Chapter 113: Locking in the Next Target—A Peeping Rat? Let’s Give It a Good Show!

Looking at the ten cases on the whiteboard, Su Ming nodded slightly.

Indeed, these ten unsolved homicide cases were specifically selected based on the pattern he had previously discovered.

In other words—In the ten cities surrounding Modu, whenever high-purity drugs were seized, there was always an unsolved case within the same six-month period.

Furthermore, there was an extremely close relationship between high-purity drugs and unsolved cases.

As long as high-purity drugs appeared on the market, it meant the unsolved case had yet to be solved, and the perpetrator was still at large.

If the quantity of seized drugs increased, it indicated that a member of the organization had passed some kind of test and was now qualified to distribute and sell more drugs.

Conversely, if high-purity drugs suddenly disappeared, it signified that the case had been solved.

However—Every time a case was solved, the organization members found afterward were either preemptively silenced, like Qu Pengfei, or took their own lives under pressure.

Thus, if they wanted to dig out this massive drug trafficking organization, the only way—Was to attempt to solve these ten unsolved cases, identify the perpetrators, and in doing so, confirm the organization members.

After carefully reviewing the board, Su Ming stepped forward, took out a marker, and spoke.

“Chief Lin, I think just listing these ten cases isn’t enough to pinpoint the first target.”

“We should analyze the recorded proxy information, the code names and professions you mentioned, and the perpetrators’ methods. Then, cross-reference them with the time and city of occurrence.”

“That way, the case information will be more detailed and comprehensive.”

With that, Su Ming recalled his findings for a moment and began adding more details to the board.

Jiahe City – Six months ago – ‘Ghost’ – Hotel Water Tank Drowning Case

Mingzhou City – One year ago – ‘Babu’ – Villa Chainsaw Dismemberment Case

Jinling City – Two years ago – ‘Witch’ – Red-Clothed Boy Strangulation Case

Wujin City – Three years ago – ‘Captain’ – Abandoned Garage Arson Case

Jinghai City – Four years ago – ‘Plague’ – Buffet Poisoning Case

Gusu City – Four years ago – ‘Poison’ – Private Cinema Cyanide Murder Case

Liangxi City – Five years ago – ‘Rose’ – Rose Flower Shop Face-Skinning Case

Taicang City – Five years ago – ‘Bomber’ – Senior Welfare Home Explosion Case

Ningdao City – Six years ago – ‘Priest’ – St. De Bar Shooting Case

Lianjiang City – Ten years ago – ‘Butcher’ – Silver Serial Murder Case

And most importantly—

Luzhou City – Drug Trafficking Organization Leader – Unknown

After updating all the case details, Su Ming pointed to the last entry and made a serious deduction.

“As I see it, excluding the now-dead Qu Pengfei and Zhou Shirui, there should be eleven members left in this massive drug trafficking organization.”

“Besides the ten members whose code names we know, somewhere in Cangshan District of Luzhou City, there’s still one more—”

“The organization’s leader, a hacker expert.”

“The first instances of these high-purity drugs were found in Luzhou City.”

“Given that this organization is so massive, operates with such caution, and has left no exploitable unresolved cases, it’s unlikely that taking down the leader directly will be feasible.”

“For now, we must start with the other ten cases. As long as we find a single lead, we can pull the thread and unravel the entire organization.”

“But we have to be cautious about one thing.”

“That is, the leader of this drug trafficking organization will use the gathered intelligence to help other members escape or eliminate exposed operatives in advance.”

Hearing this, Xu Changsheng looked puzzled and asked curiously,

“Helping them escape?”

“Xiao Ming, I understand eliminating exposed members, but how exactly can they assist with escapes?”

“In theory, as long as we rule out the possibility of traitors within the police force, our case progress and tracking operations should be highly classified—even security officers wouldn’t know, let alone criminals…”

Before Xu Changsheng could finish, Lin Tian raised his hand and interrupted, speaking solemnly.

“Ah Sheng.”

“You’re still underestimating how arrogant and troublesome this drug trafficking organization is.”

“Just when you took a team to Zhou Shirui’s studio, Xiao Ming discovered that our city’s surveillance system—no, actually, every city connected to this drug organization—had been hacked by their leader.”

“They’ve infiltrated the Heavenly Eye surveillance system.”

“They can track our investigation units, the positions of undercover officers, and relay the intel to their members in real time.”

Hearing this, Xu Changsheng was momentarily stunned, his face showing disbelief.

How brazen must they be to do something like this? They had turned the police’s own surveillance system against them!

The roles of cat and mouse had completely reversed.

Yet, Su Ming showed no shock or concern. Instead, he continued in a composed manner.

“Chief Lin, Brother Sheng, aside from surveillance hacking, there are many other ways to gather intel on our police movements.”

“For instance—Monitoring real-time social media updates across major cities and extracting relevant keywords.”

“Because—When a large number of police cars rush somewhere, or riot-control vehicles appear on the streets, our people’s natural curiosity and love for spectacle will drive them to record and post about it online.”

“This allows them to infer our operations and arrest locations.”

“They could also forgo hacking Heavenly Eye and instead infiltrate civilian security cameras to track our movements.”

“Even something as simple as accessing highway ETC data or monitoring traffic flow speeds could reveal our activity.”

“Given the leader’s demonstrated hacking skills, writing a script to filter and extract information wouldn’t be difficult at all.”

At that moment, after listening to Su Ming’s analysis, Lin Tian furrowed his brows, placing his hand under his chin in a thinking pose.

“Xiao Ming.”

“If what you’re saying is true, doesn’t that mean we’re always in the open while the criminals remain hidden, constantly aware of our progress and actions?”

“That would put us at a significant disadvantage in our investigation.”

Su Ming smiled faintly and narrowed his eyes with confidence.

“That’s true.”

“But it also presents an opportunity—to deceive the other members of the organization.”

“Chief Lin, think about it…”

“If we overtly concentrate our resources and police force on one specific case, wouldn’t this crime syndicate’s information-hungry leader relay a false sense of security to other members?”

“Hidden criminals are hard to catch.”

“But if some of them mistakenly believe they’re safe and start appearing in public…”

“I think tracking them down won’t be too difficult. And once one gets caught, the others might start doubting their leader’s reliability.”

“Like a rat assigned to monitor and relay information about a hunter—what if, one day, it reports false intel, leading to one of its fellow thieves getting caught?”

“Would the remaining rats still trust it?”

“Even if they did, wouldn’t they at least feel uneasy?”

Su Ming’s idea made Xu Changsheng slap his thigh in excitement.

“Brilliant!”

“That’s a fantastic idea, Xiao Ming.”

“This drug cartel always eliminates its members to erase evidence, so if we act like we’re focusing on one case while actually tackling another, we might just catch someone alive.”

“And I refuse to believe—That every single one of them is as suicidal as Zhou Shirui.”

Lin Tian nodded in agreement, impressed with Su Ming’s bold yet strategic thinking.

And so, he pointed to the ‘Cyanide Murder Case’ in Gusu City and asked,

“Xiao Ming, so you’re suggesting we appear to focus on this case while secretly investigating another?”

Su Ming nodded and circled two cases:

Silver Serial Murder Case

Rose Flower Shop Face-Skinning Case

With these, they were ready to begin their operation.

“Let’s give that peeping rat a real show.”