Chapter 515 - 514: Rounding Them All Up (Part 3)
Little Tang Mo carefully recalled the moment he was carried into the car. He had passed out quickly, but he had a nagging feeling that he’d heard Miao Zhi’s voice.
’So... could it be that Miao Zhi found me and tried to save me, only to get dragged into the car herself?’
Miao Zhi had indeed been abducted. And she was in that very car. The other people who were rescued from the same vehicle remembered her.
"She even cursed out the trafficker, so she got a bad beating... She got sick after that."
After facing those children, now having to face these poor women, the immense pressure on the police was unimaginable.
Their eyes were bloodshot as they interrogated and investigated around the clock, vowing to fight these utterly depraved traffickers to the bitter end.
The criminal organization was truly wiped out in one fell swoop.
And none of this would have been possible without Little Tang Mo’s contribution.
Beard, one of the ringleaders, wasn’t caught until the final day of the anti-trafficking operation.
When he was captured, Beard was utterly baffled.
He was one of the organization’s founders.
Years ago, just a few years back, there was no such thing as an "organization."
He was struggling back then and, by a twist of fate, started trafficking children.
The sweet taste of profit from his first nerve-racking job got him completely hooked, and he went all in on this path.
Later, as he sold more and more people, his network grew. He eventually partnered up with someone who specialized in trafficking women and another who stole infants and toddlers.
The one trafficking women was a woman herself. Don’t let her gender fool you; she was absolutely vicious.
She used her kind-looking face to her advantage, traveling everywhere and luring countless young women with promises of well-paying jobs or good husbands.
After the three of them joined forces, their business gradually expanded, they recruited more and more subordinates, and they grew bolder and bolder.
But just as they were getting more and more reckless, they were almost completely wiped out four years ago.
Luckily, they managed to escape.
Having learned their lesson the hard way, the three of them became much more cautious after that incident.
They no longer participated in the trafficking directly, instead only giving orders. To avoid being rounded up all at once, they made sure their different cells didn’t know each other. The division of labor was clear, so even if one or two people were caught, it wouldn’t affect the bigger picture.
The one who used to steal infants was a capable man. He had a silver tongue that could talk a dead man back to life, a deep understanding of human psychology, and he even used his experience to develop the most effective methods for them.
The members of the organization studied his methods, passing them down through the ranks, and became increasingly proficient.
They became more and more sophisticated. Unlike their old, reckless ways, they were now bold yet meticulous, keenly observant, and did everything possible to avoid danger. They even had a protocol for what to do if they were caught.
Su Li had encountered this herself.
Back then, even after she had rescued Little Tang Mo, the traffickers insisted that she was the one who had sold him.
Through simple observation, they had quickly deduced Su Li’s identity as his stepmother. They even used a form of self-hypnosis, almost convincing Police Fang and the others that their lies were the truth.
As for Beard, he had his own exceptional skills.
He no longer got his hands dirty, but he was still active. He was everywhere and nowhere, a mysterious phantom. His skill at disguise was astonishing, and he never imagined he would be caught.
The three founders each had their own strengths. Working together, they were like a tiger with wings—practically flawless.
Normally, an anti-trafficking bust would, at most, catch a few of the grunts on the front lines.
But somehow, before Beard and the others even knew what was happening, the police had inexplicably penetrated their inner circle, capturing a large number of key members all at once.
These key members knew a lot, so their capture was extremely dangerous for the organization.
At first, Beard and his two partners thought there was a problem internally, or that someone had infiltrated them as a mole.
They spent a long time trying to root out the problem. Everyone was a potential suspect, yet no one seemed to be out of place.
As they began to suspect one another, the police intensified their operations, leaving the traffickers terrified.
Beard and his partners had no time for suspicion; their only goal was to preserve their forces and survive this catastrophe.
Unfortunately, things moved too quickly. Just as Beard was setting up his two partners to be caught by the police so he could make his own escape, he ended up getting captured as well.
After being caught, Beard was still in disbelief.
He knew full well that this capture wouldn’t end peacefully for him, which only made him more desperate to understand why he had been caught!
After his capture, Beard remained in a state of shock. No matter how the police interrogated him, he wouldn’t answer. He only asked one question.
"Why was I caught? Is there a traitor in our ranks? Or did you plant someone inside?"
This was the only explanation Beard could think of, the only possibility he could guess. He just wanted to know which bastard was responsible for his downfall.
He had set up his two partners; they had surely spilled everything about him by now. He wouldn’t put up a pointless struggle. He just wanted to know how he was taken down, and by whom.
Ever since his capture, Beard had repeated this question to every single person who came to interrogate him.
Beard noticed that after he asked this question, the police officers’ expressions would turn strange.
It was a strangeness he couldn’t quite describe or explain, but it was undeniably strange.
Some officers tried to hide it, but he could see it in their eyes.
Others didn’t bother hiding it at all and would even offer a good-natured reply or a question of their own.
"A traitor? Heh... You think it was a traitor? Go ahead and guess."
"Why don’t you guess who it was?"
After hearing similar retorts a few times, Beard grew increasingly impatient.
He had been asking for a whole day and still had no answer. The officers’ expressions were making him more and more agitated.
The light in his eyes grew dimmer.
By nightfall, Beard started to feel sleepy, just like anyone else. But even though he was tired, he couldn’t just go to sleep like a normal person.
He was destined for a sleepless night.
He had to disclose the whereabouts of the people he had trafficked and provide more information.
Beard had no intention of confessing. Since confessing or not confessing wouldn’t change his outcome, why should he?
He just wanted to know who the traitor was. Since the police wouldn’t tell him, he had even less reason to answer their questions.
"Tell me who the traitor is!"
Beard spoke again when he saw the officer who had personally arrested him, noting the man’s dark expression.
"Confession brings leniency; resistance brings severity. Fess up to what you’ve done."
Beard was sick to death of hearing that line. He looked at the officer’s face, a malicious glint in his eyes as he spoke.
"Is that kid dead? He looked so young. Was he married? Close to you, was he?"
The one who had personally brought Beard in was none other than Mr. Zhang.
He had been one of the first to help search for Little Tang Mo and had followed the case from the beginning, giving him the most comprehensive understanding of the situation. After Little Tang Mo sent back information during his self-rescue, the Ministry of Public Security became aware of Mr. Zhang’s involvement, and he participated in every subsequent arrest.
This time, he had personally led the team that captured the most cunning and elusive of them all, Beard. It was a huge commendation, but it hadn’t come easy.
One of his subordinates had been stabbed twice by Beard but refused to let go, which was how they finally managed to apprehend him.
Hearing Beard’s words now, and thinking of his subordinate whose life was still hanging in the balance in a hospital room, how could Mr. Zhang not feel a pang of anguish?
He looked at the gleefully malicious Beard, a vein throbbing on his forehead, and offered a malicious smile of his own.
Seeing that smile, Beard had a bad feeling. "What are you smiling about?"
"I’m smiling at you. You spend your days looking down on everyone, trafficking helpless women and children. You must really look down on them, don’t you?"
Beard didn’t answer, but his expression said it all.
He did look down on them. In his eyes, those women and children were just tools to make money, no different from a piece of clothing or a steamed bun sold by a merchant, except his "goods" were worth more.
Amidst Beard’s disdain, Mr. Zhang sneered.
"A traitor... Let me tell you, there was no traitor! You weren’t caught because of a traitor. You were caught because of a child—the very kind you despise the most."
"What?"