Tongxin Village

After leaving the Martial Arts Hall, Chen Xia did not return to the Patrol Inspection Office. Instead, he prepared to take a taxi to the rural area on the southern outskirts of the city.

At that moment, a burst of commotion came from the street corner.

Chen Xia turned to look and saw a group of people walking this way along the road, holding banners.

The banners bore slogans such as "Give Us Back Our Children" and "Severely Punish Human Traffickers!"

At the very front was a woman in her forties.

She wore a white jacket, a brown Fisherman's Hat, and black sunglasses. A small black leather bag hung from her shoulder as she cried out to the sky, "Give me back my child! Who will uphold justice for us? My daughter has suffered so terribly..."

"Give me back my daughter! You must give us justice... We can't let these villains run wild..."

Beside her were other parents who had lost their children, gathered together to march through the streets.

Their ranks grew larger and larger, soon blocking the entire street. Police sirens drew near from afar, and several patrol vehicles pulled up at the roadside. People got out to maintain order, but the enraged crowd had already lost control. Some began throwing mineral water bottles at the vehicles.

"Give us back our children!"

"Severely punish human traffickers!"

"We can't let criminals escape justice..."

"The Old Town's case-solving rate is far lower than that of the Federation's new cities. That isn't fair! The evil forces should be uprooted, and our peaceful lives returned to us."

Slogans rose and fell one after another. Swept along in the crowd, the woman felt as though she could barely breathe.

In the end, the march alerted Zhou Tong, the Mid-level Captain of Xingou Street.

He came to the scene with a loudspeaker, repeatedly soothing the crowd and telling them that they would definitely help find the culprit, asking them not to worry.

But the more they made trouble, the fiercer they became. In the end, Zhou Tong had to promise that the culprit would be found within a month before they finally settled down.

Sigh.

Seeing this scene, Zhou Tong felt a trace of shame in his heart.

They were not wrong about one thing: public security here had not been maintained well.

After the Federation Country was established, many places built new cities, but many old cities were retained as well.

Life in the Old Town was relatively chaotic, and order was far from perfect. In the new urban districts, such as Chujiang Province's Handong City—a vast region even broader than the former ten provincial capitals—public security was very good.

The new districts were prosperous, wealthy areas close to the center of a province, and their controls were indeed much stricter.

Meanwhile, the outer Old Town occupied the largest area. With activity zones of other races nearby, there was a need to rapidly foster martial artists, so Mercenary Groups were allowed to develop freely on native soil. Many Mercenary Groups in various places were even supported by powerful Lineages above.

Where there were many influential forces, chaos was bound to arise, springing up one after another like bamboo shoots after rain, impossible to stop.

The higher-ups did not issue guns, greatly reducing the deterrence ordinary Patrol Officers had against criminals.

More importantly, since spiritual energy had revived a thousand years ago, animals had mutated, and large numbers of Outer Domain races had invaded five hundred years ago, humanity's birth control policy had basically become unrestricted.

Back then, whoever could have children gave birth desperately. Girls as young as eighteen were approached and persuaded to marry early and have children, all so the Human Race could endure. Under large-scale cultivation, the Human Race's population had become greater than ever before.

Huaxia alone had a population of more than three billion. The higher-ups continuously developed new mountain forests and plains, building many cities. After the other races were temporarily driven away and the situation stabilized for a century, the accumulated population still did not decline.

Basically, the outskirts of every province belonged to the Old Town. As for entering a new city, that was simply beyond the dreams of ordinary people.

Though the other races had temporarily retreated, the Federation still needed to build many bases outside, requiring enormous amounts of money and resources.

Thus, all kinds of equipment in the outer cities were used sparingly, with funds going toward the establishment of battle groups, resistance against the other races, and construction of new-city bases. Under all these conditions on the outskirts, governance had indeed developed problems.

But then again, unless everything was swept away in one fell swoop and their development strictly prohibited, even if weapons were issued, those people might not care.

But that was impossible, because once the other races attacked the outer cities, a large number of force groups would be needed to fight them.

When Zhou Tong saw Chen Xia, he smiled. "Little brother Chen, you're here too."

"Mm."

Zhou Tong gave a bitter smile. "These people are making a scene, but the missing persons case is indeed particularly vile. We still have no leads right now. It's rather troubling..."

"I suspect it was the Gathering Justice Mercenary Group, but we haven't found any evidence yet. Still, quite a few Gathering Justice members died some time ago. I have no idea what happened there."

Hearing this, Chen Xia glanced at Zhou Tong and smiled. "As long as they act, they will inevitably leave flaws behind. They've merely restrained themselves now, which makes finding evidence somewhat difficult."

Chen Xia did not discuss these matters much further with Zhou Tong, because he knew the case would soon come to light. As long as Edel's hideout was found, the missing people could be found.

And now, he already had some clues.

While cultivating during this period, he had also ordered his people to keep an eye on the Gathering Justice Mercenary Group. Even business owners in the area under his jurisdiction on Xingou Street had been making inquiries.

According to Chen Xia's plan, he would have them investigate during this period while he gave himself three days to make final preparations.

If they still failed to uncover anything, he could only directly report the Gathering Justice Mercenary Group's den to the Patrol Inspection Office, have their leader Cao Yi arrested and interrogated, and force him to reveal the hideout's location. At least that would earn him some credit; it was better than coming away empty-handed.

Xiao Qiang had long since discovered Cao Yi's hideout, but he had not rashly alerted them.

Fortunately, Xiao Qiang had sent Chen Xia a message yesterday, saying that Gathering Justice's core members had begun gathering.

And today, Xiao Qiang had been keeping watch on them.

With that in mind, Chen Xia hailed a taxi and headed for the southern outskirts. At the same time, he opened his Electronic watch and asked Xiao Qiang about the situation.

"Captain Xiao, how are things?"

Before long, Xiao Qiang's profile icon flashed. He said, "Captain Chen, I'm currently tracking Cao Yi of the Gathering Justice Mercenary Group. They're driving a large van toward the south side of the city. I'm behind them."

"Follow them. I'll be there right away!" Chen Xia was delighted when he heard the news.

Meanwhile, in a taxi heading for the southern outskirts, Xiao Qiang, seated in the back, hung up the call with some confusion in his heart.

Over the past few days, Xiao Qiang had led his team members in watching the Gathering Justice people. He had also used acquaintances among the local residents to keep a close eye on everything around them.

Xiao Qiang had spent fifteen years in the Patrol Inspection Office and knew people from other teams as well. He had secretly mobilized them too, all so that he could make a showing in front of Chen Xia.

After all, if he wanted a promising future, he felt Chen Xia was an excellent path upward. He had to accomplish something and leave a good impression. Of course, nine times out of ten, it might be of little use, but it was still an opportunity.

Chen Xia was someone valued by the Chief Office. Just for that reason alone, Xiao Qiang had to show some tact.

Fortunately, things had made some progress. Yesterday, through a friend who ran a business on the street, he saw Gathering Justice members assembling. Today, news came that they had gone out.

Xiao Qiang immediately hired a taxi to follow Gathering Justice's vehicle. Though he knew it was somewhat risky, he had a family to support.

But it was precisely because of that that he wanted to work hard to improve himself and not let any opportunity slip away.

He just did not know what Chen Xia was really planning to do.

Soon, while following Gathering Justice's vehicle, he saw them park on a small street in the southern outskirts.

He had the driver continue past without stopping, lest they be discovered. Only after the taxi had gone by did it stop farther ahead. Once he confirmed that the Gathering Justice people had not noticed them, he continued waiting where he was.

He observed Gathering Justice members getting out of the vehicle one after another and entering a small inn.

Not long afterward, Chen Xia arrived as well. He did not get into Zhang Feng's car. Instead, he headed directly to a village on the southern outskirts. When they reached a patch of woods beside the main road leading into the countryside, he sent the taxi away.

"When they leave later, follow them. I'll reimburse all expenses through the higher-ups. You only need to track them. I'll keep watch here. Report to me immediately if anything happens," Chen Xia sent in a message.

"Mm, alright!"

Xiao Qiang nodded. He guessed Chen Xia was investigating the missing persons case, but he did not ask further. He waited in the taxi.

That wait lasted an entire day. He and the driver had already eaten two meals, yet the people still had not come out.

Since Xiao Qiang had paid him quite generously for the trip, the driver was happy to stay with him. It was not until eleven at night, when there was hardly anyone outside, that the Gathering Justice members finally came downstairs from the inn, all got into the vehicle, and continued on their way.

But as Xiao Qiang's taxi followed them and gradually drove onto rural roads at night, a car following behind was truly conspicuous.

Just as the Gathering Justice people grew suspicious, Chen Xia sent a message. "I can see your car now. Take the fork in the road and stop following them. I'm afraid you'll arouse their suspicions."

"If I stop following now and lose them, won't all our efforts have been wasted? What should we do?"

"It's fine. I'll follow them. After you drive away, find somewhere to turn off the engine and wait. I'll notify you later."

"Alright..."

"They've left..."

Cao Bing of Gathering Justice turned around and watched the taxi behind them take the fork in the road. Only then did he relax. He carefully checked the surroundings again and found nothing wrong.

"Brother Cao, no need to worry. Who would be so idle this late at night? We've already been cautious enough, circling around several times. Besides, with Lord Edel here, who would dare cause us trouble? They must be tired of living!" the bald squad leader beside him said.

"Mm! When you meet Lord Edel later, all of you must be respectful. Don't be rude. If we can receive Essence Blood as a reward from him this time, our strength will improve. This is extremely important. It concerns Gathering Justice's development, so we cannot be careless. Understood?"

Cao Yi reminded them in his deep, powerful voice.

"Brother Cao, don't worry." The several squad leaders in the vehicle all nodded, indicating there would be no problem.

But being crammed into such a tight space for so long made everyone uncomfortable, and someone began complaining.

"Lao Si, can't you drive faster? We're seriously uncomfortable packed in here!"

"This damn van is fucking manual transmission. Besides, this shitty road is really hard to drive on. I'm already going as fast as I can..."

"After Lord Edel is done with those women, I'm going to enjoy myself properly. Damn it, otherwise all this jolting along the way will have been for nothing."

As he said this, all the big men in the van laughed evilly, their eyes glowing red without restraint.

Time passed bit by bit.

Before long, they drove into Tongxin Village.

But no one expected that on the dark rural dirt road behind them, a shadowy figure had been following them all along.

The shadowy figure was extremely fast, no slower than a car.

It would pursue them from behind at intervals, always keeping a distance of a hundred meters from the van. The Gathering Justice people did not notice anything unusual.

Soon, their vehicle entered Tongxin Village and stopped in front of a large three-story house.

After turning off the engine, the group looked around, then cautiously opened the door and went inside.