42 Red-Clad Female Corpse
19:05. 142 Fuk Wing Street, Sham Shui Po.
Lin Long led the team, while Zhou Yun, Fang Chengjin, and Xiao Li split into two groups:
Lin Long and Xiao Li burst in through the main entrance; Fang Chengjin and Zhou Yun circled around from behind, cutting off the scent's escape route.
Inside the door was a spacious server room. Dozens of liquid-cooled servers were arranged in a cold white array, with a 270° circular screen suspended in the center. A line of cold green text was scrolling on the screen:
【NIGHT SHADOW ONLINE】
Audience count: 1,374,281
Heart rate: 0
At the bottom of the screen, a gaming chair faces away from everyone, with a red and black hoodie draped over its back, but no one is there.
Through the earpiece, Xiao Li whispered, "The target isn't here?!"
1. Cold metal: The smell of aluminum from server heat sink fins after they have been heated to high temperatures;
3. The most eerie: a very faint ozone smell, like the embers after an electric arc has pierced the air.
“There are no living people here.” Fang Chengjin raised his eyes. “Only AI.”
The next second, the characters on the circular screen automatically refreshed:
Welcome, Inspector Lin Long.
Welcome, Dr. Fang Jin.
Welcome, Ms. Zhou Yun.
Zhou Yun's back instantly broke out in goosebumps.
The characters continue scrolling:
You're 10 years too late.
[The gift has been prepared; please sign for it.]
A live video clip generated 15 seconds prior pops up in the center of the screen:
Xiao Li switched to the backend and exclaimed in shock: "The IP address is the local server, but the control terminal is overseas! It redirects every 30 seconds!"
"Not overseas."
"The smell tells me it's within 50 meters."
Team Leader Lin raised his gun: "Xiao Li, get on the roof!"
...
On the rooftop terrace, the rain had just stopped, and the puddles reflected the lingering sunset.
The height is 175cm, which is consistent with the height of the murderer presumed by the autopsy.
A cartoon bandage was pasted on his left forearm, and a miniature fragrance atomizing nozzle was visible underneath it;
The LED screen on the chest flashes: "NIGHT SHADOW v3.0".
The robot has no head, only a 360° rotating camera, like a cold, one-eyed monster.
Its chest speaker emitted a mechanical, synthesized voice, but in a flippant, boyish tone:
Happy birthday, Zhou Yun!
"Where's the cake? I ate it for Zhou Qing."
Zhou Yun's anger flared up instantly, and she rushed forward, only to be grabbed by Fang Chengjin.
Team Leader Lin put on gloves, took the card, and inserted it into his portable tablet.
The footage shows fragments of CCTV footage from Zhou Qing's birthday 10 years ago:
At the end of the video, three lines of white text appeared:
[Humans are dead, AI lives on]
[Your next birthday is coming up, Zhou Yun]
The robot's chest suddenly heated up, and the smell of ozone intensified.
Fang Cheng whispered, "Hurry up!"
The fragrance capsule inside the robot's chest cavity instantly vaporized, the cologne and iodine mixed into a white mist, which exploded into a colorless firework in the twilight.
When the fog cleared, all that remained of the robot was a charred skeleton scattered on the ground.
Team Leader Lin gritted his teeth: "It's not that AI is killing people, it's that someone is using AI as a stand-in."
On the back of the chip, a line of small text is laser-etched:
【Property of Gray Lab – 2013】
Zhou Yun was stunned: "Grey...the Grey Lab? It's been around for ten years?"
The wind after the rain swept across the rooftops, bringing with it a strange, sweet, and pungent smell, a mixture of photinia blossoms and burnt plastic.
Fang Cheng gripped the chip tightly, his voice so low that only Zhou Yun could hear: "The game has been upgraded."
Ten years ago, he used human skin to act in scripts;
Now, he's using AI to write the sequel.
"It's always a fingerprint left by a real person."
He looked up at her, speaking slowly and deliberately:
"A living person must reveal their true colors."
The burnt smell from the rooftop had not yet dissipated when Linlong was already placed under emergency lockdown.
The "AI double" was blown to pieces, while the real manipulator vanished like a ghost.
20:17 On-site investigation vehicle
Fang Cheng carefully placed the chip into an anti-static bag and wrote the number on the seal:
【GS-46-001】
He then took out a 5 ml headspace vial, aimed it at the plenum fragments in the robot's chest cavity, and drew out the last wisp of gas.
The olfactory spectrum was instantly broken down into four lines in my brain:
4. The faintest yet most crucial trace:
Sea salt, instant coffee, and...
Menthol in cheap shaving foam.
"The killer stayed in the server room for at least six hours."
Team Leader Lin immediately assigned personnel to retrieve the surveillance footage.
Zhou Yun was gently pulled by Fang Chengjin's wrist: "Come with me, let's smell the 'living people'."
...
21:05 Fuk Wah Street 24-hour convenience store in Sham Shui Po
After the rain stopped, the streetlights reflected the water stains like scattered gold.
Inside the convenience store, a clerk is pouring cleaning solution for the night shift coffee machine into the drain.
The shop assistant recalled: "The man wearing a gray hoodie and a fisherman's hat bought two cans of shaving foam, a bottle of iodine, and also asked me for an ice pack."
"ice bag?"
"They said your hand is injured and you need to apply a cold compress."
The shop assistant pointed to the security camera behind the counter:
At 20:06, the suspect's left forearm was wrapped with blood-soaked gauze.
In the upper left corner of the screen, he casually took the strawberry-flavored lollipop given away by the counter and stuffed it into his pocket.
21:28 Convenience store back alley
Fang Cheng squatted down and picked up a drop of blood that had not yet dried from the ground with his fingertips.
The blood mixed with iodine had an even stranger smell:
"Rust + ketamine" is exactly the same as the residue on the body last night.
"He was injecting himself with anesthesia."
The ID "Night Shadow" first appeared here.
...
21:41 Nightwalker Internet Cafe, Basement Level
The neon lights crackled, and the air was filled with the smells of instant noodles and foot odor.
Fang Cheng stood in front of camera position 07 and closed his eyes for 3 seconds:
The camera screen was still lit, and a line of white text remained on the desktop:
Grey was never here.
A black USB flash drive was plugged into the USB port of the computer case.
Team Leader Lin arrived, put on gloves, and pulled out the USB drive.
“Clatter.”
The metallic sound of a lighter.
Then came the man's soft, smiling whisper:
"Zhou Yun, your 28th birthday is coming soon, right?"
I've ordered the strawberry cake for you.
Don't be late this time.
The friction of the tightening steel wire was like the wind that cut through my eighteenth birthday on a rainy night ten years ago.
Zhou Yun's knuckles turned white, but they no longer trembled.
She looked up at Fang Chengjin, her voice hoarse but resolute:
"He's within 200 meters."
"Use the smell to find him."
Fang Cheng closed his notebook, his gaze piercing through the neon lights, like the only lighthouse in the night:
"good.
From now on,
The scent of life is unmistakable.
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