Chapter 73 - 73: Seven or Eight-Year-Old Thief? Captured or not?
The group of officers, after watching Su Xuan leave and seeing Captain Liao engaged in a heated exchange with the leaders of other police stations over the radio, exchanged glances. They picked up the dirt from the floor, arranged it neatly, and then prepared to leave.
After all, waiting here to watch Captain Liao argue with others was not their idea of a good time. They had no interest in getting involved in such a foolish dispute.
Before long, the entire rest area was empty except for Captain Liao. He lowered his voice, which had previously been intentionally amplified, and smiled as he spoke into the radio, “1 never expected that you, old man, would have such good luck. Your subordinate is quite impressive!”
“No need to tell me!” Old Mai snorted. “After all these years, I’ve finally encountered a promising talent. You can forget about trying to snatch him from me!”
“I won’t waste any more time talking to you. I’m busy!” With that, Old Mai unilaterally terminated the communication.
Captain Liao’s mouth twitched slightly as he tucked the radio back into his waist. He glanced at the now-empty duty room and prepared to leave.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Su Xuan had once again descended into the underground.
He had just visited the subway entrance on Line 1, so now he was heading to a different subway entrance. In Su Xuan’s estimation, the criminals should be distributed across various areas. If he could catch so many criminals in the station, there was no reason why the high-speed railway station, being such a large place, wouldn’t have any criminals.
Su Xuan’s thinking was sound, and as he reached the descending staircase, the system’s notifications started ringing in his ears.
[Ding! Detected one criminal!]
[Ding! Detected one criminal!]
[Ding! Detected one criminal!]
The notifications kept coming.
Su Xuan hadn’t even seen the red markers yet when he was startled by the system’s alert tone. He instinctively looked up.
Well, well!
Five red circles had converged in one place!
It looked like a coordinated criminal operation.
With this in mind, Su Xuan squinted his eyes and immediately retreated from the elevator, finding a secluded spot. He picked up his radio.
“Calling Captain Liao! Calling Captain Liao! I’ve spotted several criminals heading toward the exit of Line 3 subway station!”
“I can’t handle them alone, and I need reinforcements!”
As soon as Su Xuan finished speaking, the officers on the other end of the radio were once again stunned!
No way.
It had only been a short while. Those officers who had come to take over probably hadn’t even left yet, and Su Xuan had already caught more criminals? “No way, Su Xuan, are you some kind of prodigy?”
“It’s only been a short time since I left with my team!”
“Yeah, hold on, I’ll move the suspects over there first…”
“How did you know that group of people were criminals? You’re amazing… I’m coming to provide backup!”
Voices of several officers immediately came through the radio.
Not only the three officers who had come to take over earlier but also other officers who were relatively close to the location were rushing over.
Of course, Su Xuan wouldn’t participate in this operation.
He was still undercover and had just arrived at the station. Being an unfamiliar face, he could easily blend into the crowd while discreetly checking for criminals. If he were exposed, it would hinder the operation.
Su Xuan exchanged a glance with the swiftly arriving captain of the
Anti-Pickpocketing Unit and quickly pointed in a direction.
Lao Liao had also spent many years in the Anti-Pickpocketing Unit. If he hadn’t noticed it initially, Su Xuan’s guidance quickly made him feel that something was off about those five individuals.
He gave Su Xuan a meaningful look.
Then, he led his team straight towards the five criminals!
The officers behind him were all dressed in police uniforms. As soon as they appeared, they surrounded the five criminals, moving incredibly swiftly.
At first, the five individuals didn’t think that Lao Liao and his team were targeting them. They had confidence in their disguises.
However, by the time they realized something was wrong and tried to escape, it was already too late.
“What’s going on here?”
“Are the police arresting someone?”
“Oh my, it seems like this whole family came from the countryside. I wonder what they did to get arrested like this…”
“I have no idea. Don’t meddle in police matters. Just watch the show…”
“Exactly, why would you get involved in something like this? Just enjoy the spectacle…”
A group of onlookers who were about to descend the stairs stood nearby, craning their necks to get a better view.
When they saw the entire family of five being apprehended, they were utterly astonished. However, they naturally wouldn’t rush forward. Standing by and watching was already a matter of dignity for the bystanders.
Su Xuan stood at a distance, joining the crowd in observing the commotion. He watched as all five criminals were captured, but the system’s notification sound he had been waiting for never came.
This absence of the notification sound finally alerted him that something was amiss.
“Why didn’t the system’s notification sound play this time?” Su Xuan muttered to himself as he moved towards the scene, still puzzled. He glanced at his accumulated points.
To his surprise, the points remained the same as they were after he had apprehended the previous three criminals. This indicated that the points for these five criminals were not added to his account.
“Could it be that if I didn’t directly participate in the capture, the apprehended criminals wouldn’t count toward my score?” Su Xuan pondered aloud. “But that can’t be right…”
“When I caught the pickpockets earlier, not all the criminals I personally arrested had their points added to my account…”
“Even the points for the criminals Zhou Qiang caught are here with me…” “What’s going on this time?”
While he voiced these thoughts, Su Xuan had unconsciously moved away from the crowd and headed towards the elevator for Line Four.
Just as he descended, he spotted a child around seven or eight years old nearby, reaching into the bag of an elderly woman…
Simultaneously, he heard a mechanical voice in his ear.
[Ding! Detected one criminal, please apprehend immediately!]
Su Xuan looked at the child, who had a criminality score on his forehead of over forty, nearly fifty…
He was astonished. How could a child of seven or eight have such a high criminality score?
With these thoughts in mind, Su Xuan took a couple of steps forward. He saw the child take out a cloth wallet from the old woman’s bag, stuffed with money, and hastily tuck it into his pocket.
With two short legs, he was about to make a run for it.
Su Xuan raised his eyebrows, taking just a few steps to block the child’s path as he attempted to flee.
As he got closer, Su Xuan noticed something peculiar. The child’s appearance matched his age, standing just over a meter tall, but his baby-faced expression did not align with what he saw in his eyes.
Su Xuan’s mind was still in a state of confusion. However, he instinctively took a couple more steps forward and reached out to stop the child. In that moment, he observed the child suddenly lift his head and lock eyes with him.
In that gaze, Su Xuan found confirmation for his earlier speculation.
Without hesitation, he extended his hand, and a cold, large bracelet instantly adorned the child’s wrist.
The child, who had previously thought Su Xuan was merely blocking his path and had planned to go around, was now left bewildered: ???