Chapter 350: Li Hao's Story

"Lao Li!" The Chief's voice, which had repeated in a phantom-like tone, suddenly became substantial and forceful, pulling Li Hao back from his wandering thoughts.

"Here!" Li Hao started as if waking from a dream. He looked back and realized it was the Chief, then gave a sheepish smile. "Chief, so it's you. Do you have any instructions?"

The Chief shook his head gently, patted the other man on the shoulder, and said earnestly, "If you feel tired, just go home and rest. I know yesterday was very difficult for you."

The Chief, who was always iron-faced and merciless to others and a tough, iron-blooded man to his subordinates, would become a bit gentler and softer when facing Enforcers who had experienced Abnormal events. After receiving Li Hao's work report in the early hours of last night, he had been so shocked that he hadn't slept all night.

He hadn't expected that the deductions of the Baizhou City Xuanmi Group branch would have such a loophole. A mission that was considered to have an extremely low probability of encountering an Abnormal event during the investigation had actually been run into by Li Hao, who was executing the mission. He had almost lost his life there, and their Baizhou City Law Enforcement Bureau had nearly lost a fierce warrior.

Abnormal factors have a huge impact on human body and mind, but those who have encountered Abnormal influences are often unaware of it. Knowing this, the Chief was also thinking of Li Hao.

Li Hao, however, smiled and said, "You saying that reminds me. I originally wanted to tell you today, but I was distracted for a moment and almost forgot. I want to request a long leave."

"You've finally come to terms with it?" The Chief was startled upon hearing this, as if he had read the inner thoughts from Li Hao's facial expression, and said with emotion.

"I want to go see Afang," Li Hao said with his head lowered. "She has always looked forward to me meeting her one more time. Before, I felt I had no face to see her; now, I feel I shouldn't leave any more regrets."

"It's a good thing that you can come to terms with it," the Chief said with a smile.

Ever since Li Hao's daughter died, Li Hao had been living in self-reproach. The reason was that his daughter's death was indirectly caused by him. He had once sped through the streets to arrest a group of heinous criminals. At that time, he was also young, high-spirited, and hot-blooded, keen on reckless pursuits and fights with thugs.

And precisely because of this, what happened next was so dramatic and painful. Li Hao, who was chasing the criminals, had unknowingly chased them near a school in Baizhou City. It was just the time school was letting out. Li Hao had also thought of the students' safety at the time and felt he shouldn't continue the pursuit for the moment.

But that group of criminals, blinded by blood, didn't care. Being driven to a dead end made them lose their sanity. Seeing the crowd of students blocking the way, they slammed on the accelerator and rushed toward the flow of people at the time, causing a large number of casualties without exception.

Among the casualties was Li Hao's daughter.

This news was like a bolt from the blue for Li Hao and his wife at the time, Afang. Afang almost collapsed on the spot, angrily rebuking Li Hao for being irresponsible to his family, her heart aching for her daughter who had not long to live.

By the time the daughter was covered with a white sheet, Li Hao had suffered a major blow and became listless himself. Facing the passing of their daughter and the degradation of her husband, Afang could not endure such a life, which was why she divorced Li Hao.

Afang was perhaps stronger than Li Hao. Eight years later, she remarried a man who was very good to her, and she seemed to have walked out of the gloom. She invited Li Hao to attend her wedding and expressed many times that she wanted to talk to Li Hao and apologize for the harsh words she had said to him when their daughter passed away. However, Li Hao, who could never walk out of the shadows, immersed himself in the quagmire of catching criminals; he was still unable to face his own past.

As Li Hao's leader, the Chief had watched Li Hao's career and kept it in his heart. He had also tried to counsel the other man, but he also knew how hollow and powerless the words of an outsider like himself were. Watching Li Hao sink deeper and deeper into that dark corner, he sighed secretly in his heart, praying for Li Hao, hoping that one day the other man could walk out of the shadows.

And now, Li Hao seemed to have walked out, and he was naturally very gratified.

Regarding what the Chief said with a face full of gratification, Li Hao just smiled and did not respond with words.

In fact, the other man did not understand. He had not accepted the bone-deep pain of his past; he still did not accept it and did not compromise, he just felt that he could endure the knife-like pain and live his life well. The other man was not him and could not possibly understand his state of mind.

"Let me finish this shift today," Li Hao said seriously. "Wang Han and Investigator Li Yuning are working hard, trying to break the Abnormal event currently unfolding in Baizhou City. Since these young people are working so hard and trust me so much, this old bone of mine cannot fall behind, nor can I let them down."

The Chief did not say anything more, just patted Li Hao on the shoulder, said "You can come to me if you need anything," and then walked away with his hands behind his back.

After the Chief left, Li Hao picked up the phone on the table. Seeing that there were still no calls or messages on the re-lit screen, he couldn't help but feel a bit restless and worried.

Ever since Wang Han and Li Yuning sent a request for help, asking him to help investigate a few women with huge backgrounds in Baizhou City, he realized they were deeply investigating the members of the Socialite Gathering. He had been paying attention to their movements, and the two of them would also occasionally respond to some of his questions during the investigation.

But starting two hours ago, he had lost contact with those two.

"What are these two little ones up to?" Li Hao could no longer bear the waiting. He got up and went to the Information Technology Department, asking a colleague in the technical department to check the latest location of Wang Han's phone.

The chips in the Enforcers' phones were specially processed. Catching criminals might be difficult, but finding their own people was very simple.

However, the next sentence from Lao Zhang in the technical department made Li Hao turn pale with fright.

"Eh, that's strange. Why can't I find the location signal for Wang Han's phone?" Lao Zhang tapped on the keyboard in front of the computer. Seeing the location information displayed on the screen, he frowned in confusion and adjusted his blue-light glasses in disbelief. "This shouldn't be."

"How could this situation happen?" Li Hao asked.

Lao Zhang said with a solemn expression, "Either Wang Han and the others have entered a no-signal area—to be precise, a signal interference area with an abnormal magnetic field—or the chip in his phone has been destroyed, which is why I can't locate it."

Hearing this, Li Hao let out a deep breath. "Where was the last place his signal appeared? Can you find it?"

"I can." Lao Zhang pulled up the surveillance records and soon found the last place the signal appeared in the database. "At Baiyin Shajiao."

Having obtained the location information, Li Hao turned around and entered the storage room without any hesitation, grabbed some weapons and equipment, and turned to leave.

Because he moved so decisively and even recklessly, everyone in the Law Enforcement Bureau who passed by and saw Li Hao's equipment was stunned for a moment and couldn't react immediately. It wasn't until Li Hao had reached the garage that everyone realized what had happened.

By the time the Chief heard the news, he was first angry, then slowly calmed down, and finally fell silent with a dejected face. He seemed to understand the connotation of the words Li Hao had said earlier.

The other man wasn't asking for leave, but was ready to face death; he had come to "resign," having prepared himself to die at any moment.