25 Chapter 25

"Hello Tie Ningjui, I am Captain Yanyu, a Keeper from Order Protection Bureau (OPB). You can call me as it is. Please state your name, birth date, and birthplace." Yanyu sat down on the edge of the table next to Tie Ningjui.

"Huh?" Didn't she just say my name though?

"It's protocol." Yanyu turned on her recording device.

"Ah… My name is Tie Ningjui, born at Aris, Federation Capital Planet, November 2nd Year 3045 N.E."

"Okay. Now, Tie Ningjui, please tell me what happened. Normally, you would be the prime suspect in this case, but the situation is too bizarre. If you don't know where to start, then I will be the one asking you questions."

Tie Ningjui glanced at the half-burnt room, and he also agreed about the situation. He was relieved that this Keeper didn't seem like someone unreasonable that would just drag him away to the bureau or lock him up. Though he could feel her eyes peeling away his skin from top to bottom.

A forensic team came and Tie Ningjui moved to the side along with the chair before taking a deep breath and started, "Yesterday, I was working at Pearl Jewel Hotel…"

Bai Linghua looked around the coffee table. The table was made out of Ordis Stone, a common material to make furniture found only at Ordis Planet. It was undoubtedly a rock, but the crafting process was similar to crafting metal, by melting it, instead of cutting it. The end result would be a smooth-surfaced stone as clear as a mirror.

But the strange thing about Ordis Stone, it doesn't have any characteristics similar to metals except for the processing technique. If being hit by a bullet with enough firepower, it would crack like any other stones rather than dented like metal. It is also an isolator rather than conductive.

And on the surface of this unbreakable table, there was a hole. If one looked carelessly, they might miss it due to it being covered by the blood. It was not big, but it was undoubtedly a hole caused by something piercing into it.

Bai Linghua asked one of the forensics to show her the evidence he collected. He gave her the special container to store evidence from the site.

"We found this laser scissor near the table and several bullets. That hole on the table, believe it or not, was caused by this scissor blade." the forensic scrutinized the scissor in Bai Linghua's hand in wonder.

"So you say, the killer managed to break that table with this scissor, but those bullets couldn't?" Bai Linghua felt it was hard to believe.

The forensics took out another item, "This is the gun found on the sofa. It was empty when we found it, but it is confirmed that the bullet type matched."

Bai Linghua took it and searched its model type with her communicator, "This handgun doesn't have enough firepower to break that table. It would need at least thrice the firepower."

"Then, there's a high chance the killer may have at least one of their arms modified to give them that much strength. What is amazing is that this scissor managed to stay intact after that much impact."

"But why did the killer use a scissor? They didn't bring any weapon with them? But this scale of destruction is not unintentional however you look at it."

The forensic tapped Bai Linghua's shoulder, "That is for you Keepers to find out. Now let me continue my job and you do yours."

Bai Linghua looked back and saw Shin Meimei was at the table near where she was. Her hands were on her hips and her brows were furrowed.

"What's wrong?" Bai Linghua walked towards her.

"Losing this much blood…something about it feels weird."

"Well, for a case of one person, this truly is the most blood I've ever seen in a crime scene." Bai Linghua agreed.

Shin Meimei pointed her fingers to Bai Linghua, "Right? Even thriller movies don't use this much blood. It's too excessive…Ah! So, that's why."

"What?"

"Because it looked like a movie set and felt unreal. That's why I'm feeling strange," Shin Meimei mimed with her hand like she was holding a bucket, "It's like a bucket of red paint dumped right onto the table."

"But doesn't that mean Lei Weming was alive all through that torture? Even when his chest was cut open?"

"No matter how high his endurance, even he would die by then. He's just a human after all." Shin Meimei shrugged.

Tie Ningjui finished telling Yanyu everything he knew from when he met 'Frost' until he was awakened by the Keeper. In the end, his shoulder has relaxed, and he didn't fidget as much as earlier.

"So you never met this Mr. Frost before, right?" Yanyu clarified.

"No, not even a glance. I would surely remember if I did. Anybody who met him would." Tie Ningjui could still clearly remember every outline of Mr. Frost's face. Especially those unfathomable eyes shrouded in shadow.

"Is there any particular feature or characteristic of his body?"

"He is…" Tie Ningjui paused, "You might laugh at me, but he is very, VERY beautiful. The type that will stick in your mind and entice you to keep looking. I know it sounds weird, but I can't think of any other words to describe him. I think you'll understand what I mean when you watch the surveillance footage. He should be caught at least at the entrance and elevator cameras."

"Unfortunately, the surveillances were all melted. We're trying to retrieve the data from any available device connected to this building's network," Yanyu pointed at the technical forensic digging through Lei Weming's holocomputer with her chin, "But I'm not that optimistic. Can you describe his look? Bai Linghua, come here."

Bai Linghua heard her captain calling her and came. Yanyu explained to her the situation, and she readily opened the face constructor app in her communicator. Shin Meimei saw them doing something and decided to continue exploring the entire floor.

"You can start."

"The most notable feature would be his silver hair. I didn't see any mark, more precisely, I couldn't. Mr. Frost was dressed fully. His body was entirely covered leaving no gaps. From his neck to his fingertips, and even his ankles up were covered with socks underneath his trousers. Next thing is… although his hair is silver, he has very deep and charming black cat-like eyes. Once his gaze fell into you, you would feel frozen all over yet sucked deep into it. His face is an inverted triangle, small but not too small, with elegant soft edges. His jawline was prominent enough to be visible but not too sharp. He has gorgeous thin lips that felt cold when he frowned and stunning once it blooms a smile. His nose is a bit upturned and delicate. It is perfectly aligned without any crooks with a fairly cute, softened tip. He has curved eyebrows, following the arc of his eyes with the same color as his hair. It's fairly thick, but not bushy. On a scale of 10, it would be around 5 or 6. He has smooth and flawless milky white skin that reflected gold under the sun."

"…"

"…"

"…What is it…?" Tie Ningjui felt their silence was strange.

"Ah… no, it's just that…" Bai Linghua glanced at the result on the screen before to Yanyu.

Yanyu glanced back at her before replying to Tie Ningjui, "No, it's nothing. Bai Linghua, you go to Cherry Yu and asked around whether anybody saw him last night or not. And go to Pearl Jewel Hotel after that. Take one more person with you."

"Yes, Captain." Bai Linghua saluted before leaving the room.

"You don't need me to confirm if it's correct or not?" Tie Ningjui raised his eyebrows.

"No, it's fine. It's enough to find a match with it by crosschecking through OPB's database as long as this Mr. Frost is a citizen of the Federal."

Yanyu continued interrogating Tie Ningjui while Bai Linghua found Cherry Yu outside the building just finished talking to a person. She sorted the information she gathered and saw Bai Linghua coming towards her. They exchanged information they gathered before Bai Linghua conveyed Yanyu's order.

"Shouldn't we wait for the surveillance retrieval first? It's not ideal to pursue the killer just from someone's description. It's unexpected that Captain ordered that…"

"I know. I'm sure she also meant it like that. She didn't explicitly tell to use the reconstructed result. It's just an excuse at that time." Bai Linghua sighed.

"An excuse? Captain Yanyu used an excuse?" Cherry Yu scooted closer, "Tell me the details."

"When Captain asked this survivor if there is any particular feature the killer has, he said that the killer is very, VERY beautiful. So she asked him to describe the killer's face and I reconstructed it in my communicator. You know, he was really… passionate in describing him that even Captain didn't have the heart to show him the result." Bai Linghua showed the reconstructed face of the killer to Cherry Yu.

'Wow' was the only thing that could leave her mouth.