Chapter 184 - 138: A Born Criminal

Xu Huo spoke, and Qian Hua recorded his words in a notebook.

Then, Xu Huo’s gaze drifted elsewhere.

"Who...is the killer?"

"Based on his age, he would have been fourteen at most, six years ago. That’s two years younger than the sixteen we predicted!"

"To be an expert thief at fourteen means..."

"He started learning around the age of ten?"

"But if his parents had these kinds of skills, they wouldn’t be so poor that their child would have to become a thief..."

’At ten, he had a profound relationship with the two deceased. He was willing to kill for them, capable of murderous rage even at fourteen, and waited all the way until six years later, now that the man he targeted was out of prison...’

Hearing this, the surrounding officers fell silent.

Thieves are never short on cash.

A thief of the killer’s caliber could easily rake in a hundred thousand in a month. They just fleece one group of rich people, move to a new place the next month, and in a year they’ll make more than a small company!

With that kind of money, they could start a business. Once they get past the initial phase and the company stabilizes, it’s a legitimate, respectable money-making machine. There’d be no reason to have their kids and grandkids continue the life of a thief...

It just doesn’t make sense.

But it’s impossible for someone the killer’s age to become that skilled on their own. Only the right environment could produce that level of talent, and that environment...

For a child, that environment is created by adults.

But if the adults have that kind of skill, there’s no reason to make their children...

They were going in circles, right back to where they started.

’Could he be an apprentice?’

If Linlan City had a local master of this caliber, the top players in the underworld would definitely know about it!

"Based on the clues, there’s a ninety percent chance such a person doesn’t exist."

"But logically, the killer must have had someone like that in his life..."

Xu Huo felt a sense of dissonance. The contradiction between the clues and the logic was frustrating.

He calmed himself.

’Let’s assume there was someone who taught him.’

’Then, if that person ever showed up in Linlan City, the local bosses would have noticed. In other words, the fact they haven’t means he’s never been in Linlan City.’

’So he must be from somewhere else...’

’Did the killer come to Linlan City alone when he was fourteen?’

’No, that doesn’t make sense. He wouldn’t arrive and immediately be filled with enough rage to avenge the deceased. Even if they weren’t related by blood, it would take at least three years to form that kind of bond.’

’So he came here at eleven? What if his parents came to Linlan City, left him here, and then departed...?’

’If he trained for three or four years, counting back from that...!?’

’How old was he when they started teaching him to steal!?’

Li Jianye froze.

A flicker of astonishment crossed his face. He exchanged a look with Qian Hua, and each could see the shock in the other’s eyes.

When did the killer learn how to steal!?

This is insane!

And that was a conservative estimate. If you pushed it back five or six years, he would have been...

"He was fucking barely born then!"

Li Jianye couldn’t stop himself from swearing.

Suddenly, Xu Huo’s brow furrowed.

’Just born...’

’He’s about twenty. Twenty years ago... that would be 1983. Year ’83...’

Xu Huo froze, his pupils contracting sharply.

He remembered.

He remembered the crucial clue that every officer had overlooked, one that had been left forgotten in a corner!

"A natural-born criminal!?"

For a moment, astonishment filled Xu Huo’s eyes, his face a mask of shock.

"What criminal?"

Li Jianye quickly looked over, his brow furrowed and his hands clenched unconsciously.

"Did you remember something!?"

’Remember something?’

’I remembered the killer’s identity—the source of his miraculous thieving skills and all his other unbelievable criminal abilities!’

’And this thing...’

Xu Huo looked at the others. His lips moved for a long moment, as if he couldn’t form the words. Finally, he spoke.

"There’s a type of person known as a natural-born criminal!"

"From the moment they are born, while they’re still in their swaddling clothes, they are..."

"Criminals!"

Li Jianye frowned.

That kind of person...

What does that even mean?