Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

At 6:30 a.m. the following morning, in the eighth district of Chenxi City, at Emerald Mansion.

The faint morning light streamed through the window of room 1801 and fell onto the floor, but it couldn't dispel the nauseating smell of burning inside.

That was the distinctive smell of human tissue carbonized under high voltage, which turned every detective present ashen-faced.

Zhou Ming, the captain of the criminal investigation team in the Eighth District, squatted beside the body, his gloved fingers gently tracing the face of the deceased, which was contorted with extreme terror.

Zhou Wenbin, male, 35 years old, logistics supervisor of Chenxi Biopharmaceutical.

The manner of death was exactly the same as the previous four cases: the whole body was stiff, there were multiple punctate electric shock scorch marks, and the pupils were dilated to the limit, as if the person had seen a scene of hell before dying.

What sent chills down Zhou Ming's spine was the age-old question—the locked room.

This penthouse duplex features a top-of-the-line fingerprint security door and windows that are all locked from the inside.

Surveillance footage shows that no one has entered or exited the elevator since Zhou Wenbin returned home last night.

The killer was like a ghost, entering through walls, reaping lives, and then vanishing into thin air.

"Zhou Ming."

A series of hurried and heavy footsteps came from behind him, and Zhou Ming knew who it was without turning around.

Sun Qiming, deputy director of the Eighth District Branch, strode into the living room without even wearing shoe covers.

His complexion was no better than the corpse's; his eyes were puffy and bloodshot.

He ignored the technician who was taking photos as evidence, walked straight behind Zhou Ming, lowered his voice, but his tone suppressed an impending outburst of anger:

"This is the fifth one! Zhou Ming, this is the fifth one in the last three days! Same method!" Sun Qiming's voice was hoarse. "I can barely contain the media anymore. What are you criminal investigation department doing? Don't you have a single clue?"

Zhou Ming slowly stood up, took off his mask, revealing a face that was equally haggard but with sharp eyes.

"Director Sun, we have a lead." Zhou Ming's voice was eerily calm, "and the clues are very focused, and also very... tricky."

"Don't play games with me!" Sun Qiming growled.

"This wasn't a random killing, Director Sun." Zhou Ming pointed to the body on the floor, then to the pile of scattered documents on the coffee table. "From Zhang Mingyuan to Zhou Wenbin, all five victims were employees of 'Chenxi Biomedical.' The killer's target was extremely clear, possessing very strong counter-surveillance capabilities, and..."

Zhou Ming paused, his gaze sweeping over the intact French window: "And the infiltration capabilities that we currently cannot explain."

"What are you trying to say? That it's haunted?" Sun Qiming gritted his teeth.

"What I'm trying to say is that the killer is looking for something, or someone." Zhou Ming walked to the coffee table and pointed to a blank space where something should have been placed. "Based on the traces at the scene, a document should have been taken from here. Moreover, the killer is very familiar with the internal structure of Dawn Biotechnology, which could very well be a targeted purge triggered by a deep-seated grudge."

Just then, Xiao Chen, the technician who was extracting data from the deceased's phone, suddenly looked up:

"Team Leader Zhou! Director Sun! We've found something!"

Xiao Chen walked over quickly, holding a tablet computer with a restored electronic calendar on the screen.

"We found Zhou Wenbin's schedule for today in his cloud backup. Although the call logs on his phone were deleted, there was an automatically synced message in his notes."

Xiao Chen pointed to a line of text on the screen: "9:30 this morning, City Convention and Exhibition Center, 'Frontiers in Neurobiology and Extreme Environment Physiology Symposium'. The note reads: 'Please pick up Dr. Lin and bring the A-07 data.'"

Zhou Ming's pupils suddenly contracted.

"Dr. Lin..." he murmured to himself, then suddenly looked at Sun Qiming, his eyes burning with intensity, "Director Sun, this is the key!"

"What?" Sun Qiming frowned.

"The murderer killed Zhou Wenbin and took the documents, but he shows no signs of stopping. Zhou Wenbin was just a logistics supervisor, while this 'Dr. Lin' is clearly of a higher rank, and may even be the key figure the murderer is truly looking for!"

Zhou Ming spoke rapidly, his voice firm and powerful: "The killer has likely learned of this itinerary through some means. If my deduction is correct, the serial killer's next target is this 'Dr. Lin,' who's going to the convention center today!"

He strode up to Sun Qiming, almost staring directly at his superior:

"Director Sun, we must act immediately. Set up surveillance at the convention center this morning! This may be our only chance to catch this ghost, and our last opportunity to stop the sixth murder!"

Sun Qiming's expression shifted between light and dark.

He certainly knew that Zhou Ming's reasoning was reasonable.

But that's the city convention center, where a large academic conference is being held today. The crowds are dense, and if the police intervene on a large scale, it will inevitably cause panic and attract media attention.

More importantly, this will directly push "Chenxi Bio" into the eye of the storm.

Those behind him, especially Wei Donghai, were the last people who wanted to see this situation.

But on the other hand...

Five lives.

If another person dies today, or even if they are killed in public, he will definitely lose his position as deputy director.

The charge of dereliction of duty, coupled with the pressure of failing to solve the case, weighed heavily on him like two mountains.

He was struggling to weigh the risks of "offending his backer" against "ruining his reputation."

After a full half minute of silence, Sun Qiming finally let out a long breath, looking as if he had aged several years.

"...Zhou Ming."

Sun Qiming spoke hoarsely, his eyes filled with a desperate resolve, "I'll give you authorization."

A hint of joy flashed in Zhou Ming's eyes. He was about to speak when Sun Qiming raised his hand to interrupt him.

"However, I have two conditions." Sun Qiming stared intently at Zhou Ming. "First, the operation must be absolutely confidential, conducted entirely in plainclothes, with no police tape allowed, and absolutely no public panic or media coverage of a large number of police officers entering the premises!"

"Secondly," Sun Qiming lowered his voice even further, "your primary objective is crime prevention and apprehending the perpetrators in the act. As for that 'Dr. Lin' or the other attendees from Morning Light Biotechnology... your task is to protect them, not to interrogate them like criminals! Don't cause me any trouble!"

This is the biggest compromise he can make.

They allowed the arrest of the culprit, but attempted to contain the fire within the scope of a "criminal case" to prevent it from spreading into the dark secrets of Dawn Biotechnology.

Without any hesitation, Zhou Ming stood at attention and saluted: "Yes, sir! Mission accomplished!"

"Let's get started." Sun Qiming waved his hand, looking somewhat disheartened.

Zhou Ming immediately turned around and gave orders to his waiting team members: "Everyone, plainclothes, move out! Target: City Convention Center! Focus on checking anyone acting suspiciously or who might be carrying stun guns. Remember, our opponents are extremely dangerous; once discovered, take them down!"

……

Ten minutes later, Sun Qiming sat alone in his office.

He held a disposable cell phone in his hand, the cold light from the screen reflecting on his gloomy face.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally dialed the number.

The phone rang three times before being answered, and a cold voice came from the other end: "Director Sun, what brings you here so early?"

"Tell the person behind this," Sun Qiming's voice was tired and cold, no longer warm as before: "I can't stop them anymore."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then the tone became somewhat dangerous: "Director Sun, aren't we friends? We see each other every year..."

"Don't mention that to me!" Sun Qiming suddenly roared, interrupting the other person. "Five people are already dead! All of them were from Dawn Biotechnology! Now that serial killer has his sights set on the key personnel attending today's meeting! My men are already at the convention center setting up surveillance and arresting them!"

"This is all I can do for you—put this case within the framework of a 'serial murder case.' But you'd better pray that the killer doesn't succeed again, and that my men don't find any incriminating evidence or see anything they shouldn't at the scene!"

"Otherwise," Sun Qiming said through gritted teeth, enunciating each word clearly, "you will bear all the consequences."

After saying that, he hung up the phone without waiting for a response and threw the phone heavily on his desk.

In the darkness, he leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling, his sense of foreboding growing stronger.

He had a premonition that the ghostly killer would not stop just because a few plainclothes police officers were there.

Today's convention center is destined to become a bloody hunting ground.