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墨書 Inktalez
Early the next morning, I was kicked awake by Zhao Mingkun. Glancing at the clock, it was only seven o'clock. By this time, Zhao Mingkun had already gone through his morning routine of washing his face, brushing his teeth, and eating breakfast. I quickly ate a few bites and washed my face, feeling much more refreshed. As I opened the door, I saw that everyone outside was standing in military formation, lined up neatly. This further confirmed my belief about their identities; they were either veterans or had once served in foreign legions.
Zhao Mingkun looked at the crowd, pacing back and forth with a satisfied nod before saying, "Today's arrangement is that the four of us will continue participating in this game. The rest of you have already been assigned tasks yesterday. Today, you will carry out those tasks as planned. Remember to check if anyone is following you when you return; do not be careless. If one of you jeopardizes the entire plan, I believe you understand the consequences better than I do. Do you hear me?"
"Understood!" everyone replied.
Zhao Mingkun raised his hand and said, "Good, let's get to work."
As he spoke, the bodyguards dispersed, leaving just the four of us who had to continue participating in this game. I addressed the others, "Based on my years of experience, discovering a body at eight o'clock is highly likely. I suspect this game cannot drag on for too long; competition for profit is ever-changing. Every minute wasted is not just time lost; it's money lost."
"The so-called boxes must be of great help to both sides," I said while sitting on a lower bunk and looking at the neatly stacked blankets. "The most probable scenario is that the Killer will engage in high-intensity continuous killings, leaving us clues along the way. The time from last night until early this morning is an ideal opportunity for murder. It’s already seven o'clock now; we have about an hour left before a body should be discovered. But whether we can find the crime scene first depends on you, Zhao Mingkun. If you find it, remember to call me; I'll take a nap."
I don't know how much time passed before Zhao Mingkun woke me up and said, "We need to head to the scene immediately; a second body has appeared. We must get there before the police do; otherwise, we won't make it in time." With that, we hurried out the door. I checked my watch: it was seven forty-five—pretty close to my estimate. Indeed, during the night, the Killer had begun to strike.
When we arrived at the crime scene, we cautiously observed our surroundings, but it was still eerily empty—no one was around. It seemed Zhao Mingkun's intelligence source was quite reliable; he was faster than others by quite a bit. Yang Yang continued to keep watch while the three of us rushed to the crime scene. It was essentially identical to the previous case—the victim had also been strangled to death.
It appeared that this Killer possessed considerable strength and always attacked from behind; otherwise, it would be impossible to easily snap someone's neck. These locations were indeed secluded but would inevitably be passed by someone during work hours the next day. It struck me as odd—who would come here at night for no reason?
If it wasn't indiscriminate killing, then it meant that the Killer had lured these individuals here beforehand—suggesting that he must have known them. Realizing this, I immediately told Zhao Mingkun, "When we head back later, call your people and have them investigate the relationship networks of these two victims in detail; this will be very useful."
Then I bent down to continue examining the body for any clues left by the Killer. Looking at the state of the corpse, I suddenly felt a sense of familiarity with it. I quickly asked Poplar, who was responsible for taking photos, to pull up images from the last crime scene. Sure enough, we found connections between these two scenes.
In the previous scene, the victim's posture and expression were completely different from what we were seeing now; they didn't match at all. However, upon closer inspection, it became apparent that the markings from the previous case were identical to how this victim had died—almost exactly alike. This meant that the Killer had given us a preview of how the next victim would look at the last crime scene or perhaps that these victims were not killed here but elsewhere first before their bodies were moved here after leaving markings behind.
I frowned; both points seemed plausible based on the current conclusions. The distinction lay in whether the Killer had killed someone first and then moved the body, or if the Killer had drawn the lines before committing murder. If it was the former, where would the line marking the first victim be? Would it form a cycle? If it was the latter, how could the Killer execute the murders so precisely? Did the Killer already know all the physical characteristics of the intended victims beforehand? This posed a question, as well as a dilemma.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that beneath the body were two lines drawn, seemingly overlapping yet diverging at certain points, resembling conjoined twins. Could it be that the next victim would be two people? Judging by the lines, that seemed likely. But if two people were to be killed, how many Killers were involved?
Was it one person killing two individuals at different times and placing their bodies together, or were there two Killers who simultaneously murdered two people? This too was a question. From what I learned through Zhao Mingkun, in such games, the number of Killers was uncertain. If there were two Killers, both would need to be captured; if one team caught one, it would depend on who caught whom first. If there was an odd number of Killers, then whoever captured more would win.
This question remained unresolved for now; I couldn't delve deeper as time did not permit.
I then turned the body over and indeed found another letter on its back—this one was "u." Together with the previous letter, we had uncovered two letters: "g" and "u." It appeared that these letters formed part of a word that would be complete once all victims had been killed.
Looking solely at these two letters, there were countless combinations possible. If we were to pursue this angle, it would require significant effort. Moreover, we couldn't ascertain whether this word was spelled in English or Italian since both languages shared similar letters. The combinations multiplied even further.
This time, I refrained from altering the letters; firstly because they were difficult to change, and secondly because reality often blurs with illusion—what seems real can also be false. Let them guess. As we left, it seemed that the Italian police had yet to arrive; clearly, we had made good time.
Thanks to Zhao Mingkun's earlier arrangements, we reached a safe location. While in the car, he had sent a text message to his contacts inquiring about the relationship between the two deceased individuals. However, by this time, law enforcement had not yet arrived at the crime scene. After waiting for over an hour, we finally received detailed information about both individuals.
The records clearly indicated that these two had social connections. According to the data, they had previously participated in Mafia activities but had withdrawn for various reasons. However, during their exit, some individuals had taken items that did not belong to them.
This incident occurred only a few months ago; law enforcement initially thought that this Mafia group had let them off lightly. Yet it turned out these individuals could not escape retribution. It seemed they were not random targets but rather selected with some logic behind it. Furthermore, since several individuals were mentioned rather than just two, it suggested that the next victim could very well be someone from this group.
“How many people are involved in this?” I asked Zhao Mingkun. “Continue sending messages to your contacts for addresses, names, relationships—everything detailed.”
It appeared that determining the type of case was straightforward; after just two incidents, we already understood its purpose and who might be next. Compared to various complex and bizarre cases I had encountered before—where human connections tangled intricately—this felt almost trivial. It made me feel as though this game was easy yet weighed heavily on my mind.
Could this case really be as simple as I imagined? I doubt it. If it were that simple, why would they have called me in? Is there some deeper reason behind all of this? I feel like a person walking through a fog, clearing one layer only to find another beneath it, unsure of when I will finally see the truth.
After waiting for about an hour, the other party finally sent over the detailed information on the remaining individuals. It turned out that a total of four people had withdrawn from the Mafia a few months ago. Excluding the two who were already dead, there should still be two left.
I noticed that two lines had already been drawn on my notes. Were they planning to eliminate the last two in one go? That seemed a bit too quick. Moreover, both incidents had been handled by us first; I had never seen another team in action. Was this really how it would end? Would we never encounter them again?
Regardless, since we had obtained the address, it was best to check it out as soon as possible. I gave Zhao Mingkun a nod, and he acknowledged before turning to Yang Yang and saying, "Do you see this address on my phone? Drive us there."
Yang Yang made an OK gesture.
In the car, I addressed everyone: "Given our current situation, we still hold a significant advantage. However, we must not let our guard down—firstly because of the other team, and secondly due to those Mafia members who withdrew last month. We cannot confirm whether these two Mafia members are dead or alive. If they are still alive after losing two companions, they are likely well-prepared. If we go in without caution, we could be at a disadvantage."
"So, we must be careful," I instructed everyone. "Pay close attention to your surroundings and observe the details."
A few nodded in agreement, and before long, we arrived at one of their residences.
On my first trip out to sea, I encountered a well-known Bengal Aid Worker—young and impulsive—but too poor to actually fire any shots until the First Mate told me that a bag of instant noodles could get me through the night with a group of women...
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