Mercenary’s War

Chapter 2306 - 2282: Superhero

Gao Yang also wanted to know the answer.

Gao Yang almost picked up the phone to call Phoenix directly, but after hesitating for a moment, he looked at Murphy and said, "You say she’s a serial killer?"

Murphy clapped his hands and said, "Speaking of which, I have to ask, what’s your attitude towards Phoenix being a serial killer?"

Gao Yang first smiled disdainfully, then he looked at Murphy and said, "Think about Number Thirteen, do I even need to ask such a question?"

Murphy said in surprise, "Number Thirteen is a killer, but he’s not a serial killer. He takes jobs to kill but doesn’t randomly pick someone and kill them, right?"

It seemed Murphy wasn’t particularly clear about Number Thirteen’s past, so Gao Yang stopped discussing Number Thirteen. He raised his hand and said, "You’re right, Number Thirteen is a killer but not a serial killer. Okay, let’s continue talking about Phoenix. Well, I mean, Satan is a Mercenary Group, not a charity. As long as Phoenix isn’t a threat to us, why should I care who she is? Please continue."

Murphy smiled and said, "Exactly, that’s why I recommended Phoenix to you. Okay, I’ll continue. The reason I know about Phoenix, why I’m familiar with Phoenix, is because I was tracking a serial killer."

Gao Yang gestured for Murphy to continue, and Murphy said slowly, "You’ve been to Phoenix’s home, so did you notice she had two M700 rifles?"

Gao Yang nodded and said, "Yes, one standard civilian version of the M700, and the other one with camouflage paint."

Murphy clapped his hands and said, "That’s right. Alright, I’ll continue. America has such a serial killer who uses a 7.62mm caliber rifle, shooting from a distance of at least 400 meters, killing in one shot. This killer has killed nine people over about a year and a half."

Gao Yang scratched his head and said, "Phoenix did it?"

Murphy smiled and said, "Hear me out. This serial killer’s activity range is very large, extremely large. The first victim appeared in Richmond, the second in Maryland, the third still in Maryland, the fourth in Tennessee, the fifth in New York, the sixth in Georgia, the seventh in Kansas, the eighth in Kentucky, and the ninth in Michigan. Victims appeared in both big cities and rural areas."

Gao Yang exhaled and said, "Half of America’s range, if there are victims even in rural and quite remote places? If so, then the killer consciously chooses to kill rather than randomly kills. No deranged killer would travel around half of America to kill."

Murphy sighed and said, "Yes, the range is very large, with no pattern at all, but the bullets that killed these nine people came from the same gun, so after the third person died, the case was handed over to the FBI, and after the ninth person died, the case was handed over to me."

Murphy’s face was full of pride, and he said, "Do you know why it was handed over to me? Because I’m a real expert. When I took the case, I quickly discovered the anomaly. First, all nine dead people had a history of domestic violence, and without exception, their wives all complained about the abuse they suffered online. After their complaints, their husbands were soon shot."

Gao Yang grimaced and then Murphy smiled and said, "Then I found out, there would be someone online comforting those victims’ wives or girlfriends and asking for their detailed addresses. The people who showed up nine times had different names but the content of the conversations and the way of speaking were almost identical, so it was done by the same person."

Gao Yang said helplessly, "Speaking about Phoenix, you’re starting to show off your case-solving process, huh."

Murphy eagerly said, "Let me finish, I have no one else to show off to, continuing, although we couldn’t trace the IP address to find the killer, as an extremely outstanding detective, I first focused on where the first crime occurred in Richmond. Then, using Richmond as a starting point to the crime locations, I found that the time of death of the victims was exactly the time it would take for someone to drive from Richmond to those places."

Gao Yang inhaled and said, "Your way of thinking is quite jumpy, huh."

Murphy laughed and said, "Someone probes online, after succeeding, it’s a few hours or days of driving from Richmond to the shooting position, then the victim gets shot. The timing can’t be very precise, but at least five times the timing was within six hours."

Gao Yang gestured for Murphy to continue, and Murphy smiled and said, "I started searching for that gun in Richmond but found no leads, so I started looking for good shooters in Richmond. Driven by my super talent, I focused on women first."

Gao Yang gave a thumbs up and said, "You’re amazing, honestly, you are indeed remarkable."

Murphy said proudly, "I didn’t even check a second person and found Phoenix first. Then I started secretly investigating her, and immediately became very interested in her. I began to look into her history, and finally, I could almost confirm it was her. So I had someone sneak into her home, took out her two rifles, and after a little examination, I was sure it was her. Also, I’ll tell you, she used the camouflage-painted rifle."

Gao Yang frowned and said, "Why didn’t you just capture her and close the case?"

Murphy sighed and said, "Isn’t it obvious? The cleaners need a killer, a good killer. Phoenix isn’t just an excellent sniper, she’s also indeed an excellent killer, so I planned to recruit her."

Gao Yang immediately said, "Why did you change your mind?"

Murphy sighed and said, "Because she’s just too bloodthirsty. She’s not like Number Thirteen. Number Thirteen kills with purpose, wouldn’t kill anyone without a mission, but Phoenix periodically needs to kill someone. Such a person is not suitable for the cleaners."

Gao Yang frowned deeply, and Murphy indeed looked troubled and said, "When I discovered this problem, I thought of immediately capturing Phoenix and closing the case, but I couldn’t bear to do it. I found Phoenix is like a legendary superhero. So, I secretly let her go. If you hadn’t wanted her, I would have caught her. But since you did, then Phoenix should stop killing indiscriminately, because she has a fixed channel to release her urge."

Gao Yang said in surprise, "What do you mean by a superhero?"

Murphy smiled and said, "Don’t you get it? Phoenix has principles in killing. She doesn’t randomly pick passersby to kill, she targets scum who abuse their wives. Plus, she carefully distinguishes between those who are just having a fight with their wives and those who truly carry out long-term domestic abuse."

Gao Yang exhaled and said, "Why does everyone I have such a rich history, a serial killer, haha."

Murphy suddenly became very serious and said, "That’s why I let her go, even if it meant putting an unsolved case in my record, because I suffered beatings from a drunkard father until I was fourteen, until my mother died from domestic violence, then my drunkard father lost custody of me. So, you understand why I let her go?"

Gao Yang nodded and said to Murphy, "Buddy, I’m sorry you had an unfortunate childhood, and I think you did the right thing. I want to thank you for Phoenix, but if you’re willing, I’d like to tell Phoenix all of this so she can thank you personally."

Murphy waved his hand and said, "No! Don’t!"

Very decisively said no, but soon Murphy touched his bald head, and then looked hesitant and said, "However, given how well we know each other, it’s okay to let her know. Most importantly, Phoenix talks very little. Someone who doesn’t like to talk can keep secrets."

Gao Yang snapped his fingers and said, "Phoenix hasn’t returned to America, but I can call her right now."

Murphy immediately said, "First, ask her how she managed to travel between Baghdad and Mosul and take out that person in the barracks. She did it, you must ask her that!"