Chapter 14: Investigators

……

It was now the early hours of the morning.

The students, in twos and threes, had gradually returned to their dormitories after the search.

Of course, the result was that there were no clues whatsoever.

Never mind any corner of the school; with the intensity of a search involving all the students, even a hiding mouse would have been found.

And at this moment.

Still outside was a young police officer who looked to be in his early twenties.

Officer Lan looked at the thick darkness of the night and yawned.

His eyes already showed obvious signs of fatigue; in fact, he hadn't rested for a long time, and the continuous investigation and searching for such a long time.

Had made his body slightly unable to cope.

But he was young, strong, and robust.

There would likely be many more days like this in the future, so he could just tough it out.

"Brother Liu, this is already the third disappearance case this month. Do you have any leads on the previous two cases?"

The person addressed as Brother Liu was a police officer who looked to be in his thirties.

At this moment, he walked out from the shadows of the trees while holding a flashlight, his face carrying a hint of helplessness.

"None. The situation this time is about the same; no matter what, we can't find any results. It's as if they just evaporated into thin air."

Officer Lan scratched his head: "It's strange to say, but I heard that those who reported the cases were all parents. As for the missing students, according to the bureau, the parents all received distress messages in the end? Tell me, could it be kidnapping for ransom or something?"

Officer Liu shook his head: "Hard to say. The problem is we've already conducted a series of investigations. The school has high foot traffic, and it's not like it used to be; there's surveillance everywhere."

"And there were no results?" Officer Lan asked.

Officer Liu shook his head: "None. Although the surveillance captured most of the area, we have no idea when exactly they disappeared... To be precise, these matters are a bit strange... At least in all the years I've been in this line of work, I've never encountered a situation like this."

"I see." Officer Lan nodded in confusion as well.

Although Officer Liu was a veteran police officer with whom he had a good relationship—like a mentor and a friend—he naturally knew that there was still a great deal he needed to learn.

Just as Officer Lan was thinking about chatting with Officer Liu while patrolling the school.

Officer Liu's walkie-talkie suddenly rang.

It was the police-issued one.

Usually, when it rang, it meant some news was being transmitted.

"Mm... received."

Officer Liu quickly said: "Let's go, the team is calling for a gathering; they mentioned some experts."

Following that, Officer Liu headed toward the school entrance.

Officer Lan was a bit confused: "Experts? What kind of experts? Do they have anything to do with the case?"

But an order was an order, and quickly.

He naturally followed along.

Before long, the two of them arrived at the school gate.

But when they truly arrived there, even with their composure, both were slightly surprised.

Because they made a strange discovery.

That captain, who was always elusive, had actually shown up.

And it looked like they were chatting and laughing about something?

There was a man and a woman, wearing uniforms they had never seen before; they were somewhat similar to their own police uniforms, but they seemed different.

The man was very tall, nearly 1.9 meters, with a very slender build, yet his exposed arms had muscles, giving a sturdy impression. His face was resolute, possessing a sense of justice; to put it simply, he was the type of upright person with a very strong masculine aura.

As for the woman, her long legs were very eye-catching, her figure was outrageously good, and she wore a ponytail, making her look very capable, though her eyes held a trace of coldness.

The captain had been conversing with that man.

The other party nodded, and from their expressions, the two seemed to be communicating quite well.

Both of them looked very young.

Probably only in their early twenties.

And what drew the most attention from Officer Lan and Officer Liu wasn't just the two of them.

It was also the two van-like vehicles behind them, which looked like modified government cars at a glance.

Those black windows, and that type of vehicle body.

Also the most conspicuous thing was the six people standing neatly behind, well-equipped, and holding gear in their hands.

Without exception, they were all wearing special masks.

Black ones, covering their entire faces tightly.

Just from their posture and temperament, one could guess that these people had truly experienced some blood...

The equipment... was truly a bit frightening.

Or rather, professional.

The captain soon noticed the two of them arriving.

He smiled and greeted them, calling the two over.

"Come, Lan, Liu, these are two special experts sent from above, specifically to investigate our case this time. This is Team Leader Lin, and this is Team Leader Xu. The two of you, your main task today is to cooperate as much as possible with the investigation of these two experts!"

Officer Lan and Officer Liu nodded.

Afterward, they shook hands and got to know each other.

The man was Team Leader Lin, whose name was Lin Zhiqi, and the woman was Team Leader Xu, whose name was Xu Yien.

Afterward, having briefly understood the situation.

Lin Zhiqi and Xu Yien followed the two, Officer Lan and Officer Liu, into the school.

The captain of Officer Lan and Officer Liu outside also breathed a sigh of relief after seeing them enter.

In fact, if one were beside him, one could clearly see his forehead covered in cold sweat; he was clearly terrified.

Not long after they entered, the six well-equipped personnel standing behind him also moved quickly; their footsteps were silent as they walked, and they slowly merged into the shadows and corners of the school, spreading out, giving the feeling as if a net had been cast.

To capture whatever was inside...

Not long after.

That captain sat in a police car and left this place.

The arrival of the two meant that a pile of matters needed to be handled.

"How did even these people come... something has happened, is it really just a simple disappearance case?"

Soon, as time passed.

Officer Lan and Officer Liu brought two experts with clearly unusual identities to the Girls' Dormitory.

Officer Liu spoke up: "This is the last location mentioned in the distress messages those three girls sent to their parents. According to our investigation, the messages were all sent through that most common social media app."

As Officer Liu spoke, Officer Lan handed a few documents to the two.

They were screenshots of chat logs.

Lin Zhiqi first took the screenshot materials and began to examine them carefully; the screenshots were just the simplest chat logs.

Although they expressed a meaning of distress, there was nothing special about them.

At most, the tone of the distress was a bit frightened.

The messages finally received by the parents of the three missing female students were just this.

"Save me!"

"Save me!"

"Save me!"

Without exception, they were all the same.

Lin Zhiqi suddenly looked for a while and then asked: "By the way, regarding what was said earlier, according to the data, were the three girls day students? Why were they suddenly staying in the dormitory?"

Lin Zhiqi's voice was very gentle and full of magnetism, giving one a strange sense of comfort.

Officer Lan explained: "It's like this, this school belongs to the best high school in the entire county area, and there aren't many rules or restrictions regarding accommodation and student study. Students can generally choose to board or commute freely, and even a combination of both is no problem at all. They just need to inform their parents clearly and report it to the teacher slightly. Similarly, the school also allows mobile phones, which is why those messages exist."

"I see." Lin Zhiqi nodded thoughtfully.

Then he asked again: "So that is the reason why, in order to prevent students from having accidents, you try your best to keep them in the school?"

"Yes."

"Mm, I understand." Lin Zhiqi quickly handed the materials in his hand to Xu Yien beside him and asked: "Can you see anything?"

Under the gaze of several people.

Xu Yien nodded, her eyes lowered, and she said softly: "The chat logs are a problem, but the problem wasn't caused by those missing girls. There are other things, this building also has a problem..."

Finally, she glanced at Officer Lan and Officer Liu, clearly not wanting them to know about the things that followed.

Of course, as a familiar partner, Lin Zhiqi, although she didn't say what followed.

He could naturally understand the meaning represented by that sentence clearly.

Lin Zhiqi's expression became a bit more solemn: "Is it related to those things?"

"Probably eight or nine out of ten." Xu Yien nodded and looked at the Girls' Dormitory Building.

Suddenly.

It seemed she saw something, and a subtle change appeared in her eyes, but it quickly disappeared.

Lin Zhiqi naturally noticed this point.

So the gentle smile on his whole face also began to fade a little.

But the two's strange conversation left Officer Lan and Officer Liu confused, unable to make head or tail of it for a while.

Soon, Team Leader Lin turned his head and said to the two: "I suppose you two have some doubts about what was just said, but regarding these things, I can only say no comment for now. Next, you two need to enter the dormitory building to investigate. I'll trouble you two to wait here patiently. Also, once you discover anything unusual in the surroundings, you two must leave immediately; leave this place to us to handle."

Hearing this, Officer Lan and Officer Liu, although confused for a moment, could only nod.

After all, just now, inadvertently, they saw the badges on the shoulders of the two...

The badge represented what they were, clearly explaining the positions of the two.

Much higher than their own, who knows how many times over.

To put it bluntly, they were their real, solid superiors.

To put it even more clearly, it was an order.

What's more, the captain also said that everything should be listened to from them.

"Understood." Officer Lan and Officer Liu both nodded.

Soon, under the gaze of Officer Lan and Officer Liu.

Lin Zhiqi and Xu Yien soon walked into the Girls' Dormitory Building.

Due to the current disappearance cases.

So, in fact, there were police patrolling both the boys' and girls' dormitory buildings. For the safety of the students, after class, teachers had also told the students in the boys' and girls' dormitories.

After the evening matters were finished to a certain extent.

There was no need to worry when returning to the dormitory.

Just ask the police outside for help directly if there were problems.

And in order to protect the students, it was also notified in advance to the girls in the Girls' Dormitory that there would be male police patrolling at night.

"So be a little careful, just get some good rest after it's over, use it as much as you can."

……

Lin Zhiqi, who was walking down the stairs, suddenly turned his head and asked, "Did the surveillance really see that kid disappear inside? And he was carrying a girl?"

Xu Yien nodded, a strange light flickering in her eyes: "When the problem was discovered yesterday, the Elder went to the scene personally. The Elder chased after that thing, but strangely, logically speaking, anyone in the place where that thing appeared... should not have survived, yet he somehow lived."

"So, is this enough to prove that the kid didn't have an accident, but experienced something, or perhaps has even made contact?" Lin Zhiqi asked.

"Correct."

"Unbelievable, unbelievable. At that age, he's only 18, right? To have actually made contact with those things and still be alive?"

……