Chapter 84: Mission Accomplished

Hearing his little trick being exposed on the spot by that hypocritical scoundrel, Chen Yu showed not the slightest hint of embarrassment. Instead, he shot the "Pipe" a disgruntled glare.

So, the act is over, is it? Think you're the only one who understands, do you?

He cleared his throat, perfectly masking the turbulence within.

Facing Su Qingzhu's complex gaze, he reached out and disdainfully lifted the cover of the file folder, as if something from a past century had contaminated it.

Inside the folder was an old photograph, sealed in a plastic laminate. The background was a dim alleyway from fifteen years ago. The main figure was Lei, who at the time had yet to become the underground emperor of River City. He stood sideways, whispering something to a subordinate whose face was indistinct.

"Zombie Brother!"

The ever-silent Pipe suddenly forced a bitter smile. "Even if I admit everything, so what? You still can't find any direct evidence that I killed Lei!"

"Oh, really?"

Chen Yu, far from being angered, instead smiled at these words. He turned his gaze to the tall, strikingly curvaceous policewoman at his side.

"Officer Su, pay no mind to his bluster," Chen Yu said with unfaltering composure. "No need to overthink it. This photo—is the evidence!"

His fingertip landed with just the right pressure on a corner of the photograph, where the plastic seal bore a small tear.

"Our meticulous friend here, the Pipe, devised a plan bordering on perfection," Chen Yu explained. "First, he soaked this photograph thoroughly in liquid sarin gas. Then, he encased both the toxin and the photograph in this layer of plastic film, sealing them together into a flawless 'poison gas bomb' that betrays no flaw."

"When he handed this photo to Lei, all he needed to do, at the moment of passing, was to gently—tear open a tiny hole with his fingernail..."

Chen Yu's movements slowed, as if demonstrating at the scene; yet every word struck Su Qingzhu and Shen Tao like a hammer.

"The lethal gas would then silently seep out, slowly and undetectably. All the Pipe had to do was calculate a safe distance—or simply hold his breath at that instant—while ensuring the photo was close enough to Lei's nose and mouth..."

"And just like that, a living person would be gone."

"The most ingenious part is, this gas is colorless and odorless. With Lei's rough nature and low vigilance, he would never sense the slightest anomaly, even in death."

Unknowingly, Su Qingzhu had stopped breathing. Her beautiful almond-shaped eyes were wide with incredulous horror. Such a method of murder was beyond imagination! Far more bizarre and chilling than anything in a suspense film!

"Moreover," Chen Yu added, his smile widening, "for a photo so precious to Lei, wouldn't it make perfect sense to seal it in plastic to prevent oxidation or damage? Isn't that entirely reasonable?"

"So even if Old Yin..."

Chen Yu nearly blurted out the respectful nickname he used for Captain Yan, but quickly corrected himself.

"...Even Old Yan, under full supervision, wouldn’t have noticed anything amiss!"

Having finished in one breath, Chen Yu felt a dryness in his mouth. He glanced at Su Qingzhu’s lips, parted in shock, and unconsciously licked his own.

"Even... even if everything you say is true!" Su Qingzhu finally recovered from her shock, forcing herself to remain calm, though her trembling voice betrayed her. She frowned, raising the crucial procedural question.

"But now the gas has completely evaporated! Even if our forensics colleagues come, they’ll find nothing! The chain of evidence is broken!"

It was an inescapable deadlock. Without direct physical evidence, no matter how perfect the deduction, Shen Tao could not be convicted.

"Not so!" Chen Yu smiled enigmatically, raising his brows at Su Qingzhu. "Officer Su, do you remember the first day I joined the show?"

"In that abandoned house where Luo Xiangdong’s remains were kept, live on national TV, what did I do?"

"What... did you do?" Su Qingzhu frowned, lost in thought. To be honest, she hadn’t watched that episode at all. In her view, to treat a serious cold case as entertainment was the greatest insult to the dead and to the profession. Most of what she knew about Chen Yu’s "glorious" deeds came from Yan Zheng or other colleagues.

"You!"

Shen Tao, who had been slumped in his chair like a dead dog, suddenly jerked his head up and blurted out, "You destroyed the only piece of evidence the detective squad had sealed—the burnt photograph!"

As soon as he spoke, he froze, realization and a deeper despair flooding his face.

"Heh," Chen Yu looked at Shen Tao approvingly, his smile as cunning as an ancient fox. "Exactly!"

"So what are you getting at?" Su Qingzhu’s gaze turned sly, arms folded as she leaned forward, her breathtaking curves making Chen Yu’s eyes heat up.

"You want to say you destroyed evidence in public, and now you want to turn yourself in?"

This woman could really hold a grudge. Chen Yu muttered inwardly.

"Wrong!" he declared. "Officer Su, your thinking is trapped by conventional investigative procedures."

Pointing at the photograph, Chen Yu’s voice brimmed with a patient, guiding tone.

"Though the surface toxin has mostly evaporated from Lei’s photo, don’t forget—" His tone suddenly intensified. "It was soaked completely in liquid sarin!"

"What does that mean?"

"It means the deadly liquid has penetrated deep into the paper fibers themselves!"

"So, all we need to do..." He mimed tearing paper, his gaze suddenly razor-sharp. "...is tear it apart!"

"The inner layers of the photo, where the poison hasn’t yet evaporated, can still be sampled by our brilliant forensics team. They’ll extract traces of sarin from it!"

"But..." He winked at Su Qingzhu, his smile encouraging. "We must act fast! Wait too long, and it’ll all be gone!"

No sooner had he finished than a message echoed in his mind:

[Ding! Side Mission: The Death of Lei is complete!]
[Reward: 500 skill points, credited!]
[Current balance: 795 skill points]

Only 500? Chen Yu cursed silently at the number: so stingy! Damn it, after all that deduction and acting, risking harassment just to hold the police beauty’s hand, running around all day—this is all he gets? What a joke!

Forget it, next time he’d be more careful.

He quickly composed himself, his expression shifting to an unprecedented seriousness.

"Alright, Officer Su," he said. "The rest of the procedural work here is yours."

"I'm leaving now."

With that, Chen Yu turned decisively, not lingering for even a moment, as if the playful, wisecracking rogue from before had been nothing but an illusion.

"Where are you going? I’ll come with you!"

Su Qingzhu blurted it out almost instinctively. The moment the words left her mouth, she froze. A sudden flush of heat rushed from her neck to her cheeks, turning her cool, snowy features a shade of intoxicating red.

Heavens!

Su Qingzhu, what nonsense are you saying?! What do you mean, go with him? Are you his subordinate? His sidekick? Where’s your dignity? Your aloofness? What happened to your persona?!

Chen Yu’s steps faltered, but he didn’t look back, seemingly oblivious to Su Qingzhu’s uncharacteristic display.

"No need," his voice drifted from ahead. "This is something I have to do alone."

He turned his head slightly, revealing his profile.

"I’m going..."

"To bring the true murderer..."

"Back with me!"