Chapter 23
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Chapter 23: The Heart Snatcher
“Bang!”
“Don’t move!”
“Public Security Team, hands up!”
“Hands on your heads!”
On the afternoon of June 5th, in the eastern part of the outer city, within a house hidden at the end of a Dark Alley.
Following the loud crash of a door being kicked in, Zhuang Mian led her Public Security Team into a basement filled with the stench of blood.
Instead of a fierce counterattack or the frantic escape of a black market doctor, they were met with bodies sprawled across the floor, each bearing nearly identical fatal wounds.
A peace officer cautiously crouched down and turned over the nearest body, revealing a thin man whose eyes were wide open in death. He expertly pressed his hands against the man’s chest and abdomen, confirming the texture while gauging the skin’s temperature.
“Captain.”
He stood up and approached Zhuang Mian to report:
“The body’s still warm. Time of death was likely within the last two hours, and the method points to the ‘Heart Snatcher.’”
Zhuang Mian’s expression turned grim. She nodded, gritting her teeth as she issued her orders:
“Team One, stay on alert. Team Two, secure the scene.”
The peace officers quickly dispersed, each moving to perform their duties with practiced ease, careful not to provoke the simmering volcano that was their captain.
To put it bluntly, they had become more adept at cleaning up messes than chasing criminals lately, especially since the emergence of the dreaded “Heart Snatcher.”
—
The story began at the end of March. At first, everyone assumed it was just another run-of-the-mill crime committed by a lunatic—something all too common in the eastern outer city.
But there are always exceptions. The incident that sparked it all was a bizarre case that had everyone talking—the “Murder for Meat Case.”
It involved a madman who, on the night of March 31st, Year 52 of the Development Era, slaughtered members of a Small Gang hideout in the lower city, leaving with nothing but a fresh Beef Leg.
Not only was the Beef Leg, sourced from the underground pastures of the inner city and weighing a hefty twenty-five pounds, highly desirable, but Zhuang Mian’s investigation into the matter was fraught with complications.
Under the leadership of this seasoned inner city Captain, the so-called “Brotherhood,” also known as the “Seven Brothers Gang,” was investigated. However, only five bodies were found at the crime scene. Outer city informants confirmed that the missing individuals were the second and third brothers of the seven.
Regardless, both were now prime suspects.
Two months passed, and the Wanted Notices for the second and third brothers were buried under newer ones, yet the two seemed to have vanished without a trace.
Originally, the case was nearing a conclusion based on the theory of uneven distribution of spoils. While this verdict might have sounded absurd, the peace officers of the Eastern District were no strangers to such peculiarities.
Even the Trainer who taught his Cat to steal Dried Fish had been imprisoned alongside his feline accomplice. The Eastern District was never short of bizarre cases, and everyone believed it was only a matter of time before the “Murder for Meat Case” became another classic joke, much like those that came before it.
But the fall of the Brotherhood was like the firing of a starting pistol. Two weeks later, when Zhuang Mian’s investigation linked the gang to the Black Market for Organ Trading in the outer city, a quiet race between investigation and slaughter began.
In light of this, it’s worth mentioning the composition of Zhuang Mian’s Public Security Team. The team consisted of thirty members, including one Captain and one Deputy Captain. Half of them were newly graduated, passionate Young Men who charged into action without a second thought!
As for the other half, the middle-aged members, they could be described as “going with the flow,” but to put it bluntly, they were outright slackers. Years of mingling in the eastern outer city had entangled them in a web of connections with underground forces.
Leaking information or skimming off the spoils had become routine, and even Zhuang Mian had to play nice with these individuals to get the intel she needed.
Amid such inefficient investigations, time dragged on into mid-April.
Zhuang Mian had painstakingly identified suspects connected to the Brotherhood, only for one of them to turn up dead the very next day.
Zhuang Mian traced the movements of a black market doctor, and that very night, the man met his end.
Zhuang Mian shadowed a casino owner, hoping to uncover his direct contact, but to her astonishment, the casino owner suddenly dropped dead right before her eyes.
Zhuang Mian couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was covertly opposing her. This adversary didn’t strike her as a ruthless assassin but rather as a masterful tailor; each time Zhuang Mian grasped a tiny thread in the intricate web, a sharp pair of scissors would swiftly sever the exposed strand.
The public security captain, stationed in the outer city, was so incensed that sleep eluded her night after night. At just twenty-four, she had transformed into a bristling hedgehog, and her team members dared not cross her path.
As days passed, more clues surfaced, and the death toll in the lower city continued to rise. The forensics department released the autopsy reports of the deceased.
The reports revealed that, aside from the initial five gang members who perished from fractures and blunt force trauma, all other victims shared the same cause of death—
cardiac dissection.
Upon opening the chest cavities of the bodies, forensic experts were stunned to find that the hearts of the solitary victims were no longer in their rightful places. Instead, the spaces were filled with blood and hearts that had been meticulously removed.
Yet, these hearts… were not always the originals.
At times, the chests harbored animal hearts; other times, heart-shaped stuffed toys occupied the void.
As for those who died in groups, their hearts invariably belonged to another companion present. Judging by the positions of the fallen bodies, it appeared as though…
a heart-swapping magic cube had been at play.
Superpowered crime.
Indisputably, superpowered crime!
Every newborn in Hope City undergoes at least five screenings for potential awakening before their twelfth birthday, but exceptions do occur. If the research institutes’ screenings were infallible, a method to ensure a 100% awakening rate would have been discovered by now.
This oversight results in a few "slippery fish" each year—individuals who quietly awaken superpowers without reporting them for ability testing.
Most of those with modest ambitions typically join a relatively low-key gang, occasionally leveraging their abilities to make an impression, such as feigning toughness by stabbing their own thigh.
For instance, Zhuang Mian had heard of a man in the lower city nicknamed "One-Armed Blade," renowned for his ability to intimidate new, young gang members.
However, the real issue lies with the small fraction of superpowered individuals who turn to crime, like the "Heart Snatcher."
They become the ultimate destabilizing forces in humanity’s last city.
In truth, most superpowers defy precise description. Those meticulously documented can only be classified by their system and the power level of their possessors; if categorized by specific abilities, no two powers are entirely alike.
Furthermore, some abilities come with very distinct limitations. For example, Zhuang Mian, having spent many years in the inner city, was aware of a peculiar ability possessed by a superpowered individual directly affiliated with the military—
this individual could halve the weight of a target upon touch and gain the ability to fly for one to three hours, though the ability could not be used on themselves.
Such bizarre abilities fill the entire archive room of the Department of Superpower Technology within the research institutes. Zhuang Mian had reason to suspect that the "Heart Snatcher’s" power might involve "exchanging the hearts of humans within a specific range according to certain patterns."
Despite their numerous limitations and seemingly odd nature, these abilities are remarkably potent. Universal abilities like "Rapid Healing," which have no side effects, are overshadowed by these extraordinary powers.
Today marked the fourth black market doctor Zhuang Mian had tracked down, yet once again, she arrived too late. She knew that the number of living black market doctors in the eastern outer city was dwindling.
There was likely only one remaining, residing at the intersection of the eastern and southern districts…
If she failed to expose the organ trafficking channels or apprehend the "Heart Snatcher" before these individuals were all eliminated, the situation would become dire.
