Chapter 529: Tick-tock, tick-tock, and the blown-up bridge

The ticking second hand constantly runs in circles; no matter how many laps it runs or how long it runs, it can never run out of this fence.

Day after day, year after year.

No matter when you look up at it, it is moving. If you had to say who the most diligent person in this office is, it must be those large and small second hands.

Although Nate also knows this, knowing that the second hand won't disappear just because he doesn't look at it for a moment, he still can't help but look up again.

Less than five minutes have passed since he last looked up.

What he is actually looking at isn't the second hand; it's the time.

It is already eleven o'clock.

His gaze returned to the police station gate outside the window; he has been standing here for a while now.

This is the benefit of a promotion.

Those lower-level police officers and constables still have to work, while he can allocate his own time as he pleases.

He lit a cigarette and took a puff; there were already quite a few cigarette butts at his feet. Instinctively, he didn't want to smoke, but every little while, he couldn't help but take one out.

The cigarette was finished before he knew it. The physical disgust and aversion made him realize he shouldn't smoke anymore.

He crushed the butt with his toe, ensured it was extinguished, and looked up at the clock again.

The second hand was still ticking away, and only a few minutes had passed. It was as if he had fallen into a cycle; he turned his head again to look at the police station gate, his hand subconsciously reaching for the cigarette case in his pocket.

But this time, he really didn't smoke anymore, because there were none left.

Just as he intended to go somewhere else, three cars drove in from outside. He was stunned for a moment, thinking it was Hunter's car, but immediately realized it wasn't.

Then who was it?

This question didn't last long. After several bodyguards who looked very elite stepped out of the cars, Chali stepped out of one.

He walked into the first-floor lobby with a solemn expression. Nate vaguely felt that something had happened.

He took a deep breath, earnestly recalled whether there were any flaws on his side, and after confirming everything was correct, returned to the office.

About ten minutes later, someone knocked on the door.

"Come in." He sat behind the desk pretending to work, though he was actually letting his mind run wild.

The person outside poked their head in, "Nate, Chali wants you to come over."

Nate nodded, put down the documents in his hand, tidied them up, and placed them on the table. He brushed off his clothes and followed the person toward Hunter's office.

Chali had been the police chief of the New Jincheng Police Department for nearly thirty years; strictly speaking, all the officers here were his old subordinates, and Nate was one too.

They were old colleagues.

Arriving outside Hunter's office, the person who brought him knocked on the door, "Nate is here, Councilor Chali."

"Please come in."

Chali's voice came from inside, the door was pushed open, and Nate entered the office.

"Director." Nate used the old title to address Charlie. Charlie paused for a moment, then smiled and gestured for him to sit down.

"The current chief is Hunter, not me." He paused, "We have all been very busy lately. How is it going? Is work going smoothly?"

Nate nodded repeatedly, "It's okay, not much different from the past."

The small talk ended there. "Do you know where Hunter went?"

Nate shook his head, "I don't know."

Chali kept staring into his eyes because Hunter had mentioned this matter during their previous conversation—Hunter suspected Nate was one of Lansi's people and used this method to tell Chali why he had to go personally.

The police station was full of Lansi's people; he didn't trust the others that much.

No one knew just how terrifying Lansi's infiltration of the police force was, but whether it was Bulu or Du Ke, they had all entered the force after graduating from the police academy.

These guys who came in through the standard process were now almost all mid-level officers in the force. They had "alumni" and "classmate" relationships with each other. In the Federation, these relationships were more solid than those between cousins!

If you beg your brother to help you see if you can get a job at the company he works for, he will tell you not to be a damn dreamer.

But if you ask your classmates or alumni, they will tell you they will try.

Interpersonal relationships in the Federation are complex if you say they are complex, but if you say they are simple, they are actually very simple.

With two "nails" in place, Lansi might be able to infiltrate even deeper; who knows?

Hunter said Nate was Lansi's man, so he could only tentatively believe it.

He didn't see any emotional changes in Nate's eyes that would suggest lying; either he was telling the truth, or his acting was very good.

But regardless of which it was, Chali couldn't be bothered to distinguish anymore.

It had been nearly four hours, and Hunter hadn't sent back any news. He said he would call as soon as possible, but so many hours had passed.

Even if he had gone to Jinxing City or other surrounding cities, he should have arrived long ago. Chali had to think of the worst-case scenario: had he run into trouble, or something else?

It seemed now that he couldn't get any useful clues from Nate. He stated his demand, "I want to see the suspect you are interrogating."

Nate was a bit hesitant, "Hunter said no one can see him until he returns."

Chali tapped the table twice with his hand, "Does that include me?"

His tone was slightly severe. Chali couldn't reach Hunter himself, and Hunter hadn't called as promised, which made him feel that things were not looking good.

If Hunter had really been finished off by Lansi, it would be a huge trouble for the current situation.

Nate brought Chali into the room. When the young man saw a strange old man appear here, he vaguely knew what had happened.

Hunter must be dead.

He tilted his head slightly and looked at the old man with a cocky attitude, saying nothing.

Chali glanced at Nate, signaling him to leave.

Besides Chali, there were his two bodyguards and confidants in the room.

Chali was also an old policeman. Although he had been doing administrative management for the past twenty-plus years, he had indeed worked earnestly during the time before that.

If he didn't have outstanding ability, he wouldn't have been favored by the masters of the Bay Area.

There were too many people in this city willing to curry favor with the masters of the Bay Area, but they wouldn't take just anyone; only those who were capable and smart enough could catch their eye, such as Chali.

"I don't know what Lansi promised you. Maybe he told you that you would have a single room inside, that someone would take care of you, and that going to jail would be like traveling and staying in a hotel."

"But what I want to tell you is that I have many ways to make you disappear inside."

"Now, use your brain and think carefully, then tell me, where did Hunter go!"

"You have the time it takes to smoke a cigarette!"

Chali took out a cigarette, stuffed it into the young man's mouth, and then took out a lighter.

With a 'clack', the flint was shaved off by the rotating wheel, turning into sparks in the air.

Some sparks landed on the kerosene-soaked fuse, and the flame ignited instantly.

Enio closed the lighter and arrived at a phone booth outside the motel.

They were on their way back and expected to return to New Jincheng by tonight. After midnight yesterday, they had rushed out from the capital without staying long and got directly onto the interstate highway.

Both sides of the interstate highway were wilderness; there was no such thing as a phone booth.

It was almost noon when they finally found a motel by the roadside. This place not only had motel services, five-dollar oral sex and ten-dollar full-service, but also food, water, and a phone booth.

The cost of having fun at a motel was higher because it was relatively remote; things are valued for their scarcity.

If you don't care whether the person skilled in oral techniques is male or female, you might be able to get a free technique, but if you do care, you have to pay a higher price than in the city.

The others were eating, and Enio took the opportunity to make a call to explain the situation.

After the phone rang several times, it was answered, and Lansi's voice came through, "What is it?"

"It's me, Enio. I found them."

Enio took a puff of his cigarette and turned to look at the roadside. There was another car by the road; the mother and son were tied up and locked inside, with someone watching them. They didn't bring them to the motel because they didn't want them to call for help loudly and attract unnecessary trouble.

Interstate police are very troublesome; once they target you, it's hard to shake them off.

Enio didn't want to cause trouble, so he preferred to be a little troubled himself rather than cause any big trouble.

"They are with us now. We are probably at... this location. We should be able to return to the city around ten o'clock tonight."

Lansi praised him and their efforts, "Is the road smooth?"

"It's okay. We moved very quickly and didn't make any big noise. No police cars have chased us so far, so it should be safe."

"We keep switching drivers to save some time; perhaps we can arrive in New Jincheng earlier."

Hearing this, Lansi said, "There is no need to be that urgent. Hunter has already gone to see God; they are of no use anymore. Dispose of them."

"Take care of your own safety. When you get back, I'll treat you to barbecue."

Enio was a bit surprised, "He has already gone to see God?"

"When did this happen?"

【In one look/p>】

Lansi glanced at his watch, "Two hours ago."

Enio didn't say any complaining words; instead, he felt pleasantly surprised that Hunter had been dealt with so smoothly, "Did he fall for it?"

"Yes, he fell for it, and then he was blown into several pieces. I hope God can recognize who he is when He sees him!"

"Haha..."

After saying a few more words, Enio hung up the phone. He bit the cigarette filter and walked out of the phone booth.

The weather had warmed up a lot, and the sun shining on people felt warm, though it was a bit dazzling.

This stretch of road was all sunny, good weather, and the light reflected from the wilderness made people have to squint. He returned to the restaurant and sat in his seat.

Lunch was burgers, potato chips, and steak. They were all from poor backgrounds and didn't have any particular requirements; filling their stomachs was the most important thing.

Several people finished their food quickly. Another person asked for three portions to go, but Enio stopped him, "One is enough."

The others looked at him and didn't say anything more.

Food was expensive, almost twice as expensive as in the city, but you shouldn't complain about the price; this is a motel restaurant, slaughtering whoever they can.

Of course, it might also have something to do with them driving small cars; if they were driving big trucks, the price would be much cheaper.

After paying, Enio bit a toothpick and brought the people back to the car. The car started again and stopped after moving forward for about four or five kilometers.

Enio pushed open the car door and walked to the roadside. He took out a cigarette and lit one.

He stood by the front of the car for a while before turning back to look at the mother and son in the car, reaching out to press down on his hat.

The suddenly ringing gunshot made the two deer resting under the tree shade jump up and run away. Some small animals also instantly hid themselves in places that were not easy to find, and it wasn't until a while later that they poked their heads out again.

They actually didn't know what that sound was, but they had an instinctive fear of this kind of sound, hidden in their bones.

Fear is an instinct, but there was no fear in the young man's eyes. He tilted his head, spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, and looked at Chali with a ruthless expression, the muscles on his cheekbones jumping.

This unruly look made Chali very displeased. He tilted his head slightly, and the bodyguard who had already rolled up his sleeves took a stance and punched the young man hard in the lower abdomen.

His body, restricted to the chair, contracted sharply in an instant, curling up like a shrimp scalded red by boiling water, his mouth emitting painful groans.

"You are just a small character."

"Tell me, where is Hunter?"

The young man continued to look at him with unfriendly eyes. He walked to the young man's side, took out a fountain pen, unscrewed the cap, and then stabbed it into his thigh.

Just stabbing it in wasn't enough; he also used his finger to insert it along the wound and dug hard, "Where... is he?"

Hearing the screams in the room, Nate felt a wave of discomfort. It wasn't because he sympathized with the young man that much; he couldn't do that yet.

He was just worried, worried about whether he would also encounter such torture one day.

If he encountered such torture, would he be able to hold on like the young man inside?

He didn't know.

He picked up the phone and dialed Lansi's number, "Chali is here, interrogating those young people. The methods are a bit brutal."

After saying this, he hung up without waiting for a response, his heart pounding.

Actually, he was also worried about one thing: what if that young man couldn't hold on and confessed about him?

Although he had already betrayed himself once.

A few minutes later, someone knocked on the police chief's office door, and the screams inside also suddenly eased a bit because of the knocking.

"What is it?"

A bodyguard walked out from inside. His light blue shirt was splattered with quite a bit of blood, which made the police officer at the door twitch his eyes.

Many people actually didn't know how vicious Chali was and thought he was a good chief.

He was always smiling, easy to talk to, and even if he encountered an officer who made a mistake, he would pretend not to see it and would remind them not to make the same mistake next time.

Only a few people knew that the hunting dog had sharp teeth and bite force; they not only wagged their tails but also tore at their prey!

"There is... a police report call, saying a possible shootout scene was discovered, and there are our officers..."

Chali used a tissue to wipe the blood off the fountain pen, screwed the cap back on, and put it in his pocket, "Go check it out and see what's over there."

He squinted at the weak young man again, a cold sneer appearing at the corner of his mouth.

He was now the same as Hunter, believing that there must be Lansi's people in the police station.

He had only been using torture for a short while, and the clue had delivered itself to his door.

These people who eat inside and out would sooner or later be found by him and cleaned up!

The police cars with sirens wailing quickly drove out of the parking lot. Chali already had a bad premonition, but he still held onto a one-in-ten-thousand hope.

And these hopes were shattered thirty minutes later.

More police cars arrived at the abandoned old station, along with two forensic doctors—

The reason there were two forensic doctors was that the officers who arrived at the scene requested them; there were body parts everywhere, and they not only needed to search but also to piece them together. This wasn't a job one person could complete.

Chali also arrived at the scene, but he sat in the car and didn't get out.

The car he was riding in was bulletproof, a gift from the masters of the Bay Area, just to protect his safety.

As a Bay Area hunting dog, he was also valuable to the masters.

The bodies of several police officers had already been placed in body bags, lined up neatly.

And Hunter?

Several police officers and forensic doctors were holding bags and using tweezers to check the surrounding bushes, occasionally picking up a piece and stuffing it in.

When Chali saw this scene, although he was mentally prepared, he couldn't help but punch the back of the passenger seat.

"Fuck!"

He cursed. He had warned Hunter not to leave the police station.

The courage of that young man Lansi was much greater than that of the local gangs; he was definitely going to assassinate Hunter.

But Hunter... Chali actually felt a little bit of self-blame because Hunter was under too much pressure, so when he found an opportunity to solve the current predicament, he would attack without hesitation!

Chali was also reflecting that he hadn't been able to help Hunter reduce the pressure, which led to these things happening.

He also had some responsibility.

But what now?

Hunter was dead, and he wasn't the chief now. Although the police station was full of his old subordinates, did these old subordinates really listen to him?

Thinking of Nate's appearance, would more people actually have defected to Lansi?

Having lost Hunter as a bridge, could he still command the police station?

He didn't know, and he wasn't qualified to command the police station's work now; he wasn't the police chief.

The most urgent task now was to quickly push for a new chief to replace Hunter and continue to firmly grasp the personnel power of the police station!

For a time, choosing a candidate became a trouble. Others might not be as easy to use as Hunter, and in a short time, he couldn't even find any suitable candidates!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 530 =====