Chapter 505: Chapter 22: The Earring Case (Part 2)_3
“Don’t forget your superpower, ‘Plunderer’ Budman Avis. When you killed Kova, you plundered his earth-burrowing ability!
With the experience you’ve accumulated over the years, you immediately realized that he was being hunted. If Kova’s pursuer was a Superpower User you couldn’t instantly kill, then you really couldn’t cover up this bloody case! So, you immediately grabbed his body and burrowed into the ground, not looking back as you fled into the distance. That earring dropped on the ground at that moment.”
“You nervously waited for a long time and used various means to confirm the pursuer had left before hurriedly going back to clean up the scene. You cleaned the crime scene spotlessly, only to find you had missed an earring. You know the machinations of the corpse, and you know that this plan had flaws; it was only a matter of time before the case was exposed. You were desperate to find a scapegoat for yourself, otherwise, the corpse would inevitably trace it back to you, brother.
Qin Qianbai became the perfect target in your eyes, a newcomer on the edge of rampaging, with exceptional strength and impulsive anger, making him the perfect suspect for an overzealous murder… Yet, the blame initially thrown onto Huang Qi was also to your liking. Thus, you not only refrained from speaking for Huang Qi but even led the suspicion towards your own subordinate!”
Gongsun Ce sneered, “I originally wanted to see who among those present would show signs of guilt. I didn’t expect it to be you, the ringleader exposing his own flaw. I pretended to be oblivious, deliberately not mentioning the contradiction of the earring, and with this piece of evidence, the real culprit was naturally revealed.
You tried every trick to create chaos, all to pin the blame on someone else and clear your own suspicion. When you saw me bring out the earring, you were thrilled, thinking it would be perfect evidence to frame the lady. Yet, your careful planning unexpectedly revealed the truth…”
Gongsun Ce raised his hand pointing to the deputy of Wing of Death, stating the final conclusion.
“Budman Avis, your hands are stained with the blood of four comrades. You are the real murderer in this case!”
In this world, supernatural powers are countless, and no matter how unimaginable the method of killing might be, it could be devised. At first glance, the evidence in the case could be fabricated props, but the flaws and logical contradictions of the parties involved could never be covered up, bearing more substantial evidence than any other.
As Gongsun Ce said, solely based on the reactions to this earring was enough to pinpoint the real culprit. Qin Qianbai looked at the unfamiliar man with anger and curiosity. Why would he kill his own comrades? Now that the truth was uncovered, what would that man say?
“Ha ha ha…”
At this point, the girl’s well-practiced martial arts brought an almost intuitive alertness. It was like being stared at by a venomous snake, a chilling feeling spreading to the tips of her limbs.
The man was laughing, as he usually did, emitting a coarse laugh. But the fierce look beneath the sunglasses couldn’t be faked; what he displayed was undoubtedly murderous intent, aimed at Gongsun Ce, her, and everyone present!
She almost thought Budman was about to completely turn hostile, swiftly stepping in front of the gray-haired young man to protect him. But soon, the murderous intent shown by Budman disappeared as if it was all her misconception.
The burly man regained his usual demeanor, a simple brute without a trace of cunning. He laughed loudly in front of everyone, “Hahaha! You’ve watched too many detective novels, clown! Just with this little thing? Just with a broken earring, you dare say I personally killed my brother?”
“Go f**k yourself, gray-haired kid!” Budman roared, “This is my organization, my subordinates! It was John the boss and I who started from scratch, using fists and guns to carve out this territory!”
“Ah Huang, I was just very surprised. I feel it’s impossible for this bastard to wrong you…” he turned back to face his subordinate, as if hearing an absurd joke, raising his voice to speak, “What about you? Do you say I would kill my own people?”
“Impossible!” Huang Qi was the first to stand up and support, “That’s complete nonsense!!”
“Absolutely impossible!” “Pure f**king nonsense!” “Gongsun Ce, it must have been you!” “It’s definitely that woman!!”
Suddenly, the crowd erupted into chaos, with not a single person believing Budman was the culprit. Qin Qianbai said angrily, “How can you all be so blind to justice!”
“You need to understand, Qin Qianbai. Wing of Death is a gang organization, and for the thugs, loyalty and relationships are more important than anything else,” Kardesia said irritably. “I think Gongsun Ce is right… but even I can’t believe Budman would do such a thing. Morality is the foundation of their existence, and everything can be talked out openly; resorting to killing makes it hard to get along. To give an inappropriate example, it’s like if someone in your family got… stabbed, would you believe it was done by a relative?”
Qin Qianbai nodded without hesitation, “I would believe it.”
“Why the hell?!”
In the midst of the conversation, Budman had transformed into his intimidating, fierce-faced form and shouted angrily, “Look… even the Red Lion doesn’t believe you! Clown, you’ve gone too far today; you must pay the price for all your madness!!”
However, Gongsun Ce appeared completely unflustered, as if he had anticipated this. He took out the same deck of white playing cards he had at the beginning and slowly shuffled them in his hand.
“How about we go back to basics and play a game? The rules are simple, guess what happens next…”
“Next, I’ll blow your head off!!”
“And I guess… someone doesn’t want to really start fighting and is more eager to clear his own suspicion in front of his subordinates, so he’ll initiate a backup plan, framing the Mutual Assistance Association or the Light Core,” Gongsun Ce said, dragging out his words. “Within half a minute at the latest, a member of Wing of Death will come running here frantically, holding a photo or a phone. He’ll anxiously tell everyone that Kova’s body has been found. As for the location of the body, it should be on the border between the Thorn District and the Witch Ring Road, perhaps around a big bridge or something.”
This time, Budman’s expression truly changed.
He was about to say something when a call came from not far away.
“Brother! Brother!!”
It was a gangster dressed in black with earrings, clutching a photo, and running anxiously, “It’s Kova! Kova’s body has been found!!”
The informant of Wing of Death came here and saw everyone’s strangely awkward expressions; he quickly lowered his voice and said softly, “It’s, it’s in an empty house on Witch Ring Road…”
No one spoke; everyone just stood there under the scorching sun, the thugs sweating profusely, their dry and hoarse voices filling the air.
Gongsun Ce fiddled with the poker cards in his hand. He shuffled them expertly, the white cards snapping crisply like a spring as he extended and closed them, looking as effortless as a magician performing on stage with a top hat and long coat.
“Frankly, Budman, I think this act is too pretentious, and I don’t want to play anymore. But things have come to this point, so I still have to utter this clichéd line that everyone is tired of hearing…”
Gongsun Ce casually flicked a poker card and gathered the rest. He slowly turned the flicked card between his fingers, showing its face to everyone.
The card depicted an extravagantly dressed figure, wearing bizarre outfits, sporting a comical hat, heavily made up, and smiling.
Gongsun Ce, holding up the card, said:
“Now, who is the clown?”