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

Zhou Decai's voice was very soft, with a kind of sickly elegance.

He approached step by step, his leather shoes making a slight scraping sound on the asphalt.

His limp in his left leg made his gait somewhat awkward, but he wasn't slow.

Qi Feng stood still, without moving.

The streetlights cast a long shadow over him.

"Are you scared?" Zhou Decai stopped two meters away, tilting his head to examine Qi Feng. "Your heart rate is increasing, and your pupils are dilating. That's good. Fear is the best preservative; it can keep your eyes forever vibrant."

He raised the scalpel.

The blade is extremely thin.

Qi Feng sighed.

Fear? He was just calculating the distance.

On the system panel, the skill icon for [Mixed Martial Arts LV1] is faintly glowing.

LV1 is equivalent to the close combat level of an average special forces soldier. It's more than enough to deal with a serial killer with an old fracture in his left leg who relies entirely on his twisted psychology.

step.

Half a step.

Zhou Decai lunged forward, the scalpel aimed straight at Qi Jie's right eye. The movement was ruthless and decisive.

Qi Feng tensed his muscles, took a half step back with his right foot, prepared to block with his left hand, and clenched his right fist, aiming at Zhou Decai's chin.

In the blink of an eye.

"Bang!"

A muffled thud.

Qi Feng only felt a blur before his eyes as a straight, slender leg swept past him with a gust of wind.

Zhou Decai's body flew three meters away like a tattered sack, crashing heavily onto the edge of the green belt.

The scalpel slipped from his hand and clattered to the ground.

Qi Feng's fist froze in mid-air.

He turned his head in a daze.

Lin Haitang maintained her high leg raise and slowly brought her leg back. Her ponytail swayed slightly in the night breeze.

She was incredibly cool.

Zhou Decai clutched his chest, struggling to get up.

Lin Haitang strode forward, his military boots landing directly on Zhou Decai's injured left knee.

"Click."

The sound of bones cracking was crisp and pleasant.

Zhou Decai let out a piercing scream and curled up like a shrimp.

Lin Haitang pulled out the handcuffs and deftly twisted his hands behind his back, locking them with a "click".

After doing all this, she stood up, clapped her hands, and turned to look at Qi Feng.

"What? Scared stiff?" Lin Haitang raised an eyebrow, a playful smile curving her lips. "Sister, I'm here. Don't be afraid."

Qi Feng's lips twitched twice.

I'm scared?

I'm a Level 1 Fighter! I'm about to deliver a powerful punch to teach him a lesson!

That kick of yours completely ruined my highlight moment!

"Sister Haitang, your kill-stealing skills are so practiced it's heartbreaking." Qi Feng silently pulled his fist back from mid-air and scratched the back of his head.

Lin Haitang glanced at him: "Stop talking nonsense. Are you alright?"

"Something's wrong. Internal injuries." Qi Feng clutched his chest. "Your 'Don't be afraid' made me sick."

Lin Haitang sneered and raised her foot as if to kick.

Qi Feng decisively took three steps back and raised his hands to show his surrender.

In the distance, police sirens blared. Xing Meng and his men ran back, panting, and were stunned to see Zhou Decai handcuffed on the ground.

"You caught him?" Xing Meng looked at Qi Feng.

"It's all thanks to Officer Lin," Qi Feng said, pointing to Lin Haitang. "I was just bait."

Xing Meng looked at Lin Haitang with a newfound respect and waved for his men to put Zhou Decai into the car.

Qi Feng stood by the roadside, a long-lost electronic voice echoing in his mind.

[Ding! The mastermind behind the serial murders has been apprehended. Mission accomplished.]

[Experience points +500. Host level increased to LV3.]

[Gained 2 skill points.]

Qi Feng's eyes lit up. This was a good deal.

Without hesitation, he added both skill points to "My Eyes Are the Ruler".

[My Eyes Are a Ruler has been upgraded to LV3.]

[Unlock new feature: Vision Rewind (Basic). Briefly view the afterimage traces left by core clues for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 24 hours.]

Qi Feng closed the panel with satisfaction. This skill was becoming more and more like having X-ray vision with cheat codes.

……

Three days later. S City Public Security Bureau.

Sunlight streamed through the blinds, casting dappled shadows on Qin An's desk.

Qin An sat in his office chair, his left arm wrapped in thick bandages and slinged around his neck. With his only remaining right hand, he slowly and laboriously typed out the case closure report on the keyboard.

"Pat...pat..."

His typing speed is comparable to that of a sloth.

On the leather sofa in his office, Qi Feng was sprawled out in a "spread-eagle" position.

He held up his phone, the screen displaying the webpage of a certain online novel platform. On the small coffee table next to him were two empty cans of cola and a torn bag of potato chips.

"Hehehe... This male lead is really shameless... Hehehehehe!" Qi Feng read the novel, occasionally letting out a barbell-like laugh.

Qin An took a deep breath and stopped typing.

"Junior brother," Qin An said through gritted teeth.

"Hmm?" Qi Feng didn't even look up, stuffing a potato chip into his mouth.

"Your senior brother here, I have eight stitches in my left arm and a mild concussion," Qin An pointed to his gruesome state. "This case report will be at least five thousand words long. Could you, as a fellow disciple, help me write it? Let me rest for a bit?"

Qi Feng, chewing on potato chips, mumbled, "No."

"Why!" Qin An stared wide-eyed.

"Senior Brother, we need to be reasonable." Qi Feng finally looked up from his phone screen and sat up straight. "These past few days, I've been braving wind and rain to help you solve the case, and I haven't had a full night's sleep. I almost got stabbed by that pervert while I was arresting people."

"But it was Haitang who saved you!"

"The process doesn't matter; the result is that I suffered immense mental trauma," Qi Feng said matter-of-factly. "No bonus, no vacation, and now you want to trick me into writing a report? No way!"

He lay back down, shifting to a more comfortable position: "Besides, I'm an expert seconded from the provincial department. Have you ever seen an expert write their own report?"

Qin An laughed angrily: "Who do you think you are, expert? You're Master's apprentice, which makes you my junior brother! What's wrong with doing some work?"

"Even close brothers should keep clear accounts." Qi Feng held up a finger and shook it. "By the way, hurry up and write it. Once you're done, sign and stamp it. I'm waiting for you to treat me to a big meal. It's a promise, you'll treat us out of your own pocket once the case is solved."

Qin An felt his blood pressure soaring.

He grabbed an empty folder from the table and made a gesture as if to throw it at someone.

The door was pushed open.

Lin Haitang walked in carrying a document. She wasn't wearing her police uniform today; instead, she wore a simple white shirt and jeans, looking capable and refreshing.

Seeing the scene in the office, she placed the documents on Qin An's desk without any surprise.

"The interrogation record of Zhou Decai is out," Lin Haitang said calmly.

Qin An immediately put down the folder and leaned over to take a look.

Qi Feng also pricked up his ears.

"He confessed to everything," Lin Haitang said. "The four victims, the modus operandi, and the locations where the bodies were disposed of all match up. He confessed to what he did without reservation and even felt proud of it."

"Did he explain his motive?" Qin An asked.

"He said it was to create a perfect work of art." Lin Haitang frowned slightly. "His mother died in an accident, and half of her body was burned. He has always wanted to use other women's body parts to piece together a perfect 'substitute'."

"Crazy," Qin An cursed.

"However..." Lin Haitang paused for a moment, "During the interrogation, he mentioned a detail."

Qi Feng sat up from the sofa: "What details?"

"He said he didn't originally have such a perfect plan. Someone gave him the advice." Lin Haitang looked at the record. "He said that three months ago, he posted on a dark web forum complaining that 'materials' were hard to find. A person with the ID 'Shepherd' sent him a private message."

"A shepherd?" Qin An frowned.

"Yes." Lin Haitang nodded. "This 'shepherd' not only taught him how to avoid surveillance cameras and how to dispose of a body without leaving a trace, but also provided him with many pictures of the 'shepherd's' own works as references."

The air in the office seemed to freeze instantly.

Qi Feng's eyes sharpened.

No wonder Zhou Decai, a doctor whose license had been revoked, had such strong counter-surveillance skills. No wonder he was able to accurately locate those victims who looked exactly like his mother.

Someone is instigating this behind the scenes.

"Have the image investigation team and the cyber security team checked?" Qin An asked anxiously.

"We checked. The IP address is located overseas, and it's been encrypted multiple times, making it impossible to trace." Lin Haitang sighed. "The trail has gone cold."

Qi Feng didn't say anything, but stood up, stretched, and a series of crackling sounds rang out.

"Looks like there's still one bug hiding in the dark garbage dump."