Chapter 381: This Road Seems Familiar

This time, before Yu Dazhang could even give the order, Captain Hua had already taken out his phone and started making calls.

No matter how brazen criminals are, they go limp the moment they see the police — the reason being that law enforcement holds an overwhelming advantage in firepower.

If you feel short on manpower, you can call in backup at any time — that's the benefit of having the state's resources behind you.

Why not contact the local police in advance to coordinate with them?

Same old saying: when you're out on the road, having an extra eye never hurts.

If word leaks out, whose fault does that count as?

Besides, the situation along the way is changing constantly — no one knows what will happen the next moment — so Yu Dazhang could only adapt as he went.

This stretch of road was even longer, and the convoy was now two vehicles short.

So Yu Dazhang and the others decided to extend each vehicle's tailing time, from the previous fifteen minutes to twenty.

That way, one full rotation of the six vehicles still came out to two hours.

Not long after they set off, Captain Hua got a call from a provincial bureau officer.

After a brief conversation, he hung up and said to Yu Dazhang:

"The three people lying in wait at the train station have been caught. The operation went smoothly — we didn't give them a chance to tip anyone off. They're being taken to the nearby police station for interrogation."

Yu Dazhang said nothing, just gave a nod.

This was within his expectations.

Two armed criminal investigators from the provincial bureau, plus local police cooperation — nabbing three suspects was more than enough.

Two hours later, Captain Hua's phone rang again.

This call ran a bit longer, and Captain Hua's expression grew heavier and more solemn than before.

After ending the call, he said in a low voice:

"The raid on the farmhouse courtyard also went smoothly. There were five suspects inside — four men and one woman — and we can confirm they didn't pass any information outward."

After a pause, Captain Hua continued:

"After an on-site preliminary interrogation, the other side confessed that this time a total of five mentally disabled persons were being transported, and only the box-truck driver knows the destination."

"Also, there are two people in the front cab. They also said we have no chance of taking those two alive."

No chance of taking them alive? Yu Dazhang froze for a moment when he heard that.

"Did they say why?" he asked.

"No." Captain Hua said, a touch helplessly:

"The other side said those two never talk about anything related to that organization. The only thing they said was that even if the police found them, they wouldn't be able to capture them alive."

That's a lot to take in… Yu Dazhang couldn't help but tense up.

Suicide, or taking everyone down with them?

Wang Hao had once tried to kill himself — and right there in the interrogation room, no less. If they'd noticed any later, he would have succeeded.

So words like that are absolutely not said lightly.

They must have made preparations!

This is going to be tough… Yu Dazhang's mind raced, all sorts of guesses surfacing.

If it's suicide by pills, that's manageable.

The worst case is the other side having something dangerous like explosives.

Once a person has made up their mind to die, they'll instinctively look for someone to drag down with them — so it's not out of the question that the other side might take extreme measures.

In fact, getting hold of explosives isn't all that hard.

Traditional explosives are basically black powder — simple formula, easy-to-get raw materials, just not all that powerful when they go off.

But blowing up a four-meter-two box truck would still be a cinch.

Honestly, Yu Dazhang was starting to regret things a little now.

If he'd known it would be like this, he would never have let Zhang Sen take the risk.

Captain Hua and Qi Fang clearly realized the gravity of the situation as well. The three of them fell silent for a time, each face carrying a measure of heaviness and solemnity.

After a moment, Qi Fang spoke up and suggested:

"If it's not working, let's just arrest them now — get them under control first, then figure out the next step."

Yu Dazhang didn't make a sound, and this time even Captain Hua didn't chime in either.

They both knew perfectly well that even if they moved in for the arrest now, it was already too late.

If the other side really had explosives, a rash move would give them plenty of time to detonate.

Better to keep tailing them and find a suitable moment to intercept.

"Keep following them."

Yu Dazhang pinched the bridge of his nose and said:

"At the speed they're going now, even if we drove up to intercept, it'd be hard to cut them off."

Don't underestimate a four-meter-two box truck — no matter how you slice it, it's still a truck, and in terms of tonnage a sedan just can't compare.

If the other side really steeled themselves and went for a mutually-destructive crash, there would definitely be casualties on our side.

Looks like the two people in the cab were also being coerced by Zhang Chao — probably with threats against their families' safety.

That trick has been used to death since ancient times, but you have to admit, it really does work.

Another three hours passed.

"Still good? Want me to swap in?" Yu Dazhang turned to look at Qi Fang, who was driving.

Starting that afternoon, Qi Fang had already been driving for over six hours.

Long-distance driving is tiring to begin with, and add in poor nighttime visibility — it really tests your stamina.

"I'm fine, no need." Qi Fang declined:

"While we were staking the place out, I dozed off for a bit. I'm wide awake now."

Anyone who does stakeouts often knows that a short nap is a great help in maintaining stamina.

Even people who don't do this line of work often have the habit of an afternoon nap — that one hour at noon is enough to recover the energy they burned through in the morning.

Yu Dazhang didn't have that habit.

Because once he fell asleep, he simply couldn't wake up again in a short time.

"It's just…"

As if something had just occurred to him, Qi Fang stared straight ahead at the road and spoke hesitantly:

"I think I've been on this road before."

Hearing that, both Yu Dazhang and Captain Hua perked up.

"Is it a false memory?" Yu Dazhang asked.

"No." Qi Fang shook his head:

"Several of the road signs along this stretch lately look very familiar to me."

At that, he suddenly raised his voice:

"I get it now! When I left Liancheng yesterday, this was the road I took. I was the one driving then too, and I specifically looked at the signs along the way."

Liancheng!

The moment he heard that city name, the map Yu Dazhang had marked earlier flashed instantly through his mind.

At the time, he had marked Liancheng with a question mark.

The supply direction for Yancheng and Jianning also came from there.

Because the information he had wasn't enough, he had temporarily marked it as a suspicious area.

But things were different now. If the box truck ahead was heading for Liancheng, then a line could be drawn between Yangcheng and Liancheng as well.

In his mind, Yu Dazhang brought the two lines on the map together…

The underground prison is in Liancheng!

If before it had been a hypothesis, now he was eighty percent sure he could confirm it.

He glanced at the time on his phone again.

It was almost past midnight.

"How far is Liancheng still?" Yu Dazhang asked.

"Not far," Qi Fang thought for a moment and answered:

"At most another ten-plus minutes."

That box truck is about to change lanes… Yu Dazhang's mind was spinning fast.

Earlier, Zheng Ting had stated that when Zhang Chao and his wife were on the phone, they had mentioned "up the mountain."

Fang Peng had also said that, back in the day, during the process of being transported to the underground prison, there was one stretch of road that was very bumpy, like driving on an uneven dirt road.

Combining these two pieces of information, that very bumpy road…

was the one leading up the mountain!

If that's the case, then once that truck reaches Liancheng it won't go into the city — it'll turn around and head up the mountain instead.

Thinking of this, Yu Dazhang immediately picked up the walkie-talkie:

"All units, attention. The target vehicle will turn onto the mountain road ahead. All vehicles, speed up immediately. We need to intercept and arrest during the gap before the target enters the mountain road."

Captain Hua and Qi Fang, hearing the order he had just given, both looked at him with blank, confused faces.

Qi Fang felt even the hands he was driving with were a little unsteady.

Everyone was in the same car, getting the same information at the same time — where did this fat guy see that the box truck ahead was going into the mountains?

Dare you explain it to us?

Just a blind guess, right?

(End of chapter)