S.C.I. (Volume I) - Case 5: Chapter 15

The Doppelganger Killer 15 - Crime and Punishment

The atmosphere inside the interrogation room carried a somewhat eerie undertone. A cardboard box rested on the table, accompanied by a stark white human skull and a stack of black-and-white vintage photographs. The bearded man sat expressionlessly in a chair at the front of the table, his eyes staring blankly at the items resting upon it.

Through the one-way mirror, Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang, and Ouyang Chun were quietly observing.

Frowning as he looked at the bearded man behind the glass, Bai Yutang shook his head and said, "That definitely wasn't him that night..."

"Yet the bearded man seen on the surveillance monitors at the Midnight Club that night was precisely the one who rammed into you..." Zhan Zhao said, perplexed. "Could Weiyong have mistaken his identity?"

Bai Yutang turned around to ask Luo Yang, who was waiting nearby, "Is there only this one bearded man? Are there any others?"

Luo Yang looked completely baffled by the question. "Uncle Big Beard is just him. What other people?"

"When we went to the Midnight Club that night, was he there?" Zhan Zhao also asked.

"Why would Uncle Big Beard ever go to a place like that?" Luo Yang tilted his head with an amused expression. "He hates crowded places the most, and he hates people fighting even more. He's timid."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged glances. It appeared there was a hidden story behind all this... The Midnight Club and Chen Jie both undoubtedly had a hand in it.

"Can you explain to me the reason why you two were tracking this person?" Ouyang Chun asked Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang with a hint of helplessness. "I feel we need to exchange the information we possess in order to cooperate more effectively."

Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao and nodded to indicate that Ouyang Chun made sense, whereupon the three of them gathered together to exchange details regarding the case.

"That thread involving Lan Chenglin—which fish are you actually trying to catch?" Bai Yutang initiated the questioning.

"The number two leader of the Syndicate, Tabor Terrence, whom you guys captured only for him to escape afterward," Ouyang Chun answered with a smile.

Astonishment surfaced on the faces of Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang as they waited for Ouyang Chun to elaborate.

"According to the intelligence we've gathered, Tabor's wings have grown stronger over the past few years, and the Syndicate's supreme boss, Spato, can no longer control him. The two have grown estranged in heart while remaining together on the surface, and parting ways is simply a matter of time," Ouyang Chun explained meticulously to the two of them. "If Tabor wants to establish independence, he absolutely must have personnel, funds, and territory. He acquired the personnel long ago, he's still earning the funds and will eventually secure them, but the trickiest part is territory."

"The Americas belong to Spato, and Europe belongs to Leonard. If Tabor wants turf, he has no choice but to set his sights here." Zhan Zhao nodded in understanding. "His trip here last time to purchase the boxed corpses was entirely to make money at the fastest possible speed."

"To cross the border so smoothly and manage a rapid escape after being nabbed by the police..." Bai Yutang looked at Ouyang Chun with a smile. "That's why you concluded there must be a mole inside the police force."

Ouyang Chun nodded. "Through multifaceted investigations, we verified that Lan Chenglin and Yu Qingyan colluded with Tabor, and recently several powerful faction bosses in various locations have been murdered—leading us to suspect it must be linked to Tabor."

"So you intended to cooperate with the Anti-Gang Task Force and follow the vine to dig up the deeper roots?" Zhan Zhao nodded, but just as he was about to speak, his peripheral vision caught Luo Yang carefully pouring a cup of water and sneaking into the interrogation room.

Bai Yutang wanted to stop him, but Zhan Zhao gave a slight wave of his hand and walked up to the one-way glass to observe the situation inside.

They saw Luo Yang carrying the water over, walking right up beside the bearded man, and asking softly, "Are you mad?"

The bearded man's originally dull eyes gradually regained a trace of vitality. He turned his head to look at the Luo Yang standing beside him and shook his head gently.

Zhan Zhao raised an eyebrow and remarked with considerable surprise, "He cares deeply for Luo Yang."

Bai Yutang and Ouyang Chun also picked up on the clues, remaining silent as they continued watching.

Seeing the bearded man shake his head, Luo Yang let out a sigh of relief, held out the cup, and offered it. "Want some water?"

The bearded man nodded, slowly drinking the water from the cup that Luo Yang was tilting for him. Before long, the cup was empty.

"Want more?" Luo Yang asked.

The bearded man shook his head and instinctively glanced toward the one-way glass.

Luo Yang grinned and said, "Don't worry, they aren't bad guys."

Hearing this, the bearded man nodded.

Luo Yang turned his head to look at the skull on the table and asked, "Have you ever done anything bad?"

The bearded man clearly froze for a moment before silently nodding.

Luo Yang seemed somewhat saddened, opening his mouth to ask more, but the door suddenly swung open. Zhan Zhao stepped inside and called out, "Yangyang, you aren't supposed to wander in here."

Luo Yang looked at Zhan Zhao, then glanced back at the bearded man, and had no choice but to walk out. Zhan Zhao handed him over to Bai Yutang, glanced outside the door, and signaled Bai Yutang to take him away—the subsequent questioning was not something the boy should hear.

Understanding the unspoken intent, Bai Yutang led Luo Yang out of the interrogation room, handed him over to Bai Chi to go grab some food together, and then hurried right back.

Seeing Zhan Zhao enter alone, Bai Yutang wanted to follow him in, but seeing Zhan Zhao wave a hand toward the glass, he had no choice but to stay put. Ouyang Chun asked with a fair bit of curiosity, "Do the two of you share some sort of telepathic link?" Bai Yutang smiled silently, focusing his attention entirely on the scene inside the interrogation room.

Zhan Zhao walked into the interrogation room alone, sat down opposite the bearded man, and spoke in a low voice, "Is he your son?"

The bearded man, who had maintained a calm expression moments before, jerked his head up. After staring blankly for two full seconds, he began shaking his head frantically.

Zhan Zhao smiled slightly. "Don't worry, Yangyang went outside. He can't hear any of this."

Upon hearing Zhan Zhao's words, the bearded man stopped shaking his head, but instantly realized that the smile on the corner of Zhan Zhao's mouth meant he had already seen right through the facade, leaving the man no choice but to drop his head in defeat.

"Yutang and I—the police officer who arrested you just now—plan to adopt Yangyang." Zhan Zhao watched the bearded man's expression closely.

The bearded man raised his head, his face filled with pleasant surprise before he nodded heavily. Watching his reaction, Zhan Zhao suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for him and asked in a low voice, "Yangyang is a good kid. Don't you want to take him back and raise him? He seems to like you a lot, too."

The bearded man lowered his head. After a long silence, he silently shook his head, parted his lips, and spoke in a strange, metallic synthesized voice: "He cannot follow me."

Both Bai Yutang and Ouyang Chun outside frowned upon hearing this. The man's voice sounded as though it had been filtered through a voice-modulator device, completely stripping away any natural acoustic quality.

Noticing the look of astonishment on Zhan Zhao's face, the bearded man reached out with his unhandcuffed hand, lifted his long beard, and exposed his neck. Zhan Zhao saw a short scar running right alongside his Adam's apple—the exact location of the vocal cords. The voice modulator had been directly implanted!

Bai Yutang looked on with astonishment and asked Ouyang Chun beside him, "Which organization has a habit like this?"

Ouyang Chun shook his head vigorously. "Never heard of it."

Zhan Zhao pointed to the skull on the table and asked, "Who is this?"

The bearded man shook his head and remained silent.

Zhan Zhao pushed the stack of photographs closer to him. "What are these?"

The bearded man still shook his head, speaking only after a long pause, "Don't ask."

After that, no matter what else Zhan Zhao asked, he refused to answer. Zhan Zhao packed up the items, preparing to leave. Just as he walked a few steps away, he turned back and asked, "By the way, do you know if there is another bearded man out there?"

The bearded man froze, his eyes widening as he stared intently at Zhan Zhao. "Where is he?"

Sensing the tension in his gaze, Zhan Zhao smiled faintly and continued, "Do you know about the Midnight Punisher?"

The bearded man's expression turned instantly dangerous, his eyes locking onto Zhan Zhao. Outside, Bai Yutang shouted a hurried "Not good!" and flung the door open to charge inside. At the exact same time, the bearded man lunged toward Zhan Zhao...

Everything happened too fast. One of the bearded man's hands was cuffed to an iron chair, which was bolted straight into the floor—something an ordinary person could never budge—yet he yanked the entire chair right off its moorings. By the time Bai Yutang rushed into the interrogation room, the bearded man had already reached Zhan Zhao's side, lifting the chair as a barrier to block Bai Yutang while stating coldly, "Stay back, I won't hurt him..."

Bai Yutang stood two paces away with a cold expression, his eyes fixed on Zhan Zhao to gauge his reaction.

Zhan Zhao maintained his serene composure, as if he had anticipated this all along. He raised a hand and made a gentle waving gesture toward the one-way glass. Outside the glass, Ouyang Chun—who had already drawn his gun and taken aim—hesitated for a fraction of a second before lowering his weapon.

"Let me go," the bearded man said concisely to Bai Yutang.

Zhan Zhao turned to look at the bearded man. "You want to go find him? Is he your enemy?"

Looking somewhat drained, the bearded man stared at Zhan Zhao and said in a deep voice, "I still have something unfinished! Once it's done, you can do whatever you want with me."

Zhan Zhao raised an eyebrow. "How about we cooperate?"

The bearded man froze, taking a moment to process the suggestion.

Zhan Zhao pulled a photograph from his pocket and handed it to him. "Take a look, and check the handwriting on the back."

The bearded man took the photograph into his hands. It was the exact picture Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had recovered from the police station parking lot, signed by the "Midnight Punisher." He seemed to hesitate for a moment before hearing Zhan Zhao continue, "Don't you want to catch him as quickly as possible? Leaving him to roam the world for even one more day means another day of danger."

Bai Yutang closed the door behind him, looked up, and smiled at the bearded man. "You aren't getting out of here that easily anyway."

The bearded man ultimately let out a sigh, lowered the chair in his grip, and sat down with a defeated air, asking with a bitter smile, "How do we cooperate?"

Zhan Zhao walked over to the table, picked up one of the group photos of the children, and asked, "Who are these people?"

The bearded man stared at the photograph for a long time before replying quietly, "Aside from me and him, all the rest are dead."

Bai Yutang chuckled and shook his head. "Not two, there should be three—isn't Yangyang one of them, too?"

The bearded man raised his head and looked at Bai Yutang with a hint of a smile. "He won't be. Since you can protect him, I can die in peace."

Bai Yutang pulled over a chair, sat down, and said, "Let's hear your story."

The bearded man shook his head. "I won't—"

"Cut the nonsense!" Bai Yutang glared at him. "When someone's a father, they ought to hear all about the old days of the man who raised him. You'd better make things clear so I'll have an answer for Yangyang later when he asks why you didn't want him!"

The bearded man froze, casting a helpless glance at Zhan Zhao as if thinking—why are the two of you completely different styles?

Zhan Zhao was caught between laughter and tears as well. Bai Yutang was simply direct; he wouldn't bother invoking grand principles like solving cases or upholding justice—he only spoke his mind: Yangyang had every right to know why his biological father had seemingly abandoned him.

Outside the glass, Ouyang Chun had also pulled up a chair to sit down, quietly waiting for the bearded man to recount his past. He had never been this curious about anyone before—what on earth could drive a person to live cut off from the light of day for so many years, to the point of not even daring to acknowledge his own biological son?

The bearded man remained silent for a good while before finally nodding in resignation. "I'll tell you."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged glances—he'd finally broken!

"Where would you like me to start?" the bearded man asked the two of them.

"What's your name, and where are you from?" For the first time, Zhan Zhao felt as though questioning a suspect was more like unraveling a mystery.

The bearded man rolled up his sleeve to reveal his arm to them. On the outer side of his upper left arm was a tattoo consisting of a string of numbers—-17-1.

"What do these numbers mean?" Zhan Zhao asked, puzzled. At the same time, both he and Bai Yutang were shocked to notice that the bearded man's skin was covered in scars.

"It's my name," the bearded man said briefly. "I know nothing else."

Zhan Zhao abruptly stood up, picked up the stack of photographs, and began rifling through them. Sure enough, on one of the photos, he found a six- or seven-year-old child who also had a string of numbers tattooed on his left arm—precisely -17-1.

"This is..." Zhan Zhao widened his eyes in shock. To brand a child with a number at such an age...

The bearded man took the photograph and stared at it quietly, drifting off into a trance. After looking at it for a long while, he spoke slowly, "Does he look like Yangyang?"

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao both nodded. The resemblance was indeed striking, which was why Zhan Zhao had spotted this particular photo instantly among the many others.

"Does this number have any specific meaning?" Zhan Zhao pulled the bearded man back from his memories and pressed on.

The bearded man nodded slightly. "First generation. Number 1 out of 17."

Hearing his response, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged glances, their eyes filled with utter bewilderment.

"Have you ever heard of neural sensitivity?" the bearded man suddenly asked.

Zhan Zhao nodded. "All of human behavior and sensation are transmitted to the brain via nerves, and the brain sends back commands for the body to act. The lower the sensitivity of the nerves, the less information is transmitted to the brain."

Bai Yutang also stroked his chin. "I remember someone once proposing that combat effectiveness in soldiers could be enhanced by artificially reducing their neural sensitivity, but it violated human ethics, and the person who proposed it suddenly vanished afterward."

The bearded man glanced at Bai Yutang, offering a faint smile. "That's right, he's dead... thoroughly dead, dead to the point where he can never harm anyone again." As he spoke, he slowly turned his head, his gaze landing upon the stark white skull.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged glances, drawing in a sharp breath as they asked in unison, "Could it be that he is..."

The bearded man let out a cold laugh. "His name was Edgar Allan Poe..."

Following that, the two men inside the interrogation room and Ouyang Chun outside listened as the bearded man used his exceptionally desolate voice to narrate an extraordinarily cruel story.

Downstairs at the convenience store in the police station, Bai Chi bought a soft-serve ice cream cone, carefully peeled off the wrapper, and handed it to Luo Yang standing beside him. Then he bought one for himself, took Luo Yang by the hand, and walked over to sit on the edge of the flower bed near the station entrance, eating slowly.

Luo Yang licked his ice cream cone, looking somewhat distracted. Bai Chi gently patted his shoulder and asked, "What's wrong? Is it not good?"

Shaking his head, Luo Yang raised his face to look at Bai Chi, asking with a hint of perplexity, "Brother Bai Chi, why did you become a police officer?"

Bai Chi blinked, tilting his head in thought. "Well... most of the men in our family are police officers, so at first, I just felt that I was destined to be a cop. Later on, after transferring to the SI unit and learning so many things from my older brother and the others, I wanted to be a good police officer from the bottom of my heart."

Luo Yang nodded with a look of half-understanding. "At the very beginning, didn't you not want to be a police officer?"

Bai Chi nodded honestly. "Yeah, I did."

"Why do things you don't want to do?" Luo Yang propped his chin in his hand, staring blankly as if speaking to himself. "Why is it that even though Uncle Big Beard has done bad things, I still feel like he's a good person?"

Bai Chi reached out, patted Luo Yang's head, and said, "People who have done bad things still have the right to change for the better."

Luo Yang looked up and asked earnestly, "Then... after he changes for the better, is he a good person?"

Bai Chi smiled helplessly, using a tissue to wipe a smudge of ice cream from the corner of Luo Yang's mouth. "Some mistakes can never be undone for a lifetime, so the punishment follows you for a lifetime."

"What if he's already changed for the better, and he's already been punished?" Luo Yang argued. "People can correct their mistakes, right? If you can't forgive him, does that mean you can't like him anymore?"

Bai Chi thought for a moment and said, "Whether other people forgive him isn't what matters. What matters is whether he can forgive himself. As for liking someone..." At this point, he reached out to ruffle Luo Yang's hair. "Whether you like someone or not is entirely your own business. What does that have to do with whether that person has been forgiven?" As he spoke, he shoved the crunchy tip at the very bottom of the ice cream cone straight into a dazed Luo Yang's mouth. "There's chocolate down here, it's really sweet."