Book 4, Chapter 79: Clue

Chang Dong looked at Chen Chuan and asked earnestly, “If he’s in Central City, can you locate him?”

The incident had always been a sore spot for Jibei Road’s purity faction branch. Even though the branch was not destroyed, it only existed in name. Some logisticians and standby personnel were all that was left.

Chang Dong was one of them.

While some purity faction members had come to investigate the matter, the branch building had been destroyed, and their main members were all dead. The other two factions also used this chance to put pressure on their remaining connections and destroy their influence, which led to them having a hard time pushing investigations forward.

But now, due to Chen Chuan having a high enough status and being strong enough, they were able to finally continue their investigations.

Chang Dong knew just how hard this investigation would be and that a lot of time would be required. He had been waiting for fifteen years to resume it, so he didn’t mind waiting a little longer after seeing a bit of hope.

“I’ll go back and ask for further verification. This might lead to other clues,” Chen Chuan stated.

A single piece of paper could provide a lot of information, especially if the person had grabbed it at random. Aside from the paper, the ink could also be a clue. Chen Chuan intended to send it back to the intelligence department for a composition and trace analysis.

The sooner they got their answers, the higher would be the possibility of them finding the person, so he didn’t linger around. After saying goodbye, he returned to the department.

***

Once Chen Chuan left, Chang Dong said to Gao Yanjun, “I know Tian Rui. If those words are a warning, he should have a lot of information about Swamp Training Camp, and those people might really be strong enough to be a threat to us. This means that we may be in danger even in Majestic Light District.”

Gao Yanjun nudged her glasses up. “I’m prepared to die.”

Chang Dong smiled and said in a joking manner, “That’s true. Since we agreed to come here, we had to prepare to die. There’s one thing we don’t need to worry about, though.

“I’m certain that if we really die here, Chen Chuan will make sure to send those people to hell to keep us company.”

***

Chen Chuan returned to the Resolution Department and handed the paper to the forensics department for in-depth inspection.

At the same time, he received an analysis of the site from the intelligence division. Apparently, the paper had been thrown over using a unique refined force.

They also found a faint trace of biofield and recorded it but couldn’t match it to anyone in their database, which meant that this person didn’t have a bounty or a criminal record.

With the strength he displayed and the fact that he didn’t have a criminal record, it meant that the person had a stable job or steady source of income. They also had access to children’s exercise books, so it was highly likely they had a family in Central City.

Of course, this was simply a deduction based on the current clues. It was too early to tell more than that.

Before long, the forensics division sent word that the person had used a common pen to write the letter.

It was popular in certain universities in Central City, since it dried fast and went smoothly over the paper.

More importantly, though, they found pollen grains belonging to certain flowers in the ink. One of them was an ornamental plant known as Serene Hibiscus. Due to its beauty and fragrant nature, it was loved by middle-class families.

However, the division would need to perform further examinations to determine where the pollen came from, which would take several days.

Chen Chuan didn’t ignore the warning on the paper and bought some inspection-type domain entities that he sent to the developing branch.

It was located in Roaring Victory District, which had the weakest surveillance. The area also suffered from domain interference, so the domain entities could only be placed at the perimeter to keep an eye on corners and other important places. They couldn’t monitor the entire place.

Still, it was better than nothing. If anyone suspicious showed up, Chen Chuan would get a warning in advance.

Two days later, the results of the examination arrived. By analyzing the pollen and certain pollutants, then comparing them with the samples collected in the past, the forensic division determined that the letter was written near Martial Order District’s Treasure Bank Street.

Chen Chuan took a look and found that it was a residential area for middle-class families. Most of the people who lived there were citizens.

This matched the other clues.

He retrieved Tian Rui’s photo, collected all the information about his martial arts techniques and everything else, and sent it all to Safe Shield for an analysis.

He also asked Safe Shield to retrieve surveillance footage and archived records of the area to see whether he could find anyone resembling Tian Rui.

Safe Shield lived up to its name as the Resolution Department’s active biosentient entity. It managed to find a few suspicious targets in just a couple hours. After some screening, it narrowed it down to one person.

Chen Chuan checked. The person shared the same surname, but had a different name. He was Tian Feng, and his face was completely different from Tian Rui’s.

With current technology, it wasn’t that hard changing a person’s face, and Safe Shield had performed its analysis based on the person’s movements and rhythm. Its success in the past proved that this method was much more reliable.

Tian Feng had moved to the residential area ten years ago and was a martial arts instructor. His wife belonged to the mid-level management of a company. They had two sons and a daughter. Their eldest, Tian Wo, was sixteen, their second, Tian Mengmeng, was fourteen, and their youngest, Tian Xiaolei, was five.

According to Safe Shield, Tian Feng had changed his name, and coincidentally, it had happened fifteen years ago. The records of his life before had been deleted, though, so Safe Shield couldn’t find what his original name was.

Chen Chuan stared at the photo. He supposed he would know whether Tian Feng was Tian Rui by going over and taking a look.

He let out a sigh full of emotion while thinking about it. The only reason he was able to find the answers so quickly was because he was a lead investigator now and could ask Safe Shield for help. If he were a law enforcer or a squad captain, he wouldn’t have had such an easy time.

Instead of putting on his uniform, he changed into casual clothes before driving out. Soon, he reached Treasure Bank Street and drove to the residential area.

The moment he entered it, he saw a large clearing. There was a street fighting competition happening there with participants being teenagers of around eighteen years old. Quite a number of people had gathered to watch them.

Since fighting culture was really strong in Martial Order District, fighting tournaments such as this happened all the time.

Compared to the chaos and underdevelopment in Roaring Victory District, this place was quite calm and peaceful.

After a quick glance, Chen Chuan was quite surprised, because he found Tian Wo among the participants. There was also another familiar face among the teenagers.

It was Liu Yin, one of the disciples from the martial arts schools run by the families who looked down on Cheng Zitong. It seemed like he was giving guidance to the participants.

After some thinking, Chen Chuan got out and leaned against his car to watch.

Since he was dressed in casual clothes, had restrained his biofield and aura, and wasn’t much older than the participants, no one noticed him for a time.

Liu Yin sensed something, though, and looked over. When he saw Chen Chuan, shock filled his face.

He said some things to the others and left the crowd to greet Chen Chuan. “L-Lead Investigator Chen, why are you here? Um, if you can’t tell me, just pretend I never said anything.”

“Are you teaching the participants, Liu Yin?” Chen Chuan asked with a smile.

“There are a lot of martial arts clubs in the universities, and since I have some skill, they dragged me over to be their ‘instructor,’” Liu Yin answered.

He then took a look at Chen Chuan. After losing to him, he had trained hard so that they could spar again in the future.

However, Chen Chuan kept improving faster, and his status got higher, which led to Liu Yin losing the confidence to challenge Chen Chuan again.

He accepted it with a calm heart, though. If one person was vastly stronger than the other, competing against them lost all meaning. Hence, the desire for a rematch was replaced with a sense of calmness and ease. He was no longer bothered by his loss in the past.

“I was on the way to visit a senior of mine when I saw you and decided to stop by and watch for a bit. Please carry on,” Chen Chuan said.

“Okay.” Liu Yin didn’t ask further questions and simply watched as Chen Chuan got into his car and drove off. Then, he turned around and returned to the others.

“Was it someone you know, Liu Yin? He’s tall, so it’s obvious he’s a martial artist. Is he from the same school as you?” someone asked curiously.

“He’s just an acquaintance, a very powerful one,” Liu Yin stressed.

Tian Wo was drinking water nearby. Upon hearing this, his expression changed, and he wiped his mouth with a sleeve before asking inquisitively, “How strong is he compared to you?”

“I can’t compare to him. He’s far stronger than I am,” Liu Yin said with a shake of his head.

Gasps of shock erupted from the crowd, because they had already witnessed Liu Yin’s strength and aspired to reach his level one day. Meanwhile, Chen Chuan didn’t look that much older than they were, so they couldn’t imagine having such a strong peer.

Only Tian Wo pouted after hearing that.

***

Chen Chuan drove to a detached house. Through his Realm Pass, he could tell that this was Tian Feng’s residence.

Once he parked his car, he got out and walked over.

The house had a large grass patch before it, and a man in his forties was sitting on it fixing a skateboard.

Just then, a boy threw a ball from the second floor. The man cried out, put down the skateboard and all his tools, lunged over to catch the ball, and rolled on the grass patch. Then, with a howl, he threw the ball back to the boy, making the kid giggle.

The man laughed as well.

Chen Chuan watched this for a while before straightening his back and saying, “Tian Rui?”

The man instinctively turned around upon hearing his old name. When he saw Chen Chuan, a puzzled look appeared on his face.

“Are you... Xiao Wo’s friend?”

“I came to see you, Tian Rui,” Chen Chuan said while smiling.

Finally, the man realized which name Chen Chuan was using. His eyes darted around as he said in a slight panic, “I-I’m not Tian Rui. That’s not my name. Y-You...”

With a calm gaze, Chen Chuan said, “Allow me to introduce myself, Mr. Tian. I’m Chen Chuan, a lead investigator from the Resolution Department and the current person-in-charge of combat of the purity faction’s branch in Jibei Road.”

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