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墨書 Inktalez
Everyone thinks that bad people are a minority, but once you start investigating, you’ll be shocked. In Binhai City alone, there are over six thousand theft cases reported each year, averaging more than twenty cases a day. About thirty percent of these involve losses exceeding one hundred thousand, and there are always dozens of particularly significant cases each year. They break into insurance cabinets, steal from safes, target foreign guests at high-end hotels, and specifically choose wealthy individuals in upscale neighborhoods to rob. Any method you can think of has been practiced by someone here.
Where do they learn this? Of course, from the university of society—the detention center.
From stealing clothes and shoes to breaking into insurance cabinets, all kinds of characters are present. The cases that Guan Yiqing has come across feature a variety of bizarre individuals, none of whom are normal.
To know how to be a thief, you have to start young. Many clever thieves raise groups of minors, teaching them step by step how to steal, and then enjoy the offerings guilt-free.
Do you know how to break into a house? The methods are incredibly diverse—some climb through water pipes, some use ropes, and others have technical skills for picking locks. The imagination of the public is limitless, and the creativity of these bad individuals is even more astonishing. One particularly skilled thief could scale twenty stories barehanded to steal; that’s impressive enough on its own, but he was already forty-nine years old and still in the game. The most peculiar thief took a year and a half to catch; his profession was that of a window washer who hung outside tall buildings. It’s still under investigation how many things he stole, but he has already been in detention for one year and eight months without resolving his case. The youngest thief was only seventeen years old; it’s hard to imagine that he was the leader of a gang. Just by breaking car windows throughout the city, he managed to rake in over four hundred thousand. A group of minors even possessed weapons when they were caught.
The way to learn is through inquiry—listening carefully to the details of their crimes. The main interrogator is Guo Wei, who sometimes finds himself dumbfounded by the unbelievable methods described. For instance, using fluorine liquid to silently create a hole in glass; or salespeople who specialize in selling insurance cabinets obtaining customer lists with addresses; or even someone who applied for a security job just to steal and didn’t leave after committing the crime but instead led the police back to the scene. If that’s not shocking enough, there’s an even more incredible case: one mastermind behind a theft ring that Guan Yiqing interrogated turned out to be a middle-aged woman who specifically recruited pregnant women to shoplift from supermarkets. The sole purpose was to evade punishment—if caught, they could exploit humanitarian loopholes in the law.
These strange phenomena leave one astonished at the audacity of thieves. Guo Wei and Guan Yiqing were both deeply shocked, yet Shen Lingchen showed no reaction at all. What surprised them even more was Shen Lingchen's ability to see through these oddball suspects as if he could read their minds. He would control their emotions with subtle gestures.
For example, when someone was evasive with their words, he would calmly say: "Be honest." His low voice and piercing gaze would instantly change the suspect's tone. When faced with someone crying and pleading for forgiveness, he would spit disdainfully and that person would seem triggered, staring blankly for a while; if someone entered nonchalantly, Shen Lingchen would simply gesture for silence while staring intently at them—once holding his gaze for five minutes without moving—causing the suspect to hesitate and weakly ask:
"Do I need to provide any further information for the report?"
Understood. Guan Yiqing secretly admired Shen Lingchen; this was psychological warfare—a tactic honed through long-term practice using eye contact and body language to intimidate opponents into fear or hesitation.
The inquiries progressed rapidly as both men gained knowledge at an astonishing rate; however, the more they learned, the more they felt overwhelmed by the vastness of what there was still to know.
Just then, another suspect finished confessing—he specialized in stealing from supermarket warehouses and had reached a professional level in drilling holes. With just a hand drill and a spade, he could create manholes in concrete. Upon further questioning, it turned out he had concocted his own expanding agent which he injected into holes before taking action once it weakened the wall's integrity.
Don’t underestimate this method; he confessed to having stolen from over thirty warehouses across nine cities and had built himself a small villa back home.
Guo Wei looked at the narrow-faced suspect with mouse-like features and turned to seek Shen Lingchen's opinion. Shen Lingchen shook his head with an expression of disinterest: "Take him away."
As the suspect was led away, Shen Lingchen stroked his chin deep in thought while Guan Yiqing turned off the camera and asked: "Master, it's almost noon; should we grab something to eat?"
"Wait a minute... let me adjust my thinking and take a look at the list you’ve compiled." Shen Lingchen took the phone, glancing at the names without hearing Guan Yiqing mention dinner. He murmured, "These are all typical characteristics of regional crimes, and they mostly involve transient offenders. The person we’re looking for shouldn’t be among them."
"What are the characteristics of regional crimes?" Guo Wei asked quietly. Guan Yiqing, with her theoretical expertise, started counting on her fingers. "You really come from logistics, don’t you? You don’t know about frontline situations... Simply put, when a criminal subject is concentrated in a specific region, that’s what we call regional characteristics."
Still not understanding, Guan Yiqing's background in information processing kicked in with big data thinking. For example, burglaries of insurance cabinets often occur among suspects from Huangping because there’s a nationally renowned manufacturer of insurance cabinets there. For the thousands of employees and affiliates working there, picking locks is hardly a secret. Then there are climbing thefts prevalent in Liangshan due to the harsh geographical conditions; those born there naturally have strong legs from navigating cliffside paths daily. Furthermore, over ninety percent of street shop thefts and robberies are committed by people from Northeast China, often in groups; even small police units like 110 find it hard to handle them... The emergence of such situations involves multiple factors like population, resources, and geography. In these high-crime areas, illegal activities carry no moral burden; instead, they can signify success in life. It’s said that in Huangping, young women prefer men who make money by breaking into insurance cabinets rather than those who farm lawfully at home.
From a sociological perspective, the imbalance in regional development also leads to high-risk areas and populations integrating into social divisions in extreme ways, forcibly redistributing income and competing for survival resources.
The young woman spoke at length while Guo Wei listened attentively, subtly signaling to Guan Yiqing. When Guan Yiqing turned around, she caught a glimpse of a slight smile on Shen Lingchen's lips. Embarrassed, she fell silent. However, Shen Lingchen didn’t mind at all; he softly praised her, "Well said. Big data can identify causes but can’t find suspects. Let’s not look at this from a macro perspective but start from the micro... So let me ask simply: do the cases we’re following have strong regional characteristics?"
"Oh, it seems they have anti-regional characteristics?" Guan Yiqing suddenly realized.
"What do you mean by anti-regional characteristics?" Guo Wei asked in surprise.
"To accurately locate the residences of two former leaders—those residences were only reported to the Disciplinary Committee; then they had to pass through three security doors, one of which was a high-end anti-theft door—and open an insurance cabinet embedded in the wall... The place where Wang Zihua was robbed is a government courtyard; surely no one could swagger in carrying tools? Moreover, crimes with regional characteristics are usually random selections; it can’t be like these two cases where they reaped huge rewards?" Guan Yiqing exclaimed excitedly.
Shen Lingchen added calmly, "And one more thing: they stole famous paintings and jade artifacts. That’s much more refined than just cash theft." He looked at them thoughtfully. "Do you think we should adjust our direction?"
"Right, it must require higher quality skills; they shouldn’t be like those suspects who just come out looking for quick cash."
"There must be reliable sources of information and channels for selling; otherwise, those high-value stolen goods wouldn’t be able to circulate."
"They need advanced lock-picking skills—at least at the level we’ve registered for key monitoring locksmiths."
"If that’s the case, how difficult must it be for these thieves?"
Guan Yiqing and Guo Wei exchanged thoughts on possibilities, increasingly alarmed by their own conclusions. Indeed, if all these necessary conditions were met to pull off such feats, it would require skills akin to Chu Liuxiang's level of thievery.
Both were bewildered by their own thoughts; how could such an audacious thief be something this police force could handle? Shen Lingchen smiled and said, "Congratulations! You’ve finally aligned your thinking with that of most police officers."
The words were sharp and clearly implied that the two were too slow-witted, realizing things too late. Guo Wei remained silent, but Guan Yiqing was a bit annoyed. She muttered, "Master Shen, could you please stop mocking us? Isn’t this what we learned from you?"
"I can't help it. If I don't mock you once more, you'll forget everything. In front of a suspect, beauty offers no advantage; anything can conquer a suspect, except for beauty and ignorance... Being mocked by me is far better than being mocked by the suspect in the future." Shen Lingchen gently placed his phone on the table and asked Guan Yiqing, "You've learned quite a bit. Change your thinking; use your reverse geographical reasoning to find someone familiar with Binhai Underworld."
It seemed they had wasted an entire morning without realizing it. The two apprentices felt displeased but dared not voice their thoughts. However, this trip seemed to yield significant results. Using their police phones to connect to the internet, Guan Yiqing's access allowed them direct entry into the crime information database. Once they entered the key search terms, the results were sparse. Both Guan Yiqing and Guo Wei were drawn to one name: You Bisheng.
It was listed first. Guan Yiqing glanced at Shen Lingchen's half-smiling expression and asked suspiciously, "Isn't there hardly anyone to check like this? We can't be looking for You Bisheng, right? That person is too famous."
"Perhaps the person we're looking for has connections with this celebrity. When it comes to fame, he surpasses all of us. Let's give it a try; people like him always have more hidden depths than we can imagine," Shen Lingchen replied.
"To summon this person requires approval from the City Bureau," Guan Yiqing said.
"He has been detained for one year and six months already. He is from Binhai but is suspected of organizing a Black Society case; being a thief was ten years ago... Moreover, since the case is still open, we cannot summon him," Guo Wei added.
"Then hurry up and apply; special cases require special handling," Shen Lingchen said without looking up.
It seemed their next target was set. This was an extraordinary individual who had been involved with the legal system since he was fifteen years old, having passed through juvenile detention centers, detention houses, remand prisons, and regular prisons without exception. From initial offenses of theft and fraud to later charges of human trafficking and organized prostitution, he eventually evolved into organizing a Black Society. You could pull any article from criminal law and likely find a way to implicate him; he was a notorious figure known for his involvement in various crimes—his reputation so fearsome that even the local police force had fewer members than his gang during his most Zhang Quan days. Those precincts that fell short in maintaining public order had to tread carefully around him; otherwise, he would organize fights that would leave the precinct directors in trouble.
Guan Yiqing sought approval from Director Zheng to contact the City Bureau's supervisory department regarding this suspect still under detention during an unresolved case; according to protocol, they were not allowed contact. Guo Wei stole glances at Shen Lingchen, whose pale face raised concerns about his health. This man was indeed remarkable among police officers, yet at that moment, there was a feeling that meeting him in person did not match his reputation. Guo Wei couldn't quite grasp what kind of magic this person possessed that allowed him to unravel countless bizarre cases.
"Kid, do you think that beneath his fame lies difficulty?" Shen Lingchen suddenly asked.
His tone was condescending, like that of a big shot. Guo Wei found it hard to adapt to such a manner of speaking; he paused for a moment before awkwardly laughing and saying, "Are you referring to You Bisheng? He is indeed well-deserved of his reputation."
"Haha, you were clearly just observing me earlier. Tell me, what’s your impression? Most people don’t think highly of me," Shen Lingchen said with a smile.
"No, no! That's not it at all! Master, look at what you're saying," Guo Wei replied politely as Shen Lingchen turned to stare directly at him. That gaze pierced through his forced smile, prompting him to quickly amend his words: "Maybe just a tiny bit."
"And where is that tiny bit?" Shen Lingchen asked.
"Well... well..."
"Isn't it true that I look more like a suspect?"
"Yeah, that's right."
Guo Wei blurted out an agreement, and then Guan Yiqing shot him a glare, quickly realizing it was not the right thing to say. Shen Lingchen, however, just chuckled without offering any explanation.
To him, it seemed more like a point of pride than shame.
After the request was sent out, they waited another half hour for an official response. The reply instructed them to continue waiting as they were coordinating with the Fourth Investigation Team handling the case. According to the principle of who is in charge and responsible, that officer wouldn't want others interfering in his investigation, so they needed to have an investigator accompany them for the interrogation.
"Ha ha, this is our efficiency."
In response, Shen Lingchen could only laugh dryly, feeling quite annoyed. However, it was fortunate that the delay in efficiency at least gave them three meals' worth of time...
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