Chapter 151: Treading the dark waters of Internet (2)

*Xin Lei*

That was an interesting username, indeed. More like a username, it felt like...it was an apt description of someone's mentality who liked crimson blood. His instinct drew him towards it.

Bai Li said, "Is that the boss's user name?"

Qi Qiang checked some more and said, "Wow, you are right, bro. I checked the chat records of Neal with CrimsonInstinct, and through it, I could also see others chatting with this person. Everybody addressed CrimsonInstinct as their boss."

I widened my eyes. I had a different feeling when I saw that name, but I didn't know it belonged to the main boss.

"How did you know, big brother?"

"I just had a feeling…It is very particular, unlike other user ID's, and I got the feeling that the person had really put thought into choosing this name. It is not random."

Yuan nodded. "I had the same feeling. The others seem casual and sort of chosen at the spur of the moment. With this name only, I gathered that the boss might have psychological issues associated with sadism, but he or she is really intelligent. It chose a name that depicted his personality. They cannot show themselves in front of the world but online, and behind these virtual walls, he wanted  to have his own identity."

Bai Li agreed. "True. It's more like he is proud of letting that beast out that he is forced to hide. So someone like CrimsonInstinct felt like the boss to me because the bosses of any criminal organization don't do things randomly. The rest of the IDs definitely belonged to those men in the base."

I typed. "I agree. Their behavior when they treated the innocent people felt brash and thoughtless. They would hardly think that much about a user name."

Bro asked, "Can you see the boss's profile?"

Qi Qiang said, "On it. Here it is. Most of the chat records are a discussion with the other members about how…" he felt hesitant, "how it was fun to deal with the victims."

He scrolled down to see the chat records.

Bloodygame : That was so satisfying."

Forsaken : Haha! That man's scream still resounds in my ears. It was so exciting to see him shouting at the top of his voice.

Nittyoicky : Nah! I love it the most when they beg for mercy. They cry, 'No! Let us go!'"

Meanie : I agree that their cries were melodious. Boss! What part did you like the most?

Ilikeascars : Yes, yes! Tell us~~

Bloodygame : I cannot wait to know.

Forsaken : it's definitely how they shouted when we poured acid on them.

Nittyoicky : Shut it. It's definitely how they always cry to get out.

Seeyouihell32 : Oh, come on. Let the boss tell us.

CrimsonInstinct : Hm, it's indeed difficult to answer. But it's neither the screams nor the cries. Its blood. Their crimson blood flowing out of their cuts and wounds was what satisfied me the most.

Careless : Ahaha! You are our boss for some reason. It is perfect.

Seeyouihell32 : Heh! The boss beat you two."

Forsaken : Damn! Boss is the best. Of course, their screams are nothing as compared to the beautiful blood~~

Nittyoicky : Why didn't I think of that before *sighs*

CrimsonInstinct : Alright friends, enough discussion. We will meet again next time when we have a fresh target delivered to our doorstep again.

Careless : Woohoo! I cannot wait!

As I signed the conversation to Bai Li by holding his hands, his jaws tightened, and I could hear him gritting his teeth.

Yuan said from my side. "It is the same as when we watch a movie, and after it's over, we cannot help ourselves from discussing it with our friends and family."

Liao Huifang clenched her fists. "Did they talk like this about sis too? Were they discussing it like it's some a fucking movie was going on!"

I patted her shoulder and shook my head.

Shi Ruiling faintly smiled. "I understand your pain, dear. But we promise that we would catch them soon. Your sister and each one of the victims will definitely get justice."

She weakly nodded.

Qi Qiang cleared his throat and said, "By the way, I also see some videos uploaded by CrimsonInstinct."

When he played them, we saw the same videos of the victim's torture in the base.

Bro leaned in and narrowed his eyes. "What are they doing with the videos? I can see that the boss has posted it elsewhere."

Qi Qiang quickly surfed through the sites, and he widened his eyes in shock.

I typed. "What happened? What did you see?"

"I told you that there is a market here in the Dark Web that people can hire and pay for murder or torture on demand, right?"

Silence.

Ugh...I got a bad feeling about this. I already felt my stomach churning in disgust.

"The gang is not only watching the videos among themselves and in their group, but they are also selling it to the customers outside of their gang. Look."

Qi Qiang pointed his cursor in a different link. "See this video here? It's the same one which we saw earlier. The user has requested that he wants to see someone getting hit by a metal rod again and again. And CrimsonInstinct has posted this particular video to the mass audience outside."

I felt a chill run down my spine.

"Similarly, there are other requests like burning in acid, strangling, knives, and all...The boss negotiates with them and sells the video in the Dark Market. In exchange, the users pay them using bitcoins for getting access to see the video."

Qi Qiang shuffled around the pages. "Here in the transaction history of CrimsonInstinct, we can see the bitcoins receipts of the users who purchased the videos. There are even live streams sometimes. They join via their webcams and see the torture taking place in real-time."

With the long list of transaction history, I could already tell that this bastard CrimsonInstinct would be earning in millions.

"And it's not just these videos. I can see this person chatting about some other kind of deals too. Here they are talking about guns and drugs. They are smuggling drugs to many countries like the USA, Russia, etc."

Bro seemed grim. "These deals tally with the reports we got. There has been an increase in the number of under the table dealings. Fake bills, weapons, and drugs."

I saw the last deal mentioned as the one that happened in Tianjin.

Bai Li asked, "Do you see what CrimsonInstinct was going to trade with the foreigners in exchange for weapons?"

"Hm...here it is! It's a USB. It contains the technology of the Dark Web and how to use it to their own country's advantage to hide and carry out their dealings. And…it mentions that the USB contains some of China's military and intelligence secrets too."

"Military?"

"Intelligence?"

Bai Li and bro spoke out at once.

"Yes…"

I typed. "But the USB we retrieved from Zhao Wenyan was fake, right? It didn't contain any secrets."

Luo Zhiqiang nodded. "There is nothing in it that is detrimental to China's safety and security."

There was a moment of silence as we pondered over it.

Bai Li asked, "Qi Qiang. Do you see any discussion about Chu Jie?"

I bit my lip and prayed to get some clue about Chu Jie and Cocoa.

Qi Qiang rapidly typed a string of keywords, and we could see another chat discussion.

"This is the latest one. I think this is it. They didn't mention Chu Jie anywhere, but they are repeatedly mentioning a teenager. Plus, the discussion seems heated."

Hm?

"Oh, here they say that there is a dog with him too."

I froze, and I felt Bai Li stiffen as well. "What are they saying!? What are they talking about? It's Cocoa, right?"

Bai Li was restlessly shifting in his seat, and his expression seemed hopeful and anxious. I immediately held his arm. I wrapped my arm around his and intertwined my fingers against his long ones.

He seemed to calm down and nodded. "I am sorry."

I shook my head and kissed his cheek. I signed. "It will be fine."

"*Ahem*" Bro cleared his throat and squinted his gaze at me. I coughed.

Bro said, "Why is the discussion heated?"

Qi Qiang said, "Mmm...I have opened the chat screen here. According to the messages that I read here, all the members are angry and furious about something. They are cursing Chu Jie."

I typed. "Why?"

As Qi Qiang zoomed in the chats, I read on.

Careless : What the fuck? We have to wait seven days to kill that boy and the dog? Why!"

Bloodygame : Boss, why did you agree to his request!"

Ilikeascars : The nerve of that boy to ask not to kill him or that dog and that man for seven days until his birthday! What shit!"

I widened my eyes in disbelief.

Is that true?

Qi Qiang said, "That is it. They kidnapped the teenager, and then they say how he requested not to kill him or Cocoa until his birthday. And the shocking part is CrimsonInstinct has agreed. They will not touch him until seven days are over."

Bai Li quickly asked, "When did this chat happen?"

"Two days ago."

"This is the third day, which is almost going to end. That means…"

My heart raced in trepidation.

"We have four days left to find Chu Jie and Cocoa."