Chapter 162: A Crisis Approaches, and Bomber Witnesses It All

“West Mountain Orchard?”

When Poison mentioned this specific location, Lin Tian did not hesitate for a moment. He immediately sent the address to Liu Yang and specifically instructed him to dispatch plainclothes officers to capture Poison.

The leader of the drug trafficking organization, K, was like a rat hiding in the rafters, always using various means and methods to spy on police operations. So, if the operation was not conducted in plainclothes but in an overt manner, Poison would inevitably receive a tip-off and flee.

Of course, the main reason for setting up a dual-track investigation route earlier was to use Poison, who was in Gusu City, to divert attention and capture the key figure of the organization, Rose. Now that Rose had been captured, there was no need to maintain the overt operation.

The most important thing now was to use the information gap to capture Poison and gather the whereabouts and information of other members of the drug trafficking organization.

…

After Lin Tian sent the address, Su Ming nodded in satisfaction and continued, “Got it, West Mountain Orchard, right?”

“I will try to send the new face masks tomorrow, but before you receive them, you should stay put and not leave.”

“This place was chosen by K himself for you to hide in, so it should be relatively safe. You can probably hide for one or two days until I send over the masks.”

“Alright, if there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up.”

After speaking, Su Ming did not immediately hang up but waited for Poison to do so. Although he had already confirmed the initial phone call code, he was unsure if there would be another hidden code when hanging up. This was not something that could be taken lightly, so the best approach was for Poison to hang up first.

However, Su Ming’s concern turned out to be unnecessary, as Poison hung up immediately without any delay, not even a “thank you.”

Clearly, after the important matters had been discussed, there was no secondary code from the drug trafficking organization.

Beep—

With the sound of the call being disconnected, Gao Chao, who had been devoted to criminal investigation his whole life, immediately spoke with certainty and seriousness, “Fifteen seconds.”

“If I didn’t miscount, Poison waited fifteen seconds after the number was connected before answering the phone.”

“Considering Poison’s current situation…”

“He’s being hunted by the Gusu police, and with the surveillance capabilities of the drug organization leader K, he’s been managing to escape every time. That’s why he’s hiding in West Mountain Orchard now.”

“So Poison must be paying close attention to the phone call because it’s tied to his new hiding spot being discovered by the police, and whether he’ll be caught by the police.”

“In such a scenario, Poison should have answered within five seconds of the phone ringing, but he deliberately waited for a full fifteen seconds.”

“This fifteen-second wait is very likely a code used by the drug trafficking organization.”

“And after thinking about it, it seems there’s no other code besides this fifteen seconds.”

“At least, after the call is connected, there’s no need to wait for a few more seconds, no special code words for communication, and no second verification code when hanging up.”

Su Ming nodded in agreement with Gao Chao’s analysis and narrowed his eyes, speaking in a calm voice, “Let’s wait a little longer.”

“If nothing goes wrong, Bomber should call again within three minutes to verify, because the voice that sounded like Rose earlier would definitely raise his suspicions.”

“As long as we can keep Bomber in the dark for now, we’ll have enough time to use the fifteen-second code to call the other members of the organization and figure out their hiding spots.”

“If this method works, the speed of the capture will exceed expectations.”

“Also, based on Poison’s words earlier, we now know the codename of the leader of this drug trafficking organization…”

“K, the highest card in a deck of playing cards, and it can also represent the symbol of a king.”

At this point, Lin Tian, who had just finished talking to Liu Yang, put his phone back in his pocket and said, “The criminal investigation team from Xiangcheng is already on the move. Director Liu, in plainclothes, is leading the team to West Mountain Orchard.”

“Also, during our conversation, Director Liu specifically mentioned something.”

“Most of the fruit trees in West Mountain Orchard are apple, peach, apricot, and plum trees—fruits with pits.”

“These fruit pits can easily be used to extract cyanide, so I think Poison must be very familiar with West Mountain Orchard, not just because it’s the orchard he contracted.”

“More importantly… he often comes here to collect the pits to make highly toxic cyanide. This place is indeed very hidden.”

Su Ming agreed with Lin Tian’s statement. Although extracting cyanide from fruit pits was not difficult, it required a large quantity of fruit to meet Poison’s needs.

Rather than buying fruit in bulk and increasing his exposure, it made more sense to contract an orchard. This way, no one would know, and with Poison’s character, he would definitely do this.

Just as Su Ming was about to say something, Rose’s phone, which had previously been left on the table, suddenly buzzed and vibrated.

The three men, who had been discussing the case, immediately fell silent, and the words “Bomber” displayed on the phone screen made the atmosphere feel tense.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds…

Su Ming remained calm, silently counting in his mind. When he reached the fifteenth second, he decisively pressed the answer button.

With the previous experience of talking to Poison, Su Ming took the initiative and imitated Rose’s voice, speaking with an impatient tone, “Bomber, how’s the situation on your end?”

“I just got a call from K, saying I need to urgently make a few new face masks for Poison. It seems like Poison may not make it.”

Not only did Su Ming use the fifteen-second code, but he also invoked K’s name to hopefully dispel any doubts in Bomber’s mind.

But just like before, Bomber did not respond immediately.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds…

After a full three seconds, Bomber’s deep, somewhat hoarse voice finally came through the phone.

“Really?”

“Poison won’t make it? If K is having you urgently make face masks, then Poison must be in a very dangerous situation.”

“Alright, Rose.”

“The face masks I asked you to make earlier, you can pause those for now. This city is pretty safe, so just make the ones for Poison first.”

“I don’t have anything else, just hope K can give some support and help keep Poison safe.”

“Alright, I’m hanging up… Oh, by the way, Rose, I almost forgot to ask.”

“How’s the situation in Liangxi City? I feel like those dogs have been quiet these past few days, no movement at all.”

“It’s still fine these days,” Su Ming thought carefully in his mind for a few seconds, making sure not to give anything away, and continued, “They’ve been quiet for now.”

“Poison has attracted the attention of the task force, so the rest of us can relax a little. As for me, everything here is barely normal.”

“Alright, that’s it. I still need to hurry and make a face mask for Poison.”

After a few seconds of silence, Bomber’s even lower, hoarser voice came through the phone again.

“Mm, hang up now, Rose.”

…

At this moment.

Less than two hundred meters diagonally across from the Red Rose Beauty Salon, an armored off-road vehicle was quietly parked by the side of the road. A young man with a wild hairstyle was sitting in the driver’s seat, his eyes fixed on the beauty salon in the distance, surrounded by numerous police officers, not allowing anyone to enter. He silently set his phone down.

A few seconds later.

Bang!

Bang!!

Bang!!!

The young man slammed the steering wheel several times with great force, his eyes bloodshot as he lowered his head, letting out a hoarse growl.

“Heh…”

“Everything’s normal! Damn everything being normal!!!”