S.C.I. MYSTERY CASES BOOK 1 English Translation

Chapter 2 The Numbers Killer 1: A Case

The meeting went pretty well. It was just basically an introduction of the members and an explanation of the responsibilities.
After that, Commissioner Bao handed Bai Yutang a thick stack of files, saying, "These are the major cases that haven't been cracked in the last ten years. Put these bad guys in prison before they kick the bucket." Once he was done, he turned to take his leave. But just before he went out the door, he gave Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang a meaningful look and said, "The two of you... better not fight and work with each other properly!" He said his piece and left.

His words sent a chill down their spine.

Once Bao Zheng left, the originally serious atmosphere in the office lightened up immediately. Since they already knew each other from when they were in different departments. They were bound to chatter and catch-up amongst themselves now that they had to work together.

Bai Yutang waved his hand and said, "You guys sort out yourselves first, then we'll meet in half an hour for a meeting!" Then, he gave Zhan Zhao a look that meant, "Let's have a talk in the office." And the both of them went into the office.

The general make-up of the S.C.I. was not complicated. There were a lobby, two offices and a relatively modern-looking meeting room. Inside the lobby was standard work desks meant for every member.  But since most of the members were out-field investigators, they didn't have many belongings with them.

As for the two offices, one belonged to Bai Yutang, while Zhan Zhao took the other.

Bai Yutang's office was relatively simple. It was elegantly furnished based on his preferences. Zhan Zhao, on the other hand, was probably the one with the most possessions. Due to his occupation, his office had several bookshelves, packed full of books. The file holders were also filled with various documents.

Lu Fang just came to briefly show his face before running off elsewhere, while Han Zhang who was in charge of intelligence was nowhere to be seen.

Gongsun had a few subordinates and his own separate Medical Examiner's office, located just beside the S.C.I., equipped with state of the art equipment.
In fact, the entirety of the 17th floor was a Medical Examiner's office. In the past, it was a forbidden ground that no one dared to step foot in. The first thing Zhao Hu did when he arrived was to offer incense to Bodhisattva, to dispel the bad vibes from the place. His actions resulted in Gongsun pulling him to the side, to offer some unwanted explanations about the place. Such as the reason for the Medical Examiner's office being on the 17th floor and the top ten paranormal activities that have taken place on the 17th floor. His words scared Zhao Hu out of his wits as he covered his ears and cried, "Please have mercy, Brother!"

In the leader's office.
Zhan Zhao sat down on the chair in front of the desk and crossed his leg elegantly. He lifted his head to look at Bai Yutang who was across him with an unimpressed smile.

"You damn cat, what are you looking at?" From his many years of fighting with Zhan Zhao, he knew there was something up when Zhan Zhao had that expression.

"Nothing much," Zhan Zhao shrugged, "I'm just listening to Leader Bai's instructions."

Bai Yutang had his displeasure plastered all over his face, "You stop that. And as usual, show me respect and don't humiliate me when we're in front of the team."

"That's no problem, but I'm coming with you when you go out on the field! And you have to listen to me for all problems pertaining to my area of expertise!" Zhan Zhao listed his conditions.

"Huu... Fine, deal," Bai Yutang nodded his head with a sigh. Then he pushed the whole bulk of documents to Zhan Zhao, saying, "This is all yours now, Expert!"

"What! Why!?" Zhan Zhao retorted angrily and pushed half the documents back to Bai Yutang, "We'll take half each!"

Bai Yutang glared at him and spoke through gritted teeth, "You know I can't stand looking at these things."

Zhan Zhao returned the glare, "This is the Leader's responsibility!! You should look for a few easier cases and solve one or two first. Otherwise, the S.C.I. would be an embarrassment, Great Detective Bai!"

Bai Yutang got a shock, "Hello? Do you even know what cold cases are?? You think it'll be cracked just because you say so?? Wait a minute, something is not right..." Bai Yutang scanned Zhan Zhao up and down, then he said with a smile, "I say, Kitty, something is off about you. Oh, I get it, it's because I'm the leader while you're the deputy and you can't figure out why ain't it? Doctor. Zhan."

Zhan Zhao also started to clench his teeth and he threw his half of the documents back to Bai Yutang, "Hmph! You're just a lowly man who got lucky! You can look through all of these by yourself!"

"You... Fine!" Bai Yutang huffed, "I'll just take a random pick. We'll start with whichever one I pick, since they're all cases to be solved anyway." As he said that, he randomly reached for a file from the mountain, "This'll do..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a few crisp knocks on the door. When he looked up, he saw Gongsun leaning against the door with a folder in his hand, "Those old cases can wait, I have a fresh one here."

Bai Yutang lifted his palm, saying, "Wait a moment... Let's call everyone over. We'll talk about it in the meeting room."

Gongsun looked slightly surprised by his reaction, "Don't you want to hear what this is about first?

Bai Yutang beamed, "No need, if it was a case of little importance, would you, Gongsun, even bring it up?"

Gongsun nodded his head and headed to the meeting room with satisfaction. While Zhan Zhao mumbled to himself in the back, "What a suck-up! Sneaky mouse!"

Bai Yutang sneezed loudly as he walked.