Chapter 246 - 158: Perspective! Prepare... to Arrest!!

Zhang Liang answered honestly.

Xu Huo didn’t argue. "You’re right. Investigations are difficult."

"Especially when you don’t even know your target exists. That makes it even harder."

"But what if..."

"...someone like that was standing right in front of you?"

Xu Huo added.

Someone like that was standing right here?!

Everyone froze, their eyes immediately scanning their surroundings with alarm.

Zhang Liang’s hand went to his waist.

"Whoa, relax. I’m not saying they’re here. It was just an example."

Xu Huo chuckled, quickly stopping him.

"Let’s say you could skip the discovery, investigation, and capture phases. What if the suspect just appeared right in front of you? Could you identify the killer quickly then?"

Zhang Liang paused. After a moment’s hesitation, he nodded.

"Yes."

But...

"Does he really exist!?"

Zhang Liang couldn’t help but ask.

How is that any different from a clue just falling out of the sky?!

"He exists!"

Xu Huo nodded, then turned to the bewildered Li Jianye.

"Captain Li, do you remember the items from the killer’s cases?"

"Human Skin Thangka, Sister Drum, Gabala, Blood Jade..." Li Jianye replied.

"Four months ago, at a certain time and place, I mentioned the word ’Gabala’ to you."

Xu Huo said abruptly.

He... did?

Four months ago?!

Li Jianye froze. An instant later, his pupils contracted as he stared at Xu Huo in astonishment.

"You mean..."

"That’s right. The killer we need—the one from that other criminal gang."

"Was arrested three to four months before this case even started!"

Xu Huo took a deep breath. He looked at Zhang Liang and said gravely,

"Get the jet ready!"

"Notify the local police department. Tell them to have him waiting in an interrogation room. I’m on my way."

And that person was...

...

...

「Three and a half months ago.」

In the Eastern Country Domain, a case once occurred in a small, then-unknown city.

It was a case that shook even the Capital City.

It scared the entire city into holding an emergency meeting in the middle of the night.

The resources mobilized at the time were staggering, a sight to behold.

And that place was...

Yundong Province.

Jiangsan City!

「December 27th, 6:00 PM.」

SQUEAL... CLANK!

With that sound, the iron door shut.

Li Jianye, Xu Huo, Zhang Liang, and the others stepped through the iron door. They walked into the interrogation room, taking in their surroundings.

Several people were sitting inside the interrogation room.

Three prison guards, and a man in a blue-and-white striped prison uniform with his hands in shackles.

The man had a buzz cut. He sat on the other side of the table and instinctively looked up at the sound.

When he looked up, he saw two familiar faces.

"Officers? We meet again?"

Sun Jian watched them approach, his face devoid of emotion. He simply gave a slight nod.

Xu Huo ignored him and dropped into a chair.

Li Jianye didn’t say anything to him. Xu Huo thought for a moment, then looked at the man and asked,

"How much time did you get?"

"A month," Sun Jian said, smacking his lips.

"A month?" Zhang Liang was taken aback.

"One month left. Then, execution by firing squad."

Sun Jian said it casually, his face still a blank mask. Even when announcing his own death sentence, his expression was unnervingly normal.

"Tsk. Good to know."

Xu Huo nodded.

Who was Sun Jian?

He was the killer who, back in September, had caused Wang Chao’s older brother, the fishmonger Wang Hu, to have a complete breakdown!

He was also the true culprit behind the "Flesh Processing Plant"!

When he was younger, he’d followed a miner down into a shaft, only to discover he’d been sold.

The miners had told his wife and childhood friend that they’d get two or three thousand after his death.

In reality, however, his death would net them at least ten thousand.

But he survived. In just a few short days, he went down a dark rabbit hole and embraced a twisted philosophy.

He told Li Jianye that the world was just an ocean where the big fish eat the small.

Li Jianye had spent an entire interrogation session tearing into him for it.

"So? You’re Captain Li, aren’t you? I remember you."

Sun Jian looked at Li Jianye, then glanced at Xu Huo and Zhang Liang beside him. A look of understanding dawned on his face, and he chuckled.

"This must be one of those legendary agents from the Special Fifth Bureau, I presume?"

"Looks like you’ve learned a lot in the last three months working with Mr. Xu, Captain Li."

"And if you’ve ’learned’ so much, I’m guessing it’s because you’ve run into a big one."

"So what do you think of what I told you before?"

Li Jianye didn’t answer, merely staring at him coldly.

"Heh, so serious." Sun Jian chuckled, unfazed by his attitude.

"Alright, let’s get down to business."

"Something’s happened in the Capital City. It’s related to your work. Tell us who your people there are."

Xu Huo said slowly, cutting the two of them off.

"The Capital City?"

Sun Jian paused, then realization dawned. "Oh, I get it."

A mocking smile played on his lips as he looked at Li Jianye again.

"So, a big fish in the Capital City ate a little fish, and now you, an even bigger fish, are preparing to eat them?"

Li Jianye couldn’t stand it any longer. A strange anger flared in his chest. "That has nothing to do with this case!"

"All you have to do is cooperate. We’ll get your sentence reduced."

Cooperating with the police could lead to a sentence reduction.

But that raised another question...

"A reduction? From death row to a life sentence? Living in here would be far too dull."

"Or maybe life to a fixed term? Then a reduction on that term?"

As he spoke, Sun Jian’s expression hardened. He stared at the men before him and said flatly,

"Do you really think that even if I got a fixed sentence, even if I were getting out tomorrow..."

"I wouldn’t end up dead?"

He’d end up dead...

The officers froze.

"There are a lot of people who want me dead. A lot more than you cops."

"Right now, I’m no shark. I’m just a little shrimp. But this little shrimp has some very powerful people by the throat."