Floating Island
In the armored vehicle, Bai Shuo was full of excitement about this operation. In his four years in the serious crime squad, this was his first time dealing with such a major case.
He operated the tablet, and the floating blue dots were synchronized to multiple devices. Chen An wore a headset and talked to the person on the other end.
Jiang Li arrived at the gas station mentioned in the message and looked around. The place was extremely desolate. The paint on the gas station sign was peeling. If he didn't run away after arriving at such a place, he would have to be crazy. However, there were many people in this world who would lose their minds for money, so it didn't seem strange to think about it.
Jiang Li waited for a long time and complained to the person in the headset, "Brother, this is too desolate."
A light laugh reached his ears, and Pingchang said, "It just hasn't developed yet."
"It's even more shabby than the countryside. I have a reasonable suspicion that the construction funds were embezzled by the higher-ups."
Chen An's eyes twitched. Although they were communicating on this channel, everyone could hear. Even if it was just a joke, it wouldn't be good if the superiors heard it. Besides, he still had to go to the police academy. But he didn't want to remind them too obviously, so he just asked, "Is the car here?"
"No." Jiang Li glanced at the red dot flashing on the tree, "Oh, there are surveillance cameras here."
Bai Shuo checked immediately after hearing this. "No, the surveillance cameras near this gas station are all broken. Where did you see the surveillance footage?"
Jiang Li said lazily: "That's okay, it's not ours."
This place should be considered their base. It is not open normally and is only opened when they need to pick someone up. Judging from the time, they should have been observing Jiang Li for a while.
He lowered his head and kicked the stones, "The car is coming soon."
He never spoke again after that.
Sure enough, ten minutes later, a black van stopped in front of him. The driver rolled down the window and asked, "Are you going to Liangtou Mountain?"
Jiang Li was confused. He didn't have the code. After a few seconds, he said truthfully, "No, I went for an interview."
The next second, the driver opened the door and got out of the car, helping him with his luggage. "Let's go."
Reverse test.
There was no one else in the car yet, so in order to get more conversation, he drove the passenger seat, sat in, fastened his seat belt, and started talking normally.
"Master, are we going to Liangtou Mountain?"
The driver had a crew cut and was wearing a mask, but now he took it off, revealing a scar behind his ear.
"Don't ask."
The other party's attitude was very impatient. In order not to arouse suspicion, Jiang Li chose to keep quiet.
The car turned around and drove out of the urban-rural junction and actually went into the city. Jiang Li didn't say anything along the way, just looked out the window.
Before coming, Chen An told him that it would be best for him to remember all the landmark buildings along the way.
The armored vehicle had just driven out of the province, completely opposite to the direction they were heading. Currently, they only knew that the black hole was roughly located in Southeast Asia, but they didn't know where exactly it was, and its relationship with the floating island was even less clear. They could only wait where they were.
When the car stopped in the city of Qu'an, Jiang Li even suspected that he had been exposed long ago, until a few more boys got on the car. They looked about the same age as him, and the youngest was probably fifteen or sixteen years old.
What impressed Jiang Li the most was the twin brothers. They looked very similar, and the younger brother was very excited and started making friends as soon as he got on the bus.
When the pair of slender white hands reached out to him, Jiang Li politely returned the handshake and said, "Hello, my name is Zhang Yunqi, and this is my brother Zhang Yunhan. We'll be teammates from now on."
Bai Shuo said, "Zhang Yunqi and Zhang Yunhan are twin brothers who graduated from high school, just like Jiang Li. Their parents divorced and each started their own families, so they've been living together since childhood, relying on government assistance and odd jobs to survive. Although the brothers look the same, their academic performance is very different. The older brother has good grades and could easily get into a top university, but the younger brother is a poor student and has trouble even getting into a junior college."
Zhang Yunqi was very talkative and started chattering as soon as he got in the car. Jiang Li actually heard Bai Shuo's words clearly amidst his frighteningly dense chatter.
The boys in the car didn't like to talk much. Zhang Yunqi kept talking for a while, but then felt it was boring and stopped. The car became quiet.
When turning into the next entrance, Jiang Li realized that he had arrived in Changping County.
It seems that everyone gets on the bus at random.
There were several girls in Changping County. Amidst the laughter and cheers, Jiang Li noticed a girl. The girl was also surprised to see him.
The girl had a lot of luggage, so the driver got out of the car to move it. Jiang Li got out of the car under the pretext of helping to move the luggage.
He took Qu Mengting's luggage and put it in the trunk. Qu Mengting avoided his gaze and didn't dare to look at him.
A girl in the team suddenly had diarrhea. The driver looked at the time and saw that five hours had passed, so he asked them to go to the bathroom together.
At the bathroom door, several people looking in the mirror were imagining their own career paths. Several of them enthusiastically introduced themselves to each other. Qu Mengting stood in the corner until Jiang Li approached. "Hello, my name is Jiang Li."
Qu Mengting didn't know he was on a mission, so she leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Run."
Jiang Li didn't answer and asked, "Qu Mengting, what are you doing here?"
When Chen An heard the name, he immediately frowned, "Qu Mengting."
Bai Shuo asked, "Who?"
"A high school student who likes R&E."
Logically, Qu Mengting should be preparing for the college entrance exam at this time. Why is she here? Could it be that she knows something?
Her expression was too unnatural, so Jiang Li asked directly, "Do you know something?"
Qu Mengting glanced at the driver waiting outside, then glanced at the others who were still socializing inside. She pulled Jiang Li out and said, "I know why Xiaoyou disappeared. It's because of their company, 'Mengdie'!"
Jiang Li frowned: "Are you here for Tang Xiaoyou?"
Qu Mengting nodded vigorously, her eyes filled with a passion to find the truth. "That idiotic company said Xiaoyou went to study outside. What the hell? She was on the rise in her career. How could she suddenly quit the group and go study somewhere? It's impossible. I don't believe it. None of us buy it. And I suspect the organization that found Liu Hanxiao and me last time has some connection to 'Dream Butterfly'."
Jiang Li felt a headache. That's right, she probably didn't know about Tang Xiaoyou's death yet. The "Mengdie" company didn't issue an obituary, otherwise the fans would have smashed the building long ago.
This has led to the fans who truly love her being kept in the dark, and they foolishly believe in their own person and want to find the truth for her.
Jiang Li pinched his brows and said seriously, "You, go back now."
The moment Qu Mengting saw him, she knew he definitely wouldn't let her go. She poked her hand and pretended to be pitiful, "Oh, don't be like this, you're going too, so don't stop me. Maybe we can even work together, what do you think?"
"I don't need your cooperation." Jiang Li turned and lectured, "Are you stupid? Didn't you suffer a loss last time? Why don't you repent? Looking for the truth? Do you really think you're a detective?"
"Do you know how dangerous this journey is? You're just going to rush in? Do you have the equipment? Do you have a plan? Do you have someone to pick you up?"
All the words that Chen An had used to teach him a lesson were now being used on others. Could this be considered as applying what he had learned?
Qu Mengting was unable to utter a single word under his interrogation. After holding it in for a long time, she could not utter a word. She said weakly, "You have it?"
Jiang Li chuckled, "Of course I do."
"So, you should find a way to leave right now."
Qu Mengting curled her lips, puffed out her chest, and steeled herself, "It's too late. If I leave now, it will only make me more suspicious. Jiang Li, we're all on this pirate ship now. None of us can escape."
She was right. If someone suddenly withdrew from such a harmonious atmosphere, it would indeed arouse their suspicion and might even implicate others.
Seeing him hesitate, Qu Mengting seized the opportunity and said, "Since we are all here to investigate the case, let's form an alliance."
Jiang Li rolled his eyes at her and slapped her outstretched hand away.
Chen An's voice came from the headset, "Let her follow, be careful."
"Um."
Qu Mengting thought he was talking to her, so she raised her head and said with a smile, "Then it's happily decided."
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