SFTD -Chapter 246 Rabies Virus (Part 1)

Zhou Hai left helplessly. The so-called preparatory team was really just a change of offices—from the large shared office of Group Two on the second floor to an enormous office on the east side of the same floor.

The room stored a huge number of specimens and had originally been a teaching laboratory. Zhou Hai directly equipped it with various testing instruments, so the moment one stepped inside, it felt more like entering a laboratory than an office. Xu Biao was practically overflowing with gratitude for Zhou Hai’s decision.

In his words, his praise flowed “like the endless waters of the Yellow River,” and hearing such shameless flattery gave Zhou Hai a headache.

Fengzi and Xiao Liang both wore heavy expressions. This time, Zhou Hai was being promoted, not abandoning them, so although they felt upset, they had no grounds to complain.

Zhou Hai’s reform plan also officially began to take shape. Group Leader Liu, who had initially opposed the idea, quieted down after discovering that his group had been assigned traffic accident cases. Although Group One was the largest team, handling criminal cases continuously would truly have been too much for him at his age.

Meanwhile, Luo Yunfeng of Group Two, Zhao Xinli of Group Three, and Cui Xin of Group Four would take turns handling criminal investigations.

Aside from Cui Xin, the others had no objections. In truth, Cui Xin understood very clearly that Zhou Hai was not targeting him—he simply hoped Cui Xin could improve himself.

On the morning of June 12th, just as the accumulated case files were being delivered to Zhou Hai’s new office, his phone rang at a terribly inappropriate moment.

The caller ID showed Wang Man’s name.

Zhou Hai knew Wang Man had now taken over the Changhe Division. After all, the district had originally belonged to Chu Menghan. Zhou Hai’s expression darkened slightly as he quickly answered.

“Dr. Zhou, come take a look! We just had a suspect die during arrest—he was extremely violent and frenzied!”

“Frenzied?”

“Yes, completely out of control. I can’t explain it clearly over the phone. Just get over here and see for yourself.”

After getting the address, Zhou Hai hung up and immediately headed to the scene with Xu Biao.

Their newly assigned driver, Wang Zhong, was a sturdy man in his forties. Rumor had it he was a transferred veteran from a special forces unit. He had suffered a gunshot wound to the lungs and could no longer handle overly strenuous work, so he had been reassigned to Dongnan.

The moment Captain Liu saw his résumé, he immediately sent him to Zhou Hai. The man was basically a perfect human GPS, serving as both driver and bodyguard—a tailor-made arrangement for Zhou Hai. Zhou Hai naturally had no objections; after all, he was far more reliable behind the wheel than Xu Biao.

The car stopped steadily by the roadside. Zhou Hai and Xu Biao got out carrying their equipment cases and immediately spotted Wang Man and several others standing near the exit of an underground parking garage, waving at them.

Crossing the street, they reached Wang Man’s side. Xiao Zeng was clutching his wrist with a pained expression. Only at close range did Zhou Hai notice that Xiao Zeng’s hand had already been mangled beyond recognition.

He quickly set down the examination case.

Taking out a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and attaching a rinsing nozzle, he grabbed Xiao Zeng’s hand and began flushing the wound.

Only after washing away all the blood could the injury be fully seen. Near the base of the little finger and around the root of the fingers were four or five tearing wounds. Two of them were especially severe—bone was visible.

Even Zhou Hai froze at the sight of the injury.

“How did it get this serious?”

Wang Man spat to the side and yanked off his cap.

“That guy was completely insane, like he wanted to eat people. After treating the wound, send Xiao Zeng to the hospital. Let’s go down and take a look.”

Xiao Zeng stiffened his neck, clearly wanting to argue, but Wang Man immediately kicked him in the backside.

“Quit whining. Just look at Dr. Zhou’s face and you’ll know how serious that wound is. Get someone to drive him to the hospital for stitches.”

Zhou Hai nodded toward Xiao Zeng.

“Go get it treated. We’ll head down now. You should handle the wound as quickly as possible. If the deceased had some infectious disease, it could become a real problem.”

That warning finally frightened Xiao Zeng enough to stop resisting, and he left with another detective.

Zhou Hai and Xu Biao followed Wang Man into the underground parking garage. As they walked, Wang Man explained what had happened that day.

“Isn’t there a major crackdown going on right now?

We were assisting Yancheng with tracking an online fugitive, and we spotted him around dawn.

But just as we were about to arrest him, the power in this building’s underground garage suddenly went out. Afraid he’d escape, we rushed in immediately.

The guy went completely berserk, attacking all of us nonstop. After dropping all his weapons, he hid in a dark corner, then pounced on Xiao Zeng and started biting him.

The four of us rushed over, but we still couldn’t restrain him. In the end I had no choice but to fire at him. The moment I shot, he panicked and ran westward, but he slammed his head into a pipe protruding from above the parking area and collapsed instantly.

I checked him—no breathing, no heartbeat. Since he was so dangerous, I thought it’d be better to have you confirm things personally. I also want to know whether he had some serious illness or was hallucinating from drugs.

Xiao Zeng even said he might’ve had one of those cannibal diseases from foreign movies!”

The description left even Zhou Hai puzzled. As for “cannibal disease,” he had never seen such a thing himself.

By then, they had arrived at the scene inside the parking garage. The lights had already been restored, making it obvious the earlier blackout had something to do with the suspect.

“Give me more light!”

As he spoke, Zhou Hai crouched beside the body. Several high-powered flashlights barely compensated for the dim surroundings. Putting on gloves and a mask, he began examining the corpse.

The deceased lay flat on his back. His left knee was bent beneath his right leg, arms stretched outward, mouth slightly open, his face frozen in terror.

His cheeks and jaw were covered in blood, and even his teeth were smeared red. He looked like an evil ghost crawling straight out of hell—truly horrifying.

Zhou Hai checked the man’s breathing and carotid pulse, then lifted his eyelids for a look. The man was definitely dead; his pupils had already dilated.

An open wound on the forehead stood out prominently. Gently parting the injury revealed exposed skull beneath. Clearly, the impact had been delivered with terrifying force. Yet there were no gunshot wounds on the torso or legs.

Zhou Hai turned toward Wang Man.

“You’re sure you fired at him?”

Wang Man nodded.

“It was chaotic at the time—they were all tangled together on the ground. But I clearly remember aiming at his leg. I missed?”

Zhou Hai lifted the deceased’s pant leg and finally found a scorched mark near the left calf. Rubbing it with his fingers, he found the fabric hardened.

“Looks like you didn’t hit him. The bullet only grazed past his leg. That shows just how fast he was moving.”

Wang Man frowned deeply, apparently shocked that he had actually missed.

“Can you tell what illness he had? The important thing is that he bit Xiao Zeng. If it was just hallucinations from drug use, that’s not too scary—but what if he’s got AIDS or something?”

Xu Biao nearly burst out laughing. He slapped Wang Man on the shoulder.

“Can’t you think of something more positive? AIDS? Are you trying to scare everyone to death?”

Hearing the two of them, Zhou Hai did not immediately refute the idea. Instead, he quickly rolled up the deceased’s sleeves.

The man’s arms were unusually smooth, showing no needle marks. After all, intravenous drug use carried the highest risk of HIV transmission. If drugs were not injected that way, the chances of contracting AIDS would be much lower.

“Don’t make random guesses. He doesn’t look like someone overdosing on drugs. His pupils are evenly dilated, and there are no needle marks on his body, which greatly lowers the possibility of HIV infection. As for what caused the violent frenzy, we’ll have to wait for the autopsy results.”

The transport vehicle for the corpse had long since arrived. Everyone stepped aside as the workers placed the body into a body bag.

Zhou Hai looked toward Wang Man.

“Are you coming back with us to observe the autopsy, or heading back to Changhe?”