128: Chapter 125 Captured in One Fell Swoop 128: Chapter 125 Captured in One Fell Swoop It’s strange, really.

Just as Zhuang Wei, the first generation head of the surveillance office, felt despair, an even more desperate situation occurred.

The suspect, Zhang Wanjie, couldn’t be found.

There was nothing odd about it; a camera had captured Zhang Wanjie heading south, but when they checked the cameras to the south, Zhang Wanjie’s figure was nowhere to be found.

Looking back and checking other routes, they searched high and low with no success.

Zhuang Wei, somewhat irritable, gazed at the screen.

This lousy job was really too much to bear.

Not only did it lack any technical content, but it was also particularly draining—mentally and physically.

Some might handle it with more technical skill, but the exhaustion was definitely the same.

With this kind of effort, one might as well be a fitness instructor at the gym.

At the very least, there would be female trainees or muscular male and female trainees to share the fatigue…

“This guy’s been a fugitive for so many years, counter-surveillance has become second nature to him.

Let’s try searching a bit further ahead,” Wei Zhenguo comforted Zhuang Wei.

“Ugh, this is so annoying,” Zhuang Wei muttered, then pulled up the camera that last caught the suspect before he disappeared.

After a while, he chose the western cameras and estimated the walking speed, fast-forwarding a couple of frames before finally spotting a figure in the same clothing.

He guessed that at the intersection, Zhang Wanjie had pretended to go forward but actually turned right.

Wei Zhenguo immediately sat up straight and said, “That must be him.

Well done, old Zhuang.”

“Well done, nothing.

It’s just some useless experience,” Zhuang Wei replied with a slight sense of accomplishment.

But as the video progressed, Zhuang Wei quickly lost sight of the target again.

Even with video surveillance, they managed to lose track of the person.

The sense of loss quickly engulfed Zhuang Wei, his keystrokes growing louder in frustration.

“Have a smoke, have a smoke,” Wei Zhenguo offered with a chuckle, presenting a Zhonghua cigarette to Zhuang Wei.

“I just can’t find him,” Zhuang Wei said, accepting the cigarette with a look of helplessness.

Others might find excitement in watching videos; he felt exhausted to death by them.

“Take a break, take a break,” Wei Zhenguo suggested with a smile, knowing that’s just how police work is: When you really want to get things done, it’s as tiring as hell.

He was used to these outcomes, working as a police officer in Ningtai County for so long.

How could he not know the capabilities of comrade Zhuang Wei, the original head of the surveillance office?

In the past, he would’ve been satisfied just to have access to the surveillance footage.

Tracking someone through footage was traditionally reserved for major cases, or at least for “cases assigned by the leadership.” It was a privilege.

If you lost track, there were other ways to deal with that.

Seeing Zhuang Wei’s spiritless surrender, Wei Zhenguo imagined, “I’ll go do some work on the scene, see if I can gather more information.”

“Sure, let’s look again when I get back,” Zhuang Wei said, swiftly closing the interface, not wanting to glance at the screen for another moment.

When you’ve been doing the same job for too long without any prospects for advancement, it can wear you down.

Always doing the same thing—when successful, it’s fine, but failure makes it all the more frustrating.

It’s a bit like playing a video game; at the beginning, you tolerate failure, but the more you play, the less patience you have for it.

Wei Zhenguo didn’t have any complaints either; he’d dealt with far too many ridiculous colleagues over the years.

Now, having a reliable partner like Jiang Yuan made Wei Zhenguo feel very satisfied.

Even his apprentice, Mu Zhiyang, who was still recovering from an injury, gave him a strong sense of security.

In these times, having someone willing to take a bullet for you was exceedingly rare.

On his way, Wei Zhenguo resolved to train Mu Zhiyang well when he got back; he wanted Mu Zhiyang’s value to reflect more than just taking bullets.

The scene was a T-intersection with relatively wide streets.

Both sidewalks had cameras, which didn’t matter until someone disappeared.

Once that happened, they had to check six cameras, significantly increasing the difficulty.

Wei Zhenguo took out his phone to check the location where Zhang Wanjie had vanished, looked around, and then entered a diagonally located shop to request their surveillance footage.

The shopkeeper, with a face that looked prosperous from being generous, saw Wei Zhenguo’s ID and flashed a very nice smile.

The shopkeeper was cooperative and without any fuss handed over the surveillance footage, even offering a cup of tea with eagerness—a stark contrast to the fact that they were just fined a few days ago, bearing no grudge against the police officer.

Wei Zhenguo fast-forwarded the footage to three days before, checked his phone, set it to 2:40 PM, and began to fast-forward again.

Minutes passed by quickly, and soon the target appeared under the shade of a tree in the camera’s view.

Zhang Wanjie was an experienced fugitive, but he was just that—a fugitive.

He had not undergone any professional training and couldn’t avoid all the cameras.

Besides, to be fair, there were so many cameras nowadays, especially those of various shops, that even 007 would probably need some of his gadgets to evade them.

Wei Zhenguo watched Zhang Wanjie, who in turn was focused on his own phone.

It was an instinctive act of counter-surveillance by Zhang Wanjie, just a natural reaction.

He waited under the tree cover, an area not monitored by cameras, for two or three minutes.

After resting for a moment, Zhang Wanjie took advantage of a large bus passing by and crossed the street, weaving his way along the roadside.

Wei Zhenguo breathed a sigh of relief, recorded the surveillance footage with his phone, turned it off, thanked the shop owner, and continued tracing along the road.

On the way, Wei Zhenguo sent the video from his phone to Zhuang Wei.

After a while, Zhuang Wei replied on WeChat: “Got it.”

Wei Zhenguo waited on the spot and, in less than ten minutes, Zhuang Wei’s call came through as expected.

“It’s cut off again,” Zhuang Wei sent the specific time, along with another video forwarded from a cell phone, and Wei Zhenguo went to check it out on foot.

The two coordinated in this manner, and had even noticed Zhang Wanjie changing clothes once, just barely tracking him to a residential complex.

The houses in the complex were possibly rented with the help of Stupid Guo.

Wei Zhenguo shook his head privately, thinking how foolish criminals simply had no cost-benefit ratio.

He didn’t even know how much money Zhang Wanjie had given Stupid Guo.

There weren’t many cameras in the complex, nor were there any shops inside, so it became a bit more difficult to continue the search through camera footage.

However, since they had narrowed it down to this complex, the difficulty wasn’t that great; it just meant having a team do a stakeout.

This wouldn’t be worth it for a petty thief, but for a ministry-level B-class fugitive, it was without a doubt worthwhile.

Of course, it would save even more time if Stupid Guo confessed.

Wei Zhenguo stood inside the complex and called Huang Qiangmin.

This was when the team leader showed his usefulness.

Huang Qiangmin’s question was as expected, “Are you sure he’s a B-class fugitive?”

“Positive,” Wei Zhenguo was firm, for making a call then claiming uncertainty was just inviting trouble on himself.

With an affirming “Hm”, Huang Qiangmin declared, “Then no problem, I’ll dispatch two squads to support you now.

First cordon off the area and keep your identities hidden.

I’ll head over to the case center to take a look.”

“Roger that,” Wei Zhenguo immediately responded, “With Captain Huang on the case, surely there will be no problem.”

“Cut the flattery,” Huang Qiangmin laughed and then praised, “Wei’s on a roll lately; like an old tree sprouting new leaves, you keep climbing higher.”

“I’m just doing some fieldwork for Jiang Yuan,” replied Wei Zhenguo, who knew his own affairs well and smiled calmly.

With nearly thirty years under his belt as a veteran detective, he had been a deputy team leader for about twenty-five or twenty-six years; could he even expect a promotion now?

At his age, those who were inclined to take it easy had already done so; anyone else was looking to make a difference.

Huang Qiangmin was in much the same state; his avenues for promotion were narrow too, so he understood Wei Zhenguo well, feeling a sense of kinship: “Jiang Yuan has potential; it’s rare to find someone from Ningtai County who’s such an asset and willing to settle down here.

Alright, let’s arrest the suspect first, and afterward issue a press release about capturing a national B-class fugitive, and establishing Ningtai County’s record of zero pickpockets.”

Huang Qiangmin’s vision seemed to expand when it came to catching criminals.

Wei Zhenguo chuckled, hung up his phone, bought a bottle of Pocari Sweat, and drank heartily while waiting for backup.

When on duty outside, Wei Zhenguo liked to buy Pocari Sweat; it not only replenished fluids and the so-called electrolytes but was also convenient for relieving oneself—between Gatorade and stakeout duties, you never knew which would come first.

Being prepared for anything was a veteran detective’s credo.

It wasn’t long before about thirty people arrived at the complex, which only contained six buildings.

Instructor: “Building 4, apartment 201.

There’s a fire escape ladder outside the window,” said the instructor leading the reinforcements, gun slung across his waist and speaking in a low voice, “He’s only been here for one day and is set to leave by car tomorrow.

We’re going straight in for the arrest.”

The instructor of the detective squad couldn’t make many decisions, particularly when the squadron leader was strong-willed, leaving the instructor largely as a senior investigator, typically used for leading charges, showing the importance from above.

Like today, where the reinforcements brought by the instructor came from several squads and even included three seldom-seen administrative staff.

It was fitting for a leader at the instructor level to lead the team.

Seeing the chaotic origins of the reinforcements, Wei Zhenguo knew the precinct was practically empty and asked, “Has Stupid Guo confessed?”

“He has.”

Not asking how Stupid Guo confessed, Wei Zhenguo only asked, “Any other cases?”

“Yes, there’s an ID falsifier who’s from Ningtai.

He’s the one who summoned all these fugitives here,” the instructor replied, shaking his head in resignation: “According to Stupid Guo, the big cities are too cutthroat; he prefers to come back to his hometown.

What a situation.”

“Has Captain Huang made a move on this ID falsifier?”

“His location isn’t confirmed yet.

Doctor Jiang is helping to look for him.”

“Then there shouldn’t be any problem.

Captain Huang must be pleased this time.”

“He’s hoping for a big haul, in case this ID falsifier has something interesting.

That’s why he personally went over to see what he can net,” the instructor proceeded at a steady pace, arriving at Building 4.

Firstly, he had the building surrounded before ascending from both front and rear to the second floor.

Zhang Wanjie had chosen this apartment with escape in mind, considering using the rear fire escape ladder if needed.

He hadn’t expected that someone would just climb in through the ladder’s window.

Given Wei Zhenguo’s age, he wasn’t on the front line, but when the front door was opened, he saw three strong men pinning down a naked man on a bed, while around four or five others rummaged around the room, searching high and low.