【User ID: Surfing Scumbag】
【Logic Rank: B04】
【Logic Level: Level 3】
【Logic Skill: Centered around the target, within a 50-meter radius, elements related to surfing, beaches, and waves will appear. Within this 50-meter range, if the target does not reject the advances of the “Surfing Scumbag,” they enter the “Surfing Scumbag’s” logic skill.
The target will immediately experience extreme guilt, with the intensity of the sensation being positively correlated with their romantic history. The more relationships they have had, the stronger the guilt.
After 18 observations, having been in five, ten relationships are critical thresholds for this logic skill.
Targets with more than ten romantic relationships will experience overwhelming guilt upon entering the logic skill and will engage in various self-destructive behaviors directed at their necks, including but not limited to throat-slitting, hanging, and self-asphyxiation.
Targets with five to ten romantic relationships will exhibit self-harm behaviors directed at their limbs, including but not limited to severing limbs and cutting with sharp objects.
Targets with fewer than five romantic relationships will break down in tears, pounding their chests. If they leave the 50-meter range of the Surfing Scumbag’s logic skill within an hour, they will not suffer significant effects. If they stay longer than an hour, they will experience higher-level logic skill reactions.
*The highest number of romantic relationships observed so far is 13. The effects on individuals with more than 13 relationships are currently unknown.
*Targets with zero romantic relationships are unaffected.】
…
“This is Luo Yuansen’s logic skill. By the way, Luo Yuansen is the real name of ‘Surfing Scumbag.’ I’ve known him for a long time. He used to be a user in Haidu and was also a member of our Extermination Squad. Later, his ex-wife got transferred to Qingzhou for work, so he followed her there.”
Jiang Wentao furrowed his thick brows, unable to hide his worry. “Old Luo really isn’t the culprit, but the information from the Qingzhou Extermination Squad states that the deceased had ten romantic relationships and died 31 meters away from Old Luo. The cause of death was attempting to strangle herself in the water, but she drowned before she could succeed.”
At some point, several passing team members and researchers had stopped nearby.
After Jiang Wentao finished describing the strange incident his friend encountered, the young team members started buzzing with curiosity.
“Jiang-Ge, there’s an important detail you didn’t clarify.”
Jiang Wentao was taken aback. “What?”
“You initially said she was pressing on her neck and drowned in the shallow water zone that was only one meter deep. But then you said she tried to strangle herself, throttling her neck in the water, and ended up drowning.”
“Right, so did she really try to strangle herself or not?”
“Exactly, this is crucial. Strangling the neck and pressing on the neck are two different actions. One leaves bruises on the neck, while the other just involves pressing.”
Jiang Wentao sighed helplessly, “I was in such a hurry that I misspoke. What I meant was that she was trying to strangle herself, but while she was doing that, she was in the shallow water zone. She had already forgotten everything else when she started strangling herself, focusing solely on choking her neck. So, she collapsed onto the beach in the shallow water zone and eventually drowned.”
“Oh, I see!”
“I knew it. But now that it’s clear, it makes it even more likely that ‘Surfing Scumbag’ is involved.”
Xiao Jinyu quickly processed Jiang Wentao’s words in his mind.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
31 meters distance: fits within the “Surfer Scumbag’s” effective range.
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Among them was the Surfing Scumbag.
Jiang Wentao, worried about his friend, patiently explained the case details to his team members and the institute’s researchers. With the collective wisdom of many, most users being quite intelligent, they still couldn’t come up with a lead after lengthy discussions.
…The more they talked, the more Surfing Scumbag seemed like the culprit.
One team member said, “Brother Jiang, Qingzhou already stated that this girl was in her tenth relationship, deeply in love. This time, she was at the bathing spot with her fiancé, her job was going well, her love life and career were perfect, she was healthy, and her family was doing great. She didn’t seem like someone who wanted to commit suicide.”
“Exactly. If she wanted to commit suicide, she wouldn’t have spent hours happily playing at the bathing spot, only to suddenly decide to kill herself before leaving.”
“And she chose such a painful way to die.”
Jiang Wentao sighed deeply, “If I didn’t know Old Luo, I would also think he was too much like the culprit. But he texted me about something, so Xiao Jinyu, that’s why I came to find you.”
Xiao Jinyu’s interest was piqued, “Something?”
Jiang Wentao nodded, “Yes. Old Luo said…” The man’s honest and plain face showed a trace of caution as he solemnly stated, “When he first arrived at Bathing Spot No. 2, he encountered a user outside the changing room.”
***
Haidu was located in eastern Huaxia, while Qingzhou was in the southeastern corner of the Nine Provinces continent.
The two places were over a thousand kilometers apart.
Xiao Jinyu didn’t actually travel all the way to the distant Qingzhou to investigate a case for a stranger. This case had already been taken over by the Qingzhou Extermination Squad, and both Surfing Scumbag and Jiang Wentao had posted tasks, asking local users to investigate privately.
It wasn’t that they didn’t trust the official investigative capabilities, but since it involved a human life, they couldn’t afford any mistakes.
The posting of the task by Surfing Scumbag was tacitly approved by the authorities, but Xiao Jinyu received a text message from Jiang Wentao the very night he left the Haidu Extermination Squad headquarters.
【Jiang Wentao: He has been released!】
Outside the large floor-to-ceiling window, across the Huangpu River, the dark and unlit Pudong area resembled a slumbering giant dragon, its back bristling with spiky skyscrapers named “Oriental Pearl” and “World Trade Center.” Xiao Jinyu sat on the spacious leather sofa, staring at the words on the screen.
【Xiao Jinyu: The user Surfing Scumbag encountered outside the changing room is the real culprit?】
【No.】
【Around 8 p.m., after retrieving surveillance footage, dozens of people worked overtime for two hours to finally find that user. He is a Level 2 user with the ID “Sweet Milkshake.” But he was just at the bathing spot by coincidence. His logic skill has no common ground with the cause of death of the deceased.】
【He was temporarily released because the Extermination Squad couldn’t find any evidence that he expressed his love to the girl and was rejected.】
Messages popped up one after another on the screen.
【Xiao Jinyu, don’t you think the situation my friend encountered is very similar to the one you’ve been investigating recently? Both had interactions with the victim, were nearby when the victim died. The victim might have died due to his logic skill, but he swears he didn’t use his logic skill.】
【It’s as if there was a second logic skill that forcibly activated his logic skill!】
After a moment of silence, Xiao Jinyu replied: 【Jiang-Ge, if there’s any progress in your friend’s case, please let me know.】
【Of course!】
Putting down his phone, Xiao Jinyu moved around the luxurious, ornately carved redwood desk. He seemed a bit unfamiliar with the room, his gaze lingering on the gilded drawer handles for a second. He reached out to open a drawer but couldn’t pull it open.
His expression remained calm. After observing for a while, he finally pushed the drawer instead.
“Click—”
The drawer popped open.
It was a sensor-activated press type.
Taking out a sheet of white paper from the drawer, Xiao Jinyu sat behind the desk and wrote down all nine cases.
Yes, there were nine cases, nine victims.
The eight deceased from Jiuhua Hospital in Zhongdu were clear enough, but if what Surfing Scumbag encountered was indeed similar to his mother’s situation, then…
Xiao Jinyu wrote “Qingzhou” on the paper, then drew a long line connecting it to “Zhongdu.”
This innocent victim might be connected to his mother, Professor Huang, and others, all caught in the same logic skill.
—Targets under this logic skill, once in contact with other users, would immediately trigger the other’s logic skill.
However, there were some differences.
“The deceased in Qingzhou, her cause of death is too closely linked to Surfing Scumbag’s logic skill. Much more so than Ling Yunyun or Professor Huang; it seems more like she directly died from Surfing Scumbag’s actions.” Xiao Jinyu stared at the black ink on the white paper. “The eight people in Zhongdu seem to have indirectly died from a logic skill. Well, except for my mom and Wang Mengmeng, who indeed directly died from a logic skill. The other six, compared to being killed by a ‘logic skill,’ seem more like they died by accident.”
But the new victim in Qingzhou didn’t seem like an accidental death at all. Her death almost pointed directly to Surfing Scumbag, who was nearby.
Fingers quietly tapped on the smooth, delicate desk, while the other hand unconsciously touched his lower lip.
In the darkness, only a small lamp on the desk was lit.
Time passed silently. After an unknown period, Xiao Jinyu suddenly snapped out of his thoughts and looked towards the door. The next second, there was a soft knock on the door.
“Come in.”
With a creak, the bedroom door was gently pushed open from the outside.
Xiao Jinyu leaned back against the chair, not hiding the paper and the words on it, and looked at the man who entered: “This is your house. If you have another logic collapse, you don’t need to knock.” After all, a logic collapse was a serious matter.
As he spoke, he activated the fourth perspective.
Su Jiuzhou extended his hand.
Xiao Jinyu watched the colorful light dots drifting from Su Jiuzhou’s hand. His right hand brushed past Su Jiuzhou’s fingertips, effortlessly wiping them away.
Su Jiuzhou smiled slightly, “It’s polite to knock.”
Xiao Jinyu glanced up and down at him, didn’t respond, and turned his attention back to the white paper on the desk.
Su Jiuzhou followed his gaze.
“Yuansen, drowned… the victim in the Qingzhou case?”
Xiao Jinyu nodded, “Yes. Surfing Scumbag was just released. Based on the clues he gave Jiang Wentao, he insists he didn’t use his logic skill, and no one can find evidence that he did. After all, for his logic skill to activate, he has to express his love to the target. But he never interacted with this girl. Even he suspects that the girl died because of his logic skill.”
Su Jiuzhou asked, “Level 4 Modification Factor?”
Xiao Jinyu looked at him, “Is the captain of the Qingzhou Extermination Squad a Level 5 user?”
Su Jiuzhou smiled, “Yes.”
“Not only a Level 5 user, but even the Grow Some Brains APP confirms that Surfing Scumbag is still at Level 4.”
Taking a pen from the desk, Xiao Jinyu pondered for a long time before finally drawing a long line between the names of the eight previous victims and the last victim.
-Their deaths might not necessarily be related to the same logic skill.
Xiao Jinyu carefully examined the names of the nine victims, while his mind flashed through “Pope’s Crown,” “Relativity,” “Sexy Samba,” “Valiant Knight,” and “Surfing Scumbag,” the five logic skills suspected of causing deaths.
No one spoke for a while, and the room was silent.
The entire house was illuminated with a kind of half-lit brightness, and outside the window, what used to be the bustling, lively Bund Street thirty years ago was now shrouded in an old, desolate silence and darkness beyond the river.
“Colonel Su, what do you think?”
Xiao Jinyu suddenly spoke, and Su Jiuzhou instinctively looked at him.
Only a desk lamp was on the table, casting a dim yellow light through a vintage green glass lampshade, with its soft beams flowing down the smooth, slender bridge of the young man’s nose.
Su Jiuzhou’s gaze lingered for a moment, his expression unchanged, “Is the new victim connected to Jiuhua Hospital or Zhongdu?”
Xiao Jinyu replied, “No. She was only twenty-seven, born, raised, and worked in Qingzhou, never leaving the city even at her death. The underground train tickets are quite expensive, a significant expense for an ordinary family. According to the information from the User Committee, not only did she have no connection to Zhongdu, but none of her ex-boyfriends, family members, or most of her friends had any ties to Zhongdu or had ever been there.”
After a pause, he looked up at Su Jiuzhou, his expression darkening, “But if she had no connection to Zhongdu, that means the person with the ‘Third Party Logic Skill’ moved to Qingzhou.”
…
The Surfing Scumbag incident was temporarily set aside; Xiao Jinyu didn’t begin investigating it right away.
No one could prove that this case was related to the continuous accidental deaths at Jiuhua Hospital in Zhongdu.
Three days later, based on the Dreamer’s prediction, she would have Zhao Hen’s memory sorted out by tonight for Xiao Jinyu and the others to view.
In the evening, the two of them arrived at the Extermination Squad headquarters.
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Thanks for the chapter !!