Original Mystery Novel: 《ℬ𝓁𝒾𝓏𝓏𝒶𝓇𝒹 ℳ𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓇》 EP20

Chen Mo's heart lurched. That expression. The same one Zhang Zhenyu had when he died. A serene ecstasy. And the final look on the hostage's face just before their throat was slit during that negotiation three years ago— He suddenly realized something. These three expressions were stored in the same 'room' in his palace of memories. His hand had unconsciously categorized them together, but he'd never pondered why. Because they were so similar. Three different faces, three different ways of dying, yet they displayed the same emotion in the final second. It wasn't fear. It was... relief? "Chen Mo?" Old Zhou's voice pulled him back. "Your face looks off." "It's nothing," Chen Mo said, but his right hand was trembling slightly. He slipped it into his pocket, not wanting anyone to see. His palace of memories had always been his greatest weapon. He could dissect any scene into thousands of details, zoom in, rotate, compare, and find clues others missed. But now, a terrifying thought struck him: What if the palace of memories itself was flawed? What if those 'memories' weren't real from the start, but implanted by someone? He recalled the last few minutes of that negotiation three years ago. The perpetrator's demand was simple: Chen Mo was to enter the room alone, close the door, unarmed and without any listening devices. Chen Mo complied. After he entered, the perpetrator locked the door and said one thing to him. (To be continued)