1: Chapter 1: A Frenzied Transmigration - Encountering the Huang Cuicui Case Right from the Start

The year 2000, Jinghai City.

Public Security Bureau Criminal Police Team Dormitory.

"Beep, beep-beep—"

On the square table, the screen of a Nokia 3210 suddenly lit up, its ringtone piercing the silence.

Zhao Yang snapped his eyes open, his pupils constricting.

Before him were a bunk bed, a chair, a table, and two thermos bottles.

He was stunned.

Transmigrated?

As a low-level web novelist, he had been frantically rushing to meet a deadline in his rented room one second, collapsing from dizziness, and the next, he was here.

Before he could process it, an androgynous electronic voice exploded deep within his consciousness—

[Welcome, Host, to the Myriad Heavens Universe...]

Information flooded in like a tide.

Zhao Yang understood instantly.

A transmigrator with a System.

As a veteran "failed writer" who had been writing web novels for ten years, he accepted this without any psychological burden.

The world was "the knockout."

The System had arranged a good identity for him: a graduate of Criminal Investigation from Handong University in Handong Province Province, who joined the Jinghai City Public Security Bureau Criminal Police Team with the help of Meng Dehai. The two were distant relatives who barely shared a connection—his great-grandmother and Meng Dehai's maternal grandmother were cousins.

It was as distant as could be, but it counted as a background nonetheless.

His parents were deceased, his home was in Handong Province Province, and he lived in the dormitory.

He had been all alone in his past life, but after transmigrating, he actually gained a few distant relatives.

The corners of Zhao Yang's mouth curled up slightly as he gave the System a mental thumbs-up. More importantly, while arranging his identity, the System had directly granted him the basic knowledge and skills of a Criminal Investigation graduate, saving him the adjustment period.

Zhao Yang's eyes flickered, and he couldn't help but smile.

the knockout?

"Husband buried without a clue, I am the beauty Chen Shuting."

"Gold-rimmed glasses, a real man-killer, I am the mature sister Gao Qilan."

...

On the phone screen, the caller ID showed: Cao Break.

In the middle of the night, there must be a case.

Zhao Yang grabbed the phone: "Captain."

"Little Zhao, assemble, we're going to a scene! Fast, fast, fast!"

"Okay, I'll be right there."

...

At the bureau entrance, a van with flashing police lights had already started.

Cao Break, with his square face, waved at him vigorously.

Once Zhao Yang got in the car, Cao Break hopped into the passenger seat and spoke rapidly: "We received a report from the public. A female corpse was found in a drainage ditch on the outskirts..."

Zhao Yang's heart stirred.

Drainage ditch, female corpse.

Huang Cuicui!

The catalyst in the plot.

He stopped listening to Cao Break's briefing and focused his mind on the System—

[Character: Zhao Yang]

[Physical Body: 6 (Ordinary Person 5)]

[Intelligence: 5 (Ordinary Person 5)]

[Internal Qi: 0]

[Mental Energy: 0]

[Skills: Literature Level 2, Foreign Language Level 1, Mathematics Level 3, Computer Science Level 3, Criminal Investigation Level 4, Driving Level 4, Shooting Level 4]

[Talents: None]

His Physical Body was higher than an ordinary person's—he had been good at sports since childhood and could perform a few muscle-ups and planche push-ups.

Intelligence, Internal Qi, Mental Energy—literally what they meant.

Criminal Investigation, Driving, and Shooting were given by the System.

Literature, Foreign Language, and Mathematics were his own foundation.

Zhao Yang stared at "Literature Level 2" for two seconds, feeling a silent stab to his heart.

He had been writing web novels for over a decade, barely scraping by, and had never produced a hit book.

Literature Level 2 was indeed fair.

If he'd known his level was this low, he'd have been better off becoming a programmer.

"Little Zhao!" Cao Break's voice boomed from the front row. "What are you thinking about? Not a word—are you nervous? Don't worry, the body is intact, and it hasn't been there too long."

Zhao Yang snapped back to reality, smiled sheepishly, and didn't respond.

He continued to study the System.

The System didn't have a complex mission structure; its core was just one thing—emotion points.

Friendship, love, jealousy, hatred, admiration, respect... any emotion generated by intelligent life could be collected.

emotion points could be exchanged for items in the Shop.

Items, technical data, and Cultivation Technique Secret Manuals.

Zhao Yang glanced at the J-20 and Type 99 Tanks in the Shop, his eyes glazing over.

Then he looked at his balance—emotion points: 0

He couldn't even afford a roll of toilet paper.

However, the System also had a reward mechanism: if he could fulfill the inner needs of plot characters, change their fates, and leave no regrets, the System would grant extra rewards based on the results.

Interesting!

The car stopped.

Seven or eight police cars were parked by the roadside, their red and blue lights flashing alternately, fragmenting the night.

Zhao Yang followed Cao Break out of the car.

"Little Zhao, take a flashlight and look for tracks around the drainage ditch."

Zhao Yang complied, took the flashlight, and began to go through the motions.

It had just rained heavily, so any tracks had long since been washed away.

While pretending to shine the light on the ground, he secretly scanned the crowd—

He was looking for the main characters of "the knockout."

The System had made it clear: the more important the character, the more emotion points their feelings would generate.

Pursue the female lead, Meng Yu?

The emotion points would definitely explode—An Xin would be green with envy.

But a young lady like Meng Yu was completely not his type; better leave her to plague An Xin.

"An Xin! An Xin!"

Meng Dehai's voice came from ahead, full of vigor.

Zhao Yang looked toward the sound; the current Director of the Public Security Bureau, Meng Dehai, was shouting at the top of his lungs.

An Xin had lost his parents early on and was raised by Meng Dehai and An Changlin; they were as close as father and son. For a high-profile task like this, Meng Dehai naturally thought of An Xin first.

As for Zhao Yang, this "cheap" distant nephew?

Their emotional bond was almost zero, incomparable to An Xin's.

An Xin stood not far away, procrastinating.

He was incredibly stubborn and clearly didn't want the spotlight, hiding in the distance and pretending not to hear.

Zhao Yang walked over and gave him a shove: "An Xin, the Director is calling you."

Li Xiang also came over, gave Zhao Yang a slight nod, and then joined in the urging: "Go on, don't keep the Director waiting."

An Xin touched his police uniform, his face full of resistance: "I'm not going. It's smelly and dirty; I don't want to ruin this uniform."

Meng Dehai was already impatient, raising his voice another notch: "An Xin! Are you coming or not?"

Li Xiang stamped his feet in anxiety: "Stop stalling, Director Meng is getting angry!"

Zhao Yang's eyes darted as he lowered his voice: "Just go. If Director Meng makes someone else do this kind of dirty, tiring work, people will talk behind his back."

"Right, right, right!" Li Xiang immediately chimed in. "Little Zhao is right! Think about Director Meng!"

An Xin was taken aback, then came to a realization.

He patted Zhao Yang's shoulder firmly and turned to run toward Meng Dehai.

The next second, a System prompt sounded in Zhao Yang's consciousness—

[Obtained 10 emotion points from An Xin]

[Obtained 5 emotion points from Li Xiang]

[Current emotion points: 15]

"..."

Zhao Yang's lip twitched.

Fifteen points.

He couldn't even buy a bottle of mineral water in the Shop.

"Damn, stingy System."

He cursed in his heart.

An Xin had already run in front of Meng Dehai.

Meng Dehai frowned. "What took you so long?"

"There were onlookers over there, I was maintaining..."

"Enough." Meng Dehai waved his hand to interrupt and pointed at the ditch. "Get down there and fish it out!"

"Yes, sir!"

An Xin this time didn't stall. He quickly pulled on waterproof trousers and went into the river to retrieve the body.

Li Xiang also got some gear and went over, acting very proactive in front of the leadership. Coming from a rural background, he cherished this job and never hesitated when it was time to work.

Zhao Yang didn't join them.

Just yesterday, he was a writer tapping away at a keyboard. Although the System had stuffed his brain with Criminal Investigation knowledge, a water-bloated female corpse... he still couldn't quite get over that psychological hurdle yet.

He stood on the bank, his eyes scanning around, calculating in his head how to get more emotion points.

"Zhao Yang! Come here for a moment."

Meng Dehai's voice suddenly rang out.