Chapter 13: Abnormal Crimes

"How are you two doing, do you understand what's written here?" In less than five minutes, Joe James grew impatient and asked.

"It seems to be about a homicide case," Zhang Zhiyuan mused, "and it's a series of connected crimes. Whoever wrote these files not only collected information from the crime scenes but also added a variety of miscellaneous news, likely gathered from making inquiries everywhere."

Unfortunately, by criminal investigation standards, this information is too fragmented and superficial, with hardly any analytical value.

This indicated that the recorder was not a professional.

"There's also a bag of photos here," Zhou Zhi said from the side.

"Oh? Show us quickly." The American perked up at once, after all, he hadn't taken the translation tofu and could only stare blankly at the written records. But photos were different - pictorial content could be analyzed by anyone.

The photos were promptly distributed to everyone.

They were undoubtedly taken with the most rudimentary film camera not only were there only black and white colors; the pixel quality was also quite poor. However, what was energizing was that the contents undoubtedly depicted crime scenes, beyond the unbearable sight of the victims, one could also see a bit of the surrounding environment.

"This person... is truly a pervert," Qianyuan Meiko frowned.

The victims clearly didn't die in their natural states—they not only had their bodies slashed open, but the murderer also deliberately displayed them, contorting their limbs and torsos into bizarre postures. Accomplishing this required not only tremendous strength to break the bones but also a considerable amount of time to arrange the scene, which was enough evidence of the killer's extreme audacity, in another world, it would definitely be considered a provocation to the police.

"I see it now, this guy isn't killing for money or anything else," Anthony agreed, "he's completely enjoying it... just like a hunter reveling in the chase."

"So... the goal of the game is to find him, and then kill him?" Jason Tyler asked, while looking in the direction of the host,"Do we have any tracking skills? Like being able to see unique footprints, or smelling the scent of blood or something—" He suddenly froze, "Wait, where's the host?"

At some point, the space where the host stood was empty.

"He's hidden himself," Zhou Zhi was much more composed, after all, he had played many games, "He said at the beginning, didn't he? All clues and information are recorded in the book, so it looks like how we proceed next is completely up to ourselves. We probably won't get any more hints."

"Relying only on this stuff to pinpoint the killer?" Tyler spread his hands, "I understand the game requires realism, but honestly, even if Paradise put the killer's photo right in front of us, it would still be hard to find him in such a big city, right?"

His words left everyone silent for a moment.

Zhang Zhiyuan, however, shook his head, "The reason why it's a serial homicide case is that there must be some common factor in all the crimes. In fact, many serial homicide cases are solved by finding this commonality, which allows for the killer to be captured by laying a trap in advance. In other words, as long as the killer strikes again, we have the chance to catch him directly."

"Isn't the commonality obvious?" Joe James was unconvinced, "Homicide, brutality, arranged in a ceremonial manner, this person either has money or power. The former can be a rich recluse, the latter could be a gang leader, or someone capable of summoning a bunch of underlings. Narrow down the range, call them in for questioning one by one, while pulling their surveillance footage to check their whereabouts, maybe we could find some clues. But what can we actually do right now?"

"I didn't realize you had some insight into crime," Zhang Zhiyuan looked at him with a cold eye.

"Hey, are you implying something?" The other party showed displeasure.

"Why does the killer have to be rich or have people?" Zhou Zhi asked, puzzled.

"Because one person alone couldn't do this," Zhang Zhiyuan turned around, pretending not to hear Joe James's retort and picked up the photos again. At the same time, he became somewhat alert - in this completely unfamiliar game world, he was indeed a bit restless, almost overlooking the true purpose of his visit, "It's easy to kill a person with a knife or a gun, it can be done in a moment. But to arrange a scene like a crime scene, it's not something that can be done in a short time. Look at the background in the photos—"

Zhang Zhiyuan pointed behind the victim, "There's not one in the wilderness. According to the records in the files, all six crimes even took place within the urban area, and all in public housing, with the purpose of having more people see them during the day. Plus, autopsy results point to the killer being on the scene, which requires him to have the capability of setting up lookouts and guarding the area to secure a significant amount of safe time for himself."

"So the killer had to hire someone or simply had an accomplice," Qianyuan Mingzi nodded, "...You do have a point."

"But that alone isn't enough," the American scoffed. "We simply don't have the resources to conduct a large-scale search."

"Maybe we don't need to screen to catch the other party's tail," Zhang Zhiyuan said in a deep voice.

"You already have an idea?" Zhou Zhi couldn't wait, "Come on, tell us."

"I can't be sure yet; we need to visit the crime scene."

"Huh?" He was taken aback, "The autopsy's done, the crime scene couldn't possibly still be preserved there, right? As you saw, the crime happened in public areas…"

"I don't need to see the body, just the location of the incident will do, so we don't need to find the scene of the last crime, just the scene closest to this place will suffice," Zhang Zhiyuan replied.

…

The nearest scene was a chapel named "Yeni."

Finding its precise location was not difficult; Zhang Zhiyuan randomly asked around seven or eight people on the street, six of whom pointed them in the right direction—without a doubt, this building was quite famous locally.

"Hey, someone's watching us," Zhou Zhi muttered quietly.

"I've noticed too... Our attire seems to clash with that of the people around us," Mingzi nodded. Although they had switched bodies and dressed simply, the weapons they'd just switched made all the difference. There were many pedestrians on the street, but few carried long guns and swords on their backs so openly.

"If these passersby are all AIs, then I have to admit it's got something going for it," Tyler sighed. "Which game's NPC would give a damn about a player's attire?"

"So should we put away our weapons?" Zhou Zhi asked.

"No," Zhang Zhiyuan stopped that thought, "If such behavior was forbidden, they should have taken action by now. Since these people are just sneaking glances, it means our attire isn't out of bounds, at most just an oddity. But if we hide our weapons in public, that might actually arouse suspicion. So, it's best to keep everything as is for now, and if possible, try not to refuse eye contact with others, be more open."

After speaking, he voluntarily looked towards one of those peeking, and as their gazes crossed, the person revealed a hint of fear, slightly lowered their head, and avoided his gaze.

Could such subtle expressions be simulated by AI?

Zhang Zhiyuan's gaze swept past the onlooker, looking into the distance—the street twisted and turned ahead, with irregularly standing houses on both sides. This discordant arrangement paradoxically revealed a sense of harmony: it was the result of substandard measuring techniques combined with sloppy workmanship, a reflection of the complex world.

The ground wasn't entirely made of bright, clean flagstones; everywhere there were bricks crushed by carriages and potholes formed on the road's surface. Mud and filth were brought in by the heavy foot traffic. Zhang Zhiyuan could feel the muddiness under his shoes and the putrid smell permeating the streets.

He gradually stopped doubting his judgment.

This was not any virtual game but a world that genuinely existed.

Despite the interface wobbling before his eyes and the weapons and items that seemed to conjure out of nowhere, creating a city this real seemed a far more daunting task compared to the former.

Zhang Zhiyuan was certain about one thing—the investigation into Paradise could not be delayed.