[{"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-72":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},2315928,4529,"Chapter 72: Are You Questioning the Branch Unit Detectives","reborn-in-2014-i-am-the-king-of-criminal-investi-chapter-72",72,"\u003Cp>Steal?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing he was supposed to steal, Zhang Sen instinctively shrank back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s not about courage or not—it’s that I’ve never done anything like this before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If we were to ask for it openly, I’d have no psychological burden.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But stealing? No way. Guilt makes you fearful—it’s not just words, it’s real terror.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He glared at Yu Dazhang:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why don’t you go?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Come on, look at my build.” Yu Dazhang stood up and pointed to his belly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“With a body like mine, bending over is a struggle. Asking me to do stealth missions? That’s just torturing me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He actually had some self-awareness… Zhang Sen glanced at his large belly—indeed, it was unsuitable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Stealth” was a better word—much more elegant than “steal.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Zhang Sen still hesitating, Yu Dazhang quickly added:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Later tonight, quietly slip in and borrow the notebook. Return it after we’ve finished reading.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the meaning was identical, the phrasing, artfully refined, sounded far more comfortable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Comrade Zhang Sen nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you’d said it that way from the start, I wouldn’t have argued with you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then let’s rest for now.” Zhang Sen conceded, lying down on the other bed and closing his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ten p.m.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two noticed the lights along the corridor of Nongjia Academy had been turned off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Sen sat up, whispering:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s only ten o’clock—why turn off the lights so early?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Look where we are,” Yu Dazhang replied, not rising, only turning his head slightly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In remote villages like this, there’s little entertainment at night. Most locals turn off their lights and sleep by eight.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Sen thought his words exaggerated and couldn’t help retorting:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How can they sleep? Nowadays, young people all lie in bed scrolling on their phones.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In 2014, short videos had just emerged, mobile games were at their peak, and WeChat achieved true nationwide adoption this year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Apps of every kind flooded the market.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was also this year that the “phone-slave” demographic surged dramatically.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The following year, urban phone-slaves became a high-risk group for spinal injuries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Sen raised this question because online fraud also began rising sharply this year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Same thing—I told you, look where we are,” Yu Dazhang lay on his side, half-open eyes, half-asleep:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How many young people still live in the countryside? It’s 2014—this isn’t an agrarian society anymore.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Sen nodded at this:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No wonder when we first entered the village, we saw many children playing but no parents—turns out they’re left-behind children.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After chatting a while, the two fell into silent mutual understanding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another hour passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s about time,” Yu Dazhang sat up on the bed, whispering:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s past eleven—the guard at the gate must be asleep. Go.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright.” Zhang Sen replied, slipped off the bed quietly, and walked to the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pulled the door—it wouldn’t open.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only then did he notice his hand on the doorknob was trembling slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His legs felt weak too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He bit his lip, took several deep breaths, then twisted the doorknob with force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching him leave, Yu Dazhang silently prayed inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Brother Sen, may you stay safe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He made Zhang Sen do this out of desperation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two seasoned veteran detectives had both been taken down—someone must have discovered their true identities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, for safety, every investigative action had to be based on one premise: do not expose your real identity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>About five minutes passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The door opened from outside. Zhang Sen entered carefully, holding a notebook, and quietly shut the door behind him. “Why are you sweating all over your head?” Yu Dazhang whispered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of course you’d sweat—try it yourself,” Zhang Sen placed the notebook on the room’s table and sat down on a chair:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Petty theft isn’t human work.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’ll get used to it,” Yu Dazhang replied offhandedly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What kind of thing is that?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Sen glared at him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, Yu Dazhang’s full attention was on the notebook.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He took out the case files from his bag, spread them on the table, and located the identity information of the two missing officers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After memorizing the last six digits of their ID numbers, he began checking them off one by one in the notebook.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No match on the last page—flip backward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two pages, three pages…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the fourth page backward, he finally found the registration records of the two officers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Please... collect... 6... 9... books...!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Quite detailed,” Yu Dazhang murmured, then pointed it out to Zhang Sen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their registration entries were side by side; the top of the page was marked with a date.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Four days ago!” Zhang Sen quickly spotted the anomaly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Today is the third day since they went missing—so they vanished the second day after checking into this guesthouse.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So they spent over a week just to get here?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Zhang Sen’s view, the timeline was too long.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, he and Yu Dazhang had arrived here in just two hours.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Are you questioning the investigative ability of the branch unit’s detectives? Yu Dazhang glanced at him, eyes filled with displeasure:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That trafficking case is sixteen years old—finding any new lead is already hard enough.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We got here this fast only because we followed their exact route.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If we started from scratch, we might not even find a single new lead.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the second time Yu Dazhang noticed Zhang Sen growing impatient.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was as if he were worried about something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if they never found the man or the gun, the blame wouldn’t fall on Zhang Sen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Dazhang simply couldn’t understand his mindset.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was it eagerness for merit?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It couldn’t be ruled out… Yu Dazhang didn’t agree, but he understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Human nature, after all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let’s go.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stood up, glanced at Zhang Sen, who seemed about to speak but held back, then returned the documents to his bag.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Go?” Zhang Sen asked, puzzled:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s this late—where to?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The next stop? I never planned to stay overnight here,” Yu Dazhang said, picking up the notebook:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He tore off the page containing his and Zhang Sen’s registration info, crumpled it into a ball, and shoved it into his pocket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he carefully picked out every shred of paper until not a trace remained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After finishing, Yu Dazhang handed the notebook back to Zhang Sen:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When we leave, put it back exactly where you took it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright.” Zhang Sen accepted the notebook.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They double-checked the room, confirmed nothing was left behind, then quietly left the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Passing the front desk, Zhang Sen opened the notebook to the page with the registration info and gently placed it on the counter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He glanced at the owner sleeping behind the counter, confirmed he wouldn’t wake, and the two slipped silently out of Nongjia Academy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back in the car, Zhang Sen exhaled deeply and asked:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Still heading southeast?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes.” Yu Dazhang pulled out his phone and opened the digital map:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Drive another half hour, then find a place to park—we’ll rest in the car for the rest of the night.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1159,"2026-06-20T14:22:46.062Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","6643fe39950a5f97ac6a4a0cb155d17b15b37a75edeac25bb4f41a809222829b","reborn-in-2014-i-am-the-king-of-criminal-investi-chapter-73","reborn-in-2014-i-am-the-king-of-criminal-investi-chapter-71",763,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Freborn-in-2014-i-am-the-king-of-criminal-investi-cover.jpg"]