Chapter 309: Hit the Jackpot, Hehe

The older patrol captain quickly scanned the text, his gaze settling on the more intuitive, more impactful images.

The first image: severed limbs and broken arms scattered haphazardly across the ground, the prison guards' corpses overlapping each other in twisted, horrifying poses, forming a shape like a giant monster.

They lay motionless, like a marionette woven from death's stitching, exuding a heart-palpitating aura of fear, standing silently in the center of the frame.

The second image: the ground was strewn with fine bone fragments and minced flesh; beneath these remains, thick blackish-red blood flowed horizontally, submerging the uppers of several boots.

The third image: a filthy, dim pool; cold, mottled iron chains tightly bound several immobile prisoners, and the pool floated with turbid feces.

The fourth image: the iron chains in the pool had been pulled into two segments; a hideous-faced corpse floated on the water's surface, the filth in the water dyed a fresh red.

The older patrol captain thought he had seen many bloody scenes, but the images revealed before him still left him unable to recover his senses for a long while.

Two thoughts flashed through his mind in succession:

The first was that such photos could leak out, indicating Second Prison had an insider, and one of not low status at that — possibly more than one — because the text and images above were no longer just about flaying Qian Huan's skin; this was clearly a setup to destroy him entirely.

The second was relief that he hadn't clashed with those prison guards just now; those fellows might all be "man-eating" monsters.

The older patrol captain closed his phone, unable to suppress a chill in his heart:

"That charred corpse downstairs at the scene was a Second Prison guard — could it be the conscientious guard who provided information to 【Mound Old Tree】?"

The older patrol captain caught a strong whiff of conspiracy and power struggle from this; he frowned, turned his head to look at the few pieces of evidence retrieved from the scene on the back seat.

Mainly an intact laptop, a charred and deformed phone, both belonging to that charred corpse; as for the headless corpse's phone, they hadn't found it, and he inferred it had likely been taken by that gang of prison guards.

"Two corpses have already been hauled off by the incineration plant, probably burned to ash by now, but what about this laptop and phone — should we smash them?"

The older patrol captain's mind raced frantically; he had a strong premonition that the computer or phone might still hold secrets that could cost lives.

"Can't send them back to the station — sending them back might be a landmine; but just now that smiling prison guard only asked us to help dispose of the bodies, didn't mention destroying the computer and phone — did he forget, or deliberately omit it?"

The older patrol captain's expression was grave, feeling his brain ache; he couldn't make up his mind.

Wanting to destroy them in advance, defuse this landmine early, would be doing something superfluous, inviting others' misunderstanding, and instead blowing himself up.

The older patrol captain neither wanted to draw the attention of those inside Second Prison who wanted Qian Huan dead, nor draw Qian Huan's attention.

Although he leaned toward the former group most likely winning, he knew even better that a trapped beast's death-thrash is the most terrifying.

"Damn it, how did this case just have to land on me and Chen Yang."

After reading the phone, the older patrol captain felt panic in his heart:

"Second Prison's affairs have been exposed — will this case in my hands also be dug up later, attracting attention?"

Originally he planned to let Chen Yang serve as lead investigator while he supervised from the side, seeking a quick case closure, but now he realized such an approach was too rash.

He vigorously rubbed his swollen temples, feeling a wave of exhaustion and anxiety.

After a long moment, he glanced sideways at Chen Yang; though he felt some guilt, he still suddenly clutched his chest very convincingly and groaned in pain:

"Hiss, my heart hurts a bit; you pull over, I'm going to the hospital, you go back to the station yourself."

Chen Yang hurriedly pulled the car to the side and asked with concern: "How is it, serious? I'll accompany you to the hospital?"

The older patrol captain waved his hand, quickly unbuckled his seat belt, opened the door and got out: "No need, old ailment; I'll just go to the hospital and get some medicine."

Chen Yang nodded, drove away, and watched from the rearview mirror the older patrol captain's back as he walked toward the hospital; the corner of his mouth revealed a trace of contemptuous cold laughter:

"Hmph, the old fellow's courage is really too small; no wonder at this age he's still just an ordinary patrol captain."

Chen Yang wasn't a fool; he knew what the old captain was calculating; he was almost certain that by this afternoon he would receive news of the old captain requesting sick leave from the station.

In this way, naturally, this case would fall entirely on him alone to shoulder.

In the past, this might not have gone as he wished, but recently the Patrol Bureau's main force is at No. 8 Middle School, so....

Chen Yang found it hard not to think: "This time, heaven's timing, earth's advantage, and human harmony all want to help me seize this once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity."

After driving a distance, Chen Yang parked by the road, took out his phone from his pocket, opened an app, and quickly found 【Mound Old Tree】's name in the followed list.

While driving just now, he had secretly glanced a few times at the old captain's phone.

Just a new media person; coincidentally, he Chen Yang had also followed this person — only he wasn't using the other as a "lightning rod"; on the contrary, he was using them as a "lottery wheel."

In the past, he had never won a prize, even lacked the qualification to draw; but today, with the old captain's voluntary concession, his first draw...

Chen Yang clicked into the news page, quickly browsed the dense text, then widened his eyes at those horrifying images; between breaths he seemed to smell a nauseating bloody stench.

Chen Yang's face turned pale, yet his breathing involuntarily grew excited; he scanned the view count below, watching the tens of thousands of views, the number surging upward with every refresh.

He also looked at the bottomless comment section below, simply like a pot of boiling oil that had exploded, heat off the charts.

"Hahahaha——"

Chen Yang could no longer suppress the wild joy in his heart; both hands tightly gripped the steering wheel, laughing unrestrainedly inside the car,

"This is one shot into the soul — I hit the jackpot, hahaha!"

At this moment, Chen Yang had completely thrown to the back of his mind the second rule the old captain had once taught him.

He naturally understood the risks implied in doing so; however, his heart held a simpler principle:

"Learn from what kind of person, become what kind of person; learn the old captain's rules, and when I'm old I'll just become another him!"

Chen Yang didn't want to still be a patrol captain when old; in the Patrol Bureau, the role models he wanted to learn from and become were Li Shang, were Feng Ju!

(End of Chapter)