The night before the promotion

Chapter 29 Murder Mystery
Ruan Linrui's voice was like the aftermath of thunder, lingering in the empty room and refusing to dissipate for a long time.

Zhou Si repeated in a low voice, "Chen Wen Ge... is dead?"

He did not feel sad or shocked by the news of death. On the contrary, an absurd smile slowly appeared on Zhou Si's face.

"This is a joke, right?"

Zhou Si raised his head and looked into Ruan Linrui's icy eyes.

This is not a joke.

The smile on Zhou Si's face froze. Memories of the past and current facts intertwined together. The messy and chaotic sounds intertwined and lingered in his ears.

He was familiar with this feeling. After certain external inducements and his own emotional ups and downs, the sequelae buried deep in his soul emerged from the shadows like a devil taking advantage of the opportunity.

Zhou Si closed his eyes and tried hard to control his emotions, but the more he tried, using everything he had learned from mental training, the more he thought of Chen Wen Ge and those cloudy and weathered eyes.

"This...how is this possible?" Li Weiyu looked at Ruan Linrui in shock.

"Nothing is impossible."

Ruan Linrui's state of mind was much more stable than theirs. She had already known this fact, and the storm in her heart had calmed down.

"Chen Wen Ge is also a human being, and as a human being, he will face death," Ruan Linrui whispered, "but no one expected that he would face such an end."

Gusts of cold wind carrying water vapor rushed into the room, moving the rows of photos and making a rustling sound like rain hitting leaves.

"I know it's hard to accept, but it has happened."

Ruan Linrui said calmly, "This is the objective fact. No one can make excuses or question it."

Looking down at her phone, Ruan Linrui said, "I'll give you three minutes to digest this information. After three minutes, we can have a more in-depth discussion."

Then, the room became quiet, with only the sound of rain remaining.

Chen Wen-Ge.

One of the founders of Shenwei Technology, the father of mind recognition technology and incarnation body, the co-builder of the high-wall system, and the leader of consciousness upgrading.

Chen Wen Ge's life is so legendary that even people like Zhou Si are full of respect when mentioning Chen Wen Ge.

But such a great existence died in such a bizarre way at such an inadvertent moment on June 6.

Zhou Si rubbed his temple vigorously. As the most perfect qualified person, although Zhou Si's consciousness has a resilience far beyond that of ordinary people, now he also feels a little overwhelmed.

"Yes... As long as you are human, you will face death," Zhou Si said faintly, "That's why everyone is obsessed with pursuing a higher level of life and longing for the digitization of consciousness."

Zhou Si examined himself and Chen Wen Ge.

Human society seems to always follow a subtle law. For those exceptionally outstanding and powerful people, people tend to overlook the human nature that they also carry.

We tend to deify them, worship them, praise them, and even sacrifice to them, regarding them as totems of faith.

In the process, we unconsciously stripped away more and more of their mortal characteristics, as if performing a carefully crafted work of art, until we finally shaped them into gods on earth, unreachable and brilliant.

Chen Wen Ge is such a god on earth created by human society. His image is so tall in people's hearts that we sometimes forget that he was once a member of the mortal world, sharing the same joys, sorrows, anger and happiness as us, and the same flesh and blood.

Zhou Si was thinking.

Did we create God, or does God already exist within each of us, waiting for some extraordinary person to awaken him?

Perhaps this is the complex and subtle philosophical relationship between human society and the individual, an eternal cycle of worship and forgetting, shaping and being shaped.

But no matter what the outcome of all this was, it was shattered with the actual death of Chen Wen Ge as a natural person.

Li Weiyun perked up and asked, "How many people know about Chen Wen Ge's death?"

"It is currently limited to the top leaders," Ruan Linrui said, "but since there may be traitors among the top leaders, we cannot guarantee how long this information blockade can last."

"The PR department is ready to deal with the impact of public opinion," she said, trying to ease the atmosphere. "If anyone you know has bought shares of Shenwei Technology, I suggest you sell them first."

Chen Wen Ge’s death will trigger a series of chain reactions, and the hit to Shenwei Technology’s stock price may be the least affected part.

"Before I came, the top management had already contacted the Supervisory Bureau," Ruan Linrui looked at Li Weiyun, "If nothing unexpected happens, Team Leader Li, you will soon receive an appointment from the Supervisory Bureau."

Before Ruan Linrui finished her words, Li Weiyu's cell phone rang. After taking a look at the caller ID, he began to suspect that Ruan Linrui had the power to make her words come true.

Ruan Linrui doesn't have that kind of magical ability, she just calculates everything with extreme precision.

Li Weiyun answered the phone with a serious expression, and his boss's voice rang in his ears. The call lasted only half a minute, and for more detailed information, Li Weiyun needed to return to the Supervisory Bureau for negotiation.

Zhou Si pulled himself together and whispered to himself, "I have never thought about Chen Wen Ge's death."

He let out a long breath and continued, "Chen Wen Ge is a pure person, an idealist. He has no private life, nor worldly desires. He only has a morbid obsession with the advancement of mankind."

"In order to realize his inner desire and explore the higher realm of human life, he is as obsessed as a madman."

Zhou Si looked up at the photos hanging on the ceiling, and countless memories flooded into his mind.

"When I first met Chen Wen-Ge, he was already old and frail. Research had consumed most of his energy, and all of his organs were failing to varying degrees. In order to survive, he replaced almost all of his organs with artificial ones.

In between his daily research, he would also receive various drug treatments, and when necessary, he would even connect himself to an extracorporeal circulation machine to relieve the pressure on his organs. "

"But even so, I still don't think he will die. Someone like him can use the immortality plan to lock himself in the medical cabin and continue to move around with his avatar body while staying conscious."

Thinking of this, Zhou Si suddenly laughed, "Yes, the immortality plan. With that thing, I once thought that Chen Wen Ge would live for another few decades, maybe even longer than me."

Zhou Si fell silent. Suddenly, he spoke in high spirits, "Okay, let's stop lamenting about Chen Wen Ge."

His eyes became sharp and he asked, "Team Leader Li, do you have any ideas?"

"Secret laboratory? The remains of equipment related to the eclosion technology were also found at the scene," Li Weiyun stared at Ruan Linrui, "Can I infer that after the Xianyun accident, Chen Wen Ge was still secretly conducting research and development of eclosion technology?"

"Yes, this is also our initial inference," Ruan Linrui nodded, "Not only is he still conducting research and development in secret, but there must be senior figures cooperating with him. After all, after the Xianyu accident, Chen Wen Ge's power in Shenwei Technology plummeted."

Zhou Si asked, "Do you think Chen Wen Ge is also a member of the Paradise?"

"Whether it's for the great advancement of mankind or for his own survival, Chen Wen Ge has enough motivation to continue to develop the technology of metamorphosis. Moreover, as the person in charge of the immortal ascension project, Chen Wen Ge naturally has a list of qualified people."

Li Weiyun thought deeply and said, "It is possible that Chen Wen Ge is also a member of the Paradise of Bliss."

Zhou Si and Li Weiyun asked and answered, "Why did Chen Wen Ge die?"

"If the Paradise of Bliss wants to complete the metamorphosis technology, Chen Wen Ge is an indispensable part. No matter what the reason is, Chen Wen Ge should not die."

This time, Li Weiyun was silent for a long time, and then he said, "Suppose, the metamorphosis technology has been perfected?"

Zhou Si's eyes lit up, "Oh?"

"The metamorphosis technology was perfect enough, so Chen Wen Ge conducted a secret test..." "But it caused an accident, just like the Xianyu accident, and this time it led to his own death," Zhou Si rejected Li Weiyu's conjecture, "Based on the fact that Chen Wen Ge is a member of the Elysian Paradise, he has enough qualified people to verify his mistakes. In this way, your conjecture is not valid... at least not that solid."

After a brief brainstorm, Zhou Si looked at Ruan Linrui, "Ms. Ruan, if we follow Team Leader Li's conjecture, I guess there should be another incarnation at the scene of Chen Wen Ge's death."

As the core figure in the immortal's fall accident, Zhou Si naturally knew that after the upgraded consciousness was born, an incarnation body was needed as a carrier.

"Yes, there was indeed an avatar body at the scene, but it has been completely burned, and there is no record of data being written into the thought storage core."

Ruan Linrui's words completely overturned Li Weiyu's conjecture. The lack of data writing meant that consciousness had not been digitized.

"Well, we can't deduce the truth based on this little verbal information," Zhou Si said to Ruan Linrui, "We need more information."

Ruan Linrui asked back, "Then, can I understand that you have accepted this commission?"

Zhou Si was speechless for a moment. On the one hand, he really didn't want to have anything to do with Shenwei Technology, but on the other hand, Chen Wen Ge's death really touched his heart.

No one can resist the temptation of the truth.

Seeing Zhou Si remained silent, Ruan Linrui's face showed a smile of success.

"Okay, then I'll take this as your tacit acceptance of this invitation."

Ruan Linrui continued, "You two, your reasoning is very interesting. You can think of so much with just a few words. You are indeed worthy of entrustment."

Li Weiyun came back to his senses and asked, "Was that just a test?"

"This is a little puzzle I personally set for you," Ruan Linrui explained, "I wasn't the one who took the initiative to entrust you with this."

She gave Zhou Si a vicious look, her tone full of personal grudges, "I don't have that much confidence in you, especially this former patient with Lishi disease."

"Stop talking nonsense, Ms. Ruan, and get to the point."

After realizing that he had stepped into the vortex and could not escape, and had no intention of escaping, Zhou Si calmly accepted the current situation.

The smile on Ruan Linrui's face did not diminish. The development of the situation was completely within her calculations, and every step was just right. From this point of view, she was indeed a person with an almost pathological desire for control.

She said, "After the autopsy, we found mechanical damage on Chen Wen-Ge's cervical spine. This injury directly broke Chen Wen-Ge's neck, which was the actual cause of his death."

"As for the fire caused by the accident, it was more like a smokescreen to cover up the truth."

Ruan Linrui knew what Zhou Si and Li Weiyun wanted to ask, so she continued, "The relevant monitoring and entry and exit records are blank. Even on the consciousness network, there is no trace left. The internal network has been self-checked and there is no sign of being hacked."

"This was a murder, but the murderer of Chen Wen-Ge was a disembodied ghost. Wherever he went, he left no trace."

Zhou Si and Li Weiyu’s previous speculations were overturned one after another, and a more complex and huge mystery unfolded before their eyes.

Ruan Linrui said, "For specific information, you two can come to Shenwei Technology to check. At the same time, Shenwei Technology will also fully assist you in investigating the case and finding the truth of all this."

Zhou Si and Li Weiyu looked at each other, and both felt a little depressed from each other's eyes. This series of events was like dominoes gradually collapsing, turning into a building collapsing before their eyes.

"last question."

Zhou Si asked, "Who among the senior executives of Shenwei Technology specifically asked you to entrust me with so many resources and even assigned you here?"

"Zuo Zhi."

Ruan Linrui gave an answer that surprised Zhou Si.

"Since Chen Wen-Ge lost power, Zuo Zhi has gradually gained control of Shenwei Technology. He specifically asked you to handle this murder case."

She explained, "Zuo Zhi believes that your presence as a perfect person will definitely attract the attention of all conspirators. He also trusts you and believes that you can handle this smoothly."

"Zuo Zhi?"

Mentioning this name brought back a wave of memories for Zhou Si.

"As one of the founders of Shenwei Technology, I don't deny Zuo Zhi's intelligence, but compared to Chen Wen Ge, Zuo Zhi is more like a shrewd businessman," Zhou Si commented, "I have never liked him very much."

"In other words, Chen Wen-Ge is an autistic person who doesn't know how to adapt or socialize, and only knows how to research, while Zuo Zhi is an excellent leader," Ruan Linrui said. "After Chen Wen-Ge lost power, Zuo Zhi quickly consolidated power. Under his leadership, Shenwei Technology quickly recovered from the scandal of the Xianyu accident, and its stock price also hit a new high."

"Okay, okay," Ruan Linrui clapped her hands, the crisp sound attracted the attention of the two, "Now that we have finished the official business, it's time to talk about personal matters."

"Team Leader Li, could you please leave for a while? I want to be alone with Zhou Si for a while."

Li Weiyun looked at Zhou Si inquiringly, and Zhou Si waved his hand, "Team Leader Li, please go back to the Supervisory Bureau to find out the situation first, and then we will contact each other by phone."

"Ok."

Li Weiyun stood up and left. It just so happened that he also felt that he needed to be alone for a while. His mind was in a mess. Before one mystery was solved, another bigger mystery came.

After Li Weiyu left, Ruan Linrui came to Zhou Si and slowly sat down facing him. Zhou Si wanted to move a little, but he had nowhere to escape.

Zhou Si avoided her gaze and said, "Ms. Ruan, I want to remind you that we are over. Don't do anything irrational because of such a ridiculous issue as the rekindled relationship."

"Irrational behavior? What do you think I would do? Hug you suddenly, kiss you, and say I'm sad to leave you?" Ruan Linrui laughed. "Don't be funny, Zhou Si, do you think you are a very charming person?"

She reached out and grabbed Zhou Si's neck, forcing him to turn his head and look at her.

"Let's talk about yourself, Zhou Si."

Zhou Si forcefully pushed Ruan Linrui away, his expression not wavering at all, as if Ruan Linrui was just a delicate stone in his eyes.

"There's nothing to talk about, Ms. Ruan. If you want to ask me about our relationship, I can only say that I still love you and everyone else."

"But unfortunately, I can no longer return to the person you once knew."

Zhou Si had a blank expression on his face. He was clearly expressing his love, but he was as cold as a machine. All his emotions were frozen and shattered under his cold attitude.

The smile on Ruan Linrui's face gradually disappeared, and she became the same as Zhou Si, without any emotion at all.

"You're really a letdown, Zhou Si," she laughed at herself, "I'm so stupid to have high hopes for a bastard like you, thinking that you would change in these three years."

Ruan Linrui looked at Zhou Si deeply, pushed the door and left. After the door closed with a neither light nor heavy sound, Zhou Si was the only one left in the room.

Zhou Si sat there for a while, then slowly stood up, walked to the suitcase and turned it over.

The shiny metal surface was like a narrow mirror, reflecting Zhou Si's figure.

Picking up the prosthetic limb sealed inside, Zhou Si inserted it along the connecting hole of his left arm. After a soft groan of metal, the machines bit each other to death.

A tingling electric current flashed across Zhou Si's neck. He completed the mental connection with the prosthesis and simply moved his arm. The familiar sense of power was back under his control.

Zhou Si sat back in the center of the living room, closed his eyes and meditated under the countless photos.

(End of this chapter)