Chapter 557: Floating out of the Water

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“What bullsh*t. Threesome?! This is obviously a rape and murder before attempting to get rid of evidence! How in the world could there be people who agree with those kinds of comments?! Are they stupid?!” Ma Qiqi’s comment became one of the top comments shortly after she posted it. It was liked by many netizens with a sense of conscience and brains.

It was clear that someone was attempting to make the victim a scapegoat in this case. There were hints that the victim, a student who had gone there to study, had an indecent character, and that she deserved it because she came from a wealthy Asian family and was flaunting her riches. They intentionally made her look bad, seemingly like they were at the scene of the crime on the day itself. Some netizens who were unable to distinguish right from wrong were led along by those comments and joined in to shame the victim.

However, the moment Ma Qiqi’s comment surfaced, the netizens who had a sense of righteousness joined in and began calling out the German media. Eventually, the culprit who started all the negativity was found and revealed. Of course, he could not escape being shamed by all netizens online.

Seeing that Ma Qiqi’s comment had become the top comment, Gu Nianzhi was extremely happy. Patting her on the shoulders, she told Ma Qiqi repeatedly, “Well done, Qiqi!”

Ma Qiqi did not expect that her sudden comment would be in the limelight, but she was happy as well. “Justice is always in everyone’s hearts!” Ma Qiqi sighed emotionally and fell on the bed, beginning to scroll through her Weibo account. “Just too bad that it’s actually not of much use that we are commenting so much here on our own. I just hope that the victim’s family can have a way to bring her some justice.”

Gu Nianzhi sat on an armchair beside her bed and was scrolling through her Weibo account as well. She replied without as much as looking up from her phone, “Most likely they’ve seen it. Hopefully, they feel slightly comforted.” Otherwise, their daughter would have died a wrongful death and would still be humiliated. Who could withstand such treatment?!

Very soon, this news was spread to Hua Xia Empire and caught the attention of many. In no time, the attention on this news superseded the attention on Tan Guiren. Realizing that this piece of news had value, the media from Hua Xia Empire immediately sent their reporters to Germany to follow up on this incident. Eventually, more mind-boggling things got exposed.

It was almost summer break. Everyone had completed their exams and had a lot more free time on hand. Ma Qiqi did nothing over the past few days except to follow up on the case. Finally, that day, she saw the latest news on the case from Germany and gasped.

“Nianzhi! Nianzhi! Quick! Come and look at this! What the hell? The Germans look out for one another so much, don’t they? Look at this woman; she has the cheek to?!” Ma Qiqi pointed at a middle-aged German lady on the news and cursed. “She’s the biological mother of the culprit! She’s also in charge of the entire case! What the hell!? No wonder when the investigative officer updated the case through a press conference, she used all his statements. They were covering for each other!”

Gu Nianzhi went to the article immediately with her phone and looked through it in seconds. Shaking her head, she sighed. “Unbelievable! How can such corruption happen in Germany…? Sigh. Most likely, the future of this country is ruined as well.”

When the reporters exposed the fact that the female investigative officer in charge was the culprit’s mother, Germany’s internal cabinet stepped up immediately to put out the fire and appease the masses. They announced that they would be handing the case over to a team in another area, and they had since suspended that female investigative officer. She was to rest at home and not follow up on this case anymore. As for the culprit’s stepfather, he was also one of the higher-ranking officers in charge of this case. His rank was even higher than the culprit’s mother’s.

“No wonder I felt that something was off about this case. They hadn’t had a hearing and an outcome, but the prosecutor was so sure that the poor victim died after having a threesome.” Gu Nianzhi finally understood the plot behind the entire crime. She shook her head in disappointment. “This case doesn’t look good for the victim. Hopefully, her family will be able to afford the legal fees in Germany in order to get some compensation. We can’t allow the Germans take advantage of us like that.”

The true meaning of law and order was to have people learn from their mistakes. Breaking the law wasn’t as simple as having a couple of drinks to show how sorry you were.

This news was garnering so much attention in the Hua Xia Empire due to the new leads, and one of the first few people who commented on this report was none other than the presidential election candidate, Bai Jiancheng. Subsequently, his popularity soared back to where it was again and was almost on par with Tan Dongbang’s.

“Father, you’re really experienced.” Bai Yueran was thoroughly impressed with her father’s plan. “I really didn’t expect that you’d be able to gain your popularity back so soon.”

Bai Jiancheng smiled. “We still have three months to election day. We cannot slack just because my popularity went back up for now.” Thinking of Tan Guiren’s case, he asked Bai Yueran again, “Did they manage to find Tan Guiren? It has already been more than a month since your Special Forces went there, hasn’t it? Do they have news?”

“Nope.” Bai Yueran shook her head dejectedly. “However, even if they were to have any new leads, I wouldn’t be the first to know, because I’m only in the legal department. The Special Forces and us are two different departments. It’s quite a vast difference.”

“Oh. Then follow up on the Tan’s and see what they have up their sleeves next.” The Dongbangs had been quiet all this time and had not shown any new tricks. However, in the police station in the west district in Manhattan, America, a phone call was received. Someone called in with a voice enhancer and left them a message. “West district police station? I know where the person you’re looking for is… The sun at eight o’clock in the morning, showing the direction of the sunset.” Just like that, a phone call without any other clues or direction. However, it made the police officers in that station extremely excited.

It had been almost a month since they had held a press conference, but they did not have any new leads to report to the masses. The media was losing interest as the case dragged on. It was the total opposite compared to when the case had just begun. However, after the phone call, they informed the media immediately and held an urgent press conference. During the conference, they announced the message that the caller left.

After waiting for a month, there was finally something new. Everyone was so excited and began trying to interpret the message. “How can the sun at eight o’clock in the morning show the direction of the sunset? This message is really unsolvable.”

During the evening newscasts of the three main broadcasting stations in Manhattan, all the news broadcasters were discussing the same question excitedly, sharing this same piece of breaking news.

Countless Americans became active in participation. The hotline for the police station almost exploded with calls as everyone thought that they had managed to decipher the hidden meaning behind that sentence and wanted to inform the cops. However, none of them were close.

Huo Shaoheng sat in the newly-built office of the Special Forces branch in America and began watching the news with Zhao Liangze. “Oh? They’ve finally managed to talk about the sun at eight o’clock in the morning.” Zhao Liangze folded his arms and stood behind Huo Shaoheng’s sofa. Smiling knowingly, he continued, “I thought that the mastermind had already given up on this game.” Then, he looked at Huo Shaoheng who was sitting on the sofa. “Those idiots actually want to compete in patience levels with Mr. Huo. How stupid, really.”

There was a medium rare steak in front of Huo Shaoheng. He ate his food as he watched the news and said, “I was merely deciphering with logic. It’s just that after so long, I hope there’s still a chance for Miss Tan’s survival.”

“She should still be alive.” Zhao Liangze brought his laptop over. “We had already analyzed this previously. The other party expended so much effort to kidnap her and left clues. This must mean that they have something they want. Since there is something they want, the chances of killing their hostage before getting what they want should be low.” It meant that Tan Guiren was their bargaining chip as of now. How else could they bargain if they lost that chip?

Now that they were about to be exposed, of course, Huo Shaoheng was happy about it. It was just that he still had some questions. After beating about the bush for so long and still having to provide their own clues for people to find them, it seemed like it wouldn’t help their bargaining. Perhaps the mastermind did not know how Huo Shaoheng operated? Or could there be other reasons?

Even though Tan Guiren’s family had asked Huo Shaoheng to handle this case personally, he remained passive during this mission instead of actively looking for clues. If the kidnapper felt that the Tan’s had given up the search for Tan Guiren, it would be likely that they would kill her off at any time. However, the kidnapper actually called in to provide clues. Huo Shaoheng could only guess that either they had a huge motive, or they were plain stupid. As for which it was, Huo Shaoheng felt that he still couldn’t make a final deduction.

Clearly, Zhao Liangze thought the same. Sitting opposite Huo Shaoheng, he asked, full of thoughts, “Mr. Huo, what exactly do they want?”

“Kidnapping a hostage from a family with strong political background, most likely they have political favors to ask.” Huo Shaoheng took out the pictures of vines that had been printed out. “But they only came out to provide clues after an entire month. They’re actually rather patient.”

“Political favors?” Zhao Liangze snorted. “Then they’re making the wrong move. Our country has never compromised with kidnappers, much less granting them their political favors. They’ll be lucky if we don’t chase them out of the country!”

“Haha, but we’re the only ones who know about this. They don’t,” Huo Shaoheng replied calmly and changed the direction of the picture in his hand. He pointed it right at the window. “Open the program and look at the position the sunlight lands on in this picture during sunset.”

Zhao Liangze and Huo Shaoheng were probably the only ones who had discovered this picture of the vines. Therefore, whatever the person was trying to convey through that phone call, they were the only ones who understood it. Zhao Liangze turned on his laptop and opened the program. He set the time and direction, and began adjusting them slowly.

The 3D model of Tan Guiren’s dormitory appeared in front of them. Following the program, the colors outside the windows in the 3D model turned dark, and the angle of the sun’s rays began changing as the time passed. The picture of the vines from when it was eight o’clock in the morning showed again. However, this time around, the position where the evening sunlight landed was on the tip of one of the vines.

Zhao Liangze paused the process, and the yellow sunlight paused. The spot where the dim yellow sunlight landed was extremely eye-catching. Putting his chin on his fist, Huo Shaoheng looked at the position of the vine and said slowly, “The direction is seven o’clock. Southwest?”

Southwest of Tan Guiren’s dormitory, in the direction at seven pm. Where would it be?

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