

The killer must have been very moved. He washed Bai Jingqing's face and even combed her hair for her. It's a pity Bai Jingqing couldn't sit up and say thank you to the killer.

This beast doesn't think he did anything wrong. Even though he performed these acts of undoing, his true nature was still just to comfort himself.

“The Lixing where Bai Jingqing worked hasn't closed down yet, and all the girls who associated with her are still there,” Piao Lin said, spinning in his chair. “But they're very wary of us. When we call them in for questioning, they don't tell the truth, and their boss is very fierce. This case is tricky.”

“Dealing with them is really difficult,” Jue had something to say about this. “They really hate the system, uh... I think it's Aphrodite's fault.”

In mythology, Aphrodite is the “goddess of sexual desire.” As one of the main god systems, its creation was initially to solve the marriage and relationship problems in the Stagnation Zone. But the environment in the Stagnation Zone was too poor. Compared to relationships, the local people were more concerned with survival. Thus, Aphrodite spawned a second generation, transforming from a simple marriage system into the “system lover” that became popular throughout The Alliance.

[Want to have the perfect sexual partner? You can have it just by throwing yourself into the embrace of Aphrodite.]

This slogan defeated the related industries in the Light Rail District. The Aphrodite system, with its high prices and high-quality returns, satisfied the needs of the top-level personnel in developed areas, and also brought a shock to the related industries in developing areas. Even without the Aphrodite system, various shoddy imitations were constantly strengthening their own advantages in the competition. They caused the living space for 'the girls' to shrink drastically.

“My reason tells me there's information about the killer on this Bai Jingqing lead,” Piao Lin said, drawing a heavy line on his notes. “We need to talk to these girls again.”

“Well said,” Jue said encouragingly. “But how are we going to do it?”

“I hear the Black Panther often carries out missions in dangerous areas,” Piao Lin said, organizing his notes and looking at the two people across the table. “...You two must be very experienced with infiltration.”

Shi Shanyan asked meaningfully, “What kind of infiltration do you want?”

“The ordinary kind,” Jue didn't quite understand his meaning. “What other kind is there?”

“There's also the kind that requires mutual cooperation,” Shi Shanyan said, propping up his face and looking at Yan Junxun. “If Junxun is willing.”

Yan Junxun looked at them, baffled.

Yan Junxun was not happy.

He stood backstage at Lixing, mixed in with a group of dolled-up showgirls, with various voices coming from the Communicator in his ear.

“SN 7-006, come in, please respond!”

“14-008, SN 7-006 is in position.”

“It's great to work with you again!” Jue said happily. “Can you switch the internal panoramic view to me? I can only see the main hall of Lixing from here.”

“No problem.” With a single click, Su Heting transmitted the feed, and Lixing's system surveillance appeared on Jue's screen.

“No chatting,” Piao Lin said into the Communicator, warning Su Heting. “Please pay attention to what's happening!”

“I'm watching,” Su Heting said, adjusting the camera. “SN 7-001, come in, please respond.”

“Yeah,” Yan Junxun said, squeezed into a corner, still holding the rabbit ears he had just been given. “What am I supposed to do?”

Jue prompted, “Put them on, blend in. Mr. Shi will be inside to meet you.”

Yan Junxun frowned, stopping his words as someone passed by. After a moment, he lowered his voice, “...This isn't necessary! I could just walk right in and talk to them.”

“The boss of Lixing has a good relationship with the Mite group. He owns this whole street,” Piao Lin said, flipping through the files. “Brother Jiang said the investigation approval is too hard to get. It's best not to alert them. Just focus on this case for now and talk to those girls.”

“Why me?” Yan Junxun retorted. “Why not Shi Shanyan?”

“Do you want Shi Shanyan to wear rabbit ears?” Su Heting asked, rubbing his arms. “He doesn't look like a bunny girl at all.”

“Oh,” Yan Junxun said coldly. “Are those three words written on my face?”

“...You're very suitable,” Jue said, trying to ease the atmosphere. “Just a little disguise will be fine. There are a lot of people at Lixing tonight, all in strange costumes. No one will notice you. You can put your hair up a bit, don't let it cover your eyes. We picked the cutest outfit for you, not sexy at all.”

Its last sentence only made things more suspicious.

“It's almost time to go on,” a heavily made-up, muscular 'showgirl' said casually while touching up their makeup in the mirror next to Yan Junxun. “You should hurry up and change.”

Yan Junxun lifted the rabbit ears and glanced at the dressing table. He stood there like a homeless child, with no one to tell him where to go next.

“You look so young,” the person said, having applied mascara to one eye, turning to stare at Yan Junxun. “Are you even an adult?”

Everyone on the Communicator started chattering.

“It's fine to say you're not an adult, it fits your persona for tonight.”

'Fuck your persona.'

Yan Junxun said angrily, “I am!”

“Hmm...” The person turned back and continued applying mascara. He carefully touched up his makeup, revealing muscles covered in tattoos under his lace cuffs. He said, “Pretty spicy. What are you wearing?”

While letting his mascara dry, he looked in the mirror, saw the rabbit ears in Yan Junxun's hands, and his expression suddenly lit up with delight.

“Oh my!” He stuck out his pinky finger and looked back admiringly. “I just love fluffy little kids! Let me have a feel.”

Su Heting almost spat his coke onto the screen.

“Just a gender identity disorder,” Jue said simply. “The color of his nail polish is very pretty.”

“My name is Yulan,” Yulan said, unable to put down the clothes Yan Junxun hadn't changed into. “I know this place really well! A lot of the bosses know me. You can call me ‘Big Sis.’ Oh, go on and change. I'll wait for you here, and I'll take you in later.”

“So enthusiastic,” Su Heting said, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “He definitely wants to sell you.”

“Don't speculate about others like that,” Jue said in a love-fills-the-world tone. “I think he just wants to do Mr. Yan's makeup.”

Yan Junxun immediately said, “I'm not wearing makeup.”

Piao Lin wished he could grab a megaphone to remind them, “Brother Yan is already inside!”

“Tonight is a costume party, you can't get in without makeup,” Yulan said, speaking from experience. “If you're that shy, you're not suited for this line of work. There are plenty of perverts... You won't win the bosses' favor like this.”

He pushed Yan Junxun into the changing room.

“Big Sis will be waiting for you.”

Su Heting said with certainty, “He absolutely wants to sell you.”

Shi Shanyan sat down in a corner. From this position, he could see the second floor and the corner of the hallway.

There was no system service in the main hall. Lixing emphasized the beauty of humanity; all the servers were human. Lixing was also an old hand at creating atmosphere, and the lighting was adjusted to be very ambiguous.

Not long after Shi Shanyan sat down, someone from the side handed him an invitation.

“Hello, sir,” the server who handed him the invitation was quite handsome. He gestured with his palm for Shi Shanyan to look to his left, where several rich men were sitting. “Some gentlemen have invited you to the VIP section for a drink.”

Shi Shanyan shifted his gaze, revealing a canine tooth in the dim light, carrying a dangerous air that warned strangers to stay away.

“I'm waiting for someone.”