Chapter 33: A Fugitive Detective! Headline of the International Criminal Investigation Gazette!
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Chapter 33:
【The body evidence from the Jinling University dismemberment case twenty years ago has finally been completed!】
【Police announce that the cold case will be reopened in its final days!】
【The person who provided the clue to the last body fragment was the simulated murderer!】
【Just who is he?!】
【Su Chen’s playing-card puzzle actually held the answer to this case. Who could have imagined it!!!】
Articles, videos, and announcements bearing related headlines flooded the internet in an instant, pouring forth like snowflakes in a blizzard!
Beneath those headlines, countless people were left astonished.
【I honestly don’t know what to say about Su Chen anymore... He’s practically a monster! The greatest monster of them all!】
【I never dared imagine that he could give us such a huge surprise. No, this is practically a shock!】
【Was he really acting? How did his performance somehow become reality?!】
【At first, I thought I understood Su Chen quite well, but now, his image has become increasingly unfathomable in my eyes... Su Chen, just who are you?!】
【The cold case from twenty years ago has been reopened. What kind of result will we see this time?】
【Although the body evidence has now been completed, there still isn’t enough other evidence. Everything is such a mess. The case was never closed back then, and now, twenty years later... Is there still a chance?】
【If we leave aside the variable known as Su Chen, I don’t think it would be possible to solve the case in these final days before the statute of limitations expires. But we can’t see through Su Chen. With him involved, perhaps everything will be different...】
An enormous number of viewers also flooded into Su Chen’s livestream!
Among them were many seasoned mystery enthusiasts, and even professional criminal investigators.
Previously, these people had regarded the crime-solving livestream as nothing more than a childish game and had no interest in watching it.
But after this upheaval, they came to see Su Chen with an almost pilgrim-like reverence.
【I’ve come to pay my respects in the livestream of Master Su Chen. When I first heard the news, I thought it had to be fake. Then I saw who had posted it—the Jinling Municipal Public Security Bureau headquarters!】
【The Jinling University dismemberment case is one of the Ten Greatest Cold Cases of the Dragon Nation. Solving such cases is the dream of every mystery enthusiast and professional in the Dragon Nation!】
【To witness this cold case being solved within my lifetime... I could die without regret...】
【To hear the truth at dawn is enough, even if one dies by nightfall!】
【Where has such a genius been all this time? Why has he never shown himself before?】
【If not for the Crime Hunt Live variety show, Su Chen would probably have remained undiscovered. What a pity that would have been. Thank you to the production team for bringing such a master to light!】
【I can’t even imagine what kind of deductive ability it took for him to determine the location of the body fragments. I have no idea how he managed to do it.】
At the same time, another official announcement sent the already feverish atmosphere to a new peak!
#Announcement from the Jinling Municipal Public Security Bureau
The actor portraying the murderer in this livestream program has made outstanding contributions to solving the case. He will be awarded a prize of thirty thousand yuan, a commendation banner, and a Second-Class Merit in Criminal Investigation!
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At the same time, we have decided to place this actor portraying the murderer on the Dragon Nation’s Master Detectives Ranking under the identity of “The Mysterious Man,” placing him among the top one hundred!
Congratulations to Su Chen!
Congratulations to the Dragon Nation!
The cold case has made major progress!
—Date Unknown
There are many cold cases in this world, and the field of criminal investigation is exceptionally prosperous.
Naturally, all kinds of rankings have emerged as well.
There are rankings for cold cases, bounty rankings, master detective rankings, and more...
The Dragon Nation’s Master Detectives Ranking!
Making it onto this list is the dream of everyone involved in investigation and criminal detection throughout the Dragon Nation.
It means that you have become one of the one hundred finest detectives in the entire history of the Dragon Nation.
The requirements for entering the Dragon Nation’s Master Detectives Ranking are also extremely demanding. One must solve a Grade-A cold case, or three Grade-B cold cases, or ten Grade-C cold cases.
Alternatively, one must make a major and decisive contribution during the resolution of one of the Dragon Nation’s Ten Greatest Cold Cases!
It might still be possible to make the list by fulfilling one of the conditions mentioned earlier. But making it onto the list through the final condition is as difficult as ascending to heaven. No one had achieved it in nearly twenty years!
Today, Su Chen broke that zero and became the first person to enter the ranking through this condition!
He could be said to have achieved, at the age of twenty, what countless criminal investigators longed for throughout their entire lives.
【The Master Detectives Ranking? My God!】
【The esteemed Mr. Cui Liwan is ranked fifty-third on that list. He participated in solving more than a thousand cases over the course of his life, including dozens of major cases. Su Chen is now ranked alongside him.】
【The list of the Dragon Nation’s finest detectives. Aren’t there only a little over forty people still alive on it...?】
【I don’t know the exact number. The identities of the top ten people on the bounty ranking are classified as national secrets, so we aren’t allowed to know who they are.】
【This ranking has existed for quite a long time. I think there are even people from more than two thousand years ago on it.】
【The author of the ancient work Records of Injustice is on the list too. That saying about being off by the slightest margin and ending up a thousand miles away has become a famous line on the first page of modern criminal-investigation textbooks.】
【I’m so envious...】
【This isn’t something ordinary people can envy. It’s something I wouldn’t even dare dream of. I have no objections whatsoever to Su Chen making the list!】
【I think Su Chen still has tremendous room for advancement. Once the program ends and he begins participating in solving real cases, perhaps he can climb even higher and fight his way into the top ten!】
【Hahahaha, making the top ten on the Asian Master Detectives Ranking isn’t impossible either!】
【Let’s be bolder—the top ten on the World Master Detectives Ranking!】
...
Meanwhile.
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On a flight from Winter Capital in the Cherry Blossom Nation to Jinling City in the Dragon Nation.
The beautiful young detective of the Cherry Blossom Nation, Uesugi Mei’ai, slid her finger across the tablet.
Her lovely almond-shaped eyes were fixed intently on the report displayed on the screen.
“Hmm, the Mysterious Man has made the Dragon Nation’s Master Detectives Ranking... Is he the murderer from Crime Hunt Live?!”
She abruptly sat upright.
Because she had already participated in the program and had been subjected to the information filter imposed by the production team, Uesugi Mei’ai had received only limited news.
But she knew what the Master Detectives Ranking signified.
Although the Dragon Nation’s modern criminal-investigation studies had developed somewhat slowly in recent times, leaving it short of outstanding talent, there was no denying that the Dragon Nation’s ancient criminal-investigation tradition had once led the entire world.
In ancient times, the Dragon Nation had produced many detectives of extraordinary renown. Figures like Di Renjie were known throughout the world and were no less famous than Holmes of the Parrot Nation.
Four ancient detectives from the Dragon Nation occupied places in the top ten of the World Master Detectives Ranking.
The nation’s foundations were truly profound.
“Hmm... It looks like I’ll have to take this more seriously.”
Uesugi Mei’ai murmured to herself.
For some reason, she had a feeling that Su Chen would become a formidable rival in her bid to break into the Asian Bounty Ranking.
Although he was still a murderer for the moment, he would soon become a fugitive.
...
The Shenghan Detective Association.
Looking at the information on his phone, Luo Ji wore a solemn expression for the first time.
#The World Detective Daily Publishes an Article!
That newspaper carried tremendous weight. To detectives and investigators, it was practically a holy scripture!
And this time, its headline consisted of five striking words:
【The Detective on the Run!!!】
“With praise this high, it’ll probably alarm those famous detective associations around the world...”
“A great many renowned detectives will take an interest in Su Chen.”
Luo Ji slowly took a sip of tea and murmured to himself:
“All right, I admit it. This does seem rather interesting.”