Chapter 40: Reducing Costs and Increasing Efficiency! Cutting Expenses and Boosting Revenue!

"The three victims' kowtowing direction?"

"When that Hummer sank into the pond, it wasn't just random?"

"It must have been deliberately positioned toward a specific kowtowing direction."

"This criminal is seriously demonic, damn it!"

"The key point is that the line drawn by Shen Xu really points straight to the old industrial zone."

"That's not all. This line passes right through the old industrial zone, crossing many factories along the way. Among them, there is indeed a copper smelting plant. Ironically, the other factories containing the radical '冂' are not on this straight line at all."

Tang Ren: "Wahahaha, this master detective has a hunch that this case is about to be solved~~~"

Shen Ting had a similar hunch.

"Combined with Shen Xu's discovery, '冂' might actually represent copper. That copper smelting plant is probably extremely crucial."

He immediately used 【Data Sharing】 to access all the files regarding the Qinghe Copper Smelting Plant.

With a brief glance, he froze.

He was surprised, but then it quickly felt entirely logical.

The Qinghe Copper Smelting Plant, which fell right on the drawn line, had been shut down a long time ago.

The factories in the old industrial zone were successively shut down and relocated sixteen or seventeen years ago.

And this copper smelting plant had been shut down even earlier—twenty years ago, due to a major safety accident.

A full 45 people died!

Shen Ting suddenly remembered when Xiong Beibei was explaining things during the investigation at the Sanyapo Pond.

The severe pollution of the Sanyapo Pond was caused by a metal smelting plant accident many years ago. High-temperature molten metal melted and collapsed a sewage storage tank, causing wastewater to flow into the river upstream of the pond. The tank was filled with highly contaminated liquids. That was why the pond had failed to undergo natural purification for twenty years.

Xiong Beibei couldn't remember clearly at the time whether it was a copper smelting plant or a steel smelting plant, but in all likelihood, it was this Qinghe Copper Smelting Plant.

"In that case, the killer choosing to sink the car in the Sanyapo Pond wasn't a coincidence, nor was it simply because it was relatively safe there. It was deliberately arranged?"

Shen Ting actually had a question before.

Several months after the crime, the investigation team concluded their probe and withdrew. The criminal specifically arranged for an excavator to bury the Hummer.

Why not just hoist the Hummer out, completely crush it, and dispose of it? Wouldn't that be even more flawless?

Even now, twelve years later, the group members were able to deduce the criminal's trick of dumping the car. If the car had been crushed, there would be no way to investigate at all. It could be said to be truly untraceable.

The crux of the matter was that, given the criminal's cautious personality and high intelligence, they certainly would have thought of this method and been capable of executing it.

Yet they didn't do it!

Now, Shen Ting vaguely grasped the answer.

The criminal's failure to hoist the car out was very likely in order to let the three people inside the car kneel there, repenting from afar toward the copper smelting plant.

As for what they needed to repent for, could it be related to the steel smelting plant accident back then?

Was the criminal a family member of one of the 45 victims from that year?

...

Shen Ting thought rapidly. At that moment, the police car suddenly came to a halt!

The motorcade had arrived at the old industrial zone.

A scene of desolation met the eyes!

Deserted factory buildings!

Tall, withered yellow weeds!

Scrawny, wild dogs darting around!

Broken equipment discarded everywhere!

Over the walkie-talkie, Zheng Yuanqiao's voice came through:

"We've arrived at the old industrial zone! First Team, split into five groups and conduct a dispersed search. Try to thoroughly comb through this place before dark."

Shen Ting checked the time on his phone; it was already 12 o'clock.

Only one full day remained out of the five-day deadline to solve the case.

He directly nudged Xiong Beibei beside him:

"Brother Xiong, tell Team Leader Zheng that I suggest everyone go directly to the Qinghe Copper Smelting Plant."

Although puzzled, Xiong Beibei took out the walkie-talkie and relayed the message verbatim to Team Leader Zheng.

"The Qinghe Copper Smelting Plant?"

Zheng Yuanqiao was stunned and immediately questioned:

"Little Xiong, don't joke around. That Qinghe Copper Smelting Plant has no direct connection to the case. It's safer to search the factories one by one."

"Ahem, Team Leader Zheng, this is Shen Ting's suggestion."

"Shen Ting?"

Team Leader Zheng was somewhat surprised:

"Alright, then let's listen to Shen Ting. He must have his own reasons..."

Xiong Beibei: "(꒪⌓꒪)"

Wait, Team Leader Zheng, isn't your double standard a bit too obvious? My suggestion was dismissed as joking around. Shen Ting's suggestion definitely had his reasons?

...

Zheng Yuanqiao directly altered his order over the walkie-talkie:

"Scratch the team-by-team search. Listen to Shen Ting, go straight to the Qinghe Copper Smelting Plant!"

Upon hearing this, the police officers who had already begun dividing into groups were also puzzled.

"Go to the Qinghe Copper Smelting Plant?"

"Does this case have something to do with that copper smelting plant?"

"Was the criminal's base set up there back then?"

"The question is, how did Shen Ting figure that out?"

"Currently, there are no clues pointing to the copper smelting plant, right?"

"Could it be through pollen too? Doesn't seem right though!"

In the lead police car, Qin Shan and Zheng Yuanqiao were also extremely astonished.

Did Shen Ting have yet another surprise up his sleeve? And it was coming this fast?

...

Soon, the motorcade reached the central area of the old industrial zone.

The Qinghe Copper Smelting Plant was situated right here.

Abandoned for twenty years, the factory was in the worst state of decay.

The plaster on the exterior of the white walls had peeled off in chunks, exposing the red bricks underneath. Rainwater stains hung vertically down the white walls.

Faded slogans remained here and there, barely legible anymore—

Practice thrift and reduce waste, lower costs and increase efficiency!

Safe production is heavier than Mount Tai!

Life above all else, safety is supreme!

Heaven and earth are vast, safety is paramount!

The main gate of the factory!

The steel gates were covered in rust. The five large characters "Qinghe Copper Smelting Plant" above the gate had also completely turned a rust-brown color. The character "Copper" in the middle was particularly corroded, hanging crookedly. A cold wind blew, causing it to creak and sway as if it might detach at any moment.

"Could it... be this copper smelting plant?"

Qin Shan's eyes widened, a look of genuine terror flashing across his face.

Just upon hearing the name Qinghe Copper Smelting Plant, it had sounded familiar to him, accompanied by a deeply unsettling feeling. At this moment, seeing the gate, it all rushed back to him instantly.

He recalled a nightmarish memory!

"Team Leader Qin, what's wrong?"

Zheng Yuanqiao asked, stepping out of the car with a puzzled expression.

"Twenty years ago, during the accident at this copper smelting plant, I was at the scene."

Qin Shan's voice was hoarse, and the terror on his face grew more pronounced:

"That was the most horrifying scene I have ever witnessed in my life. Calling it hell on earth would not be an exaggeration."

He swallowed hard, shook his head, unwilling to say more or dwell on the memory any longer:

"Sigh, let's go inside and search!"

The officers immediately pushed open the gate and entered.

The first thing that came into view was, naturally, the collapsed huge sewage tank. It lay tilted there, having cracked the concrete ground.

The courtyard was littered with various kinds of industrial waste—broken equipment, rusted iron bars, rotting tables and chairs, and more.

Everyone arrived at the factory building where the accident had occurred.

The entrance door had already been dismantled. The original concrete floor had been entirely pried up, exposing the bare earth beneath.

Shen Ting raised his head to look at the overhead crane hanging high inside the factory.

The direct cause of the accident back then was a malfunction of that overhead crane.

The crane was used to transport ladles of molten copper. Copper ore was smelted into molten copper in the smelting furnace, poured into copper ladles, and transferred via the overhead crane to the casting pit for molding.

To cut costs, when the factory was built back then, they selected an overhead crane that barely met standard specifications.

When the accident occurred, the crane tilted due to the high heat, and the massive ladle of molten copper it was transporting plummeted from high altitude.

Fifty tons of molten copper instantly spilled out.

At that exact moment, the workers were shifting shifts!

The shift-change room was also set up on the ground floor of the factory building.

In fact, this was not permitted. Originally, this space was a tool room! But to allow workers to change shifts quickly and boost efficiency, the shift-change room, which was originally on the second floor, had been relocated to the ground floor, carving out a space from the tool room!

And the molten copper rushing out of the ladle surged directly toward the workers inside the shift-change room.

The shift-change room, hastily patched together with inferior compressed wood panels, stood no chance against the thousand-degree molten copper.

Many workers scrambled onto tables and chairs. But even the iron table legs rapidly melted and softened, and the workers plunged into the molten copper.

Shen Ting walked over to where the window of the former shift-change room had been.

Only a hollow window frame remained here; the original steel bars had been removed.

When the accident happened, some workers tried to climb out through the window. But the bars were too narrow, and a worker got stuck in the middle, forced to endure as the lower half of his body was submerged, burned, and carbonized by the molten copper.

Branch Team Leader Qin Shan also looked toward the window, but after just one glance, he looked away.

He would never forget what he saw the moment he first stepped into the factory when responding to the emergency call back then: a man stretching his hand out of the window for help, his entire body charred black and mummified.

Afterward, the forensic pathologists tried to extract his body, but with just a gentle touch, the worker's outstretched arm snapped off entirely.

It was the same for the workers inside the factory. Due to the high density of molten copper, the workers floated on its surface. But the temperature was too high for them to escape. Ultimately, their lower torsos fused with the cooling copper to form a metal sheet, while their upper torsos turned to charcoal on top of the copper plate.

It was a scene far more terrifying than the hell depicted in Dante's *Inferno*.

After the accident, the metal sheet, along with the concrete floor, had been pried up and hauled away...

Shen Ting's expression turned grave.

Most crucially, the files of the Qinghe Copper Smelting Plant showed that the owner back then was none of other than Liu Furen!

"Hey, look at this!"

At that moment, a technician suddenly cried out in surprise:

"This concrete pool doesn't seem quite right..."