hotmtlnovel Chapter 642 Closing the Net
Chapter 642 Closing the Net
After Zhang Chuan finished speaking, he looked up at Zhao Ci, his eyes shining with anticipation: "Do you think my discovery counts as a crucial clue? Can it be of any help?"
Zhao Ci couldn't help but laugh, his tone full of sincere praise: "It's more than just crucial, it's a great achievement. Zhang Chuan, you're the best. Without your investigation, we wouldn't have known anything about them."
Zhang Chuan's ears turned slightly red from the straightforward praise, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up, even his shoulders relaxed a little—Zhao Ci had rarely praised him like this to his face since childhood, and at this moment, he felt as sweet as if he had been filled with honey, and his tense nerves relaxed a lot. He scratched his head, then quickly straightened his face and said seriously, "Don't be too happy yet. If Jiang Hu finds out that something is wrong with us, he will definitely resort to force. I will stay here and protect you, and I will make sure they don't hurt a single hair on your head."
Zhao Ci nodded and said nothing more. He had always trusted Zhang Chuan's skills and composure, so if he said so, he must be absolutely certain.
On the other side, Zhao Lei's subordinate ran into the courtyard, sweating profusely, and breathlessly reported the information he had gathered, including the clues from Zhang Chuan's side. Zhao Lei frowned upon hearing this, his fingers tapping heavily on his knee—he hadn't expected that a secret base was hidden behind the abandoned mine, with a considerable amount of heavy equipment of unknown origin stored there, seemingly used for the clandestine transfer of something.
He told his subordinates, "You wait here. I'll go report to the bureau chief right away and see what the next steps are. Don't make a sound, just keep watch here."
Zhao Lei strode into He Feng's office and recounted the entire situation in detail, from the unusual events in the mine to the conversation with the guards, leaving no detail out. He concluded urgently, "Director, we have almost all the witnesses and evidence now. They definitely can't escape the fact that they illegally opened the passage and smuggled the ore. Shouldn't we take action now? If we wait any longer, they might have already transported everything away!"
He Feng tapped his fingers lightly on the table, making a rhythmic "tap-tap" sound, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth: "Interesting. I didn't expect there to be so many shady dealings hidden in the coal mining bureau. It seems that all those rumors about 'haunted mines' were just them playing tricks to confuse people and cover their tracks."
“Then what do we do now…” Zhao Lei took a half step forward, his eyes full of eagerness, his hand already unconsciously resting on the pistol at his waist.
He Feng raised his eyes, his gaze sharp as an eagle's, his tone steady and powerful: "Mobilize all the men in your squad, and also bring the second squad over. Have them flank us from the side. Remember, before we reach our destination, no one is allowed to make any rash moves. All communication devices must remain silent. Do not leak a single word, understand?"
"Understood!" Zhao Lei nodded emphatically, then turned and strode off to gather manpower. His footsteps echoed in the corridor, carrying a determination to succeed.
Not long after Zhao Lei left, Ma Xin pushed open the door and came in, holding a freshly compiled document in her hand, the edges of the paper slightly curled from being twisted. Seeing He Feng deep in thought, staring at the yellowed mining map on the wall, his fingertips tracing the red-circled marks, his brow furrowed and his expression unusually serious, she curiously waved the paper in her hand: "He Feng, judging by your posture, is there a big operation going on? I just saw Zhao Lei outside, rushing around like a gust of wind, almost knocking over the flowerpots by the door. Has there been a breakthrough in the case?"
He Feng looked up at her, his gaze shifting from the map. He nodded, his tone carrying a hint of barely perceptible seriousness: "That's right, there has indeed been an operation. New leads have come back from the mine; Zhang Chuan and his team have found crucial evidence. We need to verify it immediately; there's no time to waste."
Ma Xin took a few steps closer, gently placed the document on the corner of the table, paused her fingertips on the cover, and looked at it with concern: "What's wrong? Is something tricky going on? You look even more serious than when you were investigating the smuggling case in Chengnan last time. We busted three smuggling dens back then."
He Feng tapped the location marked "Abandoned Winch Room" on the map with his fingertip, then looked up at Ma Xin: "You're familiar with the mine's financial processes, and those intricate details in the ledgers won't escape your notice. This time, I need you to come along. I'll have to trouble you to check the on-site accounts, equipment lists, and material requisition records from the past few years to see if there are any abnormal fund flows or missing materials."
Ma Xin wanted to ask a few more questions about the details, such as what Zhang Chuan and his team had found, but then she heard hurried footsteps outside, mixed with the low voices of the team members, surging in like a tide. She walked to the window and lifted a corner of the curtain. There were already quite a few uniformed team members standing in the courtyard. Zhang Li, the captain of the second team, was leaning over to Zhao Lei, nudging his arm with his shoulder, his face showing barely suppressed excitement and curiosity: "Captain Zhao, what big mission is this? Judging by this setup, it's quite a big commotion. Give me a heads-up, is it to catch a fugitive or raid an illegal mine? I want the brothers to be prepared, so we don't end up in a panic."
Zhao Lei was initially hesitant about the question, fidgeting in his pocket, intending to brush it off with a vague answer. However, remembering He Feng's instruction to maintain strict secrecy before the operation, he straightened his back and said earnestly, "Captain Zhang, it's not that I don't want to tell you, but the director specifically instructed me that this matter must be kept secret; it's of great importance. You'll find out what's going on when we get there. Don't worry, your team will face a tough battle; you'll have to show your true abilities then."
Zhang Li chuckled and was about to say something more when He Feng came out of the house with his coat and said in a deep voice, "Alright, stop chatting and let's go." His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a stone hitting water, carrying an undeniable authority, and the courtyard instantly fell silent.
Zhang Li immediately stopped talking, gave He Feng a standard salute, turned back to his squad, and whispered a few instructions. His men nodded, their hands on their sidearms. The two teams quickly assembled and nimbly boarded several green jeeps parked outside the courtyard. The roar of their engines soon broke the silence, like a pack of predators ready to pounce. The convoy filed out, its wheels rolling over the cobblestones in front of the gate, heading towards the outskirts of the city.
On the bus, Ma Xin looked at the street scenes flashing by outside the window, initially with some doubts—this route didn't seem to lead to the train station or the warehouse in the suburbs. But as the bus drove further and further off the road, the houses along the roadside gradually thinned out, and finally it headed towards the coal mine bureau, she had a clue—there was probably something fishy going on at the mine. The rumors of "haunting" that the miners had been talking about in private, and the secret hideout that Zhao Lei had mentioned, seemed to be true.