Chapter 245 158: Perspective! Prepare... To Make Arrests!!

"Would they be the only group like this?"

Everyone paused. Without a moment's hesitation, they all reached the same conclusion.

"Impossible!"

No crime is ever the work of just one group.

Even for something like the smartphone Xu Huo developed, people at home and abroad were racing against time to compete!

Let alone these kinds of underhanded dealings in the shadows.

In the shadows, even the Lower Nine Professions fight over turf, to say nothing of a group at this level.

"Since that's the case, then tell me..."

"Do you think the other groups in the area know anything about this one?"

Xu Huo then posed another question.

'The other groups... the ones in the surrounding territories...'

Zhang Liang froze. A moment later, a look of stunned, almost bizarre, comprehension dawned on his face.

"Go ask *them*!?"

"Exactly."

Xu Huo nodded.

The killer's move seemed brilliant, cutting off all leads.

But in doing so, they exposed a crucial piece of intelligence: that National Security's line of investigation was correct!

And if the direction was right, it was impossible for a group with a fixed territory, one that had been operating for years, to be completely unknown.

The degree to which criminals are sensitive about their turf...

...is beyond what most people can imagine.

For example.

Drug dealers.

Drug dealers operate in crews. They often live and operate in a specific area for years, sometimes for a decade or even several decades.

With people like that, if you try to sell drugs on their turf...

Within a very short time, they'll have dug up everything there is to know about you.

And that's even if you never exchange a single word with them.

They know exactly who controls the surrounding areas and what their story is. Their nose for their own turf is as good as a bloodhound's.

This case...

All we have to do is shift our perspective. By using this button as a key and adopting this "turf" mindset, we can turn a dead end into a breakthrough and get the upper hand.

And just like that, their "brilliant" move becomes... a complete and utter blunder.

"Question other criminals!?"

The corner of Li Jianye's eye twitched as he began to think it over. "But..."

"Even if we get a name, what then? We don't have any evidence..."

Evidence. To convict someone, you need evidence.

'Are we supposed to arrest someone based on the word of another criminal? And even if we do, what if they just deny everything?'

Admittedly, that's how it normally works.

But...

"Evidence?"

Xu Huo couldn't help but laugh.

"Captain Li, you're thinking too small. That mindset is fine for a squad captain, but this is the Capital City."

"Next to you is Zhang Liang, a top leader from the Special Fifth Bureau!"

"And to your right is Zhao Gang, head of the special task force hand-picked by the Capital City!"

"The top criminal investigators in the country are on their way here right now."

"The ones sent to raid those businessmen weren't police; they were Armed Police. They're military!"

"Captain Li, this isn't a normal investigation anymore. This is..."

Looking at the shock slowly spreading across Li Jianye's face,

Xu Huo spoke slowly, uttering two words.

"Counter-terrorism!"

Counter... terrorism!?

Li Jianye's pupils constricted, and every hair on his body stood on end.

'Thinking back on it now,'

'It was true. The resources the Capital City had allocated were far beyond what was needed for a typical case.'

'Besides, the last time something like this emerged on a large scale, how was it stamped out?'

'It wasn't detectives or evidence that stopped them...'

"We just need a name,"

Xu Huo said slowly. That was the reality of the situation.

Li Jianye was completely shaken. A wave of heat washed over him, as if he'd just stepped into a hot bath.

He stared at Xu Huo, completely dumbfounded.

It couldn't be helped.

A squad captain from a local criminal investigation division worked by the book: without evidence, you couldn't get a conviction, even if you had a suspect in custody.

It was the fundamental logic of their law enforcement.

How could he not be shocked by this new idea—one that shattered that logic with such a brazen, almost roguish, approach, yet was so brutally effective?

However, another problem arose.

"It's a viable plan, but we're not exactly flush with time."

Zhang Liang did a quick mental calculation and sighed.

"First, it's a given that other groups will know about the perpetrator in the Capital City."

Why would they know?

Because location represents power and status.

For example.

Take the Western Bald Eagle, for instance. Who's more famous: the head of an underground organization in a major city, or a boss in some remote country town?

The one in the major city, of course.

Why? They're both bosses, after all.

Because of the influence of the location!

The more important the city, the more powerful the organization that controls it as their "turf" will be.

And people always pay attention to the top dog.

It's like with schools. You might not know the name of an average local school, but most people know the top-tier high schools and universities.

Or take the simplest example: video games.

Are you going to aim for number one on the national server, or number one on some regional server?

By the same token, the status of a place like the Capital City... is self-evident.

A perpetrator who can operate here must have a very big name in their circles.

But...

"So in the short time we have, we're supposed to give up on this perpetrator and go investigate another, similar case!?"

Zhang Liang's brow furrowed as he considered it.

'It still doesn't feel right.'

"There isn't enough time."

"The police have deployed massive resources for one reason: to catch this person quickly, before the end of the year."

"But if we have to start a new investigation from scratch... forget about arrests and interrogations, just *finding* another group like them would be next to impossible."

Why was that?

Because they had no idea where to even start looking.

Xu Huo had said it before: the key to a perfect crime isn't the method of killing.

It's how you keep the police from finding you.

If the police don't know where to look, they can't investigate. And bridging that gap—going from knowing nothing to having a solid lead—is often harder than cracking the case itself.

"At this rate, just continuing to pour resources into the investigation here in the Capital City might be faster than starting a new one from scratch."