And when he unrolled the straw mat...

He saw a decayed, unrecognizable corpse.

The person in charge was instantly horrified!

"No, who are you?!"

He suddenly felt a tightness in his heart, staggered back with weak legs, and his face showed terror.

Xu Liang spoke: "Perform an autopsy on the body!"

Autopsy?

Is the origin of this body really legitimate!?

The person in charge was extremely shocked, looking at the dirt on the four people and the shovel in the tricycle, he couldn't make a decision.

Honestly speaking.

He thought these four people in front of him might be grave robbers...

But grave robbers... even stealing bodies?

And although the body was decayed, it wasn't a dry corpse, by his experience, it had been dead for at most five months!

But in any case.

They had at least dug up a grave!

The person in charge had been in this business for over a decade, what hadn't he seen?

Disgusting, horrific, even things that made his scalp tingle, he had handled personally.

But digging up a grave and performing an autopsy on a body from it...

This was the first time he had heard of it!

The person in charge had already figured out how to call the police when Zhao Shan hurriedly handed over a series of documents and reports.

"This is my son."

"Please do a toxicological autopsy report on him..."

Son?

The person in charge paused, took the documents, and started to read them carefully.

Ultimately confirming...

There really was a close familial relationship!

But...

"A criminal case?" the person in charge frowned.

Zhao Shan was about to speak when Xu Liang quickly interrupted him.

"It's not a criminal case, it's just that the family felt the kid died, and without detailed data, it feels empty, so they dug him up for you to test."

Xu Liang showed a smile.

Whether it was a criminal case or a dispute, it made a difference in the autopsy.

A criminal case inevitably involves the police!

And indeed, Zhao Shan's son wasn't a criminal case, the police hadn't even opened an investigation.

"No dispute."

Xu Liang emphasized.

Really no dispute?

The person in charge was a bit suspicious.

He frowned, but the other party didn't appear to be lying, so he ultimately focused on the body.

The body was still in the tricycle bed.

The person in charge clucked his tongue.

Dead for at least several months, dug up and openly driven into the city on a tricycle...

Setting his thoughts aside.

He climbed into the vehicle to inspect the body's state of decay, took a brief look, then got down, shaking his head and speaking to Xu Liang.

"The body's too decayed, if you want a complete autopsy, our institution..."

He hadn't finished his sentence.

Xu Liang immediately said:

"We're willing to pay twenty thousand for the autopsy, focusing on single organ tests of the heart and kidneys." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"But it needs to be expedited!"

"Ideally, the report should be in my hands within two days!"

Twenty... twenty thousand?

The person in charge paused, suddenly feeling he'd judged by appearances, becoming serious instantly.

"Your trust is the greatest comfort to our institution!"

After saying that, the person in charge warmly invited them to sit in the lobby.

Then he began to find people to move the body into the morgue for sampling.

How much does a complete autopsy report normally cost?

These days, generally between five hundred to eight thousand.

Xu Liang offering twenty thousand just like that, how could the other party not be tempted!?

Watching the body being pushed into the sampling room.

Zhao Shan, sitting in the lobby, couldn't help but worry, tightly clenching his hands, his heart in his throat.

Xu Liang, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as an autopsy could be done...

Everything could be settled!

In an instant, he felt relaxed, and the fatigue from the entire last night surfaced in his body.

He looked wearily at Wang Chao.

"I'm going to take a nap, wake me when you want to sleep."

Wang Chao nodded.

Then, Xu Liang lay down with peace of mind in the lobby.

The person in charge kindly found a blanket to cover him, showing great enthusiasm!

...

Autopsy reports generally take a long time to make.

But Xu Liang didn't need a complete autopsy report in a short time, he only needed single organ test reports for the kidneys, heart, and a few other organs.

If there aren't many instruments, roughly three hours can measure one organ.

Punk Forensic Identification Agency has complete instruments and no need for external testing.

So...

March 8th.

Afternoon.

Four thirty.

Several brand-new files appeared in Xu Liang's hands, he looked at the test data on them, gradually falling silent.

The autopsy report was out.

And based on the information on it, combined with the hospital's information showing....

"Tsk, heart failure, kidney failure... the other organs are also in severe failure!"

The person in charge, fearing Xu Liang didn't understand, spoke up from beside him.

His face showed a horrified expression.

"The cause is metal poisoning."

"Tsk... you might not believe it, but this kid's entire body is practically a human filter!"

"The heavy metals are severely over the limit!!!"

"Practically a metal man!!!"

The person in charge spoke with lingering fear.

Xu Liang didn't reply, just silently looked at the report in his hands.

The test report clearly showed: the body's heavy metal content exceeded limits, preliminary tests revealed the presence of lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium....

The metal content severely exceeded limits, multi-organ failure, heart...

"How is it? Did you find the cause?"

Beside him, Wang Chao craned his head to look.

"Heavy metals..."

Xu Liang mumbled, uttering those three words.

Heavy metals...

There are countless instances of death due to heavy metal over-exposure.

In general, it leads to two conditions.

One is poisoning, the other illness.

The latter includes cancers, the former... resembles the heavy metal elixirs eaten by ancient emperors, taking two or three pellets could lead to bleeding from the seven orifices, completely toxic!

"The deceased, Zhao Shan's son Zhao En, based on hospital information, his death was exactly the same as Sun Jin's."

"That means, Sun Jin is highly likely also... heavy metal over-exposure!"

In an instant.

Xu Liang felt a headache coming on.

He instantly understood why the city bureau had pressed this case.

The problem.....

Is too large!

Heavy metal over-exposure is definitely connected to the environment!

If it were just an individual, it could possibly be accidental, but already known three have died!

And from a temporal dimension, the number of deaths is increasing, and becoming more concentrated!

What could cause such a situation...

With closed eyes, Xu Liang could imagine who was responsible!

"Environmental pollution... this is a big issue, no wonder it's being covered up."

He mumbled.

Sunzhou is a heavy industrial urban area, with heavy industrial zones on the edges of the city, steelworks, chemical plants, pharmaceutical factories, all kinds are built there.

If these people discharged anything indiscriminately...

The entire Sunzhou environment is akin to a breeding ground for parasites!

If it were just a short-term release it'd be fine.

But...

"It's already sufficient to be lethal, the pollution level is high, the overall situation... is not optimistic."

Xu Liang closed his eyes, seemingly seeing the lunatics in Sunzhou City.

"Preliminary judgment..."

"The entire underground water resources are polluted!"

Large scale, multiple deaths, the pollution level couldn't be just a single lake or river.

The most likely is the entire underground water system!

And coincidentally, Huangyan Village also drinks underground water, Sun Jin and others' deaths....

"Chao, let your sister check the elderly death rates in recent years."

After a while, Xu Liang suddenly opened his eyes to look at Wang Chao.

Wang Chao moved his eyes from the files, hearing this, looked at the other, slightly stunned.

Xu Liang explained silently:

"If the underground water pollution level is truly severe... then apart from children, the first to suffer are another group."

That is...

The elderly!

Meaning, this case causing others' deaths should at least be x2!

Regarding why attention is focused on the children rather than the elderly...

First, children draw more attention.

Second...

Elderly dying from any condition seems normal.

Organ failure, unexplained deaths, choking, illness-caused death, all fit natural causes.

Because when age hits, even if all organs fail, the family wouldn't suspect!

But children are different.

This is impossible to have inexplicable organ failure!!!

Just as he was about to say more.

In a daze.

A piercing noise rang out.

"Bee beep beep~"