"Achoo!" Sitting in the car, Ren Yifei rubbed his nose and asked the viewers in the live stream, "Do you miss me?"
"Holy crap, streamer, stop talking! Something terrible has happened!" The viewers in the live stream were so anxious they were stamping their feet, wishing they could remind their streamer to find a safe place to hide.
However, Ren Yifei, who was livestreaming, knew nothing and was still thinking about what to eat for lunch. His livestream and the livestream of the other contestant seemed to be on completely different planets, with drastically different styles.
Even the person in charge carrying luggage in the attic, oh, Lin Guanyue, had her hostility lessened by the cheerful words that carried the sweet aroma of delicious food.
At this moment, in the flour processing plant under everyone's watchful eyes, Jian Lang licked his dry lips: "How did you find out?"
Compared to her current situation, she is actually more concerned about the fact that the 'perfect crime' is no longer perfect.
"Everything in this world leaves a trace, no matter what you call the perfect crime."
The perfect crime? Upon hearing these four words, the viewers in the live stream knew that today's plot was unusual, and there must be some secret waiting for them to uncover.
Of course, some viewers have conspiracy theories, suspecting that the show deliberately created this to attract attention. Such things are not uncommon, and one shouldn't overestimate the integrity of entertainment programs.
"It's ridiculous. How can there be such a blatant crime? It must have been a pre-arranged script."
"Is it...is it just for the show?"
"But it looks real to me. Jian Lang isn't an actor, how could he cooperate so well? And He Zhaoming's place next door is completely different."
"This is to increase the realism. If it's real, then blow it up for me to see, he wouldn't dare."
"The people above didn't have to go so far, did they?"
"Wait, everyone be quiet, it's starting over there."
The live stream room fell silent for a moment as everyone anxiously awaited what would happen next.
"Seven years ago, you were all high school students. You were really amazing. While other people's summer vacation revolved around tutoring classes and summer homework, you created an explosion, killed three people, seriously injured more than ten people, and escaped unscathed without even getting a drop of water."
The sound of applause and extremely sarcastic laughter came over the loudspeaker, as if they had done something remarkable.
Jian Lang twitched the corner of his mouth. Despite the sweat beading on his forehead, he was still able to calmly consider a solution: "Are you going to kill us on the live stream? What a crude and rudimentary method of murder."
"It's okay, as long as it works." The voice on the radio remained calm.
"How can you let me go?" Jin Yufei, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke up. "Committing a crime in full view of everyone has a terrible impact. Even if you escape to the ends of the earth, you will be extradited back."
"Ah, one pulls four, then I've made a profit." The voice actually laughed, as if it had heard something pleasant.
But the more this happened, the uglier the expressions on the faces of the four people in the room became.
If the Avengers lose control of their emotions or have obvious weaknesses, they can find those weaknesses and perhaps save their lives. But this guy is clearly going all out; he's put in so much effort, he's bound to get something out of it.
The first two people captured didn't dare to move. They weren't tied up, but they knew there were snipers around, and a headshot from 100 meters away wouldn't be a problem.
Unlike the two contestants who still harbored a glimmer of hope, they had absolutely no desire to gamble on whether the person behind the scenes was soft-hearted enough. The first person taken away had indeed ingested cyanide; had he drunk even one more sip of his pre-dinner drink, he would have been dead.
Even if he's saved now, the side effects are still there, and he's genuinely scared.
The person behind the scenes doesn't care whether or not they kill someone.
Time seems to fly by; in the blink of an eye, ten minutes have passed.
Time seemed to pass very slowly; every second was an ordeal.
Inside and outside the arena, people held their breath, sweat beading on their foreheads, unsure of what fate awaited these individuals.
At this moment, Ren Yifei had arrived at the villa. He looked up at the attic window that was never opened during the day.
That person was upstairs from his room, on the very top floor, in a tiny attic, so small it could only be used to keep pigeons. To get in, he would have to climb over the railing on the stairs.
But why go? This person said it yesterday, so they'll definitely do it today. Looking at the flour and bomb setup, it's clearly for revenge. They might be pressing the detonator right now.
Stop him?
Let's forget about it.
After careful consideration, Ren Yifei concluded that only a dead enemy is a good enemy.
If we don't kill these bastards now, what will happen next? At most, they'll serve two years in jail, maybe even less, and then they'll be released and continue to live a prosperous life.
Just thinking about it makes me uncomfortable.
Some might say, "Wasn't he dead?"
Is social death considered 'death'?
For those with low moral character, social death is not a punishment at all. Only those who usually hold themselves to high moral standards would consider social death a form of death. But for those who are inherently or acquiredly morally deficient, social death simply worsens their public image.
Even if it were Ren Yifei himself, he didn't think that social death would have any impact on his life.
Ren Yifei sat down on the sofa and gently swung his legs: "Can I order? I'd like a coffee-flavored mousse cake, as well as crème brûlée and sweet vanilla milk tea."
I'd better dispose of this trash quickly, it's ruining my mood. Ugh... The main character isn't here right now, I'll just take a drag of this substitute to keep going.
I wonder if the desserts upstairs smell good.
With ten minutes left, the audience saw that string of numbers, and sweat streamed down their faces, not to mention the person involved.
The two bound individuals, though unable to move their hands or bodies, could lower their heads and see the ever-shrinking number, from ten minutes to nine minutes—just a few breaths away.
Jian Lang closed her eyes. She thought about how she had just been promoted to a permanent position, and she also thought about the property she had just chosen. Was her beautiful life going to end here?
It's not worth it at all.
If mediocre and incompetent people can live, why should she die here?
"You won! You won!" Her voice suddenly became sharp. "What do you want? Repentance? I do regret it now, but what can I do? Can I go back in time and tell that foolish young man not to try anything outside the light?"
"I can't, I'm sorry, I can't... It's too late for me to regret it now."
Jian Lang looked up, tears streaming down her face, ruining her delicate makeup.
"You can say more. Your team's record isn't just this. Hmm... there are still nine minutes left." The man's voice on the loudspeaker remained calm.
All four people in the room looked towards the source of the sound, their bloodshot eyes gleaming with fear. Like starving people seeing a feast, even if it might be poisoned, how could they resist pouncing on it?
The four men seemed to suddenly burst with energy, and they began to repent, talking about the things that happened back then, the things they had done, and the things that others had done.
In just five or six minutes, the amount of information revealed by the four people kept the viewers in the live stream speechless.
"Are they... demons?"
If he wasn't a devil, why would he kill a complete stranger just for fun?
The supermarket explosion wasn't the only case for this juvenile delinquent group. The perfect crime is like a drug; once you've committed it, you're addicted.
From the age of sixteen to eighteen, over a period of two years, this criminal group, which they met on the show "Master of Deduction," committed seven "accidents."
The supermarket explosion resulted in the most deaths and injuries.
But the most terrifying thing wasn't that. These people actually placed rearview mirrors on a certain highway curve, adjusting the angle so that they could blind many drivers. The accident fatality rate on that section of road where they placed the mirrors increased by 13% that year.
They all regarded these as achievements.
But after they turned eighteen, these people stopped doing it because they no longer had a get-out-of-jail-free card.
As more and more truths were revealed, the viewers in the live stream grew increasingly silent. Those who had once chased after these players' glory wanted to go back in time and slap themselves: "Blind fools!"
Who would have thought? A young doctor who graduated from a prestigious university, a cool but highly capable programmer, and the two contestants who, although eliminated, had impressive resumes—they are actually like this in private.
"This is the first time I've so sincerely supported the death penalty for juvenile offenders," one netizen said. "One of my uncles had an accident in that area. Could you send me the remote control? I'll press it."
Many netizens didn't have this experience, but they also cursed through gritted teeth: "Why don't these devils just die? I support blowing them up!"
Even the official representative in front of the screen was stunned: "Are these people still children? If this were during the crackdown in the 1980s, no, even without the crackdown, I would have given them a couple of copper peanuts!"
The official representative was heartbroken, because were only a few people affected by these accidents? No, they affected several families, and one person supporting three generations!
The official representative was furious, slamming his fist on the table while cursing. His assistant initially wanted to remind him to be mindful of his image as a government official, but then, considering there were no outsiders present, he kept quiet.
However, after the outburst, the official representative still said, "Is there any way to contact him? These people have already exposed enough for the death penalty. There's no need to dirty your hands with this."
"Not enough." The assistant shook his head, speaking calmly and objectively. "There is no evidence."
"This isn't evidence?"
"Such self-disclosure under duress or coercion cannot be used as evidence."
The assistant pushed up his glasses: "Although they are annoying, they are indeed very clever. They seem to be confessing, but they don't have a single piece of evidence to back it up."
"Moreover, their methods of committing crimes are difficult to detect, and seven years have passed, making it even more impossible to find them. Therefore, once they are released, they can directly refute their own statements."
Not only the assistant, but everyone else in the live stream also realized the problem: "Don't be fooled by them, don't let these people get away with it! After they get out, they can say they were threatened, or even lie and say it was a script. As long as there is no evidence, they can't be convicted!"
"What? Such a thing exists?"
"If everything you've said is true, it's enough to give each of you a bullet." The man's voice on the radio remained calm and indifferent. "Have you thought it through?"
There was a glimmer of life in the eyes of these four people.
"These things have weighed on my mind for many years. In these seven years, I haven't slept soundly for a single day," Jian Lang said emotionally. "Now I've figured it out, and I'll hand it over to the state for judgment. I deserve what I've done."
"Okay," the man said.
Jian Lang's tears fell again, the joy of surviving the ordeal still lingering on her face.
"Just kidding."