Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

Legally, Liu Zhen is...

He killed someone, disrupted social order, and challenged judicial authority.

But in Li Rui's heart, which had been reshaped by the flames of karma, he felt a resonance.

Is there any essential difference between Liu Zhen's electric killings and his karmic judgments?

When the law becomes Zhang Ziqian's protective umbrella, Zhou Shouzheng's stepping stone, and Song Bo's acquittal token, who can we rely on for justice in this world?

Later, Li Rui conducted some further investigations into Liu Zhen and learned the hidden story behind the case.

If Liu Zhen hadn't killed anyone, he might have remained in some damp basement, resentful of the darkness of the world, despairing of the bullying by the strong, and ultimately withering away in the shadows.

So he rebelled.

Even if such resistance is bloody and transgresses boundaries.

The dark red in Li Rui's eyes flickered.

He saw through the underlying logic of the "Judgment of Karmic Fire": this force judges "pure evil" that abuses rules, tramples on life, and shows no remorse.

Liu Zhen was a rule-breaker, but he was first and foremost a victim abandoned by the rules.

The sins he committed were gray.

Li Rui withdrew his gaze, and the killing intent that had been about to burst forth from his body quietly disappeared.

He didn't take out handcuffs, didn't shout to stop him, and didn't even glance at Liu Zhen again.

He simply brushed past Liu Zhen as if nothing had happened.

Liu Zhen stood there, stunned.

He felt the suffocating pressure emanating from Li Rui, and he was certain that he had just narrowly escaped death.

Liu Zhen only snapped out of his daze when Li Rui's figure completely disappeared into the thick fog at the alley entrance. He gasped for breath, his body drenched in cold sweat.

He didn't know who the terrifying man was, but he knew that the man had let him go.

Liu Zhen lowered his head, pulled down his hat brim, and stumbled and ran in the opposite direction.

Li Rui walked down the long street, his mood surprisingly calm.

He clearly realized that he was no longer just a policeman.

He became a judge who walked the line between darkness and darkness.

He didn't want to judge Liu Zhen, because in this dark city, someone like Liu Zhen, who was trying to seek a little justice in his own way, shouldn't die under his fire.

Fire should be reserved for those who are darker.

------

People go missing every day in Dawn City.

There are many reasons why adults go missing—running away due to debts, having an extramarital affair exposed, or wanting to change their way of life after a business failure.

No reason is even needed; all that's needed is for them to disappear from familiar life one day and never reappear.

In the archives of each branch office, such files filled several rows of cabinets.

There was no body, no crime scene, no witnesses, and the family could not provide any useful clues.

Once these types of cases have gone through the initial procedures and been entered into the system, they will gradually sink to the lowest level.

It's not that we don't care, it's that we can't investigate.

With limited police resources and zero leads, all we can do is wait—wait for the missing person to reappear, or wait for an unidentified body to be discovered someday.

The disappearances of Song Bo and Zhao Dexing fall into this category.

No one compares them with the previous cases of Zhou Shouzhen and Zhang Ziqian's disappearance.

Because there's no reason to look at them together—

There are no longer any obvious traces of "empty clothes," and there is no longer any obvious social connection with Li Rui.

The bureau is just going through the motions with these missing persons cases.

Once the process is complete, the case is archived.

What they didn't know was—

Many more people are "missing" in this city.

Some are wealthy businessmen, some are small company owners, and some are middlemen in some gray area.

Their only commonality is that they all used money, power, or connections to escape legal punishment.

Their only common fate was to disappear silently from the world one night, never to be found again.

These missing persons cases are scattered across different jurisdictions and time periods, like a handful of sand thrown into the ocean, without causing any ripples.

……

Li Rui was unaware of the filing details for these cases.

But he could guess.

He had been a criminal investigator for ten years and knew all too well what lay dormant in those filing cabinets.

A case without a body, a crime scene, or witnesses is a headless case.

Unsolved cases eventually become numbers, becoming a line in a missing persons statistics table for a certain month.

This is exactly what he needs.

As long as he maintains this diverse hunting style, and as long as he stops leaving those vengeful marks, he will be the most perfect ghost in the city.

The fire is still burning, but it no longer leaves behind the same ashes.

Once the ashes have scattered far and wide enough, no one will be able to piece them back together to resemble the same ball of fire.

He needs time.

Time allowed him to reap more "interest," accumulating enough karmic fire to strike at that ultimate goal.

Zhang Zhaoqing, you're probably still looking for your son, aren't you?

Take your time searching.

When the fire reaches you, you'll find that no rule in this world can save your life.

------

The night is deep.

Glowing Pharmaceuticals Laboratory.

Zhang Zhaoqing sat in the laboratory chair, with a huge one-way glass in front of him.

Behind the glass, several test subjects were undergoing inhumane tests under the influence of the "Tranquilizer V" stimulant.

Zhang Zhaoqing looked much thinner than a few days ago; his white coat hung loosely on his body, and his sunken eyes were bloodshot.

The "disappearance" of his son Zhang Ziqian did not break him down. Instead, it acted as a violent catalyst, burning away the last bit of "humanity" in his soul, leaving only mad malice.

"Zhou Xie, how's the cleaning going?" Zhang Zhaoqing's voice was hoarse like a demon's.

He didn't turn around, but stared intently at the experimental subject behind the glass.

Standing behind him, Zhou Xie's expression was cold and stern: "Three have already been dealt with. The top student in the grade, his roommate, and a witness who attempted to file a formal complaint have all been arrested. The police have reported that all cases are classified as 'missing persons,' with no indication of any concurrent cases."

Zhang Zhaoqing let out a chilling chuckle, his shoulders trembling slightly: "Good... excellent. These lowly people, who usually hide in the shadows and spit at Ziqian, are now being sent to keep Ziqian company in the shadows. It's a great favor to them."

Zhang Zhaoqing took out a small refrigerator from the drawer, inside which were four dark purple vials of medicine neatly arranged.

"This is the final version optimized based on Ziqian's neural data. It is the source of power and a ticket to a new world." Zhang Zhaoqing pushed the refrigerated box towards Zhou Xie. "This is a reward for you core members. Use it in emergencies to grant you superhuman abilities for a short period of time."

Zhou Xie took the refrigerator and felt the biting coldness coming from his palm.

He knew what it was.