Chapter 85 Questions
In the early morning, a light mist made the buildings in the distance appear dim, the air was slightly cool, and people were running in groups of three or four on the playground.
Rong Yuan was also running. In the past, when his physique was average, he actually didn't like this kind of exercise. He felt it was time-consuming and laborious, and it was uncomfortable to run until he was sweating all over. But with persistent exercise and gradually improving physical fitness, running at a faster speed is no longer a burden for him. While running, he adjusts his breathing and muscle movements, and feels his heavy body become light, as if it is about to leave the ground. At the same time, his mind is empty, and he doesn't have to think about anything, which brings him a comfortable and cozy feeling.
After running, Rong Yuan walked around and sat down on his usual lounge chair. He took out a bottle of water from his bag and drank half of it. When he put the bottle down, he saw a newspaper on the exercise machine next to his chair. It was probably left by someone who was exercising here.
Rong Yuan glanced at it and didn't take it seriously. He tightened the bottle cap. Suddenly, he felt something was wrong. He took another look and took the newspaper.
The newspaper was folded in the middle, and Rong Yuan saw a black enlarged headline at the top of the page: "Serial killer suspect acquitted, relatives of victims: Where is justice?" Below it was a low-resolution photo of a man wearing a hat walking down the street with his head lowered, his jaw tense, and in a hurry.
Rong Yuan quickly scanned it. This was just a low-end tabloid. Due to the resolution, the man in the photo and Yu Qiang were only about 70% similar. As for the sensational speculations and malicious and sensational words in the newspaper, there was no need to read them. What Rong Yuan cared about was the merit points on the man's head.
-13625.
The Yu Qiang case was a hot topic, and Rong Yuan naturally knew about it a long time ago. He watched the live broadcast of the first trial through the optical computer. The man in the dock had nearly 5,000 merit points at that time, which was considered very high among the people Rong Yuan had seen. Rong Yuan knew at that time that this man would never commit those horrific crimes, and the court's final verdict of not guilty was reasonable and necessary. Rong Yuan just thought that the police were deceived or misled when issuing the wanted order, and he didn't take it to heart afterwards. Therefore, even if many people on the Internet later looked for Crow to "uphold justice", Rong Yuan ignored it and asked Wandou to block all such information.
——But what's going on now? In just a few days, this guy has lost more than 15,000 merit points?
This is naturally impossible.
Rong Yuan asked Wandou to retrieve the video of the trial, and when he looked at it again, he saw that the merit value was still 4963. Then he retrieved Yu Qiang's wanted photo, and Rong Yuan looked at it with his Sky Eye, and the merit value was -10766.
The merit value seen by the Heavenly Eye is very real-time. No matter when the photos and videos were taken - even if they were photos of babies learning to speak, what Rong Yuan saw must be his merit value at that moment. He had already verified this point.
So, how can the same person have three types of merit?
The only possible answer is that the "Yu Qiang" in these three photos is not the same person, and at least two of them used human skin masks that can deceive facial recognition technology - this would not be possible without long-term preparation and special technical conditions.
——So if the wanted person is the real Yu Qiang, then who is in court? The police? It is very likely. After all, it is difficult for ordinary people to have such a high merit value. There is no need for an ordinary person who does more good deeds to go to court instead of a murder suspect.
——If he was a policeman, why did he disguise himself as Yu Qiang to accept the verdict? Was it true that there was insufficient evidence during the trial? Or did the police deliberately conceal some credible evidence? Where is the real Yu Qiang? Is he still under the control of the police? Assuming that he was unable to cooperate with the police's actions, so someone else was found to replace him, then what was the purpose of this show verdict?
——Who is the other person photographed on the street? He seems to be a villain who has committed as many evils as those former Wild Wolf mercenaries. Why did he appear in the guise of Yu Qiang and be photographed? What role did he play? Is he connected to the police? Or do they belong to different systems?
Rong Yuan sat on the bench, his hands crossed under his chin, his eyes half closed as he thought.
——First, let’s sort out the process. The wanted photo is No. 1 Yu Qiang, the one on trial is No. 2, and the one photographed on the street is No. 3. Assume that No. 1 is real and No. 2 and No. 3 are fake. The optical brain releases the news → No. 1 is arrested → No. 1 and No. 2 have contact in the detention center → No. 2 disguises himself to go to court, No. 1’s whereabouts are unknown → Insufficient evidence, No. 2 is acquitted → No. 3 appears and is photographed by passers-by on the street.
From the perspective of the relationship chain, No. 2 should know the whereabouts of No. 1. It is not certain whether No. 2 and No. 3 have any cooperation, but at least No. 3 knows about No. 2's actions.
So there are three main issues now: first, the whereabouts of the real Yu Qiang; second, the relationship between the two parties who successively impersonated Yu Qiang; third, their purpose.
Rong Yuan asked Wandou to search for Yu Qiang, and then found something more interesting: it was previously discovered that the surveillance network in City A had signs of being damaged, and now, in the retrievable surveillance, Yu Qiang appears and disappears from time to time. Although there is no situation where one person appears in two places at the same time, judging from the merit value, it is obvious that different people are playing the role of Yu Qiang and showing their presence from time to time.
——The bait should not be too obvious.
At the same time, it was traced that Yu Qiang was staying in a chain hotel in City A. The hotel was 23 stories high, and infrared dome cameras were installed at the main entrance, elevators, main entrances and exits, and security passages, which could clearly see people's appearance and activities even in dark conditions. However, the monitoring area did not cover all corridors, at least Yu Qiang's room was not within the monitoring range.
According to the hotel records, Yu Qiang registered his stay in room 1109 under his real name, and the surveillance also showed that the fake Yu Qiang left the elevator and entered the corridor on this floor. But given the powerful forces behind them, it would be easy for them to move freely outside the surveillance and register false information.
As for the purpose? Rong Yuan immediately thought of himself.
The destroyed surveillance network, Yu Qiang's case materials, the three Yu Qiangs, the not guilty verdict, the calls for Crow on the Internet... Countless images flashed through his mind, and Rong Yuan was 70% sure that the purpose of the person who designed this matter was for Crow!
The cases of Wang Chunshan and Yu Qiang have a lot in common. Since the Crow took action last time, the authorities have reason to believe that it is very likely that the Crow will take action this time as well. In addition, public opinion hijacking... According to common sense, vigilantes like "Crow" are likely to act out of personal heroism and a sense of justice, and they will most likely care about the recognition of public opinion. Even if they find that this is a trap, they may take the risk for the public's expectations...
——No, that doesn't make sense. The authorities have staked so much on this case, but it's just for a possibility. It doesn't make sense...
——And what does the appearance of Yu Qiang No. 3 mean? Such a high negative merit... If there is a cooperative relationship with the police, is it a criminal serving his sentence who is helping to solve the case? Or is it a bad guy hidden among the police? Or is it another third party who uses the police information to achieve his own goals?
Rong Yuan always felt that he was still missing a few pieces of the puzzle and couldn't put it together into a complete picture - what was it? What was he missing?
Judging from the information currently available, as long as he does not take any action, the other party will be able to do nothing to him. But is this really that simple?
…
The same doubts also arose in Zhou Yunze's mind.
Before the layout, each of them felt the subtlety of the plan. Although there was some disharmony, they believed that by combining everyone's strengths, the plan could be completed more meticulously and perfectly.
But when the net was really spread out, Zhou Yunze found that it was really like a spider web - it seemed tight, but in fact it was full of loopholes, and even there was no harmony within the investigation team.
Captain Shu Qi seemed to be modest and easy to talk to, but in fact, he was a very strong and arbitrary person. The complete plan was only in his mind, and everyone else only knew the outline. At the same time, it was also heard that he had mobilized an action team to support his operation, but apart from Shu Qi, the two sides had no direct contact with each other.
Shao Baoer is mysterious and unpredictable. The last information leak directly made Crow alert and disappeared, which also poked the biggest hole in this plan. It is hard to say whether she did it intentionally or unintentionally. Zhou Yunze couldn't judge what her position was. Shu Qi also seemed to be on guard against Shao Baoer. If he didn't need to use her skills in making human skin masks and camouflage, I'm afraid Shao Baoer would have been excluded from the operation now.
Besides, it was strange that Shu Qi still insisted on his original plan without making any changes after this incident.
After a long period of surveillance and observation, Jin Yang's suspicion had been ruled out, but He Xin was still dissatisfied with him because of this incident. In this investigation team, the two of them should have been on the same side, but because of this incident, they were somewhat at odds. This kind of contradiction could not be hidden from everyone's eyes.
Jiang Quan and Cheng Xuguang seemed to be marginalized, and no one knew what they were busy with all day. It felt like the entire investigation team only worked together when they screened the crow suspects from the countless candidate lists. After that, apart from watching the surveillance, they were just waiting, waiting... waiting for the startled crows to foolishly crash into their nets again.
Zhou Yunze could hardly stand the fact that he was part of such an unreliable plan. He felt like he was in a fog, unable to see the direction or even what was around him.
——What is hidden behind this matter?
Zhou Yunze was staring at the surveillance footage when his phone suddenly rang. He picked it up and heard a long-lost voice: "Yunze, I have a task for you..."
