Chapter 28

Chapter 28 The Gears of Fate

At 7 PM, in the office area of Team One, five group leaders including Qin Yu were sitting in their chairs chatting and laughing.

After about ten minutes or so, Yuan Ke strode in from outside, and everyone stood up.

“Sit, sit down.” Yuan Ke poured himself a glass of water and said with a helpless expression, “The propaganda team is having a meeting in the main conference room and they’ve squeezed us out, so fine, let’s go over the arrest details right here. Su Ang, give us a rundown of the situation.”

Su Ang was the leader of Team One’s fourth group. His ancestral hometown was in Myanmar, his skin was dark, and he was slightly short in stature, but he looked extremely capable and was built with muscle all over. “Claude went back and forth with the middleman three times before the other side admitted that the person being moved was A-Long. Both parties have agreed on a price. Claude is charging fifteen thousand as a transport fee and guarantees he’ll get A-Long to the pending development zone.”

Yuan Ke took a sip of water. “Old Ma still hasn’t shown his face, and someone else is negotiating directly with Claude, is that right?”

“That old fox is sharper than a monkey. He knows full well that every law enforcement unit in Songjiang is after A-Long. Without absolute certainty, he won’t show his face.” Su Ang said with a smile, “The way I see it, he also knows Claude’s side isn’t all that reliable, but there’s no other option now. If A-Long doesn’t leave, it’s only a matter of time before he gets caught. To protect his supply channel, Old Ma has no choice but to take the risk.”

“Tomorrow night, right?” Yuan Ke deliberated for a moment, then frowned and asked, “Do you have a detailed arrest plan?”

“My suggestion is to wait until A-Long has left the special zone before we move in. That way they’ll be less on guard, and there won’t be any civilians around, so we’ll have fewer things to worry about during the arrest.” Su Ang replied quietly.

Everyone fell silent, thinking over whether the plan was feasible.

“Chief Yuan, can I say a few words?” Qin Yu suddenly looked up.

Yuan Ke smiled. “No outsiders here, speak your mind if you have a good idea.”

“Brother Su Ang, I’m addressing the matter, not the person. I’m purely offering a suggestion for the sake of a smooth arrest.” Qin Yu turned around and explained to Su Ang with a smile.

“No worries. This case is one you’ve been watching from the start. We’re all here to help. You’re still the one at the center of it.” Su Ang knew Yuan Ke intended to back Qin Yu, so he was equally gracious.

Qin Yu nodded and spoke clearly and methodically to everyone. “I don’t recommend waiting until A-Long has left the special zone before we move. There are two important reasons. First, I came from the pending development zone myself and know the specific conditions out there.

Beyond the special zone there are large areas of nuclear radiation zones, endless stretches of sandy terrain, and other complex geography. We’ve already seen how brutal A-Long and his crew are back on the Third Ring Road. On top of that, these people snuck in from outside the border, which means they know the external environment better than our domestic officers do.

So making the arrest out there involves too many uncontrollable factors. For instance, whether they’ve arranged people outside the border to pick them up, what kind of weapons they have. We have no idea. Furthermore, if the arrest goes wrong and someone slips through, they’ll be completely free as birds. We have absolutely no capacity to conduct operations in the pending development zone. Second, I heard from Su Ang that the connection Claude found is with the garrison troops, and those guys don’t have the best relationship with our law enforcement side.

We can’t tip them off in advance that it’s a sting operation, because if word leaks from the garrison end, all our work will be for nothing. But if you don’t notify them and just move in suddenly, you risk triggering a military-police confrontation.”

After listening to Qin Yu’s account, Yuan Ke was quiet for a moment before responding. “Not a single flaw in that. Very thorough thinking. So what’s your plan?”

Qin Yu replied, “My plan is this.”

After the meeting went on for about twenty minutes, Yuan Ke stood up and made the call. “We go with Qin Yu’s arrest plan.”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

“…!”

Everyone stood up and saluted. Yuan Ke said a few words to the group, then patted Qin Yu on the shoulder and said, “You’re responsible for bringing the people back. I’m responsible for making you fly up through the ranks.”

“Heh, deal!” Qin Yu nodded with a smile.

……

The next day, 9:30 PM.

Qin Yu took the equipment requisition slip he needed for the operation and went straight to the logistics department at the back of the compound. But to his surprise, the moment he walked in, he saw Qi Lin.

“You’re on the night shift?” Qin Yu asked with a smile.

Qi Lin jumped up from his chair and said in a fairly relaxed tone, “Damn, I don’t know what’s going on, but ever since I got married, my luck has turned around. This past week or so I’ve been put on the extra overtime roster by the higher-ups. I’ve been staying here overnight.”

“Come on, you’re a newlywed and instead of going home to tend the fields, you’re stuck here. What’s good about that?” Qin Yu teased.

“The fields can be tended anytime, but earning opportunities are limited.” Qi Lin grinned back. “Isn’t it because I want to put in more shifts, make some money fast, and pay back what I owe you and Flower Cat?”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m not in a rush.”

“Business is business. Owing money makes me uncomfortable too, not to mention there’s one more mouth at home now and expenses have gone up.” Qi Lin sighed with a hint of fatigue, then changed the subject. “What are you doing at logistics?”

“Got a mission. Came to requisition equipment.”

“What kind of mission?” Qi Lin asked casually.

“Qin group leader, hurry up, they’re calling roll over there.” Just then, Zhu Wei ran in and called out.

“Got it, quick, hand me the slip, let me take a look!” Qi Lin called out.

“You go get it, I’ll read it out.” Qin Yu took out the slip and read aloud, “One set of steel plate blast-proof suit, three sets of window-breaking batons, tactical…”

Qi Lin walked over to the warehouse shelves, listening to Qin Yu and pulling down the equipment one by one, while Zhu Wei called in two more people to quickly carry everything out.

Five minutes later, Qin Yu said with a smile, “Once I’m done, I’ll come find you for a late-night snack.”

“Sounds good.” Qi Lin nodded.

With that, Qin Yu walked briskly out of the logistics warehouse. After watching him leave, Qi Lin’s face turned a little pale, his heart pounding hard.

What kind of arrest operation requires a steel plate blast-proof suit? Qin Yu hadn’t been involved in any other cases recently, so this operation was most likely still about catching drug dealers.

Qi Lin felt uneasy. After deliberating for a long while, he immediately picked up his phone, stepped out of the audio and video recording area, and dialed a familiar colleague’s number.

“Hello? Old Zhang, what are you up to? Nothing going on? Come hang out at logistics.” Qi Lin asked with a smile.

“Got a mission.”

“It’s this late and there’s still a mission? What kind of job? They even called in you on your day off?” Qi Lin asked casually.

“Assisting the garrison to catch arms dealers.”

“Oh!” Hearing that, Qi Lin instantly let out a breath of relief. “What time do you think you’ll be done? Come over and we’ll watch some live streams together.”

“No idea. I’ll find you when I get back.”

“Sounds good!”

With that, the two ended the call. Qi Lin stood behind the office desk and muttered quietly, “It’s been half a month already. He should have gotten out by now.”

……

The assembly point in the compound.

After Yuan Ke had Qin Yu collect everyone’s phones, he clasped his hands behind his back and called out, “Let me go over the mission again. This time we are not assisting the garrison troops. We are arresting drug dealers. To ensure the operation remains strictly confidential, everyone must not only hand over their communication devices, but the walkie-talkies we use later will also be issued uniformly. Everyone must communicate on the pre-adjusted frequency. If I find anyone switching frequencies midway, they will be treated as dereliction of duty.”

After a two-minute briefing, the forty-plus personnel collected their equipment and quickly left the police compound under the lead of their respective group leaders.

……

Half an hour later, Songnán District, an intersection on New Era Avenue.

A-Long led four of his men, wrapped in shearling coats, glanced around, then bent down and got into the passenger seat of a hybrid pickup truck, while the others squeezed into the back seats.

“Didn’t you say we’d be going through the garrison’s route? How come it’s just you?” A-Long asked.

“Who do you think you are, the mayor?” The driver rolled his eyes. “You think the garrison is really going to come pick you up here?”

A-Long picked at his nose. “Heh, buddy, did you swallow gunpowder or something? What, we didn’t pay you enough?”

“Damn it, my wife’s about to give birth and I have to work overtime to drive you guys. You couldn’t pick any other day, had to be today.” The driver cursed and pulled away from the curb.

A-Long glanced at him, then lowered his head and pulled out half a black bread loaf wrapped in a bag from inside his coat. He said nothing more and just quietly chewed away.

In the back seat, Xia Pazi had his right hand in his pocket, gripping a military hand grenade tightly, thumb hooked through the safety ring, ready to pull it free and set it off at any moment.

The car drove for about fifteen minutes, crossing nearly a kilometer and a half of frozen river surface, and arrived at the edge of Songnán District. The area was already sparsely populated. There were no pedestrians on the road at all, only various small shops still faintly lit.

“How much longer before we get through the city wall?” A-Long asked.

“Almost there.” The driver floored the accelerator, and the car rode over a dirt mound by the riverbank, shaking violently.

“What’s going on?” A-Long frowned.

The driver immediately pulled the handbrake. “Looks like the front left tire is flat.”

“What the hell are you playing at?” A-Long said coldly. “Doing this kind of job and you didn’t check everything before coming?”

The driver had a sharp temper too. He turned and snapped at A-Long, “What do you know? It’s minus forty-something degrees out here tonight. Car parts are practically frozen solid. How am I supposed to check? With a flamethrower?”

A-Long knew how brutal the weather was out here, so he swallowed his frustration and said, “Get out and take a look. See if the tire’s punctured or what.”

The driver got out with a sour look, crouched down and scanned the front left tire for a few seconds, then got back in. “The tire’s been frozen too long and I was driving too fast. Thermal expansion and contraction. The tire’s cracked a bit.”

“So what do we do?” Xia Pazi frowned and demanded.

“It’s fine. There’s a truck repair shop up ahead. I’ll have them heat it up and patch it.” The driver glanced at his watch. “There’s still time. It won’t cause a delay.”

A-Long looked around, a vague sense of unease rising in his chest. But he couldn’t afford to stall, so he let the driver carry on and turned back to Xia Pazi. “Keep what’s in your pocket secure. Don’t lose it.”

“Got it on me.” Xia Pazi nodded.

The car got onto the road along the riverbank and, with the front left tire underinflated, drove another two kilometers or so before stopping in front of a dimly lit repair shop.

……

On both sides of the road.

Zhu Wei held his walkie-talkie and called out in a low voice, “All units, the target has been circled!”

Inside a snow mound directly across from the repair shop, Qin Yu, wearing a steel plate blast-proof suit weighing dozens of kilograms, called out quietly, “When they get out of the car, we move. I’m taking number one.”

Before the words had even fully left his mouth, A-Long pushed open the car door and jumped out of the passenger seat, turning to scan the surroundings.

“Whoosh!”

Qin Yu burst out explosively and shouted, “Lights out!”

“Snap!”

The repair shop went dark in an instant.

A-Long spun around. “Damn it, the driver’s in on it…”

Before he could finish, A-Long saw Qin Yu, bundled up like a bear, charging straight at him like he had no regard for his own life.

“Clatter!”

The grenade safety ring dropped. Xia Pazi’s eyes went wide as he roared, “Screw you all, grab your weapons, we’re fighting our way out!”