The guy turned his head, raised his hands, but suddenly wanted to grab something to throw at us. Fortunately, I was quick enough to land a punch, leaving him dazed. Liu Yuning simultaneously unleashed his speed, appearing behind the guy and subduing him, then slapping on handcuffs. "Behave yourself. Your petty tricks are useless against our Punishment Squad!"
"What? You're the Punishment Squad?"
"Oh? Have you heard of us?"
"Of course, criminals consider you their nemesis!"
"Heh, I didn't expect us to be famous in the criminal world!"
As Liu Yuning spoke, many police officers were already arriving. Now, whenever we see any suspicious individuals, we arrest them directly. Judging by their attire, it was clear they were the woman's subordinates. Along the way, we apprehended several more people in the sewers. The situation was similar to before, until we found a secret room. The sound of dripping water echoed nearby. I heard people fighting. At first, I thought it was Xiao Yuande and Dao Zhiyong battling criminals, but as we got closer, we realized it was two groups of bald men fighting. We were quite bewildered. What was wrong with these guys?
Liu Yuning remarked, "Could they be having an internal conflict? It's so chaotic!"
"Then let's hold off for now. Once they're tired, we'll just go in and arrest them!" I suggested. Liu Yuning punched me lightly. "You're getting more cunning by the day!"
I wiped my nose. "All's fair in war."
Twenty minutes later, the men were exhausted from fighting. We emerged and surrounded them. Before they knew what was happening, they were pinned to the ground. Among them, I spotted the woman, the very one we had been pursuing. Though we didn't know her name, we all recognized her appearance!
"Finally found you, Ms. Role-play. Did you think we couldn't catch you just because you erased your identity records?" I grabbed her arm, executed a shoulder throw to subdue her, and the click of handcuffs echoed from her wrists.
Only then did she react and try to resist, but with handcuffs on her wrists, resistance was futile. We then took everyone away. We arrested over twenty people here. Along the way, I learned that half of them had gotten into a dispute because some wanted to escape after people outside were captured, while others wanted to hold their ground. They fought when they couldn't agree.
We should be grateful to those cowards; they helped us immensely. But people are complex. Don't assume all criminals are desperate outlaws.
The woman was taken back with us, but finding her identity was impossible. As expected, realizing we couldn't trace her, she remained silent throughout the interrogation, intending to make our efforts useless even after her capture.
Indeed, she could do that, but I wouldn't allow it. To think she'd try such tactics to absolve herself of guilt after being brought to our provincial headquarters! Even if she resisted, others might not cooperate, especially those timid ones.
Entering the interrogation rooms of the others, I found two men with the worst psychological resilience. They likely didn't want to join the den of thieves but were somehow roped in later.
Su Yaxin and I sat down. Facing the first suspect, Bie Juncai, Su Yaxin demanded, "Where are Dao Zhiyong and Xiao Yuande? Speak!"
"Officers? I don't know. We planned to subdue them first and then play guerrilla warfare with you. Since we were outnumbered, we couldn't fight you head-on. Unexpectedly, some of us wanted to escape mid-way and were stopped by the boss, so we started fighting!"
"Weren't you one of them?" Su Yaxin said disdainfully.
"Uh, yes..." Bie Juncai replied sheepishly.
I asked, "You don't know where Dao Zhiyong and Xiao Yuande went?"
"Yes, aren't they your people? Now that everyone's been caught, they should rejoin the team. If they haven't returned, well, I don't know what happened. Or perhaps they're busy with something else? Did you call them..."
"That's obvious. If I could find them, would I be wasting my time asking you?" I retorted.
"Uh, hehe..." Bie Juncai gave a foolish chuckle, struggled to scratch his head, then seemed to recall something. "I remember the area near the lake is crisscrossed with paths. Without a map, it's probably impossible to get out. They might still be trapped inside!"
"Bastard, give me the map quickly!" I moved to Bie Juncai and yanked his shirt. The guy was terrified. He was indeed a coward. With a threat like that, he immediately told me the map's location. It turned out it was still inside the Ocean Park.
I exchanged a look with Su Yaxin. She immediately went with Gao Mingqiang to find the map according to Bie Juncai's description. Indeed, 30 minutes later, Gao Mingqiang called me. "We found them. They're... a bit disheveled!"
"It's alright, as long as they're found. Come back quickly, we still have others to interrogate!"
"Roger that!"
After they returned, we subjected all the suspects to relentless questioning. Initially, many were defiant, but under our threats and inducements, more and more confessed. They all pointed to Bai Hu, the woman's alias. However, even her own subordinates didn't know her real name.
I asked Bie Juncai, "How did you meet Bai Hu?"
"In the beginning, uh, it's a bit embarrassing. Actually, we all slept with her. This woman seemed to specialize in using her body to recruit people into her team. Once brought in, she would use money, her body, and other means to entice us into committing crimes. Actually, we were all initially unable to resist her allure. Also, we lived quite well in that park. I forgot to tell you, we were all scavengers before, very poor. That woman seemed to specifically target these people, and then transformed us into what we are now!"
"Did you hear of Addiction to Crime?" I asked.
"Addiction to Crime? That's what our boss called himself. Actually, it's just another name for a criminal gang of scavengers, like the Beggar Sect, perhaps..."
At that moment, Su Yaxin couldn't help but want to laugh. She never imagined a modern-day Beggar Sect would transform into "Addiction to Crime." However, they harmed people, whereas the Beggar Sect upheld justice. The nature of their actions was entirely different.