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

President's Office, 68th Floor, Shanghai World Financial Center.

At four in the morning in Jiangzhou, the neon lights had gradually gone out, and the entire steel jungle seemed to fall into a deathly silence, like a giant beast in slumber.

Shen Feng stood quietly in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, holding his iconic thermos cup, which was typical of retired cadres.

Under the silent aura of authority, his silhouette appeared incredibly profound and imposing.

But deep in his heart, where no one knew, Shen Feng had cursed the system's ancestors hundreds of times.

"This damn system, the scripts it gives me are all more hellish than the last!" Shen Feng mentally ranted. "Using a real murder case to cover up another? Is this some kind of dirty trick a carbon-based life form could come up with? I think you really think I have too much time on my hands!"

At this very moment, millions of netizens are still partying all night in the live stream, marveling at the "founding father's" boundless imagination and worshipping this impeccable logical trick.

But only Shen Feng knew the truly shocking bloodshed that would ensue when the gears of this story meshed perfectly with the real world.

In the original novel of "The Devotion of Suspect X", the mathematical genius Ishihiro's efforts to create a perfect alibi for Yasuko were indeed driven by pure love and sacrifice.

But this so-called "sacrifice" is based on the cruel deprivation of another innocent person's life!

Shen Feng took a deep breath and drank the warm goji berry water in the thermos in one gulp, forcibly suppressing the palpitations in his heart.

"Zhengyang." Shen Feng turned around, his voice deliberately kept very low, echoing in the empty office, revealing no emotional fluctuations.

Xu Zhengyang, who had been standing guard outside the door like a javelin, immediately pushed the door open and entered, standing at attention and bowing his head: "Sir, what are your orders?"

"Investigate something." Shen Feng walked to the large mahogany desk and sat down. "Use your old contacts in the police system to retrieve all the missing persons reports within a three-kilometer radius of Chen Mei Convenience Store in Jiangcheng East District over the past three months."

Xu Zhengyang was stunned for a moment.

At this time, the entire internet was going crazy over the "body swapping" trick, and the Defense Agency was searching the world for Li Guoqiang's real body.

Why does the gentleman suddenly want to check the missing persons list?

But just two seconds later, the veteran detective, who had been working for more than ten years, suddenly contracted his pupils, and a bone-chilling cold instantly ran through his limbs and bones!

"Sir...you mean..." Xu Zhengyang's voice trembled uncontrollably, "Since the corpse in the river wasn't Li Guoqiang, then it must be a clean 'substitute'! The mastermind behind it all randomly selected an innocent living person near the scene of the crime?!"

"Go investigate." Shen Feng didn't answer directly, but simply closed his eyes slightly, displaying an all-knowing depth to the fullest. "Be careful to keep it confidential, don't alert Su Qing's special case team."

"Understood! I'll take care of it right away!" Xu Zhengyang gasped, a deep sense of awe creeping into his eyes as he looked at Shen Feng.

The gentleman's vision always sees deeper, farther, and more cruelly than anyone else's!

……

Time flies, and before we knew it, it was the afternoon of the following day.

Dark clouds loomed outside the window, and a long-brewing downpour was about to sweep through Jiangzhou, creating a suffocating atmosphere.

Inside the office, Xu Zhengyang handed a thin file folder to Shen Feng's desk with both hands. His face was pale, and his eyes were bloodshot, clearly the result of a thorough investigation that had been carried out overnight with considerable resources.

"Sir, you... you've predicted it correctly again." Xu Zhengyang swallowed hard, his voice dry as if it had been rubbed hard on sandpaper.

Shen Feng opened the file folder and pulled out a thin A4 sheet of paper.

What comes into view is an ID photo that has been barely enhanced in clarity using AI technology. The man in the photo has a weathered face and a dull look in his eyes, exuding a numbness and weariness that comes from being completely drained by life.

"His name is Liu Degui, he's forty-two years old, and he's a migrant worker from out of town," Xu Zhengyang reported in a low voice, his tone filled with suppressed anger and sorrow. "He's been renting a basement room in the same neighborhood as Chen Mei's convenience store for six months. He makes a living by doing odd jobs at nearby construction sites and collecting recyclables."

"On the third day after Chen Mei's case, Liu Degui's landlord reported the case to the local police station because he had not received the next month's rent."

Shen Feng stared at the man in the photo, his gaze deep and unfathomable: "Why wasn't a case filed?"

"Because he's too 'transparent'." Xu Zhengyang gritted his teeth, his fists clenching so tightly they cracked. "Liu Degui has no fixed job, has never paid social security, has never married, and hasn't even left contact information for his relatives back home. In Jiangzhou, a megacity with 20 million people, he's like a drop of muddy water flowing into the ocean, evaporating silently."

"The police officers at the local police station went to his basement and found that he had even taken a few tattered clothes with him. They naturally assumed that he had left Jiangzhou on his own to avoid rent. As a result, this report was left to gather dust in the system's dead end, listed as 'suspected voluntary departure, no case filed.'"

Shen Feng's fingers gently glided over the section on physical characteristics in the file.

[Liu Degui. Gender: Male. Age: 42. Height: 172cm. Build: Medium to thin.]

Shen Feng closed his eyes.

Li Guoqiang, male, 43 years old, 173cm tall, medium to thin build.

so similar.

In terms of age, height, and physique, Liu Degui is simply the perfect "alternative" to Li Guoqiang!

"Sir," Xu Zhengyang took a deep breath, his eyes slightly reddening, "if your deduction is true, then this Liu Degui is the scapegoat chosen by 'X'! He has no relatives or friends in this world, and even if he disappears into thin air, no one will care or search for him... He's like a pebble carelessly discarded, yet he becomes the stepping stone for someone else's perfect crime!"

Shen Feng fell silent.

With the blessing of [God-level Criminal Psychology], he seemed to be able to transcend the barriers of time and space and witness everything that happened on that rainy night.

The "X" hidden behind the scenes, the genius with extremely high intelligence and absolute rationality, stood indifferently in the dark corner, watching Liu Degui rummaging through the trash can like he was picking out a cheap item.

In that genius's eyes, Liu Degui was not a human life, but a symbol, a "variable" without social connections that could be erased at any time.

This is the most chilling part of the script for "The Devotion of Suspect X".

The cruelest part of this scheme is not the method of murder, but the decision of "who can be sacrificed" itself!

This is a high-dimensional logic that claims to be divine, a naked objectification and contempt for the lives of the lowest beings.