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墨書 Inktalez
Patients with Social Anxiety Disorder fear communication with others. The moment someone looks at them, they feel completely uncomfortable, unable to lift their gaze. In public settings, they wish they could become invisible, blending in with the crowd, hoping no one would notice them or speak to them.
Before him, Guan Deng would break into a sweat while talking to him; conversely, when silent, he seemed to relax a bit. Yet even in silence, Guan Deng's face remained flushed, and his body trembled slightly. Occasionally, he would even gag.
As an elderly man well-versed in psychology, Old Shao easily recognized that Guan Deng suffered from Social Anxiety Disorder based on his behavior. This condition was closely tied to his past experiences. When Guan Deng was just beginning to form memories, his father abandoned him and his mother. Then, when Guan Deng turned fifteen, his mother succumbed to a heart disease.
After her husband left, Guang Deng's mother never remarried and raised him alone for over a decade. Growing up without a father and facing such hardships naturally shaped Guan Deng's current personality. Old Shao understood that he needed to be patient with someone like him, allowing Guan Deng time to adjust.
Old Shao released his grip and explained, "The task force needs you, and your mission is to gather intelligence for us. There aren't many people in the task force, so you don't need to be nervous. Besides, hackers—whether they commit crimes or not—always pry into others' privacy online, regardless of whether you intend to use that information."
Upon hearing Old Shao's words, Guan Deng nodded honestly.
Seeing this reaction from Guan Deng confirmed to Old Shao that he was likely going to use him for the task. If a person's hobby could become their job, it might be the most joyful yet painful experience in the world. It seemed that Guan Deng wanted to give it a try.
Old Shao didn't press further but instead took a step back. He looked at Guan Deng seriously and said, "Since you've helped us once, I believe you want to contribute your part as well. I'm not pushing you; take your time to think about it. For the next case, I hope you can assist us."
With that, Old Shao left without leaving any contact information and walked out of the room.
Outside, the members of the criminal police team were waiting. When they saw Old Shao emerge alone from the room, they were puzzled. They still had no idea what had transpired and followed Old Shao out on duty but returned without any clarity on the situation.
Old Shao offered no explanations as he led them back to the City Bureau.
While still in the car, Old Shao's phone chimed.
A smile crept onto Old Shao's face; it seemed he anticipated receiving a message. He pulled out his phone and found a text from an unfamiliar number. Opening it revealed a message that read:
"Hello Old Shao, this is Guan Deng. When we were talking earlier, I really wanted to agree with you. But for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud, so I had to reach out this way. I will participate in the next case; please notify me."
After reading the message, Old Shao smiled knowingly.
Patients with Social Anxiety Disorder struggle to communicate with others in real life, but when they cannot see the other person's face or eyes, they can actually communicate quite well. Old Shao couldn't help but marvel at how much the internet has helped people; at least now one could earn money and buy food and daily necessities online without needing to go out and interact with others.
However, the internet has its pros and cons. In the hands of those with ill intentions, it becomes a place for them to vent their grievances freely. Trolls can unleash their frustrations on anything they see, yet when faced with someone in real life, they become overly respectful.
Old Shao replied, “Alright, I will notify you when there’s a case.”
Before long, Guan Deng responded again, “But Old Shao, there’s something I need to discuss with you.”
Old Shao asked, “What is it?”
Guan Deng explained, “I saw the news about the football head case. I only knew that the police were still searching for the murderer at that time, so I started investigating the victim. It was easy for me to find out that this person was named Song You online, and I quickly gathered information about him.”
Old Shao couldn't help but feel amazed; it took a long time for the police to confirm Song You's identity, yet Guan Deng had managed to get ahead of them.
Continuing to read, Old Shao saw that Guan Deng wrote:
“Song You came from a poor background; he was born to farmers. I checked his records on Taobao and Alipay, and for a long time, his monthly expenses were only around one hundred yuan. However, in August, Song You's spending suddenly skyrocketed—he spent over a thousand yuan on clothes, bought a new phone, and even purchased a laptop.”
“The source of this money seemed suspicious; it definitely wasn’t from Song You’s family. So I followed this lead and found that during those days, Song You's phone number was closely linked to someone named Zhuang Ziming. But just as I was preparing to investigate further, I unexpectedly discovered that Song You's phone was turned on.”
“At first, I thought the police had found Song You's phone. However, the signal was intermittent; it would turn on for a short time before shutting off again. I realized this situation was not simple, so I used special methods to monitor Song You's phone number. Finally, on the night of the thirteenth, I intercepted a call between Shih Wenshan and the murderer.”
“This was a great opportunity to catch the killer. So I hacked into the police system and sent them the location. Unfortunately, in my haste, I couldn’t cover my IP address very well, so my exposure was expected. What surprised me was how quickly it happened; I had planned to move soon anyway.”
If it weren't for calling Mary over, perhaps Guan Deng would have remained elusive. However, Guan Deng was quite impressive; if he hadn’t rushed to send over the killer’s location and had instead taken more time to cover his tracks, even someone as skilled as Mary would have found it difficult to trace Guan Deng’s IP address.
"Old Shao" replied, "The person who found you is also a very skilled hacker, though she is getting older. However, she really wants to meet you to see if you are as the rumors online suggest."
"Guan Deng" said, "I don't want to meet too many people. I have severe Social Anxiety Disorder; when there are too many people around, I can hardly breathe. It's better not to."
"That's understandable," "Old Shao" acknowledged.
"But while I was investigating online, I discovered something very important," "Guan Deng" continued.
"What is it?" "Old Shao" asked.
This time, "Guan Deng" sent an image. From the picture, it appeared to be a business card. It was a black card with text only on one side; the four words written on it were "Criminal Consultant." Aside from that, there was nothing else visible.
Upon seeing the image, "Old Shao" became alert. He instinctively pulled out a business card from his inner shirt pocket; it was the same black card he had seen before. At that time, "Old Shao" had already booked a flight to France, intending to catch up with "Yan Junde," but because of this card, he decided to stay behind.
This was the note of the hypnosis master "Wei Demian." How did "Guan Deng" come across this image?
"Where did you find this?" "Old Shao" quickly replied.
"I came across it while investigating the 'Song You' case," "Guan Deng" explained. "I wanted to find out who the murderer was, so I looked into all the students from Class 8. While reviewing their information and flipping through images, I stumbled upon this 'Criminal Consultant' card among them."
"I tried to trace the source of the image online but couldn't find anything. It seems like this image has circulated from the dark web; it's deep web content that's hard to access without a specific sequence. So far, I haven't been able to trace its origin. However, since this image appeared among the photos of Class 8 students, someone must have intentionally placed it there."
"Old Shao" had heard about the dark web before. If the internet were like an iceberg, then ordinary people only saw about two percent of its content above water while ninety-eight percent lay hidden beneath. There were various ways to access the dark web, but most ordinary people without technical skills found it nearly impossible.
The dark web contained human trafficking, crime live streams, taboo performances, and even arms and drug trafficking—everything imaginable. These websites were often very concealed, and dark web domains were never fixed, making them hard to locate. It was also challenging for authorities worldwide to catch those committing crimes on the dark web, which had always been a headache for everyone.
As long as there were profits involved, those people would dare to do anything.
But this "Criminal Consultant," Old Shao, was hearing about it for the first time. Moreover, he recognized the handwriting as that of his old acquaintance, Wei Demian. What exactly did Wei Demian want to do?
Old Shao replied, "Continue the investigation, but there's no need to rush; this is not something that can be hurried."
Guan Deng did not respond.
Old Shao stared at the black business card in his hand and murmured, "Wei Demian, what are you up to?"
At the same time, a man held the same business card in his left hand while gripping a mobile phone in his right.
He spoke into the phone, "Is it really possible?"
The voice on the other end was not loud, but he could hear it clearly: "Of course. Just follow my instructions, and it will succeed. You must hate them so much, yet they are living just fine. They eat when they need to, enjoy their lives; their situation has improved. But who cares about you?"
"I did it!" the man gritted his teeth.
"Very good." The voice on the other end sounded cheerful. "The game has begun."
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