Meow, meow~

As dawn broke, the sky gradually turned a pearly white, and the piercing sound of a cat's cry echoed intermittently from next door.

At first listen, it almost sounded like a baby wailing at the top of its lungs.

Meow, meow~

The sound grew increasingly shrill and miserable.

Taehyung got up and walked to the neighboring apartment. Just as he was about to knock, he noticed the door was ajar.

There was no response, only the cat's continued cries, mixed with the faint sound of sharp claws scratching against something. In the silent early morning, it felt somewhat spine-chilling.

A familiar scent wafted faintly through the air.

The metallic smell of fresh blood.

The voice echoed in the hallway.

In the dim light filtering through the cream-colored lace curtains, he could see the pregnant woman lying on the wooden floor.

The floor had already been stained a dark red with blood.

Her expression was contorted, her body twisted in an unnatural position. Her mouth was tightly sealed with black duct tape, and her hands were bound behind her back with rope.

Meow, meow~

The pitiful cat's cries were coming from inside her round, slightly quivering belly.

Her stomach bulged and pulsed, the centipede-like wound stitches on it trembling as something inside struggled to break free.

Woo~ Woo~

The wail of police sirens shattered the early morning tranquility of the Ziweili Residential Area.

Ziweili was a middle-class neighborhood in the old town of Jiangzhou City. While property prices were quite high, the infrastructure was outdated. Some buildings didn't even have elevators installed, let alone security cameras.

The complex was arranged with four units per building, two households per unit. The crime scene was in Room 541, Unit 3, Building 8.

The closed layout of the complex meant there were no onlookers gathered at the crime scene. It was eerily quiet.

Several police officers pushed open the door. The first thing they saw was the woman lying in a pool of blood. Her face was contorted, her bloodshot eyes bulging, as if she had endured immense suffering before death.

The woman's top was pulled up, revealing her cut-open belly. Her internal organs were fully exposed, as if savaged by a ferocious beast. The everted flesh was covered in scratch marks.

Next to the corpse lay a toolbox containing a full set of dissection instruments. The scissors and scalpel were stained with blood.

The furniture and items in the room were neatly arranged, with no signs of a struggle.

On the fabric sofa curled a small figure. His entire body was scrunched up into a ball. he wore bloodstained plastic gloves on his hands and a white fluffy pajama with SpongeBob SquarePants prints, spattered with blood stains. In his arms, he cradled a blood-covered kitten. On his feet were disposable shoe covers.

Meow~

Hearing the noise, the little cat with a notched ear struggled slightly and let out a cry.

yoongi approached the sofa, about to check the "body" when suddenly, he found himself staring into a pair of jet-black eyes.

yoongi stumbled back several steps in fright.

The other officers rolled their eyes at him.

yoongi watched in disbelief as the "corpse" sat up. His movements were slow, pausing after each action as if he needed to gather strength for the next.

he glanced at them briefly before quickly averting his gaze, looking down at the cat in his arms.

All the officers present stared at Taehyung in surprise.

he looked like a high school student, with shoulder-length short hair and a small stature. His skin was deathly pale, and his expression was blank. The blood-stained white pajamas made him look like a killer from a horror movie, and a mentally unstable one at that.

Taehyung didn't respond to him. he kept his head down and continued his statement mechanically:

His voice sounded like it was generated by AI, flat and emotionless.

yoongi couldn't help whispering to j hope, who was crouched on the ground collecting footprints:

j hope nodded in agreement and whispered back,

Taehyung seemed not to hear their whispered conversation and continued his mechanical narration of the events:

yoongi pointed at the victim's stomach, his mouth agape.

Everyone present felt a chill run down their spines as they looked at the victim's mutilated abdomen, all thinking of something terrifying.

Finally finished, Taehyung let out a sigh of relief.

These people were so rude, constantly interrupting him. Fortunately, he had strong resistance to interference and was able to describe the course of events fluently and clearly.

Meow~ The dirty little cat meowed loudly, as if agreeing with his words.

Amidst their shock, those present began to discuss the killer's motive.

Taehyung corrected, looking at the victim.

Old Qin, the forensic expert, had already conducted a preliminary examination of the victim's body.

Old Qin glanced at Taehyung and the kitten in his arms, then used tweezers to extract a cat hair from the victim's abdominal cavity.

Taehyung glanced at Old Qin, then quickly averted his gaze, muttering softly,

Old Qin suddenly felt that this Taehyung looked familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before.

Creative... Zhang felt a chill run down his spine. How deranged must the killer be to stuff a live cat into a pregnant woman's belly?

yoongi turned to Taehyung and asked puzzledly,

Taehyung said, his eyelids drooping as he struggled against sleep.

Taehyung placed the cat in yoongi's arms.

yoongi's expression was somewhat troubled.

Taehyung thought for a moment, then conceded,

yoongi had expected to have to "pressure" him a bit to get him to cooperate properly. He didn't anticipate he would be so agreeable.

Taehyung flashed him a stiff smile, his tone carrying a hint of excitement.

yoongi shuddered.

This boy looked quite cute, but when he smiled, why was it so eerie? His smile was rigid, resembling the forced grin of a puppet doll from a horror movie.

Moreover, why did he seem so happy about going to the police station?

...

...

...

The police conducted a thorough search of Room 541. This apartment was likely the scene of the first crime.

There were no signs of forced entry on the door lock, and no suspicious traces were found inside. Only the victim's fingerprints were discovered in the apartment.

The deceased was Lee Nari, 28 years old, unmarried, without a steady job, living alone, and 8 months pregnant.

Squeak~

A very soft sound of the door opening came from behind, and Taehyung, who was sprawled on the table, immediately opened his eyes.

he wasn't sure how long he had been in this quiet interrogation room, but fortunately, he had managed to get a rare good sleep.

he decided to renovate his bedroom, modeling it after this interrogation room. Maybe then he could sleep this soundly every night.

The door was pushed open, and two people walked in.

The first person Taehyung saw was the talkative young police officer from this morning. Behind him was a tall man wearing a black leather jacket, with sharp features and a fierce expression.

Taehyung had seen his photo before; he was jeon Jungkook, the leader of the Special Crime Unit. His eyes lit up slightly. This man had an excellent physique, with well-proportioned muscle lines, originally very suitable to be a human specimen.

Taehyung stared at him intently, his burning gaze like a sharp scalpel. In his mind, he had already begun to dissect him, separating all the organs and muscles from his body—it would make a perfect skeleton.

Taehyung liked bones. he had already collected many beautiful bones, but this was the first time he had seen such a perfect human skeleton.

that this was a living person, and he would probably live for a very long time.

yoongi noticed that Taehyung's previous dejection had disappeared and was a bit surprised.

Why had Taehyung's empty eyes suddenly become so bright and focused? yoongi glanced at Jungkook again, wondering if it was their boss's good looks that had captivated him.

Ignoring Taehyung's intense gaze, Jungkook pulled out a chair and sat opposite him, forcing Taehyung to meet his eyes.

Although he had practiced for many years, Taehyung still found it difficult to maintain eye contact with others.

Taehyung forced himself to look into his eyes, thinking this would make his expression appear more sincere.

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Jungkook's expression showed a hint of bewilderment, but he quickly adjusted back to his cold, expressionless mode.

If it weren't for the fact that this was an interrogation room and yoongi was sitting beside him, he would have very much liked to pick Taehyung up and throw him out.

he looked so small, he could lift him with one hand.

yoongi tapped the table, quickly interrupting Taehyung's words, afraid he might say something even stranger.

yoongi cautiously glanced at Jungkook, who remained composed.

As expected of their boss, having seen many things, his emotions were quite stable. There were quite a few girls and boys who pursued Jungkook, and many who desired his body, but this was the first time yoongi had seen someone coveting his corpse.

Taehyung slowly shifted his gaze, landing on yoongi.

yoongi immediately glared at him fiercely, about to prevent Taehyung from setting his sights on his body, when he heard Taehyung say softly,

yoongi opened his notebook.

yoongi's pen paused slightly,

Taehyung thought for a moment, then frankly said,

yoongi's eyes lit up:

Taehyung lowered his head and stared at the table surface. This table had seen some years; its surface was peeling in places, looking pitted and uneven. he felt inexplicably irritated.

Jungkook suddenly interjected into their conversation.

Taehyung looked up at him for a moment, then quickly averted his gaze, shrinking his head into his scarf like a quail.

Silence, a long silence.

His tone was calm, not at all aggressive.

Taehyung's lips moved, and with an expression of "trying hard to conceal something, but not succeeding very well," he explained slowly:

When he heard the word "noise," Taehyung unconsciously nodded in agreement with his words. he really did hate noise.

Jungkook's fingers lightly tapped the table, as if tapping on Taehyung's psychological defenses

The soundproofing in that apartment complex was very poor. Even if the killer had been as quiet as possible while dissecting the victim in the room, it would have been impossible not to hear any sound at all.

yoongi and his team had interviewed the residents above and below the deceased's apartment. They all mentioned that around 2 AM last night, they had heard the sound of objects being dragged across the floor from Room 541. But because the deceased often made noise in the middle of the night and had a bad temper, they didn't go to complain.

Yet Taehyung said he hadn't heard any sounds last night. It was obvious that Taehyung might be lying.

Taehyung's fingers traced the scratches on the table surface. he wanted to hide the scratches, but doing so only made them more apparent.

Just when Jungkook thought Taehyung wasn't going to speak, he suddenly looked at him and said,

Taehyung smiled at him

yoongi looked at their conversation in confusion, wondering if he had missed something. Why did he suddenly not understand what was going on?

Taehyung quickly wiped the smile off his face. he didn't intend to speak anymore. he could prove it, but doing so would reveal his secret. So he decided to remain silent.

At this moment, a knock on the door interrupted their conversation.

The person knocking was Officer Chen, who was in charge of personnel. She looked at yoongi,

Jungkook pointed at Taehyung, who was sitting obediently across from them:

yoongi stared at Taehyung with wide eyes,

Taehyung raised his hand high

Officer Chen frowned slightly. Didn't the chief just say he had recruited a top talent? How come it's a young boy? he couldn't still be in college, could he?

Officer Chen agreed casually, then thought, didn't he already have a physical before being hired? But this young boy did look a bit sickly, so it might be necessary to check him again.

Officer Chen glanced at Taehyung's dazed state and said

Taehyung's smile stiffened. he looked at Jungkook very seriously, then casually averted his gaze

After Taehyung left, yoongi asked curiously,

yoongi felt that this question wasn't particularly helpful for solving the case.

Jungkook replied, his gaze fixed on Taehyung's retreating figure with an inscrutable expression.

yoongi furrowed his brow. Their boss rarely focused so intently on anyone—except for the most vicious criminals in prison.

So—

yoongi had a sudden realization. He speculated,

yoongi felt his deduction was brilliant, logically sound, and entirely plausible. He felt he hadn't let down the police academy's careful training.

However, he saw Jungkook looking at him with a puzzled expression.

yoongi began to lose confidence.

That was certainly impossible. He had worked so hard to become a civil servant!

...

...

...

The Jiangzhou City Police Department had recruited many new talents this year through their talent introduction program. To show their importance to these new hires, the department specifically held a simple welcome party for them.

Because most of the positions were for police technical roles with low physical requirements, this batch of new recruits was generally quite slim and weak-looking.

Even so, Taehyung stood out prominently among them.

he was like a solitary island, having almost zero interaction with others.

Chief Wang Yong and Jungkook stood outside the hall, watching Taehyung through the window.

Next to them stood a young man named Kim namjoon, a criminal psychology expert. He frowned slightly as he observed Taehyung.

Taehyung was staring blankly at a fake tree, completely out of place in the lively environment.

yoongi, who was passing by with some documents, couldn't help but chime in when he heard Wang Yong talking about Taehyung.

Wang Yong glanced at yoongi, who immediately shut up, but his eyes still sparkled with gossip.

Jungkook reprimanded him,

yoongi muttered under his breath.

Chief Wang boasted proudly, then handed Taehyung's file to Jungkook.

In recent years, Jiangzhou City had experienced several serial killing cases. Wang Yong had established a Special Crime Unit specifically to investigate such cases.

However, he was having trouble choosing the right members for the team. The older detectives, though experienced, were still using outdated methods to solve cases and often found themselves at a loss when faced with unusual cases.

So he wanted to select some new blood to join this special unit.

Taehyung was one of the talents he had his eye on.

Jungkook casually flipped through Taehyung's resume:

kim Taehyung, 25 years old, graduated from S University with a major in Clinical Medicine, holding two Ph.D. degrees in Neuroscience and Pathology...

Jungkook's gaze fell on the self-introduction page:

Jungkook's mouth twitched slightly. This self-introduction was indeed quite strange.

But then again, Taehyung was strange in every aspect. This resume suited him personality perfectly.

Jungkook glanced at Taehyung again. His gaze had finally left that aesthetically unpleasing plastic tree, only to fixate on a pot of fake flowers.

He really couldn't understand what the Chief found satisfying about this young boy. he was like a little robot, and a malfunctioning one at that. Was it because of his impressive academic credentials?

Jungkook said with dissatisfaction,

yoongi was about to explain for Jungkook but was silenced by his glare.

Wang Yong didn't finish his sentence. Just by observing Taehyung a little more closely, one could notice that he seemed to never make eye contact with others.

Jungkook was a bit surprised.

namjoon gave him a cold look.

Wang Yong was also skeptical of namjoon's judgment.

namjoon turned to page seven, which contained a psychological test report:

Subject: Kim Taehyung [Mental Health Dimension: Scale: SCL-90 Scores for each indicator (scores over 2 require attention): Somatization: 1.34; Obsessive-Compulsive: 1.82; Interpersonal Sensitivity: 1.41; Depression: 1.02; Anxiety: 1.29; Hostility: 1.54; Phobic Anxiety: 1.13; Paranoid Ideation: 1.01; Psychoticism: 1.21; Additional Items: 1.32. Mental State Evaluation: All indicators normal, no symptoms of depression or anxiety... High level of mental health.] [Personality Dimension: Scale: Big Five Personality Scores for each indicator: Openness: 48 (High); Conscientiousness: 45 (High); Extraversion: 43 (High); Agreeableness: 49 (High); Neuroticism: 19 (Low) Personality Evaluation: Extroverted, helpful, reliable, emotionally stable, skilled at independent thinking.] [Ability Dimension: Scale: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale IQ Test Score: 186. Ability Evaluation: Intelligence at an exceptionally high level.]

Wang Yong looked at Taehyung and remained silent for a while.

The welcome party lasted exactly 1 hour, 32 minutes, and 17 seconds.

Taehyung found it excruciating. he desperately wanted to rush to the autopsy room and continue dissecting his unfortunate neighbor.

he had been too tired this morning and only got halfway through the autopsy before falling asleep from exhaustion.

There was no dispute about the cause of death, but the method of death was so unique.

So Taehyung was eager to figure out how the killer had come up with such a creative method of murder.

he even thought that if he were the killer, he could have done it more perfectly. he could have made the kitten stay quietly in the victim's belly, then be "born" like a baby.

Taehyung vividly imagined the scene in his mind:

Accompanied by a series of meows, an adorable kitten crawls out of a human woman's body.

Officer Chen's voice interrupted Taehyung's fantasy.

Taehyung looked at her, momentarily stunned.

Taehyung felt a bit irritated. he disliked psychological tests and despised those self-righteous psychological experts even more.

...

...

...