Netherworld Investigator

As we hurried back to the station, Xiaotao instructed the officers to comb through the place and notify the other jurisdictions.

We had dinner at the station when the officers sent to investigate came back to report their findings, shedding light on The Strongest Mantis Shrimp’s identity. His real name was Li Derong, a pork vendor in the wet market, though everyone called him Pork Rong. His explosive personality often led to him quarreling, even fighting with his customers over a few yuan. An avid fan of American movies, especially action ones, he could never pull his eyes away from a good explosion scene. 

One of the vegetable vendors reported that Pork Rong had previously sold detonators and bombs in the northeast. It wasn’t an illegal or shady business since he mainly dealt with blast fishers and often had his head buried in studying these things.

But last year, he suddenly quit. Naturally, with his sort of character, there was no way he could keep a secret. Neighbors and residents all knew that he had become a streamer on Kuaishou, fiddling with various bombs live. Once, he accidentally injured a passerby in his live stream so Kuaishou had to let him go. What he did later on remained a mystery to them.

We searched for Pork Rong on the internet and found many of his live streams but they were nothing compared to the content on his videos on the In-depth Live Stream.

After an emergency meeting, the officers looking for the bomb returned to inform Xiaotao of their failure to find any bombs despite searching in and out of the bureau. 

"Aside from the public security bureau, what other police are there?" asked Xiaotao.

"The civil police, traffic police, auxiliary police and the SWAT team," Bingxin counted with her fingers.

"That’s too wide a range,” said Xiaotao. “We won’t be able to find it even if we were given all night."

"Those places are all very difficult for him to enter,” I said upon reflection. “The bomb must have been placed in a location where there are police that’s also easily accessible!"

"A while ago when I was training the new cadets at the police academy, I thought their administration was a little lax,” Wang Yuanchao started. “The boys would often sneak out to an internet cafe at night. Whenever I patrolled at night, I would catch at least a dozen of them sneaking out."

Xiaotao slammed the table. "You’re right! Let’s head there now!"

Bingxin was about to join the excitement when Xiaotao poured a bucket of cold water on her plans. "No going to the crime scene at night!" she reminded.

"Ugh, why are you using that to restrain me again?!” protested Bingxin. “But this is clearly a special case!"

"It’s still a no,” emphasized Xiaotao.

"Then I’m going to watch the live stream with Song Yang's gay buddy!" she angrily declared.

A group of us arrived at the police academy, but it was still rather unrealistic to search through every nook and cranny of such a large school with our numbers. Wang Yuanchao found the dean and informed him we needed to broadcast an emergency message to the cadets through the PA system. 

When we came to the studio, Wang Yuanchao immediately picked up the microphone, cleared his throat and announced, "Emergency! This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill! I am Instructor Wang Yuanchao. We suspect that a criminal has planted explosives in your dormitories. All students are ordered to immediately drop all activities and search your dormitories and classrooms. Each class is required to send a representative to the field to report the situation."

Wang Yuanchao's announcement was informative and precise despite his usual lack of words. Clearly, he wasn’t at all vague when he had something to say.

A little while later, a group of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed cadets gathered at the field. At the mention of a bomb, these young eager beavers puffed out their chests and expressed their willingness to track down the criminal with us. But to their utter disappointment, Wang Yuanchao refused with a straight face.

Although they went through all the classrooms and dormitories, the search yielded no results. No one noticed any suspicious movement in the school either. 

“Another dead end," cried Xiaotao, her face like a wet weekend.

It was already past 11 and Lao Yao couldn’t find any clues either. At the moment, The Strongest Mantis Shrimp had yet to begin live streaming, and a countdown slowly ticked away on the screen. A large audience was waiting for the pandemonium to start. 

"We’ve neglected one thing!" I shouted.

"What?" asked Xiaotao.

"At 12 midnight, no matter the traffic police, the civil police, the auxiliary police or even the bureau officers are off duty,” I remarked. “How can he be absolutely sure of killing an officer? Unless, he’s found a location where he can be completely certain there are policemen who won’t be evacuated!"

Xiaotao stared at me in wide-eyed shock as the same thought immediately crossed our minds.

"The hospital!” we both shouted simultaneously.

The injured policemen from the morning were now lying in a hospital ward which was easier to gain access to than the public security bureau. Our suspect could simply slip into the ward wearing a white coat and a face mask and avoid the officers’ scrutiny.

"We might not make it!” Xiaotao swept a panicked glance at her watch. “Let’s hurry to the hospital!"

We jumped into the car, frantically running all the red lights along all the way. Five minutes before midnight, we arrived at the hospital when Lao Yao called, "Fuck, the live stream has just started. The video shows a hospital!"

"We’ve arrived here as well," I replied.

Right now, it was already too late to dismantle the bomb. Under Xiaotao’s orders, we asked the nurses to help transfer the injured officers and the other patients in the same ward.

Time seemed to speed up as the seconds ticked away. With bated breath, Dali and I supported an injured officer out the door, too nervous to speak.

When the wounded were transferred to a safe place, I looked at my cell phone that showed a minute left before midnight. Almost everyone was here. 

"Look around. Is there anyone missing?" asked Xiaotao.

Except for the officers wrapped in bandages, everyone else was easily recognizable and was soon accounted for. However, a man suddenly shouted, "Xiao Zheng, Xiao Li and Lao Ma in Ward 403 aren’t here!"

The two officers who had escorted them were also missing, perhaps still stuck in Ward 403.

The man’s words seemed to flip a switch in Xiaotao, prompting her to turn and run in that direction at breakneck speed. Wang Yuanchao and I gave each other a knowing look and ran after her. Panting, I couldn’t keep my eyes from my cell phone. But just 20 seconds away from midnight, a resounding boom filled the hospital. The explosion shook the entire building, sending shockwaves that swept along the corridor in our direction. Without the slightest hesitation, Wang Yuanchao blocked us from the impact with his own body, the rubble from the blast hitting his back like a hailstorm, marked by the dull thud of hard matter against flesh.

Xiaotao’s eyes were red with madness, desperately trying to claw her way out of Yuanchao’s arms and into the heart of the blast. When the dust finally settled a little, Wang Yuanchao released her.

Before we had even reached Ward 403, we could already spot the debris and human remains on the ground. The flames roared and filled the room with thick, pungent smoke. Xiaotao pounded the wall and cursed, "That fucking bastard!"

In the face of this mind-boggling situation, my head drew a blank and words of comfort seemed to escape me. Lao Yao's voice came from the Bluetooth headset in my ear, "Song Yang, the bomb was detonated 20 seconds earlier."

I had originally assumed that the time on my cell phone was inaccurate. But now it seemed that The Strongest Mantis Shrimp had detonated the bomb ahead of time. Through the picture before, the bomb squad had analyzed that it was undoubtedly a time bomb. Had a remote detonator also been fixed on it?

I stepped into the room and sniffed hard, inhaling the smoke into my lungs. It was the smell of nitroglycerin.

Not only was nitroglycerin a well-known explosive, but it was also a cardiovascular medicine which could be found in the hospital’s pharmacy. The Strongest Mantis Shrimp must have stolen it from the hospital to create the bomb.

The smell of this substance was almost choking so I quickly walked out of the room and was greeted by an anxious Dali who came running breathlessly. "Thank God you're all right!" he exclaimed.

"Dali, get me some acupuncture needles,” I said.

"What for?"

"I won't be led by the nose by this bastard any longer,” I said, seething in white-hot anger. “I’m going to use the Heavenly Dog Tracking Technique to locate this guy!"