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墨書 Inktalez
"What does he want to do? Kidnap us?" Wang Kun said angrily after reviewing the surveillance footage. "Honey, let's go home right away and check how much cash we have. I'll make an appointment with the bank to withdraw five million as soon as possible, and then we'll see what happens."
"For money?" Madam Wang exclaimed suddenly. "In our safe, the cash along with gold bars is estimated to be around one million. That person was able to open our front door; he might also be able to open our safe."
Old Shao shook his head. "You’ve seen the surveillance video. After leaving your house, he only took a key; he didn’t take anything else."
Old Shao recalled the first encounter with the Criminal Consultant, when several cars casually discarded by him were worth around seven or eight hundred thousand. A certain super-rich individual had once invested a large sum to support Shih Huacheng's Domain Organization, and after Shih Huacheng was arrested, a significant amount of funds fell into Wei Demian's hands, which likely ended up in the Criminal Consultant's possession now.
Old Shao stood up, leaning on his chair while rubbing his temples. "He probably isn’t after your money. His illegal income is likely greater than what your group possesses. That's why he can act so recklessly without any worries."
"Captain Liu's call," Yuan Jun said, handing his phone to Old Shao.
"Hello?" Old Shao asked. "Have things been arranged?"
Captain Liu replied, "We are searching for that car throughout the city. We've notified all first and even second-level highway checkpoints. If that car leaves Dragon City, we'll know immediately. However, based on current surveillance at intersections, the car hasn’t appeared on camera since it turned onto Hu Ye Road. The perpetrator seems very familiar with Dragon City's surveillance."
"Did that car not stop?" Elder Shao asked. "Pay attention to the surveillance from streets nearby; the perpetrator may have switched vehicles."
"It didn’t stop," Captain Liu said. "I sent local police to Hu Ye Road; that car did not stop there. We are certain the perpetrator is still driving that vehicle or may have switched to another vehicle after evading surveillance."
"Keep investigating; we can't let our guard down for a moment," Elder Shao ordered.
"Understood," Captain Liu replied.
Upon hearing "Hu Ye Road," Jiang He closed his eyes. In his mind, a map began to rotate and expand, gradually forming around Hu Ye Road. Buildings started to rise in Jiang He's imagination, roads were laid out in his mind, and shops opened in his thoughts.
"There are three routes leaving Hu Ye Road that cars can take, and there are no cameras on either side," Jiang He said slowly, word by word. "Two of these roads lead south towards Dragon City, while one heads west. As you go further out, areas without surveillance increase, but overall, the direction leads towards towns and counties surrounding Dragon City."
Captain Liu nodded and said to Yuan Jun, "Tell Captain Liu to coordinate with nearby police stations and ensure they find this car as soon as possible."
While Yuan Jun was on the phone with Captain Liu, Guan Deng tugged at Jiang He's arm and said, "Look at this."
Before Jiang He could express his surprise that Guan Deng had managed to say three words in one go, something even more astonishing happened. A WeChat message popped up on Guan Deng's phone, revealing a video message.
The background of the video was an impenetrable darkness, obscuring the surrounding environment. In front of the camera, a dim light outlined the figure of a person. This individual wore a black cap and a black mask with a blood tear over the right eye, appearing directly in front of the lens.
He spoke in a deep male voice: "Do you think Wang Yedan should be buried with Luben? I am giving you a chance to make a choice. You can reply with 'yes' or 'no,' or ignore this video altogether. I will make my decision based on your choice. After replying, please delete this WeChat message. Don't worry; no one will know your answer as long as you don't tell anyone. No one will know you received this message."
The WeChat video ended there, and the lamp with a soft click went dark, plunging the entire video into blackness.
At that moment, nearly everyone's phones chimed simultaneously. The crowd pulled out their phones and discovered that they had all received nearly identical WeChat messages containing the same mysterious video.
Old Shao didn't have a social circle on WeChat, and Jiang He’s phone had no apps downloaded apart from calling features, so these two naturally did not receive the WeChat video. However, some security personnel present also did not receive it.
A few security guards exchanged glances.
"Did you get it?"
"Why didn’t I receive anything?"
They began to inquire among themselves.
Old Shao realized the seriousness of the situation and immediately addressed everyone: "I don't know how many of you received this WeChat message, but do not act rashly..."
"I replied 'no,'" one security guard interrupted before Old Shao could finish his warning. "Could this be a prank?"
"It’s not," Old Shao replied firmly, looking at the guard. "We have investigated this person before; his voice is exactly the same as what we heard previously. Although he was wearing a mask, I can assure you that this person is the one who kidnapped Wang Yedan—what we refer to as the Criminal Consultant."
As Old Shao spoke, that black mask kept resurfacing in his mind. He was very familiar with it; over twenty years ago, someone else had worn that same mask. That person was named Wu Zui, also known as a criminal mastermind.
Upon seeing the mask, Old Shao could almost confirm that this Criminal Consultant must be Wei Demian's adopted son. When Wu Zui committed his crimes, this Criminal Consultant was likely just a young child. Growing up in such an environment, it was no surprise that he had been exposed to crime from a young age, leading to his current personality.
"Wei Demian's adopted son," Old Shao murmured, his expression grave.
"Is this really true or not?" one of the security guards asked. "Should we just deny it?"
"Old Shao, what do you think we should do?" Wang Kun also turned to Shao the Elder.
Old Shao rubbed his temples and after a moment said, "We don't know how many WeChat messages the Criminal Consultant has sent out or how many people received them. However, based on the rumors that surfaced on Weibo earlier, many people believed Zhao Yan's claims. Guan Deng, immediately investigate the mechanism behind this WeChat message. The rest of you, deny it right away."
After a pause, Old Shao continued, "We don't know how long the Criminal Consultant has set for this investigation. Contact everyone you can reach right now and have them all deny it."
"Understood." The usually composed Wang Kun finally showed signs of anxiety; sweat was already forming on his forehead in the cold winter.
Old Shao had no idea how the Criminal Consultant managed to do this or how many people he had sent the message to. But Old Shao understood that many might think this was just a baseless prank, while others would respond with a "yes" out of curiosity. People like Zhao Yan would definitely choose "yes."
Old Shao couldn't predict how many would choose "yes" and how many would choose "no."
Guan Deng sat in a chair, connecting his phone to his laptop, and began typing furiously.
After a moment, Guan Deng helplessly waved at Old Shao. He wanted to speak but couldn't find the words, so he pulled up a document and started typing.
"The Criminal Consultant hacked several powerful base stations and exploited software vulnerabilities to push this video message directly to random users' phones. Of course, these users all have local IPs from Dragon City. However, there are too many people in Dragon City for us to know which base station he will target next unless we can catch him or shut down all the base stations. But doing that would mean no one could make calls or communicate, which would cause even greater harm."
"Is there any way to cut off communication so that users who received the video can't reply?" Old Shao asked.
Guan Deng shook his head and typed on the document: "There's no way. We can find out who received the video, but we can't stop them from replying. Moreover, this process will take a long time; during that time frame, the Criminal Consultant will have enough time to organize data and determine his next steps."
Old Shao slapped his forehead and said, "So we can only wait."
Guan Deng nodded heavily.
Everyone's hearts were in their throats, as no one knew what kind of choices people would make.
Jiang He suddenly spoke up, "Follow me, I know where that car went."
"You know?" Old Shao asked.
Jiang He nodded and stood up, heading outside. "We all know Zhao Xiu's request. Zhao Xiu has no other demands; she only wants Wang Yedan to marry her son in a ghost marriage. If we head down Hu Ye Road, we can reach Zhao Xiu's village. Considering the time, they should have already set up the spirit altar by now."
"You're right, let's go immediately," Shao the Elder said. "Yuan Jun, drive."
Everyone understood that they were racing against time; no one knew when the Criminal Consultant would stop recording. But everyone knew that Wang Yedan had only two outcomes: to live or to die.
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