Chapter 504 - 242: King of the Sky, Move Out

Chapter 504: Chapter 242: King of the Sky, Move Out

The area was too large, a chaotic jumble of buildings with a complex network of underground pipes. If the culprits were familiar with the terrain and deliberately hiding, it would indeed be difficult to find them quickly.

What’s more, the two birds never appeared again.

...

That evening, Yao Zhenwei hosted a simple dinner for Yang Qi in a small private room at the city bureau’s cafeteria. It was both a gesture of thanks and an opportunity to discuss the situation.

The food was simple, but the atmosphere was heavy.

Chen Jifeng and a few core members of the special task force were also present.

"Advisor Yang, thank you for all your hard work today. And for your companions’ help as well."

Yao Zhenwei raised his teacup, substituting tea for wine. "Although we haven’t had a breakthrough yet, your joining us has given us a completely new line of investigation and a new asset. That Beaked Eagle, especially, is truly remarkable! A lot of our officers had their eyes opened today."

"You’re too kind, Director Yao. I’m just doing my job. It’s a shame we didn’t make much progress."

Yang Qi shook his head.

"Those two birds, and the people behind them, are just too cunning."

Chen Jifeng put down his chopsticks, his brow tightly furrowed. "They’re like ghosts. They show up a few times, take a child, and then vanish without a trace. Where in the world are they hiding the children? And how do they manage to leave nothing behind?"

"I suspect they might have more than one stronghold, or that there are secret passages or basements in the target area we don’t know about."

A technical expert analyzed, "Furthermore, they’re definitely watching us. They know we’re conducting a large-scale search, so they’ve gone to ground for now."

"This is exactly what I’m most worried about."

Yao Zhenwei said in a grave voice, "It would be one thing if they relocated or just put their activities on hold. What I’m afraid of is that they’ve just moved to a different area."

The rest of the meal was a somber affair.

After dinner, Yang Qi was checked into an affiliated hotel near the Public Security Bureau headquarters for ease of contact.

Chen Jifeng personally escorted him there and arranged for officers to be posted nearby to ensure his safety.

Back in his hotel room, Yang Qi locked the door.

He didn’t rest right away. Instead, he took out a second-order, low-grade Spirit-Exploring Ball, infused it with Magical Power, and switched it to active mode.

The Spirit-Exploring Ball glowed with a cyan light, and a stereoscopic detection image with a six-kilometer radius materialized in his mind’s eye.

Yang Qi controlled the Spirit-Exploring Ball, scanning the area with the hotel at its center.

He found a few "Spirit Beasts," but they were all police dogs.

As for any other cats or birds, he found none.

Clearly, the two target birds were not within this range.

...

The night passed uneventfully.

Yang Qi woke up early the next morning, just as the sky was beginning to lighten.

After quickly washing up, he took Xiaojiu to the hotel restaurant for breakfast, then walked over to the bureau headquarters.

The morning streets were filled with people hurrying on their way.

When Yang Qi entered the Criminal Investigation Division building and walked into the large office housing the special task force, he could feel that the atmosphere was even more tense and oppressive than the day before.

Everyone, whether standing or sitting, was silent, their faces grim.

Yao Zhenwei stood before a map, his back rigid.

Chen Jifeng’s eyes were bloodshot as he snarled something quietly but furiously into the phone.

Seeing Yang Qi enter, Yao Zhenwei turned around. His expression was terrible, and his voice was hoarse and heavy.

"Advisor Yang, you’re here. We have bad news. Last night, another child went missing in the South District, right next to the West Mountain District."

"An eight-year-old boy. He was playing on his scooter in the garden of his apartment complex around five in the afternoon. His mother looked away for a moment, and he was gone."

"The complex’s security camera caught a crow perched in a garden tree for a long time. Before he disappeared, the boy had been looking up at that same tree for a while..."

The air in the office seemed to freeze solid.

’They moved!’

’They really moved!’

Just as they were pouring all their resources into searching the West Mountain District, the criminals had moved to the adjacent South District and struck again.

This was a blatant provocation.

It was also a cruel mockery of the police’s intensive investigation.

"A crow? Just a crow? What about the parrot?" Yang Qi asked immediately.

"Just the crow. The parrot didn’t show."

Chen Jifeng put down the phone, his voice rasping. "What’s more, the father of the boy who disappeared... he’s a captain in our bureau’s traffic police division."

The temperature in the office seemed to drop another few degrees.

’Was the target a police officer’s family member this time?!’

Was it a coincidence?

Or was it deliberate retaliation? A show of force?

BANG!

Yao Zhenwei slammed his fist on the table, making the teacups jump.

"Brazen! Absolutely brazen!"

"Pull all surveillance footage from the crime scene in the South District—especially any that caught that crow! The task force will shift its focus to the South District for now!"

"Tech team, I want you to analyze this crow’s flight path. Find out where it came from and where it went. Even if we have to turn Yuanzhou upside down, we *will* find these two damn birds and the people behind them!"

"Yes, sir!"

...

Yang Qi’s heart sank as well.

The nature of the case had just become far more vicious and complex.

He walked over to the map, looking at the new red pin in the South District, then at the six pins marking the West Mountain District.

’Six cases in the West Mountain District. The lure was a parrot and a crow.’

’One case in the South District. Only a crow.’

’Is this an escalation?’

’A change in their division of labor?’

’Or have they changed their strategy because of the police intervention, and even started making targeted provocations?’