30 Kanazawa's Deduction

Jin Ze recounted the confession of the old man to me. Upon hearing it, I was overcome by a profound sense of terror. This was not a fear born of shock, but a soul-deep tremor of disbelief—how could anyone commit such inhumane acts?

The story dates back over twenty years. The man, Lu Qiang, is not actually an old man; he is not yet fifty. However, years of living in the mountains, isolated from the outside world, suffering from malnutrition, and constantly handling the corpses of infants in a cold storage unit have left him looking like a walking mummy—gaunt and skeletal.

Lu Qiang was a Taoist—or at least, he claimed to be. In truth, he possessed no real skill or knowledge of Taoist arts, though he deluded himself into believing otherwise. Jin Ze noted that based on the interrogation, it was clear Lu Qiang suffered from severe mental illness and profound delusions.

Lu Qiang was backed by a faction, or rather, he was part of an organization. He refused to name it, even when Fang Qinghe threatened to destroy the mummified remains of the infants. However, based on his other statements, it was clear that the organization he referred to was "Dawn." It seems Dawn did not emerge recently; it has likely existed for decades. This explains its current strength and why it has remained undetected by the police for so long. It is a powerful, deeply entrenched entity, undoubtedly led by brilliant and capable masterminds.

Lu Qiang’s role in this organization was singular: farming. Not livestock like pigs, cows, or poultry, but infants. "Infant farming"—the term sounds twisted, like raising children, but it was far more grotesque.

The facility we raided was an infant-farming site, or more accurately, a transit hub. Newborns were frequently delivered there, but not to be raised. Lu Qiang’s only job was to inject these infants with viruses—specifically, the most terrifying of them all: HIV.

Thinking of dozens, perhaps hundreds, of newborns injected with HIV made my heart ache. It was utterly inhumane.

Why would Dawn create so many HIV-positive newborns? Lu Qiang himself did not know, but his testimony suggested that once these infants were "produced," they were soon swapped out, only to be replaced by new infants shortly after. Our preliminary conclusion is that these HIV-positive infants were used as bargaining chips to be exchanged for healthy, normal newborns.

This talk of "swapping infants" immediately reminded me of the start of the "Return of the Dead" case. The perpetrator seemed to initiate everything through infant swapping. It appears the killer, Chen Mu, truly was trying to lead the police toward Dawn.

But what was Dawn’s ultimate goal in exchanging healthy infants for HIV-positive ones? Lu Qiang didn't know; he had no right to interfere. He was a smart man who understood that the more he knew, the worse his death would be, so he never asked questions.

Lu Qiang confessed that the newly swapped infants would undergo testing. Those with poor health were injected with HIV to be used for further swaps, while those with good health were taken away by the organization.

About twenty-two years ago, after one such exchange, the organization suddenly cut ties with him. They stopped sending infants and stopped collecting them. At the time, the facility had a stockpile of infants—most already injected with HIV, some newly arrived and untested. With the organization’s support gone, the infants soon began to die. Lu Qiang knew that if the corpses were discovered, he would be the first to die, executed for his heinous crimes.

Lu Qiang was a deviant. He moved all the infants—living or dead—into the underground cold storage. This served two purposes: it hid his crimes and allowed him to avoid the organization's wrath. If they ever reopened the facility, he could prove his loyalty by showing he still had the infants, even if they had perished.

As a self-proclaimed Taoist, Lu Qiang believed in karma. To atone for his sins, he used his "Taoist arts" to seek absolution. He chose one infant from the batch—the one he felt most connected to—to "adopt." He placed it in a coffin and lit a soul lamp to shield it from the spirits of the other dead infants, hoping it would bear the karmic burden for him. The mummified infant in the coffin became his faith, more important than his own life. By then, Lu Qiang was truly, irrevocably insane.

That was the extent of his confession. Hearing this from Jin Ze, my hatred and fear of the evil organization Dawn deepened. Their actions were truly beyond the bounds of human depravity.

Suddenly, a thought struck me: the "Return of the Dead" case also began with infant swapping. It seems the killer, Chen Mu, really was guiding us toward Dawn. But Lu Qiang said the infant-farming stopped twenty-two years ago—the same year I was born. Given the evidence that I, too, was swapped as an infant, could I have come from that very facility?

My mind went blank. I felt weak, as if I were dying. If infants from that facility were injected with HIV, did that mean I was HIV-positive?

I gasped and asked Jin Ze, "Jin Ze, why would Dawn orchestrate these infant swaps? I must have been one of those infants, right? Could I have the virus latent in my body?"

Jin Ze looked up at me. "Chen Mu, what are you talking about? If you were HIV-positive, they would have caught it long ago. How could you have joined the special forces?"

His words eased my tension, and my nerves finally began to settle.

Jin Ze continued, "I have a preliminary theory. While this infant-swapping is horrific, I don't think they are targeting ordinary families. Swapping a healthy child for an HIV-positive one is a devastating blow. I suspect this is Dawn’s revenge against a specific group of people. I don't know who they are yet, but I suspect they were once part of Dawn, broke away, and started families. Dawn is striking back at them."

His analysis made sense. "What about the killer Chen Mu and me? We’re twins. We must have been swapped too, but why don't we have HIV?"

Jin Ze thought for a moment. "Perhaps you weren't injected, or perhaps you twins are special. Since Lu Qiang said the operations stopped twenty-two years ago, you two must be unique. I’m beginning to understand the relationship between Chen Youquan, Chen Tianming, and you two. Your sibling rivalry might be orchestrated by Chen Tianming, who is likely a member of the Avengers Alliance."

I looked at him, confused, as he continued.

"I suspect Chen Youquan and Chen Tianming were among those targeted by Dawn. Their biological children were stolen. You and the killer Chen Mu were the infants they received in exchange. Chen Youquan wanted to kill you out of spite, but Chen Tianming had a better plan: to make you brothers destroy each other. He turned the killer into a madman while raising you as a 'good' son, even sending you to the army. Imagine the agony of realizing the truth one day. He turned you into a killer and a soldier, watching you tear each other apart while he stands by, satisfied. I have an even bolder guess: Chen Tianming is a high-ranking member of the Avengers Alliance, which was likely founded during that same period."