Chapter 311: Capturing Ghost, A Major Breakthrough in the Case

It looked like just two simple shots.

One hit the custom-made handgun, the other struck Gray Wolf in the left side of his chest.

Both shots precisely neutralized the immediate threat, leaving Gray Wolf no chance to retaliate. He collapsed flat on his back, unconscious.

Of course, for Su Ming, those two shots weren’t particularly difficult.

Gray Wolf’s attention had been entirely focused elsewhere. He never noticed Su Ming moving against the flow of the crowd to reach the audience seating area.

From a criminal investigation standpoint, aiming for Gray Wolf’s limbs instead of his chest might have left a chance to capture him alive and extract critical information.

But Su Ming wasn’t willing to gamble with such slim odds at the risk of public safety.

After all, Gray Wolf had been holding a gun and keeping it trained at all times. With panicked spectators fleeing in all directions, it was a highly volatile situation. If Gray Wolf had fired even a single random shot, casualties would have been inevitable.

In such a scenario, Su Ming made a quick and decisive judgment: if Gray Wolf wasn’t incapacitated within three seconds of the first shot, and still had the ability to pull the trigger, the consequences could be disastrous.

Just two stray bullets could have meant the deaths of two innocent bystanders. Worse, Gray Wolf could have taken hostages from the fleeing crowd to use as leverage for his own escape.

Moreover, based on Gray Wolf’s distinctive skin tone, Su Ming had instantly deduced—within less than a second—that the man on stage wasn’t a member of K’s drug trafficking organization.

Chances were, he was a professional assassin sent by a U.S.-based criminal organization that had ties with K. His mission was likely to eliminate Ghost and permanently bury the secrets known by Lan Caier.

Given that he had been deployed from so far away, his loyalty was beyond question.

Someone like that, even if left barely alive, would be of no use. Just like the Priest before him, he would likely have had a way to commit suicide rather than let himself be interrogated and risk leaking sensitive information.

And there was one more crucial point.

From Gray Wolf’s prior movements and the way he had focused on the center of the audience, Su Ming had already deduced that despite the earlier gunfire, Ghost was likely not seriously injured.

Otherwise, Gray Wolf wouldn’t have been so cautious, nor would he have kept his gun raised while slowly advancing toward the center.

All of his actions clearly aimed to lock onto Ghost’s position and prevent any counterattack or unexpected incident.

…

Once Su Ming had pieced everything together, some of the fleeing spectators began to notice that Gray Wolf had collapsed on the ground.

At the same time, several uniformed detectives were pushing their way through the crowd toward the audience seating area.

Seeing the police arrive, the panicked crowd immediately began to calm down. The staff used the venue’s loudspeakers to make announcements to everyone inside.

“The police are here.”

“The police are here. The terrorist has been subdued. Please stop running.”

“Everyone, please stop pushing. Watch your step. Don’t cause a more serious stampede.”

With the help of the public address system, the chaos quickly subsided.

Many in the crowd began murmuring to each other—praising how fast the police had arrived, how it hadn’t even been thirty seconds before the suspect was taken down.

Lin Tian and Chen Sheng quickly moved to the front of the crowd, leaving others to maintain order.

Seeing Gray Wolf lying motionless on the stage, Lin Tian immediately turned to Su Ming and asked, “Xiao Ming, what’s the situation?”

Su Ming narrowed his eyes, still focused on the center of the audience—the spot Gray Wolf had been watching—and replied quickly.

“The Black man on stage is most likely beyond saving. The police-issued handgun probably shattered his heart.”

“From what I can tell, he only entered Jiahe City today. He’s not part of the drug trafficking organization, but a member of that U.S. criminal organization. He was sent here specifically to silence Ghost and bury Lan Caier’s secret for good.”

“We can try to resuscitate him, but honestly, there’s little hope.”

“Also, I’m fairly certain I’ve pinpointed Ghost’s current hiding spot. He doesn’t seem to be seriously injured.”

“He might still be capable of fighting back, but this time, he’s truly trapped with no way out.”

As Su Ming finished speaking, Lin Tian, who had been listening intently, suddenly widened his eyes. He clenched his fists, let out a long breath, and said with deep relief, “Thank goodness.”

“To be honest, that was way too close. I never imagined… aside from the Priest, someone else would come to Jiahe City to permanently silence Ghost.”

“And they arrived barely a minute before us—practically on our heels.”

“If Ghost had been taken out right in front of us, we would’ve had no leads to follow. Cracking this case would’ve become a nightmare.”

At that moment, Lin Tian suddenly thought of something. He looked around quickly and asked urgently.

“By the way, Xiao Ming, where did you say Ghost was hiding?”

“We’ve come this far. Let’s not have any more surprises, or things could get really messy.”

Hearing this, Su Ming nodded in agreement. Ever since he dealt with Gray Wolf, his gaze had been fixed on the center of the audience seating—the very spot Gray Wolf had been watching earlier. He wasn’t about to let Ghost pull any tricks.

At this moment, Su Ming raised his already-loaded pistol and began walking steadily toward the center, neither fast nor slow, his pace calm and measured.

A few seconds later, when he reached the middle of the seating area, his expression was cold, devoid of any emotion. He tapped the back of the seat in front of Ghost and spoke in a chilling tone.

“Ghost.”

“I’m giving you three seconds. Stand up with your hands on your head. Now.”

“Three.”

“Two…”

Before Su Ming could even finish the countdown, Ghost—who had been cowering beneath the seat, trembling uncontrollably, selfish to the core—was already slowly rising to his feet.