Chapter 510 - 244: My Partner Might Be of Help

Chapter 510: Chapter 244: My Partner Might Be of Help

The police operation began swiftly.

Based on the fragmented information provided by "Knife" and the remaining clues from the encrypted email, the technical investigation department worked overnight to lock down several suspicious locations. SWAT and criminal investigation units were dispatched along multiple fronts, launching a massive city-wide screening and search.

Yang Qi didn’t take part in these specific arrest and search operations.

Leave the professional work to the professionals. He was better at communicating with animals, seeking a breakthrough from a different angle.

Yang Qi went to the room where the surviving crow was being temporarily held.

After its Spirit Awakening, the surviving crow was far more intelligent than a typical crow. It could understand simple commands and concepts, and its memory was also enhanced.

However, its awareness was still confined to the world of a bird and the tasks for which it had been trained.

Yang Qi used the Basic Spirit Communication Technique, combined with various interrogation methods, to try and excavate information from the crow’s memory. He was looking for details about other strongholds, methods of transport, and especially the whereabouts of the colorful parrot.

However, the crow’s memory contained little beyond its daily training routine—responding to specific sounds, lights, and drug-based rewards; and carrying out its missions—flying to designated locations, finding targets, and providing directions. The only other things were a deep-seated fear of its trainer, "Mute," and the oppressive feeling it got whenever "Hawk" made a rare appearance.

It had no concept of where the children were taken, nor could it comprehend complex human activities like transport and relocation.

As for the more intelligent colored parrot, the crow only knew it was under the direct control of the "boss." They didn’t train together, and though they occasionally went on missions together, the crow had no idea where the parrot was kept.

The entire exchange yielded nothing new, other than confirming the criminal group’s strict division of labor and the fact that this crow was treated as a mere tool.

That evening, Yang Qi returned to his hotel.

Once again, he took out the second-tier, low-grade Spirit-Exploring Ball.

He had previously used its active mode to scan the immediate area. This time, Yang Qi decided to switch to passive mode, expanding the detection range to a sixty-kilometer radius!

He injected his Magical Power, and the Spirit-Exploring Ball began to flow with a cyan light. A vast, three-dimensional phantom map materialized in his mind, covering most of the Yuanzhou City District and the surrounding suburbs.

Dozens of points of light, varying in color and brightness, instantly appeared on the map.

There were more than ten times as many as he’d seen in active mode.

Most of these points of light were faint and scattered throughout the city, representing the locations of what the system classified as "Spirit Beasts."

Yang Qi carefully examined the distribution of the lights, memorizing the positions of a dozen or so that were either brighter than the rest or clustered in specific areas.

He then changed into casual clothes and left the hotel, pretending to be out for an evening stroll. Guided by his memory and the Spirit-Exploring Ball, he moved swiftly through the city, tracking down the points of light.

One was a well-cared-for Ragdoll cat with a remarkable spirit, living in a residential complex.

Another was a loyal mongrel deep in an old alley, a companion to an elderly person for many years, a dog that seemed to possess an almost human-like understanding.

There was also a particularly chatty myna bird in the flower-and-bird market, and a brightly colored lizard with intelligent eyes in a private pet shop.

But he found no trace of the brilliantly-feathered, abnormally-behaving Rainbow Lorikeet.

This meant one of two things: either the parrot was no longer in the Yuanzhou City District, or, like the crow, it hadn’t been classified as a Spirit Beast by the system.

His search proving fruitless, Yang Qi returned to the hotel to rest.

...

Early the next morning, just as the sky began to lighten, Yang Qi arrived at the municipal police headquarters.

As soon as he entered the Criminal Investigation Division’s office area, he could feel that the atmosphere was even more grim and tense than the day before.

Many of the officers had bloodshot eyes, a clear sign they hadn’t slept all night.

Yang Qi looked for Chen Jifeng, but he wasn’t there. He asked around and learned what had happened. Yesterday, acting on the information from "Knife," the technical investigation department had done some deep data mining and pinpointed a location. South of Yuanzhou City, in a neighboring county, they’d found a hidden manor in a mountain valley, camouflaged as a livestock farm.

Chen Jifeng had led a team, assembled his forces overnight, and launched a long-range raid, hoping to catch them by surprise.

But when the assault team reached the manor before dawn, they found it completely deserted.

The scene showed signs of a hasty evacuation.

There was half-eaten food, scattered personal belongings, and even some simple medical supplies left behind in the rush. But the key personnel, the equipment, and any other children who might have been hidden there were all gone.

The enemy had clearly been tipped off, making an emergency escape just before the team’s arrival!

They had come up empty at such a critical juncture.

This meant that "Hawk" had more covert communication channels or an early warning system. It also meant the criminal network was far more vigilant and difficult to handle than they had anticipated.

As the head of the task force, Yao Zhenwei was under even greater pressure. He was currently giving an urgent briefing to the city officials who had rushed to the scene upon hearing the news.

The nature of the case had changed completely.

If this were merely a case of child trafficking, it would be heinous enough, but still within the bounds of a conventional criminal investigation.

But now, it had been exposed as a network for custom-ordered, live organ harvesting and trafficking. The sheer cruelty, the devastating impact, and the deep-seated network of interests likely involved... all of this elevated it far beyond an ordinary criminal case. It had escalated to the level of an extremely dangerous organized crime syndicate.

Relevant officials from Yuanzhou City had been alerted and had come to the municipal headquarters in person to oversee the matter.

The provincial authorities were also taking this very seriously; a special task force supervision team had been dispatched and was already on its way.

The pressure on the entire municipal headquarters was immense.

When Yang Qi heard the news, he fell silent.

A moment later, he returned to the room where the crow was being kept.

This time, there were no recording devices and no escort. All available police personnel had been pulled away for other duties. The room was empty, save for Yang Qi and the crow in its cage.

With no one else around, Yang Qi no longer had to hold back.