Chapter 202: Capture

Chapter 202: Capture

"I suspect the Mind Controller is inside the Academy of Sciences!"

This statement put everyone on high alert. If this were true, there might be more secrets behind tonight's incident.

"How can you be certain the Mind Controller is inside the Academy of Sciences? If you have no evidence, do you know how serious the consequences of your baseless accusations could be?"

Zhuo Hongjun couldn't fathom what Lu Heng was up to, but he was worried that Lu Heng might eventually point the finger at him, so he became even more cautious.

The Guard Captain, You Zhanyu, frowned and questioned, "Captain Zhuo is right. If there's no evidence, making random speculations won't help the investigation. I still believe that the investigation should be handled by the Iron Blood."

The Senior Inspector of the Capital Ironclad Investigation Bureau, Li Zhaofeng, had been considering this possibility. He concluded that it couldn't be ruled out, but there was no evidence to prove it.

Curiously, he asked, "Comrade Lu Heng, is there any basis for your statement, or is it just a personal guess?"

This Senior Inspector, Li Zhaofeng, was the person in charge of the investigation tonight.

Gaining his trust would indeed be more helpful for the investigation.

Lu Heng thought for a moment and asked, "Inspector Li, can you access all the known Skill Crystal Core data?"

Li Zhaofeng nodded, "Yes."

The Iron Blood was responsible for investigating all cases involving Metahumans, and collecting various Superhuman ability data was part of their work.

Therefore, the Iron Blood's database indeed contained Skill Crystal Core data.

As long as the information was publicly available, it would be in the Iron Blood's database.

Lu Heng continued, "If we have the Skill Crystal Core data, that's great. Based on the information, we can analyze which skill was used to control Engineer Liu.

"Time is limited, so I won't go into the detailed analysis process. If Inspector Li is interested, you can review it later.

"After my analysis, I believe the control skill is likely a C-Rank or B-Rank skill. Do you agree, Inspector Li?"

Li Zhaofeng nodded, "It makes sense. A D-Rank skill is too low in rank; someone daring enough to commit a crime in the Academy of Sciences wouldn't use such a low-level skill.

"A A-Rank skill is too rare, and currently, there's no A-Rank Mind Control skill in the Iron Blood's database that fits the criteria."

In fact, he had already reviewed the data on Mind Control skills during the investigation, so he could easily pick up the conversation.

Lu Heng continued, "Then, we can preliminarily determine that the control skill is between C-Rank and B-Rank.

"Based on the information I've collected, there are two skills that match the characteristics of the victim's control: C-Rank [Mind Control] and B-Rank [Will Domination].

"I just reviewed the list of researchers present in the Academy of Sciences tonight. One of them, a Research Director, has a higher clearance level than the victim. If the Mind Controller controlled this Research Director, they could obtain more technological data.

"However, in this situation, the Mind Controller still chose the unawakened victim.

"This suggests that the Mind Controller's skill is insufficient for controlling Metahumans, which is why they chose an ordinary person.

"Based on this, I believe the Mind Controller's skill is C-Rank [Mind Control]."

Li Zhaofeng, upon hearing this, finally believed that Lu Heng wasn't just making a fuss but was genuinely analyzing the case.

He nodded, "Agreed. While the reasoning isn't 100% certain, it is indeed the most likely scenario."

In fact, some of Lu Heng's reasoning steps weren't 100% conclusive.

For example, the Mind Controller chose to control an ordinary researcher rather than a Research Director with a Source Essence Level of 10.

Based on this, it was concluded that the Mind Controller's skill was weak against Metahumans.

This conclusion, however, wasn't 100% accurate.

If the Mind Controller had chosen randomly, the conclusion might not be entirely correct.

Of course, analysis and reasoning don't need to be 100% accurate; that's for the court to determine.

Reasoning requires bold assumptions and careful verification.

Therefore, based on his years of investigative experience, Li Zhaofeng believed the analysis was sound, and the conclusion was reasonable.

The next step was to carefully verify the correctness of the hypothesis.

Lu Heng continued, "Based on the above reasoning, let's assume the Mind Controller used C-Rank [Mind Control].

"I'm not sure if the Iron Blood's database has detailed test data for this skill.

"Based on my personal experience, I can confirm that the skill's effective range does not exceed 200 meters. The range can vary depending on the Spirit attribute, but the difference isn't significant.

"I'm not sure if Iron Blood has this data, but if they do, there's no information about suspicious targets in the surrounding area."

"Putting it all together, we can conclude that the Mind Controller is within the Academy of Sciences."

Li Zhaofeng turned to his subordinate agent and asked him to confirm the skill data.

After a moment, the agent returned and whispered something in Li Zhaofeng's ear.

Li Zhaofeng nodded and said, "I agree with Comrade Lu Heng's analysis. Gather the records of all the guards on duty tonight, including the lieutenants."

With the senior inspector of Iron Blood in agreement, Instructor Liu naturally did not object.

Captain You Zhanyu had no choice but to send someone to retrieve the records.

Subsequently, Lu Heng and Li Zhaofeng each led a team to cross-examine the guard records.

The information they needed was simple: find all guards with Mind Control skills.

However, after a thorough search, no issues were found in the records.

The records of the guards and researchers were very detailed, including the date of awakening, initial talent, number of skill slots, skills learned, time of skill learning, skill level, and essence level.

Even the number of times they were summoned to the Abyss Battlefield and when they were summoned were recorded.

The records also included the time of information updates, which were typically updated every three days.

After reviewing all the records, they did not find any metahumans with the Mind Control skill, not even one with a Mind Control skill.

These guards were part of the military sequence, and when choosing skill combinations, they needed to communicate with their superiors.

Metahumans who learned Mind Control skills would not be assigned as guards but would be placed in departments that interrogated prisoners.

Therefore, it was normal for the guards not to have Mind Control skills.

Having reached this point, the trail went cold again.

Zhuo Hongjun grew more impatient and, glancing at his watch, said, "We've already wasted two hours. We only have four hours left, and the chances of retrieving the hard drive by dawn are slim. Yet, we're still wasting time here."

Lu Heng closed the records and strode out.

Instructor Liu reminded him, "You can't move around the Academy of Sciences alone."

Although Su Muyu and Lin Zeyu were with him, Lu Heng and the other two were considered a group, so even if three people moved together, it would be seen as moving alone.

"I'll come with you," Captain You Zhanyu waved and called over a guard to accompany Lu Heng.

Lu Heng walked to the corridor in the surveillance footage, where the bathroom was at the end.

In the entire surveillance footage, the victim, Engineer Liu, was always in the frame, except for one second at the bathroom entrance.

The victim was an ordinary person without metahuman abilities, so theoretically, he couldn't have done anything in one second.

However, this was the only location not covered by surveillance, and if there was a problem, it would only occur here.

Lu Heng walked to the bathroom entrance and stood at the door, looking inside.

At the bathroom entrance was a sink, with the men's bathroom on the right and the women's bathroom on the left.

"Is it possible that there's a problem in the bathroom?" Lin Zeyu guessed.

"The probability is low," Lu Heng shook his head. "One second isn't enough time to go in and come out."

"I'll take a look in here," Su Muyu pointed to the women's bathroom and then stepped inside.

Although Lu Heng didn't think there was a problem in the bathroom, it wouldn't take long to check, so he also went into the men's bathroom to take a look.

After checking, neither of them found any issues.

Lu Heng returned to the bathroom entrance and looked left and right, confirming the positions of the two surveillance cameras.

Captain You Zhanyu walked to the sink, turned on the faucet, and washed his face to stay alert.

The accompanying officer complained, "Captain, I think we're doing pointless work."

There was a cylindrical stainless steel trash can at the bathroom entrance.

Lu Heng walked over, lifted the trash can, and took a look.

You Zhanyu said, "We've checked the trash can. All the trash has been bagged as evidence and taken back to Iron Blood for testing."

The officer continued, "There's actually no need for testing. It's just a few paper towels and cotton pads, all normal items."

Lu Heng kicked the trash can, rubbed his foot against the circular mark on the floor, and then walked back:

"We're done here. Let's go."

Su Muyu quickly caught up and whispered, "Did you notice anything?"

Lu Heng casually replied, "Not yet."

Then, he leaned close to her ear and whispered a few words.

Several people returned to the surveillance room, and Lu Heng asked, "Inspector Li, has the evidence from the bathroom been analyzed? Can I see the report?"

"Yes."

Li Zhaofeng took out a lab report and handed it to Lu Heng.

Lu Heng took the report and flipped through it. It contained photos from the crime scene, pictures of the evidence, and the analysis report.

Just as the guard had said, there was nothing suspicious about the items in the trash can.

The trash can outside the bathroom usually contained such items.

As Lu Heng was looking at the photos in the report, a communicator ran in and loudly reported, "Alex Austin has been spotted in the Jingwei District. The search team has engaged in a firefight with him, and high-level superhuman warriors are needed for support."

As soon as Zhuo Hongjun heard that Alex Austin had appeared, he grabbed his hat and was about to leave. After taking a few steps, he turned back and asked, "Aren't you going?"

Jian Qing had already stood up and was also considering going to provide support.

Alex Austin's combat power was currently at the peak of metahumans. In a street battle, without the use of high-power heat weapons, only a high-ranking superhuman warrior could directly confront him.

Lin Zeyu also stood up and looked at Lu Heng, asking, "Are we going?"

Lu Heng considered for a moment, then turned to Jian Qing and said, "You guys go. I'll keep watching the surveillance."

Zhuo Hongjun snorted and headed out to lead the team immediately.

Jian Qing also set off right away.

There wasn't much she could do by staying here, and she also wanted to meet the White Eagle Federation's Thunder War God.

Lu Heng, on the other hand, continued to flip through the photos in the report, showing no intention of joining the battle.

Li Zhaofeng curiously asked, "I heard from Captain Jian that your combat power far surpasses hers. Why aren't you going? This is a chance to earn merit."

Lu Heng looked up at him and smiled, "Is capturing Alex Austin more important, or finding the hard drive?"

Li Zhaofeng replied matter-of-factly, "Of course, it's finding the hard drive."

"Then what we're doing is the most important."

"That's right. Have you found any clues?" Li Zhaofeng asked.

"Let's watch the surveillance again. Pull up all the footage of the victim for an hour after passing by the bathroom." Lu Heng said.

After the previous discussion of the case, Li Zhaofeng realized that many of Lu Heng's analyses aligned with his own thoughts, so he was also curious to hear what Lu Heng was investigating.

The surveillance footage began to replay, showing the victim, Engineer Liu, for an hour after passing by the bathroom.

Li Zhaofeng said, "We've watched this segment of the footage many times. From the victim's death to the alarm being sounded at the Academy of Sciences, and then to us sealing off the scene, it wasn't even an hour, only fifteen minutes."

"In those fifteen minutes, there were no suspicious targets passing by the bathroom, only six guards, divided into three groups, who passed by the bathroom one after the other.

"I've already asked, and after the alarm was sounded, the guards received orders to block all key intersections, and they all passed by the bathroom as part of their normal patrol.

"Moreover, these six guards didn't stop at the bathroom because they were running past, and the time they spent passing by the bathroom door was even less than a second."

Among these six guards, Lu Heng recognized a few from the night's events, including Guard Captain You Zhanyu and Deputy Captain He Jiandong.

As Lu Heng listened to Li Zhaofeng's explanation, he continued to focus on the surveillance footage and then said, "Can you replay the second pair of guards that just passed by?"

They replayed it once.

Lu Heng said again, "Once more, please."

After the second replay, Lu Heng said, "Sorry, one more time."

The agent simply extracted the clip and put it on loop.

On the surveillance footage, two guards ran towards the corner and then passed by the bathroom door, appearing in the next surveillance camera's view.

"Why not?" Lu Heng stared at the screen, feeling that something was off.

"What are you suspecting?" Li Zhaofeng was also puzzled.

"Let me think." Lu Heng furrowed his brows and closed his eyes in thought.

Li Zhaofeng turned back to watch the footage. Among the two guards being replayed, one of them happened to be You Zhanyu.

Lu Heng suddenly opened his eyes and muttered to himself, "Let's take a gamble."

Then, he pointed at the surveillance footage and said, "Inspector Li, please control these two guards."

Li Zhaofeng frowned, confused, "Are you sure?"

Lu Heng nodded, his eyes filled with determination.

After a quick consideration, Li Zhaofeng pressed his communicator and said, "Control Guard Captain You Zhanyu and Guard Cui Chengye. Escort them here."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end