Chapter 8 Searching for the Traces of That Person

More than two hours after Qin Siyang left the trash bin at the exit of Safety Zone No. 89757, many uniformed police officers received orders and surrounded the area. Many sequential ability users were also discussing what had happened on the periphery, their faces full of confusion. The theft of the remains of the gods from the trash bin was really an absurd story. Some things were like this. When nothing happened, no one cared. But once they were lost, they would attract a lot of questions and attention. Undoubtedly, the remains of the gods were such an existence.

A white - haired inspector in a coat, with a scarf around his neck and a cigar in his mouth, walked around the trash bin. The police officers around stood straight, showing great respect to the inspector, as if the old man was not just an ordinary inspector.

The inspector asked, "Roylena, your sequence has been promoted. I heard that you can have a much more powerful tracking ability, ten times better than the chief's police dog. Do you have any way to distinguish the smells here now?"

He had the appearance of a European, but he spoke Chinese. This was because there were mostly Chinese people in the safety zone, and Chinese was the official common language.

The blonde policewoman beside him shook her head. "No, there are too many divine auras here. The smell of humans has been completely covered up. Even with my current ability, I still can't identify the human smell from it. If I activate my skill here, I'm afraid I'll faint because of the strong smell of the gods."

Orlov was a bit disappointed. "Well, this damn skill. Not being able to use it in the presence of the gods will cause us a lot of trouble!"

"Yes, I think so too. Unfortunately, I awakened the sequence of [Scent - Sniffer], and there's no way to change it. Sequential ability users like me are destined to only be able to move around in the safety zone from birth."

Orlov impatiently took two puffs of his cigar, flicked the ash into the trash bin, and then turned to the on - looking sequential ability users aside and asked, "Who was the first to find the problem with this trash bin?"

"It's me! Inspector Orlov, it's me! I'm Hans Van, a sequential user who hunts gods at the exit of Safety Zone No. 89757."

At this time, a man in a brown - gray jacket came over. His hair was a bit messy, and he still had a bit of the smell of alcohol on him.

It was the drunkard who had run into Qin Siyang.

But now he was completely sober, without the slightest sign of drunkenness, and his expression was full of nervousness.

After sobering up, Hans realized that someone had stolen the remains of the gods from the trash bin and was extremely shocked.

He originally didn't want to get involved in this matter.

The person who stole the remains of the gods surely wasn't a normal person, and he didn't dare to provoke them at all. After awakening his sequence, he just wanted to live a mediocre life in the safety zone relying on his identity as a sequential ability user.

But he just couldn't help himself and had to throw a wine bottle into the trash bin.

There was his smell on the wine bottle, an undeniable fact. If a [Scent - Sniffer] activated their skill, he could be quickly identified, and then he wouldn't be able to clear his name.

So, to avoid the police coming to his door to cause trouble, he reported the matter to the police station first, hoping for leniency.

"Tell me how you found out."

"Inspector Orlov, I had just had some drinks with Bru at the bar and then we went home separately. When I left the bar, I took another bottle of wine, planning to drink it on the way home. After I finished drinking it, I happened to see a trash bin here, so I wanted to throw the wine bottle in."

Upon hearing this, Roylena sternly rebuked, "Hans, you're also a sequential ability user. Don't you know that the trash bins next to the safety zone exits can only hold the remains of the gods?! The remains of the gods in the trash bins will be centrally processed!! You're interfering with the work of the United Government!"

"I... I was drunk and didn't think that much..."

Qin Siyang had bet right. It was Hans' unclear mind that gave him the time to escape. Otherwise, things might have been completely different.

Orlov seemed to be used to such idle sequential ability users. He wasn't as angry as Roylena at Hans' words. Instead, he waved his hand. "Roylena, don't interrupt him. Let him continue."

"Yes, inspector." Roylena, the blonde, looked at Hans with cold eyes.

"I vaguely seemed to see a figure rummaging through something in front of the trash bin at that time, but it disappeared quickly. Of course, I'm not sure if there was really someone... because I was drunk."

"And then?"

"Then I threw the wine bottle in. At that time, I heard the sound of the wine bottle hitting the empty trash bin. I thought it was already midnight and the cleaner had taken away the remains of the gods, so I went home."

"What time should it have been?"

"I... I was drunk and didn't know. After I got home, I fell asleep in bed. I'm of the [Sleepless] sequence, so I usually don't need to sleep. Even if I'm drunk, I can only sleep for at most two hours and then I'll wake up. When I woke up, I found that it was only afternoon. Remembering the memory of the empty trash bin, I felt something was wrong."

"And then you called the police?"

"Yes. Inspector Orlov, considering that I took the initiative to report the case and admit my mistake, can you not punish me for throwing the wine bottle into this trash bin and delaying the time to solve the case?"

Orlov took another puff of his cigar and pondered for a long time. While he was thinking, Hans was extremely nervous, worrying about whether he would be punished.

"Roylena, remember to tell the administrators at the exits of other safety zones about this and ask them to keep an eye on the trash bins."

"Yes."

"What about me, Inspector Orlov?" Hans asked eagerly.

Only then did Orlov realize that Hans was still there. "Oh, I was just thinking about the case. What did you want to say?"

"I wanted to ask if, since I took the initiative to call the police, I can offset my mistakes with my merits and not be punished for what I did here? I've really realized my problem. I promise I won't do it again. Please give me a chance!"

Orlov didn't even bother to look at him. "Business is business. The scale of justice in the police station will never tilt. The rewards you deserve will be given, and the punishments you deserve won't be reduced either."

"Ah... this..." Hans was annoyed. He had taken the initiative to report the case and fully cooperated with the investigation, yet he still had to be punished. He was really unlucky.

"Take him back to the police station." Roylena, who had received instructions from her superior, immediately told the police officers to take Hans away.

"Yes."

Hans looked extremely gloomy, cursing the damn person who stole the remains of the gods in his heart.

After getting rid of Hans, Orlov continued to frown and think. "Was it a solo crime? Why on earth would someone steal the remains of the gods from the trash bin? Stealing such useless things is not as good as stealing some moldy wood from the warehouse to burn for fire!"

Roylena added, "A similar incident happened at the exit of Safety Zone No. 114514 yesterday. I reported it to the chief, but unfortunately, it didn't receive enough attention. Only the safety zone exits near No. 114514 were put on alert. As a result, the culprit came to a slightly farther place to commit the crime."

At this moment, Roylena's pager rang.

"Hello, go ahead. What? Okay, you can say. Mhm, mhm, mhm, okay, I got it. I'll tell Inspector Orlov right away."

Hearing Roylena mention him, Orlov knew that there should be a new case, so he asked, "What's up?"

"Inspector, in an alley two stops away from here, a burning warehouse was found with three charred corpses inside."

"Corpses? Charred?"

"Exactly. The heads of the three corpses suffered severe impacts, and their entire faces were completely deformed. The police officer with the [Forensic] sequence said that judging from the shape of the wounds, they should have been caused by a person with great strength using bare hands. Due to the fire, I can't track the murderer's smell."

"Then can we start from the crime scene to find the murderer's smell?"

"I'm afraid not. Because the police officer just said that there were people coming and going there, and the footprints were mixed up, so the smell is probably very chaotic."

"Have you found the first crime scene?"

"No. There is no sign of a fight anywhere near that warehouse."

Orlov sucked on his cigar and didn't say anything.

Roylena continued, "Inspector, I have a question."

"Go ahead."

"What were the identities of the people whose heads were smashed?" Roylena was also an experienced policewoman, but in front of Inspector Orlov, she showed her ignorant side without reservation. It was as if Orlov had some other lofty identity besides being an inspector.

"The identities of those three people are probably hard to find out. However, the one who killed them must be a sequential ability user."

"Otherwise, it's impossible to kill all three people without leaving any signs of a fight. The fatal wounds are also evidence. Crushing the heads of three people with fists? Ordinary people can hardly do that."

Orlov looked at the empty trash bin again and exhaled a smoke ring. "The time of the crime in that alley was right after the theft of the remains of the gods from the trash bin. Judging from the distance, if a strength - type sequential ability user runs at full speed, it's possible to reach there. So, maybe it was the same person who committed both crimes."

Roylena frowned. "The same person? Stole the remains of the gods here and then went two stops away to kill and set fire?"

"For both cases, the perpetrator didn't leave any useful clues. We might as well make a bold assumption first and then verify it carefully. Now, let's analyze under the assumption that the perpetrator of these two cases is the same."

Orlov stroked his white beard. "I think this person is not familiar with matters related to sequential abilities."

"Inspector, why do you think so?"

"Besides the head injuries, the corpses had no other fatal wounds. Most likely, the heads were smashed after the people died. After smashing the heads of the three people, he also chose to burn the bodies."

"I guess the reason he smashed the heads of the three people was that he was worried that a sequential ability user with the [Undying] sequence could use their skill to read the memories of the corpses. However, he didn't know that the skill of the [Undying] sequential ability user to read memories has limitations."

"Once the brain has a lesion or loses its original biological structure, the skill of the [Undying] sequential ability user will become invalid."

"In other words, whether he smashed the heads of the three people or not, as long as he burned the bodies to char, he could stop the pursuit of the [Undying] sequential ability user."

Roylena asked in confusion, "Inspector, you mean he doesn't know such basic sequential knowledge?"

"Other than that, I can't think of any other reason for him to do this unnecessary thing. Of course, it's also possible that he's releasing a smokescreen to make me think that the perpetrator is a newbie sequential ability user. But I don't think a criminal of this level is likely to appear in Area 14121."

Roylena nodded, thinking that the inspector's analysis made a lot of sense, and then said, "Not knowing the information about sequences may be because he suddenly awakened his sequential ability and didn't do enough research. As long as we stake out at the Sequence Administration Bureau, we should be able to find the perpetrator!"

"The premise of your statement about not doing enough research doesn't hold."

Orlov shook his head. "He knew to choose a place with chaotic smells to interfere with you and also knew to use fire to destroy the evidence of the bodies."

"Roylena, you have to understand that he's not a calm perpetrator who killed these three people with preparations. He had just stolen the remains of the gods and did all this while running away in a panic. I have to say, although this perpetrator is ignorant, he's definitely not careless."

"Someone with a mind as meticulous as the eye of a sewing needle wouldn't steal the remains of the gods and expose himself without sufficient preparation. His actions indicate that he has no channels to obtain more information."

Roylena tidied up her slightly messy blonde hair and showed a puzzled look. "How is that possible? The descriptions of the abilities of sequential ability users are all publicly available in [God - Slaying Camp]. Everyone can query them with a mobile phone or a computer."

"No, you're wrong. If all these assumptions hold, then there is a type of person who exactly fits the situation and can't query this information."

"What kind of person?"

"Poor people."