nyslfriends Chapter 184 The Prime Suspect: Chen Lie
Chapter 184 The Prime Suspect: Chen Lie
Chapter 184 The Prime Suspect: Chen Lie
Upon hearing Shen Miaowei mention that two people had been assassinated, Luo Zhixun and Tang Jiu'er's expressions instantly hardened.
With such tight security at the First Building in Shaanxi, how could someone still be assassinated? Has the Dark Moon Organization become that powerful?
Guided by the guards, Chen Lie and the others took the elevator down to the first floor.
In less than ten minutes, more than 200 members of the Eight Provinces Talent Team and all the hotel staff had gathered on the first floor.
Hundreds of fully armed guards surrounded the lobby on the first floor.
At this moment, Dong Qichao, the president of the Guannei Province Martial Arts Association, paced back and forth in front of the lobby on the first floor, his face grave.
The hotel manager, looking terrified, said, "Chairman Dong, all our hotel staff have impeccable backgrounds. The assassination of the student captain from Blue Star University has absolutely nothing to do with our hotel."
Dong Qichao said coldly, "Regardless of whether it has anything to do with you or not, since this happened in your hotel, you can't escape responsibility."
"This—" The hotel manager's face turned extremely grim, and he hurriedly asked, "What should we do?"
"Just wait. I've already notified the provincial governor and Lu Kun, the president of the Divine Sense Masters Association. They should be here soon, and we'll sit down together to discuss things."
Hopefully, this Wu Tianchen isn't some kind of genius with extraordinary spiritual power; otherwise, everyone in Guannei Province, from the provincial governor down to a mid-level manager in your hotel, will be held accountable.
After Dong Qichao finished speaking, he fell silent, leaving the hotel manager looking apprehensive.
Not long after, Zheng Meng, the governor of Guannei Province, and Lu Kun, the president of the Guannei Province Association of Divine Mentors, arrived at the hotel one after the other.
Governor Zheng Meng glanced at the members of the Eight Provinces Genius Group who were surrounded by guards and couldn't help but ask, "What's going on here?"
"Why are the guards inside the hotel instead of keeping watch outside?"
"Provincial Governor, Chairman Lu, something terrible has happened. Let's talk somewhere else."
Dong Qichao did not answer Governor Zheng Meng's question, but instead invited Zheng Meng and Lu Kun into a private room on the first floor of the hotel.
Upon entering the private room, Zheng Meng didn't sit down but went straight to the point: "Chairman Dong, please tell me what happened at the gathering."
"Provincial Governor, what is the identity of those students sent down by Blue Star University to test the mental talent of the members of the genius team from the eight provinces?" Dong Qichao asked.
Zheng Meng shook his head and said, "I don't know either. The identity information of the student group sent by Blue Star University this time is strictly confidential."
However, judging from the importance Blue Star University attaches to him, he must be a top genius in Blue Star University's Department of Mental Strength.
What, could it be—"
Dong Qichao nodded heavily and said, "You guessed right. All five mental energy students from Blue Star University were assassinated."
"How is this possible?"
Governor Zheng Meng immediately said, "The security level outside the hotel is higher than ever before. It would be impossible for a stranger to even get within two hundred meters of the hotel. How could someone still be assassinated?"
As he spoke, Zheng Meng suddenly realized: "Inside! There's something fishy inside the hotel!"
"That's what I thought too, so after discovering the assassination attempt, I immediately took control of everyone in the hotel, including the members of the Eight Provinces Genius Group and the leaders of each province, and kept them in the lobby on the first floor," Dong Qichao said.
Lu Kun asked, "Tell us the whole story first."
"That's how it is—"
Dong Qichao began, "Today is the last day of the gathering. After testing the mental strength of all the members of the Eight Provinces Genius Group, I arranged for the hotel staff to take the five students from Blue Star University to the twelfth floor to rest. I planned to take these five students from Blue Star University back to Blue Star University on the airship after the members of the Eight Provinces Genius Group left."
From the moment the hotel staff escorted the five of them to the twelfth floor to the moment they realized something was wrong, only a little over an hour had passed.
After the hotel staff reported it to me, I rushed over to check the scene immediately.
The killer acted swiftly and ruthlessly, striking the victim dead in one fell swoop.
After killing the first person, the assassin took advantage of the others' inability to react and killed the remaining four in succession. The entire assassination process was very short, probably no more than a minute.
After analyzing the situation, I concluded that the assassin's strength was likely not high. No traces of internal energy injury were found at the scene, which likely means the killer was not a martial artist at the advanced level. Of course, we can't be certain; it's possible the killer deliberately fabricated the incident to mislead our analysis.
Upon hearing this, Provincial Governor Zheng Meng asked in a deep voice, "Does this mean that all five students from Blue Star University were assassinated?"
Dong Qichao nodded: "That's right."
Lu Kun asked, "Who was the first to discover the murder scene?"
"I've already questioned a hotel employee in detail. He discovered the assassination scene when he knocked on the door to deliver food," Dong Qichao said.
"What about the hotel's security footage? Are there any clues?"
Dong Qichao shook his head and said, "The assassin may have used advanced extraterrestrial electronic equipment. The hotel's surveillance cameras have been completely out of service for the past two hours."
"Take us to the crime scene first," Zheng Meng said.
"The scene is on the twelfth floor. I haven't told anyone to move it. Come with me."
After Dong Qichao finished speaking, he pushed open the door of the side room and took the elevator to the twelfth floor with Zheng Meng and Lu Kun.
After exiting the elevator, the three of them arrived at a large private room on the twelfth floor, where Dong Qichao pushed open the door.
Upon entering, San saw the messy and chaotic scene in the side room.
Several young people wearing Blue Star University uniforms were either lying on the ground or slumped on the sofa.
Zheng Meng immediately went forward to investigate and found that all of these people had suffered severe blows to the head, with their skulls shattered. One girl even had her arm almost torn off.
"Of these people, apart from the girl who resisted but was killed by having her neck snapped because she was no match for the assassin, the rest were all killed by being struck on the head unexpectedly."
Dong Qichao nodded in agreement, saying, "That's right, especially this student group leader named Wu Tianchen. It's clear that he is the assassin's real target."
Based on this distance, Wu Tianchen should have been the assassin's first target. After successfully striking him once, the assassin delivered a finishing blow, striking Wu Tianchen's head again and snapping his neck.
Then, while the others were still in shock, he struck again and killed the three people closest to Wu Tianchen.
When the only girl was approached, she realized what was happening and tried to fight back, but she was no match for the assassin and was killed when her neck was snapped.
The entire assassination process would not exceed one minute, and might even be within half a minute.
Therefore, it is clear that the assassin was ruthless, with each move deadly and targeting vital points, and must have received specialized assassination training.
There were indeed no traces of internal energy causing injury, so I suspect the assailant was not yet a martial artist at the advanced level.
Suddenly, Lu Kun exclaimed in surprise, "You just mentioned Wu Tianchen?"
"What? You know this Wu Tianchen?" Dong Qichao asked.
Lu Kun hurriedly stepped forward, bent down and carefully examined the boy who had fallen to the ground and died. Immediately, his face darkened.
"For such a genius to get into trouble in our province, this is a huge problem—"
Zheng Meng said in a deep voice, "What? Do you know this Wu Tianchen?"
I remember that the identities of these students from Blue Star University were highly classified, and despite my repeated inquiries, the Blue Star University representatives refused to disclose any information.
"This Wu Tianchen is ranked 21st on the Blue Star Trainee Divine Sense Master list. His consciousness sea score is said to be over 1.3 million points. He is a key talent being cultivated by Blue Star University and is a potential Divine Sense Grandmaster."
"What?"
Governor Zheng Meng of Guannei Province and the president of the Martial Arts Association were both startled, their faces turning dark instantly.
After careful consideration, Provincial Governor Zheng Mengcai said, "If such a genius gets into trouble in our province, we will all be held responsible."
The most urgent task is to find the killer as soon as possible.
Dong Qichao also said, "Yes, I think that only by finding the assassin as soon as possible can we give Blue Star University an explanation."
With such tight security outside the hotel, it would be impossible for outsiders to break in.
Therefore, I can conclude that the person who carried out the assassination here was someone from inside the hotel.
We have investigated every single one of the hotel staff members who have been working at the hotel these past few days and confirmed that everyone has a clean background.
Besides, the decision to build the No. 1 Building in Shaanxi was made by the three of us on short notice; the Dark Moon Organization couldn't have planted a spy beforehand.
Therefore, the assassin was most likely a spy planted by the Dark Moon Organization within the group of young geniuses from eight provinces.
Zheng Meng nodded and said, "That's possible. If it's a spy from Dark Moon in the Eight Provinces Genius Group, then our responsibility is greatly reduced."
Therefore, this assassination can only be attributed to the Blue Star Martial Arts Association's lax vetting process, and has little to do with our security work.
However, hotel staff will also undergo rigorous screening.
Dong Qichao said, "The members of the genius group from the eight provinces of Sichuan and Shaanxi are all outstanding individuals with unlimited potential. Who knows, maybe a few martial arts masters will emerge from among them in ten years. Wouldn't it be too offensive to investigate all these geniuses one by one?"
Zheng Mengze said, "This is not something we should be considering. A genius ranked 21st on the Blue Star Trainee Divine Sense Master list was assassinated here, and we can't even find the murderer. Who can take responsibility for this?"
However, what you're considering is reasonable. Even if we're going to investigate these two hundred-plus geniuses from eight provinces, we should use gentle methods.
First, conduct a thorough screening, identifying all those who entered and exited the hotel during the rally, those who wandered off from the crowd during the rally, and those from the eight provinces of Sichuan and Shaanxi whose promotion to the provincial-level youth genius group was at an unreasonable time or who were promoted to the genius group within the last month. These individuals will then undergo rigorous review.
The real culprit is most likely among these people.
No matter how powerful the dark organization is, it's impossible for them to have foreseen the future and arrange this assassination beforehand.
"Alright, I'll have someone compile and review all the information on the members of the genius group from the eight provinces right now, and pick out all the suspicious individuals," Dong Qichao said immediately.
Immediately afterwards, Dong Qichao instructed the martial arts association to clean the room and properly arrange the bodies of the five students from Blue Star University before leaving and going down to the twelfth floor of the hotel.
In the lobby on the first floor, members of the group of young geniuses from eight provinces, including Sichuan and Shaanxi, were discussing the matter at length.
"What exactly happened? Why isn't anyone coming out to explain?"
"Yeah, shouldn't this be the martial arts competition? What's the point of gathering so many of us together and having so many guards surround us?"
A gathering place for members of the genius group from the three central provinces of Sichuan.
The deacons leading the delegations from the three provinces of Dongchuan, Xichuan, and Yunchuan gathered together to reassure the members of their respective provinces' genius delegations.
"Don't worry, everyone. We've already asked the Martial Arts Association of the Inner Mongolia Province, which is organizing the gathering. It's nothing serious, and someone will come out to explain in a little while."
After calming down the members of the Yunchuan Province Genius Team, Zhang Weifeng, the team leader, came to Ji Lingxuan, the martial arts champion of Yunchuan Province.
Zhang Weifeng asked with a smile, "Ji Lingxuan, I heard from the classmates that you just defeated Yang Tianlai, the martial arts champion of the Guannei Province's genius group, in the martial arts sparring match on the seventh floor of the hotel?"
Ji Lingxuan shook her head and said, "No, the martial arts competition wasn't finished just now."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Weifeng immediately said, "I understand. The classmates all said that just when you were about to win, the leader of the Guannei Province Genius Team stopped the sparring in time."
This is normal. The provinces within the pass, relying on being the top of the eight provinces of Sichuan and Shaanxi, have always looked down on the other seven provinces, and especially despised our central Sichuan province.
Your actions this time, which taught the leader of the martial arts faction in Guannei Province a lesson, can be considered as a way of venting anger for the three provinces of Sichuan.
I didn't expect your martial arts to improve so quickly. It seems that no one in the eight provinces of Sichuan and Shaanxi is your match anymore.
Ji Lingxuan's eyes flickered for a moment, then she thought for a second and said, "The three provinces of Sichuan are blessed with outstanding people and resources; there must be someone whose martial arts skills are no less than mine."
"What do you mean? Could it be that among the younger generation in Sichuan, there is someone who can rival you in martial arts?" Zhang Weifeng asked incredulously.
Ji Lingxuan nodded.
Zhang Weifeng asked, "Oh? Do you perhaps know someone like that? Who is it?"
Ji Lingxuan nodded and said, "For example, Wang Dongting, the martial arts champion of Dongchuan Province."
"Dongchuan Province? Wang Dongting?"
Zhang Weifeng was taken aback. When did Dongchuan Province become comparable to Yunchuan?
He had heard of Wang Dongting, the martial arts leader of the Dongchuan Province Genius Group.
But this person doesn't seem to have reached the pinnacle of Qi and Blood, so how can he compare to the martial arts champion of Yunchuan Province?
Just then, Zheng Meng, the governor of Guannei Province, appeared in the lobby on the first floor.
"Greetings to the members of the genius group from the eight provinces of Sichuan and Shaanxi. I am Zheng Meng, the governor of Guannei Province."
The reason we've gathered everyone together is because there's an unexpected event I need to tell you.
Just now, the five people sent by Blue Star University to test your mental talent were assassinated in the private room on the twelfth floor.
Upon hearing this, the more than 200 members of the genius team from eight provinces were immediately in an uproar.
Zheng Meng continued, "We have confirmed that this assassination was orchestrated by the Dark Moon Organization, and the person who carried out the assassination is most likely a spy planted by the Dark Moon Organization in various provincial talent groups beforehand."
I'm saying the assassin is lurking among you.
"No way? Are we being assassinated in secret?"
"Didn't the dark organization disappear a couple of years ago due to the government's crackdown? How did it reappear?"
"So, is it possible that we, too, could be assassinated by Dark Moon?"
For a moment, the members of the Eight Provinces Genius Group were filled with panic.
Chen Lie glanced around; Luo Zhixun, Tang Jiu'er, and the other members of the Dongchuan Province genius team all looked solemn.
Song Yixuan, who was at the very back, also showed a look of fear when she saw Chen Lie's gaze sweep over her.
Zheng Meng continued on stage: "Dear students, don't be afraid. The Dark Moon Organization is not as rampant as you imagine."
Their assassinations are all targeted; they cannot be indiscriminate. It is clear that Dark Moon's target this time is a genius of the Divine Sense Master.
In a moment, provincial government staff will be checking everyone one by one. For your safety, please cooperate with us to find the Dark Moon Assassin lurking among the crowd.
"Now, provincial government staff will set up red lines and checkpoints around the area. Please line up and proceed to the checkpoints in turn to be checked and cooperate with us to find this lurking Dark Moon assassin."
As he spoke, Zheng Meng waved his hand, signaling the provincial government staff who had been arranged in advance to set up a red cordon around the area and conduct checks on each member of the eight-province genius team.
As soon as Provincial Governor Zheng Menggang stepped down from the stage, the Martial Arts Association delivered a document to him.
"Provincial Governor, Chairman Dong has compiled the personal information of the most suspicious individuals. Please take a look now."
Zheng Meng took the documents, flipped through them, frowned, and asked, "Chen Lie? His rift is the biggest?"
"Yes, Governor."
Zheng Mengdao said, "Tell me why."
A staff member from the Martial Arts Association said, "That's right, Governor. This Chen Lie is a member of the Dongchuan Province Genius Team. He was promoted to the provincial genius team just over a week ago."
Furthermore, we specifically consulted with Dongchuan Province and retrieved Chen Lie's past records.
It was as if he had appeared out of nowhere. As a student at the No. 1 High School in Dongchuan Province, the school had very little information about him, only a few dozen words.
Then Chen Lie suddenly won the championship in the school's martial arts competition and entered the genius training camp.
In the genius training camp, Chen Lie's strength improved in an even more illogical way, with his blood energy suddenly increasing from over two hundred calories to nearly four digits.
In less than two months at the Dongchuan Provincial Genius Training Camp, he was promoted to the Dongchuan Provincial Youth Genius Group.
The score for promotion to the provincial-level youth genius group was over 1,000 kcal of Qi and Blood. How is that possible in less than half a month?
Therefore, Chairman Dong believes that Chen Lie is the most likely suspect among these two.