Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 247 Conspiracy
The forensic room of the Jinlin District Police Station.

On the cold metal autopsy table, the bodies of two young women lay side by side, their pale faces still frozen with the terror and pain of their impending death.

Wearing a mask and rubber gloves, Li Ruoxi had an extremely sharp gaze, yet the scalpel in her hand remained as steady as a rock.

She was conducting a detailed autopsy on the body, and the more she examined it, the more her brows furrowed, and the anger in her eyes almost burst forth.

"Beast! You're not even human!" She finally couldn't hold back and cursed in a low voice, her voice trembling slightly with anger. "There are clear strangulation marks on the neck, but it's not just simple physical asphyxiation... It's like part of the brainstem and central nervous system was... Also, there are no obvious external injuries on the victim's body, but there are strange signs of atrophy in many internal organs?"

She suddenly looked up at Jiang Jin, who had been standing silently to the side with a livid face: "Jiang Jin! This is definitely not an ordinary murder case! Is this really a so-called 'superpower' crime? After the incident in Edo recently, there have been rumors internationally about special individuals who are fighting against 'meme pollution'... Is this bastard murderer one of those people?"

Jiang Jin pursed his lips. Judging from the current situation, the existence of the Reincarnators would be made public sooner or later.

He looked at the two female corpses on the stage, who should have had wonderful lives, and his heart ached.

But he cannot reveal information about the reincarnators; this is an ironclad rule.

“Forensic Doctor Li,” his voice was hoarse and heavy, “your task is to find conclusive autopsy evidence and secure all physical evidence. As for the killer’s identity and methods… I will handle that.”

Just then, Jiang Jin's phone vibrated violently again, and the name flashing on the screen was—Long Mingzhang.

It seems there's no way to pretend I didn't hear the ringtone anymore.

Jiang Jin took a deep breath, gestured to Li Ruoxi, walked to the corner of the corridor outside the forensic room, and pressed the answer button.

"Jiang Jin!" On the other end of the phone, Long Mingzhang's voice was filled with boundless rage. "What exactly do you want to do! Immediately! Hand Mr. Tali over to the Temple team! Don't you know that the trial of reincarnators has a special procedure?"

Jiang Jin remained expressionless, but his tone was unusually firm: "Minister Long. The transfer is fine. Please have a specialist from the Reincarnator Crime Investigation Division come over with complete written transfer documents and instructions signed by both the Minister and the Division Chief. As long as the procedure is legal and the documents are complete, I will naturally hand over the suspect."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by Long Mingzhang's voice, which was almost squeezed out through clenched teeth: "Jiang Jin! Are you playing word games with me?"

The Inspection Department? What does letting them take over mean? Full body camera recording! All procedures archived! Reports sent directly to headquarters or even the special envoy for record-keeping! How can Long Mingzhang possibly tamper with things then?
Long Mingzhang was so angry he almost smashed his phone.

Most importantly, the monitoring department has complex factions, and the head of the inspection section was promoted by Vice Minister Chen Chongming. Once this matter is handled according to the proper procedures, it will be completely out of his control.

He suppressed his anger and tried to change tactics, his tone becoming earnest: "Jiang Jin! I've always admired you! Your talent for understanding the rules is outstanding, and your future is limitless! I've always considered you a promising junior hunter to be nurtured! As long as you follow my instructions, I can prioritize you in terms of resources from the department and information on high-level dungeons, ensuring you're protected and guided all the way to LV5! Also, the Judge's Pen from Fengya—the Xuanjia branch has been clamoring to take it back, and I was the one who suppressed that demand! Otherwise, why do you think no one bothered you after you left the dungeon? Think about it!"

Jiang Jin remained unmoved, his voice cold and hard: "Minister Long, thank you for your kindness. But this matter involves two lives, and the evidence is conclusive. It must be handled according to the law. This is the law of the court, and it is also my duty as a police officer."

"Official business? Duty?" Long Mingzhang's voice suddenly rose, carrying a threat. "Jiang Jin! Don't forget! You were able to sit in this police chief's position, and even become the captain of the 12th patrol team before, all thanks to whose promotion! Without me, Long Mingzhang, you would still be a low-level reincarnator, a small-time cop! I can lift you up, and I can trample you down!"

"Minister Long, it is your prerogative to act as you see fit. But when I handle cases, I must abide by the law." Jiang Jin's voice remained calm, yet carried an undeniable determination.

"You summoned members of the Emu team and used their professional skills in the real world without authorization. For that alone, I can take you down!"

"Yes, Minister Long, you can follow the proper procedures and have the inspection department arrest me. I'll wait here."

Just after hanging up with Long Mingzhang, Yu Tianlun called.

"Jiang Jin! Long Mingzhang just called me, furious, and ordered me to command you to release the person immediately!" Yu Tianlun's voice was tinged with anxiety. "Listen to me, you must remain calm and follow all official procedures!"

"Team Leader," Jiang Jin said quickly and clearly, "Don't interfere in this matter, and don't come over! Listen, I now have an official position; I'm a legitimate police chief, a registered patrol team leader, and I have a government job! Even if Long Mingzhang wants to touch me, he has to go through procedures and be bound by the system. But you're different! You're the leader of a civilian reincarnation team. If he breaks off relations and uses the monitoring department's resources to deal with you, he has plenty of ways to do it! You can't give him any leverage! I'll take responsibility for this! Please don't tell Liu Yan about this yet!"

"Then... be careful..."

After ending the call, Jiang Jin composed himself and headed towards the interrogation room where Rese Tully was being held.

Even though he was bound by specially made magic-suppressing shackles, Rese Talley remained incredibly arrogant.

He leaned back in his chair, his feet even propped up on the interrogation table, swearing in English.

“You lowly yellow-skinned monkeys! Do you know who I am? My father is Alan Tully! The tycoon of the Duncan Club! Secretary Douglas Duncan will soon become the new president of our country! Then, every one of you will pay the price!”

"Behave yourself!" the officers shouted angrily. "You are now a criminal suspect under arrest!"

"Lawyer! I won't say a word until my lawyer arrives! This is illegal detention! It's a violation of human rights!"

"When I get out of here, I'll make sure you all lose your jobs!"

The police officers on guard were ashen-faced and clenched their fists, but they had to suppress their anger because of discipline.

Jiang Jin pushed open the door and walked in, looking at him coldly.

When Lei Sai saw Jiang Jin, he jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on: "It's you! You damn cop! I'll remember you! You're dead! I swear!"

Jiang Jin walked up to him, looking down at him with icy eyes as if he were looking at a pile of garbage: "You can remain silent, or wait for your lawyer who's nowhere to be found. But here, the evidence will speak for itself. Rest assured, you won't be leaving this place until justice is served."

“Fuck you! You son of a bitch!” Resai struggled furiously, the shackles rattling.

Jiang Jin ignored him and turned to the police officer in charge, saying, "Keep an eye on him. Follow the procedures, collect evidence as needed, question him as required, and record any instances where he doesn't cooperate."

After some time, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the police station.

Several black luxury cars silently glided to a stop in front of the police station, exuding a powerful aura.

Long Mingzhang, the head of the Membrane Contamination Monitoring Department, has arrived in person!

His face was so gloomy it could drip water, and behind him followed nearly twenty powerful and sharp-eyed Reincarnators! Even the vice-captain of the Temple team, Xiao Tianze, was among them!

Almost half of the core fighting force of the Temple team has arrived!
Clearly, they were wary that Jiang Jin might mobilize members of the Yongmeng team to fight against them.

This display of force instantly brought the atmosphere inside the police station to a fever pitch!

Upon receiving the news, Jiang Jin quickly walked to the entrance of the police station and stopped Long Mingzhang and his group.

"Minister Long," Jiang Jin bowed respectfully, "What instructions have you given me, coming in person? My colleagues from the Investigation Department... seem to be here yet?"

Seeing Jiang Jin remain unmoved, Long Mingzhang's patience finally ran out. He stepped forward, almost touching Jiang Jin's face, and coldly threatened in a voice only the two of them could hear: "Jiang Jin, I'm giving you one last chance. Now, immediately, hand him over to me. Otherwise, you should know the consequences. You should remember that your actions have seriously violated the rules!"

Jiang Jin met his gaze without flinching: "Minister Long, I said on the phone that if I violated any rules, please have my colleagues from the Inspection Department come with the necessary documents to deal with me. As for any handover without proper procedures, I cannot comply!"

"Fine, fine, fine. You forced me to do this!"

Just as a fierce glint flashed in Long Mingzhang's eyes, and he was about to forcefully order the seizure of the person—

Suddenly, a commotion erupted outside the police station! A large number of reporters, carrying cameras and microphones, and holding cell phones and recorders, surged in like a tidal wave!

These reporters include those from major portal websites and various self-media public accounts!

The flashes of light instantly turned the entrance to the police station as bright as day!

"Minister Long! Did you come to the Jinlin Police Station in person regarding the murder case involving a foreign suspect?"

"It's said the killer has a special background, being a member of the Duncan Club. Does the monitoring department intend to intervene and interfere with the local investigation?"

"Does this case involve the rumored supernatural forces that combat meme pollution?"

"Minister Long, please give us your response!"

Reporters bombarded him with questions, their cameras fixed on Long Mingzhang, whose face had drastically changed!
Jiang Jin had anticipated that Long Mingzhang might resort to force, so he had his trusted subordinates subtly leak the information to several media outlets known for their outspokenness.

Under the watchful eyes of countless cameras and public opinion, Long Mingzhang was hesitant to act rashly. Unless he wanted to lose his job, he dared not take any further drastic action! Moreover, with the news leaked out, Duncan's club would soon find out, completely blocking any room for him to manipulate things privately!
Long Mingzhang's face turned pale and then red, and finally he glared at Jiang Jin fiercely, squeezing out two words through gritted teeth: "Very good! Jiang Jin, you're very good!"

Then, he turned around abruptly, and amidst a flurry of flashing lights and questions, he led the Temple team, looking disheveled, quickly into their car and drove away.

The police officers behind Jiang Jin were all proud and looked at him with admiration!
That's awesome!
How dare they confront the head of the Membrane Contamination Monitoring Department so directly!

Subsequently, when faced with a tidal wave of reporters, Jiang Jin carefully chose his words, remaining as tight-lipped as possible about the details of the case and saying little.

He wanted to use public opinion to put pressure on Long Mingzhang and prevent any possibility of him manipulating things behind the scenes!
Of course, this move has thoroughly offended him. His future days are likely to be difficult.

However, he has no regrets.

He must live up to the profession he chose and remain true to the ideals he had when he was young!

Meanwhile, in a private room of an inconspicuous little restaurant on the outskirts of the city.

Long Cang, the vice leader of the Bloody Team, was drinking alone with a gloomy expression.

The door to the private room was pushed open, and a thin man wearing a baseball cap and a mask slipped in and sat down opposite him.

If Long Cang hadn't known the other person's identity beforehand, he almost wouldn't have recognized him.

“Li Yuanxiu,” Long Cang put down his wine cup, his eyes sharp, “you have quite the nerve, daring to ask me to meet you? Aren’t you afraid I’ll capture you and report you to the Blood Lord? You’ve joined the Insect Hole, and all Insect Hole Reincarnators are mortal enemies of our Bloody Team.”

Li Yuanxiu pulled up his mask and smiled: "Vice Commander Long, let's not beat around the bush. Ye Xiu must die, and I need to find another opportunity. This assassination attempt failed, and Miss Bai's rank dropped—it's all Jiang Jin's doing. The entire Insect Nest team is determined to kill Jiang Jin; even Madam Bai Ye has put a bounty of five thousand Resentment Crystals on the black market for Jiang Jin's head. And as far as I know… your own nephew, Long Wu, died at Jiang Jin's hands, didn't he? But what about Blood Lord? Blood Lord chose to reconcile with Nirvana and even offered generous gifts! Vice Commander Long, can you swallow this insult? Don't you hate him?"

Long Cang gripped the wine glass tightly, his knuckles turning white, his eyes flashing with deep-seated hatred: "Hate? How could I not hate! I raised Xiao Wu myself! I treated him like my own son! And he just died at Jiang Jin's hands! Blood Lord, for the sake of the so-called big picture... Hmph!"

Blood Lord knew Long Cang's temperament, so he didn't let him attend the drinking party at the Cloud Top Hotel.

“Very well.” Li Yuanxiu said with a firm look in his eyes, “Then, Deputy Commander Long, I will give you a chance for revenge. Let’s cooperate and eliminate Jiang Jin.”

Jiang Jin revived Ye Xiu, and the soul imprint on Di Nanyin's body reawakened. Therefore, she had no choice but to be forcibly sealed away, since Ye Xiu could issue commands to her through the soul imprint's will!

Based on this alone, Li Yuanxiu vowed to kill Jiang Jin!

Long Cang sneered: "Cooperation? Easier said than done! Jiang Jin can mobilize the entire Yongmeng team all by himself! How do we kill them? By using professional skills in the real world? The meme monitoring tower is not just for show!"

"Is that all Deputy Commander Long's belief in avenging your nephew is?" Li Yuanxiu used a provocation tactic.

"Then what do you suggest?" Long Cang asked irritably. "Jiang Jin is a Ghost Hunter with extremely strong survival abilities. His body can become a ghost, so even a LV4 expert would have a hard time killing him instantly in a few seconds. If we can just stall for ten seconds, the people from Yongmeng will be able to catch up and counterattack! Then we'll end up losing more than we gain!"

Li Yuanxiu leaned forward, lowered his voice, and his eyes flashed with murderous intent: "Killing him instantly is impossible, and there's no need for us to do it ourselves. But we can... use someone else to do the dirty work."

"Borrow a knife? Borrow whose knife?"

"If... I mean if, that esteemed Mr. Tully died mysteriously in Jiang Jin's Golden Scale Branch detention room... what do you think the enraged Duncan Club, especially that doting father, Mr. Alan Tully, would do to Jiang Jin? At that point, even Minister Long Mingzhang might not be able to protect him, right? They might even... personally order a 'clean house' to quell the anger of their allies?"

Long Cang's pupils suddenly contracted, and his breathing became heavy. He looked at Li Yuanxiu's sinister smile and said, "I never expected that Li Yuanxiu, who usually seems so taciturn and quiet, would be so ruthless!"

"He's a prisoner now, bound by magic-suppressing shackles. Killing him should be much easier. Of course, the key is to frame Jiang Jin."

"Hmm, we need to plan this carefully. Fortunately, the killing methods of hunters are not difficult to imitate."

Long Cang was already feeling extremely frustrated because he couldn't avenge his nephew, and Li Yuanxiu's suggestion was like a pillow coming to his sleep!
But he wasn't stupid; he knew that taking this step was like asking a tiger for its skin, and once he did, he would be a traitor.

He was imprinted with a soul mark, preventing him from truly betraying the Bloodthirsty Team. However, this wouldn't harm the Bloodthirsty Team's interests, allowing him to circumvent the soul mark's orders to "not betray the Bloodthirsty Team and not collude with the Insect Nest Team." Logically, this could be considered "collusion," but the broader the concept, the weaker the soul mark's binding force, leading to much ambiguity in practice.

"Let's make this clear first. I am loyal to Blood Lord. I will only help you kill Jiang Jin. I will not help you do anything that would harm the Blood Clan." Long Cang said coldly, "If we meet again in the future, we will still be enemies. I will not show you any mercy."

"I am naturally aware of that."

"So tell me specifically, how did you deploy it?"

Since they've come to me, there must be a part of this plan that requires Long Cang's help to complete.

"As you said, using professional skills will be detected, so we can only use items. Items that only a LV3 sorcerer can use."

Very few sorcerers reach LV3, as most reincarnators cannot overcome the hurdle of casting the flying head spell. In fact, it could be said that very few reincarnators dare to choose the sorcerer profession because of this hurdle.

"Use the tools... to make me kill Rese Talley, is that right?"

"Yes."

"I need to check carefully; I don't want you to use this opportunity to plot against me."

"That's for sure. Please rest assured, our goal is to kill Jiang Jin."

"Also, after Jiang Jin died, the crystallized resentment from his head bounty—I get seven, you get three!"

"Okay...deal!"

Why did you agree so readily? Long Cang began to regret it a little. If he had known, he would have said "I'll take eight, you take two".

"The prop... it's this!" Then, Li Yuanxiu took out something!

(End of this chapter)