Chapter 76: Stop the Car
This was the first time the Patrol Officers had encountered such a situation. Unsure of Cheng Yuan’s background, they subconsciously looked to their captain.
Pan Guang sized Cheng Yuan up. He was a complete stranger, definitely not one of Luocheng’s elite.
"Friend, are you from out of town? What organization are you with?"
"I’m a Luocheng local. Not with any organization, just a regular guy."
Any apprehension Pan Guang felt vanished instantly. He barked, "Patrol Officers at work! All irrelevant personnel, step aside immediately!"
"I’m hardly irrelevant personnel. I’ll say it again: I subdued the criminal and I saved the children! You’ve done nothing, yet you show up and try to take both the suspect and the victims with just a few empty words? How is that fair?"
"Just because you say you subdued the criminal, it’s true? Get out of the way! Don’t interfere with official Patrol Officer business! Otherwise, we’ll arrest you for obstructing justice!"
Wu Mengyao, standing to the side, snorted coldly. "I can vouch for him. Everything Cheng Yuan said is true. If you don’t believe me, ask the children."
Pan Guang sneered. "You two obviously know each other. Captain Wu, giving false testimony is a jailable offense!"
Hearing the argument, the children started coming out of the cafeteria to back Wu Mengyao up.
"Sister Wu isn’t lying! Uncle Cheng saved us! Uncle Cheng is the one who took down the bad guys!"
"You’re all bad guys! We want to go with Sister Wu!"
...
The children’s words made Pan Guang’s face drain of color. If his career wasn’t on the line, if it weren’t for Director Dai’s orders, he might have turned and left in shame.
"Kids, even if it’s true that this Uncle Cheng subdued the bad guys, even if he really is the one who saved you, we still have to be the ones to take everyone in. After all, we are the Patrol Officers. Men, take the criminal and the children away!"
"Yes, sir!"
Shame flickered in the Patrol Officers’ eyes, but they couldn’t disobey their captain’s order. They could only bite the bullet and move forward to take the criminal into custody.
Cheng Yuan laughed in anger. ’This Captain Pan is truly shameless. He’s completely impervious to reason. How can anyone be so thick-skinned?’
"I’d like to see you try."
With a flick of his wrist, Cheng Yuan produced a handful of Silver Needles!
Pan Guang had been somewhat polite with Wu Mengyao, but he felt no need for such courtesy with Cheng Yuan. He said coldly, "You dare assault an officer? Believe it or not, I’ll put a bullet in you."
With a sharp sound, Pan Guang drew his service weapon!
Of course, Cheng Yuan wasn’t intimidated. He circulated his Celestial Witch True Essence to its absolute peak. ’If that guy makes the slightest move, I won’t hold back!’
Wu Mengyao quickly grabbed Cheng Yuan and shook her head gently. "Cheng Yuan, don’t be rash. Don’t assault an officer. The moment you do that, we’ll be in the wrong, even if we’re in the right!"
"But they’re stealing your credit..."
"Just consider it a dog taking a bite out of you! There’ll be a chance to kill the dog later!"
Cheng Yuan knew she had a point. If he assaulted an officer, the whole situation would change.
’But to just swallow this insult... I really can’t stand it!’
Cheng Yuan’s mind raced, and he quickly came up with a plan.
"Sister Wu is right. If a dog bites you, you can’t just bite it back."
Pan Guang and his subordinates’ faces grew ugly. Under normal circumstances, if someone called them dogs, they would have definitely been hauled back to the station to be "reasoned with."
But now, Pan Guang felt a twinge of guilt. He gave a cold snort and waved his hand impatiently. "What are you standing around for? Hurry up and take the criminal and the children back so we can close this case!"
"Yes, sir!"
As the Patrol Officers walked, they kept an eye on Cheng Yuan and Wu Mengyao out of the corners of their eyes. Seeing that the two truly had no intention of interfering, they breathed a small sigh of relief.
Suddenly, the Patrol Officers all sniffed the air in unison.
’What’s that smell?’
’It’s sweet.’
The Patrol Officers didn’t think much of it and kept walking. But as they walked, their expressions changed, and they all began clutching their stomachs.
"Where’s the bathroom? Is there a bathroom at this welfare institute?"
A kind-hearted child pointed. "The bathroom is over there!"
How could the Patrol Officers possibly care about the criminal now? They dashed toward the bathroom!
Pan Guang, who was behind them, was stunned. ’What’s wrong with my men? Did they all get food poisoning at the same time?’
’But I ate the same boxed lunch as them. Why am I fine?’
Just as Pan Guang was standing there completely bewildered, he suddenly caught a whiff of a sweet scent. Then, his stomach started to rumble. GURGLE GURGLE!
’Fuck! I have to switch boxed lunch suppliers when I get back! What is this crap? Now I’ve got the runs too!’
Pan Guang couldn’t care less about the criminal or the children. He followed in his subordinates’ footsteps and dashed toward the bathroom.
PFFFT! PFFFT!
In an instant, the bathroom reeked to high heaven.
Wu Mengyao froze for a moment, then gave Cheng Yuan a suspicious look. "Cheng Yuan, was this your doing?"
Of course, Cheng Yuan wasn’t about to admit it. "They probably just got food poisoning. Nothing to do with me."
Wu Mengyao just smiled and shook her head. Whether he admitted it or not, he had helped her out immensely.
"Cheng Yuan, I’ll have to trouble you to come with me to take the criminal and the children back!"
"Sure!"
"Can you drive? I’ll take the kids in the van, you take the criminal."
Cheng Yuan was suddenly embarrassed. "Uh, I was planning to get my driver’s license before I graduate from college."
"Er..."
"I can call for a designated driver."
"That works too."
Cheng Yuan quickly opened a ride-hailing app and requested a designated driver.
The two were in luck. A driver accepted the request almost immediately and wasn’t far away.
After about a five-minute wait, the designated driver arrived at the Hope Welfare Institute on his electric scooter.
The young man was a little confused. He double-checked the address; this was the right place. ’But this doesn’t look like a restaurant... Is someone drinking at a welfare institute?’
Cheng Yuan smiled and called out, "Hey, over here."
"Sir, are you the one who placed the order?"
"Yes."
"But... you haven’t been drinking, have you?"
"I don’t have my license yet."
"Oh... okay then. Which car am I driving?"
While waiting for the driver, Cheng Yuan had already shoved the two criminals into the police car. He pointed, "That one."
Huh??
The designated driver was a bit stunned.
’Holy shit, he wants me to drive a police car?’
"Bro, don’t mess with me! That’s a police car! I can’t just drive that!"
Wu Mengyao took out her badge. "I am Wu Mengyao, Captain of Patrol Unit One of the Luocheng Patrol Office. Feel better now?"
The designated driver finally relaxed. "As long as we’re not stealing a police car, I’m good."
Looking slightly excited, the driver wheeled his electric scooter over to the police car, popped the trunk, and put his scooter inside.
The designated driver was very chatty.
"So, bro, where are we heading?"
"The Patrol Office. Just follow the van in front of us."
"You got it! So what did those two in the back do?"
"No harm in telling you. They’re human traffickers, and probably also wanted for murder."
"A bunch of kids have gone missing in Luocheng these past few months. Was it them?"
"Yep, it was them. And all seven kids have been rescued!"
The driver gave Cheng Yuan a thumbs-up. "Awesome! Bro, you’re the man! Breaking a case this big, you must be getting a promotion, right?"
Cheng Yuan laughed. "I’m not with the Patrol Office. Just a concerned citizen."
"Come on, bro, stop kidding. How could a ’concerned citizen’ break a case this big? You must be a plainclothes cop, or an undercover agent who infiltrated their ranks!"
Cheng Yuan just chuckled. ’This driver sure has a wild imagination.’
As they drove, Cheng Yuan’s heart suddenly clenched. A suffocating sense of danger washed over him. He activated his Double Pupil and looked ahead, seeing an incredibly dense killing intent gathering at the intersection!
Without even having time to pinpoint the direction of the killing intent, Cheng Yuan yelled, "Stop the car! Stop the car now!!"