Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 653 Return
After being arrested, Wei Gou did not immediately confess to his actions.

It wasn't that he was unwilling to confess, but just like Huang Guimei, after Chen Song confirmed his identity, he didn't go to the cell but went to the hospital instead.

The dentist at the hospital stitched up Wei Gou's face with thirteen stitches, the crisscrossing lines making his face look extremely grotesque. Although it didn't result in a nose split into three pieces like Huang Guimei's, Wei Gou's facial injuries were just as severe.

All the police officers involved in the case at the Zhuzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau knew perfectly well who had done it.

After all, Chen Song had honestly reported back to Lü Caotang how he found Wei Gou in time. Dong Dong, who was also rescued, said that a cat had saved him. Later, through the square's surveillance footage, the police, after careful examination, finally found a coincident frame showing Mimi's appearance. This was solid proof that the cat was responsible; it was definitely Mimi who had injured Wei Gou so badly. But ultimately, it was Mimi who caught the human trafficker and protected a child from them, so everyone could only turn a blind eye. Although it was still recorded in the file that Mimi had stopped Li Wei from harming him, not a single person stood up to condemn Mimi.

Moreover, now is not the time to worry about Wei Gou's injuries. Just like Lin Ge and Zhang Yong thought, the task force did not intend to let go of other suspects related to Wei Gou.

The task force originally sent people to Huangshi to find and arrest Wei Gou, but now that Wei Gou has been arrested, they still need to go to Huangshi to investigate all the accomplices in the photos. Anyone involved in human trafficking will be arrested.

The vigorous crackdown on human trafficking will not end easily.

In order to punish Lin Ge for his reckless and arbitrary act of revenge, he was also assigned to one of the police officers who went to Huang City.

"This guy has terrible sleeping posture!"

Seeing Lin Ge sprawled out on the bed, sleeping soundly with his belly exposed, Zhang Yong sighed helplessly.

This is his bed, which has been taken up by a cat in the middle. The blanket is tucked under him by this rascal, so even when he sleeps in the corner, he has no blanket to cover himself.

The simplest way to shoo the cat away was to shake the blanket, but Zhang Yong couldn't bear to do that. He could see that Mimi was already very tired, and he had to rush to Huangshi for a business trip the next day; how could he bear to wake her up?
With a sigh, Zhang Yong turned and went to Zhang Ke's room.

Three men squeeze in for one night, what else can you do?

The next day, a group of dozens of police officers from the special task force quickly arrived in Huangshi.

It didn't take long for Li Hu, who was already unable to leave the area due to his probation, to be successfully arrested.

Through an emergency interrogation, another suspect named Li Xiang was also apprehended by the police at his home.

Li Hu was identified by the police as an insider but did not actually participate, while Li Xiang was Li Wei's direct assistant, who was responsible for taming the women who had been tricked into coming to him, making them obedient and not resist.

Following the group to Li Xiang's house, Lin Ge even found a young girl locked in a cage in the sheep pen in the backyard. The iron cage was covered with a tarpaulin, and the girl showed signs of assault, shivering naked in the scorching summer sun. After rescuing her, the police learned that the girl was a sophomore at a university in southern province, who had been lured here by Li Wei to be trained by Li Xiang, and would be sold after a suitable buyer was found.

This scene was truly shocking.

Li Yiduo found the girl's parents' and friends' plea for help online, indicating they had been searching for her since the day she went missing. News about her was widely circulated online, but who would have thought she was being held in an iron cage?

After being rescued, the girl hugged Sun Chang and cried uncontrollably. The sudden appearance of the police was unbelievable; she had long since given up hope and never imagined she would be free again.

All the police officers at the scene felt a pang of sympathy.

Compared to other cases, cases of human trafficking and inflicting psychological harm on people are simply too much.

It challenges not the bottom line of the law, but the bottom line of human morality and the basics of being human! Treating fellow human beings as commodities to be bought and sold, treating people like animals to be trained, is something that no one with even a shred of conscience could do.

The police officers were filled with righteous indignation. On the one hand, they quickly sent the victim to the hospital for examination and treatment, and on the other hand, they continued to investigate and interrogate her with great anger.

Although Li Xiang knew he was doomed and remained silent, the police still managed to find another key figure in the human trafficking case through clues found in his home and his mobile phone call records.

Li Rong!

"Li Rong, female, 51 years old, from Huangshi City, Southern Province. She was formerly a toll collector at the Yujiawan Expressway toll station in Huangshi. Five years ago, she was promoted to team leader, responsible for all daily operations at the toll station during her shift. This human trafficking gang was able to move around with their victims freely because Li Rong had altered the toll records of several cars registered under Li Xiang's name. The traffickers would not be subject to any checks when passing through the Yujiawan toll station. It seems that toll collectors and related police officers at the Yujiawan Expressway toll station, as well as at other expressway toll stations in some cities across the country, have an unspoken rule of favoring the families of staff members, giving special vehicles a pass without charging tolls or conducting checks..."

A criminal police officer from Huangshi took out a file and handed it to the people in the conference room to pass around.

"In other words, because of Li Rong's protection and the unspoken rules of toll booths, Li Xiang and Li Wei could abduct victims into toll booths or even enter the domestic highway network without any hindrance, and they wouldn't be checked even if they exited the highway from other places?"

Lü Caotang found it hard to believe; who would go to such lengths to help the family member of a tollbooth worker from another region?

"According to surveillance footage found at a highway exit in a mountainous county in Sichuan Province, only Li Xiang was in the car at the time. In other words, Li Wei and the victim chose to get out of the car midway on the highway and then climbed over the highway guardrail to leave. Furthermore, according to surveillance footage from the same location at different times, Li Wei got back into Li Hu's car on the return trip. In other words, as long as they weren't discovered when entering the highway, things would be relatively safe afterward..."

As a technical expert, Li Yiduo explained the information provided by the Huangshi police, finally making it clear to everyone why Li Wei and his gang had been able to act so brazenly for so many years without being discovered.

Personal relationships... often become a breeding ground for criminals.

Whether Li Rong knew that Li Wei and his group were engaged in human trafficking is currently unknown. But if she didn't know and was simply helping her relative, then she was essentially being dragged down by Li Wei and his gang!

Although she might be able to explain it with an excuse of 'not knowing,' since Li Rong is involved in the crackdown, she will definitely suffer a heavy blow this time, and may even lose her life.

But at that moment, no one felt any pity for her.

The clues gathered from Li Xiang's side alone have already proven that Li Xiang, Li Wei, and other possible accomplices have trafficked or caused the deaths of a considerable number of innocent victims over the past twenty years.

During his subsequent investigation at Li Xiang's home, Lin Ge even smelled the stench of a corpse in an abandoned fishpond behind Li Xiang's house.

After draining the stinking pond, police found seven sets of remains in the mud. Through reconstruction, the youngest victim was only a little over one year old; the oldest was over forty when he was murdered. These numerous skeletons are proof of the utter depravity of these beasts, and represent the most common form of death in human trafficking cases, second only to legitimate human transactions. These monsters truly deserve to be torn to pieces; the current death penalty is insufficient to atone for their heinous acts.

Sun Chang and Li Siyu looked extremely grim. Witnessing such a cruel scene was so shocking that it almost exceeded their psychological limits. They never imagined that there could be anyone in the world who could be so despicable.

"This is the meaning of our existence as police officers!"

Zhang Yong patted the two women on the shoulders and gently comforted them, saying, "It's not that those people complain about only causing them trouble; it's just that they want to go to work and come home comfortably to get their wages. It's the malice hidden beneath this peaceful life that we must stop and punish, and it's also an important task in maintaining national peace. Okay! Take a deep breath and cheer up! Encountering evil people and bad deeds isn't scary; if we deal with them, society can regain peace. Although we've arrested all the key suspects, there's still a lot of work to be done to seek justice for these victims. Now is not the time to feel bad and rest; be strong!"

As he spoke, Zhang Yong glanced at Lin Ge, who was squatting motionless in the corner beside him.

Ever since discovering the body in the water, Mimi has remained in that position. Zhang Yong knew it was provoked by the scene, but as a police cat, it had to face these things; mere anger was pointless. "Of course I know it's pointless! So this time… we must arrest every single one of those bastards involved, without exception!"

Lin Ge roared angrily at Zhang Yong.

"Just cheer up! Once this case is over, we'll handle some ordinary cases at the police station and not put ourselves under so much pressure!"

This was the only way Zhang Yong could comfort Lin Ge.

Over the next few days, fueled by his anger and hatred, Lin Ge worked tirelessly, day and night, in an effort to find more clues and arrest all the criminals who were hiding.

As a cat, he was even more proactive than the police officers at the scene.

Soon, Lin Ge detected more scents from Li Xiang's house, Li Rong's house, and Li Xiang's car. With the help of Sun Chang and Li Siyu, and the cooperation of the Huangshi police, Lin Ge identified the owners of these scents one by one.

There were five people in total.

Among them were those responsible for transportation between Zhuzhou and Huangshi, those responsible for finding middlemen like Huang Guimei, those responsible for providing food and tools for committing crimes, those who directly worked for Li Xiang and Li Wei, and even those who participated in the dumping of corpses in the pond. In short, thanks to Lin Ge's all-out search, all of these people were arrested by the special task force police without exception. Through their efforts, more intelligence was obtained, allowing the police to do their utmost to find the trafficked victims.

The investigation progressed quickly; within about a week, all suspects in the relevant chain were arrested.

After the last suspect who heard the commotion and fled was successfully intercepted and arrested on the Chu Province Expressway, the entire case involving the capture of the suspects was essentially coming to an end.

There may still be one or two escapees and some minor accomplices to catch, but the focus of the work has now shifted to finding the victims of human trafficking, rescuing them, and reuniting them with their families.

How many criminal buyers can be caught and made to pay the price depends on the extent to which the task force can achieve this.

Of course, this has little to do with the people at Zhanghe Police Station anymore.

At this stage of the investigation, the assistance from police from other regions is essentially no longer needed. Or rather, once the task force begins its search for victims across the country, the Zhanghe Police Station team, having completed its mission, can finally retire.

To be honest, the operation, which lasted for more than half a month, had left everyone at Zhanghe Police Station physically and mentally exhausted.

At this moment, not only was Lin Ge exhausted and listless, but Zhang Yong and Zhang Ke also looked like they were about to fall asleep at any moment.

Li Yiduo was pale, and Sun Chang and Li Siyu needed to support each other to walk. Therefore, after returning to Zhuzhou, the group rested for an extra day before driving back to Zhangzhou in their police car.

During a rest stop at a service area on the way back, Lin Ge learned from Zhang Yong that Ai Yun's parents had taken her to Zhang City and that she was getting along very well with Luo Jue.

The two elderly people are decisive and act on their words; they've already handed over their old house to a real estate agent and put it in the sales window. Although the house Luo Jue and Ai Yun are currently renting is of average condition and old, it's not cheap, but the two elderly people are still determined to buy it.

This was a rare piece of good news that brought joy to everyone during this stressful trip.

The most important thing in the fight against human trafficking is to reunite the victims with their families. The human trafficking chain established by Huang Guimei and Li Wei has now been confirmed. The next step is to find all the victims and help them reunite with their families before the entire case can be considered truly closed.

"Actually, this crackdown is different from other crackdowns in the past. In the past, the emphasis was on speed and severity, with trials in three days and executions in seven days being commonplace. But in human trafficking cases, we need to pry more clues and victim information out of the suspects, so we really can't execute them too early! These bastards, I feel that letting them live even one more day is a pollution to society!"

Zhang Yong expressed his deep regret.

This point was supported by everyone, including Lin Ge, who wished they would be executed right now.

'Ding-a-ling~'

Several people's phones rang at the same time. When they opened them, they found that it was a message from Nie Guoqiang in the police station's group chat.

It turned out that Huang Guimei, who had been detained at the Zhangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau, finally spoke up after a long standoff with the police, thanks to the relentless efforts of the interrogators. She revealed some clues about the victims she had sold years ago, as well as their approximate addresses, and that three of them had already been successfully rescued by the Zhangzhou police.

Including the three other victims who were found and rescued through the intelligence obtained from Huang Guimei's red notebook and the police who were actively dispatched to investigate, the Huang Guimei case has now successfully rescued seven people, including Ai Yun!
In addition, five other people have received confirmed information, and the Zhangzhou City police are actively heading to the target location. Good news may come back at any time.

"Well done!"

On the high-speed train, the group was overjoyed.

Nothing is more gratifying than the rescue of victims. Faced with the cruelty of human traffickers and the tragic fate of so many victims, only news like this can truly uplift everyone.

"Oh! News has also come from Huangshi that the girl who was rescued has been reunited with her parents."

Li Siyu received another message, and she smiled and said to everyone, "It's wonderful! Seeing so many victims reunited with their families makes all our hard work over the long term worthwhile! To be honest, I don't really care how many of these human traffickers will ultimately be executed. But the most important and meaningful thing is that those victims who were abused and trafficked by them, who are still struggling to survive and waiting for hope, can all be found and protected!"

"No buying, no harm. I just hope this crackdown will result in more severe penalties for the buyers! Without these bastards who dare to buy people, where would human traffickers find their market?"

Sun Chang, however, is concerned about another crucial aspect.

"The feasibility of making buying and selling the same crime is not high, because the safety of the victims must be protected and situations of murder to cover up the crime must be avoided. However, the buyers of human trafficking crimes must be punished accordingly, which is a must. It remains to be seen how far Lü Caotang can go."

Zhang Yong shook his head, stating that from a humanitarian perspective and considering the victims' plight, imposing the same punishment for buying and selling wives is not practical. Especially in the case of buying wives, such a punishment could potentially lead to the buyer using the victim as a surrogate mother, killing her after she gives birth. Frankly, there are many aspects that national laws could implement, but unfortunately, the actual situation is far more complex than words suggest, and many factors need to be considered.

The law has limitations, which requires domestic police to take a more proactive and assertive approach to prevent cases from occurring, rather than using the law to threaten and intimidate. This is the most important way to maintain social stability.

"Ah woo~"

Lin Ge yawned, not really wanting to hear Zhang Yong talk about these old, tired topics.

All he wants now is to go home quickly and sleep soundly in his cat bed. Until he's had enough sleep, no one should make him do any work, and he absolutely mustn't step out of the cat house even if the sky falls.

(End of this chapter)