341: Chapter 341 A Decade of Dark Secrets Unveiled with a Single Slash

The SUV sped along the waterlogged main road.

Jiang Hong turned the steering wheel.

The vehicle turned into a side road without streetlights.

The buildings on both sides gradually became shorter.

Abandoned factory buildings replaced the skyscrapers.

This was the industrial ruins of the Southern District of Jiang City.

The SUV stopped in front of a rusty rolling shutter door.

Jiang Hong killed the engine.

She pushed open the car door and stepped into the rain.

She grabbed the handle at the bottom of the rolling door with both hands.

And pulled upward with force.

The rolling door emitted a harsh metallic screeching sound.

Sliding into the track at the top.

Revealing a dark workshop.

Chen Mo grabbed the black briefcase from the seat.

He pushed open the car door.

He turned to look at Su Qingxue in the back seat.

Su Qingxue's face was pale.

The wound on her left arm was still oozing blood.

Chen Mo reached out his right hand and grabbed her right shoulder.

Pulling her out of the vehicle.

The two walked into the workshop.

404 followed behind, carrying the fish tank.

Jiang Hong pulled the rolling door down.

The interior of the workshop plunged into absolute darkness.

Jiang Hong walked to the corner of the wall.

And flipped the power switch.

Four old incandescent lights turned on.

The light was dim and yellow.

Emitting a buzzing sound of electric current.

In the center of the workshop was an inspection pit.

Originally used for repairing car chassis.

Chen Mo walked toward the pit.

He stepped onto the iron railing at the edge of the pit.

And walked down.

At the bottom of the pit was a thick air-raid shelter door.

Chen Mo inserted the mechanical fingers of his left hand into the gap of the door.

He twisted his wrist.

The gears inside the lock shattered.

The air-raid shelter door opened inward.

A gust of stale air rushed out.

Chen Mo walked inside.

Inside was a fifty-square-meter basement.

Against the wall were metal cabinets and a wooden table.

On the table were several dust-covered monitors.

This was a secret stronghold left behind by the Cold Case Unit from the last century.

Chen Mo placed the black briefcase on the wooden table.

He turned to look at Su Qingxue.

"Sit down."

He pointed to a wooden chair.

Su Qingxue walked over and sat down.

Chen Mo walked to the metal cabinet.

Pulled open the cabinet door.

Took out a medical kit.

He placed the medical kit on the edge of the wooden table.

Opened the latch.

Took out a bottle of iodophor and a pack of sterile gauze.

And a set of surgical instruments.

Chen Mo walked in front of Su Qingxue.

"Take off your jacket."

Su Qingxue used her right hand to unbutton her hospital gown.

And slid off the left sleeve.

Revealing her left shoulder and arm.

There was a seven-centimeter-long cut on her arm.

The flesh was rolled back.

Fresh blood flowed down her arm to her wrist.

Dripping onto the concrete floor.

Chen Mo unscrewed the cap of the iodophor bottle.

Poured the solution onto the gauze.

He used the mechanical fingers of his left hand to pinch the gauze.

And wiped the blood around the wound.

His movements were steady.

The metal fingers did not touch her skin.

Su Qingxue's muscles were tense.

Her gaze fell on Chen Mo's left arm.

That metal hand had just snapped the cervical spine of a professional killer.

And smashed through a half-meter-thick load-bearing wall.

Yet now it was precisely pinching the thin gauze.

Avoiding all the nerve endings.

The sound of the mechanical joints operating was extremely low.

Files from the police academy flashed through Su Qingxue's mind.

The Chen Mo in the files was a coward who would vomit even during simulated crime scenes.

She looked at Chen Mo's expressionless side profile.

That file was completely overturned.

The person in front of her was a monster who could switch freely between extreme violence and extreme calmness.

Chen Mo picked up the medical tweezers and a suture needle.

Threaded it with catgut.

"Hold on."

The needle tip pierced the skin at the edge of Su Qingxue's wound.

Su Qingxue gritted her teeth.

Sweat seeped from her forehead.

Chen Mo's wrist turned.

The suture needle passed through the flesh on both sides.

Tied a knot.

Cut off the excess thread.

Chen Mo performed the second puncture.

Ten minutes later.

The wound was sutured.

The stitches were even.

The spacing was perfectly consistent.

Chen Mo put down the tweezers.

Covered the wound with clean gauze.

Wrapped it with medical tape.

He turned and walked toward the wooden table.

"What did you find?"

Chen Mo picked up the flip phone with the cracked screen.

Su Qingxue leaned back against the chair.

Her breathing gradually stabilized.

"An old case from ten years ago."

"The Southern City Chemical Plant explosion."

"Officially classified as an accident."

Su Qingxue looked at the bloodstains on the floor.

"I went into the archives to organize the files."

"And discovered that the autopsy report for that case had been replaced."

"The original report stated that there was no inhalable dust in the tracheae of the thirteen victims."

"They were already dead before the explosion."

Chen Mo placed the flip phone on the table.

Pushed it in front of 404.

He turned his head.

"Cause of death."

Su Qingxue raised her head.

"The latter part of the report was destroyed."

"I tried to recover the hard drive data."

"And triggered the system's underlying alarm."

"Fifteen minutes later, Zhou Jianguo brought people to seal off the archives."

"He took away all the digital keys."

Chen Mo deduced the event model in his brain.

Zhou Jianguo is the Deputy Director of the Municipal Bureau.

The chemical plant explosion happened ten years ago.

Ten years ago, Zhou Jianguo was still the captain of the Criminal Police Brigade of the Southern City Branch.

The thirteen victims died before the explosion.

The autopsy report was modified.

Afterward, Zhou Jianguo was promoted all the way up.

This was a clear chain of interest exchange.

Inside the Oracle Technology sequence zero phone, there was Su Qingxue's hospitalization location.

This meant Zhou Jianguo sold Su Qingxue's whereabouts to Oracle Technology.

Oracle Technology sent killers to silence her.

Chen Mo looked at 404.

"Crack it."

Chen Mo pointed to the flip phone.

404 placed the fish tank next to the monitor.

Pulled out two data cables.

One end connected to Old Blind Man's interface.

The other end was inserted into the charging port of the flip phone.

404 pulled the keyboard over.

Fingers tapped on the keys.

Large patches of green code appeared on the screen.

"This phone has no network module."

404 stared at the screen.

"All information is pre-stored in a physical crystal chip."

"It uses military-grade 24-bit rolling encryption."

Old Blind Man's electronic voice came from the fish tank.

"Give me three minutes."

Bubbles churned in the fish tank.

Chen Mo walked to the entrance of the basement.

Jiang Hong stood by the door.

Holding a rag in her hand.

Wiping the bolt of the Thor sniper rifle.

"How much ammunition is left?"

Chen Mo spoke.

Jiang Hong stuffed the rag into her pocket.

"Five rounds of electromagnetic armor-piercing ammunition."

"Two rounds of high-explosive ammunition."

"Three pistol magazines."

Jiang Hong looked at Chen Mo's blood-stained trench coat.

"We are wanted by the Municipal Bureau."

"The Security Bureau's internal network has also issued a red kill order."

"Before dawn, they will search the entire Southern District."

Chen Mo did not answer.

He turned and walked back to the wooden table.

The system panel on his retina flickered.

[Sin Value Balance: 7,000 points.]

The flip phone on the wooden table beeped.

The screen lit up.

The green code stopped scrolling.

404 pressed the Enter key.

"Cracking complete."

"There is only one video file inside."

404 opened the file.

A blurry image appeared on the monitor.

The image shook.

This was the perspective shot by a pinhole camera.

The light was very dim.

Chen Mo stood in front of the screen.

The image showed an underground warehouse.

Hundreds of iron cages were lined up in the open space.

People were locked in the iron cages.

There were men, women, the old, and the young.

They were wearing tattered clothes.

Their eyes were dull.

A man wearing a white protective suit walked into the frame.

He was holding a spray can in his hand.

Spraying colorless gas at one of the iron cages.

The person in the iron cage began to convulse.

Black veins grew on the surface of their skin.

Ten seconds later.

The person fell to the ground.

Stopped breathing.

The man in the protective suit walked up to the camera.

He took off his hood.

The image froze on his face.

It was a young face.

There was a scar on the cheek.

The system on Chen Mo's retina emitted a sharp alarm.

[Extremely dangerous Sin Frequency detected.]

Chen Mo reached out his left hand.

The metal fingers touched the cracked screen of the flip phone.

[Consume 5,000 Sin Value points to initiate Mind Synchronization?]

Chen Mo silently confirmed in his mind.

Balance deducted.

The surrounding basement scene instantly disappeared.

Chen Mo fell into boundless darkness.

The air was filled with the pungent smell of chemical agents.

He heard footsteps.

First-person perspective established.

Chen Mo found himself standing in the underground warehouse from the video earlier.

He was holding a document in his hand.

A person stood in the shadows opposite him.

That person was wearing a black police uniform.

On the shoulder straps were two bars and one star.

Zhou Jianguo from ten years ago.