Chapter 30: Acknowledgments

One night passed.

January 14, morning, weather clear turning cloudy.

Because of yesterday's operation, he still had to file a debriefing report today. After finishing breakfast and running through the combat drill once more, Lin Qing hurried off to the branch bureau.

"Three Class-III merits in just one month?"

Inside the branch bureau office, Branch Chief Kou Guoyong finished reading the report on the screen, then smiled and looked at Lin Qing, saying, "Your promotion speed is even faster than your sister's back then. In the blink of an eye, you're already a Second-Class Patrol Officer."

"Luck." Lin Qing smiled and said, "Who knows, maybe in another while, I'll be promoted to Patrol Officer?"

Kou Guoyong laughed in spite of himself, assuming this was the bold, confident joking of a young man, and laughed along: "Then I'll have to look forward to it."

"Then you'd better keep your eyes open." Lin Qing braced himself first.

"Alright, I'm watching."

Kou Guoyong laughed so hard his belly hidden behind the desk shook, then added, "The merits and bounty still have to go through the process—should be processed within a week."

"Already? Chief Kou, isn't there any follow-up to this case?" Lin Qing asked. "Those two fugitives were riddled with suspicious points. After interrogation, investigating from the angle of their fingerprint covers and artificial irises should turn up more leads, right?"

If this case were dug into deeper and more criminals cleared, his Order rank could get a bigger boost.

Either way, it was good for him.

But Kou Guoyong shook his head: "The fingerprint covers and artificial irises can still be looked into, but there's no chance for interrogation."

"No chance?" Lin Qing asked, puzzled.

"Those two fugitives were already dead before last night's interrogation."

Kou Guoyong sighed and said, "The Public Security side says both of them had specially encapsulated poison hidden under their skin, and they took the poison and killed themselves right after waking up."

"Took poison and killed themselves?" Lin Qing frowned slightly. "They weren't scanned when they were detained?"

"No, the encapsulation method was very sophisticated. The Public Security side's conclusion is suicide out of guilt." Kou Guoyong shook his head.

Lin Qing asked, puzzled, "But these two were fugitives who'd fought in illegal boxing matches—aren't we supposed to keep investigating?"

"Didn't you all search the place last night?"

Kou Guoyong said, "That Teng Feiyu from your squad—he came to find me too, and went to the city bureau, dead set on tracking down that possible underground boxing ring. But how do you investigate something with no evidence?"

Lin Qing nodded slightly and said nothing more.

He knew that with the two fugitives who'd fought in illegal matches dead, the leads were cut off.

Unless they searched Red Oak Boxing Gym again and moved aside the wardrobe in that mysterious changing room, mere suspicion alone couldn't sustain any further investigation.

Still, this was fine too.

Since the Public Security side couldn't crack this case, in the future he could try to claim this merit for himself.

If he succeeded, the merit would surely not be small.

Of course…

Before that, he also needed to first learn the situation at Red Oak Boxing Gym, keep raising his strength, and wait until he was confident before going.

"Oh right, Chief Kou."

Lin Qing suddenly asked, "Do you know what the background is of that Teng Feiyu from my squad? He knows quite a bit of criminal investigation, and he's very keen on investigating this case—he doesn't really seem like a patrol officer."

"His background?" Kou Guoyong shook his head. "I really can't say. If you want to know, ask him yourself."

……

After leaving the branch chief's office, Lin Qing went to the first-floor Squad Seven office.

In the office, the ones on duty were Teng Feiyu and Zhao Jiayi.

"Good morning, Squad Leader."

Zhao Jiayi greeted him first, seeming to have something she wanted to say, and raised her hand: "Squad Leader, I…"

"Squad Leader."

At that moment, however, Teng Feiyu stood up, cut her off, and asked impatiently, "Tonight, can we keep searching Red Oak Boxing Gym and Qingtai Hotel?"

"Didn't we just search them last night?" Lin Qing glanced at him.

"But both of those places clearly have problems."

Teng Feiyu couldn't help saying, "Isn't a patrol officer supposed to search these kinds of suspicious places?"

"But yesterday we didn't find anything." Lin Qing said calmly, "What's the point of going again? A Class-I search warrant can only do so much."

Teng Feiyu fell silent for a moment upon hearing this, then said, "Then… can we go investigate on the quiet?"

"You mean apply for an undercover search?" Lin Qing asked.

"No." Teng Feiyu shook his head. "I mean we just search directly, without applying or reporting first."

"Why?" Lin Qing looked at him.

Teng Feiyu was silent for another long moment before saying, "I suspect Red Oak Boxing Gym and Qingtai Hotel both got wind of it ahead of time and prepared their defenses, which is why we couldn't find anything."

"Got wind of it ahead of time?" Lin Qing smiled and said, "Are you trying to say that someone in our squad or Squad Two is connected to the underground boxing ring you mentioned, acting as a protective umbrella and tipping them off?"

Teng Feiyu was slightly startled—he hadn't expected Lin Qing to put it so bluntly?

But he only responded with silence, clearly tacitly agreeing with Lin Qing's words.

"Then who do you think it is?" Lin Qing said with a hint of mockery, "Han Ying? Ruan Bing? Zhao Jiayi, or me? Or Squad Leader Han of Squad Two? Or Acting Captain?"

Teng Feiyu stayed silent.

"You understand too—no evidence means you can't speak recklessly."

Lin Qing shook his head slightly and said, "Same logic… without evidence, you can't act rashly either. If you really want to investigate, do it secretly on your own—don't drag the whole squad into it."

"…Understood." Teng Feiyu said in a low voice.

Lin Qing glanced at him, then drew a pie in the sky and handed it over:

"If you can find some evidence on your own and confirm the intel is solid, when the time is right, I can actually do what you said—take you all in to search directly, without filing an application report."

Hearing this, Teng Feiyu took a deep breath and said, "I'll do my best."

Lin Qing hummed, saying no more.

He knew Teng Feiyu must know of the underground boxing arena's existence; otherwise, he wouldn't have headed straight for those two suspicious locations.

Still, Teng Feiyu surely lacked sufficient evidence, or why would a search be needed? Just as well, he also needed to understand the situation of that so-called underground arena, its strength, before formulating a plan.

Having someone help investigate wouldn't be bad.

As long as a great merit was established, even without filing an application report, going directly to search would be a trivial matter.

"Team Leader, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

At that moment, Zhao Jiayi beside him suddenly spoke up cautiously.

"What is it?" Lin Qing looked at her.

"Can we go to the negotiation room next door?" Zhao Jiayi lowered her head somewhat shyly. "I'd like to speak with you alone."

... She's not going to confess, is she... Lin Qing looked at her strangely, recalling the various coincidences from her last night, yet still said, "Alright."

"Team Leader."

Inside the negotiation room, Zhao Jiayi spoke somewhat embarrassedly: "Actually, there's something I'd like to ask you for help with."

"Go on." Lin Qing sat opposite her.

"I have a friend... recently succeeded in the 46th Edition Training Method and wants to buy three sets of High-Energy Sustained-Release Liquid."

Zhao Jiayi spoke softly: "I heard the internal price at the branch office is only 69,999 per set. Could you please help me buy three sets?"

"A friend?"

Lin Qing looked at her strangely. "Tell me the truth, is this friend of yours actually yourself?"

He added: "Even if the Patrol Bureau has this privilege, it can only be used to purchase for people within the Patrol system, and it must be consumed on the spot; it cannot be given to others. Do you understand?"

"Alright..." Zhao Jiayi coughed lightly and said: "Team Leader, it is for my own use."

"You have mastered the 46th Edition Training Method?"

Lin Qing looked her over and was not at all surprised.

After all, after carefully reviewing Zhao Jiayi's good fortune during last night's operation, he had already had some suspicions.

Relying solely on an ordinary person's skills, the probability of so coincidentally and luckily knocking down that fugitive with an electric baton was very small.

"Yes..."

Zhao Jiayi, her face slightly flushed, said: "I didn't mean to hide it... I just felt that I couldn't pass the Patrol Bureau's professional exam yet, so there was no need to expose myself too early; otherwise, they'd think I have great ability and make me do this and that, which would be a bit troublesome..."

"I see." Lin Qing nodded slightly and believed her to some extent.

Moreover, his intuition told him she was likely telling the truth; since she had said so, there was no need for her to lie to him.

Zhao Jiayi secretly breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.

Saying it this way should be quite reasonable, right...

Anyway, it's just exposing one 46th Edition Training Method. Dad said, as long as I don't expose my most important ability...

"Then I can help you." Lin Qing asked casually: "But do you have the money to buy three sets of High-Energy Sustained-Release Liquid? That costs 210,000."

"Counting the 120,000 bounty money, it's enough."

Zhao Jiayi said earnestly: "As a thank-you, and for the grace of Team Leader saving me yesterday, I can transfer that Third-Class Merit of mine to you, Team Leader."

"Ah?" Lin Qing was momentarily stunned.

(End of this chapter)