Upon hearing this, the bureau chief paused, and Zhao Yuncheng, with great tact, led the hacker away.
“I don’t know where you got this information, but you should know it’s classified.” The chief slammed his fist on the table twice. “I know you’re worried about your father, and I assure you our police will bring him back.”
Qiao Xia crossed her arms and looked at him, refusing to back down an inch. "I want my dad to come back unharmed."
The bureau chief said anxiously, "Those are just two petty thieves; their knives might not even be sharpened..."
“But that’s enough to kill people, isn’t it?” Qiao Xia took a deep breath. “I just don’t want any accidents to happen. You’re responsible for how the machine is operated. I just want my dad to come back safely. Borrowing 10 billion once is a good deal, isn’t it?”
The two men stared at each other in silence, and in the end, the bureau chief gave in, saying, "I can't make the decision on this matter. I need to call my superiors."
Qiao Xia glanced at the time. "There are still 24 minutes left. I have to go. I hope you bring me the result I want."
Five minutes before noon, Qiao Xia jumped off the helicopter, pulled her black suitcase, and stood next to the trash cans at the fish farm.
Just then, the phone rang again. "Put the money in the trash can, and you can go."
"How can I be sure my dad is still alive?" Qiao Xia asked timidly, clutching her suitcase even tighter.
The kidnapper's voice was a mix of excitement and impatience: "I'll send you the video in a bit."
Qiao Xia said directly, "I want a video call."
A buzzing sound came from the other end of the phone, and the next moment a motorcycle slammed into Qiao Xia.
"Ooh ho~" The blond-haired boy with the ghostly fire yelled and snatched the suitcase. Just as he was about to ride away, Qiao Xia gripped the other end of the suitcase tightly and with a forceful pull, the blond-haired boy fell heavily to the ground.
Qiao Xia lifted him off the ground with one hand and held an unsharpened fruit knife to his neck. "I don't need money, but I want my dad to be safe. Call your accomplice and tell him you got the money."
The blond-haired man's eyes darted around. Under Qiao Xia's threat, he cautiously picked up the phone, but no one answered after three tries.
Qiao Xia felt a chill run down her spine, realizing that things were spiraling out of her control. "Where is he? Where is my dad?"
"Sold...sold."
Qiao Xia's vision went black, and she collapsed weakly to the ground.
Zhao Yuncheng arrived with his men. "There's no one in the warehouse. The river behind it is only 100 meters long. They can't get far by water. The director has blocked the highways in City A. They can't get out."
Qiao Xia wouldn't listen to a word he said. She grabbed the blond-haired man by the collar and demanded, "Where did you sell them to?"
Seeing so many police officers, Huang Mao became frightened and quickly waved his hands to shirk responsibility, saying, "I don't know, I really don't know, it was Da Mao who told me to do it."
Zhao Yuncheng asked sternly, "Who is Da Mao?"
The blond-haired man spilled everything he knew like beans from a bamboo tube: "Da Mao is my older brother, he has ways to make money..."
Zhao Yuncheng's brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly. "The way to make money you're talking about is human trafficking?"
Huang Mao nodded and then shook his head. "This is our first time too. In the past, the higher-ups were in charge of kidnapping people. We just drove people to a fixed location and earned a few hundred yuan for travel expenses."
"And who's in charge?" Qiao Xia asked coldly.
"She was pinned down." The blond-haired man pointed cautiously at Qiao Xia. "Your dad started it."
Qiao Xia calmed down a bit and suddenly remembered that he had saved Mu Suye before. "So, you kidnapped him for revenge, and selling him was also a plan from the beginning?"
Huang Mao quickly shook his head, "No, that's not true. We lost contact with them after they were pinned down. We only kidnapped them because they were rich. I really didn't want to kill them. We originally planned to leave the country immediately after this job. I had already bought the tickets."
Qiao Xia indeed pulled out a plane ticket from his pocket for a flight to Singapore at 7 p.m.
She closed her eyes briefly. "If that's the case, why change your mind and sell him?"
Huang Mao said with a wry smile, "It's not that we want to sell, but the original people called Da Mao and said that if we don't send the people over, they will tell the police what we did, and then we won't be able to leave."
The previous kidnapping case had remained unsolved, and Zhao Yuncheng thought there would be no more clues. Little did he know that these two thugs had such a hidden agenda.
Qiao Xia tried to calm herself down. "Do you know who called you?"
The blond-haired man shook his head.
"What's his number?"
The blond-haired man shook his head again.
Qiao Xia took a deep breath. "Where did you all send people before?"
“The place we used to work at was by the sea. People were dropped off at the pier, and there were always different cruise ships waiting there, but I don’t know anything else.”
"I know." Qiao Xia closed her eyes; now she was really anxious.
Some thrill-seeking rich kids find the domestic entertainment options too limited, so they take cruise ships to international waters. But her father is so old, he certainly wouldn't actually let her go out drinking with customers.
That leaves only one possibility.
Some old people who are rich and powerful think they can change their fate, and when their organs have problems, they try every means to replace them with new ones.
They are easily targeted domestically, and since they are not on their own territory abroad, their most frequently chosen location is the high seas.
Having understood the meaning behind her words, Zhao Yuncheng immediately ordered someone to check the cruise ships that were going out to sea that night.
The director frowned deeply as he looked at the ship's information. "This ship belongs to Mu Xiaogui, the sixth young master of the third branch of the Mu family. He grew up abroad and is not a Chinese citizen. Without evidence, it will be difficult for us to board the ship and search for him."
Qiao Xia calmly said, "I just need to confirm whether my dad is on the ship or not. I can figure out the rest myself."
The director sighed; he hadn't expected the machines he'd applied for would actually come in handy.
Half an hour later, the director handed Qiao Xia detailed video data. "The machine can only detect a large number of medical devices on the three lower decks of the ship; it can't determine anything else."
"The cruise ship will set sail at 9 p.m. and arrive in international waters around midnight. Ms. Qiao must obtain the evidence before the cruise ship enters international waters."
"Okay." Qiao Xia nodded in agreement.
The director said with a serious expression, "Based on our speculation, the people on the ship are very likely carrying guns, so just in case, Yuncheng will stay by your side to protect you."
Qiao Xia did not object. Zhao Yuncheng attached the camera and equipment to his body, and the two set off together.
At 8:30 p.m., a full twelve hours had passed since Qiao Zhaoxing was kidnapped. Qiao Xia waited at the dock, her heart unable to calm down no matter what.
"Xia Bao..." A faint cry for help came from behind.
Qiao Xia turned her head stiffly, her eyes instantly filling with tears.
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