Volume One, Chapter Seventeen: Go Find the Other Shore Yourself

After understanding the sequence of events, Wang Xu suddenly realized the truth.

What shattered Bai Chen’s composure was the pride ingrained deep within him.

From a young age, he excelled at observation and possessed remarkable logical reasoning skills. At fifteen, he helped his father, a fellow detective, solve a cold case using only information from news reports. The following year, he was promoted from the police academy directly to the city public security bureau. In just three years, he cracked countless difficult and complex cases. The safety of Fanlou City even experienced a revival because of this promising young prodigy.

“Senior brother once said, ‘Cases are made by people, and people inevitably leave behind clues.’”

No wonder these two cases had such a profound impact on Bai Chen.

Ran Yi couldn’t help but ask, “If Officer Bai’s record is so outstanding, why is he still working at a small branch station in the city?”

Wang Xu paused for a moment, then silently turned away.

“Sigh, the bigger the tree, the more it attracts wind. If senior brother’s father hadn’t gotten into trouble, he probably would have risen quickly by now.”

After a while, Bai Chen pushed open the door and entered. His previously gloomy expression vanished, and that handsome face now bore an unwavering resolve.

Truly a top-tier detective, Ran Yi thought silently.

Bai Chen said, “Sorry for holding everyone up earlier. Have you discussed anything new?”

Wang Xu scratched his head. “Senior brother, I double-checked the surveillance footage just now… it really has changed, but we don’t know why yet.”

Bai Chen turned to Ran Yi. “What about you?”

“Me?” Ran Yi furrowed his brows. How could he, a college student with no case experience, be expected to organize clues? But he dared not meet Bai Chen’s unyielding gaze directly.

He could only look at the stacks of materials on the table.

Interrogation records, preliminary summaries of the ‘Other Shore’ function, altered surveillance footage…

Ran Yi closed his eyes tightly. Instantly, the voices of the clues flooded his mind.

This was his extraordinary learning ability. Ever since childhood, before exams, he only needed to skim the syllabus once. Even if he couldn’t memorize everything at the time, during the test, he would close his eyes and recall the content clearly.

Now, this “copying” ability finally came in handy, as Ran Yi carefully reviewed every detail of the clues.

Tang Hui seemed possessed during the interview, possessing memories that did not exist; the ‘Other Shore’ function was merely a self-deceptive dream; the surveillance footage showed impossible scenes... and so on.

Suddenly, Ran Yi realized something and opened his eyes sharply.

“Officer Bai, what if we change our perspective and assume the real world cannot be altered?”

Bai Chen asked, “What do you mean?”

Ran Yi responded, “Officer Bai, when exactly did you obtain the original surveillance footage you mentioned?”

Bai Chen replied, “At six-thirty this morning. After rushing to the crime scene and before arresting Tang Hui, due to time constraints and fearing anomalies like what happened with Jin Jingyang, I privately accessed the footage using my special agent privileges.”

As Ran Yi had suspected, he smiled faintly. “So you were the only one who watched the footage at that time.”

Seeing Bai Chen nod, Ran Yi continued, “Professor Hu Chuan once said the ‘Other Shore’ works by reducing the number of observers to create Schrödinger’s cat, placing the subject in a superposed quantum state. In other words, if only one person watches the footage, it’s hard to guarantee what they see is real.”

Bai Chen showed disbelief. “Logically it makes sense, but I only observed inside the ‘Other Shore’ without activating the machine…”

“If Tang Hui can have false memories, it’s natural you might have unconsciously forgotten some yourself.”

Ran Yi took out a pen and drew a timeline on the whiteboard.

“At 3:30, Zou Yao reported to the police. Ten minutes later, officers arrived on the scene. From what I know, fingerprint comparison usually takes about half an hour. So, presumably, you only began investigating the surveillance after confirming Tang Hui’s fingerprints at the scene. But isn’t it strange? You accessed the footage at 6:30, yet only arrested Tang Hui near the third class period, close to ten in the morning. That’s a gap of over three hours.”

Bai Chen frowned and glanced at Wang Xu, but it was of no use.

Wang Xu had been supervising the lab results during that time and didn’t know what Bai Chen was doing.

Ran Yi pressed on, “I can’t be one hundred percent sure, but I have a hypothesis: what if you also entered the ‘Other Shore’?”

According to Ran Yi’s deduction, the footage Bai Chen originally saw was of Tang Hui returning home that night, which contradicted the testimony from Song Qi and others that Tang Hui and Hu Chuan entered the source laboratory the previous evening. Perhaps to verify the truth, or maybe prompted by Song Qi and the others, Bai Chen resolved to enter the ‘Other Shore’ himself.

However, the illusions created by the ‘Other Shore’ muddled Bai Chen’s thoughts, warping his memory of the footage. Combined with possible psychological manipulation by Song Qi and the others, Bai Chen was ultimately led to believe Tang Hui was the real murderer.

Bai Chen returned to his office. In the corner of the wardrobe, there was indeed a set of damp clothes—evidence of being soaked in the nutrient fluid from the ‘Other Shore.’

Everything was turned on its head. From start to finish, Ran Yi firmly believed Tang Hui could not have committed the murder. According to his theory, Tang Hui was lured to the laboratory by Hu Chuan and Song Qi and, after being brainwashed by the ‘Other Shore,’ was sent back home.

“The motive is simple,” Ran Yi said decisively.

“Song Qi, Zou Yao, or both working together have far more reason to kill Hu Chuan than Tang Hui does. Perhaps this was a trap set by the two assistants from the start. They used Tang Hui and the Schrödinger’s cat environment to reduce witnesses, fabricating the scenario that only Tang Hui could have committed the crime. Meanwhile, they manipulated the ‘Other Shore’ to interfere with Tang Hui’s and the police’s thoughts, concealing the truth.”

Bai Chen nodded. Although he couldn’t recall exactly what he did that morning, if it was technically possible, Ran Yi’s theory was plausible.

“Heh, if the ‘Other Shore’ could be controlled to influence the subject, Professor Hu wouldn’t have died.” A woman leaned lazily against the door, watching them with keen interest.

It was Song Qi.

Seeing her, Wang Xu sprang to his feet.

“How did you get here? I locked the interrogation room myself, there’s no way—”

Song Qi sneered with a sinister smile. “Opening the door is just a matter of pulling out a few hairs. But this young man here, while I was away, managed to slander me so thoroughly.”

Ran Yi swallowed nervously as he sized her up. Anyone who could hack the police station’s equipment was no ordinary person.

“Little brother, you really think your little sweetheart is so pure? Let me tell you, anyone who’s been inside the ‘Other Shore’ changes.”

“What do you mean?” Ran Yi challenged. “What secrets does the ‘Other Shore’ hide? What are you concealing?”

Song Qi feigned innocence, spreading her hands.

“No matter how you speculate, solving cases depends on evidence, not imagination. I’ve said all I will. If you want proof—”

“Go find it yourself in the ‘Other Shore.’”