[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-reborn-in-2014-i-am-the-king-of-criminal-investi":3,"chapter-reborn-in-2014-i-am-the-king-of-criminal-investi-reborn-in-2014-i-am-the-king-of-criminal-investi-chapter-69":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Reborn in 2014: I Am the King of Criminal Investigation",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2315925,4529,"Chapter 69: Don","reborn-in-2014-i-am-the-king-of-criminal-investi-chapter-69",69,"\u003Cp>Songkou District Detention Center.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve reviewed the information you provided,” Yu Dazhang asked, sitting across from Zhou Zizhe, his expression grave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You were kidnapped to a mountain village, held there for half a year, then escaped on your own—but you were only five years old at the time. Isn’t that too improbable?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Zizhe didn’t answer his question; instead, he stared at him with confusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why are you here this time? Where are the two officers from last time?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They had other duties, so I was assigned instead,” Yu Dazhang replied with a casual excuse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could never reveal the real situation to Zhou Zizhe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who knew if this kid had set a trap in this matter?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One must be cautious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Did something happen to them?” Zhou Zizhe seemed to guess something, his eyes locked onto Yu Dazhang’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I already warned them: never treat those beasts like humans—you’ll suffer dearly for it!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Dazhang’s heart jolted, but his face remained calm; he asked softly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You warned them?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I warned them repeatedly—at least twice,” Zhou Zizhe affirmed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Also, they must have altered the details I gave them. I told them I was kept in captivity for half a year.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Kept in captivity?” Yu Dazhang also found the phrase odd; he asked:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Like an animal?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This clue was indeed unexpected—the documents sent to Yu Dazhang made no mention of it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Probably they assumed Zhou Zizhe’s account was exaggerated and revised it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he was telling the truth, raising a five-year-old child like an animal… that was beyond human cruelty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I was worse than an animal back then,” Zhou Zizhe chuckled bitterly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I had an iron collar around my neck, chained to a stone enclosure outdoors, with only a sheet of asbestos roofing overhead for rain protection.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Have you ever seen the trough pigs eat from?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There were two other children with me—we three crouched before the trough like pigs, sticking our heads in to eat.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Dazhang’s mind already conjured the image.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To do this meant those people’s minds had twisted beyond normal human comprehension.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Human emotions are interconnected; there’s a word for it: empathy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For example, you laugh at comedies, cry at tragedies—even emotionally sensitive people weep uncontrollably over love stories.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s empathy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chaining a child with an iron collar, locking him in a stone enclosure, feeding him from a pig trough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just imagining it feels cruel—let alone doing it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Treating human life as worthless, cold to the extreme… Yu Dazhang silently labeled those people in his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed Zhou Zizhe hadn’t exaggerated at all—those beasts truly couldn’t be treated as humans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You glossed over the part where you faked illness to escape,” Yu Dazhang continued.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Was it because you forgot the details, or thought it unnecessary to explain thoroughly?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Zizhe thought for a moment, then said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The officer who took my statement didn’t ask for details, so I just brushed it off with one sentence.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tell me more,” Yu Dazhang said, adopting an attitude of attentive listening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I really did feel unwell back then,” Zhou Zizhe recalled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Looking back, it was due to chronic malnutrition—not an actual illness.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I looked nothing like a human then—half a year without a bath, living in that environment, so no outward signs were obvious.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They came to check on me several times, saw I wasn’t eating, and took me to a place like a clinic.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They probably injected me with something like glucose—I felt much better, my limbs regained strength.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So I slipped out in the middle of the night.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Dazhang already knew what happened after that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Zizhe descended the mountain overnight, walked another full day and night, then collapsed at the gate of a construction site.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that time, Zhou Hongfu was still a carpenter; seeing the child’s plight, he took him home. Those people may have been inhuman, but they weren’t very smart… Yu Dazhang picked up on something from Zhou Zizhe’s words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their method of confinement was crude and simple—and they were fooled by a five-year-old faking illness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That kind of intelligence doesn’t match someone capable of elaborate deception.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So no detail, however trivial, could be overlooked—even an ordinary phrase might reveal useful information.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Didn’t you and your adoptive father report this to the police?” Yu Dazhang felt the question was redundant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he still wanted to know what happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sixteen years had passed, yet Zhou Zizhe still fixated on those traffickers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That meant he’d tried getting the police involved—but the outcome was unsatisfactory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, as soon as Yu Dazhang asked, Zhou Zizhe’s expression turned helpless:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My adoptive father and I didn’t just report it—we went to the police nearly every year since 1998.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What followed needed no elaboration; Yu Dazhang understood perfectly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Please... collect 6...9...books....!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cases like this were far too common, concentrated mostly in the first two decades after reform and opening, peaking in the 1990s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Zizhe was lucky—he escaped and was adopted by a good family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those who vanished without a trace suffered worse; some even had their limbs cut off and were sent to beg on the streets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But such cases declined after 2000—hardly anyone sees street beggars anymore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When investigating, priority must go to those still missing; someone like Zhou Zizhe… just being willing to respond is enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, the branch sent officers specifically to investigate because Zhou Zizhe paid with his life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as they investigated trafficking cases, he wouldn’t resist—he confessed everything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How to put it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s not too much to ask.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After leaving the detention center, Yu Dazhang returned to the unit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d come to meet Zhou Zizhe face-to-face to clarify some details.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, they’d interacted before, so communication flowed more smoothly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With this advantage, Yu Dazhang naturally made use of it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the way back, Lu Zhongxin called him twice, urging him to hurry back for the meeting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he arrived, the meeting had already begun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Almost all officers from the three battalions were present, except those on duty—clearly the bureau’s high priority.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This meeting was simple: immediate team assignments.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Qian first selected ten officers from the First Battalion; each would pair with one officer from the Second or Third Battalion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In addition to these ten teams, Team Leader Liu Zhe of the Second Battalion and Team Leader Zhang Dong of the Third Battalion would each lead a reserve team for immediate support.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among the ten selected by Wei Qian were Yu Dazhang and Lu Zhongxin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This master-apprentice duo had just solved the impersonation case; their reputation and favor within the bureau were at their peak—perfect candidates for this mission.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Next came team formation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Due to time pressure, Wei Qian let the selected officers choose their own partners from among familiar colleagues.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now Yu Dazhang couldn’t team up with his master—he had to pick one from the other two battalions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for familiar faces…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He quickly scanned the officers of the other two battalions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His gaze finally settled on a short officer from the Second Battalion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother Sen,” Yu Dazhang smiled and strode over to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re with me. We’re a team.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment he said “Brother Sen,” Zhang Sen’s heart skipped half a beat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Yu Dazhang approach, he forced a smile worse than crying:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Can’t you pick someone else?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1211,"2026-06-20T14:22:46.062Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","b07133011bd7491c0d1f09256252c9405f63b26f36267c0a1893023b31965165","reborn-in-2014-i-am-the-king-of-criminal-investi-chapter-70","reborn-in-2014-i-am-the-king-of-criminal-investi-chapter-68",763,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Freborn-in-2014-i-am-the-king-of-criminal-investi-cover.jpg"]