**Chapter 1: The Perfect Game**

Yan Xiu stood in the corridor of the police station, staring at his reflection in the glass. Twenty-nine years old, an ordinary programmer, with an ordinary appearance, an ordinary height, and a name so common it couldn't be more mundane. He couldn't understand how he had gotten involved in a murder case.

"Mr. Yan, this way, please," a female officer said, pushing open the door to the interrogation room.

Yan Xiu walked in and saw his laptop and phone on the table. Memories from last night suddenly flooded back: he had been working late, buying coffee at the convenience store downstairs from his office building when he witnessed a car accident. No, it wasn't an ordinary accident—he clearly remembered that the black car had intentionally rammed into the victim.

"Tell us what you saw," the female officer said as she sat down and opened her notebook.

Yan Xiu took a deep breath. "Last night at 11:20, I was buying coffee at Starbucks. Through the window, I saw a black car parked by the roadside. The victim came out of the office building and had just reached the curb when the car suddenly accelerated..."

His voice trailed off. A image flashed through his mind: at the moment the car accelerated, the rearview mirror reflected a faint glimmer of light. What was that?

"Mr. Yan?"

"Wait," Yan Xiu closed his eyes. "I remember now. When the car accelerated, the rearview mirror reflected the light from a room on the third floor of the office building. The light in that room suddenly turned on, and then the car accelerated."

The female officer exchanged a glance with the detective beside her. "Are you saying this might have been a premeditated murder?"

Yan Xiu didn't answer. His mind was suddenly racing: the third floor of the office building was the office space of Huatian Tech, and the victim was the CTO of Huatian Tech. Last night at 11:00, the building's surveillance system was being upgraded, and it just happened to malfunction during the time of the incident. Too much of a coincidence, unless...

"I need to see the victim's information," he blurted out.

The female officer hesitated. "That's against protocol..."

"The victim was the CTO of Huatian Tech, 32 years old, time of death between 11:00 PM and 1:00 AM last night," Yan Xiu said quickly. "Cyanide poisoning, the poison was in his coffee. There were unidentified fingerprints on the coffee cup in his office, and the last call on his phone was from the CEO, Li Jianguo. Also, there was a note in his pocket that said, 'You're next.'"

The interrogation room fell silent. The two officers stared at him in shock.

"How... how do you know all this?" the female officer asked, her voice trembling.

Yan Xiu was also stunned. He didn't know how he knew. The information had simply pieced itself together in his mind, forming a complete picture.

"I..." he started to say, but suddenly felt dizzy. More images flashed through his mind: the light on the third floor of the office building, the reflection in the car's rearview mirror, the coffee cup in the victim's office... These images rapidly combined and analyzed themselves, leading to a startling conclusion.

"This isn't the first murder," he murmured. "And it won't be the last. The killer is playing a game, and the victim, along with Li Jianguo, are both participants in this game."

The female officer stood up abruptly. "What are you saying?"

Yan Xiu looked up, his eyes sharp. "I need to speak to your chief. This case is far more complicated than you think."

At that moment, his phone buzzed. It was a text from an unknown number: "Welcome to the game, Yan Xiu. Your first task: find the real killer. Remember, time is running out."

Yan Xiu stared at the screen, realizing that his life was about to change forever.

Yan Xiu stood by the floor-to-ceiling window in Li Jianguo's office, overlooking the city's nightscape. His mind was processing the information before him at an astonishing speed: the layout of the office, the paintings on the wall, the documents on the desk... Every detail formed a three-dimensional model in his mind.

"This is the painting," Zhang Hao said, pointing to a large maze diagram on the wall.

Yan Xiu stepped closer to examine it. The painting was much larger than he had imagined, covering almost the entire wall. The lines of the maze were intricate, but at certain specific points, tiny LED lights were embedded. At the moment, all the lights were off.

"These lights..." Yan Xiu reached out to touch them.

"Don't!" Zhang Hao suddenly shouted. "Forensics hasn't—"

But it was too late. The moment Yan Xiu's finger touched the painting, the entire thing lit up. The LED lights flashed in a specific sequence, eventually forming a red dot at the center of the maze.

Yan Xiu felt a throbbing in his temples. This scene was exactly like the one in his dream.

"This isn't right..." he muttered.

Just then, the office's sound system suddenly turned on by itself. A voice, distorted by a voice changer, echoed through the room: "Welcome to the heart of the game, Yan Xiu. You're faster than I expected."

Zhang Hao immediately drew his gun, scanning the room cautiously. Yan Xiu, however, remained still. His mind was racing: the sound system was smart-controlled, meaning it could be activated remotely. The killer must be intimately familiar with this place...

"Who are you?" Zhang Hao shouted into the air.

"I am the creator of the game," the voice continued. "And you are all my pawns. Especially you, Yan Xiu. You've finally arrived."

Yan Xiu suddenly understood something. He quickly walked over to Li Jianguo's desk and turned on the computer. As expected, there was no password.

"What are you doing?" Zhang Hao asked.

"Looking for answers," Yan Xiu said as his fingers flew across the keyboard. Lines of code cascaded down the screen. Suddenly, he stopped.

A countdown appeared on the computer screen: 23:59:48.

"24 hours," the voice said. "You have 24 hours to solve the puzzle. Otherwise, this city will witness an unprecedented disaster."

Zhang Hao's face turned pale. "What kind of disaster?"

"A perfect murder," the voice said with a hint of amusement. "Not of one person, but of thousands. Imagine what would happen if the city's entire smart system went haywire. Traffic lights failing, elevators going out of control, life support systems in hospitals shutting down..."

Yan Xiu's pupils contracted. He understood now. This was an elaborately designed scheme. The killer wasn't targeting an individual but the city's entire infrastructure.

"Why would you do this?" he asked.

"To prove a truth," the voice said. "In this world, only logic is eternal. And you will all use your lives to verify this truth."

The sound system suddenly shut off, and the office fell silent again. Zhang Hao grabbed his radio and began calling for backup. But Yan Xiu knew that conventional police force would be useless in this case.

He walked back to the maze painting and carefully observed the flashing pattern of the LED lights. Suddenly, he noticed something.

"This isn't an ordinary maze," he said. "It's a logic circuit diagram. Every intersection is a logic gate, and the flashing sequence of the LED lights is simulating the flow of current."

Zhang Hao looked confused. "What does that mean?"

"It means," Yan Xiu's eyes lit up, "the killer is using this painting to send us a message. And this message might be the key to stopping the disaster."

He quickly typed something into his phone and handed it to Zhang Hao. "Contact the cybersecurity department immediately and block all related IP addresses according to this list."

Zhang Hao took the phone and saw a long list of complex numbers and codes. "What are these...?"

"Potential system nodes the killer might have infiltrated," Yan Xiu said. "If my calculations are correct, these are his targets."

Just then, Yan Xiu's phone buzzed again. Another text message: "A smart move, Yan Xiu. But do you really think it's that easy to stop me? Remember, the real game has only just begun."

Yan Xiu stared at the screen, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. For the first time, he felt a surge of emotion—a mix of excitement and anticipation. He knew he had finally met an opponent worth taking seriously.

"Captain Zhang," he turned and said, "I need to see all major cases related to logic circuits from the past ten years."

"Why ten years?"

"Because," Yan Xiu's gaze deepened, "the designer of this game has been preparing for at least ten years. And all of this... might be connected to me."

Zhang Hao wanted to ask more, but Yan Xiu was already heading for the door. His mind was racing, all the clues slowly piecing together into a complete picture. He knew he was getting closer to a shocking truth, one that might change everything he knew about the world.

In the police station's conference room, Yan Xiu stood in front of a whiteboard, a marker in hand as he rapidly filled the board with complex logic diagrams and clue networks.

"So," he turned to face the room full of officers, "the killer isn't a single person but an organization. They've been preparing for at least ten years, and their target isn't an individual but the city's entire smart system."

The room fell silent. Everyone was stunned by the conclusion.

"But," a young female detective raised her hand, "why would they do this?"

Yan Xiu glanced at her name tag: Lin Xia.

"To prove a truth," he said. "In this world, only logic is eternal. And they want to prove this to the world through this game."

Lin Xia frowned. "That sounds... insane."

"It is," Yan Xiu nodded. "But logic itself is insane. It isn't bound by emotions or morality—it follows only the purest form of reason."

He walked to the window and looked out at the city. "And our task is to use logic to defeat logic."

Just then, the large screen in the conference room lit up. A masked figure appeared on the screen.

"Yan Xiu," the distorted voice said, "you're smarter than I expected. But are you really ready to face the truth?"

Yan Xiu turned and faced the screen. "I've been waiting for you."

The masked man laughed. "Good. Then let's begin round two. Remember, the rules this time are: for every puzzle you solve, an innocent person will die. Are you prepared to take responsibility for that?"

The room erupted in murmurs, but Yan Xiu remained expressionless. "I accept your challenge. But I have one condition."

"Oh?" The masked man sounded intrigued. "What condition?"

"Let me join the game," Yan Xiu said. "Not as a pawn, but as a player."

The masked man was silent for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Interesting, very interesting! Fine, I agree. From now on, you are the second player in the game. Let's see who the true king of logic is!"

The screen went dark. The room was deathly silent.

"Yan Xiu," Zhang Hao said quietly, "do you know what you're doing?"

"Of course," Yan Xiu turned, a faint smile on his lips. "I'm playing a game I'm destined to win."

Lin Xia looked at his profile, a shiver running through her. What secrets was this man hiding?