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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 177: Life on the Line
At 8:43 PM, an off-road vehicle sped out of the target area, quickly heading east along the road. The surveillance point suddenly tensed up, guns were loaded, and the team sought instructions from the task force.
There was no real-time monitoring footage, only a few photos captured by infrared equipment. From a thousand miles away, the task force could only hear the distorted voice of Thunder Team Zero: "Report, a Mustang is approaching our location. Should we intercept?"
"How many people are in the vehicle?" Lin Qizhao shouted.
"Can't see clearly, it's still over a hundred meters away. We're about 30 meters from the road and out of handgun range. Requesting permission to launch a surprise attack."
The voice was urgent and trembling.
Lin Qizhao's heart raced even more. Xiao Mu's identity had unexpectedly surfaced; if these individuals recognized the danger and fled, this would be their last chance to capture them. Just as the two supervising Inspectors were about to order a surprise attack, a hand suddenly slammed down on the command switch. Everyone looked at each other in shock; it was Shen Lingchen, who had remained silent until now, who had lost his temper.
"Master, what are you doing..." Lin Qizhao was stunned.
"I say this... you, you, you... your handling of this case is completely reckless," one Inspector exclaimed angrily, startled by Shen Lingchen's actions. The other scrutinized Shen Lingchen and asked, "Do you know what you're doing?"
Zhou Qunyi was directly taken aback; he hadn't expected Shen Lingchen, who had been close to Aiko, to act so impulsively. This could potentially affect the progress of the case. The two superiors turned pale with anger while Shen Lingchen firmly held down the switch and said in a low voice, "If we act before the timing is right, our results will be far worse. You don't expect future evidence to be difficult to gather, do you?"
"But if they escape, what good will seizing a bunch of Counterfeit Money Printing Presses do?" Inspector A retorted angrily.
"I'm betting they won't run as long as we remain still," Shen Lingchen replied.
"You handle cases based on bets?" another superior asked incredulously.
"Yes. Don't you think luck plays a part in investigations? Committing a crime is essentially a gamble, and counterfeiting money is a high-stakes bet on one's life... Right now, this is merely a suspected lead. Even if we assume Gexi is involved and Dai Qiongshi inadvertently revealed Xiao Mu's identity, so what? He already has a notorious reputation; even appearing as someone involved in Counterfeit Money is reasonable... Of course, I don't rule out that he might be in danger, but whether or not that danger has already occurred or will occur makes no difference to him." As Shen Lingchen spoke, he released his grip on the switch. When normal operations resumed, the vehicle had already driven far away. Thunder Team was calling out for instructions, and Lin Qizhao had no choice but to order everyone to stand by.
Guan Yiqing, who had been silently listening, suddenly felt a sharp pain in her heart, biting her lower lip until it bled.
When sacrifices are needed, everything is prioritized for the greater good. Whether it's the police or informants, as individuals, there is no room for choice.
The two Inspectors, however, caught the hidden meaning in Shen Lingchen's words. Inspector A asked, "Are you suggesting that they are also testing us?"
"Of course. Whether it's Suzhou and Hangzhou, Taizhou, or here, all are thousands of miles away from Houji Town. The Hazardous Materials Vehicle is less than three hours away from its destination. I refuse to believe that they have the capability to uncover the truth in this timeframe... not even we can," Shen Lingchen replied. Lin Qizhao leaned towards his opinion and glanced at the two superiors, reminding them, "He has been missing for the past two years. Despite our extensive search efforts, we have found no trace of him. Mu Wanbo's identity was assigned to him two years ago and has just been activated."
"What if we're wrong?" another Inspector asked seriously.
"I'll take responsibility," Lin Qizhao and Shen Lingchen said almost in unison. Zhou Qunyi then added, "Count me in as well; I agree with Master Shen's opinion."
"Alright then, let's take a gamble."
Inspector A said coldly and called out to another officer who stepped out of the corridor to speak. The remaining members of the Technical Investigation team exchanged glances, not daring to breathe.
At that moment, at 8:55 PM, in that remote area of Haoji, it was impossible to track the lost off-road vehicle...
…………………………
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"Instructor... Instructor... Did he slip away?"
A team member whispered to Aeming, who was crouched behind a mound of dirt with only half of her face visible. In the darkness, only her eyes were moving.
She had seen the taillights from a distance; they flashed briefly before disappearing quickly. When she put down the binoculars, she realized her hands were trembling. She rubbed them vigorously against the dirt and swallowed hard. Her heart raced unusually fast, leaving her momentarily at a loss for what to do.
The project team had not issued any orders, and at this moment, he dared not act recklessly. It concerned a person's life and death, someone he cared about deeply, and he was thrown into a state of panic.
"Instructor, the reinforcements are still over an hour away from the assembly point. Even the first ones to arrive will take more than forty minutes," a team member reminded him.
"What you mean is that we should just go in and take him out for some credit?" Aimin asked.
"Exactly, it's not like we haven't done it before," the team member replied.
"Go to hell! If you mess around again, I'll beat you to death. If it were just one group, I could handle it alone. Do you know how serious this is? Three provinces and four cities are involved; if we make a move here, everything else will fall apart. You might catch a few workers, but you probably wouldn't even know who the Boss is," Aimin said, which was precisely why he dared not act recklessly.
"But that kid is inside... What if he's discovered? He could end up dead or severely injured," the team member said. No matter how that organization dealt with traitors, it would not be gentle.
Aimin fell silent. He turned around and covered the team member's mouth, punching him twice lightly and threatening in a low voice, "If you keep saying such ominous things, I'll make sure you're the one who ends up hurt... Stay quiet and still; no one is allowed to move."
The sound faded into silence. In the pitch-black surroundings, only a few pairs of eyes were fixed on the factory building's lights that had yet to be extinguished. In a daze, those lights seemed increasingly distant...
...
At that moment, in Suzhou and Hangzhou, in a serviced apartment on a high floor by the window, the dazzling city lights outside sparkled like stars. Gexi was scrolling through his phone when he received several messages. He dialed a number nervously and said, "Brother Sun, it's me."
"What did you find out?" the other party asked directly.
"He has a criminal record. His father's name is Mu Qingchen; this ungrateful son was kicked out of his home. Many people know about it... He has been around Suzhou and Hangzhou; the last time Li Jingbo transported goods and died was because of him. There really is such a figure in the underworld; they call him 'Wood Master.' However, he hasn't shown his face for a year or two; everyone thought he was locked up," Gexi explained. The result of his investigation left him astonished—a rich second-generation heir who had taken to a life of crime, and one of the most ruthless at that.
"What do you think his purpose could be?" the other party asked.
"Many of his men are cash dealers...but I can't figure out what their purpose is. The identity and background of such people are too complicated." Gexi said. "Is it possible... to be seduced by Striped Uniform and become a mole?" the other party asked. Gexi thought for a moment and said: "The worst... is this." The other end of the phone pondered for a while without speaking, and he asked cautiously: "Brother Sun, what should I do now?" "Wait a minute Wait." The other party hung up the phone, his words filled with hesitation and suspicion. After standing for a long time, Gexi turned around uncertainly, but was stunned. I don’t know when, Dai Qiongshi came out of the bathroom, wrapped in a snow-white bath towel, wrapping his snow-white body, but his face But she was not charming. She looked at Gexi curiously and suspiciously and asked, "You seem to be hiding something from me?" "Do you have to know about business matters?" Gexi smiled. "But are you talking about Xiao Mu?" Dai Qiongshi asked strangely: "Why are you so interested in him?" "Because... this person may ruin my business... Haha." Gexi came forward and helped Dai Qiongshi gather her hair in front of her forehead, but did not make any further gestures of intimacy. Dai Qiongshi obviously felt this change, and she asked displeasedly: "You need me ...Leave?" "Oh, no, no, no...you misunderstood." Gexi quickly apologized. "If you don't want me to misunderstand, then tell me the truth. How about we take the responsibility together? I know you can't afford to offend him. If you can't, I will help you... After all, we are old classmates. I think he will give me some face in the future." Dai Qiongshi said, looking at Gexi affectionately. Can't afford it? Gexi laughed, and this smile made Dai Qiongshi misunderstood. She said unhappily: "You don't believe me at all? I have been a rich wife for a few days, and I still have friends. The police, prosecutors They are all available on the Internet. Many of us at Political Science University went to these units." Unexpectedly, these words were like aphrodisiac, which made Gexi feel guilty. He thought in shock, Sun Qinghua shouted. With such a huge crowd of people and the blatant favoritism of the police, by analogy, that mysterious Xiao Mu would also be very familiar with this kind of environment.
He gripped his phone tightly, his hand trembling uncontrollably, completely unaware that the enchanting beauty had already nestled into his embrace...
...
...
"The call lasted one minute and forty seconds..."
"Wanke Hotel Apartment... the recipient is in Taizhou, located at Sun Dazheng's residence."
"The call was disconnected again... currently tracking, the recipient is located on 209Expressway, thirty-five kilometers from Houji Town."
"Unable to locate, Signal lost..."
"Another call..."
Technical Investigation continuously reported the real-time progress of the communication monitoring. The situation was urgent, and for ordinary suspects like this, the mobile phone Signal interception had not yet been established. They could only track the source of the Signal and the recipient's location, with the information obtained being extremely limited.
At 9:28 PM, over thirty minutes had passed since the disappearance. The task force was as anxious as ants on a hot pan. The Thunder Team was about to arrive, but it seemed that the target had fled by vehicle. The mobile phone Signal connected to the Tank had vanished, and now on the screen, only a solitary light at the target location remained, surrounded by endless darkness.
"Which A Group arrived first?" Inspector A asked.
"Thunder Team Six, part of the Jining Armed Police Training Base, one vehicle, two assault teams, twelve personnel, expected to arrive at the designated target in nineteen minutes," Guan Yiqing reported.
Too slow; it seemed too late. Inspector A slammed his left hand heavily against his right fist, a picture of frustration at an expedition that had not even begun yet felt like a defeat.
In this tense atmosphere, both Lin Qizhao and Zhou Qunyi, with their limited experience, dared not speak. They exchanged glances while observing the meditative Shen Lingchen. Lin Qizhao noticed that even Shen Lingchen was suppressing his anxiety; his hand lightly tapped on the table, clearly trembling uncontrollably.
Big fish are not so easily caught in the net.
"Master," Lin Qizhao called out.
"Don't ask me. I'm more nervous than anyone else. Xiao Mu is someone I discovered, and this time it seems like the odds are against us," Shen Lingchen replied.
"Then we should do something," Zhou Qunyi said, a deep sense of regret in his voice. Watching a contact in danger made it hard for him to remain calm.
"Only absolute silence can create the illusion for them. Any movement on our part could be seen as unnecessary interference. Sometimes the most foolish approach is actually the smartest... Anyang's machine has already started running. His connection with us is merely a disguised meeting and a gesture. Unless the informant personally acknowledges it, I can't think of any clues they might use to sense danger," Shen Lingchen said, pointing towards Anyang, where Ren Guoliang was keeping watch. Qiu Guanghan, the one who gathered the goods, was already busy; it seemed those goods were being printed frantically.
"Testing?" Inspector A asked skeptically.
"Perhaps. If they notice something unusual, they might slip away. But if they don't notice anything at all, do you think they'll cut their losses or take another gamble? Don't forget, that Gravure Printing Press is incredibly difficult to smuggle and worth over a million. The U.S. Bills printed in these days could be worth several million when shipped out. With such stakes, do you think they'd take the risk?" Shen Lingchen questioned. At that moment, he suddenly felt a sense of clarity, oddly calm as he viewed the situation from the suspect's perspective; the answer was obvious.
He slammed his hand on the table and declared, "Yes, they will definitely take the risk."
As he finished speaking, he realized everyone in the room was staring at him in surprise, as if he were an alien; doubt was written on each of their faces...
...
...
"Hello... hello... Guanghan, it's me..." Xu Tonglei asked urgently.
"What's going on?" Qiu Guanghan's voice came through.
"How's everything on your side?" Xu Tonglei inquired.
"Dammit, what's going on today? Is everyone just waiting for me to get into trouble?" Qiu Guanghan was furious.
"Are you okay or not? Did you go check it out?" Xu Tonglei pressed.
"I went, I've driven a few kilometers already, and there's really no one... You know this godforsaken place better than anyone; not even a dog would dare come in here." Qiu Guanghan replied, "So what's the deal?"
"Nothing, nothing. What are you up to?" Xu Tonglei asked.
"Not much. Just having a couple of drinks," Qiu Guanghan said.
"Alright, just be careful. It's not safe out there." Xu Tonglei hung up the phone. The car hit a bump and jolted forward. He turned to the dog in the passenger seat and said, "It's fine, really fine. It's just that idiot Old Man; you should have heard his tone."
Tsk tsk tsk... The dog kept gnawing at its mouth, unsure of what to say. Xu Tonglei shouted, "If you keep driving like this, we're going to end up out of the province."
That snapped the dog back to reality. It slammed on the brakes, causing the car to screech to a halt just short of hitting Xu Tonglei. Frustrated, Xu Tonglei exclaimed, "I mean seriously, Dog! You act like you're about to lose your head over nothing. Even if that guy is an insider, so what? There are people following him around for every little thing he does. We haven't even left the city; why are you so scared?"
"Right, he can't leak any information," the dog realized. Then it quickly added, "But Boss is worried. Two big tankers worth over a million; we worked our asses off to get that machinery back. Money is one thing, but if we lose our Brothers, we can't just let that slide. Our entire stash is here tonight."
"So what do we do? Just abandon it? This stuff is printed right in the workshop; you might as well be asking for your own head!" Xu Tonglei retorted angrily, feeling like he was being shot for no reason.
"True..." The dog pulled out a lighter and lit a cigarette, taking a puff while staring into the dark night ahead. It pondered aloud, "It seems fine for now. But if we're being watched, we'll be the first ones to take the fall. You know there's a printing press there; it would take several squads of police to handle that."
"Exactly! There's not a single hair left behind; we're just scaring ourselves for no reason," Xu Tonglei said.
"What if he really is tipping someone off while moving things out?" the dog countered.
"If Boss gets the stuff out of here, we can leave too. As for him... you handle it," Xu Tonglei replied.
"Whatever it is, we can only take it as it is," Dogzi said, pulling out his phone and dialing the boss's number.
"Bro, it's all quiet here... even if something happened, he didn't have time to report it... Yeah, I got it..."
When the call ended, the headlights of a car suddenly brightened. The vehicle made a U-turn and strangely returned along the same route...
...
At 10 PM, the interrupted Signal strangely reappeared. The ghostly off-road vehicle passed through a police checkpoint in Heze and headed back towards Houji Town. The task force exchanged surprised glances at Shen Lingchen, who was still sitting calmly, wiping the sweat from his palms with a sigh of relief.
By 10:20 PM, two Tank vehicles were less than forty kilometers from Houji Town. From the analysis of the footage from the two checkpoints, both vehicles had already accelerated towards their target.
Meanwhile, the first batch of Thunder Team Six and Thunder Zero Group arrived at their designated point, setting up a perimeter at a waste treatment facility six kilometers away from the factory area. The vehicles turned off their lights, and everyone lay in wait for their prey to appear.
At 10:40 PM, the off-road vehicle boldly drove back into the factory area.
Wang Lishong hurried down from the building. Xu Tonglei asked, "Did you find anything?"
"Nothing, just a few passing cars," Wang Lishong replied. Noticing their serious expressions, he whispered, "I told you that guy is trouble; we can't let him stay."
"The car is almost here; let's do this..." Dogzi pulled the two closer and whispered a few words. The three headed straight for the workshop. Wang Lishong took out his keys to unlock the door and pushed it open. As the gate closed behind them, several workers sitting in a corner smoking turned to look. Xiao Mu, covered in grime and holding a cigarette, certainly didn't look like an informant.
"Come on over... Brothers, thank heaven this trip went smoothly again. We have about ten minutes left; let's load up the goods and then go our separate ways... Ah, everyone come here; let's divide the money," Xu Tonglei called out to everyone.
The reward wasn't Counterfeit Money, but real Renminbi. Each Helper received thirty thousand per bundle, while those operating machinery got even more—double that amount. Everyone happily accepted their share. Xu Tonglei waved over to Xiao Mu, saying, "Mu, come here; this is yours."
"Ah... thank you, Uncle," Xiao Mu said, bouncing over.
As he was about to take over, Xu Tonglei quickly pulled his hand back, not grabbing it. With a smile, he asked, "Nephew, do you know why I trust you and brought you here?"
"Why?" Xiao Mu asked, puzzled.
"Because I have a brother who knows you. He said you're a good person. Hehe, after spending some time with you, I can see he's right. Here," Xu Tonglei said, placing a bundle of cash into Xiao Mu's arms. Xiao Mu hugged it happily and said, "Thank you, Uncle."
"Don't mention it. I know your father, Mu Qingchen," Xu Tonglei blurted out.
Xiao Mu's smiling face stiffened at that moment. Unconsciously, his hand trembled, and with a thud, the money fell to the ground. In an instant of embarrassment, he realized he had messed up. When he looked up, Xu Tonglei was watching him with an ambiguous expression and said, "You're putting on quite the act, Mulin Shen. Did you really think I wouldn't know who you are?"
Xiao Mu stared in shock as Xu Tonglei, Wang Lishong, and the dog formed a triangle around him, preparing to strike. Before he could react, darkness enveloped him. A loud bang echoed as stars exploded in his vision; he was knocked back several meters like a wooden post and crashed heavily against the machine casing. Instinctively wiping his face, he found blood on his nose and mouth while Wang Lishong glared at him with a fierce expression.
"Kid, I'll leave you some U.S. Bills to burn as paper money later; don't complain that it's fake."
The dog laughed menacingly as he grabbed Xiao Mu by the hair and dragged him to the corner. The muffled sounds of punches mixed with interrogations began; the other technicians listened in fear without daring to turn their heads.
"It's fine; get ready to work... Monk, come here."
Xu Tonglei called out to Wang Lishong. The two stepped out of the workshop and glanced at the dog still beating Xiao Mu in the corner before closing the door behind them. They headed straight upstairs; one observed through binoculars while the other made phone calls. It remained quiet until the phone rang again. In that final moment, Xu Tonglei reached out to pull the lever down; as the gate closed with a clang, lights illuminated the entire yard. On top of the building, a bright light shone like a beacon in the darkness, guiding the tank that had just arrived at Houji Town...
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