1: A disgrace to the police academy?

In June, the sun over Jiang City burned like fire.

Inside the auditorium of the Jiang City Police Academy, the air was even more stifling than the asphalt road baking under the blazing sun.

Today was the graduation ceremony and job assignment assembly.

Below the stage, nearly a thousand graduates dressed in brand-new police uniforms had eyes sparkling with both longing and anxiety for the future.

Only Chen Mo, sitting in a corner, appeared completely out of place.

He was slim and handsome, though his complexion carried a hint of sickly pallor.

He kept his eyes lowered, as if everything around him had nothing to do with him.

That innate sense of detachment made him like a drop of clear water falling into a pot of boiling oil.

Neither blending in nor going unnoticed.

"Look, 'Theoretical Genius Chen' is spacing out again. I really don't know how a Coward like that managed to graduate."

"Shh, keep it down! He's a legend of our academy. He got perfect scores in every theory class, setting a school record! As for his practical classes... well, that's also a school record, just in the opposite direction."

"Hahaha, I remember now! During the last simulated crime scene investigation, he threw up violently in front of a dummy corpse and had to be carried to the infirmary. It cracked me up!"

Suppressed laughter rose and fell.

Like countless fine needles piercing toward Chen Mo.

Chen Mo paid no attention.

His soul did not belong here.

Three days ago.

He was still the world's most renowned criminal psychologist, codenamed "Judge."

In a final confrontation with his nemesis, the crime emperor.

He detonated a bomb, choosing to perish together.

Opening his eyes again, he had become this 22-year-old Police Academy graduate who was also named "Chen Mo."

After merging with the original host's memories, he discovered, with a mix of amusement and frustration, the truth.

He had transmigrated into the body of someone who was a "god in theory, trash in practice."

The original host had developed severe PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) after witnessing a tragedy in his childhood.

He would experience physical discomfort whenever he saw blood or a realistic crime scene.

Thus, he earned the resounding nickname "The Shame of the Police Academy."

"Quiet!"

On the podium, Director Wang from the Academic Affairs Office, who was in charge of job assignments, tapped the microphone.

His face was greasy, and his sharp eyes swept across the audience.

"Now, I will begin reading the assignment list!"

"Gao Fan, excellent grades, first in practical assessment, assigned to the Municipal Bureau Criminal Investigation Detachment, Serious Crime Unit One!"

Whoosh—

The auditorium erupted in thunderous applause.

A tall, sharp-eyed young man stood up, a proud curve forming on his lips as he enjoyed the attention of the crowd.

He was Gao Fan.

The pride of the Police Academy and one of the people who looked down on Chen Mo the most.

"Su Qingxue, S-grade overall rating, excellent in both combat and marksmanship, assigned to the Municipal Bureau Criminal Investigation Detachment, Serious Crime Unit One!"

Another round of enthusiastic applause and whistling followed.

Su Qingxue, with her neat short hair and dashing posture, stood up. There was not a ripple of emotion on her cold, beautiful face.

She sensed the gaze coming from Chen Mo's direction and instinctively frowned.

A trace of undisguised disdain flashed in her eyes.

She quickly looked away.

As if looking at him for even a second more would be an insult to herself.

Chen Mo felt nothing inside; in fact, he almost wanted to laugh.

They were just a bunch of fledglings who hadn't yet seen true evil.

As the names of the outstanding graduates were read out, the atmosphere in the auditorium became increasingly heated.

Finally.

Director Wang cleared his throat, picked up the last few files, and a playful smile appeared on his face.

"Chen Mo."

When this name was called, the entire auditorium instantly fell silent.

Everyone's gaze focused on the corner, filled with mockery and pity.

Director Wang adjusted his glasses and said slowly, "Student Chen Mo, your situation... is rather special."

He deliberately dragged out his tone, as if enjoying Chen Mo's current embarrassment.

"Your theoretical grades are first in the school, even breaking the record of the Provincial Police Academy from the last thirty years. That is commendable."

Changing the subject, his voice suddenly rose, "However! Our duty is to fight crime and protect the people! It is not to engage in armchair strategy in the office!"

"Simulated crime scene investigation, you fainted!"

"Emergency pursuit training, you vomited!"

"You even turn pale and tremble while watching a documentary on criminal investigation!"

"Chen Mo, tell me, haven't you completely disgraced the face of the police?!"

Boom!

The whole room burst into uproarious laughter.

Everyone was watching this public execution with great interest.

Gao Fan crossed his arms, the contemptuous smile on his lips deepening.

Su Qingxue didn't even turn her head.

In her eyes, this man wasn't even worthy of her attention.

Facing this tsunami of humiliation.

Chen Mo slowly raised his head, his eyes as calm as an unfathomably deep well.

He stood up and looked at Director Wang on the stage, neither servile nor overbearing.

Director Wang felt a bit uncomfortable under his gaze, snorted coldly, and slammed a file onto the table.

"Under normal circumstances, someone in your condition would not be qualified to join the police force at all. But considering you haven't violated any school rules, and in the spirit of 'making the best use of everyone,' as well as to free up a position for a comrade who needs it more..."

He paused and announced word by word, "After careful consideration, we have decided to assign you to... the Municipal Bureau, Cold Case Archives Office, as an archive clerk!"

The Cold Case Archives Office?

What kind of place was that?

That was the "graveyard" of the entire police station!

All the old cases that had exceeded the statute of limitations, had no leads, or hadn't been solved for decades were dumped there, never to see the light of day again.

Those who worked there were either...

Either old timers waiting to retire or unlucky souls who had made mistakes and were exiled there.

Assigning a fresh graduate there was no longer a job assignment.

It was a blatant act of nailing his life to the pillar of shame!

"Hahaha, an archive clerk! That's just perfect. Letting him stare at those moldy papers all day, isn't that great?"

"Director Wang's move is brilliant. He got rid of the trash and did someone a favor. High level!"

Amidst the discussion, not a hint of anger or humiliation could be seen on Chen Mo's face.

He simply spat out two words calmly: "Understood."

After saying this, he didn't even spare another glance at Director Wang.

He turned around directly.

Amidst the gloating gazes of the entire room, he was the first to walk out of the auditorium.

This composure made Director Wang, who had prepared a stomach full of insults, feel like he had punched a pile of cotton.

His face turned green and then white.

...Half an hour later.

Chen Mo stood in front of an inconspicuous three-story building in a corner of the Municipal Bureau.

The wall plaster was mottled and covered in vines.

The five characters for "Cold Case Archives Office" on the sign were also rusted.

He pushed open the heavy iron door.

A musty smell mixed with old paper and dust rushed toward him.

An old policeman with gray hair and a beer belly was lying on a rocking chair, leisurely listening to storytelling on the radio, with a pot of strong tea at his feet.

"You're that new guy... named Chen Mo?"

The old policeman didn't even lift his eyelids as he asked lazily.

His name was Liu Fusheng, and he was the only "living person" here.

"That's me."

"Hmm..."

Liu Fusheng pointed to the mountains of files, "See that? Over there is Area A, from the fifties to the eighties."

"This side is Area B, from the eighties to the two-thousands."

"That pile in the corner that's about to collapse is from the last twenty years."

"Your job is to categorize them and re-enter them into the computer. Of course, it doesn't matter if you do or not; nobody will come to look at them anyway."

After saying this, he turned over and continued to doze off, muttering, "So young, who did you offend to be exiled to this godforsaken place..."

Chen Mo ignored him.

His gaze had already been drawn to those towering mountains of files.

In his eyes, these were not moldy scraps of paper, but souls forgotten by time, crying and screaming in silence.

In his past life, what he was best at was listening to the voices of these souls.

He took a deep breath and walked toward the pile in the corner labeled "Permanently Sealed."

These were the cold cases with the most heinous crimes, the greatest impact, but also the fewest leads.

He casually picked up the one on top.

The kraft paper file bag had turned yellow and brittle, with a few large characters written on it in red ink:

[Cold Case Number: 037, Campus Female Corpse Case from Ten Years Ago]

Ten years ago.

A dance major from Jiang City No. 1 Arts High School went missing mysteriously after the school anniversary party.

Three days later, her body was found in a prop box backstage.

She was completely naked and strangled to death with an extremely thin steel wire.

The police used all their resources, investigated thousands of people, but could never find any valuable leads.

The killer seemed to have vanished into thin air, and this case became a "thorn in the side" for the Jiang City police force.

Chen Mo opened the file bag. Inside, besides a few blurry crime scene photos and a thick investigation report, there was also a sealed evidence bag.

In the bag was a school badge stained with dark brown blood.

Chen Mo's fingertips, through the plastic bag, gently touched that cold metal school badge.

At that very instant!

[Ding!]

A cold, mechanical electronic voice exploded in his mind without warning!

[Detected strong will of the host and high concentration of evil energy... Binding in progress...]

[Sin Resonance System, officially activated!]

Hum—!

Chen Mo felt a roar in his brain, and the scene before his eyes instantly shattered and reorganized!

He was no longer standing in the dusty Archives Office.

His "vision" had turned into a dark, cramped first-person perspective.

He "smelled" a pungent scent of disinfectant mixed with the decaying smell of old wood.

He "heard" his own heavy and suppressed breathing, as well as the sound of his heart beating violently with excitement.

A pair of "hands" wearing white cotton gloves appeared in his field of vision.

In his hands, he was clutching a piece of... piano wire that glinted with a cold light!

"You... who are you? What are you doing?"

A girl's voice, full of fear and trembling, rang out in front of "him."

It was a girl wearing a white dance dress, with a delicate face and eyes filled with tears.

She was the victim from the photo!

"Hehehe... don't be afraid. You dance so beautifully, like a white swan."

"You are so clean, so pure. You shouldn't be tainted by those common mortals..."

"I will make you... my most perfect work of art."

The cold, hoarse whisper echoed in the empty backstage, like a viper flicking its tongue.

The next second.

The gloved hands lunged forward, and the cold piano wire accurately looped around the girl's slender neck!

"Urgh—!"

The girl's struggle came to an abrupt end.

Chen Mo could even "feel" the sensation of the steel wire cutting into skin, and could "hear" the slight sound of the girl's throat bone cracking.

[Thought Synchronization ended.]

The illusion receded like a tide.

Chen Mo fell to the floor, his face deathly pale.

His forehead was covered in fine cold sweat, and he was gasping for air.

"Hey! Kid, what's wrong with you? No way, you got scared like this just by looking at a file?"

Liu Fusheng on the rocking chair was startled and sat up.

He looked at him with an expression like he'd seen a ghost.

Chen Mo didn't answer.

He slowly raised his head, and there was no longer a trace of confusion in his eyes.

Replacing it was the sharpness and heat of a volcanic eruption!

Although the scene just now was brief and fragmented.

As a top-tier criminal psychologist, he instantly captured several key pieces of information:

One, the killer was a staff member at the school, extremely familiar with the backstage environment.

Two, the killer had a severe obsession with cleanliness and some kind of compulsive disorder, repeatedly emphasizing "clean," "pure," and "work of art" in the dialogue.

Three, he had a strong scent of disinfectant on him, and his profession was likely related to cleaning or logistics.

Four, the murder weapon was piano wire; he likely had contact with the music room or related equipment.

A vague profile instantly formed in his mind!

Someone who worked in cleaning at the school, with a twisted, inferior heart, and a pathological possessiveness toward beautiful, pure girls...

A janitor!

A cold case from ten years ago?

Chen Mo slowly stood up and brushed the dust off his body.

A cold curve formed on his lips.

In this world, there shall be no more cold cases!

He walked to the desk.

Ignoring Liu Fusheng's stunned gaze, he picked up the dusty internal phone and dialed the number for the Municipal Bureau Criminal Investigation Detachment.

The call went through, and a cold, capable female voice came through.

"Hello, Criminal Investigation Detachment."

It was Su Qingxue's voice.

Chen Mo lowered his voice, making himself sound strange and hoarse.

"Ten years ago, the Arts High School campus female corpse case."

"I know who the killer is..."