Chapter 679: Everyone Moves Out
Li Zhaowen pushed up his glasses. "Xiaoxiao, how can you say that? Isn’t this exactly what we do? If everyone went home for the New Year, what would happen with the criminals?"
Fang Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes at him. "I was just saying. Why are you taking it so seriously?"
Li Zhaowen smiled and said no more.
The car continued onward, driving out of Xingjing, getting onto the highway, and heading toward that remote little county town.
On New Year’s Eve, the small town was filled with the sounds of firecrackers and laughter.
Xu Wuyi, leading Fang Xiaoxiao and Li Zhaowen, found Zheng Hai in an inconspicuous little motel.
Zheng Hai was drinking alone in his room. A few dishes of snacks sat on the table, and a bottle of liquor was already more than half empty. Seeing people push the door open, he froze. Then, he recognized the masked man leading the group, and his face instantly turned deathly pale.
The shot glass slipped from his hand and shattered into pieces on the floor.
Xu Wuyi walked up to him, took out the arrest warrant, and placed it on the table. "Zheng Hai, you are suspected of participating in the smuggling of military supplies and colluding with foreign factions. You are now under arrest according to the law."
Zheng Hai opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but no words came out.
Fang Xiaoxiao stepped forward and slapped the handcuffs onto his wrists.
Zheng Hai looked down at the cuffs, then looked up at Xu Wuyi with a bitter smile. "I knew this day would come sooner or later. I just didn’t expect it to be so soon."
Xu Wuyi didn’t answer; he merely escorted him out of the room.
Just as they walked out of the motel, fireworks began to go off outside. Colorful blooms exploded in the night sky, illuminating the entire county town.
Fang Xiaoxiao looked up at the display and suddenly smiled. "Captain, look, fireworks. They’re actually quite pretty."
Xu Wuyi also raised his head to glance at the fireworks. Then, he lowered his gaze and continued walking forward.
Zheng Hai was shoved into the car. The doors closed, the engine started, and the vehicle drove away from the small town. Behind them, the fireworks continued to bloom, boom after boom, as if putting a definitive end to the year.
...
The eighth day of the first lunar month marked the first day after the Spring Festival holiday.
In the Inspection Department headquarters, on the seventh underground level, six people sat around a circular table in Squad Four’s office area.
Zhou Bin was the first to report. "We caught four people on our end. Two have already confessed, and the other two are still being interrogated. Based on what they’ve told us, Li Mingyuan’s smuggling network is much larger than we imagined.
"Aside from military supplies, he’s also involved in smuggling High-Energy Weapons, and there are even a few transactions involving contraband from the Star Realm."
Sun Jing added, "Moreover, the people in his network aren’t just from Celestial Swallow Province. There are some from Dongjiang Province, the Southwest Region, and even a few informants for foreign factions.
"These individuals are scattered across various regions and rarely have direct contact with each other. They were all connected through Li Mingyuan alone."
Fang Xiaoxiao said, "Zheng Hai, the guy we caught, confessed too. He said Li Mingyuan’s collaboration with foreign factions has been going on for five years. They’ve sold at least three batches of High-Energy Weapons, with a total value exceeding one billion. He doesn’t know where those weapons ended up, but it’s certain they all flowed to the Federation’s hostile factions."
Li Zhaowen pushed up his glasses and pulled up a list, projecting it onto the light screen. Dozens of names were densely packed on the screen. Next to each name was their location, the amount of money involved, and their relationship to Li Mingyuan.
"These are all the suspects we’ve identified so far," Li Zhaowen said. "Thirty-seven people in total, spread across thirteen provinces and regions in the Federation. Nineteen of them can already be confirmed as participants in the smuggling ring, while the remaining eighteen require further verification. The total amount of money involved is preliminarily estimated to be over seven billion."
Seven billion. That number made everyone present gasp in shock.
Zhou Bin frowned. "That much? Could Li Mingyuan really support such a massive network all by himself?"
Li Zhaowen replied, "He’s not alone. Based on our current intel, he has backing. Among those financial transactions, there are a few particularly massive sums with unknown origins—they don’t look like money earned from smuggling. I suspect he might be involved in something far more serious."
Xu Wuyi stared at the thirty-seven names on the light screen and remained silent for a few seconds. Then, he stood up, walked to the window, and gazed out at the simulated sky.
His team members watched his back, waiting for him to speak. After a long while, Xu Wuyi turned around to face them.
"Compile these lists and report them to Team Leader Song. Then, notify all the squads in the field operations group to prepare for action."
Zhou Bin was taken aback. "All the squads? It’s thirty-seven people. Our Squad Four can arrest them all ourselves, right?"
Xu Wuyi shook his head. "These people are scattered across thirteen provinces and regions; the six of us can’t possibly catch them all in time. Furthermore, we’re completely out of our element in some of these places and will need the cooperation of the local squads.
"More importantly," he paused before continuing, "this case is no longer just about Li Mingyuan. Thirty-seven targets, seven billion in illicit funds, and involvement with foreign factions. For a case of this magnitude, mobilizing the entire field ops group is perfectly justified."
Zhou Bin nodded. "Understood. I’ll get right on it."
𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮
The next morning, the captains of all ten field ops squads gathered in the large conference room.
Song Ya stood on the stage, backed by a massive light screen displaying the thirty-seven names and their respective locations.
His voice was gruff and powerful. "This is the biggest case to kick off the year. Thirty-seven targets distributed across thirteen provinces and regions, involving the smuggling of military supplies, High-Energy Weapons, and collusion with foreign factions. The total amount involved is conservatively estimated at seven billion.
"Squad Four secured this case. Now, we need everyone to pitch in and cast the net."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the ten people present before resting on Xu Wuyi for a split second.
"Each squad will be assigned tasks based on region. Squads One through Three will handle Dongjiang Province and its surrounding areas. Squad Four will handle Celestial Swallow Province and its vicinity. Squads Five through Seven will cover the Southwest Region. Squads Eight through Ten will take the northern regions.
"The mission objective is to arrest all targets within three days. Take them alive if possible. If you can’t, execute them on the spot.
"Is that understood?"
The ten captains replied in unison, "Understood!"
Song Ya nodded and waved his large hand. "Move out!"
Three days later.
Out of the thirty-seven targets, thirty-five were captured, and two were killed.
The interrogations of all the suspects commenced simultaneously. A torrential tide of information flooded into the Inspection Department’s intelligence center. Within that data were confessions to crimes, implicating of accomplices, revelations of the masterminds behind the scenes, and tearful pleas for mercy in exchange for meritorious service.
Li Mingyuan’s smuggling network completely collapsed in that moment.
But after the collapse, what was exposed was an even greater darkness. Those clues were like invisible threads extending outward from Li Mingyuan, reaching further and further away—reaching higher-ranking figures, reaching those who remained untouchable for now.