Chapter 234 Choosing the Wrong Person
With Xia Lili's evidence, Li Qihan became even more certain!
"The lock underwent a chemical reaction underwater."
Li Qihan's voice was calm and firm, and he tapped the lock's casing with his fingertips. "The internal structure is likely damaged by corrosion, leading to necrosis!"
He took out a sterile cotton swab and precisely scraped the white flocs around the lock cylinder. When he placed it in the evidence bottle, a fine mist immediately coated the bottle's walls. "Magnesium alloys, when exposed to alkaline solutions, produce magnesium hydroxide precipitation and release hydrogen gas—"
He held the bottle up to the light. "These bubbles and flocs are the evidence."
"Laboratory." Li Qihan raised his hand and gestured, "Get an X-ray scan of this lock immediately. I want to know the extent of the corrosion inside the lock!"
Xia Lili quickly walked towards Leng Xiaohe, who was organizing her statement. "Sister Xiaohe, are the five prop masters suspicious?"
Leng Xiaohe closed the transcript and shook her head. "They all insisted that they didn't find any abnormalities with the locks, and there's no evidence that these five people swapped the locks."
"Right now, we can only trace it step by step, starting from the lock's manufacturer, and then looking for the people who handled this vintage prop lock..."
Xia Lili frowned, "This is too slow."
Time is running out now. It will take a while to trace the origin of the lock and find out the results.
Xia Lili thought about it and realized that the key to finding the murderer still revolved around this lock.
She began to carefully recall the scenes related to the lock in her hallucination.
Li Qihan climbed up the ladder and climbed out of the water tank, with water droplets dripping down his sharp jawline.
He took Victor behind the scenes and looked him in the eye. "Mr. Victor, for your deep-sea cage magic show, were you planning to invite a magic partner to perform on stage, or were you going to randomly select guests?"
Victor's pupils shrank slightly, and his fingers unconsciously stroked his magic wand: "For magic shows with guaranteed safety, I will randomly select guests to interact with."
His Adam's apple rolled. "But for an escape act like the Deep Water Cage... I'll have assistants in the audience."
Li Qihan nodded slightly, his voice steady and powerful: "Don't worry, this is not something to be ashamed of. Safety comes first."
His eyes were sharp. “So Chi Hui wasn’t your chosen magic assistant, was he?”
Victor's forehead was covered with sweat and he nodded slowly: "Yes..."
His voice was a little tense. "So he was also very surprised when he saw that the guest chosen was him."
Li Qihan took a half step forward, his tall figure casting a shadow under the light: "And now this magic show is being broadcast live around the world..."
His tone was oppressive.
"In front of a global audience, you can't change your co-stars on Deepwater Horizon, so you have no choice but to bite the bullet and invite him on stage, right?"
Victor's fingertips trembled slightly, and he nodded and shook his head seriously. "Of course it's more than that. I would never joke about human life."
He paused for a moment, frowning slightly: "I am very familiar with Mr. Chi Hui, because he always sits in the first row when I tour around the world."
"He would fly overseas specifically to follow my magic performances."
The magician's fingers twirled the ring unconsciously. "He knows my routines perfectly, and..."
Victor's voice suddenly deepened. "He's a magic enthusiast himself, especially into escapades. He even asked me for guidance on his techniques."
At this point, Victor's expression suddenly became serious. "That's why I think this escape trick won't be difficult for him. And..."
He sighed softly, "This will also fulfill his wish of working on the same stage with me."
Li Qihan's eyes flashed, and his voice was steady and firm: "So, the person who tampered with the lock..."
He leaned forward slightly. "Not only do I know Chi Hui inside and out, I'm also very familiar with your performance process. My goal this time is very clear—I want to use this magic accident to kill Chi Hui."
Li Qihan did not rule out Victor's suspicion. He remembered Xia Lili told him that in the hallucination, when Chi Hui was banging on the water tank glass for help, Victor still had a strange smile on his face.
Li Qihan nodded slightly and asked someone to bring him a notebook. He tapped the paper with his slender fingers and said, "Mr. Victor, could you please explain in detail the original performance process of this magic trick?"
Victor took a deep breath, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the magic wand: "If it were my professional partner who performed..."
His voice gradually became steady. "The previous process is exactly the same—get in the water, count down, unlock the handcuffs and anklets."
The magician suddenly stood up straight, a gleam in his eyes: "But the most crucial difference is in the last ten seconds!"
He gestured with his hands in the air. "When the countdown reaches the last five seconds, my partner will pretend that he can't open the lock of the escape exit..."
"This is the most shocking scene in the entire 'Deep Water Prison'!"
Victor's speech speed unconsciously quickened. "The moment the piranha falls into the water tank, a large amount of white foam will be stirred up, and at the same time, the water mist device we pre-set will be activated immediately..."
He made a spreading gesture. "The entire tank will be covered in thick fog within three seconds, and the audience will not be able to see anything clearly. And in this split second—"
Victor suddenly pointed his finger at the ground. "My partner will quickly and professionally open the escape hatch at the bottom and complete a thrilling escape!"
"Next, it's the perfect combination of technology and magic."
Victor asked his assistant to take out a tablet and showed Li Qihan a rehearsal video.
In the picture, when the piranhas poured down from the top fish pool, violent white foam suddenly surged in the water tank.
When the bubbles dispersed a little, the magic partner's face was distorted with "fear" and he slapped the glass wall frantically, as if desperately asking for help.
What was even more horrifying was that several "piranhas" were biting his body, and the bright red "blood" quickly spread in the water, turning the entire tank a horrifying blood red in the blink of an eye.
Li Qihan frowned. "Is this... a digitally synthesized image?"
"Absolutely."
Victor proudly swiped the screen to bring up the production process. "Once the guest is selected, our high-speed camera immediately captures their facial features and uses AI algorithms to generate a simulated bite scene in real time."
His fingertips tapped the parameter settings on the tablet. "We've collaborated with a leading AI vision laboratory. The entire rendering system can complete dynamic synthesis with a realism of up to 98% in just 0.3 seconds."
Victor gestured in the air with his hands, his eyes gleaming with the excitement typical of a magician. "When the show reaches its climax, we'll activate the underwater holographic projection system, transforming the entire three-dimensional water tank into a giant 3D display."
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