Rong City, Municipal Public Security Bureau Criminal Investigation Detachment.
On a midsummer afternoon, the sound of cicadas was so irritating it made one restless.
The old wall-mounted air conditioner roared under the heavy load, but the cold air it spewed out was dissipated by the smell of smoke and sweat filling the room before it could even reach the floor.
"Bam!"
A slender, fair hand slammed heavily onto the wanted poster on the desk.
"Three Class A wanted criminals, kidnapping people in a busy downtown area in broad daylight, and they even got away in a cloned vehicle right under our noses?"
The person speaking wore her hair in a high ponytail; she had fair skin and delicate features.
She wore only a simple black quick-dry tank top and army-green cargo pants. At 178 cm tall, her slender, upright, and spirited figure, with its hourglass curves, exuded an imposing aura of heroism beneath her neat attire.
Although she wasn't wearing a police uniform, the heroic spirit and sense of oppression that emanated from her very bones made the old criminal police officers in the office afraid to even look up.
She was a tough cookie who had just transferred from the Provincial Department's SWAT team, and she was also the deputy captain of the Criminal Investigation Detachment—Ji Ling霜.
Not only was she brave and decisive, with a personality tougher than most men, but she was also known in the Rong City police force as an "Ice Rose."
"Captain, these three guys are slippery veterans with extremely strong counter-reconnaissance awareness."
An officer wiped sweat from his brow, his voice sounding a bit timid: "However, we just received two emergency calls. Not only have we figured out the hostages' location, but we also know their license plate number and the direction they fled."
"Tell me quickly."
"Captain, look."
A female officer turned on the projector and pointed to the map of Rong City on the screen: "This is the location of the hostages we obtained."
Ji Ling霜 raised an eyebrow, her cold gaze sweeping across the big screen: "The West Suburb logging yard? That place has been abandoned for a long time."
"But that's exactly why it's less likely to be discovered. And according to the intelligence we received, the direction they fled is toward the South Suburb county."
"Let's go, move out immediately. Group One, come with me to rescue the hostages. Group Two, contact the traffic police platform immediately and set up a blockade at the intersections of the South Suburb county!"
She grabbed the car keys from the desk and stormed out: "Damn it, it's so hot it makes me want to kill someone. It's the perfect time to use these animals to cool off."
...
Ji Ling霜 moved quickly and decisively.
Half an hour later, at the abandoned logging yard in the West Suburb.
Several low-profile private cars screeched to a halt. Ji Ling霜 crouched low, gripping her standard-issue pistol tightly, her eyes as sharp as a leopard hunting in the forest.
Behind her was a squad of armed officers.
"Move in!"
At her command, the SWAT team breached the door violently.
However, the intense firefight she had imagined did not happen.
The warehouse was empty, save for cigarette butts and instant noodle cups scattered on the floor, and two figures huddled in the corner.
"Wuwuwu..."
Seeing the fully armed police burst in, old Mrs. Wang Xiulian first shrank back in terror, then, as if seeing her own family, tears mingled with the sticky residue left by the tape gushed out.
Ji Ling霜 holstered her gun and rushed over, skillfully untying the ropes on both of them and tearing off the tape from their mouths.
"Police!"
"It's okay now."
She reached out and pulled the sobbing Liu Duoduo into her arms. Although her movements were awkward, they brought an inexplicable sense of security.
"Where are those animals? Where did they go?" Ji Ling霜 looked around and asked in a cold voice.
Wang Xiulian took a few minutes to calm down before trembling and pointing outside: "They left... they left less than two hours ago!"
"How many of them were there?"
"Four!"
"Four??" Ji Ling霜 frowned.
Wasn't it supposed to be three??
"Yes!"
Wang Xiulian wiped away her tears, the images of the four men surfacing in her mind.
"There were four people in total. Three of them looked fierce and malicious, with guns and knives; you could tell at a glance they weren't good people. But the man wearing a mask seemed to be their leader. Even though he didn't carry any weapons, the other three listened to him."
Ji Ling霜 took out her notebook and quickly recorded: "What are the characteristics of that man? Height? Appearance?"
Wang Xiulian frowned, trying hard to recall: "He was between 176 and 180 cm tall, wearing a wrinkled gray shirt. Although he was wearing a mask and a hat, I saw his face when he lowered his head to throw bread to my granddaughter."
"His skin was dark and greasy, shining with oil. He had a very large black mole at the corner of his eye. His eyes... how should I put it... were shifty. He looked just like one of those perverts who peek under girls' skirts on the street—very sleazy!"
Sleazy? Pervert? Black mole?
An image of a greasy middle-aged man instantly formed in Ji Ling霜's mind.
"Besides being sleazy, anything else?"
"Oh, right, his voice was hoarse, like a duck's quack. It was very unpleasant." Wang Xiulian added: "But his heart didn't seem as poisonous as those three animals. Those three wanted to kill us, but he stopped them."
"That was just to leave himself an exit strategy. These old veterans are the most cunning."
Ji Ling霜 said in a cold voice, then pressed her walkie-talkie.
"All units pay attention: in addition to the three suspects on the wanted list, there is a key leader. Male, between thirty and forty years old, height around 178 cm, dark skin, a prominent black mole at the corner of his left eye, sleazy appearance, possesses extremely strong command capabilities. Pursue with full force!"
...
Kidnapping in broad daylight—of course the police would pursue the criminals with full force.
But Fang Ming's information was all wrong in the eyes of others. Trying to catch Fang Ming would be as difficult as ascending to heaven.
Their only chance was to find Fang Ming's fingerprints or DNA on that gray minivan, then list Fang Ming as a suspect, and obtain his fingerprints and DNA for comparison.
But the problem was, his clothing, voice, and appearance were all different. How would they ever suspect Fang Ming??
Not to mention that Fang Ming wore gloves, a mask, and a hat, leaving no traces on the minivan.
"Now that Mu Qingxue knows it was Qin Xiao who kidnapped them, after the police coordinate with Mu Qingxue, Qin Xiao will definitely be investigated... but Old Ghost contacted the kidnappers through a special channel online."
"Those three kidnappers not only don't know who Old Ghost is, they've never even seen Old Ghost's face, let alone Qin Xiao."
"So, even if the kidnappers are caught, the police have no evidence to arrest Qin Xiao."
Fang Ming thought to himself as he walked back.
"Forget it, forget it. Let's go back first."
Fang Ming was not a member of the law enforcement team, so he couldn't analyze the final outcome and didn't bother to think about it anymore.
However, just in case, on his way back to Rong City, every time he went somewhere, he would find a blind spot for surveillance, such as a public restroom, and use the thousand illusions mask and the Chat Group's physical transmission function to change his appearance, clothes, pants, and shoes.
Finally, after changing seven or eight times, he managed to return to his own appearance and got back to his rental apartment.
If the police could still find him after all that, well, then one could only say that there are no thieves left in the world.