Chapter Twenty-Eight: Opening the Mystery Box Again, Strengthening!
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Tan Ping saw the barrage of comments and felt a surge of energy. He immediately began searching. Soon, a notice with white text on a blue background appeared before his eyes. At the top was a national emblem, and below it, the bold words: Police Announcement.
On December 30, 2024, the Chenghua Branch of the Shuzhou Public Security Bureau lawfully arrested suspects Tang and Mai on charges of incitement, spreading rumors, insult, and defamation.
Investigation revealed that on the morning of December 30, 2024, Tang was walking his dog in a residential complex on Chenghua Avenue...
Tan Ping read through the entire announcement and found that this police statement was remarkably detailed, disclosing every detail. In fact, the Chenghua Branch’s official account had pinned relevant surveillance footage from the neighborhood at the top of their posts. This was airtight!
In the comment section, netizens praised the announcement: “This is how the police should be—clear from start to finish, and even releasing bodycam footage and neighborhood surveillance!”
“Previous announcements always had excuses—either the cameras were broken or crucial video was missing. This is something all police stations nationwide should learn from!”
“So it turns out we’ve all misunderstood Officer Tan!”
Tan Ping opened the surveillance video. The footage showed a middle-aged man exiting an elevator with a large black dog. However, once out, the big dog bolted off wildly, and the man couldn’t keep up.
What followed was the scene from that morning.
When the dog’s owner, Tang, arrived, the big black dog was already attacking Tan Ping and others.
Worried about taking responsibility, Tang did not intervene but instead hid nearby, filming the incident.
After watching the video, netizens flooded the comments with criticism: “That Tang deserves to be condemned!”
“As the dog’s owner, not only did he fail to control his dog, but after it bit someone, he shirked responsibility and just filmed the scene instead of stopping it!”
“Despicable! Such a person must be severely punished!”
“Tang looks honest and kind, but no one expected he had such a wicked conscience!”
“I hope Mai is innocent; she was just deceived by her husband!”
For a while, the comments were filled with praise for the police and condemnation of Tang.
Many also expressed that Officer Tan was responsible and that they had wrongly judged him based on Tang’s one-sided story.
As this unfolded, Tan Ping heard system notifications ringing continuously in his mind: “Follower +1!” “Follower +1!”
Before long, his followers surged by over ten thousand—more than the combined total from hosting the “Tan’s Traffic Review” show these past days.
With time on his hands, Tan Ping opened the system store.
He skillfully navigated to the blind box purchase interface: “Redeem now!”
“Redeeming a blind box costs 10,000 popularity points. Confirm purchase?”
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“Confirm!”
“Ding! Congratulations, host! 10,000 popularity points deducted. Blind box purchase successful!”
At the same time, a black box appeared before Tan Ping, bearing two golden characters: “Open.”
As he focused his will on opening it, the black box shattered into fragments, revealing a glowing red orb inside.
“Red item this time?”
Tan Ping felt a bit disappointed.
Just then, a message entered his mind: “Congratulations, host! You have successfully obtained a red-tier item—Olfactory Enhancement!”
“Seriously? A scent enhancement item? I’m human!” Tan Ping muttered, somewhat frustrated.
Still, he examined the effect of the olfactory enhancement.
Using it would amplify his sense of smell a thousandfold—reaching the pinnacle of biological capability!
“Wow! That’s even better than a dog’s nose,” he gasped upon reading the description.
“Use the Olfactory Enhancement item now?”
“Yes, use it immediately!”
Tan Ping gave the command without hesitation.
At this moment, enhanced smell no longer seemed so unreasonable.
Especially as a police officer, possessing an extraordinary sense of smell would make detecting illegal activities much easier.
For instance, bears—among the best-smelling animals—have olfactory senses 300 times stronger than humans and can detect scents from 32 kilometers away.
Bloodhounds can track scents more than two weeks old.
After enhancement, Tan Ping’s sense of smell was three times stronger than a bear’s—virtually supernatural!
As he issued the command, Tan Ping instantly felt his olfactory sensitivity multiply exponentially, overwhelmed by a complex array of odors.
The scent of blood, leather, and various medicinal potions mingled together.
“Officer Tan, why are you staring at me like that?” the female nurse asked, noticing his curious gaze.
Tan Ping replied meaningfully, “You should keep warm lately and avoid drinking ice water.”
The nurse’s eyes instantly widened in shock.
Because her menstrual period had just started recently—how did Officer Tan know?
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Of course, the nurse had no idea that Tan Ping had smelled it.
At this moment, Tan Ping tried to temporarily disable his superhuman sense of smell; otherwise, the hospital’s odors were overwhelming!
After turning off the enhanced olfaction, Tan Ping began scanning the comments again.
He noticed that the livestream now had over 3,000 viewers—clearly people coming in after seeing the police announcement.
In the comments, netizens debated the police report.
“Officer Tan, I just read the police announcement. The punishment for the Tang couple is way too light!”
“Exactly! Except for the intro, the announcement doesn’t mention Tang’s dog biting anyone!”
“Fun fact: dog bites are considered civil liability.”
At that moment, a user named Zhang San posted: “Officer Tan, could you help me check if the bitten mother and daughter need legal aid? I’m willing to represent them for free!”
“Whoa! The famous Zhang San! I heard last time he took on a case, even the judge got implicated!”
“Awesome! With Zhang San playing rogue lawyer, the Tang couple’s prison sentence is guaranteed. Not even Jesus could save them, I’m telling you!”
Tan Ping chuckled at the comments and said, “Great! Many thanks to Zhang San for his righteous support!”
Just then, another comment popped up in the livestream: “Breaking news! Mai Lingling’s account has been banned by the Douyin officials!”
“Well done!”
“That’s how it should be!”
Some viewers were puzzled: “I just watched Mai Lingling’s livestream this morning. Wasn’t she deceived by her husband?”
“Recently, a mysterious recording has been circulating online. The content is explosive!”
“Stop teasing, what’s in it?”
“It was released by Tang. The recording reveals Mai Lingling persuading Tang not to surrender to the police. She also repeatedly organized fans to cyberbully Officer Tan. She’s the mastermind behind this fiasco! She even demanded Tang bear all the guilt alone, manipulated him into divorce, taking all the assets for herself, leaving him with nothing...”
“No way! Such a bombshell? Is the recording authentic?”
“Tang suspected Mai of infidelity and installed surveillance at home. The footage is absolutely real!”
“This is the biggest plot twist of the year! Mission: Impossible! Mai Lingling’s acting is incredible!”
“This couple really aren’t a family. They shouldn’t even live under the same roof. I suggest locking the door tight to prevent harm to others!”
Tan Ping was also surprised reading the comments.
He had never expected what seemed like an ordinary case to unfold into such a bizarre and convoluted espionage drama starring the Tang couple.