CH 242

Hongshu Town Police Station. Lin Chen also heard Li Nuo asking the same question.

“I can’t guarantee.” Lin Chen replied.

The police officer in front of him was startled. “This isn’t… This isn’t…”

“A gamble, right?” Lin Chen stood up, pushed the chair, picked up his phone, and calmly said, “This is a gamble.”

After he finished speaking, he walked out again. Li Nuo took the car keys and quickly caught up, as if he wanted to say something but found that he was speechless.

……

Almost every big city had a Zhongshan Road, just like every city had landmarks such as Renmin Road and the Drum Tower Community.

But Zhongshan Road in Hongjing was somewhat special. It was the central hub of Hongjing from south to north. Whether you want to enter the city from the suburban Hongshu Town or go from the location of the city government to the Huihaodi shopping mall, you may pass through here.

It was a weekday afternoon—a little after two—and there weren’t many vehicles on the road.

The driver of bus route 18 yawned and stopped at the bus stop. A few scattered passengers boarded from the front.

The driver had received a notice from the police beforehand, so when the passengers boarded, he responsibly turned his head to confirm if any of these people were the suspected criminal that was rumored.

However, there were very few passengers getting on the bus heading north on Zhongshan Road. Apart from two boys wearing earphones, there was only an elderly lady with mobility difficulties. The old lady was holding a bag from Bai Fu Supermarket, and it seemed like the supermarket was running some special promotions, so she was desperately trying to grab things even in this hot weather.

The driver turned his head, and as the traffic light at the intersection turned red, a row of traffic police on motorcycles whizzed past.

He yawned again, pressed the vehicle startup prompt, and started the vehicle.

……

Traffic officer Xiao Lin had just parked his motorcycle at the roadside booth when the opposite bus on route 18 started moving.

Just at that moment, a Santana drove from south to north through the intersection. It happened to be when the green light turned red, and the brief yellow light stayed for a few seconds. A motorbike was crossing the east-west non-motorized lane diagonally.

The sunlight was dazzling, and the hot air distorted the asphalt road, causing the driver of the Santana to have a flushed face and a drunken look. He was instantly awakened, but it was too late. It was as if something had streaked across the vast mirror of the world, with the sound of brakes piercing the sky, shattering eardrums.

Compared to the sound of braking, the sound of the impact was barely audible.

When Xiao Lin regained his senses, the motorbike’s red and blue fragments and the Santana’s headlight pieces were already scattered on the ground. An injured person was thrown more than 10 meters away, and those colorful fragments shimmered on the ground, creating a shocking sight.

The owner of the Santana, covered in blood, was unconscious in the driver’s seat. Xiao Lin cursed, “Damn it, driving under the influence at a time like this is asking for death!” He ran over there while reporting through his earpiece, requesting an ambulance.

The momentarily still four-way intersection resumed operation, and pedestrians cast concerned glances at the accident. The bus maneuvered around the debris and continued to the next stop.

The victim’s injuries turned out to be more severe than expected. Blood flowed out of the victim’s body as if it didn’t cost a thing, soaking the grayish road surface.

Just then, Xiao Lin heard an inquiry over the radio. He pressed the earpiece and replied, “Report, there has been an accident at the intersection of Heping Avenue and Lihe Road. The injured person’s condition is critical.”

However, the instructions coming through the earpiece surprised him. Xiao Lin was stunned for a moment and incredulously asked, “Why should we handle the accident slowly? It will cause a traffic jam at this intersection, and nearby roads will most likely be congested!”

“Get the injured person to the hospital as soon as possible. As for the tasks arranged by the city, why are you asking so many questions?” The voice of the deputy squadron leader on the other end of the earpiece rose in volume.

Xiao Lin wanted to ask more, but the squadron leader’s voice suddenly lowered and became hoarse. “Set up roadblocks and capture the fugitive.”

Xiao Lin’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly responded, “Yes, understood!”

……

Li Zhipeng and Xiao Lin both belonged to the Heping District Traffic Police Brigade, but they received tasks that were the opposite.

Currently, Li Zhipeng was rushing at a maximum speed of 80 kilometers per hour along the elevated road toward the intersection of Anning Avenue to provide reinforcement. However, his objective was to regulate traffic at the entrance that directly led to the Experimental Primary School, ensuring it didn’t get congested.

Tall buildings flashed by outside the window. The wailing siren echoed in a prolonged tone as vehicles on the road separated to the sides, allowing the police car to speed through the cleared path.

The sky presented a bright deep blue, and the air conditioning was turned up high, but Li Zhipeng’s inner restlessness and anxiety were growing.

The in-car radio transmitted various ambiguous orders from the traffic police department. Some patrol officers were instructed not to issue tickets in a certain area, while other duty officers were notified of reassignments, and everything was in complete chaos.

He was about to press the communication button and say something to his colleague on the other end when he suddenly remembered the instructions he received earlier. He was strictly prohibited from communicating his location with his colleague through the radio equipment.

He quickly withdrew his hand from the walkie-talkie, feeling even more frustrated. If he hadn’t already confirmed the authenticity of the information with his superiors, he would have doubted that this was some new plan to disrupt the normal order of the entire city.

What the hell is going on? It’s just the capture of a female fugitive.

Li Zhipeng thought to himself.

……

Not only on the main roads, but Lin Chen’s actions also caused a huge uproar in the Municipal Transportation Bureau.

The central air conditioning seemed useless as the previously calm and orderly hall was in complete chaos. Employees were walking through office desks and chairs everywhere.

Printers clattered, footsteps were incessant, and phone rings were continuous. Internal and external inquiry calls kept pouring in, to the extent that the staff answering the calls didn’t even have time to take a sip of water.

Traffic volume, violation situations, road conditions, and police deployment—all the information was presented in various forms on large screens.

Zhongshan Road, Heping Avenue, Nanhuang Elevated Road—two-dimensional data, three-dimensional simulated graphics, and complete surveillance videos kept refreshing.

In the lower corner of the screen, there was a complete map of Hongjing. The numerous colored marks on the map were dazzling, and they were constantly being updated.

The employees of the Transportation Bureau could hardly understand the symbols on the screen. They only knew that the man sitting in front of the monitoring screen was causing chaos throughout the entire hall.

What made it even more infuriating was that the mastermind behind all this chaos sat calmly in front of the enormous monitoring screen, as if nothing had happened.

The man had an earphone in his left ear and one finger holding the microphone on the earphone cord, seemingly in conversation with someone. The remaining idle ear, however, seemed to serve no purpose at all.

Li Nuo had a feeling that Lin Chen’s auditory system might have some special construction that could block out all noise.

For example, the incessant voice of the second-in-command in the command center behind them was driving him crazy, but this voice simply couldn’t enter the ears of Mr. Consultant.

The second-in-command shouted at them, “We all have the duty roster. Taking so many police forces to Zhongshan South Road—what about other places? It’s utter chaos!”

Lin Chen remained indifferent, speaking into the microphone, “Yes, deploy half of the police forces from the Liuxing Brigade in Yulin District to set up roadblocks near Hesheng Square… Mm, maintain a certain distance from Huihaodi… Yes.”

“This won’t work!” The second-in-command roared again, slapping Li Nuo’s shoulder heavily, splattering all his saliva on Li Nuo’s face. “You’re clearly disrupting the normal order of the city!”

Li Nuo wiped his face, and just then, he felt Lin Chen poke his hand on the back. Li Nuo looked down, quickly crossing out a detail he had recorded incorrectly on the paper and rewriting the content that Lin Chen instructed him to record.

This one detail was like the spark that ignited a firecracker, and the second-in-command exploded instantly, shouting at Lin Chen’s back, “Stop it, all of you!”

The voice was so loud, like a bomb going off, and everything fell into sudden silence.

Because it was so quiet, Lin Chen’s voice sounded exceptionally clear in such a solemn atmosphere.

“Yes, every vehicle must stop for inspection,” Lin Chen said, word by word.

The second-in-command’s face couldn’t be any worse. It seemed like Lin Chen sensed something, as after finishing that sentence, he finally slowly took out his earphone and handed it over.

“I have already explained to you just now. This is to apprehend the suspect,” Lin Chen said.

“As the price for inconveniencing the lives of the citizens?” the second-in-command questioned.

Li Nuo took the earphone handed to him by Lin Chen, shocked and unable to speak. Lin Chen looked up and made a gesture at him, so he quickly put the earphone into his own ear. He heard the voice of the sunny teenager that he had heard before. He remembered Lin Chen calling him Wang Chao. Lin Chen pointed at the earphone and said to him, “Answer whatever he asks.”

“Li Nuo, right? Has Li Ziyuan’s Sub-Bureau Traffic Police set off?” Wang Chao asked smoothly through the earpiece, seemingly not paying attention to Lin Chen handing over the headset.

Li Nuo looked around, finally finding the information on the large screen.

“They have already set off,” he replied.

Things seemed to be going smoothly on Li Nuo’s end. Lin Chen turned to look at the leader, who had reached the peak of accumulating emotions, and calmly said, “The price is necessary. The suspect is extremely dangerous. Evidence shows that the suspect has received professional counter-surveillance training, making it difficult for us to capture her through conventional surveillance. We can only take risks.”

“Even if she is dangerous, she is just a woman. Are you making such a big fuss to put on a show for the public? Don’t you think it’s exaggerated?” the second-in-command asked again.

“That… Is that drug real? Does it really cause confusion?” A cautious female voice came from the corner.

This time, Lin Chen didn’t answer anymore.

Li Nuo listened tensely, recalling the gruesome and bloody scene he witnessed in the nursing home earlier. He felt a chill run through his body and was about to speak on behalf of Lin Chen when he heard a crisp sound of something being put down from the earphone.

“Such a hassle.” Li Nuo heard Wang Chao murmuring to himself, followed by the sound of typing on a keyboard in the earpiece.

Li Nuo pressed the earphone tightly, wanting to hear clearly what Wang Chao was saying. Suddenly, a cry from the hall made him raise his head abruptly.

At some point, a section of the road surveillance footage on the screen turned black, like a dead pixel on a huge white canvas.

Then he realized that it wasn’t entirely black; it was a segment of surveillance footage from that night.

The surveillance was recorded at a bustling night market near a new district. Under the night sky, people mingled, laughing and chatting, with the lingering scent of sunlight in the air. The sudden turn of events came in the next second without any warning. The diners in the footage ruthlessly fought each other, inflicting brutal harm with the most merciless means.

The timid female police officer in the hall had already covered her eyes. Although it was a silent black-and-white film, the screams and blood in the footage seemed so real that they were about to splash out of the screen.

“The night market barbecue stall incident!” Li Nuo instantly realized what the replayed footage in the surveillance was about.

He had seen this footage before, and now, as it played again, he still felt a chill running up his spine. Despite being in the lively and noisy police hall, in that instant, he felt like he was immersed in cold water.

The playback on the large screen quickly stopped, and the hall returned to a deathly silence.

The first one to react was still Lin Chen. Li Nuo heard him say, “Focus on your own tasks; I will handle things here.”

Li Nuo didn’t understand what Lin Chen was talking about, but he suddenly heard Wang Chao’s voice in the earpiece, “Got it!”

Only then did Li Nuo realize that Lin Chen wasn’t talking to him but was educating Wang Chao. Li Nuo tightened his grip on the earpiece and subconsciously asked, “Was it you who did it?”

“Oh, it was nothing,” Wang Chao modestly replied from the other end.

Although the voice in the earpiece sounded very relaxed, the people present were clearly scared by that short video.

The second-in-command, who had harbored resistance towards Lin Chen just a while ago, had calmed down. His face turned pale as he asked, “Is the lethality of the drugs held by Shen Lian really that great… Can they still be considered drugs?”

Lin Chen glanced over the faces in the hall and finally nodded.

In the brief seconds that followed, the hall fell silent again, and one could hear the sound of a pin dropping.

Li Nuo took a deep breath and heard the second-in-command finally regain his senses, saying to everyone in the hall, “What are you looking at? Disperse and return to your positions!”

After that sound, the hall became busy again. The officers answering phone calls continued to do so, and the officers responsible for relaying Lin Chen’s instructions continued to pass on the orders. Everything returned to the same chaotic state as before, but Li Nuo felt that something was different.

The interlude quickly passed, and Lin Chen sat back in his position. Li Nuo glanced at him and saw the serious expression on the consultant’s face, wondering what he was thinking.

He could only comfort him, saying, “Actually, the other units don’t have any intimidating intentions. Just explain things clearly to them when you meet with them, and they will cooperate.”

Lin Chen’s gaze followed, and his expression was unreadable. It certainly had nothing to do with the word “relaxed”.

“What’s wrong?” Li Nuo became a little nervous. “Did I say something wrong?”

“Some things are not suitable as examples for clarification,” Lin Chen replied vaguely.

“Why?” Li Nuo asked in return.

“Because fear, while it can make people obey, is also the most dangerous virus.”

Until they encountered later events, Li Nuo didn’t understand the meaning behind Lin Chen’s ambiguous words.

All he knew was that when they left the monitoring hall, the city’s traffic had been twisted and rearranged by Lin Chen into an unclear and ambiguous state.

But if you could stand at a high point in the city, or if you could integrate the city’s traffic data like the young man on the other end of the phone, you would discover that a clear path was opening up in a deliberate and methodical manner, leading the aimless criminal.