After having her wound treated and briefly exchanging information with Xu Nian and the others, Guan Xia couldn't sit still any longer. She got up and slowly walked out of the small, cluttered storeroom while waiting for updates.
Seeing the sky outside, Guan Xia realized it was already late at night. Sparse stars hid behind clouds, flickering with faint light. Fortunately, this factory wasn't completely abandoned and still had electricity and lights; otherwise, there would have been zero visibility.
Captain Zhang was still busy in the overgrown, somewhat messy courtyard. Pang Le, having finished treating his wound, caught up and looked at the sky. "The cloud cover is pretty thick. Probably an overcast day tomorrow if not rain. That's good—won't be hot and won't affect the surveillance cameras. Hope we find Wu Yang's trail soon. That bastard is too good at running. We won't sleep easy until we track him down."
Guan Xia listened silently but sighed inwardly. Although the case seemed to be progressing smoothly so far, as long as Wu Yang remained at large, a sense of unease lingered within her. After all, the scale of this criminal organization was unusually large. Even if the core members were rounded up, without completely uprooting it and with the mastermind still free, who knew when it might flare up again?
And Guan Xia and her team were already fully exposed to the organization. As seen from the previous attacks, if Wu Yang and Lin Jinnan weren't caught, they'd have to sleep with one eye open from now on.
After a brief, worried spell of random thoughts, Guan Xia quickly pulled herself together and refocused all her attention on the case at hand. Glancing at Captain Zhang's figure still busy in the courtyard, she thought for a moment and slowly walked over. She waited for him to finish a phone call before asking, "Captain Zhang, I wanted to ask, when can we get the surveillance footage from all the nearby intersections?"
Guan Xia didn't want to rush, but in this race against time, she had no choice.
As the one shouldering the main responsibility, Captain Zhang appeared calm and commanded with composure. But now, up close, Guan Xia noticed that despite the cool night, he was so anxious he had broken into a sweat. He kept flipping through his phone for the next contact to call, occasionally glancing at Guan Xia. "Some of it is already on the way. Oh, by the way, Expert Guan, Director Gao just called me. He said the higher-ups and some experts held an analysis meeting. They unanimously believe the suspect is going to such great lengths, clearly intending to head east to take a ship out to sea. So we've decided to head east as soon as the first batch of footage arrives, pursuing while searching for their trail along the way. What's your suggestion, Expert Guan?"
Guan Xia naturally had no objections and nodded. "Just now, Team Leader Xu and I discussed it and came to the same conclusion."
Captain Zhang finally showed a somewhat relaxed smile. "Then it's settled. We'll set off together in a bit. But Expert Guan, no need to be in such a hurry. We'll go first, and you follow behind. That way, if the situation changes and differs from our predictions, we can all adjust promptly."
Another long-distance car chase was ahead. Having experienced the one back in Shangshuang City, Guan Xia was mentally prepared. She nodded again. "Okay."
After arranging the next steps, Captain Zhang didn't forget to show concern. "Well, while there's a bit of time, Expert Guan, you all should have a meal first. When Director Gao sent reinforcements, he also sent a supply truck. It's just instant noodles and boxed meals, but there's a mix of meat and vegetables—good for replenishing energy. Oh, and Director Gao specifically mentioned there's fruit too. Expert Guan, make sure to eat some more. You've really worked hard this time, running around with us and getting such a serious injury."
Captain Zhang glanced at Guan Xia's wound, looking somewhat apologetic. "It's my fault. I get carried away as soon as there's a lead and forget everything. I should have kept you back at Longbei Mountain earlier. Director Gao repeatedly told me to take good care of you. And look at this—I 'took care' of you so well you got seriously injured. I don't even know how Director Gao is going to criticize me later."
Captain Zhang seemed genuinely regretful. As he spoke, he even bent down to carefully examine Guan Xia's wound again, only relaxing after confirming it was indeed just a flesh wound.
Mobilizing her limited social skills, Guan Xia finally managed to deal with Captain Zhang. Walking back to Pang Le's side, she immediately let out a sigh of relief too.
Pang Le found her expression amusing and couldn't help saying, "Once this case is over, you should probably take a good break, spend some time alone to recharge. I see you're quite happy investigating cases, but as soon as you have to socialize, you look completely drained. Good thing you're financially independent right after graduation, otherwise I feel like holding down a regular job would cost you half your life."
Guan Xia sighed with lingering fear. "Been running around for too long. Once we catch Wu Yang, I really need a good break. Also have to prepare for the new comic. You have no idea how many times my editor has pestered me. If I keep putting her off, I'm really afraid she'll come straight to Yongquan City to find me. That would be terrifying."
Pang Le hadn't heard about this before. Seeing Guan Xia's pained expression, she chuckled with a hint of schadenfreude.
After standing outside for a while longer enjoying the breeze, Guan Xia walked back into the warehouse. She had just sat down on a chair when Qi Bai came running back, holding several boxed meals in both hands. Distributing them to everyone, he said, "Food's here, food's here! Eat up, eat up! They also prepared tomato and egg soup over there. You guys start eating, I'll go get it. Oh, this one's for Guan Xia—you like bean products. This one's for Pang Le—you like eggplant. And this one, Zhong Xiaoyu's—braised pork ribs. Right? Didn't remember wrong, did I?"
Qi Bai was as cheerful as if on a picnic. If you didn't look at his face, you wouldn't guess he'd pulled several all-nighters. His energy was truly impressive.
Zhong Xiaoyu was no less energetic. Taking her meal box and looking at it, she said happily, "That's right! All that taking care of you wasn't in vain. I agree to what you asked last time. Once this case is over, I'll properly teach you a few moves so you can throw your Brother Lu to the ground in one encounter."
Qi Bai was indeed delighted, saying thank you several times before darting out of the warehouse again to get the soup.
Pang Le, interested, asked between mouthfuls as she wolfed down her food, "When did he spar with you? I didn't know about that."
Zhong Xiaoyu was also starving. He finished a pork rib in a few bites and mumbled, "We didn't spar or anything. It's just that yesterday in Qu Ming City, wasn't he a bit slow to react and got injured? Then he got scolded by both Xu Nian and Guan Xia. He felt bad about it and asked me privately if I could teach him a few moves. He doesn't want to hold everyone back at critical moments. I thought it was too much trouble and didn't agree. Then he spent the whole day today buttering me up. Seeing he was genuinely sincere, I reluctantly agreed."
Hearing Zhong Xiaoyu mention this, Guan Xia suddenly remembered that Qi Bai was actually injured, yet he had been busy taking care of them all this time. She wondered if they were being a bit heartless.
Just as Guan Xia thought this, she heard Pang Le say, "No wonder he was so eager today, running around everywhere even with an injured hand. But why did he only ask you and not me? I'm pretty good in a fight too. Is he looking down on me?"
Pang Le's competitive spirit was strong; she looked indignant even while eating.
Zhong Xiaoyu chuckled and said, "Well, you can't blame me for that. Who told you and Guan Xia are inseparable for even a second? Qi Bai wouldn't have had a chance to approach you privately even if he wanted to. But if you really want to teach him, once we're back, just join in. Having a free sparring partner is an opportunity not to be missed."
Upon hearing this, Pang Le also chuckled and didn't say anything, but exchanged a look of understanding with Zhong Xiaoyu.
Guan Xia felt even sorrier for Qi Bai, almost able to foresee the miserable scene of him being beaten up by the two of them in turns.
After eating their fill, resting, and chatting a while longer in the warehouse, Captain Zhang finally hurried in, heading straight for Guan Xia. "Expert Guan, the first batch of surveillance footage has arrived. If you're all ready here, shall we set off?"
As soon as Captain Zhang finished speaking, everyone stood up. Guan Xia replied, "Alright."
Following Captain Zhang as they walked out, Guan Xia noticed that even injured, he moved with swift, purposeful strides. As they walked, he explained, "The expert team studied the maps and analyzed that the suspect likely wants to head east to take a ship out to sea. No matter which route he chooses, he can't avoid Quanle City. So, we'll take vehicles directly onto the highway to Quanle City first. If we discover the suspect's trail en route, we'll adjust the pursuit plan on the fly."
After a brief explanation, Captain Zhang led Guan Xia and the others to two vehicles. "There are eight of you in total. I assume you'd prefer not to split up, so you can take these two cars. None of you have slept all night. For safety, I've arranged for two colleagues to drive. Please bear with the cramped conditions for now. Once you've caught up on sleep and are refreshed, you can take turns driving yourselves."
It had to be said, Captain Zhang's arrangements were thorough. Despite being so busy, he hadn't overlooked such details even at this critical moment.
While marveling at this, Guan Xia sincerely thanked him, then got into a car with the others.
As soon as her backside touched the seat, a somewhat familiar young female officer in the driver's seat said, "Expert Guan, the surveillance footage and all necessary equipment are ready, on the back seat. Oh, by the way, Expert Guan, my name is Qin Yue. You can call me Xiao Qin. Captain Zhang instructed me to follow your orders throughout the journey. If you need anything, just call out to me."
Ji An took the passenger seat. Zhong Xiaoyu, being very considerate of Guan Xia and Pang Le's injuries, consciously sat between them. He quickly organized the items on the back seat and, after Pang Le sat down, handed them to Guan Xia, saying, "I took a look. The laptop is fully charged. Besides the surveillance tapes, the cardboard box also has two spare batteries. Given the speed you review footage, that should be more than enough."
Guan Xia calculated; it was indeed enough. She nodded and got to work.
As they drove out of the semi-abandoned factory building, Guan Xia realized there were many similar buildings all around. Judging by their location, Guan Xia guessed this area was originally planned as an industrial zone. Whether due to poor business or other reasons, few factories seemed operational. Instead, many vehicles were coming and going; likely most were being used as warehouses.
Guan Xia now understood another reason why Wu Yang and his group had set their exit here: first, it was close to Quanle City; second, most factories were abandoned—there were people, but not too many. Coupled with the constant flow of vehicles, Wu Yang's group could blend right in without drawing attention.
Guan Xia glanced at the surroundings, then quickly lowered her head, diligently searching for Lin Jinnan's figure in the surveillance footage played at double speed.
Since it was speculated that Wu Yang wouldn't have many people with him, Guan Xia guessed Wu Yang and Lin Jinnan likely wouldn't separate. She hadn't seen Wu Yang, so the intuition reminder from her system wasn't useful for him. But with Lin Jinnan present, it was almost like tracking him directly.
With a specific direction and the intuition reminder from her system, Guan Xia didn't have much trouble finding the vehicle suspected to be carrying Lin Jinnan and the others—a somewhat old, dirty-looking black sedan.
If not for her system's cheat ability, this very ordinary car, mixed in the traffic flow, would have gone completely unnoticed by Guan Xia.
Confirming her intuition was correct, Guan Xia first checked the time in the top left corner of the surveillance footage: 9:37 AM, September 27th. Calculating the timeline: Wu Yang's group began their escape around 4 AM on the 27th. Guan Xia didn't know the exact location of Wu Yang's company, but she figured driving to Longbei Mountain in the middle of the night would take at most an hour. Entering the deep mountain lair and leaving via the hidden passage—five-plus hours total—was indeed very fast, almost non-stop.
Feeling encouraged, Guan Xia immediately called Captain Zhang and reported the discovered vehicle's license plate number.
Captain Zhang was equally excited, thanking Guan Xia repeatedly before hurriedly hanging up to arrange the pursuit.
After Guan Xia hung up, Pang Le calculated, "It's already early morning on the 28th now. We're about 15 hours behind Wu Yang. If they don't rest along the way, that's enough time for them to cross an entire province."
Zhong Xiaoyu also checked a map and said, "Quanle City is in Nanxing Province. Next to it is Guangqing Province. Past Guangqing is Xinglin Province, and that's the coast. To catch him, we need to hurry. If he really boards a ship, catching him will be much harder."
"What about contacting customs in advance for an interception?" Pang Le asked.
This touched upon an area outside Guan Xia and Zhong Xiaoyu's knowledge. As they were unsure how to answer, Qin Yue, who was driving, spoke without turning her head, "I overheard a bit while waiting for Captain Zhang to assign tasks. Captain Zhang has already reported upwards, but the procedures with customs are too complex. Director Gao's opinion is to try to catch them on land. Once they're truly out at sea, the operational costs would be astronomical. We might have to tighten our belts for cases all next year, not even daring to take a plane."
Guan Xia had been following Xu Nian and the team's operations all along, never having given a thought to the matter of funding. Hearing this now, she was momentarily stunned, but it did make sense. After all, making an arrest at sea would require mobilizing the coast guard. The ocean was vast; a few boats wouldn't be enough, and they might even need to deploy helicopters. Just thinking about the funding required for such an operation would indeed amount to an astronomical figure.
Furthermore, if they were on land, even if Wu Yang tried to put up a desperate fight, it would be difficult for him to escape with so many people in pursuit. But at sea, it was a different story. If he truly didn't want to be caught and jumped into the water, it would become a real headache.
Thinking this, even Zhong Xiaoyu sighed in agreement, "It really would be too troublesome if he managed to get out to sea. We truly need to hurry and try to catch him before he boards a ship."
