RNP Chapter 44 First-degree charges
Chapter 44 First-degree charges
On the afternoon of the day Nie Zhifeng was arrested, Yue Yi'an, the deputy director of the Data Department of the Foreign Affairs Bureau who was on leave, voluntarily returned from leave and applied to participate in the case.
Seven specialists, carrying the most sophisticated equipment currently available in the federal government, rushed to the Bureau of Investigation to conduct detailed tests on the individuals involved.
It was ultimately determined that Nie Zhifeng had been completely corrupted and assimilated.
He was no longer himself, but another consciousness of Fang Shu.
Yue Yi'an carefully explained the specific information about the rare superpower of consciousness memes to Cao Tengfei, Lin Jun, and other relevant personnel from the Investigation Bureau.
In addition to assimilating the consciousness of others, meme infection can also import a person's consciousness into the brain of a designated target through a meme chain.
Consciousness transfer does exist. However, it can only be a one-way transfer, not a two-way transfer.
In the database of the Federal Superpower Administration, there are only five people who possess this superpower, and Fang Shu is not among them.
The reason is simple: during the initial tests after she awakened her superpower, the values for her consciousness meme were almost identical to those for mind control. For the next thirty years, she never tested her superpower level again, so the database naturally didn't update its records.
Test results show that Fang Shu is currently at Grade B.
With her abilities, the consciousness of the transferred individual can remain in the target brain for up to a month. Once the transferred consciousness is removed, the brain of the vessel will suffer varying degrees of damage.
Mild cases result in blindness, deafness, and speech impairment. Moderate cases lead to mental loss and insanity.
In the most serious scenario, the terminal controller, Fang Shu, forcibly shuts down the system. This results in cardiac arrest and ultimately, sudden death.
The death of Luo Duyang is the best example.
While the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs was conducting tests, the Major Crimes Unit ransacked Nie Zhifeng's studio.
Although Nie Zhifeng destroyed the studio's computer mainframe and burned multiple hard drives when he was apprehended by Cao Tengfei, network experts at the Investigation Bureau's monitoring center were still able to recover most of the data from the mainframe.
Through phone calls, online messaging, and records from various platforms, a thorough investigation of Nie Zhifeng's client list and chat logs revealed that over two hundred patients who had received psychological counseling and treatment were potentially targeted.
Even more frightening is that, judging from the remaining host data alone, more than fifty people have received the "Experience Life" therapy.
This includes more than a dozen victims who were included in the Western District Ghost Case, such as Luo Duyang, recreation coach Tang Qingwei, internet celebrity blogger Li Menglin, and model Ding Hui.
The so-called "experiencing life" is to transfer the consciousness of the patient into the brain of the target body.
Taking Luo Duyang as an example, the person who accessed his brain was named Zheng Pinghua.
This person is the deputy manager of the product development department at a subsidiary of the Loess Group. Work pressure combined with family troubles led him to suffer from severe insomnia and depression.
After replacing Luo Duyang, Zheng Pinghua indulged in extravagant spending, enjoying unprecedented happiness. Insomnia and depression all vanished.
Zheng Pinghua had no idea what kind of aftereffects Luo Duyang would suffer in the end, and of course, he didn't care at all.
Since it's a stolen life anyway, all I need to do is cooperate with Dr. Nie and transfer Luo Duyang's mansion, yacht, and other properties, as well as the shares of several companies, to the transferee designated by the other party.
When the Major Crimes Unit members found Zheng Pinghua, they discovered that he was exhibiting severe symptoms of dissociative identity disorder. He had language impairment, schizophrenia, and was unable to communicate normally.
All of the above information was extracted from the brain of a specialist in the Bureau of Extraordinary Management who possesses the ability to read memories.
In addition, all the recipients also had their brains invaded.
The assets changed hands multiple times, eventually being converted into Newts and deposited into a confidential account at Red Bank.
The founder of Red Deer Bank was one of the three founders of the Commonwealth, and for various reasons, he enjoyed absolute immunity. Simply put, no department had the right to demand that Red Deer Bank cooperate with investigations, let alone provide customer information.
The holder of the confidential account cannot be identified or frozen for the time being. But the above evidence alone is enough to put Fang Shu in jail for life.
The Major Crimes Unit collected evidence as quickly as possible and submitted relevant materials to the Federal Court No. 1 on the third day after Nie Zhifeng's arrest.
First-degree charges have been filed against Fang Shu, a renowned criminal psychologist and professor at Haicheng University School of Medicine.
.........................
The West End Ghost Case has been solved.
However, Detective Sherlock, who was in charge of the case, was not happy at all.
After the college hostage incident, Fang Shu formed a psychological support team, but Nie Zhifeng did not participate. Therefore, the source of Luo Duyang's meme infection must be someone else.
With this in mind, Sherlock requested technical support from the Bureau of Extraterritorial Affairs to conduct full testing on all members of the Ocean University Medical School who had participated in the psychological rescue team at the time.
Of the dozen or so victims in the Western District Ghost Case, seven had contact with Nie Zhifeng. Some had received psychological counseling, while others had met him in social settings.
Upon learning of this, the director of the investigation bureau expressed great dissatisfaction with Sherlock. He criticized her for not being thorough enough in her investigation, failing to include someone who had contact with multiple victims as a prime suspect.
In fact, Sherlock had noticed Nie Zhifeng long ago, but the victim had a perfect alibi for the time of his death. Furthermore, Nie Zhifeng was a water-based ability user, currently only at the D-level, and therefore lacked the ability to kill from a distance.
Before the real culprit, Fang Shu, was revealed, who could have imagined the possibility of consciousness transfer? The Major Crimes Unit held multiple meetings to discuss the matter, focusing on the possibility of possessing telekinetic abilities.
After all, telekinesis, in theory, could completely control a target's heart to cause sudden death.
However, the director's accusations did not hurt Sherlock much.
However, being overshadowed by Cao Tengfei is extremely insulting.
"It's that Cao guy again, shit!"
Sherlock was so angry that he forgot to use idioms and blurted out his native language.
The consultant shook his head speechlessly: "It was because you didn't answer the phone that the student asked Inspector Cao for help. He caught the criminal and helped you solve the case; you should thank him properly."
Sherlock, pacing back and forth in his office, couldn't listen to anything. Frustrated, he lit a cigarette and said irritably, "Damn it, it's all the chief's fault for insisting on calling me to a meeting."
"Hey, how old are you? Why are you still like a child, always trying to shift the blame?"
"Did I say something wrong? If the director hadn't scheduled a meeting so early in the morning, how could I have missed that phone call? If I hadn't missed it, how could Cao Tengfei have gotten involved in this series of murders?"
The consultant was amused by his old friend's blaming personality—"If you can blame others, never blame yourself"—and his resolute refusal to engage in internal conflict.
"Speaking of which, that college student is really something else, just like his name suggests. He's a Grade B mental ability user, and he actually managed to break free from his consciousness's restraints!"
The consultant waved away the smoke Sherlock exhaled and suggested, "The Luo family has already arranged for a litigation lawyer, and they'll contact you before the trial. Sherlock, since you're free anyway, and I heard that kid's still in the hospital, why don't you..."
Without a second thought, Sherlock stubbed out his cigarette, picked up his coat from the hanger, and walked toward the door without another word.
Half an hour later, the two arrived at the Ocean University Affiliated Hospital in District Six.
As soon as Sherlock entered the ward, he saw Cao Yingchong, Ji Chenyu, and Qiao Yi standing outside the door.
"Detective Xia"
Cao Yingchong greeted them and quickly stopped them from entering the room.
"Just a moment please."
Sherlock was confused, so Ji Chenyu explained, "Madam Lin and Inspector Cao are inside. They said they have a few questions about the case and want to ask Qi Te about them."
"Shit~"
Sherlock cursed under his breath, frowned in annoyance, and was about to rush into the ward when the door opened.
Cao Tengfei nodded with a smile, indicating, "Detective Xia is here too."
Sherlock's already long and narrow face stretched even longer: "This case was originally handled by our Major Crimes Unit. Is there a problem with me being here?"
"Of course, no problem." Cao Tengfei shrugged and stepped aside.
Lin Jun, having finished her conversation, got up and left, brushing past Sherlock.
"It's really rare to run into Madam Lin, a busy person who's usually never seen at the station."
Lin Jun simply nodded expressionlessly at Sherlock's sarcastic remarks.
The consultant politely extended his hand to shake Cao Tengfei's: "And this gentleman is?"
"Lin Jun, head of the counter-terrorism team."
Lin Jun introduced herself and took the initiative to shake hands with the consultant.
The consultant opened the business card box, took out a card, and handed it over.
After a brief chat, the two quickly left.
Watching Lin Jun's departing figure, the consultant couldn't help but be lost in thought.
Seeing his old friend looking completely bewitched, Sherlock couldn't help but retort, "Madam Lin is indeed a great beauty, but you'd better not get your hands on her."
Consultant: "What, am I that bad?"
Sherlock lowered his voice and said, "In short, just don't be heartless towards her."
consultant:.............
"Xia, promise me you won't overuse idioms anymore, okay?"