Chapter 57: The Young Man in the Trunk! The Dumbfounded Expert Panel!
Chapter 57: The Young Man in the Trunk! The Dumbfounded Expert Panel!
"Copy that."
In the front courtyard on the first floor of the Jinling Municipal Public Security Bureau headquarters, two police officers put away their walkie-talkies and walked toward the car Su Chen had parked.
"Su Chen's car has been parked right here ever since he came back in the dead of night. What, is there some kind of treasure inside?"
One officer joked to his companion.
These police officers had been standing by downstairs ever since they carried Su Chen's crate up earlier.
"Who cares? Su Chen has already driven away in that new car. Maybe he just left some documents in the trunk..."
His companion shrugged, let out a yawn, took out the key Su Chen had given him, and inserted it into the trunk's keyhole.
"Speaking of which, it's the middle of the night and I'm so sleepy. Don't the people on the expert panel ever need to sleep... Holy shit!"
Mid-sentence, the officer suddenly let out a startled scream.
Because, the very moment he lifted the trunk lid, he saw a young man stripped down to his underwear and tank top, lying inside the trunk with an expression of utter despair.
At that moment, seeing police officers other than Su Chen, the young man felt a sourness rise in his nose, and two lines of tears streamed directly down his face.
He grabbed desperately at the sleeves of the two policemen, refusing to let go no matter how hard they tried to shake him off.
"Wuwuwu... Officers, you're finally here. If you didn't come, I wouldn't want to live anymore..."
"It's a pity that I'm technically a dead man right now and shouldn't talk too much, otherwise—do you have any idea how I spent these past five hours?!"
Seeing this sight, the two police officers felt their brains overload.
Who in the world shoved a living person into Su Chen's trunk?!
Wait, no—this was definitely Su Chen's doing!
And yet, just moments ago, they had handed Su Chen a car with a full tank of gas and cheerfully waved goodbye to him.
Wasn't this equivalent to letting a tiger back into the mountains?
"What's in the trunk?"
Qin Ming's voice came through the walkie-talkie once again.
"Officer Qin, it's... it's a person. Ah, no, a corpse."
The two officers replied with trembling voices, holding the walkie-talkies.
Boom!
Even though they had already guessed it was a strong possibility, upon hearing the news confirmed, everyone on the expert panel felt as if a thunderbolt had exploded in their minds.
"In other words, right from the very beginning of the show, Su Chen pulled off a grand substitution and sneaked right into the expert panel?!"
Wang Yanxing murmured, his sharp hawk-like eyes experiencing a rare moment of dizziness.
"Su Chen..."
Bai Su stood to the side, her gaze practically nailed to Su Chen's face on the big screen.
She crossed her arms, biting down on her lower lip until it turned pale. In her eyes, there was shock, blended with an intensely blazing wave of inquisitive fascination!
Su Chen, you really gave me a huge surprise!
Bai Su thought to herself.
Right beside her, Zhao Long and Wang Ping had already been thoroughly charred inside and out by this revelation.
The two stood there in disheveled misery, looking like jilted, resentful wives.
After spending these past few hours together, they had long since regarded Su Chen as a sworn brother and a deeply cherished friend.
"Holy shit, Su Chen, you owe my brother and me an explanation for our feelings..."
The bullet-screen comments exploded at this moment as well!
[Hahaha, every time I watch this scene of the switch, I laugh every single time!]
[Looking at it this way, the expert panel is truly tragic. They were tricked the entire night and only found out the truth right now!]
[I feel like Officer Qin's head is about to vent steam. Seriously, you can visibly see him turning red with rage!]
[Zhao Long and his buddy are truly miserable. They were almost ready to become sworn brothers with Su Chen right there while eating barbecue... But hey, once the show ends, their bond will definitely be unbreakable.]
[Officer Bai truly proves that an exceptional master produces an extraordinary pupil!]
......
The footage continued to play.
The next scene showed Su Chen in a dilapidated, makeshift laboratory, compounding liquid explosives.
In the live-streaming backroom studio, veteran detective Cui Liwan and cyber-police officer Duan Yu sat side by side, wearing identical expressions of shock with their jaws nearly dropping to the floor.
So those liquid explosives—which they had previously deduced could only be manufactured in a professional chemical laboratory...
Su Chen had actually hand-crafted them from scratch in a shabby little dump of a lab?!
Was he even human?
Cui Liwan drank two consecutive cups of hot tea to calm his nerves, and with an aged, weathered face, he sighed, "The young people of today sure are talented..."
In the live chat, bullet screens refreshed frantically.
[Wuwuwu, I'm sorry, I've brought shame upon my generation of youth!]
[Human evolution once again left me behind!]
[Let's be real, is there any possibility that Su Chen is the only human being secretly evolving behind our backs?]
[Ladies, who could possibly turn down a man who hand-crafts explosives?]
However, the next scene was the classic among classics.
The ultimate twentieth-century investigative showdown—The Information Warfare Between Su Chen and Duan Yu!
Before this scene even began to play, Duan Yu had already demonstrated immense foresight by crawling underneath a table.
"Little Duan, come on out. It's not that big of a deal. It's not funny."
Cui Liwan glanced at Duan Yu, who was frantically hammering away at his keyboard on the big screen, and quickly invoked the stern-faced mental technique he had practiced over thirty years in the police force.
He continuously reminded himself: I am a senior. I have undergone professional training. No matter how funny it is, I will not laugh...
Duan Yu wrapped himself tightly in a blanket, refusing to look at the big screen:
"Elder Cui, please tell me, how many people are watching the live stream right now?"
Cui Liwan glanced at the viewer count in the bottom right corner of the screen.
"Ninety-nine million. It's about to hit one hundred million."
Duan Yu: "......"
This is a dream. It must be a dream. I want to disappear from this world right now...
Cui Liwan patted him on the shoulder:
"Don't be discouraged... Pfft."
Duan Yu: "???"
"Elder Cui, I think I heard a strange noise. Did you just fail to hold in a laugh?"
Cui Liwan kept a straight face: "No, I didn't... Pfft..."
Duan Yu: "......"
You clearly haven't stopped at all!
The audience burst into uproarious, merciless laughter.
[Officer Duan, don't worry, we will definitely not go around spreading this. This is a shared secret among one hundred million of us!]
[That's right, Officer Duan, I will carry this secret of yours to my grave—uh, I mean, I'll lock it deep in my heart!]
[Rest assured, Officer Duan, the lips of us one hundred million people are exceptionally tight!]
[Hahahahaha, I'm sorry, Officer Duan. I know you're second best in the world and vastly superior to the vast majority of people, but... hahahahaha......]
And as Su Chen's various exploits were exposed one by one, the true, gripping truth behind the resolution of China's Top Ten Cold Cases finally surfaced!
At that very moment—
[Ding! The official account of the China Wanted List has entered the live stream!]
[Ding! The official account of the China Master Detective List has entered the live stream!]