Chapter 46: Duan Yu's Shock! The Murderer Is Him!

Chapter 46: Duan Yu's Astonishment! The Killer is Him!
    ...
    Actually, in this world, there are still many mysteries that appear to have little connection to cold cases on the surface.
    For instance, the micro-invisible Heavenly Eye technology utilized by the criminal-chasing livestream program crew for broadcasting.
    There is also the information filtering network technology.
    In the world of Su Chen's past life, although drone technology had developed tremendously—becoming gradually smaller in size and broader and more sophisticated in function—it was far inferior compared to the micro-invisible Heavenly Eyes of this world.
    If the former were bows, arrows, and spears, then the latter would be an atomic bomb; the technological gap was immensely vast.
    Furthermore, this information filtering network was even more miraculous, capable of screening information with extreme strictness.
    For example, when the expert panel acquired information, the moment any spoiler-related content concerning Su Chen appeared, the information filtering network would filter it out at the very first instance.
    Such a terrifying capacity for information control was simply staggering.
    The information filtering network technology also had applications in daily life. For instance, in the world of Su Chen's past life, those websites where the heavens were witness and which were utterly incompatible with gambling and drugs vanished completely under the filtration of this world's information filtering network.
    Lost in thought, Su Chen pushed open the restroom door and walked out.
    He had previously checked the theoretical data and principles behind these two pieces of black technology, but aside from a bunch of empty rhetoric, he had gained nothing.
    Meanwhile, the netizens waiting eagerly in the livestream room for Su Chen to emerge became instantly excited the moment Su Chen stepped back into the frame.
    [Look everyone, Su Chen is coming out of the restroom!]
    [Why did he take so long this time?]
    [Well... based on my summary of previous livestreams, every time Su Chen goes into the restroom, he comes out with new discoveries.]
    [Yes, that's right. The great philosopher Wo Ziji once established Su Chen's Theorem, which states that every time Su Chen enters a restroom, the information he masters increases.]
    [First we had Sleeping Kogoro, and now we have Restroom Su Chen. The detective world truly produces generation after generation of talent!]
    Naturally, Su Chen could not see these bullet comments. Walking toward the expert panel's office, he began to ponder his next step.
    He was now gradually coming to understand the skill known as the Iron-Faced God-like Deduction Technique.
    Its principle was to elevate one's deductive reasoning and logical thinking to a terrifying level.
    This allowed him to directly conduct real-scene simulations within his mind, reconstructing and "witnessing with his own eyes" the entire course of a case from beginning to end.
    For instance, the previous process of questioning the residents in the residential complex was a collision and sorting of old and new clues. The new clues were Bai Su's personality profile of Su Chen, while the old clues were the investigative records in Su Chen's memory regarding the residents living around the crime scene from the case files.
    Placed within the mental real-scene simulation of the God-like Deduction Technique, it transformed into Su Chen holding Bai Su's analysis and questioning these deceased or departed people for clues about the killer.
    When the quantity of clues he mastered reached a critical threshold, these clues would automatically combine and sort themselves out in his mind, yielding new conclusions.
    For example, just now, the process of Su Chen conversing with that girl in his mind was a process where all the clues he mastered intertwined and reacted with one another.
    The process of gathering information from the girl's mouth was actually the process by which Su Chen himself arrived at new conclusions during his deductive reasoning.
    Once the clues he mastered reached a certain critical threshold sufficient to solve the case, Su Chen could perform mental deductions, reconstructing the entire course of the case from beginning to end in a manner close to "personal experience," thereby finding the killer.
    The deduction just now had been exactly like this.
    He already knew the identity of the killer in the Nanjing University dismemberment case.
    However, there were now two problems.
    First, twenty years later today, where were these two killers, and how should they be apprehended?
    Second, less than half an hour remained until the complete restoration of the surveillance system.
    All monitoring facilities and networks across Nanjing City had already been reinforced with temporarily dispatched police personnel for strict defense; wanting to blow them up a second time was absolutely impossible.
    Once the surveillance was restored, his identity would also be exposed, and everything he had done at the police station during this period would become known to the expert panel.
    One could easily imagine what their reaction would be.
    When that time came, how could he successfully escape from their grasp?
    Su Chen's brain spun at high speed, and very soon, he had the answer.
    ...
    Expert Panel Laboratory.
    Aside from the elusive Wang Yanxing and Duan Yu, who had gone to conduct the killer identification, all the experts were seated neatly behind the table.
    Su Chen, whom they had just selected as a special consultant, had gone to the restroom and remained gone for a long time.
    Time ticked away second by second.
    "Why hasn't Su Chen returned yet?"
    Forensic pathologist Qin Ming tapped his fingers lightly on the desktop, a manifestation of inner anxiety.
    "It's possible the psychological pressure is simply too great. After all, this is his first time handling a case, and right out of the gate, it's a major cold case."
    Bai Su replied.
    She took out her phone, pondering whether she should send Su Chen a message to check on him.
    "Pressure is normal."
    Cui Liwan rubbed his eyes and spoke up:
    "I'll talk to him in a moment. For this case, we'll do our utmost, but because of the distant era and the difficulty of the investigation, it's completely normal even if he doesn't produce results."
    "Mmm..."
    Qin Ming sighed:
    "This case was reopened temporarily, and our preparation along with Su Chen's is far too insufficient. There's an extremely high probability that we still won't be able to further identify the killer; we can only say we'll give it a try."
    Just as the few of them were talking, Su Chen pushed open the door and entered.
    "Su Chen, you're finally back!"
    Bai Su looked up and said.
    "I went to ponder some matters regarding the case."
    Su Chen sat down in the empty seat beside Bai Su. Simultaneously, Bai Su caught a faint fragrance coming from him.
    This scent was similar to the woody aroma of balsam fir, causing Bai Su to feel a slight trace of surprise. Was this perfume?
    However, with a major case at hand, everyone's energy was extremely limited, and Bai Su did not dwell on side issues.
    Hearing that Su Chen had gone to think about case-related matters, Cui Liwan's eyes lit up involuntarily as he said:
    "Su Chen, go ahead."
    Seated among the experts, Su Chen spoke:
    "Elder Cui, I imagine you've already concentrated the police forces. Could you please make arrangements to deploy a portion of the police force to the train stations on standby? We may need to make arrests across cities or even provinces."
    "Additionally, lead another portion yourself and head to the residential area southeast of Nanjing University. Right, I also need authorization for the police database."
    Cui Liwan nodded and said:
    "No problem."
    The possibility of capturing the true culprit of a cold case within a few days was not high, but it was still necessary to try their utmost.
    Cui Liwan immediately stood up, repeated the deployment over his walkie-talkie, and ordered the police officers on standby at the bureau to act immediately according to the command.
    He himself also walked out of the office to rush to the front lines alongside the police officers.
    Before leaving, he even arranged for a police officer with database authorization to stay by Su Chen's side to assist him in searching for information.
    "Su Chen, feel free to search as you please. However, some materials exceed even my security clearance, so you'll only be able to view a portion."
    That police officer pushed the computer toward Su Chen.
    Su Chen briefly expressed his thanks, and then began typing rapidly in front of the computer.
    Such a sight left the others momentarily stunned, feeling that Su Chen's typing speed was a match for Duan Yu's from earlier.
    Very quickly, Su Chen retrieved the household survey records archives of Nanjing City from twenty years ago.
    The household survey records were a major nationwide census conducted every four years, intended to integrate information on the resident population. Generally speaking, such archives were preserved indefinitely.
    Sure enough, after accurately inputting the location, time, and name, Su Chen quickly found the detailed information of the female killer, Zhao Xiaoyue.
    Inputting the information once more to retrieve the latest year's household census records, a piece of personal information abruptly appeared before Su Chen's eyes!
    [Resident: Zhao Xiaoyue.]
    [Gender: Female.]
    [Age: 41 years old.]
    [Address: No. 106 Heping Avenue, Jiangnan District, Nanjing City...]
    "Very good."
    A subtle smile that was difficult to notice curved the corner of Su Chen's mouth. Then, he silently closed that interface.
    "Boss, did Duan Yu go to conduct the killer identification?"
    Su Chen turned his head to ask Bai Su.
    Bai Su nodded:
    "Yes."
    "How long has he been gone?"
    "He's been gone quite a while. Must be half an hour by now."
    Half an hour... Su Chen thought silently; things were somewhat pressing, and Duan Yu was very likely finished with the identification by now.
    He wondered if he still had time.
    "Boss, you and Officer Qin stay right here and wait for our news. If necessary, please set out immediately."
    Su Chen instructed the two experts present.
    "Alright."
    Bai Su and Qin Ming nodded in unison.
    Having obtained their response, Su Chen said nothing further and walked straight out of the office.
    He had the police officer ready a car, without calling for a driver, stepped hard on the gas pedal, and rushed out of the Nanjing Municipal Public Security Bureau.
    ...
    On the other side.
    University Town Branch of the Nanjing Municipal Public Security Bureau.
    In a quiet room bathed in soft lighting, Duan Yu sat opposite two eyewitnesses—a man and a woman—with a thin film of sweat on his forehead.
    "To ensure the accuracy of the results, please conduct the third and final identification."
    He spoke slowly, putting away the old photographs and replacing them with twenty new ones.
    These photographs featured the exact same twenty people as the old ones, just shot from a different angle.
    Before Duan Yu, the two eyewitnesses picked up those photographs and examined them carefully.
    In less than a minute, they gave their answer.
    Duan Yu took the photographs and let out a long breath.
    Despite how hard it was to believe, all three tests had yielded identical results.
    The person they identified was none other than... Su Chen, the newly appointed consultant of the expert panel!