Episode 2

A young voice spoke up, causing Wu Qingchen to turn his head. Standing in the direction of the stairs was a young police officer. The young officer nodded at Wu Qingchen and took out a badge and a page of documents from his pocket. He offered them to the four people who had been staring at Wu Qingchen with suspicion before but were now scrutinizing him. "Don't look at me like that...I'm just like you. I received an order and came here confused. Here you go..." The four remained vigilant as the elder military officer took the documents and carefully examined the few lines of writing for almost half a minute before passing them to the white-haired police officer. During the inspection, the young police officer who had just arrived removed his hat, revealing a head full of sweat. His act of fanning himself displayed his exhaustion. "Mr. Wu, I know you must have many questions, but let me start first...Let's begin with an introduction. Since it's our first meeting, we should shake hands or something...but from now on, any unnecessary physical contact with you is very sensitive. You see, let's think positively...at least we've saved ourselves a misunderstanding..." The word "sensitive" sounded quite harsh, leaving Wu Qingchen feeling heavy. "Am I being arrested?" He asked. "Arrested? Hey...why would you think that? Have they issued an arrest warrant for you?" Without waiting for Wu Qingchen's response, the young officer waved his hand and turned back to the white-haired police officer, taking the badge and documents back. "So, is everything fine? If so, can I start my mission now?"

"Without my permission, you didn't carry out the mission just now?" The graying-haired police officer did not hide his discontentment, "Officer Ji, I have heard of you before, as have many others. I don't know why they sent you here. But since you're here, let me give you some advice: be more careful! This is not like shouting from outside a house; if anything goes wrong, it's not just one or two hostages you don't know who will die."

"Hey, Director Zhang, you talk as if I'm not being careful without a straight face," Ji Mingming said, looking nonchalant as he stuffed his ID and files back into his pocket, ignoring the older officer's increasingly unpleasant expression. He continued talking to Wu Qingchen, "Alright, we can chat later. We're short on time... let's hit the road."

Hit the road?

When Ji Mingming gestured towards the stairs, Wu Qingchen hesitated, "My keys are still on the nightstand." Money, phone, and even the unopened preserved meat – the thought of these things made Wu Qingchen's heart a little sour.

"Keys?" Ji Mingming let out a big laugh, pointing at the four serious-looking figures, "Don't even think about the keys! In fact, don't even think about these four walking through that door now."

As if to illustrate Ji Mingming's words, Director Zhang, the graying-haired officer, glared at him again and walked to the window in the hallway, waving outside. After a few hurried footsteps, four police officers and four soldiers appeared in the narrow hallway.

"Stay here." Director Zhang raised his hand and drew an imaginary line along Wu Qingchen's door. "Right here. Unless there is dual permission from me and your director, no one, including yourselves, can take a step inside this room. As for those who won't listen... "

At this point, Director Zhang looked toward the senior military official, who slowly nodded and added, "We can take any necessary measures!"

"Yes!" "We promise to complete the task!"

"Promise? How can you promise to complete the task?" The senior military official's voice was stern. "Are you all just going to stand here waiting for reinforcements? Even if you have to use your own bodies, you must pile up this door until they arrive!"

The next moment, Wu Qingchen, who didn't even know who pulled him, came back to his senses and found himself outside of the door. His room had already been sealed off, two layers deep, by the four police officers and four military personnel who arrived later. Not even a glance could penetrate the blockade.

"Do you see?" Ji Mingming spread his hands. "There's nothing to worry about. Your things won't be able to escape."

Wu Qingchen's complexion became even more grim, and he followed Ji Mingming and Director Zhang down the corridor. The two led him into the back seat of a police car, and after the door slammed shut, Wu Qingchen walked into an active prison cell.

"Oh, an upgrade, with some good stuff." Just as they sat down, Ji Mingming turned his head to the back and picked up a cardboard box. Wu Qingchen glanced over and saw that it was filled with sophisticated electronic products. Ji Mingming rummaged through it, skillfully picked out two headphones, and handed one to Director Zhang, who was sitting on the other side.

"We'll continue our conversation," said Ji Mingming as he put on his headphones and adjusted the tool in his hand, which appeared to be controlling the headphones. Then he taped a device that looked like a piece of medical tape to his throat and nodded in satisfaction. "Where were we?"

"I was arrested?" Wu Qingchen wanted to say "arrest warrant," but changed his wording.

"I'll ask for you," said Ji Mingming as he leaned forward and twisted his head, raising his chin towards Director Zhang. "You arrested him directly? Did you use excessive force?"

Director Zhang snorted and shook his graying hair.

"You're not arrested," said Ji Mingming, taking out a cigarette case and looking at Wu Qingchen. He then glanced at the closed car window and put the cigarette case back in his pocket. "But you can think of yourself as being arrested."

When Director Zhang snorted again, Ji Mingming smiled. "What's wrong? Isn't it true? It's a forced deprivation of freedom, right? That's exactly what's happening."

"Why? What did I do wrong?"

Wu Qingchen's tone was urgent after hearing that his freedom was being forcibly taken away.

"As I said before, you are suspected of kidnapping, targeting all of humanity... Of course, this is just my guess... Tch, what's with that expression? Do you think I'm joking with you?" said Ji Mingming with a sneer. "Do you think I'm the only one who thinks so? Everyone thinks so! If you don't believe me, ask them."

Hearing such a confident tone and such ridiculous content, Wu Qingchen looked pitifully at the others in the police car. The expression on his face would even evoke sympathy from a starving tiger in the forest.

No one answered directly.

The senior officer sitting in the front passenger seat nodded heavily, while Director Zhang on the other side of Wu Qingchen had a grim expression and let out a deep sigh.

"I...I..."

Who have I offended?

The absurd charge was something Wu Qingchen didn't believe at all - no normal person would. However, he finally confirmed that the people in the police car weren't joking with him, and that he had definitely committed a serious offense. This wasn't just because the senior officer and Director Zhang had tacitly agreed with Ji Mingming's absurd accusation.

It came from every aspect of this police car!

Although Wu Qingchen had never ridden in a police car before, nor did he ever want to have the honor of doing so, he was certain that he had never seen a model driver like the young officer in front of him, whether in a police car or any other vehicle he had seen before.

Looking in the rear-view mirror of the police car, Wu Qingchen saw that the officer kept his full attention on the road. Aside from shifting gears, his hands never left the steering wheel; he didn't scratch himself, adjust his clothes, or fiddle with his hair. There were no relaxed expressions like squinting, clenching his teeth, or licking his lips.

Whether it’s a straight or a curved road, even if the surroundings of the vehicle are empty without any other cars, this military officer driver will firmly keep the police car in the driving lane, not stepping over the line, even maintaining a precise distance from the dotted lines on both sides, and always maintaining a safe distance of at least twenty meters from the car ahead.

However, this driver cannot possibly be a novice because on the six-lane main road in the city, despite maintaining a speed of twenty to forty miles per hour, the military officer driver almost never overtakes and never has to wait at red lights, always making it through every intersection on green lights.

This mentality, this attitude, and this truly safe first practice made Wu Qingchen want to say:

“This is crazy.”

If the driver's behavior only makes Wu Qingchen feel somewhat puzzled, the actions of the elderly military officer in the passenger seat and the two police officers around him make Wu Qingchen a little frightened.

It is obvious that once any vehicle overtakes, or in case of an emergency, the police car itself has to drive side by side or opposite to other vehicles, the two police officers next to Wu Qingchen will immediately grab onto Wu Qingchen's arms, and the elderly military officer in the front passenger seat will stare firmly at other vehicles, his arm never leaving his right waist and lifting up slightly immediately.

The actions of the three of them were so obvious, especially the standard action of the elderly military officer in the front passenger seat preparing to shoot, that Wu Qingchen could hardly move, and the pressure upon him was imaginable.

This is the kind of treatment that only a high-ranking cross-border drug lord who has been apprehended or a key witness in an important and dynamic social organization case that is at risk of being abducted or assassinated would receive. Wu Qingchen didn't know when he had committed such a heinous crime. Or rather, despite thinking very hard, Wu Qingchen couldn't find a reason or ability that would cause two police officers and two soldiers to come and apprehend him at the same time. Is it because of the love action movies on his computer's hard drive? The virus spread extensively due to downloading while uploading through P2P, causing enormous economic losses? Or is it because of the fierce online remarks that have been posted in recent months? These remarks were interpreted by people with ulterior motives, resulting in massive riots and disorder? Or is it due to some unclean accounting he did for his company? Profits increased, the company expanded blindly, and cheaper materials were used to lower costs, resulting in significant public safety hazards? Wu Qingchen filtered through all the things he had done wrong in his mind, exaggerating each one to the maximum extent and imagining the worst possible consequences, but he still couldn't explain his present situation. As the police car drove on without stopping, Wu Qingchen's panic grew more and more severe. Despite receiving close care from the police officers on both sides, Wu Qingchen's body couldn't move freely, and his line of sight was obstructed, only able to see buildings and streets. However, as a true local from Jiang County, he could recognize every street from the signboards, streetlights, and bus stops.

Arriving at Nanping Square, where the police station was located, Wu Qingchen felt his breathing become rapid, but the police car continued driving past. After a few more minutes of running forward, Wu Qingchen's heart rate began to accelerate again as the police car passed the prosecutor's office, a place where the suspects being prosecuted undoubtedly had to visit. However, the police car showed no signs of slowing down.

Soon after, the police car turned a few bends and Wu Qingchen saw the familiar flagpole on the top of the power plant building. Although his legs were trembling slightly, Wu Qingchen was still relatively at ease, as the courthouse was next door. Even if he had committed a major crime, he probably wouldn't end up staying in the free rooms here for long.

As for the Maomaozi Prison that they passed by later, as well as the Daozi Ridge Shooting Range, Wu Qingchen was no longer worried at all.

Because, as the police car continued to drive, despite his limited visibility, Wu Qingchen noticed something increasingly strange. When they passed the police station, some tailing vehicles appeared behind the police car, and when they passed the prosecutor's office and courthouse, there were several motorcycles in front. And when they passed the fire department, two husky people were added to the team.

During the rest of the journey, the convoy became more and more bloated, and the group of members became increasingly bizarre. Given this, no matter which part of his body he used to think, Wu Qingchen could not imagine that the ultimate goal of this team, made up of motorcycles, police cars, fire trucks, urban management inspection vehicles, and anti-pornography and illegal publication propaganda vehicles, was to take him to where he would be executed by a firing squad.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***