Chapter 331: If Your Heart Isn't Hard Enough, Don't Be a Criminal Cop

Yu Dazhang had no idea what was going on inside Captain Hua's head at that moment.

Seeing that the other side didn't rebut him, he went on:

"This order was given by me. You're only assisting us in handling the case. If anything unexpected happens because of this, the responsibility will be borne by me personally."

On the surface, this sounded like he was voluntarily taking responsibility, putting the colleagues from Province N at ease.

But in reality, it was a slap in the face.

The real meaning behind his words was: If you're afraid of taking responsibility, just hide behind me. If the sky falls, I'll hold it up.

Everyone present was a criminal police officer—an elite—and of course they could hear the subtext in Yu Dazhang's words.

For cops, the worst thing you can say is that they have no guts. That stings worse than cursing out their mothers.

"Did you misinterpret what I meant?"

Captain Hua's voice dropped low, and his expression turned very ugly:

"I only made a suggestion. You can reject it, but you can't question our professional ethics."

"We're all men. No matter the circumstances, we won't back down—we never have."

Why's he getting so worked up... Yu Dazhang quickly realized he had misspoken just now.

He was also a bit anxious, afraid that Province N's side would bypass him and organize the rescue directly, so he had spoken without thinking.

"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding." Yu Dazhang immediately changed his tune:

"How could I possibly question you guys? It was careless of me to speak that way, but I really didn't mean it."

He'd die before admitting it... While saying that, his hands weren't idle either—he passed Captain Hua another Hua cigarette.

Yielding when necessary, standing firm when needed? Hua Kaiquan looked at the cigarette being offered, his eyes narrowing into slits.

This fatty was speaking softly, but had no intention of backing down at all.

If he kept nitpicking, it would instead make his own side look petty.

After a brief hesitation, Hua Kaiquan still took the cigarette. After lighting it, he said thoughtfully:

"Then let's do it according to your deployment. On my end, we'll fully cooperate with your operation, and personnel allocation will be entirely up to you."

Yu Dazhang didn't give him a chance to rebut either.

If anyone objected, it would be equivalent to Hua Kaiquan's side being afraid of taking responsibility.

At the same time, Yu Dazhang also knew that this arrangement would mean those mentally disabled persons couldn't be rescued immediately.

They'd have to continue serving as cheap labor in the factory.

But there was no choice. To crack the case, sacrifices had to be made.

Do you think cracking a case is just about outwitting and outfighting the criminals?

Not enough.

In Yu Dazhang's view, most of the time you have to be more insidious and more ruthless than them.

When facing criminals, talking to them about "Five Stresses and Four Beauties"—that's brain-dead behavior.

To put it bluntly: if your heart isn't hard enough, don't be a criminal cop.

Then Yu Dazhang had someone bring over a map of Yancheng's industrial district.

"Captain Hua, your side can be divided into eight groups. I have one group on my end too."

Yu Dazhang said, looking at the map:

"Nine small groups are enough to monitor the industrial district."

The two then exchanged views and marked nine points on the map.

For now, the best surveillance method was one group per vehicle, with people hiding inside the car, parked at a fixed point, and two people taking turns keeping watch.

This kind of stakeout method was both covert and safe.

If something unexpected happened, they could immediately start the vehicle and provide support.

Now the only problem was: there weren't that many private cars.

If they used police cars, it would be the same as directly telling people that the people inside were cops.

"The vehicle problem, I'll handle it." Captain Hua waved his hand directly:

"They can be in place today."

Then there was no problem... Yu Dazhang nodded and said:

"Once the vehicles arrive, go straight to the marked locations. If you spot any suspicious vehicles, we'll get in touch with each other in time."

He planned to go stakeout with Lu Zhongxin and Zhang Sen. With three people together, the work efficiency would be higher.

Hua Kaiquan then handed him a police walkie-talkie and asked:

"Once the suspect vehicle is confirmed, do we tail it, or move in and arrest directly?"

These things had to be decided in advance, otherwise it was easy for things to go wrong.

From this, one could see how meticulous Captain Hua was in handling matters.

"Arrest directly."

Yu Dazhang answered crisply, clearly having thought it through long ago:

"According to Fang Peng's statement, getting to that underground prison requires a long stretch of bumpy dirt road, which means the route will be very remote."

"Road conditions like that aren't suitable for tailing, and you can't keep up anyway."

Earlier he had only talked about the case details regarding the underground prison. Fang Peng's confession materials hadn't gone into detail, so Captain Hua and his people didn't know this particular detail.

"Indeed." Captain Hua nodded in agreement.

With this kind of thing, you only had to think about it briefly and the picture would form in your mind.

A dirt road.

A box truck driving ahead, with a vehicle tailing it the whole way.

Under these circumstances, even an idiot could tell he was being followed.

Rather than being discovered halfway there, it was better to just arrest the person directly in the industrial zone, which would also prevent any unexpected complications.

After briefing Team He, Yu Dazhang and the other two returned to the same office where they had spoken with Hong Liuwen earlier.

Hong Liuwen was waiting inside at this moment, while a police officer stood outside the door.

"Your daughter has safely boarded the plane now."

Yu Dazhang hadn't received another call from Li Mingzhao, but precisely because of that, he was certain Hong Liuwen's daughter was safe.

Because if anything had gone wrong, Li Mingzhao would have contacted him long ago.

"Thank you, thank you, I'm really so grateful to you…"

At this point, Hong Liuwen no longer knew how to express the gratitude in his heart, so he could only keep repeating "thank you."

"Alright, alright." Yu Dazhang waved his hand:

"I'm not here to listen to you say thank you. You still have a mission coming up."

Hearing this, Hong Liuwen immediately straightened his back, and his expression turned solemn:

"Give the order. What do I do next?"

Yu Dazhang turned his head to look at Lu Zhongxin:

"Master, give him his phone back."

Lu Zhongxin nodded, fished Hong Liuwen's phone out of his pocket, then walked forward and handed it to him.

After taking it, Hong Liuwen looked at him with a puzzled face, then turned back to look at Yu Dazhang.

The three of them assumed he was wondering why they were returning his phone to him.

But what Hong Liuwen was thinking was: that police officer who looked like a sidekick was actually this fat guy's master!

What kind of setup is this?

The disciple leads the case, while the master stands aside waiting for orders.

Is this how they handle cases over in Songhai?

Truly worthy of a top-tier metropolis—even the way they handle cases is so unconventional.

A disciple bringing along his master—what a peculiar and mysterious combination.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Yu Dazhang also noticed something was off; the look in Hong Liuwen's eyes made him a bit uncomfortable.

The gaze was strange, as if he'd seen some rare curiosity.

"Nothing." Hong Liuwen forcibly suppressed his curiosity and said solemnly:

"Tell me, what do you want me to do?"

He felt that at a time like this, it was best not to pry into other people's private affairs.

Besides, his current situation was not optimistic either, and he was in no mood to think about such gossip.

"It probably won't be long before the other side finds out your daughter has shaken off the local gang's surveillance."

Yu Dazhang stared at Hong Liuwen and asked:

"What do you think the other side will do?"

(End of chapter)