bookrandom Chapter 784 What confession do you need? We'll crush you all the way!
Chapter 784 What confession do you need? We'll crush you all the way!
"Sir, it's not that I'm unwilling to lead the way and make amends. It's just that... the roads in Liangbei are incredibly strange; we simply can't find them!"
Liu Shicai's face was contorted with pain, still showing lingering fear: "Last week, I... I was bewitched, thinking I could get more gold dust to mix with the gold I stole from the factory, so I secretly went to that side ditch in Liangnan again and again..."
"But...but that's not a path for humans to walk on!"
"The forest was so dense... it was like night even in broad daylight! The ground was covered with rotten leaves that had been there for who knows how many years. You could sink up to your knees if you stepped on it, and there were puddles underneath that you could easily sink in if you weren't careful!"
There were no obvious paths at all, only some intermittent trails trodden by wild animals... winding and turning, full of leeches and blind spots... I wandered around inside for a whole day, and not only did I not find Liu Daba's hideout, I almost... almost got myself stuck inside and couldn't get out!
Finally... in the end, I clung to a tree, listening to the distant cries of the mountain tiger, and managed to crawl out as dawn broke... that place... that place was too eerie!
Chief Guard Cheng nodded: "It's right that it's hard to find; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to hide it for so long!"
As he spoke, Chief Guard Cheng fed Liu Shicai some water, and naturally received his endless thanks in return.
"A whole day?" Old Wang, who was standing next to him, caught the timing. His thick eyebrows furrowed, and he suddenly interrupted, asking, "The day you're talking about, is it the 17th of last month? The day you received the order to take a batch of newly smelted small yellow croakers to that abandoned warehouse number three on the border to meet Li Huaide and his men?"
“It’s the audit team from above!” Jiang Xia added when he saw Liu Shicai deep in thought.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Liu Shicai suddenly looked up, his eyes full of surprise: "You... how did you know? It was that day! Deputy Director Zhao asked me to take five pieces of 'small yellow croaker' and deliver them to an empty warehouse on the border to the inspection team."
However, I don't know their names.
But I immediately sensed something was wrong. What kind of good person wouldn't deliver gold in a safe place? Why would they choose an empty warehouse on the border? I'd heard about that warehouse before; it's long since empty, just a dilapidated frame!
He swallowed hard, lowering his voice even further: "I was scared, afraid something was fishy going on, so I didn't dare go. I took the gold home, packed some things with my wife, thinking that if things went wrong, we could run away with the rest of the gold. Who knew that before we could even leave, you guys caught us..."
"There are no machines in the warehouse!" Old Wang raised his eyebrows, feeling fortunate that Jiang Xia had made a brilliant move by bringing Li Huaide back; otherwise, Yang Erlengzi would have really been hanged on the city gate tower...
"Oh, no wonder you managed to get rid of the people waiting over there. Looks like your backup plan wasn't very effective. But it's alright, it would have been quite troublesome if you had killed that warehouse guard..."
"Silence them!" Liu Shicai was so frightened he almost jumped up, shaking his head like a rattle drum. "No, no, no! How would I know about this! Murder... I wouldn't dare think about murder! I just... I just felt something was wrong. Delivering gold wouldn't require going to such a remote place, and they even specifically asked me to go alone. I was afraid of being sold, so I didn't dare go!"
Old Wang stared at him for a few seconds, and seeing that he didn't seem to be faking it, his heart skipped a beat, and his brows furrowed even more: "So you're not one of their backup plans to silence me? They just sent you to deliver the gold?"
"How could I possibly have the guts!" Liu Shicai said with a bitter face, his voice trembling with tears. "I could only do it secretly, but I wouldn't dare to kill someone to cover it up! Deputy Director Zhao only approached me because he saw that I had served in the puppet army and was afraid of being exposed, so he could easily manipulate me!"
Upon hearing this, Old Wang's face instantly darkened. There was another trick up his sleeve! He just didn't know if it was Liu Daba's gang.
"Attention all action teams! Attention all action teams! Deputy Director Zhao and his gang may have more tricks up their sleeves than just Liu Shicai! Immediately raise your alert level, strengthen your defenses, closely monitor the surrounding area, and report any abnormalities immediately! Repeat, report any abnormalities immediately!"
Chief Guard Cheng fiddled with the digital radio that Old Wang had brought in for a few moments, and immediately reported the situation.
When the radio crackled with responses from each team, Old Wang and Chief Guard Cheng finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Just then, the rumbling of armored vehicles approached from afar and soon came to a stop in front of the bungalow. The soldiers jumped out of the vehicles, carefully holding mugwort and ramie roots still covered in damp mud in their hands. Water droplets dripped from the leaves through their fingers; they had just been picked from the old forest and still carried the dampness of the mountains and fields.
Dr. Meng Chao immediately went to greet him, took the herbs and ran to the kitchen. He found a rough earthenware pot, quickly washed and chopped them, added warm water and put it on the stove to boil. The flames crackled and licked the bottom of the pot. Before long, the bitter and refreshing aroma of herbs filled the cold air.
Liu Shicai leaned over the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and watched as his wife's pale face gradually regained some color after taking the medicine. Her breathing changed from rapid to steady, and she finally fell into a deep sleep. His eyes reddened, and he grinned foolishly twice. He turned his head and saw Old Wang squatting in the corner, grinding his teeth at the still unconscious Liu Daba.
"Damn it, why isn't he awake yet! Doctor, do you have any truth serum or anything like that?"
"No... even if I had it, it wouldn't work. I'm dizzy, it won't help!"
Jiang Xia, who was standing to the side, stared at Liu Daba, who was unconscious in the corner, his brows furrowing more and more.
No, that's not right! If it were just Liu Daba and his gang of bandits, things would be easier; they could simply run away with the gold. But there are officials mixed in, and they're involved in illegal gold mining—a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of their families.
The audit of Dongfeng 113 might at most get the person in charge removed from their post, but if the gold mine scandal is exposed, it could cost them their heads! Their most urgent task right now is definitely to destroy the evidence!
"Old Li's students are in danger!" Jiang Xia clenched his fists tightly. "If they want to destroy evidence, they might target the geological team! We must go into the mountains to find them immediately, or it will be too late!"
Old Wang, standing in the corner, got up, grabbed a basin of ice water brought in by a soldier, and poured it over Liu the Scarface's head.
"We're doing it right now! Damn it, why aren't you awake!"
"Alright! Stop wasting time on him!" Jiang Xia decisively waved his hand to stop him. "What era are we living in? We don't need his confession!" He pointed to Liu Shicai, who had recovered slightly: "You! Get up and lead the way! You don't need to find the mine, just take us to the Lazi Liang fork in the road that you mentioned, where you can distinguish between the north and south branches of the gully!"
Then, he turned to Old Wang and quickly gave the order: "Old Wang, immediately contact my Uncle Xiong via digital radio, report the emergency, and ask him to immediately mobilize the militia he can trust to come and provide support!"
Oh, right, wasn't he always itching to make those flying cat cars based on my blueprints? Tell him to take them all! Also, have him request to bring those 'cannons' used for testing armor at the factory's proving grounds! Just in case!
"Leave the necessary personnel to guard this place. The rest of the combat personnel, get in the vehicle with me immediately! Let's go!"
This series of orders not only stunned Liu Shicai, but also surprised Lao Wang and Chief Guard Cheng.
"What...what do you want to do?" Old Wang asked instinctively, a sense of foreboding creeping into his heart.
"What are we doing? Clear the way!" Jiang Xia said as he started walking towards the armored vehicle. "Do we really have to wait for a bandit to lead the way? The ground-penetrating radar on our 'Patrol Dragon' isn't just for show! Its deep scanning mode, although mainly designed for prospecting and finding large metal ore bodies, has a strong imaging capability for shallow geological structures, terrain undulations, groundwater level changes, and even large underground cavities!"
His words carried the confidence unique to a technician, as if stating an obvious fact. He kept walking, unconsciously drawing Lao Wang and Chief Guard Cheng to follow him.
After following for a few steps, Chief Guard Cheng suddenly realized what was happening and stepped in front of Jiang Xia.
"Stop right there!" The head guard grabbed Jiang Xia's arm, his face dark with anger. "You can't go! There are bandits and traps in the mountains. You are the one the kind old man specifically asked us to protect. How can you risk your life?"
Jiang Xia stopped and looked at Chief Guard Cheng with an unusually serious expression: "Chief Guard Cheng, do you think I want to take such a risk? But do you know what's displayed on that radar screen? It's not the mountain and river map you imagine! It's a massive amount of raw digital signals, spectrum diagrams, and dielectric constant anomalies!"
"Simply put, when radar hits a target, the feedback from different geological conditions is completely different! For example, the relative permittivity (e?) of solid ground may be between 4 and 10, while the e? of water-bearing swamp can soar to 80! The electrical conductivity (σ) is also vastly different; dry soil may only have 0.001 S/m, while water-saturated clay can reach 0.1 S/m!"
These numerical changes appear on the screen as a jumble of constantly fluctuating numbers and chaotic echoes!
"Only I can currently achieve this real-time solution and spatial visualization capability of the 'digital -> model -> path' system," Jiang Xia said with an unquestionable tone. "This requires an extreme familiarity with radar performance parameters, geological knowledge, assistance from Professor Li in interpreting rock strata signals, and a large amount of real-time calculation, which requires Engineer Chen's help in processing the basic data! Did you think I was just here to admire the scenery?"
Chief of the guard was a little confused by this series of technical terms.
Old Wang initially suppressed a laugh, but then sensed something was amiss and immediately put on a stern face, only to be met with the sharp gaze of Chief Guard Cheng.
"I promise!" Jiang Xia raised his hand, his tone sincere. "I'll only operate the radar and mark routes from the armored vehicle; I absolutely won't go down to participate in the operation. After finding the geological team, I'll immediately stay on the perimeter with the armored vehicle until you bring the people out. Is that alright?"
Old Wang and Chief Guard Cheng exchanged a glance, then looked at Old Li's anxious eyes. Old Li clutched his exploration bag, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something but didn't speak, clearly hoping that Jiang Xia could help.
Jiang Xia's explanation was reasonable; the ability to construct terrain in real time using complex digital signals did indeed sound like his "unique skill." Moreover, he ensured he didn't leave the armored vehicle, which greatly reduced the risk.
After a few seconds of silence, Chief Guard Cheng finally released his grip, his tone still stern: "Fine! But you must promise to stay inside the armored vehicle the entire time and not step out of the door! I'll have two soldiers guarding the vehicle. If you dare to get out, I'll tie you up and take you back immediately!"
“No problem!” Jiang Xia nodded immediately, turned around and climbed into the armored vehicle. “Get in quickly! Time waits for no one, Elder Li’s students are still waiting for us!”