Unconventional security

"I'm a pervert, no, I'm an artist. I take photos of models on the train every day. It's the only thing that makes me happy."

"My subject is Xiaoxue, seventeen years old, a student at the Fourth Academy. She wears floral dresses and Doc Martens every day... and is always very clean."

"I get yelled at by my boss at work and by my wife when I get home, but whenever I see her dimples when she smiles, my heart melts."

"It is the most perfect, moving, and satisfying work I have ever filmed."

Sitting in the interrogation chair, the man looked ecstatic; recalling these scenes still brought him pleasure.

Chen Bei smiled faintly at him across from him, while the security guard beside him quickly took notes.

"Is Xiaoxue really that pretty? Even prettier than Gu Zhian next to me?"

Chen Bei spoke, and Gu Mengyao beside him couldn't help but glare at him.

"certainly!"

The man became excited, straightened his back, and seemed to regard Chen Bei as a kindred spirit.

"She has never been tainted by this world; her eyes are clear and bright, and you can even smell a faint fragrance of gardenias if you get a little closer."

"Like a lotus flower, it can only be admired quietly from afar. I never dare to get too close to it, only daring to walk behind it when we get off at the same stop..."

"But last time, she found out about me. She glared at me, and it felt like my heart was being ripped out."

As he spoke, the man slowly lowered his head to look at the handcuffs, like a child being scolded by his mother for doing something wrong, and his voice became much softer.

"She left at the next stop, but I continued to watch that train, even skipping work for several days in a row, just to apologize to her."

"The abandoned city is being rebuilt, and there are only three train lines in total. She can only take this train to get to the university, but I haven't seen her for a whole month..."

"You killed her, of course you won't see her again."

Chen Bei's casual remark completely ignited the man's fury.

"I didn't kill him, I didn't!"

He slammed his hands against the metal plate in front of the interrogation chair, the clanging sound accompanied by the man's roars of catharsis.

"I'm here to turn myself in, Officer Chen. Tell me who killed her. I want to tear that beast apart, please."

The man seemed to be going mad, constantly shifting between anger and pleading.

Under the violence, a crack appeared in the handcuffs on her wrists, a detail that Gu Mengyao noticed perfectly.

Gu Mengyao turned her head to the side, picked up the notebook she was taking notes of, covered her mouth, and whispered to Chen Bei.

"Suspect Wang Tao, threshold 90%, is suspected of breaking through the first genetic lock."

Chen Bei looked at her and removed the notebook that was covering their mouths.

"Why are you looking at me? Hand out the employment contract to your new colleague!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Tao, who was sitting in the interrogation chair, was stunned.

There are only three people in this room, so where would any new colleagues come from?

Am I talking to myself?

It wasn't until Gu Mengyao presented him with the employment contract from the "Happiness Police Station" that he confirmed that the new colleague Chen Bei had mentioned was indeed himself.

"Me, me?"

Wang Tao pointed a finger at himself, "But I'm a criminal!"

Chen Bei shrugged and said, "Where would we get criminals from in our lower district?"

"In my eyes, you're simply a genius!"

A paranoid person with a mind far beyond that of ordinary people and a few quirks, who not only takes serious photos, but also physically attacks the subjects of his photographs who violate him.

Three hundred years ago, in the wasteland, people called this a "sasaeng fan".

Chen Bei looked at him; there weren't many people in the Lower City who had a chance of breaking through the genetic lock.

Hundreds of years ago, the polar ice caps melted, ancient viruses spread, the seas swallowed the continents, most life was wiped out, and the era of great catastrophe truly arrived.

When humans unlock their genetic potential, their bodies undergo various mutations, such as a dramatic increase in strength, a multiplied increase in mental power, and the ability to control objects remotely.

As humanity itself is exploited to its fullest extent, class divisions inevitably follow.

After the catastrophe, the world was rebuilt and civilization restarted. Humans who had not yet unlocked their genetic locks were abandoned and thrown into the ruined city, collectively known as the Lower City.

It was dirty and chaotic; the food, technology, economy, trade, and housing were all at the lowest level.

Highly intelligent and capable individuals establish themselves in the upper districts and enjoy all the most luxurious treatments.

From then on, the world no longer had nationalities, but only two social systems.

"Join the Happiness Police Station, and I'll help you find the killer so you can tear him apart with your own hands."

Chen Bei said loudly, "If the first gene lock can be activated with a focus on increasing strength, tearing an ordinary person apart will be a piece of cake."

This wasn't the first time Chen Bei had done something like this.

Having unlocked two genetic locks, the second one happens to be power.

Even so, he still didn't have the key to enter the upper city.

To enter the Upper City, you either need to be introduced by someone from the Upper City or unlock three gene locks yourself.

In the Lower City, where information and culture are backward, unlocking even one gene lock relies solely on luck, let alone three. And this is merely the condition for entering the Upper City, not for settling in.

"You...can you really find the real culprit?"

"Does this comply with the police station's regulations?"

Chen Bei's lips curled into a sneer. "What kind of police station is there in the lower city?"

"Here, only local bullies exist."

Upon hearing this, Wang Tao clenched his fist and asked again and again, "You really want me to tear him apart with my bare hands?"

"Genuine or genuine."

Swish.

Having received an affirmative reply, Wang Tao quickly wrote his name on the contract.

"How do you plan to find the killer?"

Wang Tao was impatient; he immediately pressed for answers as soon as he put down his pen, as if the person killed was not the female student, but his closest relative.

Chen Bei unlocked his handcuffs, took out a photo pen from his pocket, pressed it, and a virtual image was projected onto the wall directly in front of him.

"Isn't this the video footage I gave you? She really hasn't appeared again. I've watched the later footage hundreds of times!"

Wang Tao was somewhat anxious. He was very certain that he hadn't overlooked anything, and that it was a pipe dream for Chen Bei to try to find answers here.

Chen Bei patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't rush, being impatient will only make you lose your composure, and that's not how a good sheriff behaves."

"We won't look at the images after they disappeared; we'll look at what happened before. Watch closely with me."

Chen Bei pressed the button, and the video began to play.

From this perspective, Wang Tao is sitting in a train seat, while Xiao Xue is standing in the aisle, holding onto the railing for support; she is wearing a floral dress and Martin boots.

Brown women's Dr. Martens boots with a gardenia pattern stitched at the ankle.

There were many pedestrians around: a young man wearing a woolen hat, a middle-aged man in a white t-shirt and black leather shoes, and an elderly woman with a headscarf reflected in the window.

The video continues until the girl gets off the train after five stops.

In the second video, Xiaoxue is still wearing a floral dress paired with those unique Martin boots. This time, the perspective is that Xiaoxue is sitting while Wang Tao is standing.

The camera was obscured by pedestrians, but the most visible subjects in the frame were Xiaoxue, a tall, mature woman, a middle-aged man in a white t-shirt and leather shoes, and a young man wearing glasses.

When they passed the second platform, Xiaoxue turned her head and saw Wang Tao's camera. In the footage, Xiaoxue glared at him fiercely, got up, left her seat, and moved closer to the door.

I had barely left my seat when it was taken by a young man wearing glasses.

At the third stop, Xiaoxue got off the train amidst the crowd and left, marking the last time Wang Tao and she met.

In the third video, Xiaoxue was no longer in the frame; this marked the first day of Wang Tao's remorse.

Disheartened, Wang Tao searched the entire carriage but couldn't find that familiar figure.

"I haven't seen her since that day. What does that tell you?"

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Bei pressed pause, zoomed in on a corner of the screen, and zoomed in again and again, causing the image to become noisy as it was zoomed in.

They were a pair of women's Martin boots with gardenia patterns sewn on. Zooming in slightly, the shoes were now on the feet of the middle-aged man in the white t-shirt.

"Congratulations, you've captured another murder on camera."