Chapter 303: The Answer Closest to the Truth

Chapter 303: The Answer Closest to the Truth

After a night's rest, the hospital was quiet, and nothing out of the ordinary happened.

Chen Lianian glanced at his watch and sighed, "The plan failed." His eyes were bloodshot from staying awake all night.

The previous day, they had put You Jinghan into the operating room, staged a drama, and then transferred him to the ward.

They also spread the news that he would wake up in twelve hours.

But now, twelve hours had passed, and the assassin for the second attempt had not appeared.

The entire night had been peaceful, with no incidents whatsoever.

This meant that the bait hadn't taken the hook.

Lu Heng furrowed his brows and turned to the agent who had been on duty the previous night, asking, "Did nothing unusual happen last night?"

The on-duty agent shook his head, "Nothing out of the ordinary."

It was illogical for the mastermind to send a top-tier Ability User for the initial assassination attempt and then not follow up with a second attempt when the target survived.

Unless there was a flaw in their plan that the mastermind had noticed.

Lu Heng wanted to confirm what had happened the night before and suggested, "Let's review the surveillance footage."

"Alright, let's check and make sure there were no slip-ups," Chen Lianian agreed.

For seasoned investigators, reviewing surveillance footage was often the most straightforward way to gather clues.

The two men headed to the hospital's surveillance room and asked for the previous night's footage of the ward's exterior.

Since Ironblood agents, who were also Sensers, were guarding the ward's interior and entrance, it was impossible for anyone to enter the ward using methods like Invisibility.

The surveillance video played at an accelerated speed, slowing down only when there was movement.

At two in the morning, a doctor and two nurses began their rounds.

The doctor checked each room, but when they reached the ward guarded by the Ironblood agents, they were stopped.

The doctor then continued with the other nurses to check the wards at the back.

Lu Heng frowned and asked, "Why wasn't the doctor's visit reported last night?"

The on-duty agent replied, "We didn't let him enter the ward, and we recognized him as one of the hospital's doctors. The procedure seemed normal, so we didn't report it."

Lu Heng took a deep breath and asked, "Was there a scheduled check-up and medication change? Not changing medication for twelve hours would be an obvious mistake."

Chen Lianian answered, "Such details would have been arranged. We assigned a dedicated nurse to enter the ward every four hours. This nurse wouldn't leak any secrets, and I've had someone protecting her."

The surveillance footage continued, showing the nurse entering the ward with a cart.

After about ten minutes, the nurse exited the ward.

The process seemed uneventful.

Lu Heng watched this part of the footage, furrowed his brows, and rushed out to the medication room to find the cart. He examined the containers holding the discarded medications.

The IV bags were almost full.

Chen Lianian followed and, seeing this, understood where the problem lay.

He sighed, tugging at his hair, "Even the best plans can have flaws."

"Let's check the medication room's surveillance footage. Even if we were discovered, someone would have come here to check the replaced medications."

The two returned to the surveillance room and reviewed the medication room's footage.

Not many medical staff entered and exited the medication room during the night, but there were still four or five.

The on-duty surveillance room staff member pointed at the screen and said, "Wait! I don't recognize this person."

There were five medical staff members who entered the medication room that night, and the surveillance room staff recognized four of them, but one was unfamiliar.

However, this person wore a white coat and a mask, making misidentification possible.

Chen Lianian called in several doctors and nurses from the hospital to identify the person.

Almost all the doctors and nurses stated, "This person isn't from our hospital. There are only a dozen of us in our department, and we can recognize each other by silhouette, even with a mask. This person is definitely not from our department."

...

Although they didn't catch the culprit, they could confirm one thing: someone had entered the hospital last night to verify You Jinghan's condition.

In other words, the mastermind was determined to silence You Jinghan, even if it meant taking risks.

Lu Heng turned to Chen Lianian and asked, "Do you still think it's the work of the illegal organization selling superpower serums?"

Chen Lianian slowly shook his head, "It's unlikely to be them at this point. Unless You Jinghan is a high-ranking member of an illegal organization."

Initially, he suspected that an illegal organization selling superpower serums was behind the assassination attempt, but such organizations wouldn't go to such lengths.

Even if You Jinghan spoke up, he could only expose the channel for purchasing superpower serums.

These sales channels would have multiple layers of subordinates handling the distribution.

It would be more prudent to let the channel's operators flee and lie low rather than risk another assassination attempt.

Lu Heng took a deep breath and began to organize his thoughts:

"Here's what we can confirm so far: First, someone wants to silence You Jinghan.

"This means You Jinghan possesses a secret that the mastermind doesn't want revealed.

"Second, the assassin's rank is high, indicating a powerful backing.

"Aside from the superpower serums, what other secrets does You Jinghan possess that would make the mastermind go to such lengths to silence him?"

According to Rong Xin-cheng, You Jinghan was generally a good person.

Up until now, You Jinghan had only been involved in two serious incidents.

The first was the injection of superpower serums.

The second was his Dark Werewolf rank.

The former had been mostly ruled out through analysis.

With only the second matter remaining, Yu Jinghan possesses the Dark Werewolf rank, making him a potential traitor and the one who opened the Bloodline Demon portal.

If it was indeed him, why would he be silenced? What secret is the mastermind trying to hide?

Chen Lianian pondered and asked, "What do you think?"

Lu Heng shared his thoughts, "According to Rong Xincheng, he firmly believes that Yu Jinghan couldn't be the traitor. After spending some time with them, based on my observations, I'm inclined to trust him."

Chen Lianian raised a doubt to aid in the analysis, "It's also possible that after injecting the superpower serum, the person changed. After all, these serums can lead to dependency and can make one neither human nor ghost."

Lu Heng contemplated and asked, "There's another inconsistency. In the Elven World, this traitor could open the Bloodline Demon portal in the Elven Capital City discreetly without anyone noticing.

"But Yu Jinghan only chose to flee after receiving Rong Xincheng's call. Does that seem reasonable to you?"

Chen Lianian nodded, "Indeed, the former's actions are meticulous and concealed, while the latter's escape was hasty, and even the escape route didn't reflect a meticulous mindset. The disparity in their behavior is significant."

Lu Heng continued, "If we assume that Yu Jinghan isn't the traitor, then his silencing could be an attempt to frame him as the traitor.

"With the Dark Werewolf rank and the injection of the superpower serum, all clues point to him. If the investigation isn't thorough enough, the case might be closed prematurely."

Chen Lianian had to admit this point. If someone else were handling the case, it would have been difficult to continue the investigation after Yu Jinghan's silencing.

Lu Heng further analyzed, "If this assumption holds true, it implies that the real traitor is the person or force responsible for silencing Yu Jinghan."

"Then we can confirm that the traitor is in Daxia."

Chen Lianian nodded in agreement, "Indeed, if the traitor were abroad, they couldn't have orchestrated such intricate schemes."

Lu Heng added, "We can even narrow it down to someone we've investigated."

Chen Lianian also had the same thought, "Yes, the Dark Werewolf lead came from you. Aside from the people we've investigated, no one else knows about the Dark Werewolf information."

He paused and then asked, "Who do you think it could be?"

Lu Heng took a deep breath and said, "The ability to dispatch a high-level sniper to silence Yu Jinghan indicates that the traitor has a powerful organization backing them.

"The people we've investigated are Chen Zihang, Zhuo Hongjun, and the other eight.

"These ten individuals can be divided into two groups.

"The first group includes Wu Weibing, Tao Yalun, and a few others. Their backgrounds are relatively ordinary, and their families don't possess significant power.

"If they wanted to carry out the silencing, they must have joined a highly capable organization.

"In the case of Zhuo Hongjun, it's simpler. His family has the capability to accomplish all of this."

Chen Lianian asked, "But we've tested their ranks, and their abilities are clear. None of the ten have the Dark Werewolf rank."

Lu Heng took a deep breath and said, "Initially, I fell into a misconception as well. After testing their ranks, I ruled them out as suspects. But the truth is, origin essence can be extracted, although it's challenging, it's not entirely impossible."

Chen Lianian's eyes narrowed, and he asked, "You mean..."

Lu Heng nodded, "Yes, the origin essence can be extracted. Although it's difficult, it's not completely impossible."

Chen Lianian frowned and questioned again, "Wait a moment. Although the origin essence can be extracted, the rank cannot. All ten individuals have complete ranks, and it's impossible to extract the origin essence."

Lu Heng nodded, "Yes, their ranks are complete, but one of them only has first and second-rank proficiency, lacking the third-rank proficiency."

To be precise, two individuals lacked the third-rank proficiency.

Among the ten, Wu Weibing, Tao Yalun, and six others submitted a portion of the Moonwell Spring Water and received the third-rank origin essence as a superior reward. They then absorbed the remaining Spring Water to obtain the complete third-rank proficiency.

Chen Zihang didn't submit any Moonwell Spring Water, so he didn't receive the third-rank origin essence as a superior reward.

Additionally, Zhuo Hongjun also lacked the third-rank proficiency.

However, Lu Heng instinctively excluded Chen Zihang from the list of suspects.

In this life, he encountered Chen Zihang on his first trip to the Abyss Battlefield.

Having worked together numerous times, Lu Heng understood Chen Zihang's character well. As a student of the National Defense Seven Sons High School, Chen Zihang was a very wise individual.

Lu Heng didn't believe Chen Zihang would degenerate into a traitor, so he temporarily removed him from the suspect list.

Hearing this, Chen Lianian frowned and interrupted, "Wait a moment. I know you're referring to Zhuo Hongjun, but we've tested his rank abilities. His second-rank proficiency is Punisher Knight, and Dark Werewolf is also a second-rank proficiency.

"Zhuo Hongjun's second-rank proficiency is Punisher Knight, so it's impossible for him to have Dark Werewolf."

Lu Heng shook his finger and revealed additional information, "I initially overlooked this point and kept investigating Dark Werewolf. Only now did I realize that the real issue isn't with the second-rank proficiency but with the third-rank proficiency."

Chen Lianian didn't understand, "How did it turn into a third-rank proficiency again?"

Lu Heng slowly exhaled and said, "Because Dark Werewolf has a higher-rank proficiency called Dark Wolf King."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end