It had been nearly half a year.
Midnight, 1:00 a.m., on the outskirts of Xike in Beijing. Three Criminal Investigation Division SUVs.
Ever since receiving this assignment.
Sitting in the front passenger seat of the lead vehicle, Li Yi made one final inspection of his body armor, pistol, magazines, and other equipment as he recalled the details of the operation.
Just as someone had to handle the most basic, ordinary jobs, like catching pickpockets in subway stations and malls, someone also had to take on the most dangerous and vicious line of work.
He belonged to the Jing City Public Security Narcotics Brigade Second Branch. He was a narcotics police officer.
Makeup, disguises, infiltration, undercover work—unable to tell their families while they were alive—these fantastical plots straight out of novels were their real jobs.
They needed strong willpower, good memories, and had to spend long stretches searching through excrement for evidence. During arrests, they often had to risk their lives in hand-to-hand fights.
The most dangerous branch of law enforcement. Routine injuries. Threats to "kill your whole family." No gravestones after death. Drug traffickers who would fight desperately because getting caught essentially meant a death sentence.
As a narcotics police officer, Li Yi had grown used to all of that.
But there were still things he could not get used to.
More than ten stakeouts lasting days at a time, two disguised transactions to establish contact, one successful undercover infiltration, and three months of relentless tracking.
They had finally located this band of "desperadoes" bold enough to sell drugs in the capital.
There were six of them in total. They would conduct a transaction tonight at a factory on the outskirts of Xike, dealing in third-generation synthetic drugs.
The leader likely had a gun.
And to obtain this intelligence,
five