Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 577: Chapter 194: The Dragon Slayer in the Dump

The progression of history, the burst of a certain event, is always multifaceted.

Humans possess their own ability to think; they wait for the right moment, they lie dormant.

And so, there are countless coincidences that collide.

When everyone is striving for something, in a place overlooked by people, someone is also making an effort.

Even... their plans unfold much earlier than everything else.

And are more violent.

...

...

Well World, small town. Unknown timeline.

"Have a pleasant journey."

With the sound of a gunshot and a barely there farewell, a private detective fell.

Anyone whose head is blown open by a bullet is undoubtedly dead.

At least in this place called "Origin World," hardly anyone is special.

There are no twisted influences here, not on the surface.

So the moment the detective heard the gunshot...

Disappointment flashed in his eyes.

He was disappointed because he had been tracking the criminal for a very long time, truly a long time. He had thought that he and the criminal would have an interesting chase and conversation.

A lonely person might even idealize their opponent.

But in this chase, the detective suddenly realized that the other person was just a criminal.

At the moment of death, one sees their past.

He was young, so young that all the excitement seemed to have happened only in the recent years.

He left the town years ago and, to make a living, started a firm.

In that process, he took on many cases.

And he used some borderline illegal methods, which gradually made him famous.

This odd, loner, arrogant detective wasn’t liked by many.

If it weren’t for the abundance of unsolved cases, the police of this world wouldn’t care to work with him.

But they had no choice; he could indeed deliver results.

Some tried to befriend the detective, but after a few sharp retorts, they were pushed away by his somewhat Prideful nature.

Over time, everyone settled into a routine form of cooperation—

The detective was their tool for solving cases.

And for the detective, as long as there was money, it was fine.

Most cases were easily solved, but some were troublesome.

These cases all had one thing in common—the murderer would leave a Spades Ten playing card after killing.

Earlier encounters, a detective not yet of age, was no match for this criminal.

Many times he was mocked.

But as new cases emerged, and his crime-solving thinking became more systematic and mature, he gradually caught up to the steps of "Spades Ten."

Several times, he almost ran into Spades Ten.

He even successfully predicted the criminal’s actions several times.

At this stage, the detective had shown amazing growth.

He solved ordinary cases even faster.

And the criminal who always left playing cards was never caught.

He always left various puzzles.

Some puzzles felt so familiar to the detective that they reminded him of someone he despised.

To escape that person, he had run away from home, venturing into the world beyond the town.

He even wondered if the criminal playing games with him was the person who once tormented him?

Or was he, in fact, an accomplice of the criminal?

As a child, because he often answered questions wrongly, he would be constantly tormented, and this made him hate making mistakes.

Yes, he didn’t hate puzzles, but he hated the version of himself that couldn’t solve them.

Most people would probably hate puzzles, but he knew well that hating puzzles was pointless, as it would only lower his problem-solving skills and lead to more brutal torment.

Similarly, he hated the version of himself that couldn’t solve cases.

Thus, he became obsessed with having a pair of eyes that could see through all puzzles.

Of course, in this world, an obsession is, after all, just an obsession.

All the detective could do was to improve his abilities.

At that time, he had to admit that he wasn’t a match for the criminal.

But his growth was astonishing, and the years battling this criminal had continuously improved him.

In his last case, the detective demonstrated an incredible anticipation.

In the end, not to miss the opportunity, not to come up short as before, not to be held back by others, he decided to act alone.

And so, this time, he finally encountered the criminal.

It felt as if he had met an old friend.

But this was also the last case he would ever work on.

In a brief chase, the criminal seemed to be leading him to the edge of the town.

During the pursuit, he saw the familiar town once more.

Sometimes he had a very odd feeling.

Every place in this world seemed normal.

But the town felt like it had a bizarre magnetic field.

As if someone was watching him, as if someone from the sky was observing him.

As if many people in this town carried a secret.

After leaving the town, the detective clearly felt a sense of relief.

But he couldn’t investigate this profound and mysterious feeling.

Because until the moment before his death, he still believed that everything in the world operated in an orderly manner—ordinary, dull, but not dangerous.

Bang. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

The gunshot rang out, and that profound, mysterious feeling enveloped him once again.

The detective fell.

His expression frozen in disappointment and confusion. But there was no panic, no sadness, no anger.

Because by that time, he was already a qualified work-in-progress.

...

...

Three days later.

At the garbage dump outside the town.

Those responsible for dealing with the waste were generally middle-aged.

They were mostly people who pursued their desires when young; they squandered their education and, in middle-age, could only do jobs others wouldn’t, to make a living.

Hode was such a person, unkempt, fifty-two years old.

He and a young man were in charge of the entire dump.

There were a few times when Hode was very curious, the young man looked talented and seemed quite knowledgeable, always holding a book that appeared to be very highbrow.

But why would such a person work at a garbage dump?

Hode had asked, and the other party simply smiled and gave a chilling answer:

"It’s convenient to dispose of bodies here."

Of course, Hode took it as a joke, and after asking a few times and getting the same response, he stopped asking.

There will always be such strange young people in the world, there will always be some.

Like those who, despite being young, try to blend in like middle-aged people working as community security guards.

Or those who have a strong capacity to learn but have no desire to study at all, only wanting to find a nine-to-five job with fixed days off for a dead-end salary.

It didn’t matter, he had been like that when he was young too.

That day, Hode planned to have a drink with the young man.

But when he arrived at the cabin, he found that the other party was already gone.

Hode was a bit puzzled... He pushed the door, and it wasn’t locked, opening easily.

He had been to this room before; everything was as neat as usual, including a television set.

He had coveted that television for a long time, unlike his old radio, this device could display images.

Hode discovered that the young man hadn’t returned for almost three days.

So he guessed that the kid must have gone on a long trip.

That wasn’t bad; Hode casually slumped onto the couch in the "Ge You slump".

Then he picked up the television remote control and turned on the TV.

The program "Law Enforcement Online" was currently conducting an interview.

"He was our good friend; although he was reticent, we all were very enthusiastic about him, we loved him."

"Yes, we even said that after this case is over, why not come work as a community police officer with us... but unexpectedly, this is now impossible to achieve."

Hode found it strange, did the kid like watching these programs?

The last channel was the "Law Enforcement Online" program.

He changed the channel.

A finance-themed show, but even this program was still reporting something similar.

"Detective Bai Wu, dead. Age nineteen. Gender male. He was our hero."

"Here we promise to the citizens, we will definitely catch the criminal!"

"Do you have confidence in capturing the criminal?"

"Of course!"

"But we’ve heard that for the Poker Card series of cases, it was Bai Wu who always provided you with clues."

"Rumors, absolute rumors, let us clarify here, we had a cooperative relationship with hero detective Bai Wu, we got along very well, we discussed cases together, and we often provided Bai Wu with valuable clues and deductions. Most of the past cases were actually ones where we had more information."

"Then how do you explain the death of Mr. Bai Wu this time?"

"Mr. Bai Wu was a man who despised evil, he really should have waited for us...hey."

What a load of crap.

Hode’s blood pressure spiked.

Even though he didn’t keep up with criminal news, he had heard enough from his young colleague about the Poker Card case.

He was somewhat familiar with this Bai Wu. In casual conversations over meals with his colleague, Bai Wu was described as a loner with hardly any friends.

Hode was more inclined to believe his colleague.

That’s why he felt that society was like this, when a person was alive, they had hardly any friends, but upon death, friends suddenly increased.

Because the dead couldn’t speak up, dividing up their good name among the living didn’t bother the deceased.

"What a bunch of bullshit, making up stuff now that he’s dead, huh."

Hode turned off the TV, too angry to continue watching.

It was also at this time that Hode discovered a letter on the table.

He glanced at it, and immediately froze.

Friend, Hode to open.

Was this kid writing to himself?

Don’t understand you artsy young people, can’t you just fart in person, why stuff it in an envelope?

Still, curiosity got the better of Hode, and he casually tore open the envelope.

After spreading out the letter, he began to read its contents.

...

...

"Hode, my friend, by the time you read this letter, I must happily tell you that I am gone."

"In my life, I seldom communicate with the stupid, especially the lazy, but at least the lazy do not harbor ill intentions."

"My days at the dump were not joyful, but lucky for me, you’re a very familiar fellow. Your presence made me realize that as an ordinary person, I can live without being so bloated."

"Of course, if possible, I still hope you could learn and improve yourself. But it doesn’t matter, I’m about to leave, and before I do, I’ll tell you some good news."

"The good news is, my house is now yours, along with everything inside it, as well as... that TV you’ve always wanted to swipe from me."

"Certainly, I also left you fifty thousand yuan. In fact, it’s easy for me to make money in this world, the easiest methods are all written in the criminal law code. However, I didn’t leave you more because I know you very well—having too much money can induce certain changes in you."

"Based on my research on humans in this world, when a person’s income changes suddenly, their mentality changes too. They become inflated."

"Just like in my era, if someone’s strength was too great, they would disregard other lives. Of course, there are exceptions."

"I digress, I’m willing to call you a friend, a word I’ve used on many people, but because of my nature, people always doubt me."

"This time I’m not lying, I consider you as a friend. I speak the truth to my friends, so the next part, I’m not sure if you will still regard me as a friend after hearing it."

"When you turn on the TV, you’ll see news of one of my juniors dying, and over the years, I have been educating this junior."

"Oh, I’ve gotten used to posing puzzles, resulting in me always skipping some stages when I talk. This junior’s name is Bai Wu."

"Turn on the TV and take a look, by now many people must be profiting from his blood-filled buns, and at this moment, you should be very angry."

Hode was stunned, recalling how this kid had often mentioned Bai Wu, he found it somewhat believable.

This Dragon Slayer Bai Wu, whose body was now being dissected and devoured on TV, was this kid’s junior?

"Little Bai’s growth was rapid, in his last case, I underestimated him, in a sense, I took it too lightly, which led to my failure."

"However, my failure is his beginning, it means that he is now able to thrive in a world that is higher in dimension and more complex."

"Over these years, along with my partn... I mean, not partners, along with my accomplices, we have been observing him."

"We made many plans, which were temporarily changed due to Little Bai’s advent, resulting in an unstable but higher potential plan."

"Little Bai’s death marks the formal beginning of this plan."

"By now, you should understand, right? Bai Wu was killed by me, and in the drawer of my TV cabinet, there’s evidence because I left a playing card at the scene after killing Little Bai."

"On that playing card, I deliberately didn’t conceal my fingerprints, and the playing card under the TV cabinet should prove to you that everything I’m saying is true."

"Are you creeped out now? Scared? I’ve dealt with plenty of corpses in the junkyard, something I’ve told you about, but you didn’t believe."

"Sometimes I also wonder, it’s hard for humans to discern the truth from lies. Little Bai was no different."

Hode got goosebumps.

"Shit... shit shit shit!"

Recalling how this kid said the junkyard was convenient for disposing of bodies, recalling that nonchalant expression... he suddenly felt the urge to vomit.

"That’s right, the only reason I’m telling you this is to leave some trace of my deeds, just in case... in case I fail, someone might come here in the future and maybe they will know that someone resisted."

"I guess you’re very confused, or as you would put it, what the hell is there to resist."

"So if you choose to leave now, I can understand that, but from what I know about you, you’ll probably keep reading."

"After all, the clue to the fifty thousand yuan is hidden in the following content, so Hode, I’m going to tell you a story next."

(Still doing what I can—begging for a monthly pass!)