Chapter 1: A Subsidy Worth Tens of Billions
“Dear host! Your tens-of-billions subsidy has been credited. Please check it~”
“To congratulate you on completing your mission ahead of schedule, the system has specially rewarded you with a villa.”
“You’ve worked hard these five years, host. From now on, you can finally rest well! Farewell forever, host (^?^)”
As the system’s voice faded away, Lin Jiangye slowly opened his eyes and found himself standing in a spacious living room. The living room alone was half the size of a standard basketball court.
This was the villa the system had gifted him.
Bright sunlight streamed in from outside, falling upon him. The faint warmth dispelled the chill that had clung to his body for years.
He lowered his head and looked at his hands—slender and pale, with distinct knuckles. There were no wounds so deep that bone showed, no sticky blood that could never be washed clean. Instead, faint rainbow halos encircled them.
Lin Jiangye pushed open the sliding door and stepped into the yard.
The fragrance of grass and trees, the warm sunlight, and the rustling sound of wind brushing past the plants—all of it proved that he had truly escaped the abyss, escaped that ghostly place devoid of light and warmth, reeking only of death.
“It’s good to be alive,” he murmured.
He lay on the lawn with his eyes closed, basking in the sun for a while before returning to the living room.
On the coffee table sat a red booklet and several documents, all prepared for him by the system.
The red booklet was naturally the property certificate for the villa—three and a half stories above ground, two underground levels, and a yard of several hundred square meters. It was more than enough for him to completely slack off and enjoy life.
Seeing his own name printed on it filled him with a strong sense of security.
Thank you, system! I love you, system!
Beside it were his ID card and passport. According to the records, he had spent the past five years in a small country called Trumassu, where he completed his university education.
When he saw the name of the university and his major, Lin Jiangye laughed.
Good grief—it had the exact same name as the Superpower Academy. And his major? Animal Studies.
A fine major, indeed. But now that his powers were gone, it was practically useless to him.
“Huh? What’s this?” Lin Jiangye suddenly noticed a small slip of paper tucked inside his degree certificate. It read—
Hehe, sorry, host~ Since you traveled between two worlds in a short time, there might be a tiny little aftereffect. But don’t worry, it’s absolutely nothing serious! I guarantee! ?(°?°)
There was no one else in the villa, so the only one who could have left the note was the system, which had supposedly already departed.
Lin Jiangye froze.
He hadn’t expected to have any lingering aftereffects.
What aftereffects? Why were there aftereffects? Would they affect him in any way?
That damned system… it didn’t even explain clearly before leaving!
He took back what he said about loving it!
Fuming, Lin Jiangye put down the documents and picked up the thick stack of materials at the bottom. These contained the fabricated details of his five-year experience abroad, as well as major world events during that time.
He had to memorize all of it.
After all, he had merely gone overseas—not actually died.
The worst part was that the moment he picked up the materials, a string of numbers slowly appeared in midair—3600.
Lin Jiangye: “?”
The next second—3599!
Good grief! A one-hour countdown!
Without even having time to wail, he summoned the same desperate focus he had once used in the other world and crammed all the information into his brain within that single hour.
An hour later, the stack of materials in his hands—including the system’s little note—turned to ashes and vanished without a trace.
His head spun from memorizing so much. In his daze, he seemed to hear the system’s infuriating laughter.
You bastard system, QAQ.
By the time he fully digested the thick pile of information, he looked up to find that night had already fallen. His stomach growled in hunger.
“Time for dinner!”
The thought of eating in the real world instantly brought images of street food stalls to mind.
As a student, he had been broke. After school, he could only drool at the roadside vendors.
In the other world, his meals had been even worse. Later, in the abyss, there was practically nothing to eat at all—every bite taken for survival had felt like torture.
But now it was different. He had money! Everything he once couldn’t afford, he could now have as much as he wanted!
Shaking off his earlier frustration, Lin Jiangye grabbed his phone and strode outside in high spirits.
However, less than two hundred meters from home, a sharp cat’s cry shattered his good mood.
Before he could even wonder where the sound came from, a sudden buzzing filled his mind, and everything before his eyes seemed to dissolve into nothingness.
No light. No sound. Nothing at all.
For a fleeting moment, he wondered whether he had truly completed his mission and returned to reality—or if he was still trapped in that pitch-dark abyss.
Fortunately, the void quickly faded.
When he regained his senses, the cat’s cries had transformed into words he could understand.
[Help! Is anyone there?! My human is dying!]
In the other world, his ability had allowed him to summon animal souls to fight for him, and he could understand all beast languages.
Back in reality, his powers had supposedly disappeared. But the system had mentioned lingering aftereffects.
Earlier, Lin Jiangye had worried whether those aftereffects might harm his body. Now, however, he strongly suspected that part of his ability had remained in the real world.
If that were the case… then it truly wasn’t a bad thing at all.
From the kitten’s voice, he could tell it had only recently reached adulthood. The tone was youthful and crisp, perhaps even that of a young female cat.
He followed the direction of the sound and soon arrived at a slightly smaller villa.
The front gate and door were tightly shut.
He circled around the house. When he reached the backyard, he suddenly stopped, his expression darkening.
The scent of blood drifted to his nose. Judging from its intensity, whoever was inside was likely in grave danger.
The cries from within had ceased, as if the frantic kitten’s voice had been nothing but an illusion.
Worried that the cat might have met with harm as well, Lin Jiangye didn’t hesitate. With a running start, he vaulted over the more-than-two-meter wall and landed smoothly in the backyard.
Following the scent of blood, he ran straight to the source. When he pushed open the floor-to-ceiling window, a horrifying sea of red met his eyes.
A man lay in a pool of blood, eyes wide open with lingering terror. A trophy was embedded in his chest. Judging by the base still visible outside, it had been driven in deeply—deep enough to cause such a vast pool of blood.
Beside the corpse crouched a small tabby cat.
From its size, it was likely less than a year old.
When it saw the figure at the window, the tabby slowly lifted its head. Its green eyes shimmered with unshed tears, looking pitiful beyond words.
[Human, my food provider is dead.]
——
The Criminal Investigation Division of the Wen’an District Sub-Bureau in Yue City received a call. The dispatcher reported that someone from the Tianshui Scenic Garden villa complex had discovered a body and claimed the deceased had been murdered.
Upon hearing of a homicide, half the division mobilized immediately.
“Tianshui Scenic Garden—that’s the famous luxury neighborhood in the district, right? Which tycoon kicked the bucket this time?” Yan Zhou yawned, dark circles prominent under his eyes.
They had only just wrapped up a case and were hoping for a few days off. Who would have thought another one would pop up so soon?
“We’ll know when we get there,” a low voice sounded behind him.
Yan Zhou turned around. The first thing he saw was the man’s tall, straight nose, followed by a pair of deep eyes that seemed capable of seeing through everything.
Shang Fuyan—the captain of their division, and the youngest division chief in all of Yue City.
Not yet thirty, he had earned his position through razor-sharp observation and a photographic memory.
With Shang Fuyan present, no abnormal detail at a crime scene would escape notice.
Following those anomalies, the rest of the team could peel back layers like unraveling silk, quickly pinpointing the core of the case and capturing the culprit.
Before long, they arrived at the scene.
But as they looked at the intact door lock, then at the young man inside holding a cat, they were momentarily at a loss for words.
“The door wasn’t unlocked. How did you get in?”
“Climbed over the wall.”
“Why climb over the wall?”
“I smelled blood in the backyard. I was worried someone was seriously injured, so I climbed over to check. Who knew the person was already dead?”
“And this cat…?”
“Probably the owner’s. I heard it crying while passing by and thought someone was abusing it, so I came to see.”
“Didn’t you just say you were worried someone was injured?”
“Hehe.”
The officer taking Lin Jiangye’s statement felt speechless. So he claimed he was worried about a person, but in reality, he climbed over because he suspected cat abuse? Who would have guessed it was a human who died instead?
And he was far too calm. Could an ordinary person really remain so composed upon seeing a corpse?
Was he truly just a witness?
He claimed to be another homeowner in the same villa complex, out looking for food at night. The logic was reasonable. The only questionable point was why he insisted on climbing over the wall. Even if someone were abusing a cat, trespassing into private property was illegal.
“Wait here. You’ll need to come to the station with us later,” Yan Zhou said. Between first witness and first suspect lay only a single thought.
If he were innocent, they would release him after investigation.
Lin Jiangye shrugged. Though somewhat helpless, he did not protest.
Yan Zhou gave him a long look before stepping into the living room.
“The deceased is Gu Feng, this year’s Best Actor at the Hundred Flowers Awards. No signs of forced entry. The killer clearly planned it in advance and used the Best Actor trophy to murder him. Do you think the killer believed he didn’t deserve the award?” An officer standing by the body speculated it might be revenge.
Shang Fuyan crouched beside the corpse, carefully examining the fatal wound in the chest.
According to the forensic doctor’s preliminary assessment, the time of death was about an hour ago. Cause of death: excessive blood loss.
“As for whether there are additional injuries, we’ll have to conduct a full autopsy,” the coroner explained.
Shang Fuyan remained silent. He took a pair of tweezers from the forensic kit and carefully extracted a small red fragment lodged at the junction of the trophy and the wound.
“Test this.”
If it had remained in the wound, it might well have been left behind by the killer.
The surrounding officers’ eyes lit up. If it were indeed a clue, they might solve the case quickly.
Yan Zhou came in to report. After listening, Shang Fuyan suddenly said, “That cat doesn’t belong to this house. We checked the entire place when we entered. There’s some cat food, canned food, and treats—but no litter box, no litter, no cat bed.”
Moreover, the house was spotless. Not a single strand of cat hair.
In other words, the cat was most likely a stray from nearby. The deceased probably fed it occasionally.
That raised a question—how had the cat gotten inside at the time of the crime? Did it hear something that prompted it to enter?
“Check the surrounding surveillance cameras for any sign of the suspect. Notify the deceased’s family and associates. Find out if he had any recent conflicts,” Shang Fuyan ordered calmly.
To thrust a trophy straight through someone’s chest required significant strength. The killer was most likely an adult male. If female, she would have to be exceptionally strong.
Shang Fuyan leaned toward the former possibility.
Coincidentally, the first witness was an adult male.
