A madman in France? How come he's always at crime scenes!

Chapter 47, Option 2

"All personnel involved in the operation shall have their communication equipment handed over to their respective group leaders for safekeeping."

Meng Jiang, with a stern expression, calmly directed operations from in front of the temporary command vehicle.

Night fell over the west of Feishui City.

Outside the abandoned building materials market, three unlicensed vans were parked on the roadside, their headlights all off. Further away, large sections of demolished buildings had their windows dark and large patches of plaster peeling off their walls.

The task force members were scattered in the shadows; no one was smoking or laughing. Only the occasional static from the walkie-talkies proved that a large number of people were poised to strike.

From the announcement of the operation to the arrival of personnel, it took less than fifteen minutes, minimizing the risk of information leakage.

Meng Jiang pinned the action plan to the inside of the carriage and drew three lines in red pen.

"Based on blood sample comparison with the database, the target was identified as Cao Yang, 42 years old, a local of Feishui, who had been sentenced to four years in prison for intentional injury ten years ago. After the hospital shooting, he escaped by jumping out of a window after being shot in the left shoulder."

He pointed to the first photo.

At the entrance of a small shop, a man wearing a baseball cap stood with his head down, his left shoulder noticeably slumped.

"We investigated layer by layer, starting with anti-inflammatory drugs, hemostatic gauze, and local anesthetics, and found that at 2:27 a.m. the day before yesterday, someone purchased cephalosporins, iodine, and suture needles from this illegal clinic."

Meng Jiang pressed the photo onto the image.

"According to the owner of this illegal clinic, he doesn't know the person who came."

Someone in the corner sneered.

"However, based on our comparison, this person's movements and posture closely match Cao Yang's, making him a prime suspect in the crime."

He then picked up the second photograph.

A gray van cast a blurry shadow in front of the tunnel.

"The license plate is fake. However, the taillights show that a third-party part has been replaced, and the assembly gaps are slightly large. The traffic police investigated along the auto parts market in the west of the city and successfully found relevant repair records. The owner is registered as Zhang Haitian, who works in transportation at the construction site in the north of the city under the Tianyue Group."

Tianyue Group, Tan Yongren's stronghold.

Zhao Anmin stood at the back of the crowd and gently clenched his fist.

The people from Tongcheng only occupied a small corner of the work area, mainly responsible for assisting with the tasks.

Meng Jiang continued, "Based on the all-night investigation and tracking by our comrades using the Sky Eye system, we have basically confirmed that Cao Yang entered the demolition building next to the old building materials market last night, to the third-floor east-facing unit. The window was not lit, and thermal imaging showed that there was a single person moving around inside. We have confirmed that there are no other residents in the building."

After he finished speaking, he raised his hand and pointed to three people.

"Group 1, breach the main gate!"

"Group Two, seal off the back staircase!"

"Three teams, apprehend the fugitives on the outskirts!"

"Remember this: I want you alive! Anyone who fires without authorization, take off your uniform and report it!"

Everyone responded in unison.

"yes!!!"

Li Mu sat in the command vehicle, his face still pale.

A bandage was wrapped around his left shoulder and chest to secure him, and the sleeves of his coat hung loosely at his sides.

The gunshot at the hospital almost grazed the lower edge of her collarbone, less than two centimeters from the subclavian artery. The red light outside the operating room stayed on for a full three hours.

The doctor's exact words were quite harsh.

If it were a little further off the track, the person wouldn't have needed to be brought to the operating room.

She was supposed to be in the surgical ward of the Provincial People's Hospital today, but upon learning of today's events, she immediately pulled out her IV and ran off in her hospital gown amidst the nurses' astonished gazes.

Then, with Meng Jiang facepalming, he appeared in the task force's technical vehicle.

Meng Jiang glanced at her.

"Can you hold on?"

Li Mu stared at the screen: "Ask me one more time, and I'll apply to join the assault team."

Meng Jiang turned his face away.

"Never mind, you can sit down."

A soft laugh rippled through the crowd, but quickly subsided.

Meng Jiang picked up the walkie-talkie.

"Review time for each group".

"One group, 10:40 PM."

"Group Two..."

"Group Three..."

"..."

Meng Jiang looked at his watch.

"Operation time: 22:50. Prepare for operation!"

He put down the walkie-talkie, turned around, and got into the car.

At the very back of the carriage, Wu Liang sat on a folding chair, drinking mineral water.

Meng Jiang made it very clear: You are a lawyer, not a police officer. Once the person is brought back alive, you will sit in on the interrogation and, if necessary, help break down their psychological defenses.

Wu Liang accepted this situation well, mainly because there was no point in not accepting it anyway.

Li Mu glanced at him.

"Attorney Wu was quite well-behaved tonight."

Wu Liang smiled and said, "I have a clear understanding of my career path."

Li Mu: "Did you use the same positioning method at the hospital last time?"

Wu Liang looked down at the mineral water bottle and chuckled awkwardly.

Meng Jiang ignored them and bent down to look at the screen.

In the thermal imaging, the red shadow in the east-facing unit on the third floor suddenly stopped and then approached the window a few seconds later.

Everyone held their breath.

Li Mu zoomed in on the image.

"The target is by the window, but the window is closed. There's movement with the right hand, but it's unclear."

Meng Jiang pressed down on the headset.

"All groups are suspended from progress."

Outside the building, a group had already reached the entrance of the unit.

The team was led by Lao He, a seasoned criminal police officer from Feishui. With a simple gesture, the two officers behind him immediately stopped against the wall.

At the back staircase, the second group squatted on the dilapidated cement steps without making a sound.

Time passed second by second.

Li Mu suddenly spoke up: "There's a communication."

Wu Liang looked up at Meng Jiang, whose expression was not surprised, and who didn't even look away from the screen.

Li Mu noticed it too, his fingers stopped on the keyboard, and he turned his head to the side.

"You knew it would happen?"

Meng Jiang didn't answer her; he pressed down on his earpiece first.

"All groups, remain in place. No one is allowed to make contact with the target without my order."

A hushed reply came from the walkie-talkie.

Meng Jiang then looked at Li Mu.

"Screenshot content."

"An old-fashioned keypad phone, SMS link, the signal went through two hops." Li Mu tapped a few keys, and a string of incomplete characters appeared on the screen. "The content was truncated; we only got two words."

Settle accounts.

Wu Liang looked at the screen:

"This word doesn't sound like a reminder."

Meng Jiang glanced at him.

Wu Liang: "It doesn't sound like 'Run when the police arrive,' it sounds more like an order."

Li Mu stared at Meng Jiang.

"You knew all along that the plan would be leaked?"

Meng Jiang took a cigarette out of his pocket, put it in his mouth, and lit it.

"I knew it from the day I went to the hospital."

"So the arrest plan announced to the action team tonight was fake?"

Meng Jiang, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, mumbled an "Mmm," then bent down and pulled out another map from the corner of the carriage.

Li Mu's eyes flickered slightly.

The map is quite old, with creases everywhere.

The picture shows a drainage culvert beneath the abandoned building materials market behind the demolished building, which connects to a warehouse on the south side.

This line is not shown on the publicly available action map.

Meng Jiang spread out the map.

"Cao Yang scouted the building before entering. He chose the third-floor east-facing unit not because it was safe, but because the awning outside the window connected to the scaffolding on the exterior wall, and the culvert was located right below the scaffolding."

Li Mu immediately pulled up the drone footage.

"The culvert opening was previously covered by sheet metal."

"right."

Meng Jiang took the cigarette out of his mouth and held it in his hand.

"I had the municipal people check the old pipe network, and the culvert leads to the south warehouse. The real blockage is in the south warehouse, not the third floor."

Wu Liang looked at the map.

"Is that group one or two now the stage?"

"No, it's a real knife too."

Meng Jiang's eyes darkened.

"If he doesn't run, we'll still arrest him. If he does run, he can only go to Nancang."

Li Mu typed on the keyboard and casually asked:

"How many people were stationed at Nancang?"

Meng Jiang did not answer.

Wu Liang's heart skipped a beat, and Li Mu also realized what was happening.

"Didn't you register the South Warehouse surveillance in the system?"

Meng Jiang: "Not registered."

"Who knows?"