Animal Detective

Chapter 539: Chapter 442: Counter-surveillance (Part 2)

In Dian Nan, the Narcotics Control Division was just as important as the Traffic Division—it was one of the most crucial departments.

The digital command center was not only large but also grand.

The two deputy division chiefs weren’t there, but Political Commissar Li Jing was.

When the two of them arrived, the video feed was quickly transmitted over.

For now, they could only see the traffic camera footage. Multiple angles were trained on the Highlander.

One of the feeds also showed the situation at the Lianjiang command center, and Huang Delin’s commands could be heard.

Huang Delin was currently dispatching personnel to track him in shifts, ensuring Zhu Kun was still being followed even when he entered a surveillance blind spot.

After giving some commands, Huang Delin grabbed his walkie-talkie and said, "Captain Wang, this guy is driving in circles."

Based on his route, Zhu Kun was just driving around in circles within Lianjiang County’s urban area.

He immediately ordered the surveillance team to be cautious to avoid being spotted.

And he continued driving in circles for over an hour.

Lianjiang County’s urban area wasn’t very large, which meant Zhu Kun had essentially circled it four or five times.

"His counter-surveillance instincts are pretty good."

Lu Chunze, whose hair was already turning gray, scoffed lightly.

Just then, a report came in: Zhu Kun had pulled over and parked.

The surveillance team kept their distance, monitoring him with a camera from afar.

The traffic cameras could see him as well.

Zhu Kun parked the car on the side of the road but didn’t get out, waiting for about ten minutes straight.

Then he started off again, circled the area a few more times, and then pulled over to the side of the road again.

Again, he didn’t get out immediately. He was likely looking for any unusual vehicles that might be following him.

A few minutes later, Zhu Kun finally got out of the car.

"He’s holding something," the surveillance team immediately reported.

Huang Delin saw it on the monitor as well.

It looked like a handheld device for detecting tracking devices. Zhu Kun held it and carefully swept it around his Highlander several times.

This reaction was just as Huang Delin had expected. He immediately contacted Wang Feng. "Old Wang, I figure Zhu Kun’s about to make his move."

Wang Feng was with Shen Xin, waiting to see which direction Zhu Kun would ultimately take.

Hearing about the development, they immediately started driving toward Zhu Kun’s position.

"Did he spot us, or is he just being extremely cautious?" Shen Xin asked.

He had circled the city several times and kept stopping; it seemed excessively cautious.

From the passenger seat, Wang Feng said, "It’s normal. The higher up these guys are, the more they fear death, and the more cowardly they become."

Just then, Huang Delin’s voice came over the radio.

He was heading north.

"309," said Pan Wenhai, who was driving, completely out of the blue.

Wang Feng nodded hastily.

Shen Xin quickly asked what 309 meant.

Wang Feng explained that there were two routes north from Lianjiang. One went northeast along the expressway toward Yongchang.

The other direction was due north, parallel to the border.

Following it all the way north, the furthest you could go was Hudian Town.

The only road in that direction was County Road 309, flanked on both sides by vast, undeveloped mountain ranges.

So, the two of them guessed that Zhu Kun was definitely taking that road.

At once, Pan Wenhai accelerated, took a shortcut, and headed straight for 309.

Wang Feng, for his part, contacted Huang Delin to share his theory and asked if Zhu Kun was indeed heading toward 309.

It turned out he was.

With that confirmation, Pan Wenhai knew what to do. He floored it and soon reached an intersection.

To get on 309, Zhu Kun had to turn here.

Not far from the intersection was a gas station.

The team parked on the side of the road. A notification came from Huang Delin: Zhu Kun was just behind them, about two traffic lights away.

Shen Xin had already prepared Er Long, calibrating its helmet.

A few minutes later, Zhu Kun’s car appeared.

"Er Long, it’s that black car. Follow it and await my instructions."

There weren’t many cars at the intersection. Shen Xin pointed to the Highlander as it turned right, letting Er Long lock onto the target.

It had been trained for this and knew what to do; it just needed to be shown the target vehicle.

[Understood]

After receiving the mental confirmation, Shen Xin rolled down the window, lifted his hand, and released Er Long.

It immediately flew up into the sky.

The feed from Er Long’s camera was synchronized to the command center.

Naturally, the feed was also sent to Lu Chunze at the provincial headquarters.

The two men immediately sat up straighter, suddenly alert.

All the surveillance vehicles had pulled back.

From now on, only Pan Wenhai’s car would be following, maintaining a distance of two kilometers.

At that distance, it couldn’t even be called tailing anymore.

The plan was not to arrest Zhu Kun but to first confirm the factory’s location and then move in after he left.

"So this counts as having caught up to him?" Li Jing asked, pointing at the large screen.

On the large screen, Er Long was circling low in mid-air. Directly below, at the traffic light intersection, was the Highlander.

Lu Chunze didn’t speak, just watched in silence.

The next moment, the light turned green, the Highlander started moving, and Er Long followed almost in perfect sync. Shen Xin was adjusting the camera, but it remained locked on the car below.

"Remarkable."

Lu Chunze finally spoke, his eyes filled with disbelief.

’With surveillance like this, not even an immortal could detect it.’

Two kilometers behind, Pan Wenhai drove, keeping pace.

Wang Feng had even moved to the back seat to curiously watch the video feed.

Seeing this, he finally understood how Er Long had tracked him the night before last.

’It’s completely silent. Impossible for anyone to notice.’

’Even if you saw it, you wouldn’t think twice.’

Even this far out, Zhu Kun was still wary. He would pull over partway through to buy something from a store.

He used cash; he didn’t bring his phone.

Then he would furtively scan the area for any strange cars or people.

He remained completely oblivious, however, to a pair of eyes staring down at him from a mango tree by the side of the road.

After stopping this time, Zhu Kun finally seemed to relax. He continued straight north along Route 309.

After nearly twenty kilometers, deep within the mountain range, he suddenly turned onto an even narrower mountain road.

Wang Feng took out his phone to check the map and said, "This road turns toward Xiongjia Mountain, right? I remember there was a quarry over there a dozen years ago."

It was now abandoned, so the mountain road Zhu Kun was taking was also long abandoned.

It wasn’t paved with concrete, just gravel.

In some places, weeds threatened to completely cover the road.

But there were signs of recent vehicle traffic.

The road forked, and Zhu Kun turned onto an even smaller path, continuing straight ahead.

Several hundred meters later, a rusted iron gate appeared, blocking the path.

Wang Feng didn’t recognize it, but Huang Delin had already looked it up. He reported that the road used to lead to a water pump station in the mountains.

After the quarry was abandoned, this pump station, which supplied water to the mountain area, was also decommissioned.

On screen, Zhu Kun got out, opened the iron gate, and drove through.

The road was still just broken gravel. At the very end of it, hidden beneath a dense canopy of trees and surrounded by weeds and shrubs, was a building made of sheet metal.

In front of it was a small clearing. The rectangular outline of a previously cleared plot of land was visible, though it was now completely overgrown with weeds.

Huang Delin guessed that it had probably been built as a rest area for the pump station’s maintenance crew.

"The key is, this place has been abandoned for years. How did they even find it?"

Huang Delin was in disbelief.

Just then, the car stopped. In the camera feed, a person emerged from the sheet-metal building.

It was hot, so the man was shirtless. He walked up to Zhu Kun and started speaking with a grin.

And this man was none other than the mysterious gang leader, the one with the surname Cai.

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