The Jinfeng Apartments have been in the Ningjiang District for quite some time now, located near popular malls and entertainment venues. Being a mixed-use building, aside from regular residents, there are also short-term rental rooms, beauty salons, agencies, and massage parlors inside. This means a lot of foot traffic and a diverse mix of people.

Gao Bo specifically mentioned this.

It's because Jinfeng Apartments doesn't have a good reputation in Ningzhou City. Besides having many idle social individuals, short-term rentals frequently offer special services. Over time, many people bluntly nicknamed it "the gun tower."

Zhang Wenjun first arrived at the ground-floor businesses of Jinfeng Apartments for an inspection.

He went through places like the barbecue stall, internet café, and supermarket.

Everywhere he went, all the customers and passersby focused their gaze on Gu Ji and the others, but most were just curiously watching the commotion, with nothing seeming particularly off.

"Last one."

Gao Bo pointed towards the supermarket around the apartment corner. Once they're done with the ground floor, they'll head up to check.

Gu Ji took the lead entering. The supermarket wasn't large, only about forty square meters, with three rows of shelves filled with food items.

The middle-aged male owner at the entrance was playing mobile mahjong. Hearing someone enter, he looked up, saw they were special police, and quickly put his phone down, smiling as he asked:

"Officer, is there something wrong?"

"Nothing much, just a routine check."

Gu Ji subtly raised an eyebrow, sensing something wasn't quite right. He gave Gao Bo a look, who quickly understood and started closely inspecting the shelves.

The middle-aged owner stood behind the counter with a smiling face, but his eyes didn't follow Gao Bo's movements.

It seemed the shelves were fine.

After enhancing his Central Nervous System and sensory organs, followed by a month of police skills training, Gu Ji's observational skills had further improved.

As soon as he entered, he noticed the owner's nervous and evasive eyes, which was absolutely not a typical reaction from an ordinary person seeing special police.

After making a round, Gao Bo returned and slightly shook his head, having found nothing.

The middle-aged owner's chest visibly deflated, seemingly relieved. But just then, a shadow loomed over — it was Gu Ji.

He pretended to be looking at the cigarettes and alcohol on the wall, but kept observing the owner's expression from the corner of his eye.

Tension, unease.

Gu Ji took a small step forward, but the middle-aged owner didn't retreat; instead, he leaned forward instinctively — a textbook cover-up move.

"Could you please step out for a moment? I need to do a simple check."

"Ah, well, I..."

Before he could respond, Gu Ji swiftly walked around to the wooden counter. Underneath, besides a chair and messy power cords, there were several boxes, including a red cardboard box piled with loose money.

He grabbed the box, brushed aside the cash, revealing rows of lighters!

Gu Ji's pupils constricted sharply, and he quickly shouted:

"Zhang Zhong!"

Hearing the shout, Zhang Wenjun entered and, upon seeing, his eyelid twitched as he interrogated the middle-aged owner: "Where did these come from?"

Gao Bo also joined.

The box contained two types of lighters: one resembled the cheap disposable type, distinguished by an additional fine white line at the nozzle, almost like an alcohol lamp; the other was akin to a windproof lighter, with an extra circle of resistance wire at the nozzle.

Clearly, both types of lighters were specially modified to sustain prolonged heating!

There's only one kind of activity that needs this:

Drug use!

The middle-aged owner panicked immediately.

"I... these were given to me by some kind of promoter or street vendor or something..."

Listening to his incoherent rambling, Zhang Wenjun chose not to continue but instead glanced at Gu Ji, seemingly wanting to test his interrogation skills.

Gu Ji quickly chimed in:

"Make it clear, which vendor, who gave you these, and to whom did you sell them?"

"I... it's for the hotel."

"Which hotel? We need specific names!"

"It's the hotel upstairs, but I'm not really sure, they just..."

Faced with the owner's vague answers, Gu Ji's expression turned from calm to chilling, and his tone suddenly intensified:

"Stop covering it up! I'm telling you, this is a typical methamphetamine setup, specifically for consuming crystal meth. If you don't tell the truth, it means you're harboring drug users, which is illegal!"

"I... I really don't know anything! It's just someone upstairs came to buy it!"

The owner hurriedly waved his hands.

Just then, Gao Bo suddenly found a sealed black box under the counter. Opening it, there was a clang; inside were various glass kettles and tubes, both large and small.

Impressive.

They even brought out the meth pipes!

Gu Ji took the box and placed it in front of the middle-aged owner:

"You don't know about these either?"

"I really don't know. These were just given to me by a vendor, then some hotel owners came to take them. I really don't know what they're for..."

"Don't know? Then how did you price them? How did you sell them?"

Gu Ji glanced at the surveillance camera in the corner.

"I'll give you one last chance to explain the supplier's details, and to which hotel you sold them. There's surveillance footage on the wall, so if you tell the truth now, we can still talk civilly. If you keep claiming ignorance, I'm sorry, but we'll have to take you to the police station for further investigation. What we find then could be much more serious."

"I really don't kno..."

"Gao Bo, start collecting evidence and have the officers bring him in."

He didn't waste time with the owner anymore. Just as Gao Bo took a step forward, the owner collapsed weakly onto the counter, anxiously blurting out, "I'll tell! I'll tell! It's the daily rental apartments..."

"Too late!"

Gu Ji's face was stern, while Gao Bo had already pressed his radio earpiece, calling nearby officers on duty.

Watching the two's actions, Zhang Wenjun nodded slightly.

When the officers arrived, he took the notes from Gu Ji, exited the supermarket, and glanced at the apartment upstairs, "Daily rentals, let's go up and take a look!"

"Got it, Zhang Zhong!"

Excitedly, Gao Bo answered and bumped Gu Ji with his shoulder, "You're doing great, we might actually catch a few small fish tonight!"

"You're not bad either, sharp eyes."

Gu Ji grinned.

The three of them entered the apartment lobby, following the address given by the owner, and pressed the elevator for the 15th floor.

Moreover, just from the various little ads for "hallucinogens," "canisters," "document handling," posted by the elevator, it was clear this apartment wasn't simple.

Upon reaching the 15th floor.

The corridor was dim, with only two motion-sensor lights. The mottled gray walls were also sprayed with several phone numbers for document handling.

Vaguely, Gu Ji seemed to see a glimmer. He quietly walked to the door of a short-term rental room and found a black garbage bag with glassware inside.

Gently tearing it open, there laid the same meth pipes from the supermarket, and they emitted a distinct smell.

Gao Bo leaned in to listen, then urgently pointed at the door, signaling someone was inside.

Seeing this, Zhang Wenjun reached for his waist and nodded.

He knocked on the door with his hand.

A voice filled with annoyance came from inside:

"Who is it?"

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