CH 86

Xing Conglian stood still on the side of the road. “Calm down and tell me. Can you locate where the live broadcast is?”

His tone was cold as he opened the playback of the live feed. Lin Chen slightly lowered his head only to hear Wang Chao’s voice. “I don’t know. The picture is very dark and blurred now. I suspect someone had specifically turned down the brightness… Damn it! It seems to be in some kind of factory!”

Wang Chao’s voice sounded nervous as his last sentences became unstable.

Lin Chen glanced at Xing Conglian. A factory, for example, was not within their range of possible attacks, so where was this camera?

At this moment, a soft voice sounded beside Wang Chao. “This… Our Jiang team just asked for statements from the students. They said that their usual meeting place is in an abandoned factory in the industrial zone behind University City.”

“Give the person next to you the phone,” Xing Conglian said decisively.

“Xing… Hello, Captain Xing. I’m from the second division. I… I’m Ma Han.” On the other end of the line, comrade Ma Han’s timid voice sounded.

“No need to introduce yourself. Get the point.”

It was rare for Xing Conglian to be so curt.

Lin Chen glanced up at him again and saw that his expression was grim. Lin Chen was used to seeing him expressionless in the face of a mountain collapsing, but he was surprised to find that Xing Conglian had reacted so strongly. He roughly understood that this was probably Xing Conglian’s self-blame.

In fact, from the time they just handed over the case to Jiang Chao to the time they walked out of the cafeteria, Xing Conglian never once mentioned any details regarding the follow-up. He didn’t even ask about it when Wang Chao was present, as if he had completely let go of the case. After all, at the end of the day, the case wasn’t within their jurisdiction from the start.

It didn’t matter if it was the way of officialdom or if there was a limit to how much he could advance or retreat. In the end, this was someone else’s case. If he got too pushy, he would look as if he was being greedy for merit, so when it was time to retreat, Xing Conglian did so. Still, he felt guilty for not handling the follow-up process well. This mindset was contradictory, but it was fueled by a strong desire for control; control over oneself, control over others, and control over everything.

Lin Chen lowered his eyes and tried not to think about it but rather focus on the information being narrated by the little policeman on the other end of the line.

About half an hour ago, a student confessed they organized a rally at their usual rally location, which was in an abandoned factory in the industrial area on the outskirts of the city. After Jiang Chao learned the news, he personally led a team and rushed there.

After listening, Xing Conglian asked, “When did they set off?”

“Let me call and ask?” Little comrade Ma Han’s voice was timid.

“Hurry!” Before Xing Conglian could say anything, Wang Chao had already begun to urge.

“Wang Chao, go downstairs with Ma Han. I’ll pick you up. Call Lin Chen’s phone.”

After Xing Conglian finished speaking, he hung up. “They are in office building No. 5. You go first. I’ll go get the car, and then we’ll meet downstairs.”

The location where Xing Conglian parked was further away from where building No. 5 was located, which was why Xing Conglian asked Lin Chen to go on ahead.

Lin Chen nodded. Xing Conglian patted him on the shoulder, then turned and ran away.

The cheers of students came from the basketball gym, as if to celebrate a team making a shot. Laughter and cheer came overwhelmingly.

Lin Chen’s heart sank. He took out his phone and called Wang Chao, then started running.

The sound of wind buzzed across his ear as he ran. He almost bumped into a passing couple on campus along the way.

“A’Chen, Ma Han said the Jiang team set off about a quarter of an hour ago.” On the other end of the line, Wang Chao could be heard running downstairs. There was violent panting in his voice. “I have calculated that it took almost a quarter of an hour from where the Jiang team left to the abandoned factory.”

In other words, in theory, the start of the live broadcast happened to be the time when Jiang Chao and the others arrived at the abandoned factory. Could it be that Jiang Chao and his team’s arrival triggered the live broadcast? But why?

Lin Chen had many unpleasant conjectures in his heart. “Have you contacted someone on the team? Have Captain Jiang and his team withdraw.”

“Xiao Ma just said they can’t contact the Jiang team. They may have already entered the factory area and turned or muted their phone during the operation so we can’t get through!”

“Got it.”

After Lin Chen finished speaking, he had already seen two little comrades rushing downstairs in the distance, and, further away, Xing Conglian’s jeep also appeared.

Xing Conglian came quickly and arrived at almost the same time as him. After getting in the car, Wang Chao was so anxious that he kept asking, “A’Chen, what should I do? It won’t be another horror live broadcast, right?”

“It’s theoretically possible, but the possibility isn’t great.”

As soon as he heard the news of the live broadcast reopening, Lin Chen also wondered if the mastermind wanted to blow up the police raiders. After all, something similar had happened before.

But after sitting down and thinking calmly about it, the mastermind’s information wasn’t equal to theirs. Unless they chose to blow up the factory from the start, it was difficult for them to sneak into the warehouse to install bombs, then evacuate after the police fully enclosed the area. This was uninsured behavior, since it was likely the police force would have already deployed control measures around the warehouse in advance.

Therefore, this current live broadcast was more like a provocation.

In other words, it was roughly saying, “When you look at me, I’m also looking at you.”

Lin Chen took a deep breath and calmed his emotions. At that moment, Wang Chao suddenly shouted, “There’s a picture!”

Lin Chen quickly looked to his side, then put the notebook on his lap. The live broadcast screen suddenly lit up. The factory gate was slammed open, and black-clothed special forces formed a tactical formation and were rushing in.

Suddenly, the picture froze again, and the figures of the police officers became blurred because of the video jam.

“What can we do?!” Ma Han sat next to Wang Chao as he looked at the footage, almost in tears.

“Damn it! The wireless network coverage is too poor!” Wang Chao repeatedly slapped the laptop and began to quickly hack all the wireless networks in the surrounding area.

“Is it possible to connect to Jiang Chao’s team communication channel?” Xing Conglian asked suddenly.

“Do you use a digital IP interconnection system?”

Wang Chao turned his head and asked Ma Han, but comrade Ma Han’s face had an expression of: “I… have to probably call and ask.”

Wang Chao glared at him and decided to do it himself. “Captain, park the car in front of the School of Science and Technology for a minute. I can’t even connect to a wireless network when you drive so fucking fast!”

Despite hearing the cursing, Xing Conglian didn’t bat an eye and quickly turned sharply right and slammed on the brakes.

The Jeep stopped steadily at the gate of the school, and the digital stream on the screen scrolled quickly. As he was typing instructions, Wang Chao said to Ma Han, “Call and ask your colleagues in the division if they can contact your boss.”

When Ma Han heard this, he hurriedly disconnected the call, trying to reach Jiang Chao. Wang Chao saw the screen on his phone and was furious. “You keep calling Vice Captain Jiang’s squad. Don’t you know the communication will be blocked?”

Ma Han was scolded bloody by him. Although he was a lovely young man, his experience with Wang Chao was destined to be different from that of normal people when he encountered trouble.

Lin Chen patted Wang Chao’s head and said calmly, “I know what you’re thinking, but things won’t be as bad as you think.”

After he finished speaking, he looked at Ma Han and said, “Listen to him and call your colleagues.”

Ma Han’s big eyes had turned red at this moment, but he still listened and called his colleagues again. Sure enough, the voice on the other end was even more anxious. “There’s no answer from the on-board system. Team Jiang should have all gone in so no one’s answering the phone!”

“They’re all in! I know they’re all in! They’re being broadcast live right now. You have to get them out quickly before something happens!”

Hearing this, comrade Ma Han choked up again. Seeing him like this, Lin Chen quickly took out his phone and pressed the public release button.

“What is the distribution group number that Captain Jiang uses?”

While Wang Chao was talking, the wireless communication center dispatch page was opened.

Apparently, the police officers there weren’t too clear about the operating principle behind the intercom equipment they were using, as there was a long “errr” sound on the other end of the line, though truth be told, Lin Chen was completely ignorant about these things as well.

However, Wang Chao was a strong player with many skills. If it weren’t for their current emergency, Lin Chen would ask Xing Conglian what this child born in Africa ate while growing up.

Soon, there was a sound of running coming through the mic, documents being flipped, before finally the person who answered on the other line said, “I’ll take a picture of the specific information and send it to you!”

Lin Chen clicked on the photo and raised his cell phone in front of Wang Chao. Wang Chao glanced at it, brought up a series of communication devices from the central page, and then shouted at Xing Conglian, “Captain, I’m connecting it to the car’s Bluetooth.”

After a while, the sound of Jiang Chao arranging the task force came through from the stereo. “A team on the third floor, B team on the second, take it easy. They are all evidence!”

Jiang Chao’s voice was as arrogant and unruly as ever. When the voice came from the stereo, everyone in the car breathed a sigh of relief.

Lin Chen hadn’t hung up the phone. The cheers of the police officers of the second division came through it.

“Jiang Chao, Jiang Chao, can you hear me?” Xing Conglian asked.

Vice Captain Jiang Chao on the other end of the communicator was taken aback and shouted, “Holy shit, how did you cut in Lao Xing? Don’t play tricks on me again!”

“Listen to me carefully. You’re appearing on the latest broadcast right now. Immediately notify your subordinates and evacuate the factory.”

“What live broadcast?” Jiang Chao still didn’t understand the situation.

“The live broadcast on the dark web! Come out now!”

“What the hell?! Why are we on the live broadcast!” Jiang Chao shouted at the top of his lungs. “There’s no bullshit here. Tell me where the camera is, and I’ll take it out!”

Jiang Chao was still reckless. Lin Chen raised his head suddenly and saw Xing Conglian’s face as black as coal in the mirror. “Cut the fucking crap and get out of there!”

“Lao Xing, are you sacred? Scared that there’s going to be a bomb? If they wanted to blow us up, they would’ve done it earlier instead of giving us time to have a chat!”

Jiang Chao was still acting arrogant and disdainful.

In the live broadcast, the vice captain who was holding down his headset turned around, and his entire face appeared on it. He said to Xing Conglian, “I know what you’re afraid of. That’s how Lao Fang died. If you want to see laozi’s face, let them see it. If they have the guts, they will come and kill me. Laozi is waiting!”