NOVPUBChapter 79: Chapter 78 The Nonexistent Person
Chapter 79 -78 The Nonexistent Person
How dangerous?
Zhang Zhiyuan also wanted to ask himself this question.
If this person really was the host of Paradise, then his presence gave off the feeling of being omnipotent… Not only creating things out of thin air but also able to overwrite memories and even warp time.
Even the missions entrusted to them were filled with blood and slaughter; a moment’s inattention could lead to an immediate fatality.
But why didn’t he feel in danger while staying close to such a person?
The people who had received help from Paradise… Dane, Judy, Sister Jenny, the freed slaves, they shouldn’t feel that Paradise was a dangerous organization either, should they?
“I don’t know,” Zhang Zhiyuan finally answered. “You can proceed in a cautious manner, but if possible, I hope he can be captured alive.”
“Understood,” Lu Ming nodded without saying anything more.
Thirty minutes later, the van arrived at the residential area and stopped directly beneath the target apartment building.
The police officers who had been covertly surveilling since the night before also sent messages that there had still been no abnormal movements observed.
“Has everyone confirmed the suspect’s photo?” Lu Ming raised his wrist. “Start synchronizing watches now, the time is 9:15 AM. Teams three and two, you have fifteen minutes to evacuate all residents on the sixth floor of the building. Team one will breach with me, front entry at 9:30 AM, aim to capture alive if possible. Is that clear?”
The special forces members nodded in unison.
“Move out!” With Lu Ming’s command, the rear doors of the vehicle slid open, and the group filed out, quickly entering the apartment building. It was past the morning rush hour and there were hardly any people in the residential area. Moreover, with the disguise of a moving company on the van, no one knew that a sudden operation to capture a fugitive had already begun.
Zhang Zhiyuan and Cui Zhen’en followed Lu Ming to the third floor, where the latter took out a device and gently pressed it against the door. The back of the instrument eventually displayed the scene inside the room.
“Wow…” the latter couldn’t help but whisper, “Is that a thermal imager? It can even see through walls!”
“Rich man’s gadgets,” Zhang Zhiyuan murmured jealously under his breath.
“It seems there’s only one person in the room,” Lu Ming assessed, “in the third room from here. Hmm… from his posture, he’s operating a computer, and his alert level doesn’t seem too high.”
Alone, constantly accompanied by a computer, this was indeed consistent with the image of someone in the gaming industry.
“Huang Zining, it should be him,” Zhang Zhiyuan inhaled deeply, his heartbeat accelerating a bit more.
In the past, he could only see the other’s figure in the game, and now, there couldn’t possibly be an endless number of masks anymore.
The moment the clock hand pointed to the 30-minute mark, the breach team swung the door-breaking hammer, instantly smashing open the not so sturdy security door! Almost at the same time, Lu Ming and another special police officer charged into the house with guns drawn, heading straight for the third room. The entire process was fast as lightning, from breaking the door to entering took just two or three seconds; before Zhang Zhiyuan could stand up, there were already shouts and commands inside the house! 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓅𝓊𝓫.𝒸ℴ𝓶
“Don’t move!”
“Hands behind your back!”
“I’m wrong, I’m wrong, don’t shoot!”
The third voice was evidently from the suspect.
Zhang Zhiyuan hurried to the room where the target was located to see a young man in his twenties already pinned to the ground by the special forces, with only the computer mouse still dangling and swaying at the side of the desk.
“Uh… that’s it?” Cui Zhen’en scrutinized him skeptically, “Doesn’t look like a mastermind.”
“I am not any mastermind!” the man protested with a whining tone, “Do you have to treat me like this? Economic crimes don’t warrant the death penalty, right!?”
Zhang Zhiyuan suddenly realized something was not right. “What’s your relationship with Paradise?”
“Uh? What’s Paradise? Officer, I have no idea what you’re talking about!”
“Then why did you want to go to Europe? And to take the Ocean Star cruise?”
“I didn’t! These past few days I’ve mostly just been hanging around at home!”
“You’re lying!” Zhang Zhiyuan grabbed the other person’s collar, and indeed, that face was the one seen in many surveillance videos as the suspect, “We have evidence, you took the cruise and then flew from Europe to Jiang City, and from there took the high-speed rail to Chu City. You were captured by our cameras all along the way!”
“It’s a misunderstanding! Have you got the wrong person?” the man yelled in distress, “What Europe? In my life, I’ve only been to Southeast Asia; my visa can prove it!”
“You’re Huang Zining?”
“Yes…”
Zhang Zhiyuan suddenly felt his legs give way. He slowly let go, stood up powerlessly, and walked towards the door.
“Comrade Zhang? What’s going on?” Lu Ming furrowed his brows.
“Uh… anyway, he is the suspect. Please take him back to the police station for now; we will follow shortly,” Cui Zhen’en hurriedly bowed to the SWAT officers before chasing after Zhang Zhiyuan outside.
In fact, Zhang Zhiyuan hadn’t gone far; he just went to the living room and sat down on the sofa with a thud.
“Hey, what’s wrong with you?” Cui Zhen’en walked over to ask.
“He’s not the person we’re looking for,” Zhang Zhiyuan shook his head.
“Are you sure? Please, the surveillance doesn’t lie! We worked overtime all of last night; it couldn’t have been for nothing, right? He says he hasn’t been to Europe, but when did criminals start confessing as soon as they open their mouths?” Cui Zhen’en said, puzzled, “To be honest, this isn’t like you at all.”
Zhang Zhiyuan rubbed his forehead.
He’d considered many possibilities, such as they’d drawn a blank, catching no suspect at all; or that the suspect would engage in a life or death struggle with the police, or even vanish right before their eyes. He even… He’d considered the suspect calmly sitting in a chair, waiting for their arrival.
But never this—that they had misidentified their target from the beginning.
“Zhou Zhi told me once that after seeing Paradise, people are no longer the same. I’m not agreeing with him, but this man’s knowledge of Paradise… is like a blank sheet of paper,” Zhang Zhiyuan spoke in a low voice, “He doesn’t know what Paradise is, and that’s hard to fake. It’s like me telling you the sun doesn’t exist, and your first reaction would hardly be a feigned expression that you’d never seen the sun in your life.”
“Fine, if that’s the case, let the evidence speak,” Cui Zhen’en extended her hand, “If it’s real, then it can’t be faked; if it’s fake, then it can’t be real. Isn’t that what you used to tell me? What, you don’t think feelings are greater than evidence now, do you?”
“You’re right…” Zhang Zhiyuan slapped his cheeks and, with her help, stood up, “The capture is not over yet.”
Cui Zhen’en broke into a smile, “That’s the spirit; let’s continue our investigation and see just who this Huang Zining really is!”
…
“What did you say!?” Chief Cui slammed her hand on the table, “His visa records show only Southeast Asia?”
“Uh, we’ve confirmed it multiple times,” the police officer responsible for reception in Chu City scratched his head, “Also, he’s a suspect in several cases of electronic fraud, involving a significant amount of money. In his computer, we found related evidence, but regarding your mention of a trip to Europe, we can’t confirm.”
“Are these two the comrades from Beifu?” At this moment, an older police officer entered the office, warmly shook their hands, “Ah, thank you for your hard work, I’m Deputy Director Wei Jianguo, and you’ve come at just the right time! This Huang Zining, we’ve been looking into him for a long time, but he’s cautious, and his crimes often occur abroad; we couldn’t even find the person. But as soon as you came, you’ve delivered us a big gift, we’re truly grateful!”
“Do you have his customs clearance record? I mean… the kind with video footage,” Cui Zhen’en said through gritted teeth.
“There’s no video, but there are photos and stamped documents that can’t be faked. His last trip abroad was a year ago.”
“And in the last month?”
“He’s been hiding in Chu City the whole time, using an alias. If it weren’t for the identity information you brought, we wouldn’t have known that he had returned to the area two months ago.”
Cui Zhen’en’s face turned ashen!
The Deputy Director, however, completely missed Chief Cui’s expression and laughed heartily, clapping his hands, “Once we close the cases related to him, I’ll definitely send you a banner of honor, hahaha… This is a great achievement!”>
