Ch 96 (Part 2): Rebirth of the Tool Man in a Pampered Protagonist Novel

Those who were persuading her had their own thoughts.

Jin Yu became angry with the members who spoke. What did they mean? Their tone clearly suggested that the incident with the USB drive was caused by the conflicts between her and Fang Ziyang.

“Those who are innocent will be proven innocent, and those who are guilty will be proven guilty.” It was clearly an attempt to distance themselves at the earliest opportunity. But these members couldn’t present any solid evidence to prove their innocence and were the most suspicious ones!

The situation reached another deadlock.

Group A members all had significant opportunities to commit the act, and they couldn’t produce any solid evidence to prove their innocence. Although their testimonies were reasonable, they couldn’t dispel the suspicion.

The same applied to Fang Ziyang. Although he had no motive from an interest perspective, if it involved revenge and framing due to conflicts, his suspicion was substantial.

Everyone stuck to their own statements, and there was no progress in the investigation.

At this moment, Yang Qilong unintentionally said, “Let’s carefully think about whether there was anything special when each of us touched the USB drive. Perhaps some small details have been overlooked. Let’s think back carefully…”

Suddenly, Qian Yu remembered something and hurriedly said, “Yes, I remember now. When we received the USB drive, I noticed that everyone’s USB drives looked the same. I was worried about getting mixed up with other groups when things got busy, so I made a mark on mine with a pen. The pen contains a persistent fluorescent powder, and the proportion is quite heavy. If you touch it, the powder won’t wash off for at least three days.”

“And except for me and Yang Qilong, no one else in our group has touched the USB drive in the past three days…”

In other words, apart from Qian Yu and Yang Qilong, anyone who had traces of the fluorescent powder on their hands would be the primary suspect, and possibly the actual leaker!

Yang Qilong nodded upon hearing this. “I brought the pen from the entertainment area to the study room.”

“Good, let’s continue the investigation from here.”

The investigator nodded at Professor Yu beside him, indicating for him to check the study room area while they continued their investigation.

After more than ten minutes, there were no issues on Professor Yu’s side, but they encountered a suspicious situation on their end.

When the scanning device scanned Jin Yu, traces of fluorescent powder appeared on her hands!

“It’s, it’s you, Miss Jin Yu…”

Yang Qilong was the first to show a shocked expression and exclaimed.

Jin Yu’s face turned pale, and she looked at her hands in a state of panic, shaking her head anxiously as she explained, “No, it’s not me. I don’t know, I didn’t do it…”

“If it wasn’t you, Jin Yu, how did fluorescent powder end up on your hands?”

“Jin Yu, please explain.”

“This… could it be that it wasn’t Fang Ziyang seeking revenge on you, but you seeking revenge on Fang Ziyang? Intentionally setting this trap? After all, if all of us in the group can clear our names, only Fang Ziyang will be left.”

“Perhaps, even though she didn’t blame Fang Ziyang openly for the incident when she fell down the stairs, who knows what she was thinking inside? After all, she’s so arrogant and domineering, holding grudges is not out of the ordinary.”

“I knew something was off when their relationship suddenly improved. Turns out, Jin Yu is sweet-talking but secretly plotting, setting a trap to take advantage of this situation and frame Fang Ziyang.”

“This is getting too excessive and scary!”

The members of Group A had various changes in their expressions.

Some wore shocked expressions without saying a word, some directly questioned, and others whispered and reached conclusions.

The situation suddenly reversed.

At this moment, Jin Yu was completely dumbfounded.

Despite enduring various verbal attacks during this period, her resilience had grown stronger. Knowing how everyone talked about her privately felt like a wake-up call, making her truly realize the impropriety of her behavior. She was determined to reflect on herself and control her temper.

But facing this sudden blame was something she had never experienced before!

It’s easy to find an excuse to inflict punishment.

Jin Yu had the means and motive to commit the act. She had portrayed herself as a vicious and malicious supporting character, someone spoiled, arrogant, and domineering. No one doubted that she would engage in revenge due to conflicts.

Otherwise, would Jin Yu be the kind of foolish person who would fall down and break bones because of her romantic rival, only to help that person and forget past grievances with a smile?

At this moment, Jin Yu couldn’t explain herself clearly.

“It’s not me, really, it’s not me. I don’t know why there’s fluorescent powder on my hands. Investigator, Professor Yu, please believe me. Why would I do such a thing out of boredom? Fang Ziyang and I just fool around, our relationship isn’t that bad, really…”

Jin Yu was on the verge of tears, filled with anxiety.

Being framed and accused of leaking confidential information would be disastrous for her. If the accusations were proven true, not only would she be expelled from the base, but her career in the scientific research field would likely be over. She might even end up in jail.

Research was the only thing she knew how to do. Without the research field, what else could she do in her life? Her family would be ashamed of her, and her grandfather would be devastated.

The expressions of the people were extremely subtle.

Some took the opportunity to kick her while she was down, pretending to advise her but secretly reveling in the misfortune.

“Miss Jin Yu, if it was really you, just confess. Luckily, no real damage has been done yet. If you confess, the base will handle it leniently.”

However, not everyone felt this way.

Qian Yu weakly spoke up, “Let’s investigate this further. The presence of fluorescent powder doesn’t necessarily mean it was Jin Yu. It could be accidental…”

Qian Yu didn’t quite believe it was Jin Yu. He had spent time with Jin Yu at other research institutes outside the base and believed he knew her well enough. He couldn’t imagine her doing something as malicious and cunning as what was happening now.

However, Qian Yu’s voice had no effect at all. The phrase “People’s true nature is hidden” shut him down.

Jin Yu’s image was just too bad. While there might have been doubts when Fang Ziyang was accused, it was easy for everyone to believe it when it came to Jin Yu.

Moreover, it was necessary to find a scapegoat now. No one wanted to be expelled from the base or go to jail under the current circumstances. It wasn’t surprising that Jin Yu, who wasn’t well-liked, became the target.

Yang Qilong stood in the crowd and hardly said a word. He only spoke up at critical moments, attempting to make himself invisible the rest of the time.

Seeing Jin Yu unable to defend herself and being questioned by everyone, he finally revealed a long-lost smile in his heart.

He had been worried sick as he watched Jin Yu and Fang Ziyang’s relationship improve over time. From the day they were assigned to the same group, he had been trying to bring Jin Yu down.

Originally, it was to prevent Jin Yu from shining too brightly. Unexpectedly, Jin Yu got him kicked out as a formal team member. Now that Jin Yu was being pushed away, it was a compensation for him. After all, this foolish woman was so dumb that she would easily become a weak point for the team in competitions. It would be beneficial for her to leave early.

However, just as he was feeling happy…

Fang Ziyang spoke again, “Jin Yu, take out the necklace I gave you.”

His words seemed inexplicable, and no one understood what he meant.

Jin Yu didn’t understand either, but it didn’t prevent her from cooperating. She quickly took off the necklace around her neck and handed it over, her voice choked with tears, “Here.”

Fang Ziyang took the necklace and, without saying a word, found a hidden button on it and pressed it.

Then everyone saw a three-dimensional holographic image appear in front of them, and Jin Yu’s figure was prominently displayed within it!

Everyone was astonished, “What is this…”

“This is the latest surveillance technology developed by New World Technology, a three-dimensional, all-round monitoring device with fire, theft, and framing prevention capabilities.”

Fang Ziyang smiled faintly, “You all know that my family background wasn’t very good before. My brother, Fang Qianhao, and I used to fight and argue a lot. When he couldn’t beat me, he would go to my scumbag father to complain, distorting the truth and framing me. To ensure my own safety and innocence, I developed a liking for carrying recording pens and monitoring devices.”

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

“My brother knew about this hobby of mine, so he developed this for me. I saw that Jin Yu looked unlucky, so I gave her one.”

“Of course, I reported this device to the higher-ups. The person in charge should know, right?”

Fang Ziyang looked towards the person in charge of the training base.

The person in charge smiled and nodded.

So, to determine whether Jin Yu was innocent or not, they could directly check the surveillance footage.

Jin Yu was a bit dazed. As she understood what was happening, her face changed drastically. Then she covered her chest with both hands and screamed, “Ah, ah, ah! Does that mean my shower was also recorded?!”

Everyone:…

Although this was crucial, the focus seemed a bit off.

“This kind of sensitive privacy will be automatically blurred. Thank you.”

Fang Ziyang covered his ears, which were hurting from the scream, and continued, “Of course, some people might say that during routine operations, I could have done it in just a few minutes, doing something under everyone’s nose…”

Upon hearing this, the person who had just made that accusation felt embarrassed.

This accusation was obviously a bit far-fetched, and they had only said it out of haste to escape blame.

Fang Ziyang smiled lightly, his gaze falling on Yang Qilong. “There’s also something I probably haven’t told everyone. You might not know, but the information provided by New World Technology… is the legacy left by my grandfather, the culmination of generations of efforts by the Lu family.”

Everyone was shocked, “What!”

Yang Qilong’s face gradually turned pale.

Fang Ziyang’s lips curved up, “The USB drives distributed by the base not only contain security devices, but the data itself has a tracking feature. I won’t go into the complexities, but in simple terms, these files automatically record the time and IP address each time they are transmitted or shared…”

“So, we can find out who tampered with the USB drive by checking the operation time and IP address.”

As he finished speaking, the investigator smiled and said, “Then I’ll trouble Young Master Fang to help.”

Meanwhile, Yang Qilong collapsed to the ground, his entire body going limp. His face was ashen, and in his mind, there were only two words: It’s over!

---

Update 20 JULY 2024: I first decided to drop this novel due to very few number of readers, probably from all the bad ratings and reviews on NU, and wrote a note notifying the readers. Then many readers commented and asked I continue.

This translator is so happy to see there are many people commenting and hear from some regular readers like Elli and ParanoidKitten to name a few. Thank you all. I feel injected with chicken blood. I will work hard and continue to translate 🥰🥰🥰🥰 Please continue to support 🥲

Previous TOC Next