Chapter 372: Golden Section Line

But when he leaned in and took a closer look, he immediately understood Yu Dazhang's intention.

After a while longer, the officers in the office had all crowded over, every gaze fixed on the map.

Second by second, minute by minute, the expressions on everyone's faces grew heavier and more solemn…

Two minutes later, the crowd turned their eyes back to Yu Dazhang.

Judging from the direction the arrow pointed, one could see he was trying to figure out which way the underground prison lay.

The position of the final question mark was also where the trail went cold.

It was something perfectly easy to grasp—why had he stared at it so long?

And the route was one he'd drawn himself; why did it feel as though he'd stumped himself?

Just as everyone was baffled, Yu Dazhang spoke up.

"First, look at the whole of N Province."

He said, pointing at the map:

"Then look at where the question mark sits. Put the two together and look again."

As he spoke, he gestured with his hand above the map.

Prompted by Yu Dazhang's hint, an officer quickly spotted something different and said in surprise:

"Center, slightly east—are you trying to say this spot falls exactly on the golden section line of the whole of N Province!"

The moment those words landed, the other officers caught on too, and they immediately focused their eyes on the position of Liancheng.

"It really does," one of the officers chimed in:

"Seen this way, Liancheng's geographic position in N Province is very clever—closest to Jianning, and not far from the other cities either."

As everyone knows, the dead center isn't necessarily the best spot; otherwise the very notion of a golden section line wouldn't exist.

Another officer echoed:

"If it were me, I'd definitely pick Liancheng as the base camp. From there you can supply Jianning's labor needs at any time, and still keep an eye on the other cities."

These provincial bureau officers were all locals of N Province, so naturally they knew the various cities far better than an outsider like Yu Dazhang.

Yu Dazhang happened to want to hear their opinions.

At that moment, another officer pointed at the position of Xingcheng on the map and said:

"If you look at it from a national perspective, the city with the best transportation in our province should be Xingcheng."

"Its integrated transport system covers aviation, high-speed rail, highways, and intra-city rail transit, forming a national-level hub network."

His words drew the attention of everyone present, and they all turned their eyes toward Xingcheng on the map.

That officer went on:

"But from a province-internal perspective, Liancheng is the one with the best transportation—and at the same time, it's also the easiest to overlook."

"Both convenient and well hidden."

When he finished, everyone nodded in agreement.

Not enough… Though what they said all made sense, Yu Dazhang still felt something was missing.

The clues on hand could only point to a rough direction; they weren't enough to pin down the exact location.

If they decided rashly, they were likely to waste a huge amount of manpower and resources.

The police, money, and time it takes to search a single mountain far exceed what one might imagine.

Anyone reading this is bound to have a question.

Don't we have drones? Wouldn't using drones to search solve the problem?

Drones can indeed scan quickly, but the mountain is covered in greenery.

That means the area a drone can observe is limited to the surface; it can't effectively probe anything hidden beneath the vegetation.

So even in today's high-tech world, thoroughly searching a mountain still can't be done without throwing in manpower.

And Liancheng has far more than one mountain—if they really moved, the number of officers required would be enormous.

Everyone present was waiting for Yu Dazhang to draw a conclusion, but instead he abruptly shifted the topic and posed a question:

"Does N Province have a port? I mean a port that opens out to the sea."

That question left everyone in the room stumped.

Not because they didn't know, but because they couldn't fathom why he'd suddenly ask that.

They'd just been talking about Liancheng full of enthusiasm—how did he suddenly jump to ports?

Are those two topics even adjacent?

That's not how you hold a conversation.

The crowd exchanged glances; from each other's expressions it was plain that no one could keep up with that fatty's train of thought.

Luckily one officer was quick to react; after a brief hesitation, he cut in:

"Baling Port fits your description—it's the only port in N Province that connects river and sea."

"Which city is it in?" Yu Dazhang asked.

That officer pointed at a spot on the map and answered:

"In Baling City. The port is named after the city—right here."

Yu Dazhang nodded, then drew a little triangle on top of Baling City with his pen.

He'd meant to draw a boat, but the moment he thought of his own drawing skills, he decisively gave up the idea.

"If you drive from Liancheng to Baling, how long does it take?"

He was sure that among these provincial bureau officers, some had driven between the two cities.

Just as, back in Songhai, if you asked him how long it took to get to cities near Songhai, he could rattle off at least a dozen routes.

"Two and a half hours," two officers answered in unison.

This distance was still within a controllable range... Yu Dazhang was calculating in his mind.

If the other party was sending people from Lotus City to Yueyang Port, the risk of being detected at this time and distance would be greatly reduced.

Yu Dazhang turned his gaze back to the map.

At present, it was almost impossible to catch Zhang Chao and his wife in Jianning.

Zheng Ting had also made it clear that she couldn't get Zhang Chao and the others to come out.

Even if Zhang Chao and the others agreed to meet, it would surely be another trap to test the police.

Moreover, with today's rescue operation going smoothly, the other party would soon get wind of it — they might have already fled by now.

However, even if the police couldn't find them for the time being, the couple couldn't leave Province N.

Because the two's identity information had already been exposed, it was simply impossible for them to leave through normal channels.

And with the heat on them right now, they wouldn't dare try to flee either.

Since they were still in Province N, which city were they most likely hiding in?

Yu Dazhang stared at the map, his gaze wandering back and forth among the thirteen prefecture-level cities, finally settling on Jianning and Lotus City.

Zhang Chao's mother's family was in Jianning, and the couple had lived in Lotus City.

Although the two families weren't in the same city, the distance wasn't far — after all, the two cities were only 25 kilometers apart, just a half-hour drive.

It was clear that Zhang Chao and his wife wanted to be closer to the mother, yet they hadn't chosen to live in the same city.

Why was that?

When trouble arose, it was easier to hide... this was the only possibility Yu Dazhang could think of.

Their hiding place had to be in the same city as their residence, so they could skip the step of leaving the city.

A cunning rabbit has three burrows.

The residence they had taken Zheng Ting to before was very likely one they had deliberately exposed — probably after Zheng Ting's visit, they never lived there again.

So, they should have other residences in Lotus City.

Just then, Yu Dazhang's phone suddenly rang. Seeing the caller ID, he quickly answered.

"We've arrived at the location Zheng Ting mentioned."

Qi Fang's voice came through the phone:

"There are three households on the fourth floor. Two have people home. After we picked the lock and entered the remaining one, we found eight cameras installed inside the apartment, covering virtually every angle."

(End of chapter)