Chapter 1930: The Bombing Case
"So we have to be careful," Han Cong said again. "As long as we stick together and don't go to dangerous places, we can get by just fine."
Wang Kai didn't seem to like this "getting by" attitude, but he felt powerless to argue, so he swallowed his words. Seeing Xu Huo pick up his uniform and hold it up to himself, he asked, "The inspector uniforms can block cuts from ordinary blades. Most of the inspectors who got killed died when they weren't wearing their uniforms."
Han Cong quickly grabbed his own uniform and checked his sidearm again. "This laser gun has firing restrictions too. Can't they give inspectors better weapons?"
"Probably afraid they'll get stolen," Xu Huo said. "I just got to the West District and had my luggage stolen. The place I rented yesterday was also broken into."
Han Cong and Wang Kai had also rented places yesterday, but since they weren't familiar with each other, there was no need to exchange addresses.
The three of them were quite concerned about the recent attacks on inspectors, but after discussing it without reaching any conclusions, they moved on to other things, like the procedures for reporting different types of cases.
Ordinary robbery and theft victims rarely came forward to report crimes, because the Inspection Department was a mixed bag, and in the eyes of ordinary people, they were even more troublesome than petty thieves. Therefore, most of the cases accumulated by the Inspection Department were reported by the black force organizations that had already carved out their territories. The West District had a complex power structure—they couldn't even control street brawls, let alone theft and robbery. So those with power and territory could also become victims, but the main purpose of their reports was probably to bribe the Inspection Department or to attack their rivals. Regardless of what items they had lost, if the Inspection Department could recover them, they could dispose of them as they saw fit. If the Inspection Department wanted to use these small leads to do something, they could.
Therefore, such cases were basically impossible to close.
Xu Huo had already learned about murder cases earlier—if they couldn't be solved within thirty hours, they were directly sealed.
And looking at the more detailed investigation procedures, unless the entire Inspection Department was actively involved, even if they caught the murderer within thirty hours, it was highly likely that the case wouldn't be closed within a day.
So Xu Huo's first mission, which seemed simple on the surface, was actually full of uncertainty.
But that didn't mean there was no way. The best approach was to kill an important member of the Inspection Department, like a squad leader. That way, naturally, someone who trusted him would seek revenge. However, to become a squad leader, a person not only had to be physically stronger than the average member but also had to be cautious. Whenever they went out, they would definitely have a companion, even when going home after work.
As for where they lived, that went without saying. They had access to defensive weapons distributed by the Inspection Department and lived near the Shadow Wall. Using a borrowed knife to kill someone would be somewhat difficult.
The second mission should be a relatively common clearance mission—he couldn't be the only one with this task.
Sure enough, before noon, the inspection instruments reported a vicious murder. A restaurant on Xiaotai Street had been blown flat, with over forty people dead or injured inside and out, including one player and three inspectors. The inspection instruments ordered the nearby branches to immediately coordinate and handle the situation.
Xu Huo and the others soon received a message from Squad Leader Jiang, telling them to equip their weapons and head to the scene, following the veteran members.
The entire Inspection Department branch mobilized. Two experienced inspectors led Xu Huo and the other two, explaining some precautions along the way—like don't touch anything you shouldn't, don't touch any bodies you shouldn't, listen to them the whole time, do as they say, and watch and learn more.
The three of them nodded repeatedly.
The aircraft arrived at Xiaotai Street. The scene was even more gruesome than they had imagined. It wasn't just one restaurant that had been blown up—a nearby game hall, a bathhouse, and several small shops had all been destroyed by the explosion and subsequent fire. The game hall was especially bad. It was right next to the restaurant, and when the explosion happened, it was almost full. Those who had been immersed in virtual reality games all night hadn't even logged off. When the explosion occurred, they were completely unaware and lost their lives just like that.
Virtual reality games required expensive equipment that ordinary people couldn't afford to run. This game hall belonged to a black force organization. All the equipment was destroyed, and a player guarding the place was killed. The organization immediately had people surround Xiaotai Street, not allowing anyone in or out. They cleaned up the scene themselves and didn't allow the Inspection Department to intervene.
As for the three dead inspectors, they were carried out properly, but their bodies were in terrible shape—their identities couldn't be determined by sight alone. It was only through the aircraft's cross-referencing and notification to other inspectors that they learned the deceased were Brother Hao and Brother Liao, who had been off duty, and another inspector Xu Huo had only met once.
With three inspectors dead and their own people unable to find any leads, the black force organization inevitably took out their anger on the Inspection Department, believing that their presence had caused the game hall to be destroyed—that the game hall had merely been collateral damage.
But by then, Inspection Department members had arrived one after another. Aircraft carrying large-scale lethal weapons quickly gathered in the sky, hovering high above. Personal flying vehicles of varying heights parked on both sides of the street. Inspectors in the same uniform jumped out one after another, gripping their sidearms and taking control.
The black force organization members were forcibly driven outside the blockade line. Xu Huo and the others gathered around Squad Leader Jiang, following behind him as they used instruments to detect what had caused the explosion.
The results came quickly. The explosion had been caused by a spatial-type prop, definitely the work of a player. But what was their goal?
"Could it be the Rebel Army?" Wang Kai asked.
Squad Leader Jiang glanced at him. "Do you think the Rebel Army's goal is to kill three ordinary inspectors?"
The Rebel Army's main targets were still the East District people. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn't deliberately harass the Inspection Department. Besides, the Inspection Department members weren't exactly people with a sense of justice. When they became inspectors, they were essentially sitting on the fence, able to lean either way.
"Maybe they were silenced," Xu Huo said. "Brother Hao and Brother Liao were off duty. Maybe they happened to come out to eat and ran into the Rebel Army, accidentally witnessing something and got killed."
"That's possible too," Squad Leader Jiang thought for a moment. "Anyway, that bunch is always plotting to cause trouble somewhere or other."
He clearly had no extra concern for his deceased colleagues. After sighing, he ordered the bodies to be sent away first—notify the families if they had any, and if not, just cremate them.
This way of handling things was truly astonishing. They didn't even need to write detailed investigation reports or autopsy reports. They just needed to note in the Xiaotai Street bombing case that three inspectors had died in the line of duty. As for catching the murderer and closing the case—where were they supposed to catch a player? Since they couldn't catch them, there was certainly no way to close the case. Just leave it there.
At that moment, Li Song came over and said to them, "Two injured people have escaped. Split up and search for them."
(Chapter End)