Chapter 196: The Butcher’s intelligence, Lin Tian Confirms the Priest’s Portrait!

At the same time.

In the Qingyang Criminal Investigation Team of Taicang City.

The criminal portrait expert who had been urgently called in was currently working in the mediation room, using Fang Yuwei’s description to create the most accurate portrait of her boss based on her memory.

From the details so far, it seemed highly probable that the person Fang Yuwei had met, who had worked with the bomb, was not the true K, but rather someone who had been instructed by K to come in his place—an elder of the drug trafficking organization, known as the Priest.

However, if they could use the criminal portrait to determine the Priest’s original identity, it would undoubtedly be of immense value.

After all, given K’s cautious nature, if even the bomb had never seen his true face, it was unlikely that anyone who joined the drug trafficking organization afterward—except for someone like Rose, who knew how to make human skin masks—had seen it either.

In this case, it seemed most likely that the Priest, who had met with the bomb and brought him into the organization while disguised as K, was an important figure.

If they could capture the Priest, it would likely lead to unprecedented success.

Following the Priest’s trail could potentially lead to the founder of the entire drug trafficking organization—K himself.

Within the organization, figures like Rose, the bomb, and the butcher were simply highly intelligent criminals who helped expand the drug supply chain. K, however, was the irreplaceable core, controlling vast amounts of high-purity drugs and an enormous distribution network, all while hiding under the radar with the help of exceptional hacking skills and a cautious attitude, which had allowed the organization to stay hidden for years.

If not for Qu Pengfei and Zhou Shirui’s exposure, the drug trafficking organization might have remained hidden and deeply embedded in the black market of Dragon country.

An hour later.

After revising the portrait seven or eight times, they finally received Fang Yuwei’s confirmation that the portrait closely resembled the image of Jiang Shu, the boss she remembered.

Lin Tian took the A4 paper from Tang Yong, a well-known criminal portrait master in Dragon country, and carefully examined the portrait of the Priest based on Fang Yuwei’s recollection. He then sighed and said,

“Director Tang, thank you for your hard work.”

“You had to rush over here just to sketch the portrait of such a criminal, I really appreciate your effort.”

Tang Yong, who was already over sixty years old, put away his reading glasses and shook his head, saying,

“Don’t say that.”

“As long as I’m not too old and confused to pick up the brush, as long as you’re not bothered by an old man like me still drawing portraits on paper, and not even using a tablet or anything like that, I’m happy to help.”

“To be honest…”

At this moment, Tang Yong slowly stopped his work, looking at Lin Tian with a serious expression. His somewhat cloudy eyes were filled with determination as he spoke softly,

“I’m actually hoping you’d come to me.”

“After half a lifetime of criminal investigation, helping capture hundreds of criminals, and now that I’ve been asked to retire, it’s just hard to get used to.”

“I can’t stand seeing those criminals who should be getting what’s coming to them, still roaming freely in the darkness, enjoying themselves and trampling on the laws of Dragon country.”

After a brief silence, Tang Yong sighed deeply, as if reflecting on his own aging and how he couldn’t quite keep up with the times anymore. But his unwavering dedication to capturing criminals never changed.

Whether he was in his twenties, thirties, or nearing seventy, he still gave his all, ready to help whenever needed.

Upon receiving Lin Tian’s call, he didn’t hesitate to rush to the Qingyang Criminal Investigation Team.

Suppressing all his emotions, Tang Yong waved his hand at Lin Tian, signaling him to go on, and continued his work of refining the portrait, softly suggesting,

“Alright, Xiao Tian.”

“Go ahead and check the household registration system to see if there’s a similar portrait. If we can identify this criminal, we could end this case sooner.”

Hearing this, Lin Tian nodded immediately. After saluting Tang Yong, he and Huang Qiang headed straight to the criminal technology department to begin the portrait comparison.

Normally, a portrait based solely on witness descriptions and recollections would be difficult to match with a real criminal in the household registration database.

But regardless of the chances, they had to try everything they could, especially against such a covert drug trafficking organization.

Moreover, there had been special cases where Tang Yong’s portraits had matched with criminals in the household registration system.

That’s why Lin Tian had specifically asked Tang Yong, who was over sixty, to rush in the middle of the night to try to confirm the Priest’s true identity.

—

At the same time, while Lin Tian and the others were checking the household registration system to identify the Priest’s true identity.

At the Gusu High-Speed Railway Station.

The current time was 6:52 PM, and the 7:00 PM train from Gusu to Modu was already in the process of routine ticket inspection.

Unlike other stations, this inspection didn’t require facial recognition—just an ID card to confirm the seat reservation.

“Beep—”

“Beep——”

“Beep———”

…

The sounds of turnstiles opening echoed as many commuters dressed in suits and work uniforms, clearly fatigued, passed through the gates and made their way to the designated platforms.

Among the crowd of commuters heading to the platform was the butcher, wearing a black suit and carrying a briefcase. Though unfamiliar with the station layout, he blended in with the flow of people and remained inconspicuous.

In fact, no one paid him much attention. Surrounded by other commuters who were tired and only interested in sitting down and resting, the butcher appeared just another tired office worker.

Despite this, the butcher, while looking straight ahead, kept a watchful eye with his peripheral vision or small movements, constantly assessing whether he had been exposed.

He also deliberately stayed close to other travelers to ensure that if his identity was revealed, he could quickly take a hostage and gain a small chance of escape.

Two minutes later.

The butcher reached the platform, looked at the train that consisted of two connected high-speed trains, and took out his phone to check the booking information once again.

As the announcement for the train’s imminent arrival was made, the butcher raised his cold eyes and glanced at the white train head in the distance. He then immediately abandoned his current seat reservation.

Without hesitation, he walked towards the far-off carriages, specifically car number 14…