A perfect crime? To me, it's full of flaws!

The investigation work is tedious and boring, but it is the work that every police officer does most often in their daily lives.

Holding the most suspicious files in his hand, Qi Feng led Xiao Liu to travel all over the three districts of H City.

The first target was an accountant at a private company who had suffered a miscarriage six months prior and was suffering from severe depression. On the night of the incident, she was hospitalized at a mental health center, and the surveillance cameras outside her ward captured the entire incident clearly.

The second target was a full-time housewife who had been married for five years without conceiving and had been kicked out of her husband's home by her in-laws. At the time of the incident, she was on a high-speed train traveling across provinces, and the train police had even intervened to mediate because she was emotionally distraught.

The third, the fourth, the fifth...

They all have impeccable alibis.

Qi Feng stood downstairs at the apartment building where his fifth target was located and lit a cigarette. This was the first cigarette he had smoked since arriving in H City.

Amidst the swirling smoke, he began reading "My Eyes Are a Ruler." In his field of vision, there was nothing at all.

The system is a cheat code, not a wish-granting machine. Once removed from the crime scene and faced with a vast network of interpersonal relationships and social patterns, the system cannot conjure up a killer out of thin air.

"Advisor Qi, the timelines for these five people match up perfectly." Xiao Liu said, his voice trailing off as he held up his notebook.

Qi Feng didn't say anything, but stubbed out his cigarette on the metal plate on top of the trash can.

"Back to the station."

"Then continue the investigation!"

The fifth day, morning. H City Bureau, First Conference Room.

The smell of smoke in the air was stronger than it had been two days ago. The exhaust fan hummed, but it couldn't dispel the stuffiness that filled the room.

Gong Jianping had already rushed back to the provincial department overnight. There were still a bunch of major cases in the province waiting for his approval, and it was already his limit to stay here for two days.

Zhao Gang stood in front of the projection screen, his hands supporting him on the podium, the bloodshot veins in his eyes extending to the edges of his pupils.

"All thirty key suspects have been investigated." Zhao Gang's voice was hoarse, as if it had been sanded. "They had no opportunity to commit the crime. Of the 2,124 names on the periphery, 60% have been investigated so far, and no high-risk targets matching the profile characteristics have been found."

The conference room was deathly silent.

The detectives kept their heads down, their pens moving unconsciously across their notebooks.

Qi Feng sat in his usual spot next to the water dispenser. He wasn't twirling a pen; his hands were in his pockets, and he stared blankly at the patterns on the table.

Everything went too smoothly.

From the moment he acquired the system, solving cases became an unstoppable force. He saw through the entire case of the doll-hidden corpse in City S at a glance, and solved it with remarkable speed and efficiency.

But this time, he found some clues, and then confidently made a profile, drew a circle, only to find that he had gained nothing.

A sense of frustration welled up inside me.

"Meeting adjourned. Each investigation team, continue to follow up on the remaining names and re-examine the physical evidence at the scene." Zhao Gang closed the folder and gave the instructions.

The officers, dragging their weary steps, walked out of the conference room one after another.

The place is empty.

Qi Feng remained seated in his chair, not moving.

Zhao Gang walked up to him, pulled out a chair, sat down, and casually tossed a bottle of mineral water from the table over to him.

Qi Feng reached out and caught it, but didn't unscrew it; he just held it in his hand and squeezed it.

"What? You're already discouraged?" Zhao Gang unscrewed his thermos and took a sip of strong tea.

Qi Feng raised his head and glanced at Zhao Gang: "I don't know what I did wrong."

He slammed the bottle of mineral water he was holding onto the table: "I did the profiling. Motives, physical characteristics, psychological state—it was all deduced from the traces left at the scene. The logical chain was closed. Why are all the people I circled incorrect?"

Zhao Gang looked at the sharp and ambitious young man in front of him.

Two days ago, this kid was pontificating here, overturning the city bureau's investigation direction with just two sentences, full of arrogance. Now, he's like a punctured balloon.

"If you don't know where you went wrong, take out all the materials and look at them again." Zhao Gang's voice was calm, without mockery, only the composure of a veteran detective. "Look at them very carefully. Overturn all your previous assumptions."

Qi Feng frowned: "Overthrow?"

"Solving cases is never that easy, young man." Zhao Gang leaned back in his chair. "What do you think criminal investigators are? Fortune tellers or diviners? Ninety percent of the time we spend solving cases is going down the wrong path and getting into dead ends. If one path doesn't work, we turn back and try another."

"A suspect is a human being, and humans can disguise themselves and behave in ways that defy conventional logic. Your profile may be generally correct, but the conditions are too rigid. For example, you set the condition that she had a miscarriage within the last six months, but what if it was seven months ago? What if she didn't have any medical records at a reputable hospital?"

Zhao Gang's words were like a hammer blow to Qi Feng's forehead.

Qi Feng was stunned for a long time.

The clues provided by the system are objective, but human reasoning is subjective. He relied too much on his initial judgment based on the clues, making the profiling too narrow and rigid.

Qi Feng looked at the middle-aged criminal police captain in front of him, whose eyes were bloodshot and whose beard was unkempt.

Suddenly, he grinned and smiled.

"What?" Qi Feng leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, resuming his nonchalant demeanor. "Are you jealous because I'm young?"

Zhao Gang was stunned for a moment.

He didn't quite catch this sudden train of thought.

Qi Feng pointed to his eyes: "Captain Zhao, your eyes are so red they're almost as red as a rabbit's. If you're jealous of my youthful appearance at twenty-four, just say so. Don't try to intimidate me with your high-sounding principles."

Zhao Gang then realized that the kid was making fun of his red blood vessels.

He laughed in exasperation.

"You little rascal," Zhao Gang chuckled, knowing that Qi Feng had already recovered from his disappointment. This kid's mental fortitude was even stronger than he had imagined.

Zhao Gang stood up, walked over, and patted Qi Feng heavily on the shoulder.

"Get to work. Haitang is still in the hospital. If this case isn't solved, Director Gong will skin me alive, and you won't escape either. And that girl, she's been blaming herself terribly since she woke up. Go see her when you have some free time."

After saying that, Zhao Gang strode out of the conference room.

Qi Feng sat in the conference room for another minute.

Let's go see the crabapple blossoms, or let's wait until I catch that bastard!

Then, he took out his phone and opened the food delivery app. His fingers tapped frantically on the screen.

Half an hour later.

The Criminal Investigation Division of H City Public Security Bureau, Qi Feng's temporary office.

When Xiao Liu, Da Li, and the other two young police officers who were assigned to assist Qi Feng opened the door, they were all dumbfounded.

Three desks were put together.

The top was covered with plastic takeout boxes of all sizes.

The bright red, glistening, spicy crayfish were piled up like a small mountain, exuding a powerful aroma of garlic and Sichuan peppercorns.

Next to it were three large portions of salt and pepper mantis shrimp, grilled lamb skewers, grilled oysters, and enoki mushrooms wrapped in tin foil.

Several large cups of chilled milk tea with toppings were placed on the outermost edge, with water droplets clinging to the sides of the cups.

This entourage doesn't look like they're here to investigate a case; it looks like they're here for a farewell dinner.

The four people stood at the door, swallowed hard, and looked at each other in bewilderment.

"What are you standing there for? Come in and close the door!" Qi Feng was biting into a lamb skewer and mumbled the order. "If this smell gets out, Captain Zhao will definitely come and take us all out."

Xiao Liu closed the door and walked to the table: "Advisor Qi, this...this isn't a holiday, aren't we investigating a case?"

"Even when investigating a case, you still need to eat." Qi Feng threw the bamboo skewer in his hand into the trash can and took out a tissue to wipe his mouth.

He straightened up and glanced at the four exhausted team members in front of him.

These past two days, they've been working non-stop with me, and haven't even had a proper meal.

"You must be exhausted these past few days." Qi Feng's smile faded, and his tone became unusually serious. "I know everyone is feeling frustrated. You've run your legs off, investigated so many people, and it's all for nothing."

The four fell silent. Da Li sighed.

"But so what?" Qi Feng raised his voice. "If we've hit a dead end, we'll smash down the wall! If the profiling criteria are too narrow, we'll broaden them! If we can't find anything at legitimate hospitals, we'll investigate illegal clinics! As long as she's still breathing in H City, there's bound to be a flaw!"

Qi Feng waved his hand, pointing to the takeout on the table: "Eat! Eat as much as you want! This meal's on me! After we finish, we'll regroup and start all over again! We'll fight this bastard to the death!"

"Okay!" Xiao Liu was the first to respond.

The young policewoman already admired Qi Feng, and these words provoked her so much that she jumped up excitedly.

Without a word, she took off her police uniform jacket and carefully hung it on the back of the chair to avoid getting it dirty. Then she grabbed a cup of milk tea, inserted a straw, took a big gulp, and let out a satisfied sigh.

"Cheers!" Da Li rolled up his sleeves and grabbed a crayfish.

The other two team members also rushed forward instantly.

The office was immediately filled with the sounds of crackling and chewing as shells were peeled.

Qi Feng watched the group of hungry wolves pouncing on their prey, a smile playing on his lips. He sat down again, put on disposable gloves, and picked up a crayfish.

"Click."

The shrimp shells were crushed.

Bright red juice dripped down the gloves.

Overturn it! Then overturn it completely and start over! The system has already given him a huge lead, and Qi Feng refuses to believe it! He won't give up until he catches this bastard!