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墨書 Inktalez
Mary was assigned another task, and the rest of us gazed longingly at the small piles of Human Meat Canned Food. On the left were unopened cans, while on the right were twelve cans that had been consumed and returned. I quickly picked up an opened can and began to examine it closely.
A peculiar smell wafted from the opening, surprisingly not as repulsive as I had imagined. Upon closer inspection, there were remnants of human flesh still clinging to the can. To the naked eye, it looked no different from any other processed canned product. It appeared that the flesh had been mechanically ground into a paste before being canned. Only an experienced doctor could discern the difference between this human meat and other types of meat just by looking at it. Throughout history, both abroad and domestically, there have always been cases of cannibalism.
Some instances were forced, while others were voluntary. Take for example the Marlis University Rugby Cannibalism Incident in 1972, where a plane crashed in the Alpine Nameless Mountain Range. Out of forty-five people, sixteen died, and the survivors had to resort to cannibalism to survive for seventy-two days. Then there was the Ukrainian cannibal, a true monster who lurked at bus or train stations looking for prey, consuming them and even removing their eyes—truly a real-life Hannibal.
Juan Juan had organized some high-tech equipment from her box that I couldn't identify and said to us, "There are a few things we need to confirm. First, whether all of this contains human flesh. Second, if it does contain human flesh, whether it comes from the same person. The workload is immense..."
We shrugged, and I said to Yan Junde, "At least for over a year, I won't be eating canned meat again."
Juan Juan replied, "Human flesh is actually not much different from that of other animals. This world is simply about humans eating animals or animals eating humans. Some people are vegetarian, some eat meat, and some eat human flesh. Of course, this is illegal behavior, but once you come to terms with it, you won't resist it so much. As forensic experts, this is a hurdle we must overcome."
Yan Junde was responsible for opening the cans while I poured out the contents for Juan Juan to examine. Looking at the pieces of human flesh laid out before me, I couldn't help but think that this had once been a living person. Despite my extensive experience, I still felt a chill run down my spine. It’s an instinct inherent in all animals; our genes dictate that we instinctively feel avoidance, fear, and confusion when witnessing the death of our kind.
I lost track of time until Juan Juan's findings left us all stunned. She said, "This is the twentieth can of Human Meat Canned Food. In this can of human flesh, different DNA has been detected, which means that the Killer may have killed more than one person; he didn't just turn one person into Human Meat Canned Food."
I furrowed my brow, wondering if this was yet another serial murder case with multiple victims. If that were true, it would elevate the nature of this case significantly. Juan Juan continued, "But we can't rule out accidental contamination; if other cans also show different DNA profiles, then there are more Victims..."
Determined to test all the cans thoroughly, night fell upon us. During this time, someone brought us dinner; however, under these circumstances, how could we possibly eat? After finally completing the tests on all the Human Meat Canned Food, Juan Juan's next statement nearly made Yan Junde flip the table.
"The results show that aside from five cans that were completely consumed, two types of DNA were detected in the remaining cans." Juan Juan sighed before continuing, "The DNA results indicate that these two are extremely similar—over ninety-nine point ninety-nine percent similarity—which means these two individuals are direct relatives. However, through analyzing their bases and some data analysis, I've reached a conclusion."
"What conclusion?" we asked eagerly.
"This person is pregnant!" Juan Juan exclaimed. "Killer has killed a pregnant woman!"
"That's simply beastly!" Yan Junde slammed his hand on the table, his voice rising in anger. I couldn't help but feel furious as well; such behavior was utterly appalling. Choosing to commit a crime against a pregnant woman was beyond comprehension. Yan Junde declared, "I must catch him myself! Damn it!"
As night fell, hunger gnawed at us. I had no choice but to say, "We must catch Killer." Just then, Mary walked in and informed us, "Brother Shao, we have temporarily compiled a list of missing persons, but there’s no cross-reference yet, so we can’t confirm if any match with the Victim." With that, Mary handed me a list.
It contained the names, ages, and addresses of the missing individuals. Mary continued, "These people have been missing for about a week now, according to Captain Jiang from Morning." I scanned the list of missing persons and said, "It has been confirmed that the Victim is a female and she is pregnant. Based on this information, we should eliminate the others who do not fit this description."
Mary nodded and immediately pulled out her laptop to start working. I placed my hand on her computer and said, "Finding people cannot be rushed; we can do it tomorrow morning. Right now, let’s consider that Killer's victim was a pregnant woman. If I were a pregnant woman, I would definitely have gone for check-ups; hospitals would have records. Tomorrow, our task is to narrow down the scope of missing persons and identify the victim."
The city police station was near Taigu University Town. By the time we left the precinct, it was already eleven o'clock. Normally, the university would be dark by now, but many entrances were still bustling with activity as students came and went. Various street vendors offered an array of snacks. Cars lined up outside, with female students occasionally slipping into these luxury vehicles under the cover of night as they left the sacred campus.
Yan Junde sighed, "These girls must come from wealthy families. I remember when I was in school; I had to work part-time every night just to make ends meet. It’s been several years since graduation now. I really miss those days in college when everyone was so innocent and pure. Ever since becoming a police officer, I've had to face all sorts of darkness in life."
I could relate deeply to Yan Junde's sentiments; however, he seemed to be misinterpreting the situation. I replied, "These girls aren't necessarily rich second-generation kids; look at those cars and their mannerisms—those people might be their sugar daddies rather than their real fathers."
We randomly chose a restaurant to eat at and were surprised to find quite a few students inside—tables filled with both boys and girls chatting animatedly and appearing very happy. The Boss looked puzzled by our table's choice of only ordering vegetables and likely held us in contempt for not ordering any meat dishes despite our polished appearances. But we couldn't help it; just seeing meat made us feel nauseous today.
The restaurant was busy, and our food took some time to arrive. We chatted while waiting when suddenly a conversation from a nearby table of girls caught our attention. One girl remarked, "Huang Yajie hasn't returned to her dorm for two weeks now."
Another girl replied, "Yeah, she seems to have missed classes for about a week too; I heard she took some kind of leave. Honestly, I think she’s off having fun with her boyfriend; he’s supposed to be quite wealthy—a rich kid from Industrial College. Last time I saw him pick Huang Yajie up in his car."
"I heard something different," another girl chimed in. "I heard Huang Yajie is pregnant and has taken several months off to become a mother. That guy's car hasn’t been around lately either. I don’t get what’s so special about Huang Yajie that so many people like her; she isn’t even that pretty."
Juan Juan coughed a couple of times, drawing my attention away from the girls I had been staring at. She whispered to me, "What are you doing? If you keep staring at those girls like that, you might just fall into that plate of vegetables."
Her comment caught the attention of the girls, who began to giggle as they looked our way. We were left feeling a bit flustered. Then one of the girls walked straight over to Yan Junde and said, "Hey there, we're from the media. What about you guys? Want to be friends? What's your WeChat?"
Honestly, our Special Investigation Team wasn't lacking in looks either; we could easily score an eight out of ten, especially since I had raised a few people's attractiveness. The girl continued, "Are you a sports major? How long did it take to build those muscles?" As a military instructor, Yan Junde's physique was impressive. I still vividly remembered the scene of him doing a thousand push-ups that night.
Just as Yan Junde was about to explain, I interrupted him and said, "I heard things have been a bit rough lately. Have you heard about anyone going missing? What's up with Huang Yajie? If you tell us, this meal is on this brother here!" I pointed at Yan Junde.
Yan Junde shot me a disdainful look.
This meal turned out to be quite fortuitous. The girls informed us that ever since Huang Yajie started dating someone, she had barely shown up for class and had recently gone completely off the radar. Her phone calls went unanswered, and her texts received no replies. They mentioned she had taken over two months off before disappearing without any explanation.
If I were the Killer, choosing a female college student studying away from home would be less risky than targeting a local. I said to Mary, "It's still too early to say anything for sure. Let's stick to our original plan and see if any of the missing persons fit the criteria."
The girls watched us with curiosity, unsure of what we were discussing. One girl asked, "So can we get your WeChat or not? Handsome, you don't have a girlfriend or something, do you?"
To my surprise, Yan Junde blushed at the question from the girl. He pulled out his phone from his pocket; it was an old model that looked worse than my vintage Nokia—the numbers on the keys were almost worn off. Yan Junde cleared his throat and said, "Uh, not many people contact me usually; I don’t have WeChat."
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