Memory Lost

Early morning, the atmosphere in the office is suffocating. Su Mian fixes her jacket and is staring at more than ten surveillance monitors with everybody else.

This is the day that the seven-member organization has promised to appear. What they're watching are the various well-known video streaming sites and areas in the city that are busy.

And these are only a portion of it. In the bigger room outside, more than ten officers are keeping an eye on the other roads. At this moment, there are a couple hundred of officers spread out across the city patrolling the areas.

This kind of waiting really puts one's patience to the test. Su Mian watches the screen for a while longer before feeling dizzy. She turns her head and looks at Han Chen beside her. He looks solemn sitting in his seat. His face is tilted up slightly and he is very focused. ｆ𝓇𝘦ℯ𝙬𝑒𝐛n𝐨νe𝙡.c𝑜𝗺

His patience has always surpassed a normal person.

Su Mian can't help herself. Seeing that Chatterbox and the others aren't looking at her, she secretly hold out her pinky and tickles the back of his hand. He glances at her and holds onto her finger. Su Mian smiles and returns to staring at those monitors; they actually don't look as dizzy as before now.

While the two of them play with each other, the others have to find their own ways of keeping their energy.

With a "snick" sound, Cold Face makes a flame on the lighter, lowers his head and lights up a cigarette. Chatterbox leans over to light one up as well. The two of them starts smoking; it's relaxing and helps re-energize them. Zhou Xiao Zhuan searches through his bag for some gum. He shakes the package until one piece of gum falls into his palm. He then puts it into his mouth and lets out a long breath of relief.

The room is soon permeated with the fragrance of the cigarette. It's also the high-quality Su Yan cigarettes that Han Chen gave to Chatterbox before.

Su Mian takes a few sniffs; the smell itches her lungs and throat. She really wants one, but she can only wish about it.

She swallows and takes a look at Han Chen subconsciously. To her surprise, his throat is also moving up and down.

Great. He's also feeling the urge.

Su Mian is very protective. She immediately forgets her own craving. She turns her head and glares at the two of them, "Those who are smoking, move back more! You're being too inconsiderate!"

Before she finishes her sentence, the corners of Han Chen's mouth curve upwards.

Chatterbox and Cold Face look at each other. Cold Face picks up his chair and moves back one big step. Chatterbox moves his chair as well while murmuring, "Xiao Bai, just admit that you have a craving. Since Leader is here, no matter how much you crave for one, I won't give it to you." Out of habit and as well as for safety reasons, they continue to call her, "Xiao Bai."

Su Mian ignores him. She turns around to look at Xiao Zhuan. Without even asking, she snatches the gum from his hand. Xiao Zhuan is really unwilling to share as he reaches out in an attempt to grab them back, "I only have a few left. I still need them to help calm down my nervousness. Go buy them yourself."

Su Mian doesn't need to pay attention to him. She flips open the cap, tosses one into her mouth and then pours one out for Han Chen. He opens his mouth, chews on it a bit and says, "Give me one more." Su Mian, of course, feeds him another one right away. Seeing that the bottle is empty, she tosses it back to Xiao Zhuan.

Xiao Zhuan says angrily, "Thieves! You two are thieves!"

Chatterbox shows his support, "Yeah, yeah! They're too overbearing."

Cold Face smiles without a word. Han Chen and Su Mian also smile as they sit together in the same row watching the monitors.

6:30 am.

All the major streaming and websites are still running as normal. The cameras monitoring the major roads are still busy as usual. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary.

Chatterbox finishes his cigarette and immediately moves his seat back closer to them again. He leans over to the back of their seats, "What do you guys think will happen in a bit?"

Han Chen has one arm on the armrest while his other is raised with his fingers against his lips. He takes a look at Su Mian. They have already discussed this in the morning, therefore, Su Mian explains, "Three people will appear. It's because, in the letter, it used 'we,' which points out that they will appear together. As for what we'll see…whether they will commit a crime together or commit three crimes separately at the same time, we don't know yet. But I'm leaning more towards the latter possibility. It's because whether it's taking a risk to deliver the letter or the second person who wrote this provoking invitation letter, at least these two have a very strong desire to showcase themselves. Therefore, I believe that they will likely to commit crimes individually that will highlight their personalities."

Chatterbox is a bit surprised hearing her explanation, and then he nods. Xiao Zhuan comes over to her, "But Xiao Bai, how come it's three people only? Will the fourth person not appear?" ƒ𝐫𝒆𝐞w𝗲𝚋𝗻૦𝘷e𝙡.c𝑜𝙢

Su Mian shakes her head, "I believe he won't. Back then, the fourth person did not leave behind any traces of evidence. I think that this person is either the leader of the group or has another role in the seven-member organization. He does not commit crimes directly. Therefore, he won't appear directly in front of us this time."

"Where is here?" Han Chen says suddenly, interrupting their discussion. He reaches out his arm and points to one of the monitors.

Everyone looks over. It's showing one of City Lan's local TV broadcast station. A gigantic aquarium tank appears. Inside the blue water, big and small fishes are swimming around. There are also a few young girls who are wearing a mermaid's tail and a bikini top chit-chatting on the surface of the water. There is some moving equipment in front of the aquarium while two groups of audience members are entering the place.

Xiao Zhuan flips through some papers in his hands and answers, "Oh, this is one of the live morning broadcasts called, 'Ocean Challenge.' It basically tries to motivate the seniors to participate in a water sport during their morning exercise routine. The filming location is at an oceanarium. It's probably also to try to promote the place."

Chatterbox clicks his tongue, "These days, even a senior's show is this splendid. There are even bikini mermaids too."

Su Mian butts in, "There's no helping it. It's what you male viewers like to see."

Han Chen stands up suddenly, walks to the monitor and stares at it at a close distance.

"Xiao Zhuan, rewind the video."

Everyone is stunned slightly as they hover over. Su Mian leans against his side and stares at the image with him. Xiao Zhuan rewinds the video immediately.

Han Chen calls out, "Stop."

He raises his head and his pitch black pupils seem extremely focused. Everyone follows his gaze and looks at the screen. It's a close up of the aquarium.

Through the smooth glass and rippling water, the five "mermaids" are floating inside and are chatting and laughing since the recording hasn't started yet. Their damp long hair and fair white face and waist captivate the audience's attention. At the top of the tank is a dome-shaped clear glass. The sun penetrates through and reflects in a golden color on top of the water surface.

They watch for a while and don't see anything suspicious, so they all turn to look at Han Chen. Cold Face asks, "Is there a problem?"

Han Chen stuffs both hands into his pockets while still having his eyes fixed on the screen. He scrunches his eyebrows, "Zoom in."

Xiao Zhuan alters the picture right away. As a result, the light reflecting on the water and the 'mermaids'' attractive body lines are also zoomed in closer.

"Continue to zoom in."

Xiao Zhuan shakes his head, "This is a live feed from the station. It'll be very hard to see anything if we zoom in even more."

Su Mian grabs Han Chen arm, "What did you see?"

Han Chen keeps quiet for a moment.

For an instance just now, he doesn't know if he was just seeing things or if it was just the lighting. He seems to have seen something flash across the water. But the angle of the video and the clarity of it is limited. He can't really confirm if it was just an illusion or if it really existed.

But as a criminal investigator, he knows very well when to trust his instincts.

The oceanarium is at least an hour drive from the city center. There's no way that the Black Shield Team will make it there in time. Han Chen speaks, "Cold Face, contact the local station to send people there immediately. Search the place carefully."

Cold Face goes make the phone call right away.

The image on the monitor continues. The few of them sits back down and continues to watch. But due to this slight interruption, the atmosphere seems to have intensified.

Su Mian looks up at the clock on the wall——6:45. There are 22 minutes until 7:07.

She turns around and notices that Han Chen is still staring at the monitor. Su Mian really didn't see anything, but those couple of mermaid girls are indeed quite sexy. Seeing that Han Chen is staring at them so attentively, Su Mian somehow feels that they're "lucky." Therefore, she goes over and asks slowly, "Do the mermaids have a great body?"

Han Chen holds his chin with one hand while his eyes are still on the monitor and says indifferently, "You're jealous just because of this? So immature."

Su Mian fires back, "……Why do I have to be mature about this?"