Chapter 89

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Chapter 89: The Disappearing Target

Even so, Wen Zhengcheng forced himself to remain composed.

With a final glimmer of hope, his attitude became even bolder than before:

“Clean-up Team! You are breaking into private homes! Do you have any sense of reason?

“Are you really the Clean-up Team or just a gang from the outer city?!”

Having just started her new job, Zhuang Mian had already experienced the capture process of the Clean-up Team a few times; those people were either panicked or stubbornly resistant, but this was the first time she had seen someone like Wen Zhengcheng, who became more arrogant the more he was afraid.

Zhuang Mian put away her identification and ignored him, instead, she curiously looked at the woman trembling on the other side of the bed.

“More than those matters, I’d like to know, are you two legally married?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

The different answers came out simultaneously from the woman and the man.

The two involuntarily turned their heads to look at each other.

The man awkwardly averted his gaze.

The atmosphere fell into a strange silence.

In the next moment, seemingly realizing something, the woman disregarded the blanket slipping off her and swung a punch at the man’s face.

“You bastard!”

Just as she was about to unleash another round of martial arts, the targeted man had already been pinned to the side of the bed by two sturdy members of the Clean-up Team.

Zhuang Mian glanced at the disheveled woman and waved her hand:

“Take them both.”

Based on their recent behavior, it was highly likely that this person was innocent.

But Zhuang Mian was very alert and would never give up necessary investigations just because there was a high probability of innocence.

The operation proceeded exceptionally smoothly, and soon the managers of the remaining two production lines were also found.

Unlike the blustering and cowardly Wen Zhengcheng, the two remaining men appeared much more compliant; although their eyes occasionally flickered, they were generally cooperative with the investigation.

As for Wen Zhengcheng’s wife, no, his mistress, while a bit fiery-tempered, quickly admitted her faults in front of the professionals.

Unfortunately, she was quite uninformed about certain matters, and Zhuang Mian left in disappointment after asking a few simple questions.

Soon, Zhuang Mian’s team split into three groups and, using their badges, summoned nearby members of the Public Security Team to assist with their work.

The three production lines were quickly sealed with tape, and the workers who arrived early were persuaded by the peace officers to return home.

The records for the twenty-fourth and thirty-fifth production lines were very clear; every batch of nutritional paste produced had a definite destination.

Under simple intimidation, the two managers, though evasive, admitted to pocketing a small portion of the kickbacks.

As for the most suspicious manager of the thirty-third production line, Wen Zhengcheng, there were clear issues with the accounts under his supervision, and a safe was found in the partition of his office; however, this man was quite tight-lipped and had not said anything useful.

His gaze remained sharp, as if he sensed the urgency on the part of the investigators, trying to hold out for a few hours to thwart their plans.

He had an expression of indifference, as if to say that he didn’t care if disaster struck after his downfall.

This strike was almost a life-or-death blow; although it could be considered the waning strength of a powerful force, it was still not an easy matter for the current Public Security Team.

With time running short and tasks piling up, Zhuang Mian decided to stop hiding the situation.

She ordered all her teammates to leave the office and locked eyes with Wen Zhengcheng, who was handcuffed to the boss’s chair.

The two sat in silence for a moment, and then Zhuang Mian punched him hard in the side.

“Like to play tough, huh?”

The excruciating pain from the blow made Wen Zhengcheng’s face flush instantly, and he struggled to breathe.

“It’s not over yet!”

Zhuang Mian followed up with another strike, completely sending him into sleep mode.

Chaotic Dream is created!

Zhuang Mian closed her eyes and entered his dream.

In the dream, Wen Zhengcheng was crouched down examining his black cash stash, but his right hand was absentmindedly rubbing his abdomen, as if he were experiencing some vague discomfort.

Looking out the office window at the dull grayness, Zhuang Mian confirmed that this was indeed Wen Zhengcheng’s personal dream space.

After several experiments, Zhuang Mian had determined that the boundary of a normal person’s dream typically formed a sphere with a radius of about ten meters centered on the person; the closer one got to the edge, the blurrier the details became.

Anything beyond this range was like an unformed map, vanished from sight.

The hallmark of the Chaotic Dream was that the dreamer was unaware that they were dreaming, leaving only fuzzy memories upon waking.

So, without further disguise, Zhuang Mian began the Great Memory Restoration Technique in the dream world, where the flow of time was slightly slower than in the real world.

Two hours later, Zhuang Mian was satisfied, having obtained all the information she wanted.

However, in the real world, less than ten minutes had passed.

She voluntarily exited the dream and called her teammates back into the office.

Zhuang Mian pointed toward a window and commanded:

“Break open the windowsill; the real ledger is inside.”

Her two teammates, unsure of what magic their captain had displayed but feeling it was best to comply, headed for the fire equipment cabinet in the corridor.

At that moment, the groggy Wen Zhengcheng heard this and looked at Zhuang Mian behind the desk with a ghostly expression:

“How do you know?”

Her tone was cold and serious:

“Because I can read minds. Prepare to die, trash.”

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

With the strong swings of two fire axes, the actual production and sales records quickly came into Zhuang Mian’s hands.

She flipped through the thick handwritten ledger and glanced at the completely resigned Wen Zhengcheng:

“Overreporting losses, forcing workers to work overtime to hit 110% of the monthly quota, and then distributing the excess through gangs in the outer city. Impressive work!”

Zhuang Mian gritted her teeth; tracking the normal sales channels would be manageable, but once it involved those unemployed individuals, it became much more complicated.

After all, those people theoretically did not exist in the household registration of Hope City.

Zhuang Mian quickly flipped to the last page of the ledger and looked at the recorded progress of the last shipment, slightly frowning:

“Why hasn’t the shipment that was supposed to go out two days ago been sent? Didn’t you update your accounts on time?”

Having been turned into a swollen mess, Wen Zhengcheng shook his head frantically:

“No, no, it really hasn’t been sent out!

“I don’t know what’s going on; the gang that was supposed to hand off to me has suddenly gone quiet. They were fine just four days ago…”

“Hmm?”

Zhuang Mian was confident that the man in front of her was too frightened to lie, meaning that what he said was likely the truth.

Since the Public Security Team oversaw matters concerning the middle and upper levels of the inner city and outer city, Zhuang Mian had recently lacked information.

So, what had happened in the outer city recently?

How could things have changed so drastically in less than a month since her departure?

The team leader checked the time on her communicator, planning to consult an old acquaintance.