You went on a blind date and presented an A-level wanted criminal as a meeting gift?

Xiao Zhen's roar was like thunder, exploding in the chaotic banquet hall.

As soon as he finished speaking, dozens of burly men dressed in black suits and wearing communicators rushed over from all directions and surrounded Lin Chen and Ye Qingcheng.

At the same time, the banquet hall door was slammed open with a bang, and a team of uniformed police officers rushed in, their dark gun barrels all pointed at Lin Chen.

The lead officer didn't even glance at the body on the ground, and immediately shouted sternly.

"Police! Don't move! Put your hands up!"

What a brilliant series of schemes!

Lin Chen sneered inwardly. Xiao Zhen's plan was truly shrewd.

The first step is to poison him. If Lin Chen drinks the poisoned wine, then all will be lost.

The second step is to frame him. If Lin Chen manages to escape, the deceased CFO will become the tool to frame him. The local police will be bribed beforehand to seal off the scene. With witnesses and physical evidence, he can be directly identified as the murderer and either "killed" on the spot or taken away, leaving him no choice.

This series of combined punches was intricately linked and extremely ruthless.

Anyone else would probably have been terrified and surrendered without resistance.

However, Lin Chen is no one.

Facing the dark muzzle of a gun and the menacing bodyguards, he showed no sign of panic.

He simply shielded Ye Qingcheng behind him, then looked at the furious Xiao Zhen with an expression as if he were looking at an idiot.

"Patriarch Xiao, your method of framing is far too low-level."

Lin Chen's voice wasn't loud, but it had a strange penetrating power, clearly reaching everyone's ears.

"The police arrived right after I died, and without even asking a single question about the case, they just pointed a gun at me."

"Do you think all these powerful and influential people from the capital are blind?"

Reminded by Lin Chen, the guests who hadn't had time to run far away also realized what was happening.

Yes, it's all such a coincidence.

It was such a coincidence, it was as if it had been rehearsed in advance.

Xiao Zhen's expression changed slightly. He didn't expect that Lin Chen would not only be unafraid in this situation, but would also dare to turn the tables.

"Stop spreading rumors and misleading the public!"

Xiao Zhen said sternly.

"In full view of everyone, you got into an argument with the deceased, and then he died of poisoning. If it wasn't you, who else could it be?!"

He is using a fallacy of semantics, forcibly linking the "dispute" at the auction with the current "poisoning" to create a motive for murder.

Whether I did it or not is not up to you or the police to decide, but up to the evidence.

Lin Chen spoke calmly, and then he made a move that surprised everyone.

He ignored the police officers who were pointing guns at him and instead pulled out his phone.

"What do you want to do?!"

The lead officer shouted sternly, his finger already on the trigger.

Ignoring his warning, Lin Chen unlocked the screen and made a video call.

A few seconds later, the call connected, and Jiang Tingxue's aloof and stunningly beautiful face appeared on the screen.

She appeared to have just finished an autopsy, still wearing her white forensic autopsy gown, with the autopsy room of the Southeast City Forensic Center in the background.

"Lin Chen? What did you find so late?"

Jiang Tingxue pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses, her tone as cool and professional as ever.

"There's a small problem; I need your remote support."

As Lin Chen spoke, he pointed his phone camera at the corpse on the ground, which had already begun to stiffen.

He activated his "God-level Biology Mastery" and "God-level Psychology" and began his performance in an extremely professional tone.

"Tingxue, take a look at the deceased."

Lin Chen squatted down and used a toothpick to pry open the deceased's eyelids.

"The pupils are dilated to the edges, and the cornea is cloudy. Looking at the neck, the jugular veins are engorged, and the skin is a typical cherry red color."

"A small amount of white foam was coming out of the mouth and nose, accompanied by a slight bitter almond smell."

As he spoke, he zoomed in on the camera so that Jiang Tingxue could see every detail clearly.

On the other end of the video call, Jiang Tingxue's expression instantly turned serious.

She looked at the image on the screen and, almost without thinking, drew a conclusion.

"These are typical symptoms of cyanide poisoning, but something is not quite right."

Jiang Tingxue frowned.

"Cherry red is a typical characteristic of cyanide combined with cytochrome oxidase in the blood, but the slight cyanosis on the face and fingernails of the deceased indicates that another toxin that can cause tissue hypoxia was also present."

Lin Chen nodded, as if he had expected her to say that.

"That's right."

He turned the camera toward the dead man's stiff hand, pointing to his slightly purplish fingernails.

"Therefore, I suspect that the killer used a more complex 'binary neurotoxin'."

"A binary neurotoxin?" A hint of surprise flashed in Jiang Tingxue's eyes.

"right."

Lin Chen's voice was full of confidence, as if he were not at a crime scene, but in a university lecture hall, giving a class to a group of students.

"This toxin comes in two forms, A and B."

"Agent A itself is non-toxic. It is a biological enzyme inhibitor that can be ingested through food and remains dormant in the human body for about half an hour to an hour. Its function is to disrupt the body's own detoxification mechanism."

"Agent B, which is cyanide as we know it, is the real catalyst and deadly poison."

"When Agent B enters the body that has already ingested Agent A, the toxicity of the two will increase exponentially, and there is almost no antidote. It can be fatal within ten seconds."

Lin Chen's hardcore science explanation left everyone present completely dumbfounded.

Police officers, bodyguards, guests, and even Xiao Zhen himself—everyone stared at him blankly, as if listening to gibberish.

Is this...is this something a criminal investigation consultant should know?

This guy is practically a walking bioweapons expert!

On the other end of the video, Jiang Tingxue watched Lin Chen's confident and eloquent demeanor, and a hint of infatuation and admiration unconsciously appeared in her usually cool eyes.

She knew that this man, no matter the circumstances, could exude a damn, irresistible charm.

"Your deduction is completely correct."

Jiang Tingxue's voice softened a bit.

"Based on the deceased's symptoms, Agent A should have been ingested half an hour ago."

"Lin Chen, find out if the deceased ate or drank anything unusual half an hour ago."

"Half an hour ago..."

Lin Chen stood up, his gaze sharp as a knife, slowly sweeping across the entire room before finally settling on the face of the waiter who had handed him the drink.

The waiter, who was also the assassin, was currently mingling among the other waiters, head down, trying to minimize his presence.

Lin Chen's gaze made him feel like he was being pricked by needles, and his whole body went cold.

"Half an hour ago, the banquet had just started, and most of the guests were helping themselves to their food."

Lin Chen's voice rang out leisurely. "However, there are a few special guests, such as this deceased CFO, for whom the Xiao family head specially prepared top-grade caviar air-freighted from the Caspian Sea."

Lin Chen's gaze shifted from the waiter's face and finally settled on Xiao Zhen, whose face was deathly pale.

He laughed, a bright laugh, but to Xiao Zhen, that laugh was more terrifying than the devil.

"In other words, the person who poisoned you had already placed the non-toxic Agent A in the kitchen that your Xiao family prepared specifically for 'VIPs'."

"And Agent B was in that glass of champagne just now."

"Patriarch Xiao, you've gone to great lengths to kill me."

"They didn't hesitate to use their most trusted CFO as bait, and even dragged in several other 'VIPs' who had eaten caviar."

"Ruthless enough, absolutely ruthless."

"I, Lin Chen, admire you."