Chapter Nineteen: The Substitute Puppet

Bai Jie heard Chen Jun’s pleas for mercy and, feeling both surprised and suspicious, decided to come investigate. But as she made her way toward the interrogation room, the heavy, coppery scent of blood grew more overpowering with each step, the faintly sweet tang nearly pushing her reason to the brink of collapse.

Inside the interrogation room, Ma Wu stood gripping a large machete. He too heard Bai Jie’s approaching footsteps and her ragged breathing. He knew he couldn’t linger—having the system was one thing, but getting caught red-handed would be a nightmare.

As Bai Jie drew closer, Ma Wu finally steeled his resolve and prepared to use the substitute puppet he’d prepared beforehand. In his mind, he summoned the system’s interface, located the only substitute puppet he possessed, and silently intoned: “Use substitute puppet!”

Ma Wu had no idea what exactly the puppet would do, and as he activated it, his heart leapt with anxiety. If the puppet couldn’t spirit him away without a trace, he’d be forced to silence another witness, and a policewoman’s life would be forfeit—a scenario Ma Wu had no wish to see.

He nervously prayed: “Substitute puppet, please don’t fail me at the crucial moment!”

Meanwhile, Bai Jie had reached the interrogation room door. After a moment’s hesitation, she gingerly pushed open the heavy iron door.

A shriek tore from her throat—the sight before her battered what little remained of her fragile nerves. Blood was splattered across the walls, severed limbs lay scattered about. Even though she was a policewoman and had received training, the grisly scene was enough to leave her utterly shaken.

Her scream pierced the station’s walls; officers on the third and first floors alike heard her terrified wail. Grabbing their weapons, the armed police quickly converged on the interrogation room. When they finally forced their way inside, they found only four bodies—Chen Jun and the thugs among them—and a middle-aged man, equally stunned and horrified.

“Breaking news: The Eastern City Police Station was attacked by armed robbers last night. The perpetrators killed three detainees awaiting interrogation and one officer on duty. As the robbers attempted to flee, one was apprehended at the scene. Due to the severity of the incident, the mayor has issued a statement of condolence. The case is currently under urgent investigation...”

The next morning, Ma Wu sat at home eating breakfast when this news flashed across his television screen.

The previous night, just as Bai Jie was about to enter the interrogation room, Ma Wu had instantly activated the substitute puppet. He experienced a momentary dizziness, and when he opened his eyes again, he was already standing on a busy street. Strangely, the people around him acted as if nothing unusual had happened, as though they hadn’t seen him materialize out of nowhere.

He’d thought, at the time, that the puppet was just a teleportation charm, whisking him away from the police station and leaving the interrogation room empty. He’d even joked to himself that the puppet should be called a “teleportation talisman” instead. But this morning’s news revealed the truth.

“So there really was a scapegoat,” Ma Wu mused. He stared at the unfamiliar face of the “robber” displayed on the screen, unable to guess who had taken his place. “Did the system just pick some random person as my substitute?”

If so, he felt deeply guilty—forcing an innocent person to bear the blame for a crime that shocked the entire city was unconscionable.

Ma Wu couldn’t simply wash his hands of it and move on.

He was ruthless, yes—after all, Chen Jun had tried to coerce his woman with violence, and the thugs had tried to kill him; he had struck them down cleanly, without remorse. But that didn’t mean he could let someone else shoulder his sins. Hurting the innocent was against his principles.

Whatever appetite he had vanished. He hurriedly finished his breakfast, threw on a jacket, and was about to leave when Li Mida emerged from the kitchen, puzzled to see him rushing out.

“What’s wrong, Ma Wu? You didn’t even finish your breakfast—I made it myself...”

He waved her off apologetically. “Sorry, something urgent came up. I’ll savor your cooking properly when I get back.”

Li Mida watched him leave, then walked to the television and stared in silence at the looping news coverage of the case.

After leaving the house, Ma Wu immediately summoned the system interface in his mind to check his stats:

Ding! Compiling host’s personal information...

Name: Ma Wu
Occupation: Student
Hobbies: Daydreaming, fantasizing about Lin Erke
Spending Value: 1000
Pretentiousness Value: 700
Wealth Value: 3000
Face-Slapping Value: 300
Success Points: 300-0 (Killing moderately malicious thugs and police officers neither adds nor deducts success points)

Noticing his success points hadn’t changed, Ma Wu felt confused. Previously, when he’d broken the hand of Li Mida’s company’s deputy manager, he’d lost over a hundred points. Now, after killing four people, he’d expected his points to drop into the negatives.

But to his surprise, his success points remained the same.

The system quickly responded: Ding! Hurting people with different levels of malice toward you affects your success points differently.

Ding! Host, you previously injured an innocent civilian, so success points were deducted.

Ding! But those you killed last night bore malice toward you and cannot be considered innocent; such acts do not reduce your success points.

Ma Wu nodded in relief. If even self-defense against those who wished him harm cost him success points, all his hard-earned points would be gone in no time.

As he thought this, the system added: For heinous criminals or those who obstruct your path to success, not only will eliminating them not reduce your points, it will actually increase them.

“Is that so?” Ma Wu mused. “So if I target criminals or assassins in the future, I could actually earn success points. That’s not a bad way to accumulate them.”

Suddenly, he remembered that he still didn’t know the scapegoat’s identity. Anxious, he instructed the system: I want to know who took my place after I used the substitute puppet!

The system responded immediately: Ding! Investigating the scapegoat’s identity will cost 50 success points.

Ma Wu was speechless—just finding out the scapegoat’s identity cost so much? The system was ruthless at times. But his conscience left him no choice. If the scapegoat was innocent, he’d do everything he could to save him; framing the innocent was not his way.

Gritting his teeth, Ma Wu silently agreed to pay.

Ding! 50 success points deducted. Scapegoat’s identity obtained: Xiao Yan, professional hitman, 38 years old, wanted for six murders, utterly without principles, frequently kills innocents, and is despised even by underworld peers.

Seeing this, Ma Wu’s heart finally settled. The scapegoat was a notorious criminal, with more blood on his hands than the four killed in the interrogation room.

Relief washed over him. Since the scapegoat was so irredeemably wicked, he had no obligation to clear his name. It was best to walk away without a backward glance.

Suddenly, the system issued another notice: Ding! Substitute puppet effect supplement: The puppet selects, within a ten-kilometer radius, a person whose crimes are at least twice as severe as those you wish to escape, making them your scapegoat. After use, you are instantly transferred to the scapegoat’s original location, and the scapegoat is sent to your place to take the fall.

If there is no one within ten kilometers whose crimes are worse than yours, the item fails and is consumed.