Chapter 13

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Chapter 13: A Twisted Crime

“How is it going, have you two figured out what this is about?” Joe James impatiently asked after less than five minutes.

“It seems to be a murder case,” Zhang Zhiyuan mused, “And a serial one at that. The person who wrote these case files not only collected the details of the crime scenes but also added a lot of miscellaneous information, which seems to be from his own investigations and inquiries.”

Unfortunately, from a criminal investigation perspective, these details were too fragmented and superficial, offering little analytical value.

This suggests that the recorder was not a professional.

“There’s also a bag of photos here,” Zhou Zhi said from the side.

“Oh? Let’s see them quickly,” the American perked up, as he hadn’t taken the Translation Tofu and could only stare blankly at the written records. But photos were different; they could be analyzed by anyone with basic comprehension skills.

The photos were quickly distributed among the group.These images were undoubtedly taken with the most primitive film cameras, not only presented in black-and-white but also had terrible resolution. However, what was invigorating was the content: they were clearly crime scenes, showing not only the gruesome victims but also some of the surrounding environment.

“This guy… is really a pervert,” Asahara Naruko frowned.

The victims were clearly not in their natural state when killed—they were not only disemboweled but also deliberately arranged by the murderer, with their limbs and bodies twisted into bizarre postures. Achieving this required not only incredible strength to break bones but also a lot of time to arrange the scene, which sufficiently demonstrated the murderer’s extreme arrogance, a clear challenge to law enforcement in another world.

“I see what you mean, this guy definitely didn’t kill for money or anything else,” Anthony agreed, “He’s completely enjoying it… like a hunter savoring the chase.”

“So… the goal of the game is to find him and then kill him?” Jason Taylor said, looking towards the Host, “Do we have any tracking skills? Like being able to see unique footprints or smell blood—” He suddenly froze, “Wait, where’s the Host?”

At some point, the Host who had been standing there, was now nowhere to be seen.

“He must have disappeared,” Zhou Zhi said calmly, having played many games, “Didn’t he say at the beginning that all clues and content are recorded in the pages? So how we proceed from here is probably up to us; there shouldn’t be any more additional hints.”

“Just relying on these things to identify the murderer?” Taylor spread his hands, “I understand the game needs realism, but honestly, even if Paradise directly showed us the murderer’s photo, it would be hard to find the target in such a large city, right?”

The words left everyone momentarily speechless.

Zhang Zhiyuan shook his head, “The reason serial murders are called serial because there must be a common factor in each case. In fact, many serial murder cases were solved by discovering this shared characteristic, thereby setting up a trap ahead of time to catch the murderer. In other words, as long as the murderer strikes again, we have a chance to catch him directly.”

“The commonality isn’t obvious enough?” Joe James didn’t seem concerned. “Murder, cruelty, arranging the corpses into ritualistic patterns—this person either has money or connections. The former could be a reclusive billionaire, the latter would be a gang leader or someone who can mobilize a large number of subordinates. Narrow down the range of suspects after determining which category they fall under, then call each one in for questioning while checking their whereabouts through surveillance footage. Perhaps we may find some traces of evidence. But what can we do right now?”

“I didn’t realize you had some insight into crime,” Zhang Zhiyuan coldly looked at him.

“Hey, why do I feel like there’s some hidden meaning behind your words?” James immediately showed displeasure.

“Why would the murderer need to be either rich or have connections?” Zhou Zhi asked puzzled.

“Because one person can’t do this,” Zhang Zhiyuan turned back, pretending not to hear James’s retort, and picked up the photos again. At the same time, he also felt a bit alert. After coming to this completely unfamiliar game world, he was indeed a bit uneasy, almost overlooking his real purpose here, “Killing someone is easy, a knife or a gun, it can be done seconds of confrontation. But arranging the scene of the crime like this is definitely not something that can be done in a short time. Look at the background of the photos—”

Zhang Zhiyuan pointed at the background behind the victims, “There’s not a single place that’s a remote wilderness. According to the records in the case files, all six murders even occurred within the city, and all in public housing, which means they wanted as many witnesses during the day. Moreover, the autopsy results indicate the culprit must’ve committed the crime at the scene, requiring them to have the ability to set up guards and distract the police for ample amounts of time.”

“So the murderer must have hired people to help him, or he had accomplices,” Asahara Naruko nodded, “Your reasoning make sense.”

“But this isn’t enough on its own,” the American scoffed. “We don’t have the resources for mass investigations.”

“Maybe we don’t need to screen to catch his trail,” Zhang Zhiyuan said gravely.

“Do you already have an idea?” Zhou Zhi eagerly asked, “Tell us quickly.”

“I’m not yet certain, we need to go to the crime scene.”

“Ah?” Zhou Zhi was taken aback, “The autopsy is already done, the crime scene can’t still be preserved, can it? You saw it yourself-the crime scenes were all in public areas…”

“I don’t need to see the victim’s body, just the crime scene itself, so we don’t need to find the most recent crime scene, just the one closest to here,” Zhang Zhiyuan replied.

…..

The nearest crime scene was a Cathedral named “Yeni.”

Finding its exact location wasn’t difficult; Zhang Zhiyuan asked seven or eight people on the street, and six of them pointed out the direction—undoubtedly, this building was quite famous locally.

“Hey, someone’s watching us,” Zhou Zhi muttered quietly.

“I’ve noticed too… our attire seems out of place among the locals,” Naruko nodded. Although they had changed bodies and were dressed simply, the weapons they had just exchanged made their appearance entirely different.There were many pedestrians on the street, but few like them carrying long guns and swords openly on their backs.

“If these pedestrians are all AI, then I have to admit it’s quite impressive,” Taylor sighed, “Which game’s NPCs would actually care about the player’s outfit?”

“Should we hide our weapons then?” Zhou Zhi asked.

“No,” Zhang Zhiyuan stopped this idea, “If such behavior violated regulations, they would’ve acted against us by now. Since these individuals are merely sneaking glances, it means our attire has not crossed any boundaries; at most, it is just unusual. However, if we concealed our weapons in public, it may arouse suspicion instead. So keeping things as they are during this time will suffice. If possible, don’t shy away from making eye contact with others and be more generous with your gaze.”

After saying this, he actively looked at one of the people who were peeking, and at the moment of eye contact, the person showed a hint of fear, slightly lowering his head and avoiding his gaze.

Could even such subtle expressions be simulated by AI?

Zhang Zhiyuan’s gaze swept past the individual and stretched out to the horizon—the streets extended unevenly ahead, with irregularly shaped houses standing on both sides. This disordered layout unexpectedly displayed a type of indescribable harmony; it was the product of sloppy workers and inadequate measurement technologies working together, a manifestation of the complexities of the real world.

The road beneath their feet wasn’t entirely made of smooth cobblestone. Cracked bricks from horse-drawn carriages and potholes filled with rainwater were common sights. Due to its heavy foot traffic, mud and filth also seeped into the area. Zhang Zhiyuan could feel the muddy sensation underfoot and smell the pervasive rotten stench within the street.

He gradually stopped doubting his judgment.

This was definitely not a virtual game, but a real world.

Although the Exchange Interface floating in front of his eyes and the [Combat Aids] and [Life Assistance] items that suddenly appeared were equally incredible, compared to creating such a real city, the former was obviously easier to achieve.

Zhang Zhiyuan was certain that investigating Paradise had become an urgent priority.