Divine Oracle [Transmigration] (ORACLE)
After hanging up the phone, Song Si took a photo of the banner and sent it to the Security Department, urging them to quickly remove such an embarrassing eyesore.
Once sent, Song Si strode back into the office.
Xu Xinxin, Lin Zheng, and Chu Mingyi were all gathered around the projection wall. Song Si put on his earphones, through which Yu Yiming's voice was transmitting: "According to the female neighbor of Hong Yi, on August 12th, last Friday, she heard screams coming from Hong Yi's residence, lasting about half a minute. At the time, she was home alone and found the sound unsettling. She discussed with her husband over WeChat whether they should call the police. Based on the chat records, the specific time was 1:35 PM, which aligns with my speculation."
The projection displayed the neighbor's chat records.
"Her husband happened to have a half-day off that day and rushed back shortly after receiving his wife's message. Around 1:55 PM, after discussing it, the neighbor couple decided to knock on the door and ask if help was needed. When they opened their door, they saw Hong Yi's door ajar, with Hong Yi standing at the doorway seeing someone off. A stranger, approximately 175 cm tall and wearing a white T-shirt, was heading down their hallway."
"The man was wearing a hat and had his back to them, so there was no relevant description of his appearance. At the time, Hong Yi looked gloomy and was covered in cold sweat. He didn't speak to the neighbors and quickly closed the door."
Chu Mingyi asked, "What about the surveillance footage from the corresponding time period?"
Tian Li immediately replied, "No surveillance footage was found. This neighborhood is super, super, super old—there aren't even cameras at the traffic lights by the entrance. But Brother Yiming is especially amazing, hehe, he found something incredible."
Yu Yiming chuckled softly and said in a low voice, "I used some methods to obtain driving recorder footage from cars that passed by Hong Yi's neighborhood."
Hearing this, two words popped into Song Si's mind: Holy shit.
Yu Yiming actually managed to get driving recorder footage from someone else's car?
First, he had to determine which cars had passed by, then filter which time frames were relevant, and finally copy the driving recorder data from those cars. Without cameras at the intersection, it seemed like an impossible task.
Beside him, Chu Mingyi frowned upon hearing this: "Did you hack the traffic police department's system again? Did you cover your tracks properly? If they come after you this time, I won't be able to protect you."
Song Si thought: Boss, even if the tracks are covered, hacking an official department's system doesn't seem very compliant... Wouldn't it be better to just submit a request?
"No, I didn't, and I won't. Don't worry," Yu Yiming denied in quick succession. "I only hacked an insurance company's system. On the 12th, there happened to be a minor car accident not far from the neighborhood—a rear-end collision where the front car's rear bumper was damaged. I retrieved the driving recorder footage on a whim, and as luck would have it, it worked out."
Everyone held their breath and turned to the projection.
The timestamp on the driving recorder showed 1:57 PM.
The road conditions in the old city were poor. As the driver reached the entrance of Hong Yi’s residential complex, a group of pedestrians collectively jaywalked despite the traffic light being green. The driver impatiently honked the horn, and at that moment, a man wearing a baseball cap entered the frame from the right side of the video.
He seemed to be in a hurry, joining the jaywalking crowd as he passed in front of the vehicle.
No matter how carefully they had planned, avoiding all surveillance cameras near Xingsheng Shopping Mall, they never expected to be caught on a driving recorder in the end.
Yu Yiming slowed the playback to 0.5x speed, allowing everyone to see the mysterious figure more clearly.
The man matched the description—around 175 cm tall, slender build, wearing a white T-shirt, black trousers, and sneakers, with a backpack slung over his shoulder. He kept his cap pulled low, but even so, at 0.5x speed, his profile was clearly captured by the driving recorder.
Right in the middle of his right cheek was a black mole.
Yu Yiming paused the footage, zoomed in on the profile to the maximum, and circled the mole.
"This is the anchor point," Yu Yiming said. "I’ll run facial data analysis immediately and cross-reference it with the citizen identity database. Given the size of the database, I’ll prioritize F City and M City. If there’s no match in either, it might take a few days to get results."
Chu Mingyi broke into a smile. "Yiming, you’ve done an excellent job this time! Data analysis is definitely your forte. We’ve been searching surveillance for two days with no leads."
Song Si couldn’t help but exclaim, "That’s incredible."
Such a capability was almost unimaginable in the criminal investigation systems of his original world.
Yu Yiming coughed lightly over the comms. A moment later, Tian Li’s voice chimed in, "Wow, wow, wow! Yiming, don’t pinch me! It hurts!"
"I thought I was dreaming," Yu Yiming said in a deadpan, serious tone. "Song Si actually praised someone."
Tian Li made a questioning sound over the channel. "Is your ear red? ...It really is! Don’t go, don’t go, Yiming! Let me see again!"
The remaining people in the office exchanged glances.
With a lead in hand, everyone had relaxed considerably.
Xu Xinxin muttered, "...I’m jealous."
Lin Zheng chuckled. "Yeah. Lin Chen’s pinching me too."
Tian Li added, "I’m jealous too..."
Song Si was baffled. Wasn’t praising a colleague’s work a normal part of workplace interaction?
Was the previous Song Si socially awkward?
Chu Mingyi remarked, "Song Si, look, everyone’s jealous."
Under the gaze of three pairs of eyes, Song Si froze for a moment, then cleared his throat and calmly said over the comms, "Xin Xin is amazing too. Last time at the airport, you sniped Li Yunan from such a distance—like a superhero. Brother Zheng is also exceptional, handling the toughest cleanup tasks perfectly every time, and he’s a competent forensic examiner. Xiao Li is incredible too, able to take on ten of me single-handedly. She’s the strongest and prettiest little sister I’ve ever met. As for Chu Mingyi..."
Song Si met his leader’s sharp gaze and paused. "...Well, there’s no need to even mention him. He’s the absolute main force in fights against ability users, incredibly wealthy, and often clears our shopping carts for us."
Tian Li burst into hearty laughter over the channel. Xu Xinxin excitedly hugged Lin Zheng and bounced up and down, while Lin Zheng happily formed a heart shape with his left hand. Meanwhile, Chu Mingyi stared at Song Si, the corners of his mouth nearly reaching his ears as he teased, "You’ve really changed. Coming back after losing your memory, your mouth seems coated in honey—so sweet."
Tian Li said clearly and firmly, "Brother Sisi, you too! If it weren’t for you, I would have died at 17!"
Yu Yiming added, "Song Si, you too."
Lin Zheng chimed in with a smile, "You too, Xiao Si."
Xu Xinxin followed up, "Absolutely, I love Sisi!"
Unconsciously, Song Si’s lips also curved into a smile, recalling how, not long after he had crossed over, these colleagues had given him his only sense of belonging.
It suddenly struck him that novels were just novels, but this was a living world—they, including himself, were all real people in it.
Chu Mingyi clapped his hands, signaling everyone to get back on track. "Alright, everyone back to your stations, keep checking the surveillance. We need evidence to prove that the person who appeared outside Xingsheng Mall is the same one who showed up at Hong Yi’s home."
In good spirits, the group returned to their seats. Song Si walked to the window, pulled back the curtain, and glanced outside. The security team had acted swiftly, already taking down that foolish banner.
Returning to his computer, he didn’t resume his previous work but instead opened a social news app to check online public opinion.
The combination of keywords—Ninghai Pharmaceutical fraud, patient protests, suicide case at a bustling mall, live streams—had propelled the case to dominate most of the trending topics. Even days later, the heat hadn’t subsided.
The core debate revolved around: Should Ninghai medicine be completely banned? If its harm was truly so significant, why had so many patients benefited from it over the years?
From this debate, numerous sub-topics emerged. The two hottest ones were: the high cost of imported drugs and clinical treatments, with some life-saving medications not covered by insurance, leaving patients with nowhere to turn; and the actual side effects of Ninghai medicine—were its effects truly that miraculous?
Hong Yi’s suicide case itself had been buried beneath the uproar of these debates.
Especially the latter topic, which showed dangerous tendencies. Many patients claiming to have taken Ninghai medicine for years came forward online, boasting extravagantly. Others, influenced by the suicide case and public opinion, expressed negative thoughts.
"Late-stage lung cancer, chemotherapy made me lose all my hair. In the end, Ninghai medicine saved my life, and I’ve lived five extra years. Now the medicine is gone, and I don’t want to burden my family. Maybe I should find a place to jump too."
"I don’t have any serious illness, but I accidentally took Ninghai medicine when I had a cold. It’s amazing—since then, my memory has improved a lot. Seriously, I used to be at the bottom of my class, but last semester I actually ranked first."
"Side effects or not, as long as we don’t have children or pass it to the next generation, what does it have to do with others? We who take the medicine can accept it, so why should you forbid it? Cancer patients unite, group number 23XXXXXX. Don’t be the next Hong Yi."
With a refresh, most of these comments had already been deleted. The authorities were now monitoring and controlling the direction of public opinion.
But new similar comments continued to emerge endlessly. Song Si frowned—if Hong Yi’s death was indeed confirmed as a homicide, was this the killer’s goal?
He recalled the escalating protest marches. Most people consciously wore masks, gathering during the same time slots, completely unafraid of the local police presence. It hardly seemed entirely spontaneous or unorganized.
On the surface, Hong Yi had also gone to Xingsheng Mall with the purpose of joining the protests. Recently, supporters of Ninghai medicine had been gathering so frequently in M City—were there a second, or even a third, Hong Yi among them?
The protest crowds needed to be investigated, and the patients who advocated for Ninghai medicine had to be looked into as well. Even if there was no direct connection, there might still be clues hidden among them.
Having made up his mind, Song Si glanced at his watch. It was 6:30, already past quitting time.
He sent a message to Chief Yang Can of the First Division: “Still in the office? I’d like to find Zhang Qi.”
He waited for a while but received no reply from Chief Yang. Either he was driving home from work or in the operating room.
Just as Song Si was considering whether to head over to the First Division right away, Yu Yiming’s voice suddenly came through his earpiece:
“Chief, we’ve got a match!”
Less than an hour had passed since they had locked onto the suspect’s appearance and built the digital model.
Everyone was startled. Chu Mingyi stood up from his seat.
“You’ll never guess,” Yu Yiming’s voice was calm as he cursed, “This guy lives less than two kilometers from the Special Investigation Bureau. As soon as I imported the data, the result popped up immediately. Damn, he’s got some nerve!”
The specific residential address was projected onto the wall. Everyone turned to look—the marked red dot was only two streets away from the Special Investigation Bureau and less than a kilometer from Song Si’s clinic.
Next to the location, the person’s ID photo and personal information were displayed.
Zhu Hongjia, male, 32 years old, unmarried, holds a postgraduate degree from X University (overseas). ID number: 43xx. Formerly employed in the Department of Neurology at M City First People’s Hospital, resigned in August last year, currently unemployed.
Following that were several lengthy paragraphs detailing his personal history, from his student days to his career, including specific awards and disciplinary records.
According to the information, he was a highly educated returnee who had contributed to society, with no criminal record—not even a single red-light violation.
In the photo, the man had a black mole on his right cheek, with the corners of his mouth and eyes slightly downturned. His bone structure was distinct, and his features carried a strong sense of world-weariness as he coldly stared at the people in the office.
Chu Mingyi’s fists clenched tightly.
“Yiming, you handle remote surveillance,” Chu Mingyi said. “Xin Xin, get ready. Come with me now to apprehend him.”
Xu Xinxin and Yu Yiming: “Copy that.”
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