Chapter 130

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Chapter 130: Catching the Tail

But Shi Jin couldn’t reveal her true feelings. As she gazed at the safes that had been pried open at least seven or eight times, she silently assessed them:

The Type II safes, produced twelve years ago, had sacrificed some protective capabilities for easier mobility; their mechanisms weren’t as refined as those of the Type I.

In short, they were defeated opponents.

With her exceptional acting skills, Shi Jin managed to stretch a task that should have taken three minutes into a thirty-minute ordeal. During that time, she even broke several tools and employed some forceful lock-picking techniques.

Finally, as the onlookers were practically dripping with sweat, Shi Jin successfully opened the safe.

Of course, there wouldn’t be a next time.

Under her skilled hands, the safe was now completely ruined.

Her performance aligned with the expectations of the young peace officers; after all, she was merely an ordinary Mechanical Maintenance worker, not a professional lockpicker. Making some noise was entirely expected.

With the evidence now undeniable, the once-arrogant production line manager hung his half-bald head low.

Shi Jin didn’t fully grasp what had transpired, but she sensed that she might soon have a new boss.

This kind of situation was like drawing a card; when a terrible boss was transferred away, no one knew what kind of person would replace them.

The sudden farce came to an abrupt end, and the oddly dressed peace officers escorted the silent, half-bald manager away from the production line.

Shi Jin returned to her work station and resumed her role as a corporate drone.

Outside the factory, two young men flanked the silent, half-bald manager.

"Today’s mission went smoothly. I wonder how things are going with the Captain."

"I doubt there’s been much progress. The appearances of ‘Master Hand’ are too unpredictable, and we’ve arrested so many people in the factories lately. Hardly any of them have clean records…"

"True. Let’s get this guy inside first, then we should hurry to meet the Captain. I was hoping to learn a few more tricks…"

—

"What was the exact time of the transaction?"

"Last night, last night…"

"What was the exact time?!"

"I don’t know! Maybe around midnight. I remember the moon was very bright then."

"Forget it. Step outside for a moment. I need to speak with him alone."

Zhuang Mian interrupted the rather forceful officer and took over the ongoing interrogation.

Though it was called an interrogation, it was actually based on a report they had received that morning.

This matter originally didn’t fall under the jurisdiction of the Internal Affairs Clean-up Team, but after a brief investigation by the security bureau officers, it seemed to have some connection to "Master Hand."

The informant was a small business owner who operated a factory direct sales store in the outer city, but he also had a more clandestine identity as a black market merchant.

According to his account, a woman had attempted to sell him a small piece of gold the previous night. He lacked the ability to identify precious metals but knew that such a transaction was highly illegal, even in the black market, where few would dare to engage in it.

So the small business owner decided to offer a price and accept the gold, then waited early the next morning at the entrance of a security bureau in the inner city, shouting to report the incident.

After a quick analysis, the small piece of gold was found to be counterfeit, shifting the case from precious metal trading to counterfeiting. The importance of the case diminished instantly.

But soon, the peace officers realized that something was amiss.

That piece of "gold" appeared more like it had been cut from a larger, complete block rather than being melted down.

This suggested that there was still a significant amount of untouched "gold," likely already in some stage of production and processing.

After they reported this, the case quickly merged with another incident.

The list of items stolen from the factory office director’s home included numerous pieces of gold jewelry.

Surprisingly, the office director himself admitted that all those items were fake, purchased many years ago from a black market merchant.

Upon closer inspection, the factory office director recognized the piece of fake gold by the faint patterns visible on it as one of his lost items.

Thus, the case’s importance escalated, becoming a crucial piece of evidence directly linked to "Master Hand."

The small business owner who came forward with the report was also taken to the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Interrogation Room along with the fake gold.

Consequently, Zhuang Mian found this sudden interrogation quite absurd.

Two seemingly unrelated cases had inexplicably intertwined.

Now, her task was to extract the client’s appearance from a black market merchant.

After all, it was a black market; if everyone conducted transactions openly, what would be "black" about it?

Realizing her subordinates wouldn’t gather any useful information, Zhuang Mian sent them out to guard the Interrogation Room door.

Only she and the small business owner who had come to confess remained in the room.

The middle-aged businessman looked at the woman before him, her face so cold it seemed it could freeze, and he dared not show any hint of carelessness.

He roughly knew where he was and had heard some rumors about the hanging sword.

At this point, he no longer hoped for the expected reward; he just wished to leave here alive.

Zhuang Mian stood up and walked behind the man, calmly saying:

“Relax, this will be beneficial for both of us.”

Before the man could react, a brief but intense pain, along with the dizziness of a dream, enveloped his senses.

Since she first applied her ability to access dreams in interrogation-related matters, Zhuang Mian had grown fond of this sensation.

This ability to observe everything that had happened to the dream’s owner in immersive detail was what every professional in this field dreamed of possessing.

At that moment, she stood in a corner of a black market stall, watching in third person as the middle-aged businessman sat on a low stool negotiating with a masked seller.

This allowed her to easily discern the seller’s gender, approximate height, and physical appearance.

Female, chestnut hair, about one meter seventy tall, walking with a steady stride, likely with some fitness or engaged in physical work.

The dream version of Zhuang Mian made her assessment.

Even with the light of the moon and a dim lamp, she couldn’t glean specific information about her target from a single dream.

Once she was sure there were no oversights, Zhuang Mian exited the dream.

The small business owner happily received the reward for his report and was escorted away from the Ministry of Internal Affairs wearing a blindfold.

Zhuang Mian quickly organized the information she had just gathered.

Within two minutes, the internal phone in front of Zhuang Mian suddenly rang.

“Hello, this is Clean-up Team Zhuang Mian.”

“Hello, Captain Zhuang, a gentleman wishes to see you.”

“Does he have identification?”

There was a pause on the other end, and a somewhat nervous voice replied:

“Yes… there’s a warrant personally signed by a member of parliament.”