After a long wait, the young Chief Constable returned to the reception room, followed by Chang Erbing and another Chief Constable. Du Li quickly stood up to greet them.

Chang Erbing was very experienced in handling missing person cases.

In Zone 9, people went missing every day, some would report the case, some wouldn't, and half of the reported cases would be solved, while the other half wouldn't.

The key to solving a case wasn't the complexity, but half depended on who the Chief Constable handling it was.

For example, most of Captain Li's cases were solved, which is why he could secure his position as vice-captain, earning the Patrol Office's reputation as the "Detective," and has always been the strongest contender for team leader.

The other half depended on the citizen rank of the person who reported it. The higher the rank, the significantly higher the probability of solving the case, while the lower-ranked cases' records often ended up as makeshift table leg supports.

However, there was something that disregarded these differences and treated everyone equally: in the end, whether or not the perpetrator was caught, the missing person often ended up presumed dead, as they would be neither found alive nor their bodies discovered.

This is the cruel outcome summarized from countless missing person cases.

After a few questions, with his extensive experience, Chang Erbing silently labeled Yang Tuo as "dead" in his heart.

But he was mindful of Du Li's emotions and didn't speak candidly. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Let's check Yang Tuo's school first."

Outside the Patrol Office, a blue and white car slowly started and drove towards the Eighth Higher Academy.

....

Di-di-di—

The paper from the fax machine slowly slid out, spitting out a "Black Face."

The scribe at the Arrest Bureau carefully picked up the wanted portrait and walked into the Director's office.

Shortly after, the captains of the three major teams of the Arrest Bureau stepped into the director's office, with Second Senior Sister Liu Xie prominently among them.

Sitting on the leather sofa in the director's office, she glanced sideways at the casually placed wanted notice on the table, her expression icy and her pupils subconsciously narrowed slightly.

Director Gong Qiu Li's voice echoed in the office: "The task sheet from the Patrol Office, who among you is willing to take it?"

The captain of the first team, a burly man with a scarred face, immediately said: "Our team has enough work on our hands already, so let's pass on the Patrol Office's task."

The captain of the second team, slightly plump and smiling like a Maitreya Buddha, narrowed his small eyes.

He said, "Recently, the Patrol Office has been looking for people all over the city. I asked team members to investigate and heard that it's a task directly assigned by the special commissioner."

Pausing, he pointed upwards and continued with a beaming smile: "If we can successfully handle this task, maybe we'll get noticed by the commissioner. Yuan Kui, aren't you interested?"

Yuan Kui snorted coldly, indifferent: "The Upper City's commissioner, I'm not interested in currying favor. Gou Xin, if you are interested, go ahead and take the task."

Gou Xin licked his lips and grinned as he reached for the task sheet on the table.

Suddenly——

A hand swiftly covered the task sheet, and with a crisp sound, the wanted notice arced through the air, landing in Liu Xie's hands.

Gou Xin was stunned, his gaze fixed on the captain of the third team, Liu Xie.

Yuan Kui and Gong Qiu Li were similarly surprised.

"Liu Xie, what do you mean by this?" Gou Xin's voice carried a hint of anger.

Liu Xie calmly folded the wanted notice neatly, then slipped it into her jacket pocket.

Her eyes were calm like still water, showing not a ripple; she glanced at Gou Xin indifferently and said in an extremely calm tone: "This task, our third team will take it."

Gou Xin's brows furrowed slightly. He spoke slowly, with a tone filled with surprise and sarcasm: "Liu Xie, didn't you always look down upon Patrol Office tasks?

Why now, upon hearing the commissioner's name, did you suddenly change your mind? Haha, it truly surprises me; so you have the same mindset as me after all."

Gou Xin's eyes sparkled, his voice carried a slight taunt, possibly probing Liu Xie's true intentions.

Liu Xie's face remained perpetually indifferent; she showed no emotion in response to Gou Xin's taunts and didn't even intend to explain.

She merely raised an eyebrow slightly, her tone utterly serene as she retorted, "Are you intending to fight me for it?"

Upon hearing this, Gou Xin was filled with rage, abruptly standing up, glaring down at Liu Xie.

The once smiling, Maitreya Buddha-like face tensed, twisted, appearing unusually menacing and horrifying: "You…"

Liu Xie remained quietly seated without a change in posture, even retracting her gaze from Gou Xin, seemingly treating his anger as mere air.

Yet beneath her calm exterior, a faint aura of lethal intent, like a lurking shadow, silently emanated from her surroundings.

The air inside the office seemed to congeal, and the temperature seemed to suddenly plummet, enveloping the room in a sinister atmosphere.

Gou Xin, at the center of it, felt it most acutely, his skin's hair bristling, feeling as if eyed by a terrifying scorpion ready to strike, his heart paused momentarily, always as though an unseen venomous stinger might suddenly pierce his heart without mercy.

"This is the director's office; I refuse to believe this woman would dare act insane!!!"

Gou Xin roared internally, however, when his gaze met Liu Xie's cold and ruthless eyes, memories of countless pursuit missions with this woman's bloodthirsty, nearly maniacal scenes involuntarily flashed in his mind.

From the corner of his eye, Gou Xin saw the tall Yuan Kui subtly shifting his body away, increasing the distance between them. As he turned to look at Director Gong Qiu Li, the latter just spun his chair around, turning his back on him silently.

"???" Gou Xin was both infuriated and chilled.

Yuan Kui, usually as brash as can be, was now keeping his distance like a demure woman, and the director had abandoned his authority, feigning deafness.

Damn, who recruited Liu Xie into the bureau?! Is there no one who can subdue this crazy woman?

Oh right, it was I who recruited Liu Xie back then, and she climbed up in just two years, becoming the captain of the third team, on par with me, even slightly overshadowing me.

"Damn, I truly want to gouge my eyes out!!!"

Gou Xin stiffly turned his neck back, seeing Liu Xie slowly stand up.

Instinctively, Gou Xin stepped back, noticing Yuan Kui had already moved to the far corner of the sofa.

"Whew——" Gou Xin exhaled deeply, thinking: "Risking my life just to get noticed by the commissioner isn't worth it, isn't worth it!"

His facial muscles quickly relaxed, restoring a slack expression, the fat quivering, revealing an awkward smile: "Since Captain Three is willing to take the trouble, the Patrol Office task will have to trouble Captain Three."

"No trouble at all."

Liu Xie responded indifferent as usual, then turned, hands in pockets, and left the office directly.

Passing the portrait room, she signaled to Wang Yu, who was drawing inside.

Wang Yu promptly put down his brush, apologized to his nearby teammate, swiftly walked out of the portrait room, and followed Liu Xie closely.

In a low voice, Wang Yu asked: "Senior Sister, what's up?"

Liu Xie took out a portrait of a [Black Face] from her jacket pocket, gently unfolded it, showing it to Wang Yu, her tone still indifferent: "The Patrol Office requested our Arrest Bureau's assistance, and this task has fallen to our third team."

Wang Yu's eyes lit up, a sly smile curled his lips: "Great, this way, things can be handled even more invisibly."

....

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