Chapter 88

The black SWAT Iveco police van carried the two "captives" to the military district compound in Jingsheng Province. The provincial military district and the garrison command shared the same office, though under different names. It was already late, but there were duty officers on shift, and the gate guards let the police van pass. Inside the duty room, the handover was conducted.

The two disheveled young drivers were handed over to the military police, who, tall and imposing with white armbands, immediately handcuffed them and escorted them to the detention room. They would face severe military discipline.

As for the Audi Q7, it was temporarily impounded by the traffic police, awaiting coordination with the military hospital leadership. It was unlikely to be released without sufficient face and benefits.

The SWAT team completed their mission and returned to base. On the way, they encountered several traffic police cars, all of which honked in salute. Back at the base, Squad Leader Ji Yang led the SWAT members involved in the operation to the captain's office.

The captain smiled and handed out cigarettes. "Well done, you've brought honor to our SWAT team."

Everyone expressed their gratitude to the captain's leadership.

The captain was pleased and said, "What do you need? I'll try my best to meet your requests."

"Take a break. We haven't had a proper rest since the training began," Liu Handong said, making his request.

The captain laughed heartily. "I can agree to other requests, but a break is out of the question. We're short on manpower, and I have to patrol the streets myself. Choose another one."

"Then give us a promotion. Let us wear the three-star rank insignia," Liu Handong said with a grin, taking a pack of cigarettes from the captain's desk.

"Let's talk about the break again," the captain said with a good-natured smile. "Your duty schedule is three days on, one day off. It's not that bad, really."

Ji Yang interjected, "Captain, that's just on paper. If we could really work three days and rest one, we wouldn't complain. We're on duty every day, and we train whenever we have a moment. This is pushing us to the limit."

The captain said, "You complain to me, but who do I complain to? Everyone thinks police officers are glamorous and powerful, but who knows the pressure we face? Take me, for example. I've never had a break during New Year's, Spring Festival, Qingming, May Day, Children's Day, National Day, or Mid-Autumn Festival. I often stay at the base for ten to fifteen days without going home. My wife says, 'Even if you treat home like a hotel, you should come back and stay sometimes.' What can I do? I have no choice."

Everyone fell silent.

"Our SWAT team is busy, but the local police stations are even busier. Overtime is a daily occurrence. Sometimes, they go on manhunts for three months without returning. Many suffer from various occupational and chronic diseases, and some die young from overwork. What can we do? Quit? Slack off? This job is tough."

The captain finished speaking, feeling deeply moved, and reached for a cigarette.

"Where's my cigarette? Who took it?"

Everyone scattered, running away.

The SWAT team lived in a collective dormitory, on standby 24/7. When the alarm sounded, they had to quickly put on their combat gear, grab their weapons, slide down the pole, and board the police van to head to the scene. If not on patrol, they trained on the base's parade ground, day after day, year after year. The rumored breaks never existed, which was not surprising. When Ji Yang was at the police station, he was required to live there 24/7 because he was unmarried.

This pace made many regret joining the SWAT team.

After washing up, Ji Yang took out a shoulder badge from his pocket and handed it to Liu Handong. "Here."

It was a three-star police inspector's embroidered shoulder badge, a bar and a flower, much more impressive than the two-bar badge. Police officers often wore shoulder badges casually, but there were certain unwritten rules. New recruits wearing a two-bar badge would be severely criticized, and wearing a police inspector's badge would be considered insane.

Liu Handong's performance had earned the recognition of Squad Leader Ji Yang, and giving him the shoulder badge was a sign of this.

"From now on, you'll help me manage the squad," Ji Yang said.

Half of the squad members were from the training team and naturally followed Liu Handong's lead. This way, he shared some of Ji Yang's workload and some of his authority. Ji Yang was smart in this regard. Instead of fighting for power, they could work together to achieve more. Liu Handong had connections and would eventually be promoted and transferred. Maintaining a good relationship was important.

"Thanks," Liu Handong said, putting the shoulder badge in his pocket.

At night, they slept in a large dormitory, with sixteen people in one room. The conditions were much worse than at the police academy. The bathroom at the end of the corridor was old and poorly maintained, emitting a faint odor. At night, the corridor echoed with snoring sounds. These were young, strong men who were exhausted from a full day's work, sleeping deeply and snoring loudly.

Just as they were sound asleep, a shrill alarm sounded. There was a mission!

Everyone jumped up reflexively, grabbing their clothes and putting them on as they ran out. They put on their helmets, grabbed their weapons, and slid down the stainless steel pole to the ground floor, boarding the already running police van and speeding away. They would finish zipping up and buttoning their uniforms in the van.

A serious murder case had occurred in the city, and the suspect had fled. The command center ordered all police to set up checkpoints. The SWAT team, as a mobile force, was dispatched to support the checkpoints. Liu Handong and his team were responsible for the checkpoint leading out of the city in the Yunshan direction.

There was already a traffic police checkpoint there, with several police officers and auxiliary police stopping and checking vehicles. However, the traffic police, wearing white hats and without weapons, had little deterrent power and were not very effective. The arrival of the SWAT team changed the situation. Dressed in black combat uniforms and armed with submachine guns, they made the vehicles stop and be checked obediently.

Liu Handong encountered old acquaintances, Wu Lianghai and Tan Jiaxing from the Yunshan traffic police.

"Hey, Liu Handong, you're in a police uniform now, a three-star inspector. You've been promoted quickly," Tan Jiaxing said, tapping Liu Handong's shoulder badge.

"I'm just wearing it for fun. Yours is the real deal," Liu Handong said with a smile.

Tan Jiaxing laughed, touching his own one-bar, one-flower badge. "Actually, mine is fake too. I'm a hired traffic police officer, just like you."

They both laughed and took out cigarettes. "Have a smoke."

It was already two o'clock in the morning, and there were few vehicles on the road. Tan Jiaxing yawned frequently, smoking one cigarette after another, his eyes almost closing.

"Didn't you sleep?" Liu Handong asked.

"Don't mention it. I've been working overtime for three days straight, day and night, without a wink of sleep," Tan Jiaxing yawned again.

In the distance, headlights appeared. A long-distance sleeper bus was approaching from the city. Everyone rushed forward, waving their flashlights to signal the bus to stop. The SWAT team boarded the bus to search.

Liu Handong, carrying a Type 79 submachine gun, boarded the bus. At that moment, he suddenly remembered last year when he and Ma Ling had cleverly evaded the police search on a bus while crossing the Huaijiang Bridge. He never thought that half a year later, the tables would turn, and he would be the one searching others.

This was a long-distance sleeper bus from another region. Although the transportation department had banned such buses, the ban was often ignored. These buses did not stop in the city to pick up passengers, so the likelihood of the murderer hiding on the bus was low. The search was just a routine procedure.

Meanwhile, his colleagues were checking the luggage compartment below.

Liu Handong shone his flashlight on the sleeping passengers. In the narrow bunks, the passengers were deeply asleep. Occasionally, one or two people who were not asleep would shield their eyes from the flashlight, showing signs of fear and confusion, which was a normal reaction from passengers.

A child of three or four years old caught Liu Handong's attention. He was sleeping with a bottle of Nutri-Fast, his long eyelashes and fair, smooth skin indicating he was well-cared for. He was wearing expensive, well-made children's clothes and shoes. Liu Handong didn't know much about children's brands, but he could tell the clothes were not cheap.

The child's guardian was a middle-aged woman, dressed neatly but with a slightly shabby appearance. Her face seemed kind but had a hint of cunning. She was pretending to sleep, but her phone screen was still lit, indicating she had been using it recently.

Of course, these were weak points of suspicion, and Liu Handong, not a detective, was just using his logical reasoning to make a judgment.

This woman was likely a child trafficker.

His colleagues had finished searching below and tapped the bus. "We're done downstairs. How about upstairs?"

Liu Handong made a gesture to wait.

Everyone was getting impatient. Checking a bus in the middle of the night was not a pleasant task. This bus was not overloaded, did not carry prohibited items, and was unlikely to be hiding a murderer. They wanted to let it go quickly and avoid unnecessary trouble.

Liu Handong shone his flashlight on the woman. "Show me your ID."

The woman continued to pretend to sleep, further confirming Liu Handong's suspicions. If she had nothing to hide, why be afraid of a check?

He poked her with the flashlight. "I'm talking to you. Wake up."

The woman woke up, speaking in a strong local dialect, but she was cooperative and produced her ID.

The ID showed her name was He Cuigu, from Guangxi, which matched the bus's final destination.

"Who is this child to you?" Liu Handong asked.

"He's my grandson, named Gousheng. My son and daughter-in-law are busy with work, so I'm taking him back to my hometown to look after him for a while," He Cuigu said in Mandarin, though with an accent.

There were no obvious issues. The child likely came from a family where the parents were busy white-collar workers and had asked the grandmother to take care of him.

The traffic police deputy captain in charge of the checkpoint was already impatient and signaled the bus driver to proceed. The driver started the engine and looked back at Liu Handong. His colleagues also called out, "Old Liu, are you done?"

Liu Handong handed back the ID and smiled kindly. "As a grandmother, it must be hard to get along with your daughter-in-law, right?"

He Cuigu replied casually, "Yes, my daughter-in-law is from a big city and is hard to please."

"Get off the bus," Liu Handong said.

"What?" He Cuigu pretended not to understand.

"I said, get off the bus and accept a check. I suspect you of child trafficking," Liu Handong said coldly.

"Heaven forbid, you're wronging me," He Cuigu immediately protested, waking up many passengers. Once they understood the situation, many began to speak up for He Cuigu, saying the child was her grandson, and they had boarded the bus together, laughing and talking, with the child not crying at all, so it couldn't be a case of trafficking.

Liu Handong said, "If he's really your grandson, why be afraid of a check? Only those with something to hide would be afraid. I just need to call the child's parents to confirm. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but for the child's safety, please cooperate."

The passengers agreed, urging He Cuigu to go down and be checked.

"Ma'am, if he's really your grandson, what's to be afraid of?"

"Exactly, it'll be quick, and everyone will feel better."

He Cuigu had no choice but to get off the bus with the sleeping child.

Liu Handong's insistence on checking the passengers annoyed the deputy captain, who was unsatisfied. The SWAT team was there to assist, not to enforce the law, but he didn't say anything, as maintaining good relations was important.

The checkpoint was equipped with a group of SWAT team members, all from the training team, who followed Liu Handong's orders. He Cuigu was surrounded, looking aggrieved.

"Call your daughter-in-law and confirm your relationship with the child," Liu Handong said.

The woman took out her phone and dialed a number. After a while, someone answered.

Liu Handong took the phone. "I'm a police officer from Jiangdong. Who is He Cuigu to you?"

"She's my mother-in-law. What's the matter?" The woman's Mandarin was standard.

"Is your son with He Cuigu?"

"Yes, my husband and I are too busy, so we asked my mother-in-law to take care of him."

"What's your son's name?"

"His nickname is Gousheng. What's going on?"

"We suspect He Cuigu of child trafficking and need to confirm."

Liu Handong signaled his comrades to wake the child and confirm with the mother, but the child wouldn't wake up, sleeping too deeply.

The phone said, "Officer, you're mistaken. She's really my mother-in-law, not a trafficker. We both work in the bank and are too busy, so we asked her to take the child back to her hometown for a while."

Liu Handong said, "Understood. Sorry for the trouble."

He hung up, and He Cuigu smiled. "Officer, you've clarified things. Your diligence makes us feel safe."

His comrades relaxed and prepared to put the child back on the bus.

"Handcuff her!" Liu Handong shouted.