Getting to Work

Mo Qiong blamed himself for being foolish. He had been so focused on catching wanted criminals that he forgot there were people in this world who needed to be found even more urgently.

Those were the abducted children.

While the bounties for wanted criminals were high, they were listed in the public security system. It was fine to collect a reward once or twice, but claiming too many might attract the attention of the police.

Besides, wanted criminals were on the run and could hardly live a normal life, always on edge, and might be caught at any moment.

China's surveillance systems were becoming increasingly powerful. Even if escaped criminals weren't found now, they would eventually be caught; they couldn't hide for long.

In contrast, finding abducted children was much harder.

Many parents might never find their lost children in their lifetime.

"Since I'll be busy anyway, why not start with this?"

Finding lost children might not yield as much reward as wanted posters, or perhaps no reward at all.

But it didn't matter. He could do it without money, and get rewarded a few times.

After all, this was something he could do repeatedly, no matter how many times.

The ones who paid were the parents of the children, not government agencies.

Even if he, as the key figure in finding children, needed to be recorded by the police, it wouldn't matter.

The relevant departments he would interact with would be from all over the country. No one would be idle enough to keep a tally of who found the most children in the world.

Mo Qiong's thoughts raced. Seeing Qin Ya looking at him in surprise, he quickly said, "Lost children are a big deal. Why don't you tell me about your cousin? I'll write it down and try to help you look too."

"After all, the more people know about finding children, the better. Many hands make light work. Maybe I'll see him someday?"

Mo Qiong spoke very earnestly. Since he had already decided to do this, why not start with people around him who needed help?

His words immediately touched Qin Ya.

She had mentioned it to other close friends before, but their reactions were merely to comfort her and offer encouraging words.

This was normal. Not many outsiders would take such a slim chance, a situation without any leads, to heart. Almost no one would proactively ask for a photo and say, "I'll help you look."

Encouragement was the most normal response from a friend.

But Mo Qiong's reaction exceeded her expectations.

He actually wanted to help her and was seriously taking notes on her cousin's situation, showing genuine concern.

Perhaps he would just remember it and inform her if he saw anything someday. This help would be like a drop in the bucket for finding the child.

But his reaction made Qin Ya feel warm, because it was the greatest encouragement, worth more than a thousand or ten thousand words of comfort.

"Thank you," Qin Ya said, gazing at Mo Qiong dazedly, feeling a warmth spread through her.

"Thank you for what? We haven't found him yet. You can thank me later when he's found," Mo Qiong replied calmly.

His words sounded like, "I'll drink this wine after I slay Hua Xiong."

They gave the impression that he wasn't just saying it, but was determined to find the child.

Qin Ya let out a soft hum and began to recount how her cousin got lost, where he was lost, what leads were found after reporting to the police.

What places her family had searched and what methods they had tried.

Mo Qiong listened attentively, but in reality, none of this was useful to him.

To him, these clues that others had to study so diligently were not as good as one...

"Do you have a photo? Not just of the person, but also of any personal belongings he lost."

"Of course, I'll send them to you." Qin Ya opened her phone. It contained a missing person poster and photos of various personal items. As a relative, she had these things stored on her phone long-term.

Mo Qiong handed her the phone. Qin Ya added him on WeChat and also helped Mo Qiong record her phone number, sending him a large number of photos.

"As expected, two years old is too young. He should be six now," Mo Qiong said.

The child was lost when Qin Ya was fifteen, and four years had passed since then.

If it were an adult, the changes wouldn't be significant, and the photos would still be referential.

But a two-year-old child would have changed drastically after four years. His own mother probably wouldn't recognize him.

In such a situation, the photos had no reference value. There was no need to even try; imagining it ten thousand times wouldn't work.

"He had a longevity lock?" Mo Qiong asked.

"Yes, it had his name on it, Qin Liang. This one." Qin Ya stood up and sat next to Mo Qiong.

Mo Qiong secretly thought that items with names on them would make things easier.

"Okay, I'll let you know if I get any news."

"Mhm, mhm." Qin Ya smiled and nodded.

She didn't actually think Mo Qiong would really go looking; at most, he'd keep an eye out.

But Mo Qiong's attitude made her very happy.

After eating, Mo Qiong escorted Qin Ya back.

Around afternoon, the first batch of twenty GPS devices was delivered.

"OK, we can start working."

After Mo Qiong assembled them, he studied how to use them.

He chose the models with the best battery life. These satellite-positioning devices, once the software was installed, could track the GPS's location for twenty-four hours, unless it was in extremely remote areas without signal coverage.

Now, many deep mountains and old forests had signal coverage. Even if there wasn't, he could at least know which area without signal the GPS had reached, so it would still serve a locating purpose.

After getting all twenty GPS devices ready, he also took the time to package them.

This involved encasing them in a layer of sponge for protection, and then wrapping them in a waterproof cover.

After all, who knew how far these GPS devices would fly? They would face wind and rain along the way. If they malfunctioned halfway, it would all be for nothing.

Once everything was covered, he grabbed his short bow and went up to the rooftop...

"First arrow... Target, the longevity lock."

"Inscribed with Qin Liang's name, in regular script, made of brass..."

Mo Qiong continuously visualized the target's details. With the photo as an aid, there was basically no room for error.

If it were a longevity lock bought from a store, who would take a close-up photo? But this lock was different; it was an antique, a collectible belonging to Qin Ya's father, so there was a close-up.

This was a huge help.

Because it was an antique, its surface even had some dents and other historical marks, which were unique characteristics.

"Whoosh!" Mo Qiong drew his bowstring to its fullest and shot a light, small GPS device with all his might.

If he were only pursuing speed, he should have used a nail gun.

But this was an instrument, after all, and hitting the target too quickly wouldn't be ideal.

Mo Qiong knew that his bow could give an arrow an initial velocity of up to fifty meters per second.

The GPS was very light, so this speed would be even faster, approximately sixty meters per second.

Since this speed wouldn't decay before reaching the target, it could be directly calculated that after twenty-four hours, the GPS would have flown five thousand one hundred and eighty-four kilometers.

China's east-west span is only about five thousand two hundred kilometers, meaning that in one day, a GPS could fly from the easternmost part of the country to the westernmost part.

This speed was acceptable. Although the surface had been softened, any faster would turn it into an attack.

"Second arrow... Target, Xiao Bao's birthmark."

Mo Qiong was quick and shot another arrow.

This Xiao Bao was another missing child he had found online.

There were too many similar cases, but he couldn't help find them all because the children were too young, and if they had been missing for a long time, their appearance would no longer be a reliable reference.

Xiao Bao had a special birthmark on his forehead that would accompany him throughout his life. Coupled with the fact that he had only been missing for just over two years, it was barely worth a try.

For others, unless there was something like the longevity lock, it was possible to try, but personal belongings were usually just clothes and shoes, so there was no point in even trying; they definitely wouldn't be found.

Next, he found information on all children who had been missing for less than a year.

Then, based on their appearance, he shot out GPS devices one by one.

In a short while, eighteen arrows had been shot.

"Nineteenth arrow... Target, Yang Fusheng."

This was an A-level wanted criminal who had embezzled bank funds and committed fraud multiple times.

The wanted poster had his ID photo, and there was a reward of 100,000 RMB for informants who provided clues or for those who contributed to his capture.

While he was focusing on finding missing children, he wasn't neglecting wanted criminals.

One was still worth pursuing; it would be foolish not to claim the 100,000 yuan.

However, this time, as Mo Qiong shot the arrow, the GPS device vanished into thin air.

Yes, it vanished!

"Huh? What's going on?"

If the GPS had broken through the atmosphere and shot towards space, Mo Qiong could have accepted it.

But what was this vanishing act?

"Could it have shot into another dimension? Did this wanted criminal time travel?"

Mo Qiong thought for a moment, then searched for another wanted criminal.

"Twentieth arrow... Target, Zhao Mingjun."

Zhao Mingjun was also an A-level wanted criminal, guilty of kidnapping and murder, with seven lives on his hands; his crimes were heinous.

However, the bounty was only 50,000 RMB.

Only one had a bounty of 100,000 yuan; the rest were 50,000, and he was the most dangerous one, making him Mo Qiong's candidate this time.

"It shot away, this is normal."

Mo Qiong pondered, thinking that perhaps Yang Fusheng had died, and in a way that left no intact corpse.

So much so that the goal Mo Qiong had in mind didn't exist, at least not in this world.

Then the nineteenth arrow might have been shot into another world, such as the afterlife, or a parallel universe.

"So, perhaps my arrows can traverse space and time."

"Of course, it's also possible that if the target of the arrow is completely unmatchable, my ability will erase the arrow."

"Tsk, I can't prove it either, I can't shoot myself."

p.s: The contracts have been mailed, and the recommendation will miss this week