Chapter 1405: Case Closed! New Target!
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Hearing Xia Fan’s words, Qin Yuwei was enraged. Her face turned red, and she waved her arms around as she yelled hoarsely, “I may deserve to die, but do you know what the military did?!
“They used a civilian ship to transport the most vicious biochemical weapon ever created, which had been explicitly banned across the universe!
“In the process of its transportation, the propulsion system of the Ariane had issues! Its cooling system failed, and the low temperature containment box the biochemical weapon was contained in went into a state where it could leak at any time!
“There was no terrorist element to speak of. The only ones involved were heartless military personnel!
“The so-called twelve man rescue team did not head in to rescue hostages, but to deal with the dangerous biochemical weapon!
!!
“When we boarded the ship, we discovered that there were signs of leakage in the containment box, so the military used a fusion bomb to wipe away the ship and everyone on it, including that damnable biochemical weapon!”
Qin Yuwei’s eyes were completely red after saying all that. Her entire body was shaking intensely, a ferocious expression on her face.
She had gone back to that day of despair, when the lieutenant general she trusted had fired that bomb at her.
Xia Fan licked his lips. He had already guessed that the military was hiding something, but after hearing Qin Yuwe speak, Xia Fan was still shocked to learn the actual truth.
The Ariane was a long-range pleasure liner. The passengers on board were all either on holiday or bringing their families to visit relatives. There was a very good chance none of them even knew what happened when they were about to die, the children still playing games onboard when catastrophe abruptly struck!
Qin Yuwei twitched, and could no longer hold back her tears. Her voice trembled as she continued, “My boyfriend Yue Ming was very smart. When he noticed that there was a slight leak in the containment box, he immediately knew that the military would take action, so he tricked me by saying it was an emergency mission, putting me in a one-man rescue capsule in the reactor enclosure, and then activated it externally.”
“When the fusion bomb made contact with the liner, he pushed the warp button…”
Hearing Qin Yuwei’s description of events, a thrilling scene appeared in Xia Fan’s mind about the events from six years ago.
The ship reactor should have had three protective layers; the third layer would be slightly more open, allowing the equipment maintenance personnel easy access when they needed to gain entrance for inspection and maintenance. There should have been no problems containing a one-man rescue pod there.
By activating the warp function of this pod at the same moment the fusion bomb exploded, the warp signature would have been overwhelmed by the powerful electromagnetic disturbance from the bomb, making it impossible for the military’s sensors to discover someone had escaped in the nick of time.
As for Qin Yuwei’s boyfriend, Yue Ming, he was none other than the leader of the commando squad. Perhaps he was already aware that she was pregnant, which was why he had resorted to such a desperate attempt to save her life. Everything she had said of the situation made logical sense.
“Do you have any proof?” Xia Fan asked her.
Qin Yuwei nodded and retrieved a memory chip from her waist. “My biochemical protection suit has a camera, and it captured the entire process of our boarding of the Ariane; everything stored in this memory chip. Unfortunately, I have no way of showing this proof to the public, because there was no way such obvious military information would pass the review process.”
Xia Fan walked over and reached out to take the chip off her.
In the moment Xia Fan reached out his hand, Qin Yuwei’s double pupil left eye suddenly spun, and her two pupils swapped positions!
She still wanted to flee, so she attempted a mental invasion of Xia Fan!
But what Qin Yuwei had not expected was for Xia Fan to simply smile. Though there was a slight pause in the motion of his arm as he reached out, he did not seem to have been affected by the assault on his mind and continued to take the chip from her.
Even stranger was how Xia Fan did not keep the chip, but instead held it in his right hand before returning the chip to Qin Yuwei.
The moment Qin Yuwei took the chip back, however, Xia Fan casually flicked his wrist.
*Kerchunk*
Like a sleight of hand, a pair of electronic handcuffs fastened on Qin Yuwei’s wrists, bursting with blue light that arced over her wrists, firmly locking her wrists in place.
“How?” Qin Yuwei’s eyes widened incredulously, greatly shocked.
Xia Fan smiled, “The dancer grandfolks were very good at stealing things, and they once taught me some of their very ingenious tricks. Those handcuffs have actually been hidden up my sleeves the entire time, and I used that moment when our hands met to very easily flick my wrist and cuff you.”
“I don’t mean that,” Qin Yuwei swallowed.
Xia Fan gave it some thought. “Oh, you mean your mental attack!”
With that, Xia Fan slowly reached out his left hand from his pocket, revealing a metal ball he was clutching. There were over a hundred needles embedded on the body of the ball, and they were pricking into Xia Fan’s palm, drawing warm blood from him.
“I’m not the sort that would stumble twice the same way,” Xia Fan replied nonchalantly.
Qin Yuwei stopped resisting completely. Someone that could impale his own left hand to prevent mental invasion must definitely be a determined and collected individual. She was no match for someone like that, not to mention the fact that Qin Yuwei had already learned from the information she had gathered that Xia Fan was a special ability user who possessed the very lethal power of Speed.
With a light brush of his fingers, Xia Fan took out the blindfold that he had prepared beforehand and covered Qin Yuwei’s eyes with it.
…
…
*Sigh*
Sitting in his office, Jerry was feeling helpless, deep wrinkles etched on his forehead.
The sky was already bright, and the Bureau still had not found the killer who had murdered Lieutenant General Zhang Qichao. Despite their strict defense and the mobilization of many policemen, they had still failed to safeguard the general. This was no different from Dad getting slapped in his face on the spot. He was presently thinking about how he should explain this to Headquarters.
Just while Dad was fretting over the matter and wondering just what to do, Chenchen suddenly barged into Dad’s office without even knocking.
“We got her!” Chenchen panted as he shouted in bewilderment.
“Caught who?”
“The murderer! We got Qin Yuwei!”
Though Candy Dad Jerry was pudgy, he had a strong body. Leaping out of his seat he asked in shock, “Who caught her? How did they do it?!”
“It was Xia Fan. He’s outside right now.”
Dad strode hurriedly out of his office, only to find everyone already gathered outside it. Each and every one of them was looking at Xia Fan incredulously, while Xia Fan was handing over the crime suspect Qin Yuwei to Dunn.
Seeing Dad, Xia Fan gave him a light nod and a smile.
All of a sudden, Dad felt a very complex mix of feelings inside him. That large rock in his heart that was making it difficult to breathe was finally abated, and at the same time, Dad also felt indebted to the incredible young man known as Xia Fan. It was all thanks to him that Brenia’s branch of the Special Bureau had not lost face!
Xia Fan seemed to have already forgotten about the disagreement he’d had with Dad that morning. After giving a detailed account of the process by which he had captured Qin Yuwei, Dad sent Chenchen and Dunn to immediately begin their interrogation of Qin Yuwei.
——
Qin Yuwei was completely honest with all that she had done. The Special Bureau declared the case closed before the afternoon was over, sending the case file together with Qin Yuwei herself to the special prison in space that was dedicated to detaining criminals with special abilities.
Xia Fan had no idea what sort of punishment Qin Yuwei would be subjected to after she was put in jail, but he reckoned it would be like what the rumors said, where she would be incorporated into a special squad composed solely of criminals who would be sent on shady operations.
The investigators who had been temporarily transferred from the four other planets also departed from Brenia, while Xia Fan also went home after, making his way into his study and locking the door behind him. From his spatial ring, he quietly took out a silver disk.
The round disk could be hidden in his glove, and was an automatic data collection and hacking system that could work via contact. It had been a gift from Machinist Grandpa while he was on the Holy Tomb planet.
By stating he would want to take a call, the moment he took a communication device in hand and grasped it lightly, the device would begin working its magic, cracking the encryption and obtaining the data and messages from the target without them even knowing.
Every scoundrel under the dome had a sure trick or two up their sleeves, and Machinist Grandpa was no different. He had taught every little trick he used to commit crimes to Xia Fan, without any reservations whatsoever.
Connecting the duplicator device to a computer, Xia Fan tapped his finger on the table lightly.
He recalled the words Qin Yuwei had said: ‘My biochemical protection suit has a camera, and it captured the entire process of our boarding of the Ariane; everything stored in this memory chip. Unfortunately, I have no way of showing this proof to the public, because there is no way such obvious military information would pass the review process.’
“The Union’s information review system…” Xia Fan muttered to himself, mulling over the words.
——
Two weeks later, at an orphanage built by the sea…
Standing on a bridge along the coastal road, one was able to see the courtyard of the orphanage.
Qin Zimo was standing on the bridge, that usual cold expression on his face, watching several children playing on the field.
Among the children playing hide-and-seek was a little girl about five or six years of age. She had a head of red hair, just like Qin Yuwei.
Xia Fan smiled as he stood beside Qin Zimo, keeping his voice low, and said, “You seem to be in a rather good mood today.”
“The same could be said about you, no?” Qin Zimo replied.
Xia Fan shook his head, “How could I feel the same? You let the mother go, and even come see the daughter frequently. There’s a warm heart hidden under your cold exterior, while I’m the bad person who personally sent Qin Yuwei to prison, making Qin Yue an orphan.”
Qin Zimo raised his head and looked Xia Fan in the eye. He did not deny that he had let Qin Yuwei go on that day when Zhang Qichao was killed, nor did he ask how Xia Fan knew about it. In any case, Xia Fan would surely have had his ways to learn whatever he wished to know, given the abilities he possessed.
Qin Zimo turned away and sighed knowingly, “The Ariane Tragedy has caused huge troubles again. I wonder which nosy guy revealed the truth. These last few days, the various media organizations of the Union have been buzzing about it.
“Speaking of which, that person who managed to dig up the truth sure was skillful. They actually managed to bypass the firewall and leaked the news to our rival Sacred Federation’s media organization. Given the poor relationship that the Sacred Federation has with the Starcloud Union, now that they have gotten their hands on hard evidence, all it took was a public opinion offensive and the higher-ups of the Union ended up with a headache on their hands.
“Though the General Information Administration has issued a gag order on this, disallowing any further news to be published on the Ariane Tragedy, I’m sure a good number of unlucky individuals had been implicated by this. Losing their post would be a small matter, as some might find themselves needing to be taken to military court in the worst cases.”
Xia Fan shrugged, “I don’t really think those people are worthy of any sympathy. They’ve merely received their just desserts.”
Hearing what Xia Fan said, a rare smile appeared on Qin Zimo’s icy countenance. “You’re really remarkable, far more impressive than any other investigators I’ve ever met. Staying here in the small Brenia station would be a waste of your talents. I heard from Dad that he has already sent a letter of recommendation to Headquarters on your behalf. I’m afraid you’ll be leaving this place soon, and will have to report to Blue Boiling Point.”
Blue Boiling Point was the dedicated training camp for the Special Bureau. Every official investigator trained and studied there before officially obtaining their badge. It was a gathering place for the entire Starcloud Union’s greatest young minds.
Xia Fan laughed, “Blue Boiling Point, huh? I heard Cheyenne mention that place before. I heard it’s really challenging, and I’m quite looking forward to it. Could you perhaps be saying all these things to me because you do not wish to see me leave?”
“Tsk!” Qin Zimo waved him off dismissively. “Please don’t put it that way. I realize you’re the sort that has an innate talent for attracting trouble, and Brenia has always been a small and peaceful planet. I’ll soon be hitting my twentieth year with the Bureau. On average, we normally only see a big case once every fourteen months.
“But in just the three and a half months since you’ve arrived, the cases of Roten, Qin Yuwei, and Liaokai were resolved! That’s three big cases, which makes it a big case once a month! How could anyone handle all that?”
The Liaokai case had just been closed yesterday. He was an ability user who had suddenly found himself gifted with a powerful special ability. Originally, Liaokai had been just an average thug on the streets, already in his thirties, yet he had achieved nothing of significance. All of a sudden, he had found himself gifted with the magical powers of a fire-type special ability.
As such, the gangster had used his newfound ability to rob a bank. Of all targets to hit, the man had boldly chosen the Union Savings Bank, which had caused quite the commotion across Brenia. It was through Xia Fan’s amazing olfactory special ability and his beast control technique that they had managed to finally track down the lucky gangster and had apprehended him.
What Qin Zimo had said made some sense. Ever since Xia Fan had joined the Special Bureau, the cases that they kept encountering had indeed increased!
However, Xia Fan would never admit that he was the sort that attracted trouble. He did not believe that there could be such a weird talent in this universe. How could there be someone who would find trouble knocking on their front door, despite having done nothing the entire day?
Of course, had Xia Fan met his father, he would not hold this belief any longer…
