Memory Lost

11:50am.

Every officer at their designated location is becoming more anxious. They watch their areas to see if there is any suspicious person.

12:00pm.

The Black Shield Team is sitting in a row, staring at the surveillance monitors. Xiao Zhuan is so nervous that he doesn’t even remember to take a sip from the water bottle after fetching it.

He hasn’t appeared yet.

12:10pm.

He still hasn’t appeared.

12:20pm…12:20pm…12:30……

Everything is still and quiet on the monitors.

The officer who is disguised as the targeted person secretly takes out a tissue and wipes away the sweat on his forehead.

……

12:45pm. Inside the van.

Han Chen’s cell phone suddenly rings. He answers with a cold face. It’s Captain Qin Wen Long of the criminal investigation team. ｆ𝓇𝘦ℯ𝙬𝑒𝐛n𝐨νe𝙡.c𝑜𝗺

“It’s not good,” Qin Wen Long says on the other end, “20 minutes ago, someone disclosed about this serial sniping case on the internet, and even called T the ‘Knight-errant of City Lan.’ Everyone is crazy about it on the internet right now.” He pauses and continues, “T might have read it.”

Han Chen throws the phone onto the table and stands up, “Notify all parties: it’s over. T isn’t going to appear.”

_____

The media and the internet have always been a double-edged sword. Sometimes, they play a supporting role in a police investigation; sometimes, they become a big barrier.

Just like this time, a regular visitor of “White Crane of Yangtze BBS,”, a student who’s full of hatred, makes the connection between Chen Can Lan’s death and the two rumored sniping cases.

He once replied and supported Zhou Si Jia’s and Zheng Cheng Da’s posts. Therefore, he quickly makes a daring speculation: there’s a serial killer who punishes the bad people when the law cannot carry out justice! He immediately starts a new topic anxiously, titling it, “Knight-errant of City Lan: the righteous serial killer is among us!” Due to the popularity of Chen Can Lan’s case on the internet a few months ago, this post immediately gets forwarded and followed right away. By the time the police find out, it’s already too late to stop it.

……

At the Black Shield Team’s office.

Chatterbox slaps the table and exclaims, “Holy! This netizen sure spoils everything! If T reads the post, he’ll definitely know that the police has found out the connection between the victims. That’s why there’s no way that he would appear as planned. We’ve really……missed the opportunity to catch T! We were so close!”

nobody says anything.

Han Chen takes a sip from his cup of tea, lifts his gaze, and looks at them all, “That’s not necessarily true. Chen Can Lan’s case has always been very popular on the internet. T might have already known that the police would follow the evidence and lock down on his next target.”

Chatterbox asks, “What you mean is……”

“Perhaps he never planned to appear today.”

Everyone is quiet.

Han Chen lowers his head with his left fingertips caressing the cup and his right fist on the table. Jin Xi stares at him as she says, “What is next on his plan then?”

Yeah. As a sniper, it takes time for him to pick out and monitor his target, and create a plan to snipe the person. This is why he had contacted those topic creators a few months back and did not take action until today. The Black Shield Team has searched through the other popular forums and has not found T in any of them. Now that the rest of his targets are being watched closely by the police——

What exactly is going to be next on his plan?

What exactly is he looking to do?

Han Chen puts his cup down and stands up, “Tell the traffic department to investigate that vehicle as fast as they can. Let’s continue our protection plan tomorrow.

_____

A new race against time begins.

Late night.

Jin Xi is sitting inside the conference room by herself, frowning her eyebrows and deep in thought as she stares at the map pinned to the whiteboard. ƒ𝑟𝙚e𝔀𝗲𝒃n𝒐𝘷𝗲Ɩ.c𝗼𝚖

Even if they saved a life from T today, no matter how great a super detective is, a sniping rifle hidden among the crowd is unpreventable.

She sighs softly.

A serial killer as such is unstoppable.

The door behind opens lightly. It’s Han Chen and Cold Face. Cold Face is carrying a couple of takeout boxes; she can smell the food faintly.

“Here, eat it,” Cold Face places down a box in front of her before walking back and sits down beside Han Chen.

“Thanks,” Jin Xi opens the takeout, grabs the chopsticks, and starts eating absentmindedly; she pauses every now then resting her chin in her palm and falling into a daze.

“What are you thinking about?”

Jin Xi lifts her gaze to look at Han Chen.

He’s already done eating. He’s leaning against the back of his chair with one arm on the armrest while fiddling with the takeout box’s cover with the other.

Jin Xi puts the end of the chopsticks in her mouth, “I’m thinking about T.”

Han Chen stares at her for a moment before shifting his eyes away.

“Anything new that you’ve thought of?” Cold Face jumps in and asks. Although he’s always carrying a cold face, he is born with straight eyebrows and shimmering eyes. The way he’s looking at her with full concentration actually makes him seem rather cute with a hint of innocence.

“I’m thinking about T’s personality,” Jin Xi puts her chopsticks down and places both of her hands flat on the table, “Just think about the way he replied on the forum. ‘I understand,’ ‘okay,’ and ‘he will be punished.’ Although his responses are short, there are two obvious traits:

1) Clear and concise, never a word of nonsense. It’s easy to tell his personality. He’s an introvert;

2) He doesn’t emphasize on ‘I’ or ‘me.’”

Cold Face is listening attentively. Han Chen is also staring at her with solemn eyes.

Jin Xi continues, “Some people punish others to become heroes or even to be famous and grab the attention of the media and the mass audience. But some people is only punishing for the sake of their morals and don’t care about what they personally gain. T has never once said: ‘I will make him receive punishment.’ It seems like he subconsciously does not what to emphasize on the word ‘I’ or ‘me.’ Furthermore, this has already become a frenzy on the internet. I checked the forum just now, and he has already gained a big fan base, calling for him to appear. If he were someone chasing after fame, all he would need to do is to come out, and he would be able to enjoy standing on the highest point of morality, and enjoy the admiration from the netizens. But he didn’t. He has kept quiet and stayed in a low profile.”

“A good killer?” Cold Face lowers his head to scoop up some rice.

Jin Xi thinks for a moment and responds, “Although it’s not suitable to use the word ‘good,’ compared to the other ‘bad’ killers, he is indeed very different.”