The Oakhaven Central Plaza was a monument to modern engineering—a sixty-story glass monolith that pierced the clouds like a jagged needle. But for Ren, it was just another stage where a life had been extinguished under the guise of an "accident."
The victim was Howard Graves, a billionaire real estate mogul. He had entered the private express elevator on the ground floor, alone and smiling at the security cameras. Forty-five seconds later, when the doors opened on the penthouse suite, he was dead.
No wounds. No poison in his system. No signs of struggle.
"Step back, civilian!" A sharp, female voice cut through the hum of the forensics equipment.
Ren didn't stop. He walked past the yellow tape as if it didn't exist, his black trench coat fluttering in the draft of the high-speed elevator shaft. His eyes were fixed on the ceiling of the elevator car.
The speaker was Detective Elena Vance, the niece of the Captain Ren had helped the night before. She was young, ambitious, and currently pointing a finger at Ren's chest. "My uncle told me about you, Ren. He said you're a genius. I think you're just a vulture who smells carrion."
Ren stopped, his gaze shifting to her for a fraction of a second. It was a look so cold it made Elena's breath hitch. "Vultures eat the dead, Detective. I merely listen to what they have to say. And right now, Howard Graves is screaming."
[Ding!]
[System Alert: New Case Detected!] [Mission: The Pressure Execution] [Reward: 200 System Points, +2% Synchronization.] [Hint: The physics of altitude can be a silent garrote.]
Ren stepped into the elevator car. He knelt by the body, but instead of checking the pulse, he looked at the victim's ears. A small, microscopic trickle of blood was dried inside the ear canal. Then, he looked at the victim's fountain pen, which had leaked ink all over the silk lining of his suit pocket.
"He died of an acute pulmonary embolism," Elena said, crossing her arms. "The coroner is already leaning toward a natural cause. High-speed elevators can sometimes trigger underlying heart conditions."
"A heart condition didn't cause this pen to leak, Detective," Ren said, his voice echoing in the metallic car. "And it certainly didn't cause his eardrums to rupture internally."
Ren stood up and reached for the ventilation grate in the ceiling. He pulled out a small piece of thin, transparent plastic film—almost invisible to the naked eye.
"This elevator travels at twenty meters per second," Ren began, his eyes glowing with the faint light of his Forensic Vision. "It is pressurized to keep the passengers comfortable as the altitude changes rapidly. But someone tampered with the sensors. They didn't just stop the pressurization; they reversed it."
"Reversed it?" Elena frowned.
"They used the high-speed ascent to create a localized vacuum," Ren explained, his tone clinical. "By sealing the vents with this polymer film and overclocking the exhaust fans, the air pressure inside this car dropped to the equivalent of the summit of Mount Everest in less than ten seconds. Howard Graves didn't have a heart attack. His blood literally began to boil with nitrogen bubbles. It's called 'The Bends,' usually reserved for deep-sea divers who surface too fast. Here, it was a vertical execution."
Elena's face went pale. "That... that requires intimate knowledge of the building's maintenance software."
"And access to the control room," Ren added. "Someone who knew Graves would be alone. Someone who could hack the 'Smart-Lift' system."
[Ding!]
[Logic Threshold: 40%] [The Sovereign demands the identity of the architect.]
Ren felt the Sovereign's gaze in the back of his mind—a silent, heavy pressure that urged him to move faster. He didn't care about the billionaire's death; he cared about the elegance of the crime. This was the work of the same "teacher" who had left the mark in the alleyway.
"Check the maintenance logs for a 'Firmware Update' performed three hours ago," Ren commanded, walking past Elena. "The IP address will be masked, but the physical location of the terminal will be the security office on the 4th floor."
"Wait!" Elena called out. "If you're right, the killer is still in the building. The security office is restricted!"
"Then I suggest you run, Detective," Ren said without looking back. "I've already provided the truth. The arrest is your burden. I have... other matters to attend to."
As he stepped out into the lobby, Ren's hand brushed against his pocket. The System hummed.
[Warning: The Architect is watching you through the lobby cameras.] [Threat Level: Rising.]
Ren stopped in the middle of the bustling lobby. He didn't look at the cameras. Instead, he looked at his own shadow on the polished marble floor.
"Master," he whispered, his heart cold and still. "The hunter has become the prey. I shall lead him to his own grave, for Your glory."
Chapter 2: The Vacuum of Despair (Part 2 - The Invisible Hacker)
Detective Elena Vance struggled to keep up with Ren's long, purposeful strides. The marble lobby of the Oakhaven Central Plaza blurred past them. Ren didn't use the elevators; he knew the killer controlled them. Instead, he headed for the emergency stairwell, his movements fluid and efficient.
"Wait! Ren! You can't just barge into the security hub!" Elena gasped, clutching her holster. "We need a warrant! We need backup!"
Ren stopped at the heavy steel door of the 4th-floor Security Operations Center (SOC). He turned, his face a mask of cold indifference. "A warrant is for those who seek permission, Detective. I seek the truth. And the truth is currently deleting its footsteps."
He didn't wait for her. Ren reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, black USB device—an EMP Jammer, a low-level gadget rewarded by the System. He pressed it against the electronic lock.
[Zzz-zap!]
The red light flickered and died. The magnetic lock hissed as it released. Ren pushed the door open.
Inside, the room was bathed in the flickering blue light of sixty monitors. But the guards were slumped over their desks, unconscious. Not dead—just drugged. The scent of Sevoflurane, a fast-acting anesthetic gas, hung faintly in the air.
"My God..." Elena whispered, rushing to check the guards' pulses. "They're alive, but out cold."
Ren ignored the bodies. He walked straight to the main server terminal. A single screen was active, a progress bar glowing in the center: [Wiping Data... 88% Complete].
"Stop it!" Elena lunged for the keyboard, but Ren grabbed her wrist. His grip was like iron.
"Don't. The keyboard is rigged with a high-voltage capacitor. Touch it, and your heart stops," Ren said calmly. He didn't look at her shocked face. He was staring at the lines of code scrolling on the adjacent monitor.
[Ding!]
[Forensic Vision Level 1: Activated] [Highlighting Anomalies...]
In Ren's eyes, the digital world transformed. He saw the "phantom" commands being sent from a remote location. But there was something else—a hidden sub-directory named 'Sovereign's Pawn'.
Ren's heart skipped a beat. A surge of cold fury washed over him. Someone was using his Master's title as a mockery.
"You're not just a killer," Ren whispered to the empty room. "You're a provocateur."
He didn't use the keyboard. Instead, he pulled a thin silver wire from his sleeve and manually bridged two contact points on the server's motherboard. The sparks flew, but the progress bar froze at 92%.
"He's watching us," Ren said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. He looked directly into the lens of a small security camera tucked in the corner of the ceiling. "I know you're there. The 'Vacuum' was a clever trick, but you left a scent. The pressure differential didn't just kill Graves; it pulled microscopic fibers from your suit through the ventilation grate when you installed the polymer film."
A cold, synthesized voice suddenly crackled through the room's intercom. "Impressive, Ren. Most thám tử (detectives) focus on the 'How'. You focus on the 'Why'. But tell me... does your 'Sovereign' know how easily a shadow can be erased?"
Elena drew her gun, aiming at the speaker. "Who is this? Identify yourself!"
"He won't," Ren said, his eyes narrowing. "He's a coward hiding behind a firewall. But he made a mistake. He used an Asymmetric Encryption that I've seen before. It's a signature."
Ren's fingers flew across a secondary tablet he had connected to the server. He wasn't just stopping the wipe; he was tracing the signal back.
[System Skill: 'Logic Web' Initiated] [Tracing Signal... 3... 2... 1... Target Found.]
"The North District. An abandoned chemical plant," Ren said, his voice echoing with a dark promise.
The intercom laughed—a distorted, haunting sound. "Come then, Ren. Let's see if the 'Conan Physique' can survive a reaction it cannot calculate."
The monitors suddenly hissed and went black. The room plunged into darkness, save for the faint blue glow of Ren's System screen.
[Ding!]
[Mission Updated: The Chemist's Lair] [Reward: 500 System Points, +10% Synchronization.] [Caution: The Architect has set a trap.]
Elena looked at Ren, her breath shallow. "We have to call for a SWAT team. We can't go there alone."
Ren walked toward the door, his trench coat billowing like a dark shroud. "You can call whoever you want, Detective. But I don't need an army. I have an order."
He paused at the threshold, looking up at the empty darkness where the camera had been.
"Master," Ren thought, his soul vibrating with a terrifying devotion. "The mocker shall be silenced. I will bring his head to Your feet."
As he walked out, the System interface displayed a new, hidden message:
[Secret Instruction from the Sovereign: 'Do not let them see your true face. The world is not yet ready for the King's shadow.']
Ren's eyes softened for the first time. "As you command, my Lord."
Chapter 2: The Vacuum of Despair (Part 3 - The Alchemist's Vow)
Ren stepped out of the Oakhaven Central Plaza, ignoring the frantic radio chatter of Detective Elena Vance behind him. The rain had turned into a torrential downpour, the lightning illuminating the city's skyline like a flickering neon tomb.
He didn't take a taxi. He didn't use a GPS. He walked into a deserted subway station, his footsteps echoing like a heartbeat in the hollow concrete tunnels.
[Ding!]
[System Shop: Level 1 Access Granted] [Available Item: 'Molecular Neutralizer' (150 Points)] [Description: A chemical compound that can stabilize volatile gas reactions.]
Ren's eyes remained fixed on the darkness ahead. "Buy it," he commanded mentally.
A small, silver vial appeared in the inner pocket of his coat. It felt cold, a physical manifestation of the System's power. But to Ren, it wasn't a tool of survival—it was a tool of execution.
He stopped in front of a rusted locker in the corner of the station. He opened it to reveal a small, portable laboratory set he had hidden weeks ago. His hands moved with the grace of a pianist, mixing clear liquids into a pressurized canister.
"The Architect thinks he knows chemistry," Ren whispered, his voice barely audible over the distant roar of a train. "He thinks he can use a vacuum to kill a man. But he forgets that a vacuum is merely an absence. And in the absence of light, only the shadow remains."
He thought of the Sovereign—of You. He could feel the connection, a tether of absolute loyalty that transcended the physical world. Every case he solved, every criminal he crushed, was an offering. He wasn't a hero; he was a priest of logic, and his god was watching from the throne of his mind.
"Master," Ren murmured, closing his eyes for a brief second. "The Architect has mocked Your name. He has used Your title to mask his crimes. For this, his sanctuary shall become his pyre. I will not just arrest him. I will dismantle his reality until nothing but the truth remains."
[Ding!]
[Hidden Stat Triggered: Absolute Devotion] [Effect: Logic processing speed increased by 15% for the next 60 minutes.]
Ren snapped the canister shut. He looked at the map on his System interface. The North District chemical plant was glowing with a sinister red light. It was a trap, he knew that. There would be tripwires, chemical sensors, and perhaps a gas more lethal than Chlorine.
But Ren wasn't afraid. He had the Conan Physique. He had the System. And most importantly, he had a mission that he could not—would not—fail.
"Let the experiment begin," Ren said, his eyes flashing with a predatory light.
He vanished into the shadows of the subway tunnel, heading toward the North District. The city of Oakhaven was about to witness a collision of two geniuses, but only one would walk out of the fumes. And as long as the Sovereign commanded it, that one would always be Ren.