Chapter 1 An Alarming Start

At 9:30 p.m., the piercing sound of police sirens echoed through Sancha Street in Tianhong Port.

Five off-road vehicles from the Coast Guard team screeched to a halt in front of the Tianfeng Supermarket. Su Tianyu and the others, cloaked in raincoats, pushed open the car doors and stepped out.

The surrounding streets were deserted, but behind the windows of various shops, many onlookers gathered, curious about the commotion.

Tonight, Su Tianyu was the duty squad leader of the Coast Guard's First Detachment. Although this role held no official rank and offered no additional compensation, it was typically assigned to a sergeant or a senior member of the unit.

However, both the division commander and the detachment leader subtly favored Su Tianyu, so they arranged this unofficial "position" for him when scheduling shifts. This was partly to curry favor with Su Tianyu, giving him a slight sense of superiority, and partly to signal to the rest of the team that he had connections and would likely be promoted soon, preparing them psychologically.

Despite holding the title of squad leader, Su Tianyu was still unfamiliar with the Coast Guard's case-handling procedures. Moreover, his first assignment was a shooting case, leaving him somewhat bewildered upon arriving at the scene.

Fortunately, the vice-squad leader for the night was a seasoned veteran in his forties. Noticing Su Tianyu's confusion, he immediately took charge, saying, "The gunfire has stopped; anyone who could run has probably already fled. A few of you, search the surrounding area for wounded or suspicious individuals. Squad leader, let's check out the supermarket."

"Alright, let's go!"

With that, the group quickly dispersed. Su Tianyu followed the vice-squad leader into the Tianfeng Supermarket.

Inside, a mahjong table was set up in the main hall. Five or six local middle-aged men greeted the Coast Guard officers at the entrance.

"Is there anyone here who reported the incident?" the vice-squad leader asked.

"We didn't report it, but we witnessed the shooting," the supermarket owner replied.

"Tell us what happened," the vice-squad leader instructed.

As he spoke, Su Tianyu turned on his bodycam, aiming the lens at the supermarket owner.

The owner gathered his thoughts and began to recount the events.

Around 9:15 p.m., while playing cards with friends, the supermarket owner heard the first gunshot outside.

Immediately, the card players went to the entrance and saw two groups of people fleeing from the backyard of a company called "Tianlan Overseas Labor Services" across the street. One group of four was being chased by a group of more than a dozen.

Over ten people in total from both sides were armed, and they exchanged dozens of shots in the street before scattering and fleeing in different directions.

The supermarket owner and his friends were too afraid to go outside and see what was happening. However, he clearly stated that they saw four people get shot and fall to the ground, their fates unknown, but they were eventually dragged away by their companions.

After listening, Su Tianyu immediately asked, "Do you have security cameras?"

"Yes, but they only capture the area in front of our store, not the other side of the street," the supermarket owner replied.

The vice-squad leader turned to Su Tianyu and asked, "Have someone take their statements. Should we take a look around?"

"Okay," Su Tianyu nodded. "You handle it."

Two minutes later, Su Tianyu and the vice-squad leader left the supermarket, intending to search for other eyewitnesses in the area. Since the gunfire had ceased some time ago, it was likely that all the criminals had fled and wouldn't be waiting around to be caught.

Just as Su Tianyu and the others were about to cross the street, a team member inspecting the surrounding area shouted into the walkie-talkie, "Squad leader, I've found two bodies!"

"Where?!" Su Tianyu replied into the walkie-talkie.

"Hold on," the team member responded, appearing at a street corner in the distance less than five seconds later, waving and shouting, "Over here, Squad leader!"

Su Tianyu and the others hurried over.

Thirty seconds later, in an alley next to house number 76 on Sancha Street, Su Tianyu saw five officers surrounding two corpses.

"Do we have gloves?" Su Tianyu asked.

"Yes," a colleague handed him a pair.

Su Tianyu put them on, bent down, and began to examine the bodies.

The vice-squad leader immediately said, "Maybe we shouldn't touch them. Let's wait for the forensics team, or we might contaminate the scene..."

The statement was laced with mistrust, but Su Tianyu understood. He looked up and replied, "I was in the army. I know a little about gunshot wounds."

"Oh, then take a look," the vice-squad leader conceded.

Su Tianyu held a flashlight in his left hand and, with gloves on his right, began to carefully examine the bodies.

Both corpses were male. One appeared to be around forty years old, while the other looked to be in his early twenties.

They were dressed in ordinary sportswear. The older man had been shot twice in the chest, both wounds were pass-through. One of the shots had pierced his lung. The younger man had been shot twice in the back and once in the back of the head.

In the pouring rain, Su Tianyu looked up in confusion, scanning the surroundings, paying particular attention to the direction and extent of the blood flow.

"What's wrong?" the vice-squad leader asked, puzzled.

Su Tianyu pointed to the bloodstains next to the bodies. "...Something's not right. There's not enough blood."

"It's raining so hard. The blood has probably been washed away," the vice-squad leader said, bending down.

"The rainwater is flowing towards the street. Do you see any blood in the puddles over there? Even if it was washed away, it wouldn't disappear completely." Su Tianyu was puzzled. He reached out and lifted the young man's head, first examining the wound on the back of his head, then the ground beneath it.

The wound was barely bleeding, and the area where his head had been resting was only a small, faint red spot the size of an egg – just red soil stained with blood.

Su Tianyu thought the amount of blood was too little. He was confused, so he opened the corpses' clothing and found that both men were very thin and had several obvious bruises on their bodies.

Su Tianyu frowned. He felt that the two corpses were incredibly strange, but he couldn't immediately pinpoint why.

...

The Su family residence.

Su Tiannan finished washing up and was about to go to the living room to chat with his grandfather.

"Big brother!"

At that moment, his third sister pushed the door open and walked in.

"What's wrong?" Su Tiannan asked.

"...Just now, Zhang Chao ran into me at the gate. He said he wanted to see you." The third sister asked softly, "When did he get back?"

Su Tiannan sat up abruptly when he heard this. "Where is he?!"

"He's right outside the gate, but he won't come in when I ask him to," the third sister replied.

"Did anyone else see him?"

"No, it's raining so hard, who could see him? What's wrong with you? You're acting strangely."

"It's nothing. Don't tell anyone you saw Zhang Chao." Su Tiannan said, grabbing his coat and umbrella. "I'm going out!"