Chapter 318: Sparse but Not Leaked
Deputy Captain Zhong examined the live feed and analyzed, "The buildings on Chenyun Street 2 are densely packed, with varying heights and locations, creating significant obstructions."
"The drone only captured them entering Second Street, but we can't confirm whether they were in the East or West District, let alone their current specific activity area."
A police officer immediately added: "There are three large jewelry stores concentrated on the east side of Second Street."
"They are 'Jinruifu Jewelry', 'Linglong Pavilion' and 'Baoguang Tiandi'."
Xia Lili stared intently at the street map displayed on the tablet in his hand and mused, "But our earthquake warning was issued very early, almost ten hours in advance. Most areas of the city, including businesses, should have received the notice."
She raised her head and continued her analysis calmly, "These types of jewelry chains usually have professional security plans."
"I speculate that they have most likely already moved the valuable jewellery to a central vault or a more secure area for safekeeping."
"The only items left in the store are probably some jade ornaments, silver jewelry or accessories... It's very unlikely that a large amount of priceless goods would be left in the store's temporary warehouse."
Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard this. Deputy Captain Zhong also turned to her, his tone serious and expectant: "So, where do you think they are more likely to go?"
Xia Lili carefully studied the electronic map on the tablet, sliding her finger between several areas. "There's an inconspicuous side road near the back alley of District 1 on Second Street."
"This area is mostly small shops with relatively low rents, and it's home to a lot of famous cigarette and liquor recycling shops."
She paused and continued, "These small stores' emergency defense measures are far less comprehensive than those of large chain stores. They may simply store goods in their own reinforced warehouses, or even just thicken the rolling shutters."
Deputy Captain Zhong's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but praise: "Not bad, very sharp observation!"
Xia Lili moved the map to the west district again: "Look at the west district again. There are a lot of electronic and digital product stores here."
"Mobile phones, cameras, smart watches, laptops...any small item is worth thousands of yuan."
"A single store might stock thousands of units, plus prototypes, display units, and various other scattered smart devices. The models are numerous and the value is considerable."
"In the event of a sudden earthquake, it is very likely that there will not be enough time to move all of these goods."
Xia Lili's analysis was clear and everyone's eyes lit up. It seemed that this special consultant not only had the ability to predict disastrous events!
Deputy Captain Zhong nodded in agreement: "These people dared to take such a big risk to enter Shenyun Street. They must have had a thorough plan in advance."
"Perhaps from the moment we issued the earthquake warning, they had been secretly observing this street, which they considered to be full of 'fat sheep', and closely monitoring the various businesses' responses to the earthquake."
Xia Lili was shocked and suddenly woke up.
It turns out that the earthquake warning issued in advance is a life-saving signal for citizens to stockpile supplies, pack up their belongings, and save their lives.
But in the eyes of those criminals with bad intentions, it has become a rare "crime opportunity reminder"!
Xia Lili couldn't help but take a deep breath, feeling that her understanding of criminal psychology and social prevention and control was completely opened up at this moment.
Deputy Captain Zhong said in a serious tone, "We have to split up now. Team A will follow me to the electronics street in the West District, and Team B, led by Captain Li, will go to the small storefronts between First and Second Streets. Whoever spots the criminal first will notify the other team to rush over for support!"
Everyone answered: "Yes!"
Based on the collapse of the streets on both sides, Xia Lili believed that Team A might encounter more collapse hazards, so she decided to follow Team A to the electronic products street to carry out the operation.
Before leaving, she looked at each member of Team B again to confirm.
When her eyes met Captain Li's, her vision suddenly blurred, and familiar hallucinations flooded into her mind like a tide:
She "saw" Captain Li leading five team members in pursuit of three fleeing criminals among the ruins.
The other side fled in all directions, and Team B quickly split into three groups, working in pairs.
Captain Li took the lead and rushed to the front, and just when he was about to approach a criminal, the man suddenly pushed down the prefabricated wall that had already loosened!
The entire area collapsed, and rubble and broken beams fell down, instantly burying Captain Li and a team member who followed closely behind him.
Under the ruins, a glaring pool of blood quickly seeped out from Captain Li's body and slowly spread over the rubble.
The other team member was buried so tightly that he disappeared without a trace...
Xia Lili suddenly came to her senses, her face turning pale in an instant. She grabbed Captain Li who was about to take action:
"Wait! You can't chase like that!"
Xia Lili was shocked and angry!
These criminals are so cruel that they deliberately caused landslides to bury pursuers alive, treating human lives as worthless!
She suppressed her anger and quickly said to Captain Li, "I have noted down the escape route of a criminal in a black vest in my hallucination."
"He knocked over the 'Xinghua Digital' sign along the way, turned around a shop with a blue tiled exterior, and finally fled toward the exit on the west side of Second Street."
Her tone was hurried but very clear: "Captain Li, take your men to the west exit and wait for them!"
"Also, notify the team members tracking Yongxin Electric Appliances. The structure in that area is extremely unstable and could collapse again at any time."
"Once you reach this area, you must immediately stop the operation and evacuate!"
As the special consultant for this operation, Xia Lili was granted the highest command authority on the scene.
Captain Li responded without hesitation: "Understood, I will do it immediately!"
He then turned around and deployed his team members to act according to the new plan.
However, new doubts arose in Xia Lili's heart: in the predictive image just now, only three criminals appeared in the alley, and among them was not the extremely evil Lu Wanqi mentioned by Deputy Captain Zhong.
So, where did the other three criminals, including Lu Wanqi, go?
Xia Lili immediately said to Deputy Captain Zhong, "Captain Zhong, in the hallucination, I only saw three criminals stealing high-end cigarettes and alcohol in the alley between First and Second Streets."
"Lü Wanqi and two other criminals are missing."
Upon hearing this, Deputy Captain Zhong's expression immediately grew serious. "Then let's stick to our original plan and go to the electronics street in the West District."
"Perhaps the six criminal gang members captured by the drone are only part of their group."
Xia Lili nodded, and everyone quickly split into two groups and took action.
She followed Team A through the streets of Chenyun after the earthquake, and everywhere she looked was a shocking sight.
Several high-rise buildings were severely damaged and looked shaky. Rubble piled up like mountains, and broken steel bars pierced the concrete surface like hideous bones. The air was filled with dust and an unknown sense of danger.
They had to bend over to get through twisted window frames, climb steep slopes of ruins, and even squeeze sideways into narrow passages formed by cracks in buildings.
Although Xia Lili had already confirmed in advance by looking at each other that no accident that would result in death or serious injury would occur, there was still a sound of gravel falling from above her head, and occasional strange sounds of further cracking of the wall could be heard in the distance.
The team members looked tense, holding their equipment tightly and looking around vigilantly.
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