Chapter 5

On November 26th, at 10:00 AM, in the inquiry room of the Linyi Federal Police Station.

"Let's formally introduce ourselves..." A well-dressed white man approached the table and extended his hand to Che Wuchen, "I am Lieutenant Mark Scram, from the EAS (Extra Ability Supervisor, the regulatory body for superhumans) Asia branch."

"Che Wuchen." Che Wuchen reported his name with neither arrogance nor humility, stood up, and shook the man's hand, "FCPS agent, currently on leave."

"Pleased to meet you, Agent Che." As Scram sat down, he pulled out an I-PEN from his inner pocket and quickly unfolded its projection screen on the table, "Before we start, I want to reiterate that this is not an interrogation, just a simple interview. Recording the session via video... is a standard procedure required by our organization."

"No problem, we're all working for the Federation, I understand." Che Wuchen also sat back down, responding in a very calm tone.

"Alright." Scram nodded, "Then... " He activated the recording function on his I-PEN, "Let's begin."

"Sure." Che Wuchen replied.

"Please repeat your name and position." Scram said.

"Che Wuchen, Senior Agent of the Federal Public Safety Committee." This was the Nth time Che Wuchen had repeated this, but he showed no sign of impatience.

"Regarding the incident yesterday evening, please recount it in detail from the beginning." Scram said.

"Sure." Che Wuchen responded, then fell silent for a few seconds.

During these few seconds, Scram's gaze remained fixed on his face, as if trying to see through him.

Objectively speaking, this was quite impolite, but he didn't care.

Scram wasn't there to build a relationship; he was there to conduct an investigation. His only task was to obtain the information needed by the organization and verify its authenticity. Everything else... was unimportant.

"At around 6:30 PM, I left Dr. Cui's clinic..." After a few seconds, Che Wuchen seemed to have organized his thoughts and began to speak.

Unexpectedly, he was interrupted halfway through.

"Sorry, can I ask what you were seeing the doctor for?" Scram asked quickly.

"Psychological evaluation." Che Wuchen replied with these four words, paused, and then mimicked Scram's phrasing, "Of course, this doesn't mean I have a mental illness. It's just... a standard procedure for our organization."

"Ha, I understand." Scram smiled, gestured with his hand, "Please continue."

Thus, Che Wuchen recounted in detail his encounter with the police officer, hearing the emergency call, and commandeering the officer's gun and motorcycle.

Scram already knew this information before entering the room; he had already interviewed the police officer and verified the information through street surveillance.

However, the repetition of the same questions was still necessary. Testimonies obtained from a single source are often unreliable.

Aside from intentional lies, memory itself is a significant issue. Human memory is far less reliable than people think. For example, you can't recall what you had for lunch two days ago.

Most people need about a minute to recall a memory from the past 48 hours. If you can't remember it within a minute, you might never remember it, or you'll only have a vague impression.

This vague impression is more of a guess based on your understanding of yourself and the surrounding memories.

This is the truth about human memory: it's not like black ink on white paper or data stored on a hard drive. Human memory is a fragmented puzzle pieced together from key fragments. The brain automatically discards non-essential information to make room for what it deems more important.

If this is how it works for personal experiences, then memories of unrelated events are even less reliable.

In many films and TV shows, a witness is asked to identify a suspect they saw months ago, sometimes from a distance. This is absurd. The witness might not even remember their own hairstyle or clothing from that day, let alone the specific appearance of a stranger they only glanced at.

Therefore, a single person's testimony, or memory, is always questionable. Even multiple testimonies about the same event need to be cross-analyzed to determine their authenticity. If they don't match at all, at least one person is lying. If they mostly match but have slight discrepancies, they are likely true. If they match perfectly, it's called collusion.

Che Wuchen's account fell into the second category, with slight discrepancies from the police officer's version but essentially describing the same events.

The main difference was that in the police officer's version, he was unyielding and selfless, writing a ticket and calmly handing over his gun and motorcycle, with a cool demeanor, saying, "Hmph... I'll leave it to you."

However, according to Che Wuchen's version and the nearby street surveillance, this interaction likely only existed in the police officer's imagination.

Che Wuchen continued, recounting his entry into the internet addiction center and his observations of the bodies, including his initial reasoning after seeing the first three bodies.

Scram seemed somewhat dismissive of this and interjected, "Agent Che, you only need to describe what you saw and heard as accurately as possible. The analysis will be handled by EAS specialists." He paused for half a second, "Of course, I'm not questioning or negating your analysis or your professional skills. I just want to make it clear that even if your speculations are correct, the analysis you provide will not be adopted by EAS or influence our final judgment."

Che Wuchen was silent for a few seconds, then said, "Alright, I'll continue."

"Sure, please." Scram responded.

After a moment, Che Wuchen continued, "After entering the main entrance, I first quickly checked the rooms on both sides of the corridor with the bodies.

"The first section of the corridor had a storage room, a reception room, and two offices. The electronic doors were all open, allowing direct entry. Upon inspection, the rooms were empty, and the furniture was arranged normally, with no signs of disturbance or damage.

"After checking, I moved further into the building, turning the first corner. In the second section of the corridor, I found another body, which was in the same condition as the three in the first section. From the remaining head, it was a woman, about 35 to 40 years old. I didn't linger near her; the corridor had only a storage room and restrooms, which I also checked... all were empty."

At this point, Scram asked, "By the way, during this process, you didn't try to call out to find survivors, right?"

"Of course not." Che Wuchen replied, "From the scene, the perpetrator was likely still nearby, possibly hiding in a room, waiting to ambush the police or escape."

"So, you moved silently, correct?" Scram asked.

"Exactly, I didn't even make a sound until I confirmed the entire building was clear." Che Wuchen replied.

"Good, please continue." Scram said.

Che Wuchen pursed his lips and continued, "The other section of the first floor led to the cafeteria, with a few rooms in between, which I also checked. I found no more bodies, then retraced my steps and went up to the second floor via the stairs.

"From the second to the fourth floor, the layout was similar—offices near the stairs, adjacent to fully equipped restrooms and toilets. Further in, there were several high-security electronic doors, which were also open when I arrived. Beyond these doors were conditions worse than some prisons, with toilets and dormitories.

"I searched from the second to the fourth floor, finding a total of 27 bodies—20 in the corridors, 4 in offices, and 3 in toilets. All were adults, and all were dead outside the electronic doors, with only their heads remaining, their bodies liquefied."

"In other words, from the first to the fourth floor, you saw a total of 31 heads in the liquid." Scram summarized.

"Yes." Che Wuchen confirmed, "Then, I reached the fifth floor..." His tone changed slightly, indicating that the situation on this floor was different, "The layout of the fifth floor was... 80% treatment rooms, with about a dozen rooms, each containing two beds with restraints and several electrotherapy devices labeled 'treatment device.'

"Further in, the remaining 20% of the area was separated by the most advanced electronic door in the building. Behind this door was a spacious office, a coffee room, a bathroom with a shower, a surveillance room, and a direct elevator to the parking lot on the first floor.

"Here, I slowed down and carefully checked each room, but found no living or dead people.

"Finally, I went to the surveillance room, used the phone there to report the incident, revealed my identity, and explained the situation."

His account ended there.

Scram listened while observing Che Wuchen's facial expressions. After he finished, he was silent for a moment, then said, "Understood... Thank you, Agent Che." He nodded, "Before we conclude, let's verify the timeline." He tapped the projection screen, pulling up several short videos and digital records, and read, "According to the street surveillance, you left the clinic and met Officer Zhang at 18:22, and commandeered his vehicle at 18:27. Since the entrance to the Sunshine Youth Behavioral Correction Center was not under surveillance, based on the footage from a camera 20 meters away, you likely arrived around 18:36. Do you have any objections to this?"

"Throughout the incident, I only checked the time twice. The first time was before leaving Dr. Cui's clinic, when I glanced at the wall clock, which showed around 6:30 PM." Che Wuchen said, "The next time I checked the time was in the surveillance room when I reported the incident, which was 19:25... During this period, my attention was entirely on the crime scene, so I didn't pay attention to the time. Therefore, if you have relevant evidence, I have no objections. Everything should be based on objective evidence."

As an FCPS agent, Che Wuchen was careful in his responses, especially when faced with questions that could lead to further issues. He wouldn't simply answer "yes" or "no" to questions like "Did you?" or "Is it?" because the other party might cut off his subsequent explanations.

The correct approach is to state your points first, then give a "yes" or "no" answer. If the other party interrupts and pressures you to answer "yes" or "no," ignore them and calmly repeat your statement until you finish.

These are basic strategies for dealing with leading questions and lawyer tactics. Someone as familiar with federal law and internal politics as Che Wuchen would not reveal any obvious flaws in such conversations.

"Ha..." Scram smiled, "OK, your statement was very helpful, Agent Che. Thank you for your cooperation." As he spoke, he put away the I-PEN and stood up, extending his hand again.

"You're welcome, it's my duty. Even as a citizen, it's the right thing to do." Che Wuchen politely shook his hand again, "So... if there's nothing else, can I leave now?"

"Of course." Scram suddenly became very friendly, "I'll inform the chief, please wait a moment."

He turned toward the door.

But just a second later, he swiftly turned his head 180 degrees, a movement that would break a normal person's neck, and looked at Che Wuchen, "By the way..."

The tone in which Scram said these words suggested he had just thought of something and was casually asking. In reality, he was trying to see the expression on Che Wuchen's face in this moment, when he should have been relaxed.

However, Che Wuchen's expression hadn't changed since the first second they met, and it remained the same now.

His face was calm.

Even if you had suddenly twisted your head off in front of him, he wouldn't have blinked.

"Is there anything else?" Che Wuchen looked at him coldly, "Lieutenant."

"Ha... Just call me Mark." Scram smiled, slowly turning his body, "I just wanted to ask, if I have more questions about this incident, could you assist me with the investigation?"

"Sure, I'm not one to sit idle..." Che Wuchen responded, standing up and walking toward the door, "But... I think it's better to keep our relationship professional..." He paused, using the same title, "Lieutenant."

With that, he opened the door and left, adding before he was out of sight, "I'll greet the chief myself. After all, this isn't an interrogation, just a simple interview... right?"