LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 646 - 405: The Madman!
Chapter 646: Chapter 405: The Madman!
At four in the morning, dawn had not yet arrived.
In the suburbs of Longhai City, however, it was as bright as day, the area alight with lamps.
The Red Book Bar, along with the surrounding area, was swarming with heavily armed Federation military police.
Full martial law!
Outside the bar, vehicles had been cleared, unrelated personnel had been all sent away, leaving only neatly arranged corpses.
Looking at the dozens of corpses before him, Nie Hailong’s face was as grim as water, covered with dark clouds and an undertone of barely concealed horror and anger.
Dozens of bodies, some intact, others with bones shattered, flesh rotted like mud, their dreadful manner of death was shocking.
“Director, the results are in!”
The assistant secretary came over with a laptop and reported gravely, “Based on the tech department’s conjecture, on-site examination, and deduction from the live broadcast situation, the murderer had already completed the crime between eight and ten o’clock last night, but the Red Book TV’s live broadcast spanned from ten o’clock to one o’clock in the morning.”
“Therefore, the tech department speculates that the murderer used some kind of cyber technology to delay the Red Book TV’s live broadcast for three hours. What we saw at ten o’clock was actually broadcasted at eight o’clock, and the timeline within the live broadcast room also proved this point.”
“Delaying the live broadcast?”
Nie Hailong frowned and was still puzzled, “Even if he had the means to delay the live broadcast time online, during the time the live broadcast was delayed, wouldn’t the Red Book TV staff realize that their broadcast wasn’t happening in real-time?”
“This…”
The assistant hesitated for a moment, “The tech department also encountered this question. At the time, Red Book’s network staff indeed didn’t notice any delay in the live broadcast and thought it proceeded smoothly.”
“Therefore, the tech department deduced that the murderer and their backing group possess extremely sophisticated cyber technology that completely isolated Red Book TV’s network from the outside world.”
“To the staff of Red Book TV, their broadcast was running normally without any issues, but to the outside world, they were not broadcasting at all until after the incident ended when their broadcast was uploaded to the public network in the form of a recording.”
Nie Hailong’s brow furrowed deeper, growing even more perplexed, “Is there such technology?”
“This…”
The assistant shook his head and said with a wry smile, “In theory, yes, but according to the tech department’s analysis and evaluation, it’s very difficult to achieve with just cyber methods; physical interference would be necessary. However, we have examined the scene and found no traces of such interference.”
“So that means…”
Nie Hailong turned his head back, “that their cyber technology has completely surpassed ours?”
“That’s one way to see it.”
The assistant nodded and said solemnly, “Judging by the delayed timing of the broadcast and the unshakable cyber defense during the live stream, it’s very likely that their cyber technology has already surpassed our era.”
“…”
Nie Hailong fell silent.
Cyber technology beyond our time?
Although astonishing, it wasn’t unacceptable. After all, as far as she knew, this world contained all sorts of chaotic things; it wouldn’t be too hard to accept the emergence of some cyber deity.
But the question was… what was his purpose?
Why would he conduct such a live broadcast, exposing his actions to the public eye?
Was it merely an exhibitionist desire, to let the world witness his heroic act for personal psychological satisfaction?
Or was there another motive?
As a renowned criminological psychologist within the Federation’s Security Bureau, Nie Hailong was now somewhat unsure about the perpetrator’s mentality.
With no other choice, she turned her attention to the crowd of bodies.
The assistant followed closely and continued the report, “There are a total of forty-eight victims in this incident, their identities have been clearly investigated, all being employees and gang members of the Antai Group. There were no innocent victims involved.”
“Additionally, there were eighty-one members of the Antai Group here, forty-eight of whom were directly slain by the murderer, twenty-one suffered varying degrees of injury, and the remaining twelve, aside from the shock, were unharmed.”
“We’ve investigated the personal information and criminal records of these people and discovered a common feature among the forty-eight deceased: they had all been implicated in murder cases or serious injury incidents. The injured twenty-one also had a history of criminal activities, and their injuries seem to correspond with the severity of their crimes.”
“The twelve who were unharmed were network employees recruited by the Red Book Company and had not participated in the criminal activities of the Antai Group.”
“So that means…”
The assistant furrowed his brow, analyzing, “The murderer’s actions carried a nature of criminal punishment!”
“Punishment?”
Nie Hailong’s eyes sharpened, and she said solemnly, “How could he accurately discern from among the crowd who was a criminal, who was innocent, whose crime was grave enough to warrant death, or whose were lesser and could be spared? Surely he can’t judge in real-time?”
“This… According to the current data, yes!”
The assistant shook his head, “The murderer has the ability to discern the severity of targets’ crimes. This could be some sort of special ability or perhaps a technical means, equipped with devices for real-time analysis.”
“Is that so?”
Nie Hailong murmured, then without further comment, squatted down and lifted the white cloth from a corpse.
This was a relatively intact body, dressed like a security guard.
The assistant followed and reported, “This was a sentry member of the Antai Group on perimeter watch. According to the scene’s investigation and autopsies, he died from a lethal strike, the weapon was…”
“A steel nail?”
Nie Hailong picked up an evidence bag next to the body, inside was a bloodstained silvery-white steel nail.
“A common steel nail purchased from a hardware store!”
The assistant added, “Launched by hand, it penetrated vehicles, glass, and even steel plates, suspected to be a technique of ancient martial concealed weapons, and it was enhanced with True Qi to increase its lethality. A total of thirteen members of the Antai Group were killed by this weapon, proving the murderer possesses the ability to perform long-range attacks at short to medium distances.”
“…”
Nie Hailong fell silent for a moment, saying nothing as he put down the steel nail from the evidence bag and moved to another body.
The white cloth was unraveled, revealing a frightfully disfigured corpse, the face twisted, eyes bulging, body completely limp, the chest sagging without support, mouth and nose clogged with copious amounts of blood and filth.
“An armed member of the Antai Group.”
Looking at the information, the assistant continued reporting, “Struck in the chest with extremely heavy force, causing the rib cage and skeletal structure to suffer comminuted fractures, and internal organs like the heart were dealt fatal blows. Nineteen individuals suffered the same fate and died on the spot, proving the murderer has extremely powerful barehanded killing abilities.”
“After his arrival, he first quickly killed the perimeter guards with steel nails, then swiftly burst into the bar, and used an alloy lock to lock the gate. He also sealed off the other exits using the same method.”
“Then, he began to slaughter the members of the Antai Group inside the bar, killing all of them with a single strike, including key members of the Antai Group, Chen Antai’s third disciple, the True Qi Martial Artist Chen Tianying…”
As the assistant spoke, Nie Hailong uncovered another white cloth, revealing an even more tragic-looking corpse.
“Chen Tianying, True Qi Martial Artist, key member of the Antai Group, adept at the martial art Soaring Eagle Dragon Skill!”
“He too was killed in one strike, suffering comminuted damage to his chest skeletal structure and heart, and after a violent collision, was embedded in the wall, bones shattered, dying on the spot.”
“…”
Looking at Chen Tianying’s body and listening to the assistant’s report, Nie Hailong shook his head, “Are you saying he punched Chen Tianying into a cement wall several dozen centimeters thick?”
“That’s right!”
The assistant nodded, speaking somberly, “The murderer’s physical strength has completely surpassed the level of a True Qi Martial Artist, even ordinary Gang Qi cannot compare. In addition, the murderer’s direct speed and reaction time are also terrifyingly high.”
“Based on the scene investigation, Chen Tianying’s body only had one direct wound, and that was the blow to the chest.”
“In other words, Chen Tianying, who was extremely skilled in close combat, only crossed one move with him, not even one move really, as he was punched into the wall at the outset, without any chance to display his Soaring Dragon technique.”
“Furthermore, when confronting armed attack from Antai Group member Zhang Qiang, he chose to take it head-on, enduring the close-range impact of 7.62mm pistol bullets, and after the impact, he squeezed the completely deformed bullet out of his wound using only muscular strength.”
“In conclusion, this individual’s physical strength, direct speed, sensitive reaction, and martial arts mastery all reach extremely high levels.”
“…”
The assistant finished the report with a summary.
Nie Hailong looked at the twisted bullet inside the evidence bag for a long time without saying anything.
The assistant continued, “In addition to the criminal members of the Antai Group, he did not harm anyone else at the scene, but afterwards he took away one million three hundred and fifty thousand in cash from the safe along with some items, and also burned many contracts and debt evidences.”
Nie Hailong stood up, “So, you’re saying this could be retaliation stemming from the Antai Group’s lending practices?”
The assistant frowned, “But someone with such abilities is unlikely to have borrowed from the Antai Group.”
Nie Hailong’s expression remained unchanged, “Then it must be related to someone he knows. Investigate, look into all the lending disputes involving the Antai Group and its name, as well as all other forms of threats, harm, and attacks on people. Clarify their social connections.”
“Yes!”
The assistant nodded and then reported, “We have surveyed the scene, including the female victim whose neck was broken by him, and collected the murderer’s fingerprints, but after comparing with the database, found no matching identity information.”
Nie Hailong was not surprised, only asking, “How is it going on Chen Antai’s side?”
“Still investigating.”
“Let’s go take a look.”
Without saying more, Nie Hailong turned and headed towards the vehicles.
Just then…
“Chief!”
Someone rushed over in haste, looking troubled, “Something terrible has happened!”
“Hmm!?”
Nie Hailong’s gaze sharpened as he stopped in his tracks, “What’s the matter?”
“Look at this!”
Without further ado, the person handed him a tablet.
Nie Hailong’s eyebrows knitted as he took the tablet, finding a video website already accessed on the screen.
He clicked on the video, which displayed a figure, tall and robust, looming like a mountain, vast as a river!
The body, like towering hills, the muscle contours like dragons and snakes, stood alone in darkness, as if a Demon God turning its back on the world, exuding an ancient and desolate air, a strength of humanity’s pinnacle, coming at you full force, shaking one’s soul.
“…”
Nie Hailong’s eyes narrowed as he turned his attention to the video’s publisher, then he saw a similar background avatar and a name that struck a nerve.
“Temple of War God?”
“Martial Frenzied Rascal?”