Life Dungeon Game

He tried to research gene-based drugs on his own, but failed, so he desperately needed Jess's help.

To get Jayce's help, you need to remove the 'obstacles' blocking Jayce's way and keep him away from danger.

That was Jess's only remaining attachment in this world: his wife, Tini.

And that was indeed the case. After Tini's death, Jess, who had nothing to lose, was easily 'invited' into the project by the mysterious person through various means.

Combined with the various hints the mysterious figure gave to Jayce during the gene-based drug research, although there are still no clear clues about the murder of Jayce's parents, he has almost confirmed that he killed Jayce's wife, Tini.

Of course, all of this is just He Ao's speculation, but speculations with a clear logical chain are easy to verify.

The person who killed Tini was a mentally ill gunman. The reason for choosing a mentally ill person is simple: their behavior is unpredictable, and killing someone in the street is therefore justifiable.

It's easy to characterize something as an accident.

Ultimately, that's how the incident was characterized: the mentally ill gunman was arrested and the matter was closed.

However, according to information Jess later received, the mentally ill gunman was not sentenced, but was sent to a mental hospital for treatment.

However, the psychopathic gunman was not a typical killer.

In a legitimate underground black market, it's difficult to find someone who is both mentally ill and a killer.

Although most killers may be mentally ill, they generally won't admit it, only saying that they simply think differently from others.

Of course, it's easy for a conglomerate to make someone mentally ill, but once someone is mentally ill, they are essentially exposed and can no longer carry out other missions. They even have to be prepared to commit suicide by being shot eight times in the back.

If this had happened in another city, the mentally ill person would most likely be a 'professional' kept by a conglomerate.

But this happened in Witland, where there is a special class of people, the 'middlemen'.

Compared to conglomerates, people in the underworld trust middlemen more, and conglomerates themselves rarely cooperate directly with people in the underworld, rather than keeping black gloves.

In other words, this psychopathic killer may not have come from a conglomerate, but rather from an introduction by an intermediary.

In Whitland, there is only one middleman who can possess so many resources and gain the trust of the mysterious man.

That was Thorne standing in front of Heo.

Therefore, He Ao concluded that Thorne was someone who knew about Tini's murder, and might even be one of the murderers involved in Tini's death.

Of course, it doesn't matter if the judgment is wrong, He Ao can still follow this line to find other clues.

However, he would not show any uncertainty in front of Thorne. He stared at Thorne, seemingly already knowing most of the secrets behind it, just waiting for Thorne to speak.

Deception is one of the fastest ways to obtain intelligence.

Of course, this requires a bit of acting skills.

At that moment, Thorne was also watching Heo.

He felt a jolt when Heo mentioned Tini.

He sized up He Ao, wondering if He Ao really had grasped this crucial intelligence.

Seeing Thorne's actions, He Ao knew that he had probably guessed correctly. At this moment, his expression remained unchanged, and he calmly said, "I didn't just find out about these things. I've already been angry. Just tell me what you know."

The subtext of this statement is that he already knew about Tini before talking to Thorne, but he still expressed his opinion to Thorne that he could let Thorne leave, and his promise remains valid.

This is in Ansorn's heart.

Thorne didn't talk about Tini because he knew that, given Jess's personality, revealing Tini's information might provoke Jess's murderous intent.

Even a rabbit will bite when cornered, let alone Jayce who is now growing up.

Thorne stared at Heo, unsure whether Heo was telling the truth. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "I need to leave with my men. You mustn't attack me while we're leaving."

"I can persuade Haixi not to attack you; you can leave in batches."

"We can't open them together."

He Ao said slowly.

Thorne breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Heo haggle.

This at least proves that He Ao doesn't act impulsively or consider personal gain when making decisions.

Of course, this could also be a trap that He Ao deliberately set for him to lower his guard.

But after thinking about it, he felt it was unlikely.

Even if 'Jayce' grows faster, he can't achieve the state of not showing his emotions so quickly.

After all, he has been planning against 'Jayce' for so long, so he has a fairly deep understanding of Jayce.

Ultimately, he chose to trust his own experience and slowly explained, "Killing your wife was not my idea."

"Ah."

Heo put his hands behind his back, expressionless, and gestured for Thorne to continue.

His hands, clasped tightly into fists behind his back, revealed bulging veins on his arms.

“I’m just a middleman,” Thorne said, looking at Heo’s expression. “A middleman’s job is to introduce qualified executors to the client.”

"That mysterious man came to me that day. I originally thought he was asking for my recent life information again, just like before. But this time, his request was different. He wanted me to find someone who was tight-lipped, desperately short of money, and even willing to die for money."

"It's not easy to find a standard assassin like this, but he offered a high commission. It took me a lot of time to find someone who met his criteria."

"Then the mysterious man gave that person a task through me: to pretend to be mentally ill and attack the speech venue. The mysterious man assured that as long as that person pretended to be mentally ill and did not reveal any information, he would have a way to exonerate that person."

"You know what happened next. That person attacked your wife's speech and killed her. Later, the mysterious man indeed helped him get away with it."

He glanced at Thorne and fell into a brief silence.

Thorne's account actually greatly diminished his own influence, making it sound as if the Mystic directly ordered the assassins to do things. However, it is still clear from his words that the Mystic did not meet the assassins directly, but rather communicated through Thorne.

This shows that Thorne himself was actually deeply involved in this matter; he himself said that the commission offered by the mysterious man was very high.

Thorne stared at the silent Heo, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.

"Is that assassin still alive?"

After a brief silence, He Ao asked softly.

At the time, Jess did not know which mental hospital the assassin had been sent to. The court's response to him was to protect the assassin's privacy and prevent him from taking any extreme actions.

“He’s still alive,” Thorne said quickly. “He’s still in Vic Mental Hospital.”

"Vic Mental Hospital..."

Heo noted down the name, then looked up at Thorne. "Now let's talk about the mysterious man. What do you know about him?"

Chapter 555 Influenced Mindset (Mega Chapter, Requesting Monthly Tickets)

“My knowledge of the mysterious man is limited,”

Thorne leaned back in his chair, watching Heo.

After the recent exchanges, he realized that He Ao must have some information, and the person in front of him was both the same as and different from the Jess he knew. Before he could achieve his goal, this person would really take his life.

Although the other party may not take action personally due to his own personality limitations, he will give others the opportunity to do so, such as Haixi.

Strictly speaking, the feeling Thorne got from 'Jace' at this moment was that he was someone who had experienced tremendous changes and was beginning to grow.

He still maintains certain old principles, but he is also trying to use unconventional methods to uphold these principles.

Things have changed, but not completely.

'Jace' did not fully integrate into the underworld and become a cold-blooded and cruel person.

This news is good news for Thorne.

This means he can continue to exploit certain weaknesses of 'Jayce' to turn the tide of the game.

It is reasonable to share some real information before the final counterattack.

Moreover, Thorne didn't know what information the person in front of him possessed. Although 'Jace' was kind, he wasn't stupid and wasn't so easily deceived.

So at this point, Thorne was no longer going to hide anything or tell any missing or incorrect information.

If it ultimately affects 'Jace's' perception of him, he might end up losing more than he gains.

He composed himself and continued, "My contact with the mysterious person was actually very limited. We met in person only a handful of times. We communicated through instant anonymous chat, and he always took the initiative to contact me. All chat records were destroyed afterward."

"Through this bracelet?"

He looked at the bracelet on Thorne's hand.

“Hmm,” Thorne took off the bracelet directly, canceled the password in front of He Ao, and handed it to He Ao, “It’s through that software called ‘Paper Book’ to contact each other.”

'PaperBook' is a well-known peer-to-peer anonymous chat software from the Federation. Unlike ordinary instant messaging software where all information between the two parties passes through the software company's server, 'PaperBook' sends chat messages peer-to-peer.

The information and files sent by the sender will be encrypted and sent directly to the recipient, without passing through the paper book company's server or being intercepted.

In addition, the paper book will also encrypt the user's network address multiple times to prevent hackers from determining the network address of the chatter by following the contact.

Because of these confidentialities, paper books became one of the most popular chat software in the underground world, where a large amount of shady information that could not be exposed to the light of day was stored.

As a result, paper books have been burdened with a large number of lawsuits.

Of course, the paper book was not entirely secret.

Although the company operating the paper books claims that the encryption system is very advanced and cannot be cracked, and that it will automatically destroy relevant information when it detects an attack.

However, there are no secrets that stay hidden forever, and there are many ways to bypass the encryption system of paper books and track down the users of those books.

For example, large smart device providers like Trison and Nord can access data on how users of their devices use paper books.

If a user sends harmful information using a paper book on their device, it's easy to pinpoint the user's real-world location.

This information was learned by Ender during casual conversations with his instructors while he was training at the FBI.

When the FBI investigates cases involving paper books, they try to get help from these communication equipment companies, although most of the time these companies won't help.

Therefore, the FBI has been working for years to crack the encryption system of paper books.

Of course, those telecommunications equipment companies all claim that they would never monitor users' private information.

He Ao took the bracelet and opened the 'Paper Book' app. There was only one friend with a blank nickname and a completely black profile picture.

This proves that the other party is not online. If a user is not online, even the company operating the physical book will not know the other party's IP address.

He Ao opened his friend's chat interface, which was completely blank, with no chat messages or files remaining.

This is the 'read-and-burn' function of paper books.