Investigation

The chaos in the Federation reminded Lu Zhao of his previous life. His police academy instructors had told them about the previous century, back when the line between black and white was non-existent, and blending into gray was the norm. The Federation now was in a similar state, with black and white thoroughly mixed. The Cataclysm had changed so many things, and the social atmosphere was nothing like what it used to be. Lu Zhao asked, "How do you plan to investigate?" "It's simple. Ask around among a few low-level underworld thugs, and that'll be enough. What secrets are there nowadays?" Zhang Like replied, then changed his tone. "But it won't do any good. The vested interests are already deeply entrenched. Smuggling life supplements out multiplies the price several times over. "If you report it, the whistleblowing letter will end up on their desk the very next day." Smuggling narcotics was far too low-end. Not only did a Federation official like Lü Jinshan look down on it, but even underworld bosses with any real clout barely bothered. Because life supplements offered far higher profits. Someone might refuse gold, but no one would ever refuse life supplements. Lu Zhao asked, "Not even with solid evidence?" Zhang Like said, "It wouldn't do any good for ordinary people, but we could take it straight to the prefecture, or even to the Circuit Politics Bureau. "Then again, there's another problem: it's outside our jurisdiction. We can hardly disguise ourselves as cops and drag Lü Bowen in for questioning, can we?" That was why he had told Lu Zhao from the beginning not to get his hopes up. Both of them were military officers as well as superhumans; even if their whistleblowing was exposed, they had nothing to fear. Did those thugs really think they could cause them trouble? However, matters outside one's jurisdiction depended entirely on connections. Without connections, you were at the mercy of fate. Lu Zhao was not discouraged. "The mountain smuggling trails are within our jurisdiction. At the very least, we can give Lü Jinshan a bitter pill to swallow." ----- On the night of June 11. Lu Zhao first went to inform Zhang Laoniu, getting his cooperation to cover up the fact that he and Zhang Like would not be returning to barracks that night. Afterward, the two drove out of the camp. The sentries found it a bit strange, but asked no questions and did not log their departure. The entire border defense station was essentially under their control. Night, the back mountain of Ant Ridge. The car was parked halfway up the slope, at the closest ramp to the smuggling trail. Zhang Like cautioned, "You haven't reached the second rank yet. If you get shot and bleed out, you'll die. Be careful." "I will." Lu Zhao walked into the dense forest alone. The air felt like a wet cloth wrapped over his face. Breathing it in brought the damp vapor baked out of the soil by the daytime sun, along with the pungent stench of rotting leaves. The layer of decaying leaves beneath his feet was thick; every step produced a squelching sound. His psychic sense continually extended in all directions, eventually constructing a vague topographical map of a fifty-meter radius in his mind. This kept him from stepping into pits, culverts, or underground streams and getting hurt. At the same time, Lu Zhao discovered another use for the Visualization Method: amplifying the five senses. Each time he visualized through them, even the faintest movements became remarkably clear. He was smelling current odors while also reflecting upon the sensory rhythms of the past four years. Floods of granular memories surfaced, allowing him to instantly identify the source of any sound. Hidden culverts, dry leaves, puddles, mud... Lu Zhao had already "smelled" them through four full years. Faintly, he felt an inexplicable sense of freedom. The body was a prison of the soul, and he was breaking free of that cage. Following taste, Lu Zhao had touched the threshold of smell. Visualizing the five senses grounded in the physical body did not seem as difficult as his master had claimed. Half an hour later, Lu Zhao halted. Fifty meters ahead lay a concealed smuggling trail. Under the touch of his psychic sense, every trace along the path was crystal clear. Judging by their depth and freshness, someone had passed through within the last day. The night passed without anyone coming or going. As the sun poked above the horizon, Lu Zhao returned to where Zhang Like was waiting. "There are fresh footprints, but I can't be sure when they make their rounds." Zhang Like said, "We'll stake it out again tonight. No rush." The hardest part about smuggling trails was discovering them. In the Ant Ridge mountain area, the border defense station could actively monitor less than five percent of the territory, and smuggling here was generally done on foot and pack animal. From what Lu Zhao usually encountered, smuggling rings were rarely heavily armed bandits; rather, they were ordinary folk slipping into mountain trails carrying woven baskets on their backs. They would break contraband down into small batches and transport them across many trips, so catching a few here and there barely scratched the surface of their operation. On June 4, Lu Zhao and Zhang Like continued their stakeout. At midnight, a faint light flickered in the pitch-black forest. Lu Zhao, who had been using his psychic power to "pinch" mosquitoes to death, looked up, his psychic power spreading outward like a rising tide. Three people wearing headscarves approached, driving a mule. Through his psychic sense, he "smelled" the heavy scent of insect repellent on them. From the two sacks on the mule's back, Lu Zhao "smelled" the scent of life supplements. Life supplements were a hard currency on par with gold, often used for settlements. Lu Zhao did not move, quietly letting them pass. These people alone could not serve as evidence to bring down Lü Jinshan; they only proved that a smuggling route existed. On June 5, the smuggling crew appeared again, heading inland. Lu Zhao trailed silently behind them, following them until they left the dense forest and entered a village outside the Ant Ridge mountains. This was another reason smuggling proved impossible to stamp out. It was not a simple battle of good versus evil; members of the Hua ethnic group were also deeply involved in many illegal and criminal activities, often in leading roles. Lu Zhao memorized the appearance of the villager who met them, then turned and melted back into the forest. On June 6, Lu Zhao and Zhang Like tracked the villager by car all the way into downtown Fangshi. The scenery transitioned from mountain ranges and dense forests into towering skyscrapers. Buildings clad in white ceramic tiles and blue tinted glass were everywhere, and factory workers commuted home in swarms on vintage heavy-duty bicycles. The two followed the vehicle all the way from the east side of the city to the west, where the surroundings abruptly changed once more. The cracked roads were left unrepaired, vagrants lingered on either side of the streets, and intact windowpanes were hard to find on most houses. Blacks, whites, and Semu people were everywhere. The Foreign District was a place that harbored unregistered non-citizens, a defining feature of major cities across the Nanhai Circuit. Because Fangshi was on the border, its Foreign District held a population of a million. They arrived at Kabukicho, outside a bar named West Street. The colossal neon sign at the bar's entrance cast its light into their car, and the muffled thump-thump-thump of bass could be heard from within. Zhang Like rolled down the car window and lit a cigarette. "We've found both witnesses and evidence, but this is already outside Ant Ridge, beyond our jurisdiction. "Once the flood season passes, we'll find an opportunity to round up all these people. That should be enough to send Lü Bowen to prison. As for Lü Jinshan, it's hard to say." "That's all we can do for now," Lu Zhao agreed with a nod. The border defense station's enforcement jurisdiction was limited to the border management zone; the city proper fell under the police. Moreover, border defense had no independent criminal investigation authority. Even if this couldn't crush Lü Jinshan in one blow, securing evidence linking Lü Bowen to the smuggling ring would inevitably impact Lü Jinshan, who was already suspended pending investigation. On the drive back, Zhang Like kept muttering about the special investigation team, as if willing them into helping out.