Fifth Ningyi lived in a villa area in Central Park.
Central Park is the heart of Creek Valley City.
From the name, it's clear that Creek Valley City was once a valley between two great mountains, with a river flowing through it. However, that was hundreds of years ago.
Due to humanity's endless desire for expansion, the river has long since disappeared, and both mountains have been flattened, replaced by skyscrapers resembling a forest.
Amidst this towering steel forest, the beautifully preserved Central Park stands out.
It wasn't preserved for environmental reasons; rather, it's controlled by the big shots of the villa district who dominate the city.
Perhaps because this area was once the deepest part of the riverbed, it has accumulated so much humus that even though the environment surrounding Creek Valley City has deteriorated, Central Park remains lush and green.
Like all natural landscapes, amidst the most beautiful scenery lies the decay that nourishes it.
—An unremarkable yet powerful isolation barrier separates the villa area from the outskirts of Central Park. Inside are the mansions of the elites, while outside, among the muck, lie the homeless scavenging or spending the night.
Because of this isolation barrier, even police cars cannot enter or exit freely.
If this incident had occurred outside the villa area, the ubiquitous cameras and sensors of Creek Valley City might have already caught the murderer's trail.
In Creek Valley City, almost every individual's brainwave patterns, chip frequencies, pupil characteristics, production numbers for modified prosthetic limbs, codes for cultured artificial biotic organs, voiceprints, body postures, gaits, fingerprints, palm prints, lip prints, neck patterns... even amino acid codes in sweat are meticulously archived.
This information constantly interacts with nearby screens, vehicles, sensors, and payment terminals, confirming your physical and economic status to push suitable advertisements your way at any time.
However, the villa area where Fifth Ningyi lived was different.
The elites often had many unsavory dealings. Within their fortresses, they would do everything possible to block signals to avoid being caught by enemies or those with ulterior motives.
In the period around Fifth Ningyi's death, the only recorded entries were from Yue Zhao's special car.
Like most vehicles here, this one shielded all external signals, allowing the elites to discreetly bring back their new lovers, schemes, and secrets.
This time, it brought death.
"Maybe Yue Zhao granted access to a plastic-surgery-makeover murderer, allowing them to approach more easily," Qin Huaigui speculated wildly after being stunned by Qin Xuezhong's rapid data retrieval speed and clarity.
While Qin Huaigui was caught in his self-doubt, she quickly looked up the man in the photo frame in the villa.
Sure enough, the image recognition function immediately provided a matching result, identical to a photo in the villa. It was from a news article titled:
[Mr. Fifth Shuo Feng of Xianren Dreamscape awarded Creek Valley City's Top Ten Philanthropists of the Year.]
This was indeed the father of the deceased, Fifth Ningyi.
It seemed the daughter was quite the admirer of her father.
But... even a daughter who idolizes her father wouldn't go so far as to cover every wall with his photos, would she?
Perhaps there was more to this case than just Fifth Shuo Feng's relationship.
Qin Xuezhong stopped her train of thought and prepared to leave.
She had done all she could; now, it was time to hand it over to the professionals.
"Whoever sent you to find me, leave it to them. Don't meddle yourself," she cautioned Qin Huaigui, wary that this young man might impulsively involve himself in trouble that would implicate her too.
---
On the subway ride home, Qin Xuezhong logged into the undercover task system she hadn't accessed in a while.
In her group, since no one needed to complete tasks for suppressants, there were no new assignments, nor was anyone communicating.
Only some exchange records appeared on the group's dynamic page.
Qin Xuezhong posted the death memory she had just accessed, creating a task.
[Anonymously transmit this evidence to relevant personnel in the Security Department.]
Unsure how to phrase it, she kept it simple.
Her thought process was straightforward: since she was the only one who could connect both sides, she might as well make the effort and facilitate communication, pushing for a quicker resolution and world peace.
What a noble spirit!
In the crowded subway, Xiao Qin felt her image elevated.
---
At the moment Qin Xuezhong posted the task on the receiving platform, Zhang Yuan, a technical officer who had just finished work, received the notification.
Ever since meeting Qin Xuezhong that day, he had been preparing himself.
No matter what that woman, who held the fate of the undercover team, was up to, he would do his best to cooperate.
He never believed that a high-ranking member of a consortium would genuinely show such goodwill, allowing them to idle around without working for their suppressants. Any benefit comes with a price!
The world is that cruel.
He knew that while the undercover team consisted of data addicts, many were quite capable. To avoid being eliminated from the big boss's plans, he had to seize opportunities and make early achievements.
While he busied himself with his own matters, Zhang Yuan, upon receiving Qin Xuezhong's data, immediately used his skills as a technical officer to forge an untraceable source and submit it.
Other members of the undercover team noticed this activity and logged on, eager to find out what was happening.
Zhang Yuan shared his thoughts with his struggling colleagues.
After intense discussion, the undercover members divided into two factions:
One faction, led by Zhang Yuan, was the radical group that believed "the leader must have a grand plan; otherwise, why would submitting such evidence require our help? The leader surely wants everyone to push the case forward."
The radicals thought they should take the initiative to advance the case based on the leader's guidance, posting their evidence online.
As for how the case would ultimately be handled, that was up to the leader's discretion.
The other faction took a more pragmatic approach, seeing the leader as a laid-back person who didn't want to get too involved with them.
"If the leader needs us, we'll act; if not, we'll remain silent. What if your radical actions disrupt the leader's plans? Can you bear that responsibility?!"
As both sides passionately debated, Qin Xuezhong logged on again.
She found it odd that as soon as she posted Fifth Ningyi's death memory, the task was instantly picked up.
In less than a minute, it was already marked as complete.
Next, a notification popped up in the anti-intrusion team's system:
[New evidence in the Central Park villa murder case, click to view]
If it were an ordinary person, burdened by two factions' systems, they would likely have been discovered by now. However, due to her unique consciousness void, all traces of exposure were eliminated, leading to this situation.
It felt magical.
It was as if she had become the center of the world.
Driven by curiosity, she logged into the undercover task system to see what was happening so quickly.
As soon as she entered, she was met with a scene of intense discussion.
Suddenly, there was silence.
The data addicts, who had previously endured relentless manipulation, dared not breathe, except for Zhang Yuan, who had met Qin Xuezhong before and mustered the courage to explain the current situation.
Listening, Qin Xuezhong found it both amusing and a bit pitiful.
She realized that the reason these people were arguing so fiercely was that they feared her.
They feared she would abandon them again, plunging these disease-stricken individuals back into the painful existence of living for suppressants.
She couldn't imagine what they had gone through to be manipulated like this.
After a moment's thought, she said, "You're both wrong."
Everyone turned to look at her.
"If you have time and opportunity, help resolve this case. After all, it has a significant impact, and the sooner it ends, the less trouble everyone will face."
"And don't overwork yourselves; it's not good for your health."
Having said that, Qin Xuezhong logged off.
She realized she had spoken a bit too much and wasn't accustomed to addressing so many people at once.
After she left, the space fell silent again.
All of them were virtual representations of robots; tears were invisible, but in the quiet atmosphere, several muffled sobs were clearly heard.
They were treated as slaves, tools, trash, and worthless beings destined to die without medication.
It wasn't uncommon to be summoned to complete tasks on stormy nights for the sake of suppressants, and staying up late to do dirty work was routine.
Who would have thought they could ever hear someone say, "Don't overwork yourself; it's not good for your health"?
At this moment, all the undercover members thought six words:
She really made me cry.
In a villa in a wealthy area,
A man had bloodshot eyes, appearing both dazed and crazed, as if under the influence of some potent data drug.
His voice was filled with uncontainable excitement, "So, we can go ahead and kill her?"
"Yes, that's the old master's order," the person beside him whispered, "To stop anyone investigating Miss Ningyi's case."
Slap! Another slap echoed.
The man shouted, "Miss my ass! That woman is just an illegitimate child! A bastard! A filthy person! She should have died long ago!"
"Yes, young master."
"Don't 'young master' me!" The man waved his hand and smashed an outrageously expensive vase. "Now, how do we kill that Qin Xuezhong, that filthy woman?"
The person beside him didn't hesitate at all. "It's simple: blow up the subway."
"Oh? Quickly, tell me more." The mention of explosives lit up the man's eyes with excitement.
"Qin Xuezhong takes the subway to work every day, and she seems to have obsessive-compulsive disorder, always on the 19th car at 7:57 AM. We can install explosives underneath the carriage, and once she enters, we'll detonate it."
"Good! Good! Perfect!" The man jumped up in excitement.
"Let's act tonight! Get rid of them all! Especially that Qin Xuezhong! I want to see the news tomorrow! Hahahaha!"