130: Chapter 127 Serene Years 130: Chapter 127 Serene Years The scorching sun blazed overhead.

Skin seared by its heat.

Car engines roared, air conditioning off.

Vroom—

Exhaust spewed from the tailpipe, a plume of hot gases, nearly melting the asphalt below.

Wu Junhao sat in the passenger seat, meticulously oiling his small shield, keeping it maintained.

Yes, he had a small shield—transparent, round, and compact.

Once strapped to the arm, this transparent circle became incredibly hard and powerful.

Wu Junhao’s Baton Shield Skill was quite renowned in Qinghe City.

Various property management companies often invited him for demonstrations.

In actual combat, Wu Junhao was a reliable enforcement guarantee for the assault team.

When they reached the destination, Wu Junhao slowly lifted his head.

Instead of the fierce expression common in television dramas, he calmly opened the walkie-talkie and said, “The factory ahead is where our target is located.

You’ve all seen the photo, so keep a sharp eye out.”

There was crackling static from the walkie-talkie, no one spoke.

The members of the assault team might be careless in other tasks, but when it came to apprehending suspects, they were true professionals.

Wu Junhao continued, “This search wasn’t easy.

You’ve seen what Doctor Jiang’s gear can do—it’s almost magical.

This time, we aim to catch a big fish.”

Wu Junhao added, “But no matter how important the mission, we all have only one life.

If the person runs, we can chase again.

We have so many brothers here; we not only need to have confidence in ourselves but also trust in each other.

If you can’t keep up or are uncertain, let go and let someone else take over.”

At this point, Wu Junhao spoke again, “Alright, the plan has been discussed.

No more talking.

Those on internal duty stay in the cars to keep watch and maintain communication.

Everyone else, follow the plan.”

“Car Two, received.”

“Car Three, received.”

It was then that the others in the remaining vehicles acknowledged, rather nonchalantly.

For the assault team, an arrest operation was all too common and routine.

Wu Junhao himself displayed a solemn yet indifferent demeanor.

He and the officer in his vehicle wore police uniforms, but the six people in cars Four and Five were in plain clothes.

Consequently, cars Four and Five parked a bit farther away.

The plainclothes officers snuck through gaps between other factories to block the target’s back exit.

Only after the officers blocking the rear were in position did Wu Junhao give a wave of his hand.

Several cars drove up to the factory simultaneously, and a troop of police officers burst through the door.

The factory door was open, a simple push and they were inside.

The interior was spacious, a few machines thundering away, one man engrossed in his work in front of a machine.

Upon hearing the commotion, he looked up and was stunned to see a group of officers.

Tools clattered to the floor from his hand before he quickly picked them up, contemplating an escape without knowing where to run, clutch tightly onto a wrench in his hand.

Wu Junhao and the others immediately identified him as the target.

The features on the printed photo, Wu Junhao remembered them all too well.

A contingent of officers, batons in hand, formed an arc and closed in.

Wu Junhao was among them, his small round shield held in front, ready for action—

A large circle closing in on a smaller one.

The young entrepreneur who had returned from big cities stood foolishly with a wrench, intending to resist yet unable to control the trembling in his legs.

At the same time, the plainclothes officers guarding the back door also rushed in.

Silent and swift, their experience told them to secure the escape routes first, like grabbing onto the legs of a piggy earmarked for slaughter, rather than trying to block when the pig begins to charge—which would be far too dangerous.

A dozen burly men fully equipped encircled a single person by a machine, and the atmosphere grew tense with the threat of violence.

In the end, the young entrepreneur threw the wrench down to the ground.

“Xiao Ba!” Wu Junhao shouted.

“How did you…” Xiao Ba couldn’t believe it.

“Is your name Xiao Ba?” Wu Junhao was certain but still sought confirmation.

Barely managing a nod, Xiao Ba replied faintly, “Yes…”

“Put your hands on your head and squat down,” Wu Junhao commanded with ferocity.

Without hesitation, Xiao Ba squatted, hands on head, curling into a ball for what felt like a bit more security, the shaking in his legs subsided somewhat.

“I won’t run.

I’ll stay right here,” Xiao Ba said softly, his voice a bit whiny.

Wu Junhao and the others exchanged looks, somehow feeling their intense emotions were wasted.

It was like eighteen strong men gearing up to slaughter a tiny chick.

After such a formidable entry by so many people, the least you could do is pick up a stool and put up a symbolic fight.

He dropped that wrench so eagerly; when he first picked it up, they half-expected him to use it.

“How did you find me?” Xiao Ba asked in disbelief, his voice low.

“Cut the talk and keep your head down,” Wu Junhao and his assistant both yelled.

They had to shout—the emotions weren’t so easy to control.

“I knew it, trust doesn’t pay off in the end.”

“Are you guys going to handcuff me?”

“Please be gentle with the handcuffs; my skin tears easily.”

Xiao Ba muttered, looking up at Wu Junhao and the others.

Wu Junhao, holding his oiled, transparent small round shield, fingers rattling it, asked gruffly, “What were you up to in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou?”

“I’m really good with paperwork,” Xiao Ba protested, about to stand and reason with Wu Junhao.

“Head down.” A teammate beside him pressed him down.

…

The case center was as bustling as if it were Chinese New Year.

The spider plants in the corridor stood tall and proud, growing lush and broad.

Of course, it wasn’t actually Chinese New Year, just the busy time before it.

There were constant complaints about the shortage of manpower, and new people were arriving all the time.

At the same time, people were still being rounded up outside, in an effort to finish before the New Year.

Little Ba, who made fake IDs, once again provided a steady stream of “clients” for the interrogation room.

Just as Huang Qiangmin had predicted, Little Ba, who didn’t really follow the rules of the underworld, indeed had kept a lot of “material for ID making.”

He had decided to return to his hometown to develop his business precisely because he had built up some customer resources and couldn’t afford a house in the big cities.

Additionally, unlike the older generation of criminals, Little Ba had learned how to take orders online, and had overcome geographic constraints, making his business quite successful.

If he hadn’t been caught, Little Ba would have started preparing to build his own guesthouse, which would have conveniently serviced identity card applicants, offering a secure, one-stop shop for travel and ID services.

Huang Qiangmin quickly rounded up four squads of detectives, and without much ado, identified information about three fugitives.

Although these three were not as high-profile as the B-level fugitive from a few days earlier, their captures still brought a sense of joy at having gained something for nothing.

It was like scavenging from the sea; albeit there was effort involved, it still felt like freeload.

The tide comes in.

And it goes out.

…

Wednesday at noon.

Wei Zhenguo, after squeezing every last drop of usefulness out of Stupid Guo, packaged him up and handed him over to the prosecutors at the county prosecutions office.

Compared to the other four middle-aged thieves, Stupid Guo’s sentence was undoubtedly going to be much longer.

It was likely that by the time he got out of prison, his mid-life crisis would no longer exist, and he would have reconciled with the world.

When the five thieves were sent away, Jiang Yuan also got his new computer.

A brand-new mainframe—the latest model, albeit last year’s version—approved for purchase by the county bureau.

Jiang Yuan was nonetheless very pleased.

After all, it was more than five years more advanced than his old computer; given the purchasing habits of the county bureau, an eight to ten-year advancement wouldn’t have been a surprise.

Jiang Yuan happily installed all the necessary software and opened up a novel to read contentedly.

Reading novels on a new computer was indeed a lot more fun!

Seeing him so foolishly happy, Wu Jun felt cheerful too, and he took out a Zhonghua cigarette to smoke quietly on his own.

The quiet office, the tranquil detectives’ compound, along with the thief-free Ningtai County—what a splendid and prosperous time!

…

“Love is eternal, even in death, it wouldn’t be satisfying without a full release…”

Wu Jun’s phone vibrated and sang out loud.

Wu Jun went to answer it, grunted a couple of “hmm-hmms,” then took his time to finish the last half of his cigarette, flicking it into the flowerpot before turning to Jiang Yuan, “We’ve got to go, there’s a case with a severed hand; let’s check out the scene.”

“That’s vicious.

Is the person still alive?” Jiang Yuan immediately started packing his things, asking as he walked.

“Alive, sent to the hospital,” Wu Jun pocketed the remains of his cigarette, talking as they moved.

“The victim fainted, says he doesn’t recognize the attacker, and so far, we haven’t found the perpetrator.”

Jiang Yuan’s expression instantly became much more serious and earnest.

The judicial systems at home and abroad differ greatly.

Overseas law enforcement officers have to consider the litigation process first and foremost, because if that fails, even a seemingly solid case is worthless, as insubstantial as duckweed.

Abroad, even if everyone knows who the assailant is—and the criminal knows you know—if there isn’t sufficient evidence, you can’t convict them.

Police officers, including forensic doctors, must strive to prove that the criminal is indeed the criminal.

For domestic forensic doctors and detectives, however, their most important task is to solve the case—with a prosecution request made, there usually isn’t much else to worry about.

Therefore, not knowing the perpetrator and being unable to find them at the moment made the case instantly more complicated.

Jiang Yuan and his master arrived at the scene.

It was a self-built courtyard, enclosed with walls over two meters high.

There were large iron gates, double-opening, with little stone lions crouched at the entrance.

The scene inside the courtyard was bloody, with large areas of blood sprayed across the ground.

If this were a chicken slaughterhouse, the blood would be equivalent to that of two chickens.

However, the stench in their nostrils was unmistakably the unpleasant smell of human blood.

Jiang Yuan first methodically put on a mask and gloves before entering the cordon with his master.

The crime scene wasn’t large, but they couldn’t wander around at will.

The crime scene officers had drawn their lines and were taking photographs when they noticed Jiang Yuan and Wu Jun, greeting them with friendly smiles.

The internal briefing of the “Mount Wulong Wild Man Case” had already been circulated, and any crime scene officer with half a brain, upon seeing the clues Jiang Yuan had found at a scene, could only praise his expertise.

Since today’s case had no fatalities, it should be considered a minor case for Jiang Yuan.

A few of the crime scene officers were curiously observing Jiang Yuan.

They saw him standing in the middle of the yard, facing the pool of blood on the ground, taking a deep breath…