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Chapter 23: Courage
April 5th, early morning. Headquarters of the Pingyuan City Police Department.
The officer on duty in the records room heard footsteps approaching from outside. The sound passed through the clamor of the bustling reception hall downstairs and climbed to the second floor, finally turning toward the archives reading room.
He paused his mobile game and straightened up in his chair.
It had to be that reporter again.
"Hello, it's me," the thin, buzz-cut man said as he entered, greeting the officer in his usual quiet but polite tone. "I heard a group of Blue Signal suspects were arrested last night. Are the case files available for review?"
The officer set his phone aside and glanced at the empty computers in the reading room, confirming there was no one else around. Silently, he pulled a chair from an empty table and placed it next to his desk, gesturing for the man to sit.
"Shi Rang, right? Why are you so obsessed with investigating Blue Signal?" The officer scrutinized the gaunt, frail-looking man before him. Though Shi Rang appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties, he carried himself like a timid, bookish introvert. "You already have investigative authority—why not just scrape together some filler material? Why pick a fight with Blue Signal?"
A few days ago, Shi Rang might have hesitated to respond. But after spending several days in the reading room, the duty officer had become somewhat familiar with him.
After a moment of thought, Shi Rang offered a prepared excuse: "Last night’s operation was conducted by the Pancontinental Coalition. They might entrust me with writing the news report. If I can’t produce anything, I’ll lose my job."
"Do you not realize they’re setting you up as a target? What’s more important—your job or your life? Even if you don’t care about yourself, think about your parents and family!" The officer found it baffling.
There were twelve districts in the world. The top eight each had their own strengths, while District Nine and District Ten were notorious in their own ways. Back when District Ten still had some semblance of hope, tourism was used to salvage its reputation. But since the construction of the land-based isolation wall over thirty years ago, which excluded Districts Eleven and Twelve, these two areas had become universally recognized bottom-feeders.
District Ten’s officials had tried to salvage its image, but facing economic stagnation, someone a decade ago came up with the idea of opening ports in three coastal cities to the lawless zones beyond the wall.
The consequences of allowing access to outlaws were predictable: criminals flooded in.
Now, District Ten’s coastline was a cesspool of everything vile—arms, addictive substances, human trafficking—and not only did it tarnish District Ten’s reputation, but it also fueled crime in neighboring districts, cementing its status as a malignant tumor.
It was easy to invite wolves in, but much harder to drive them out.
District Ten was beyond saving. Several massive criminal organizations ran rampant, and Blue Signal was among the most notorious.
The officer couldn’t fathom how foolish this timid little reporter must be to dare confront such a group.
At first, he’d thought Shi Rang was aimlessly flipping through files out of fear, but now, hearing him request the case files of those Blue Signal henchmen from last night, he realized Shi Rang was serious!
The media outlets themselves weren’t afraid—they operated safely in affluent areas, using sensational news to profit. In contrast, dealing with a small-time journalist like Shi Rang was much easier. If he dared publish this story, his corpse would likely end up hanging under a bridge within days!
Even if he hid in a safer city, District Ten was riddled with Blue Signal’s eyes and ears. How long could he possibly evade them?
Why didn’t he make the smart choice and back off?
Even invoking Shi Rang’s parents failed to deter him.
On the contrary, the officer’s words seemed to stir something deep within Shi Rang. His gaze hardened.
"Please retrieve the case files for me."
"Are you insane? After everything I’ve said—"
"Retrieve the case files!" Shi Rang’s voice rose sharply. Realizing his outburst, he quickly softened his tone, adding a quiet, "Thank you."
The officer stared at him for a moment, then turned away, muttering under his breath: "Lunatic."
Shi Rang ignored the insult and moved to an unoccupied computer, waiting for the officer to provide him with temporary login credentials to access the internal network and retrieve the files.
Over the past few days, Shi Rang had made almost no progress.
He was well aware of how ineffective District Ten’s police force was.
When he first arrived here, unaware of District Ten’s chaos, he had come full of optimism for a new life. On his very first day at university, his suitcase was stolen, and he went to the police station to file a report. After hours of being ignored and inexplicably pressured into “signing something,” he was nearly framed as a suspect in another case. If his good friend Mushroom hadn’t arrived in time to pay off the right people, Shi Rang would have ended up in jail before even stepping foot on campus.
So, it came as no surprise when the case files he reviewed were filled with meaningless drivel.
He despised the corrupt officers, but he understood the deeper reason: "Those criminals with connections will be bailed out soon anyway. Why waste time investigating thoroughly?"
Shi Rang could only sigh, missing the relative peace and order of Yunling City.
At least there, criminal organizations didn’t dare act so brazenly.
He had come early today because last night, the Pancontinental Coalition had raided a human trafficking warehouse, arresting all the criminals involved. No journalist or newspaper dared to report it publicly, but the Coalition’s own media announced the success of this cross-district operation.
The Pancontinental Coalition operated independently of the districts, wielding immense power. When they intervened, local police wouldn’t dare interfere. The suspects were still in custody awaiting trial, and the case files were bound to be legitimate.
This was Shi Rang’s best chance to find the criminal known as “Greyhound.”
The page loaded quickly, and Shi Rang was slightly taken aback by the thoroughness of the case files. He immediately began reviewing the interrogation transcripts.
Soon, he found the name “Greyhound.”
["...We were supposed to meet Greyhound and Brother Johnny at that warehouse to transfer the smugglers, but the cargo ship had an accident that night, and many stowaways died. They took the bodies away to dispose of them. I don’t know where exactly—they’re not part of our group. Their main job is transporting goods; they were called in temporarily to help."]
Damn it!
Shi Rang’s heart sank.
He reviewed the statements of the other suspects, all of which mentioned Greyhound. But their stories aligned perfectly: Greyhound had left early due to the accident, and his whereabouts were unknown.
This was the perfect opportunity to capture Greyhound. For some reason, the Coalition wasn’t conducting regional peacekeeping operations but instead focusing on crime suppression. Shi Rang hoped to report Greyhound to the Coalition, who would then arrest him. With investigative authority, Shi Rang could personally interrogate him about Fan Yingshang’s whereabouts.
But Greyhound had slipped through their fingers...
District Ten still had an official government, which wouldn’t allow the Coalition to meddle indefinitely. Once the Coalition withdrew, Greyhound would retreat back into Blue Signal’s criminal network, becoming impossible to trace.
By then, the last remaining lead Shi Rang had been chasing for two years would be gone.
Shi Rang refused to give up. Threats from Blue Signal, risks of investigating criminals, and the possibility of losing his job—all of these were irrelevant to him.
He had quit his corporate job and joined the newspaper to search for her.
After coming this far, was there really no other way?
Clenching his teeth, Shi Rang returned to the case files. This time, instead of obsessing over the nickname “Greyhound,” he began analyzing the entire incident.
Ten suspects, dozens of stowaways... the testimonies and evidence combined created an overwhelming amount of information.
The sun rose to its zenith outside the archives window, then descended toward the west, carrying Shi Rang’s dwindling hopes with it.
By sunset, Shi Rang still hadn’t found any leads.
The Coalition’s experts hadn’t uncovered the trail either. How could an amateur like Shi Rang, armed only with an “online investigation guide,” possibly succeed where professionals had failed?
Finally, Shi Rang stood up and headed for the door, ready to retrieve the car he had rented in Pingyuan City from the police station’s parking lot.
Since reviewing the case files hadn’t yielded results, he decided to follow the advice from that “investigation record” and visit the scene of the raid.
Perhaps he’d find something there...
At the very least, he couldn’t just do nothing.
Just as he was about to push the door open, someone beat him to it.
To his surprise, the duty officer, still in uniform, walked out with his hands in his pockets.
"Is it okay to leave the archives unattended?" Shi Rang glanced at the "Confidential Area" sticker on the wall.
The officer shrugged. "I’m off duty. Someone else can handle it."
Shi Rang felt that something wasn’t right, but his head was spinning from going through the files. On second thought, the other person had left around the same time a few days ago—it was probably just his imagination.
But leaving in uniform—wasn’t that unusual?
Shi Rang hesitated, watching the officer’s retreating figure disappear through the door. In the end, he didn’t ask.
They had exchanged unpleasant words earlier, and he wasn’t the type to strike up conversations with strangers—he wasn’t outgoing or overly friendly.
Shi Rang left the police station.
By the time he reached the parking lot, it was already half-empty. A line of vehicles waited at the exit gate as officers quickly dispersed into the city.
Glancing at the departing cars, Shi Rang felt increasingly perplexed.
The headquarters didn’t handle emergency reports and didn’t need round-the-clock staffing, but...
When he got into his car, the parking lot was eerily deserted, with only his vehicle remaining. All the lights in the headquarters building were off, and the interior was silent.
Had everyone left too quickly today?
Maybe there was a social event or group activity?
Shi Rang wasn’t a detective, and he had his own priorities. Setting his doubts aside, he focused on the task at hand.
He started the car and followed the navigation to the abandoned warehouse by the sea.
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