Chapter 3: The Deadly Secret in the Wooden Box

Back in the office, Lin Mo locked the door. He took out the black wooden box from the safe, put on latex gloves, and carefully searched for a way to open it. This box had no conventional keyhole. Lin Mo closely examined the geometric carvings on the surface and discovered that these lines implied a certain pattern. He tried pressing the intersection points, and several crisp sounds of gears meshing followed. With a click, the lid of the box sprang open. Unexpectedly, there were no jewels or poison inside. Lying on the velvet lining was an encrypted USB drive and a yellowed old photograph. The photo showed three young men, with a derelict chemical plant in the background. Lin Mo noticed that one of the faces had been violently scratched out with a red pen, while the other two looked somewhat familiar. He inserted the USB drive into a laptop disconnected from the network. The screen lit up, and a dialog box popped up asking for a password. The password hint was just a short sentence: "Where it all began." Lin Mo stared at the chemical plant behind the photo. This plant had a severe safety accident ten years ago, resulting in multiple casualties. Could Su Qing's death be related to the tragedy back then?