I was just telling a story, why is the whole internet urging me to turn myself in?

The Xinhua Bookstore flagship store in downtown Jiangzhou.

At 8:20 p.m., when the business district is at its busiest, the bookstore is brightly lit.

On the third floor, in the children's book section, three young men with brightly colored hair and wearing cheap ripped jeans were moving back and forth between the bookshelves.

Parents with children nearby frowned and pulled their children away when they saw the three shady-looking young men.

The red-haired youth leading the group was named Xiaoyu. His forehead was covered in cold sweat, and he was tightly clutching the inside pocket of his jacket, which contained a thick brown paper envelope. Inside the envelope were not only a blackmail letter, but also high-resolution photos of the crime scene.

"Brother Yu, are we really going to put the stuff here?" A blond-haired guy muttered under his breath, his eyes darting around nervously. "That cunning old fox Li Donghai even dared to push his own father-in-law off a cliff. What if he gets someone to kill us?"

"You don't know anything!" Xiaoyu said in a low voice, gritting his teeth, "The most dangerous place is the safest place! This is the biggest bookstore in the city center, there are surveillance cameras everywhere, and it's crowded and noisy. Even if Li Donghai comes to pick up the letter, he would never dare to lay a hand on us here! Hurry up, find the most inconspicuous book and slip it in!"

Xiaoyu walked to a secluded corner with picture books, his eyes quickly scanning the rows of colorful children's books.

Finally, his hand stopped on a thick, hardcover edition of "Snow White".

"That's it!" Xiaoyu deftly flipped through the pages, tucked the heavy envelope into the center of the book, and then stuffed the book back into the deepest part of the bookshelf.

After doing all this, the three of them breathed a long sigh of relief and quickly slipped away through the emergency exit.

Meanwhile, in a luxury penthouse at the top of the city, in a live-streaming room with five million online viewers, Shen Feng sat upright in an ergonomic chair, his fingers lightly interlaced, conducting a psychological profiling that felt like a dimensional reduction attack.

"Three children blackmailing a serial killer who has taken two lives is itself a life-or-death struggle with an extremely unequal power dynamic."

"Out of fear, they would certainly not choose traditional film and television transaction locations such as abandoned warehouses or secluded alleys. Because that would be tantamount to choosing their own grave."

"From the perspective of the 'safe haven effect' in criminal psychology, they would definitely choose a place that is absolutely public, absolutely lively, and has a closed security monitoring system. In this way, if Zhang Dongsheng does anything unusual, they can call for help at any time."

"What better place than a large bookstore in the city center?"

Upon hearing this, the scrolling comments on the screen paused for half a second before exploding again!

Holy crap! Perfect logic! This is what you call maximum security!

[I've learned something new! From now on, I'll choose bookstores when I want to extort money from others... No, officer, I'm just kidding!]

But with so many books in the bookstore, which one is hidden? Please, Master, stop keeping us in suspense!

In front of the screen, Shen Feng smiled slightly. The criminal aura bestowed upon him by the system made every micro-expression of his at this moment carry an elegant air of complete control.

"As for which book it's hidden in, that's a limitation of children's behavioral logic. They won't flip through obscure classics or look for thick dictionaries, because that's beyond their everyday cognitive scope."

"They will subconsciously go to the area they are most familiar with and least likely to feel repulsed by—the children's book section."

"If I'm not mistaken, this letter that will decide life or death is currently lying quietly inside a hardcover children's book."

"For example... Snow White."

When these four words were casually uttered by Shen Feng.

"Bang--!!!"

Inside room 2802, separated by a wall.

Su Qing, the captain of the special case monitoring team in Jiangzhou City, crushed the paper cup in her hand. The scalding coffee splashed onto the back of her hand, but she seemed to feel no pain at all.

"Attention all special task forces in the city!!!"

Su Qing grabbed the encrypted walkie-talkie on the table, her hoarse voice booming through the channel: "All field personnel! Immediately seal off the Xinhua Bookstore in the city center! Notify the SWAT team and riot squad to be in position within ten minutes!"

The walkie-talkie crackled to life with a shocked voice from Deputy Captain Liu Jianguo: "Captain Su? Xinhua Bookstore? That's a bustling commercial district! What happened?"

"The target has been dealt the cards!" Su Qing spoke at lightning speed, like a machine gun. "Go check the children's book section on the third floor! Turn it over! Check every single copy of 'Snow White'!"

"If your prophecy is true, the irrefutable evidence of Li Donghai's fall from the cliff, and the blackmail letter left by those three damned witnesses, are right there!"

"Everyone mobilize! This is a death order! Hurry!!"

As Su Qing issued her almost roaring order, the entire Jiangzhou City public security system, this massive state machine, instantly unleashed terrifying operational efficiency in the darkness.

Suddenly, police sirens blared on the streets of Jiangzhou, and more than a dozen patrol vehicles disguised as civilian vehicles sped through the night, heading straight for the city center.

Meanwhile, inside the Cloud Top One Grand Flat, the very source of this city-wide storm, Shen Feng was leisurely stretching out.

"Alright, that concludes today's case analysis."

Shen Feng watched the special effects on the screen, which were still frantically sending gifts, and happily cut off the stream. "To find out what happens next, fellow viewers, see you at the same time tomorrow."

Snapped.

As the live stream screen went black, Shen Feng slumped into his chair.

Maintaining that aloof "master of crime" aura in front of the camera is actually quite exhausting, especially since he also has to constantly guard against the system tripping him up.

Just then, a crisp and pleasant system notification sounded in my mind:

[Ding! Detected that the host has completed an epic-level plot deduction!]

This live stream elicited a complex mix of emotions from over 500 million viewers across the internet, including extreme shock, chills, and awe, while simultaneously causing significant upheaval within the official leadership!

[Congratulations, host! Your current cumulative popularity points have exceeded 3,150,000!]

Three million?!

Shen Feng's eyes widened, and he suddenly sat up straight in his chair.

That's three million popularity points! Now he can finally squander those life-saving skills and high-tech equipment he's been eyeing in the system shop without restraint.

"Phew... No rush, money should be spent wisely. I'll take a shower and then have some late-night snacks while participating in the lucky draw."

Shen Feng was in a great mood. Humming off-key "Little White Boat," he shuffled out of the living room in his slippers, wondering if he should treat himself to a French lamb chop takeout from a five-star hotel.

Unbeknownst to him, his casual deduction had already caused hundreds of police officers across the city to frantically search through a pile of fairy tale books; even more unbeknownst to him, a long-planned, bloody assassination plot specifically targeting him had silently crept into the shadows of the building.

……

The power distribution room on the second basement floor of Yunding Yipin residential complex.

This is the power supply hub for the entire upscale residential community. It is normally equipped with dual electronic access control and 24-hour security patrols by property management, making it difficult for even a fly to get in.

However, at this moment, the heavy alloy door of the power distribution room was half-closed.

At the entrance, two robust night shift security guards were slumped on the ground in a contorted posture.

Each of them had an extremely thin black poison needle inserted into their carotid artery. Not a drop of blood flowed from the wound, but within seconds, the deadly neurotoxin had completely blocked their respiratory center, turning them into two warm corpses.

In the darkness, a figure less than 1.7 meters tall and as thin as a bamboo pole slowly walked to the front of the electrical distribution box.

The man was dressed in a black, tight-fitting combat suit without any markings, wearing a tactical mask that revealed only a pair of cold, snake-like eyes.

A top assassin on the dark web, codenamed Viper.

In the world of mercenaries abroad, this name means absolute death.

He was proficient in sixteen assassination techniques and once single-handedly infiltrated a warlord's base in the Middle East and beheaded its leader.

When Viper accepted Wang Defa's three million US dollar bounty, he was actually somewhat disdainful.

Why would a popular online streamer who sits in front of a computer telling stories every day need someone of his stature to personally travel to the Nine Provinces?

But the three million dollars was too tempting, with the only requirements being to break the target's arms and legs and pull out the tongue that was talking nonsense.

Relax and enjoy.

Viper pulled a triangular military dagger gleaming with a cold, eerie blue light from his tactical leg wraps. His gaze fell upon the dense network of wires inside the distribution box, and he precisely located the main switch for the independent power supply to the 28th floor.

He slashed fiercely with the military dagger in his hand.

"Sizzle—!"

A blinding burst of electric sparks erupted.

Immediately afterwards, the entire 28th floor of the massive and luxurious Cloud Top One building, with all its surveillance cameras, security access control systems, and bright lights, fell into absolute silence and darkness at the same moment.