Transmigration: I, the Dragon Overlord, start by protecting my beautiful bride!

“It would be best if you could sort things out clearly, sir.” Kitagawa nodded slightly. “Sir, have you decided now which case we should take?”

Upon hearing this, Long Aotian suddenly clenched his fist and said, "We, as great men, should live between heaven and earth and have lofty ambitions to conquer the world!"

Jiang Beichuan's eyes lit up. "Oh?!"

"This one, the theft case." Long Aotian led Beichuan back to the list of impermanent cases, pointing to the last case on the list. He had just scanned the list, and this was the only one that looked safer.

The rest of the yellow-level lists were all pretty much the same—crimes and rapists, all incredibly dangerous. As a 21st-century artist, while the protagonists in those overpowered fantasy novels might be invincible, he himself didn't possess that succubus-like charisma or the superhuman luck of those protagonists with cheat codes. A more down-to-earth approach, using his intellect to solve cases, suited him much better…

"This case..." Jiang Beichuan hesitated, seeing that Long Aotian had chosen the case at the very bottom of the list of unpredictable cases.

He was just a minor patrol officer, so naturally he didn't dare to say anything to Long Aotian.

At that moment, he was thinking, "Oh well, even a fly is still meat."

Compared to Shen Congxin before, Long Aotian's current ambition is like the sun rising in the west!

However, Long Aotian wasn't stupid; he knew exactly what Jiang Beichuan was thinking. Who wouldn't want to make a name for themselves while they're young? So, to keep him on his toes, Long Aotian had no choice but to offer him empty promises.

He said earnestly, "Beichuan, as the old saying goes, you have to eat one bite at a time and walk one step at a time. We can only tackle the big cases after we finish this simple one. Believe me, one day I will lead you to finish all the cases on this list of impermanent cases! I will make you a glorious and respectable Chief Inspector!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Beichuan's expression brightened, and he immediately emerged from his previous gloomy mood.

"I've remembered what you said, sir. I'm determined to rise to the rank of Grand Inspector in a glorious manner!"

"That's necessary~"

Having identified their target, Long Aotian and Beichuan entered the archives together and reviewed the relevant files for the theft case.

You wouldn't believe it until you look at it; the case files are a whopping ten volumes!

"Wow, there must be over a hundred stolen items!" Looking at the files in his hand, Long Aotian couldn't help but exclaim, "In just one year, he's committed so many crimes and hasn't been caught yet. This guy is quite something..."

Moreover, after reviewing the files, Long Aotian discovered that this guy's preferences were also quite strange.

Besides valuables, they sometimes steal other items as well.

However, each time the item stolen was slightly different.

Sometimes they are women's personal items, sometimes they become various kinds of antiques or everyday household objects, which is quite strange...

“A bellyband, embroidered shoes, a handkerchief, this is quite a fancy thing to do!” Long Aotian said, looking at the dossier in his hand. Suddenly, his eyes caught sight of a name: Liu Mansion of the Prefectural Government.

"They dare to steal from the prefectural governor's office? They're incredibly audacious..."

“I remember now, this case wasn’t originally on our Zhenye Division’s list of the most unfortunate people.” Jiang Beichuan suddenly said from the side, “It’s because of this thief, who not only stole a white jade Guanyin statue from the prefect’s mansion, but also took the prefect’s wife’s undergarment… And this thief was quite capable, and he couldn’t be caught for a long time. In a fit of anger, the prefect put it on our list of the most unfortunate people.”

Hearing Kitagawa say that, Long Aotian felt that this was a good opportunity to show himself.

Although this job seems thankless and arduous, if they do it well, they might be able to establish a relationship with the prefect, wouldn't that be wonderful?

"Squeak."

After reviewing the case files, the two pushed open the door to the archives. It was already getting dark outside.

He hadn't expected the case files to be so numerous; it took him several hours just to get a general overview.

"It's getting late, let's stop here for today. I'll go back and study it, and come back to catch this thief tomorrow." Long Aotian said this, and then jogged away from the gate of the Zhenye Division.

Solving cases can't be rushed, especially cases like this one that have been elusive for a long time.

We need to find his modus operandi and preferences in order to have a chance of catching him.

Otherwise, with such a large city as Qianzhou and no surveillance cameras, finding a person would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Moreover, although Long Aotian is a more open-minded modern person, he usually relies on the police to catch thieves. Now that he's become a policeman himself, he's still quite unaccustomed to it...

Damn it!

He originally thought that as the chief inspector, all he needed to do was lord it over others and enjoy himself. He never expected that he would actually have to risk his life to catch thieves!

As Long Aotian walked home, he sorted out his thoughts and tried to forget his troubles for the time being.

As the saying goes, "When you think you've reached the end of the road, a new path will appear amidst the willows and flowers."

As he thought this, Shen Juanxin's pretty face, gentle and charming, and delicate appearance reappeared in his mind.

His eyes crinkled with a smile, and his steps quickened with each step until he reached a street alley. Suddenly, two burly men darted out from the alleyway ahead.

Seeing the burly man blocking his way, Long Aotian immediately brandished his waist token, "Zhenye Division, Shen Congxin, which one of you is so fearless as to dare block my path?!"

"Humph."

The two burly men snorted coldly, crossed their arms in front of their chests, and showed no fear of him whatsoever.

"Hmph! You're lucky today. If I hadn't been in a hurry to get home, I would have dragged every single one of you to the Zhenye Division!" Long Aotian said this not only to scare them, but also to embolden himself.

Damn it, how come big men can suddenly appear out of nowhere in these streets and alleys?

Furthermore, which expert said that ancient people were shorter than modern people? That's pure nonsense!

His heart was pounding like a drum. He planned to take a detour, but after only taking two steps back, he turned around and, with a "hmm," two more burly men blocked his way.

"What...what are you trying to do? I am an official of the Celestial Empire! How dare you disrespect me?!"

"We've finally waited for you, Lord Shen." A slightly immature voice suddenly rose from nowhere.

Two burly men in front of him turned slightly to the side, and there was a man who was extremely short, like a ten-year-old child, but with a beard on his face. He instantly reminded Long Aotian of Wu Dalang from the Water Margin.

"I really didn't expect that you would change so much in just a few days, Lord Shen," the short man said. "This morning I heard that you had quite a show of power at the Zhenye Division."

"You, who are you?" Realizing that the other party was coming for him, Long Aotian forcibly composed himself and pretended to be calm, saying, "He insulted my wife and deserved to be beaten. But what brings you here?"

"Hmph, Lord Shen is indeed Lord Shen, so direct. Then I won't beat around the bush with you." The short man smiled insincerely, gestured to the burly man beside him, and pulled out an IOU from his pocket.

"What is that?" Long Aotian asked in confusion.

"Lord Shen, I suppose you must have a bad memory," the dwarf replied. "This is the loan agreement you took out from my gambling den half a month ago. We agreed on a half-month deadline, and now that the time is up, if you don't come to repay the money, then we have no choice but to come to you..."