Chapter 730: Lao Ba's Counterattack

After the escort vehicle endured Along journey of over ten hours, it finally entered the jurisdiction of Jingcheng—Azure Dragon Mountain Tunnel.

This is the perfect "crime scene" spot Lin Dongfan mentioned.

The three-kilometer-long tunnel resembled the belly of a giant python, interior dim and oppressive. The lighting outside the windows formed a dull yellow band, and inside the escort vehicle only the walkie-talkie emitted a crackling interference.

Lao Ba narrowed his eyes, observing through the mask's gap the criminal police brigade captain sitting opposite—Zhao Qiang.

They had been in the tunnel for one and a half minutes, with about half the distance left to the exit.

Zhao Qiang's breathing rate changed, becoming much faster than before. His right index finger unconsciously tapped his thigh.

Is this a sign before taking action?

Sure enough, a few seconds later a rear-end collision occurred ahead. A truck "lost control" lay across the road, blocking both northbound lanes.

The escort vehicle was forced to turn on its hazard lights and slowly pulled over to the right side of the tunnel. The police car behind also stopped, using its flashing lights to warn following vehicles.

"Damn, what's going on?"

Driver Xiao Li muttered a curse, while Zhao Qiang in the rear compartment remained silent. He calmly took out a cigarette, lit it, and stared straight ahead.

The rear-end collision scene ahead.

Only to see the two drivers get out to argue, then start fighting. The truck driver pulled a vehicle repair wrench from his truck and smashed the other driver's skull.

Seeing this, Zhao Qiang slightly furrowed his brow, as if he had been waiting for this moment.

He glanced at the armed special police and medical personnel sitting beside "Li Hengbo": "Something happened up front—go check it out."

"This..."

The armed special police hesitated a bit.

"Things are about to turn deadly up front—what the hell, hurry up!" Zhao Qiang's face darkened: "I'm watching Li Hengbo in the vehicle."

The special police and the doctor exchanged a glance, then had no choice but to get out to inspect the situation.

Zhao Qiang also ordered Driver Xiao Li: "You get out too, go help."

"Okay."

As a subordinate, Xiao Li never dared to defy superior orders.

After the armed special police, medical personnel, and Driver Xiao Li all got out, the escort vehicle's cabin held only Zhao Qiang and Lao Ba, who was impersonating Li Hengbo.

Light from the tunnel filtered through the windows, casting alternating light and shadow across Zhao Qiang's face.

His expression was very calm, calmly to a frightening degree.

Lao Ba didn't open his eyes, merely letting out a weak groan from his throat.

"Cut the act." Zhao Qiang's hand suddenly reached for the blood-soaked gauze on Lao Ba's chest: "Let me see your wound..."

Before his words finished, his fingers dug in hard, pressing fiercely onto the "wound" beneath the gauze!

This press was aimed at the heart area. If there was a real wound underneath, this could cause the victim excruciating pain, shock, even massive bleeding. If it were fake…

Zhao Qiang's pupils suddenly contracted.

What he pressed was not a wound, but muscle as hard as stone!

"What are you trying to do?"

Lao Ba calmly opened his eyes, his voice transmitted through the mask, carrying Li Hengbo's characteristic hoarseness, yet the icy aura could not be concealed.

Realizing something was off, Zhao Qiang lightning-fast reached for his sidearm at his waist!

But Lao Ba's movement was even faster.

The handcuffs on both hands suddenly broke free like a magic trick. These handcuffs were originally a device swapped by Lin Dongfan, their cores already tampered with.

Almost simultaneously, Lao Ba moved like lightning, his right hand clamping like an iron vise onto Zhao Qiang's gun-drawing wrist, rendering Zhao Qiang's right hand immobile.

"You dare assault an officer? Let go!"

Zhao Qiang struggled hard, but couldn't break free from Lao Ba's wrist lock.

Lao Ba stared, brows furrowed, and calmly reasoned: "Just now I sat still without moving, yet you suddenly attacked my wound, and when that failed you drew your gun! What are you trying to do? Silence me?"

"!!!"

Seeing the truth exposed, Zhao Qiang stopped pretending.

He thought, with only two of us in the vehicle, what does it matter if the truth comes out? After I kill you, I just need to write "assaulting an officer" in the report—reasonable and justified!

"It's your own fault for knowing too much; my superiors ordered me to send you on your way—accept your fate!"

Zhao Qiang exerted force again, trying to break free from Lao Ba's grip, thinking, "I don't believe I can't subdue you, this wounded invalid!"

The next second…

"Crack!"

The crisp sound of a dislocated wrist bone rang clear in the sealed cabin. Zhao Qiang never managed to reach his gun; Lao Ba, with a little force, twisted and broke his right hand.

"Ah—!"

A anguished cry rang out, the intense pain making Zhao Qiang's vision go dark.

But he was a veteran criminal investigator, reflexes lightning-fast; he clenched his left fist and struck straight at Lao Ba's temple!

Lao Ba tilted his head; the fist grazed the mask, creating a whoosh.

He delivered a knife-hand strike to Zhao Qiang's neck side, force controlled just right—not lethal, but enough to instantly rob him of resistance.

Zhao Qiang's body went limp, collapsing onto the cabin floor.

Lao Ba quickly pulled Zhao Qiang's sidearm and handcuffs from his waist, also finding a mobile phone and a miniature communicator. He glanced at the communicator; its screen showed it was recording.

It had already recorded twenty-seven seconds.

"Damn, I knew you'd pull this." Lao Ba snorted, pressed the stop button, saved the recording. Then he opened his phone and quickly scrolled through recent communications.

The most recent call came in fifteen minutes ago.

The incoming number had no label, but Lao Ba recognized it at once—it was Fang Zhanhong's work mobile.

The call lasted forty-seven seconds.

It was exactly three minutes before the convoy entered the tunnel.

Lao Ba stowed his phone and communicator, then used Zhao Qiang's own handcuffs to cuff him behind the back to the seat leg; the whole process took less than twenty seconds.

Outside the vehicle, the SWAT officers and the doctor returned after handling the accident scene.

Lao Ba quickly sat back in his original seat, adjusted his mask, closed his eyes, and resumed the appearance of 'seriously injured and unconscious.' Only his right hand gripped Zhao Qiang's service pistol, hidden at his side.

The SWAT officer flung open the door, saw Zhao Qiang slumped inside the vehicle, and his face changed dramatically: 'Captain Zhao, what happened?!'

He instinctively raised his gun.

Don't move!

Lao Ba suddenly spoke, his voice still hoarse but carrying a chilling coldness that made the heart race.

The SWAT officer froze.

Because Lao Ba's gun was already aimed at his brow.

'Put the gun down, slowly place it on the ground.' Lao Ba said: 'You, the doctor, and the people in the front vehicle—don't move rashly. I don't want to kill, but I don't mind killing either.'

The doctor's face turned white in an instant.

The SWAT officer gritted his teeth, slowly squatted down, and placed his gun on the cabin floor.

Lao Ba said to the doctor: 'You, check on Captain Zhao. He just tried to kill me, and I subdued him in legitimate self-defense. Rest assured, he won't die—he's just unconscious.'

The doctor trembled as he checked Zhao Qiang's pulse and breathing; indeed, he was merely unconscious, with a red mark on the side of his neck.

'Now...' Lao Ba continued: 'Use your phone to call Liu Shu, and put it on speaker.'

The doctor fumbled, shaking, to pull out his phone and dialed Liu Shu's number.

The call connected quickly.

'Chief Liu, I'm the team doctor, Xiao Wang...' the doctor's voice trembled.

'What's the matter?' Liu Shu's voice sounded alert.

'Captain Zhao... Captain Zhao...' the doctor glanced at Lao Ba.

Lao Ba pointed the gun's muzzle at the phone.

The doctor took a deep breath: 'Captain Zhao just, in the tunnel, suddenly attacked Li Hengbo, trying to kill him. He was... subdued by Li Hengbo. Now Captain Zhao is unconscious, Li Hengbo is holding the gun, and he wants us to contact you.'

On the other end of the line, silence lasted a full five seconds.

Then Liu Shu's voice came through, unusually calm: 'Give the phone to Li Hengbo.'

The doctor handed over the phone.

Lao Ba took it, pressed speaker, and said: 'Chief Liu, hello.'

'Who are you?!' Liu Shu demanded directly: 'You're not Li Hengbo; Li Hengbo doesn't have these skills, nor the guts to seize a gun on the prisoner transport.'

Lao Ba laughed: 'Chief Liu, you're sharp. Who I am doesn't matter; what matters is that Zhao Qiang just tried to kill to silence witnesses, and I recorded it. In the recording, he admits he was acting on someone's orders.'

'Who ordered him?' Liu Shu pressed.

'You don't know?' Lao Ba said with a smile: 'Whether you know or not, I can give you a heads-up: fifteen minutes ago, Zhao Qiang received a call, and the caller ID was Fang Zhenghong's work phone.'

Upon hearing this, Liu Shu fell silent for a moment before speaking: 'What do you want?'

'I don't want anything.' Lao Ba said: 'You yourself should know how murky this mess is. If you don't want to get dragged in, you'd better cooperate with me.'

'How do you want me to cooperate?' Liu Shu asked.

Lao Ba said: 'This matter, you and I know about it, but for now we can't tell Li Zhenyang and Fang Zhenghong. Please give me a definite answer: can you do it?'

On the other end of the line, Liu Shu fell silent again, without answering the question.

Lao Ba calmly declared: 'Do you have room to hesitate? There are five people in the vehicle now: me, Zhao Qiang, the driver, the SWAT officer, and the doctor. The situation is under my control; I could kill them all and then drive the car off the highway. But I don't want to do that, because my mission is merely to ensure "Li Hengbo" safely reaches Jingcheng.'

Saying this, Lao Ba glanced at the unconscious Zhao Qiang.

He added:

'Of course, if you insist on forcing me, I don't mind taking a few lives. Anyway, this debt will ultimately be charged to Li Zhenyang's head—during the prisoner transfer, an internal mole in the police killed to silence witnesses, causing the suspect to go berserk and resulting in heavy casualties. What do you think of this headline, Chief Liu?'

Liu Shu said nothing.

Lao Ba could hear the heavy breathing on the other end of the line.

After a few seconds, Liu Shu finally said: 'Alright, I'll let you go. But you must guarantee that you won't harm anyone else.'

'Deal.'

Lao Ba hung up, tossed the phone back to the doctor, and said: 'Heard that? Chief Liu let us go. Xiao Li, drive, slowly out of the tunnel. Don't play tricks—my gun doesn't have eyes.'

The young driver's face turned ashen as he trembled while starting the vehicle.

The prisoner transport slowly pulled out of the emergency lane and headed toward the tunnel exit.

The police in the rear vehicles saw this and wanted to follow, but Liu Shu's order came over the walkie-talkie: 'All vehicles hold position, do not intercept! Without my order, no leaking of the situation to the outside!'

The two police cars could only stop in place, watching helplessly as the prisoner transport drove alone toward the exit.

The light at the tunnel's end grew brighter and brighter.

Lao Ba gripped the gun, the corner of the mouth beneath the mask curled slightly in a smile, thinking, "Still, it's Master Fan—everything is under Master Fan's control."