Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

The second is the roommate from college who was framed by Zhang Ziqian through a scheme. After graduation, he returned to his hometown and taught at a rural middle school, never setting foot in Chenxi City.

The third one...

There are also the parents of the female college student who was tortured and murdered by Zhang Ziqian: they live in an old public housing unit in the Seventh District, the father is a laid-off worker, and the mother works in a supermarket. They are still seeking justice.

Duo Duo's mother and maternal grandmother: a single-parent family with low income. Duo Duo is still receiving treatment at a children's psychological rehabilitation center. She doesn't speak, but just curls up and trembles.

They are incapable of doing anything.

Li Rui: Normal get off work hours, lives alone, no unusual social interactions, no signs of escape.

None of the "suspects" showed anything unusual.

Zhang Zhaoqing tore the documents into pieces one by one and threw them into the trash can at his feet.

It's been four days.

It's been four whole days.

They were nowhere to be found, neither alive nor dead.

Police have treated it as a "missing person" case—there is no evidence pointing to murder, no ransom call, no body, and not even the most basic signs of a struggle.

But Zhang Zhaoqing knew that his son could not possibly be alive.

The son who was cherished by him since childhood, and who even if he caused a terrible disaster, he couldn't bear to scold him harshly;

That son who had just been proven to be a "living gold mine," allowing him to touch the rules of a new world—

Gone.

Who is the killer?

Zhang Zhaoqing stared at the shredded paper in the trash can, the names on the list flashing through his mind repeatedly—

The top student in the grade who was pushed down the stairs, the roommate who was framed, the bar waiter who was severely beaten...

The elderly couple who lost their daughter, the family of the little girl named Duoduo, and the detective Li Rui...

Everyone has the motive to kill.

But none of them had the ability to commit the crime.

At least, no one has the ability to "make three living people vanish into thin air without leaving any trace".

But so what?

Zhang Zhaoqing suddenly raised his head.

If we don't know who did it, then let everyone be buried with them.

His mind had descended into a frenzied, displaced rage.

Now that Zhang Ziqian has "run into trouble," all of Ziqian's enemies should be buried with him!

He grabbed the list from the table, his gaze sweeping over each name before finally settling on "Li Rui"—a name he had marked with a question mark in red pen.

Li Rui is a police officer, and a serving criminal investigator at that.

It's too risky to touch him.

If it's just an ordinary person who goes missing, the police will follow procedures, investigate for a while without results, and then gradually file the case.

But the disappearance of a serving criminal police officer... is like stirring up a hornet's nest.

The provincial department will open a case, conduct a thorough investigation, and pursue the matter to the end.

I'll let you off the hook for now.

Zhang Zhaoqing gritted his teeth, crossed out Li Rui's name, and his gaze fell on the remaining names—

I'll start by targeting you.

He walked back to his desk and dialed the phone.

"Let Zhou Xie and the others come up."

Ten minutes later, four trusted aides stood in front of Zhang Zhaoqing.

They were all from Glorious Pharmaceuticals' "Special Affairs Department"—in other words, they were in charge of handling things that "couldn't be done openly."

"Chairman Zhang, what are your orders?" Zhou Xie, who was at the head, bowed slightly.

Zhang Zhaoqing grinned maliciously, his finger slashing across a list on the table. "Bring back everyone on that list."

Old Zhou glanced at the list, his brow furrowing slightly: "Chairman Zhang, with such a large commotion and so many people disappearing in such a short time, what about the police...?"

"What's there to be afraid of?" Zhang Zhaoqing interrupted his subordinate. "With Young Master Wang's protection, all he wants is data, he wants a breakthrough in the 'Tranquilizing V-Shaped' technique. As long as that goal is achieved, everything is possible. If Ziqian is gone, we'll use the lives of these lowly commoners to make up for it!"

His voice grew increasingly cold: "Since they want 'justice,' I'll send them to see my son, so they can beg him themselves!"

This was a brutal and bloody replacement.

With the loss of Zhang Ziqian, a "natural sample," Zhang Zhaoqing urgently needs a large number of living people to verify his final breakthrough in the "Tranquilizing V-shape."

At this time, Zhang Zhaoqing viewed these victims' families as both playthings for venting his anger and excellent experimental consumables.

……

When the plan was presented to Wang Shijun, he was holding an antique porcelain cup between his fingers.

"I am disappointed that Zhang Ziqian has gone missing and the experiment has slowed down. But since Chairman Zhang is willing to provide new 'samples,' I have no reason to refuse."

He raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping across Zhang Zhaoqing's face like a sharp blade.

"But, Mr. Zhang, don't leave me with too much trouble."

"Don't leave any traces when you arrest them. The test subjects should come 'quietly.' Hopefully, in the police department's files, they will only be listed as 'missing' and not 'kidnapped.'"

Zhang Zhaoqing's smile was incredibly sinister.

"Don't worry, Young Master Wang. They will 'voluntarily' disappear from this world."

------

Li Rui pushed open the door; the lights were off inside.

This was a habit he had developed these days—darkness brought him more peace than light.

The shadow in the entryway was like an invisible curtain, separating him from the "normal world" outside the door, a world he still had to navigate.

After awakening the "Judgment of Karmic Fire", Li Rui gained a new perspective.

When he calms down and focuses his mind, he can vaguely perceive the "traces of sin" entangled deep in people's hearts—that is the basis for his ability to activate and the reason why he is particularly sensitive to "malice".

At this moment, the detective's professional instincts, coupled with this newly acquired perception, led him to notice the anomaly in the night—

Occasionally, an unusual reflection appears from a window in the building across the street, like the lens of a telescope.

He couldn't directly "see" the sins there, but whenever that reflection appeared, he would vaguely sense a kind of "examined malice"—a vague perception of potential targets from the perspective of karmic fire.

He deduced that it might be someone sent by Zhang Zhaoqing.

The gray bread truck on the street corner always manages to be parked in a position that covers the entrance and exit of his building.

The sensation coming from that direction was more subtle—a sense of oppression, a faint but persistent feeling of being watched.

He guessed that it might be police officers conducting routine surveillance, without any clear malicious intent.

Two kinds of gazes, from different people.

Li Rui remained calm, but there was no panic in his heart.

As a seasoned criminal investigator, he had long anticipated this situation.

The successive disappearances of the four people, all related to Xiaoxiao's case, made it inevitable that she would be targeted.

That was his initial roar of anger, an outburst that wanted the whole world to know he was settling scores.

But now, he is sober.

He needs to change.

The targets can no longer be limited to "people directly related to the Su Xiao case," and the methods used should not leave behind highly suggestive "empty clothes."

If he continues in that strongly personal manner, he will soon be driven into a corner.

The real power holder, Zhang Ziqian's protector, Zhang Zhaoqing, who manipulates human lives and rules, is still alive.