Chapter 17 The Crow's Tolerance
Chapter 17: The Crow's Forbearance
In the hotel.
Before Zhou Ming knocked on the door, Crow was sitting on the bed, wearing a mask and reading a book.
Compared to Zhou Ming's own dim room, the lighting in Crow's room was quite good, with over a dozen candles lit everywhere.
"Oh? You're back. How was the investigation?" Crow didn't even lift her head.
Zhou Ming handed over the information he had gathered.
"Hmmph~ Let's see what you wasted a day doing." Crow put down her book, took the information, and began to read.
She read for a full ten minutes, finally nodding. Uncharacteristically, she didn't scold him but instead began to analyze seriously.
"To summarize, this incident is a hybrid event of cognitive distortion and ordinary disappearances. Some people completely vanish after they disappear, but others merely disappear in the eyes of most people. However, a small portion of people in the town can still see those individuals, and what they see is a very specific, clearly defined 'person' that can be accurately recognized.
"Given this, we can divide the missing persons into two types: the former are ordinary missing persons, while the latter are special missing persons whose cognition has been distorted for a portion of the population.
"Additionally, all these people went to a tavern before they disappeared, although it wasn't the same tavern... Boy, what do you make of this information?"
Crow finished her summary, tilting her head slightly to look at Zhou Ming, like a teacher posing a test question.
Zhou Ming sat down on a chair by the bed, lost in thought.
The general situation had been accurately summarized by Teacher Crow. As she said, if the cognitive distortion of the special missing persons was removed, then the special missing persons and ordinary missing persons would be no different.
But even treating the special missing persons as ordinary missing persons, this matter still seemed strange at every turn.
Zhou Ming had thoroughly investigated this small town. The living environment was very backward, far out in the wilderness, without water or electricity.
In this backward town where people used traditional wooden outhouses, relied on candles for light, and were surrounded by vast stretches of sandy land, how could someone disappear without a trace?
If it were Zhou Ming, he would choose kidnapping. Kidnapping is a good way to make someone disappear, but it wasn't suitable here.
Kidnapping someone and then driving away would cause too much commotion; it would be impossible for no one to know.
Moreover, there was information proving that in several disappearance cases, no one entered or left the town before and after the incident, so the possibility of kidnapping could be directly ruled out.
Besides kidnapping, he could also kill and bury the body.
This method sounds straightforward, but in reality, it's not feasible at all. The town's geography isn't healthy; the sandy soil is very hard, making it impossible to even grow crops. Digging deep pits in such hard-crusted sand would require a lot of effort.
"How strange," Zhou Ming murmured, his mind gradually becoming active, various possibilities emerging in his thoughts.
Suddenly, Zhou Ming remembered a book he had once read. In that book, the murderer racked his brains to make the victim completely disappear, finally solving the problem in the kitchen and at the dining table.
If the disappearances in this town were the same, that would be simple and clear. But this incident was very different from the murder case in the novel.
The murderer in the novel had a refrigerator and could drive far away to dispose of suspicious kitchen waste, but this wouldn't work in this town. Here, no one used refrigerators, and food would spoil after a while; it would be impossible for no one to notice anything amiss.
As for disposing of trash...
According to Zhou Ming's observations, everyone put their trash in bins, and once full, they placed them at the door for a dedicated person to move outside the town for disposal. If suspicious items were indeed placed in the trash bins, they would certainly be discovered, so the possibility of the missing persons becoming food was not high.
It seemed this matter could not be analyzed with conventional thinking. Some kind of anomaly that could make people disappear directly must have appeared in the town.
But if they all disappeared, what exactly was the difference between special missing persons and ordinary missing persons?
"Brain frozen? Or are you spacing out?" Crow said, her tone a little softer than before.
"I'm thinking about what the decisive difference is between ordinary missing persons and special missing persons," Zhou Ming replied.
Crow flipped through the information again, saying casually, "The physical characteristics of the missing persons have no similarities; there are old and young, male and female, beautiful and ugly, outsiders and locals.
As for the intervals between their disappearances, they are not very regular. The shortest interval is one day, and the longest interval is fourteen days.
Special missing persons and ordinary missing persons are randomly distributed among these samples; no obvious differences can be seen for now."
"But there's one family on the missing list that's very unusual," Zhou Ming said.
Crow looked down and turned a page: "You're talking about Wang Er's family, right? It is indeed very strange. Wang Er's entire family disappeared, and there wasn't a single witness. Did you investigate this family in depth?"
"I did, but I couldn't even find a photo. The only people I could ask were Wang Er's neighbors and friends, but there weren't any clues worth writing down," Zhou Ming said.
"Quite meticulous, but for a math problem missing key data, no matter how much you rack your brains, you'll never get the correct answer, so let's put it aside for now." Crow expressed approval of Zhou Ming for the first time.
Zhou Ming nodded, agreeing with her statement.
This day was a wasted effort. A full day of in-depth investigation not only failed to dispel the fog but made it even thicker.
The anomaly left nothing behind. All it left was chaos and anti-logical reality, as if to prevent human exploration.
"Let me test you. Next, if you were to decide the course of action, how would you proceed?" Crow asked.
"Hmm... Since the individuals involved don't have similar characteristics, then I would start by investigating the affected ordinary people to see what common characteristics they have. If a pattern can be successfully found, perhaps we can follow the clues and find the cause of the anomaly," Zhou Ming said.
"Hahahaha! What are you talking about? Do you think you're solving a crime?" Crow laughed loudly. "It seems you haven't overcome that superfluous sense of morality."
She suddenly raised her hand, pointed at Zhou Ming's eyes, and slowly said, "Remember this: the most important thing when dealing with anomalies is efficiency. For an anomaly with such a low fatality rate, it's not worth wasting too much energy and time. The key is how to solve the problem with low energy consumption and high efficiency."
"If it were you, Teacher, what would you do?" Zhou Ming retorted.
"Most Hidden Ones would first persuade the tavern owner to close the tavern and see if the anomalous phenomenon still exists."
Zhou Ming knew that the 'persuasion' Crow spoke of was certainly not conventional persuasion.
"If that solves it, then all the better. But if it doesn't, then start with those who have gone mad. After all, those who can see the missing persons are clearly not normal either. Just kill them. After those people are also cleanly dealt with, then see if the anomaly has disappeared."
Crow paused slightly, thought for a moment, and then continued, "If it still hasn't disappeared, then evacuate the personnel, send them to other places, and then directly contact the Relevant Department to flatten Senma Town, record the coordinates, and see if the anomalous phenomenon is still occurring."
Seeing Zhou Ming silent, Crow laughed, "What? Can't handle it already? If you don't want to be a Hidden One anymore, then go be an analyst."
"No, not at all. I think this approach is indeed very efficient, but it's too crude. It would cause a negative impact on a wide range of people and lacks the step of exploring other feasible solutions."
"What foolishness are you talking about? Are you still considering those half-mad people?" Crow shook her head helplessly, appearing somewhat disappointed.
"Destroying everything related to the anomaly can only be considered a final clean-up step; as a first choice, it wastes too much manpower and resources. It's too costly for both the organization and the residents of Senma Town."
"Hmph, interesting. You mean my approach is wasting human resources?" Crow said.
"I think we can do more before that step."
"Then I'll listen to what you, this genius, plan to do. Don't tell me you have no ideas at all." Crow's voice deepened.
"First, conduct a simple investigation and analysis to see if there are other methods," Zhou Ming replied.
Crow clasped her hands behind her head, leaned back against the headboard, and crossed her legs: "That's it?"
"I still need some time to think."
"You just said my approach was too crude and direct. So, can I interpret that as: if you don't have any other way to smoothly resolve this incident, then you can also accept this crude method?"
Zhou Ming thought for a moment, then nodded gently: "Of course."
Crow clapped her hands while shaking her head. This action gave Zhou Ming a premonition that she was about to start again.
Sure enough, when Crow spoke again, it was another round of sarcasm.
"So ordinary, yet so confident... How cute. As a reward for your confidence, I'll give you some time to investigate."
"Really?" Zhou Ming was a little surprised.
In his heart, a person with Crow's personality would never compromise with him.
After all, in her eyes, he was not only a rookie but also an idiot.
"Of course it's true!
But... if you don't find any results, then you'll personally blow up the tavern.
If the anomaly still hasn't disappeared after blowing up the tavern, then you'll personally kill those people.
As long as you can do that much, I'll pass you for the assessment.
Otherwise, just obediently go back to your job behind the wall."
Crow watched Zhou Ming through those cold, black lenses. Zhou Ming felt her gaze was as icy as the lenses.
Clearly, he was being underestimated. Crow thought he couldn't bear this moral pressure.
Zhou Ming stared at the black bird-beak mask. The expression beneath the mask was incredibly calm.
"What's the time limit?" Zhou Ming asked.
Crow froze, her eyes behind the mask slowly narrowed, becoming a little more interested in this intriguing graduate.
"Currently, the longest interval for the anomaly to appear is fourteen days. I'll give you one chance to observe and then one period to verify the results. Let's say one month. It also takes two observation periods for me to blow up the tavern and kill the relevant personnel, just like you.
"If you cannot resolve the anomaly using your method within one month, then we'll resolve it my way."
"Understood."
Zhou Ming nodded lightly and turned to walk to his room.
Just as he reached the door, Crow's voice came from behind him again: "You can tell me if you need my help. Although this is your self-initiated investigation, you still have the authority to request external support... Then, let me see if you truly have your own opinions or are simply cowardly."
"Understood."
The door closed. Crow clicked her tongue slightly, removed her bird-beak mask, revealing a beautiful and cold face.
"Heh, are all these little brats so arrogant now? Daring to speak to me in that tone."
If Zhou Ming had been present, he would have been greatly surprised, because in terms of both appearance and voice, Crow was absolutely a genuine woman, yet she indeed had the tall stature typically associated with men, and her feminine features were not at all prominent.
Crow reached up to smooth her burgundy short hair, wiped the sweat from her face, and smiled meaningfully.
She had given Zhou Ming one month to investigate.
Normally, she wouldn't indulge graduates so much. After all, newly graduated students were often arrogant, conceited, and self-important.
But they thought they were confident, when in fact, they were just ignorant.
However, Crow found Zhou Ming very special. He was different from the other graduates she had met. He was excellent at emotional control and highly efficient in his investigations.
It was evident that he had also been an outstanding student in school.
Furthermore, Zhou Ming's confidence differed from that of others. Other students' confidence stemmed from their abilities, while Zhou Ming's confidence seemed to be solely based on a rational consideration of a matter.
Yet, precisely because of this, Zhou Ming's qualities seemed extraordinary.
And for this very reason, Crow gave Zhou Ming a month.
"Since I have a month, I can't just sit idle. I'll put my brain to work for the first time in a while."