Chapter 977: A Decoy Plan

When Tao Yueyue heard that they had made a mistake, she felt a wave of disappointment. Xu Xiaodong whispered to comfort her, “This is normal. You can’t find the right one without eliminating the wrong ones first.”

Despite his words, Tao Yueyue still felt unsatisfied. She wanted to make a significant contribution and earn Chen Shi’s praise.

Chen Shi projected a photo onto the screen. It showed an unremarkable, slightly balding middle-aged man with glasses and a few wrinkles around his mouth, making him look unapproachable.

Chen Shi said, “Zou Lei used to be a supervisor at Haiguo Yang’s company. When Chen Anhe first joined, she worked in Zou Lei’s department. According to other colleagues and Zou Lei himself, they had a relationship for a while.”

Then he displayed a photo of Chen Anhe. Compared to Zou Lei, Chen Anhe was much more pleasant to look at—a slim, fair-skinned intellectual beauty. Tao Yueyue was reminded of Gu You, though Chen Anhe lacked something Gu You had, perhaps that inherent feminine gentleness, which was a quality Tao Yueyue admired in Gu You.

Chen Shi continued, “I haven’t confirmed this with Chen Anhe, but based on what I know about her, she uses the Life Function to select partners and believes in it wholeheartedly. Zou Lei was likely just one of her chosen ones, but they didn’t end up together, indicating she didn’t see him as suitable. However, Zou Lei couldn’t let it go, especially after Chen Anhe became Haiguo Yang’s wife, and Zou Lei was suspended for a business mistake. Zou Lei harbored resentment and posted many negative comments about the company online.”

“During his unemployment, Zou Lei lived in poverty, and then the Human Observer found him…”

Someone raised a hand, “Is the Human Observer Haiguo Yang?”

Chen Shi shook his head, “He didn’t specify. When asked if the Human Observer was ‘he’ or ‘she,’ Zou Lei said he didn’t know. This is very suspicious.”

The room buzzed with whispers, with some speculating that the Human Observer might be Chen Anhe.

“The Human Observer provided him with financial aid. Since then, Zou Lei stopped badmouthing the company and was trained as an enforcer. But he didn’t last long before being dismissed. To prove himself, Zou Lei began targeting ‘real evildoers,’ killing them with poison injections and leaving a copy of the Life Function on their bodies.” Chen Shi raised a finger, “Essentially, Zou Lei is a rogue enforcer. His actions have brought the Human Observer to our attention. Do you think Zou Lei is helping him or sabotaging him?”

This sparked another round of discussion. Tao Yueyue said, “If he wanted to sabotage the Human Observer, he would come forward and reveal the name. I think he’s trying to prove himself!”

“Very insightful!” Chen Shi smiled. “Zou Lei, to some extent, doesn’t fully acknowledge the Human Observer. He believes he can do better and is proving himself to someone. Thus, I believe the Human Observer is Haiguo Yang, and Chen Anhe is the one behind the scenes… Additionally, Haiguo Yang, in his high position, is unaware of Zou Lei, the inept copycat!”

Chen Shi then switched to another photo, this time of Hao Yunlai, who was arrested the previous day.

Everyone was puzzled, and Chen Shi calmly explained, “Hao Yunlai, male, 46 years old, single, unemployed. He was forced to resign from Haiguo Yang’s company due to embezzlement. Hao Yunlai and Zou Lei were friends at the company. During our interrogation yesterday, we found that this man has some quirks. Every weekend, he would wear a coat, carry syringes to the park, and inject people when he saw couples being affectionate, then flee before they could react. He might have developed this antisocial behavior due to his long-term single status and jealousy towards couples.”

“Do his syringes contain any viruses?” someone asked.

“According to his confession, the syringes were scavenged from hospital trash. Whether they carried viruses is unknown, but Old Peng examined them and found that any viruses would have died due to the long storage. At most, those injected would suffer from infections and fever.”

“He’s scum and should be thrown in jail.”

“No, no!” Chen Shi laughed. “Hao Yunlai has another use. I’ll release him and have him monitored. You will discuss him as the copycat in our WeChat group and frequently mention his name!”

The room erupted in confusion. The officers didn’t understand the purpose of this strategy.

Xu Xiaodong asked, “Captain, are you planning a sting operation?”

Chen Shi smiled, “How can this be called a sting operation? We’re discussing it in our own group, not publicly. Unless…” He paused meaningfully, “The company behind the software can freely access our chat content!”

Tao Yueyue said, “I get it! Use Hao Yunlai as bait to lure out the Human Observer. The Human Observer, being proud and aloof, won’t tolerate a copycat and will likely take action.”

Xu Xiaodong was still confused, “Why not use Zou Lei as bait?”

“Simpleton,” Chen Shi teased. “If we put out false information and the other side takes the bait, it proves their company is spying on user privacy.”

Xu Xiaodong scratched his head, still not entirely understanding.

Chen Shi explained, “The Human Observer will likely send enforcers to deal with him, but this won’t expose him personally. However, if they act, it proves they’re spying on users. With this as leverage, we can legitimately investigate their company! Of course, I won’t gamble with lives. I’ll assign ten people to secretly protect Hao Yunlai, ensuring he’s under our watch every second, especially when he crosses the street. He must not get hurt!”

“Captain, what if the Human Observer doesn’t take the bait?”

“Then we’ve wasted our efforts! But the Human Observer has been too quiet. We need to draw him out to find a flaw. The worst outcome is wasted effort; the best is exposing their company’s shady dealings, shutting down all their IT products, and blinding the Human Observer!”

“How long do we need to protect him?”

“Twenty-two days! The Human Observer predicted we’d give up in twenty-two days, which means he plans to restart enforcers then. Who’s willing to take on this task?”

No one volunteered at first; it was tedious work. Then Xu Xiaodong stood up, “I’ll go! I’m good at tailing.”

“And the rest?” Chen Shi looked at the group with a smile. “If no one volunteers, I’ll start picking!”

Tao Yueyue prayed silently, hoping not to be chosen. To her dismay, Chen Shi called her name first. She protested, “This job is easy, anyone can do it. I want to work on cases!”

“You came here for an internship. Don’t be picky. It’s settled!”

Tao Yueyue sat down sulking, thinking that being a cop wasn’t as glamorous as she thought. She wished she could just go back to school!