Looking at the extra materials in front of him, Liu Wenyuan rubbed his temples.
He picked up one of the documents and began reading.
These materials had all been handed to him by the higher-ups, for him to find the arms dealer operating between Laiyang Steel Pipe Factory, Minnui Gas Canister Factory, and the Smaha organization.
They included phone recordings, factory surveillance footage, most of the purchase records, bank accounts, and so on.
Their bureau needed to use these materials to find the arms dealer hiding behind the scenes.
Of course, Liu Wenyuan didn’t need to do all this personally.
But since this matter had been personally assigned by the higher-ups, he still needed to review it first before handing it off to his subordinates.
After looking through the materials, he didn’t find much of a breakthrough, nor could he think of any method to directly find this arms dealer.
They could only follow the traces bit by bit — find evidence, find clues — and thereby discover this arms dealer’s vulnerabilities and arrest him.
Finally, he opened the phone recordings, wanting to first hear how the other party had negotiated with the two factory directors.
“Hello, Laiyang Steel Pipe Factory…”
“I need to order a batch of steel pipes, 1,000 of them, caliber…”
Listening to the phone recording, Liu Wenyuan’s brow remained tightly furrowed the entire time, never once relaxing.
But as he listened, he began to feel that this voice seemed somewhat familiar — as if he had heard it somewhere before.
Where exactly had he heard it?
Liu Wenyuan listened to the recording over and over, trying to pin down that sense of familiarity.
It was only after he had listened to the recording dozens of times that his eyes suddenly widened.
He seemed to know where he had heard this voice before.
He immediately began searching through his desk.
But after rummaging around for a while, he didn’t seem to find what he was looking for.
He immediately reached out and pressed the button on the desk phone: “Come to my office.”
Before long, the secretary pushed the door open: “Chief, you wanted to see me?”
“Yes. Go and bring me that — that file on Jiang Chuan that Qingcheng Police Bureau submitted. Yes, Qingcheng Police Bureau.” Liu Wenyuan said.
“Understood, Chief.” The secretary didn’t ask why, immediately turning and walking out of the office.
Liu Wenyuan waited quietly in his office.
He knew why the arms dealer’s voice in the phone recording had sounded familiar.
Because that voice was very likely the so-called Jiang Chuan!
Although he couldn’t confirm it, based on what he heard, it should be the same person’s voice.
But he still needed to verify, to avoid making a mistake.
Soon, the secretary returned to the office carrying a file and a USB drive.
“Chief, here are the materials you requested.”
Liu Wenyuan nodded, inserted the USB drive into the computer, and searched for the phone recording he had listened to before.
This phone recording was of a previous call between Jiang Chuan and the fraudster Zhang Songyang. At the time, Jiang Chuan’s voice had still sounded rather young.
As the sound played through the speakers, Liu Wenyuan’s expression froze.
“Here, listen to this. Are these two voices the same person?” Liu Wenyuan gestured to the secretary.
He then played both audio clips.
The secretary leaned close to the speaker and listened. His pupils gradually widened, and his expression turned strange.
“Chief, it sounds like the same person to me!”
Before Liu Wenyuan could speak, the secretary said directly: “I’ll send both audio clips to the analysis department for identification right away. We’ll have results in half an hour at the fastest.”
“Good! Go now.” Liu Wenyuan waved his hand.
The secretary left with the USB drive and the phone recording materials.
Liu Wenyuan sat in his office, brow tightly furrowed, his face full of shock and worry.
If his assumption was correct, then this Jiang Chuan and that middleman were very likely the same person.
And if they really were the same person, then things would become much easier.
It would also give Qingcheng Police Bureau a faster lead to catch Jiang Chuan.
After all, Qingcheng Police Bureau was playing a big game right now — conducting transactions with Jiang Chuan, already on their second transaction, and the amount involved this time was very large.
According to Qingcheng Police Bureau’s response, the goal was to lure Jiang Chuan out and bring him to justice.
And now, Jiang Chuan had also placed orders with Laiyang Steel Pipe Factory and Minnui Gas Canister Factory.
That way, they could simply wait for Jiang Chuan to pick up the goods, or catch him directly during the transaction.
It was an extra layer of insurance.
However, the foundation of all this still depended on whether Jiang Chuan’s voice and the middleman’s voice were truly the same person.
He sat in his office waiting for half an hour.
The secretary pushed the door open, panting: “Chief, the analysis report is out. It’s the same person’s voice!”
Liu Wenyuan immediately stood up, staring at the secretary: “Can you be certain?”
“Absolutely certain, Chief. I watched the technicians run the analysis myself. There’s no mistake.” The secretary confirmed.
Liu Wenyuan nodded heavily: “Good, I understand. You can go back to your work.”
After dismissing the secretary, he sat in his office thinking for quite a while.
Sure enough, this Jiang Chuan wasn’t just dealing arms now — he was even playing middleman to pocket the price difference.
Well, well. This kid really does have brains. But unfortunately, he’s using them in the wrong place — and he’s also committed illegal acts.
With that thought, he picked up the desk phone and dialed Qingcheng Police Bureau’s number.
…
Qingcheng Police Bureau, Director’s Office.
Zhou Ran held the receiver, and after hearing Liu Wenyuan’s words, he froze in place.
“Old Zhou, according to the technical department’s analysis, we can now confirm that Jiang Chuan is the middleman in question. So I’ve decided to merge the two cases.
That way, your Qingcheng Police Bureau can join forces with the military to capture this Jiang Chuan!”
“Ah… ah! Good, okay, Director Liu.” Zhou Ran responded woodenly, still somewhat dazed.
“Alright, that’s how it is. The materials have all been sent over. Your Qingcheng Police Bureau absolutely cannot afford any mistakes this time, understand?
After all, last time when I applied to the higher-ups for funding, I had to do a lot of talking. If this operation fails, the higher-ups will definitely think your bureau is incompetent.” Liu Wenyuan reminded him.
Zhou Ran agreed wholeheartedly: “Please rest assured, Director Liu. We will definitely catch Jiang Chuan this time.”
With that, he hung up the phone.
After thinking for quite a while, he stood up and headed toward the conference room.
…
In the conference room.
Zhou Ran gathered everyone working on the Jiang Chuan case.
He looked around at the officers present and cleared his throat: “Everyone, I’ve gathered you here today for a very important matter.”
Wang Hai and the others nodded, looking puzzled.
Although they didn’t know what Director Zhou was about to say, they knew that whatever he was going to announce must be related to Jiang Chuan.
It might even concern their upcoming arrest operation.
Zhou Ran swept a cold gaze over the officers present and said without hesitation: “Not long ago, in the East Central region, a military base belonging to Bato Country near the border was destroyed in a bombing. Casualties were heavy.”
The officers were stunned. They had all been prepared for Jiang Chuan having done something outrageous.
But Director Zhou’s opening sentence had dragged the topic off to the Siberian wilderness — it was completely disjointed.
Besides, their Qingcheng Police Bureau was just Qingcheng’s police bureau. They couldn’t handle matters in the East Central region — they simply didn’t have that kind of authority.
Zhou Ran continued: “Moreover, at the scene, the American military discovered the rocket launcher tubes used by the Smaha organization — the organization behind the raid.
And the manufacturer of these rocket launcher tubes was none other than Jiuzhou’s Laiyang Steel Pipe Factory.”
The officers’ expressions turned serious, brows furrowing.
To be honest, this had nothing to do with them either. Finding steel pipes produced by Jiuzhou’s Laiyang Steel Pipe Factory overseas — that should be a matter for the higher-ups to consider, or for the military to communicate about.
What did it have to do with their Qingcheng Police Bureau?
Zhou Ran cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and continued: “Afterward, through the higher-ups’ investigation, it was discovered that an arms dealer purchased ordinary steel pipes from Laiyang Steel Pipe Factory.
He also purchased ordinary gas canisters from another gas canister factory, and then, through modification, turned them into rocket launchers!
According to the higher-ups’ investigation, this weapon is extremely powerful, with a range of up to 10 kilometers! Over a thousand of them could destroy a military base!”
Wang Hai was stunned, then laughed: “This arms dealer is a real genius, huh? A steel pipe and a gas canister, and he turns them into a rocket launcher with a 10-kilometer range?”
“Really something, alright. This guy shouldn’t be an arms dealer — he should be developing military weapons.” Gu Yuan shook his head with a smile.
Zhou Ran’s face darkened: “Take this seriously!”
Wang Hai and Gu Yuan immediately sat up straight, looking directly at Zhou Ran.
But Jiang Zhuyu’s delicate brows were knitted: “Director Zhou, but what does this have to do with us? Could it be that this arms dealer is in Qingcheng right now?”
The officers all gave Jiang Zhuyu a thumbs-up — she had asked exactly what they most wanted to know.
Most importantly, from everything they’d heard so far, they really couldn’t see what this had to do with them.
They were already busy enough investigating the Jiang Chuan case and other cases. If they had to investigate an arms dealer on top of that, they really wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Zhou Ran put on a smile: “Officer Jiang is sharp as always. See, none of the rest of you could ask the right question.”
Then he glanced at the officers and said slowly: “According to the analysis report from the provincial bureau’s analysis department, Jiang Chuan and this arms dealer have the same voiceprint.”
Hearing this news, all the officers widened their eyes, staring at Zhou Ran in disbelief.
Zhou Ran scanned the officers: “So, this proves that Jiang Chuan is not only an ordinary arms dealer — he’s an arms dealer who has dealings with overseas reactionary organizations!”
In the conference room, gasps of shock rose and fell.
Seeing the officers’ reactions, Zhou Ran narrowed his eyes.
When he had first learned this news, his reaction had been the same as everyone else’s — utter shock.
After all, in his view, Jiang Chuan was indeed an arms dealer. That his arms business was large was understandable — nothing more than having connections with some underground organizations, occasionally selling tens of thousands of guns or hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition.
You have to understand, in the arms dealer circles, that wasn’t even considered a major arms dealer, though it wasn’t small either.
But Jiang Chuan buying steel pipes and gas canisters from Jiuzhou, modifying them, and selling them to Smaha — that was something he simply couldn’t understand.
And the nature of this matter was no longer simply arms dealer transactions.
Now, worldwide, everyone knew that the Americans had supported Bato Country.
And Smaha was a reactionary organization in Bato Country, whose goal was simply to defeat Bato Country’s military.
After the Americans supported Bato Country, some major arms dealers — including nearly all countries and arms dealers worldwide — knew they could no longer sell arms to the Smaha organization.
Because selling arms to Smaha was no different from opposing the Americans.
But Jiang Chuan hadn’t just sold arms — he had even brazenly sold steel pipes bearing the Laiyang Steel Pipe Factory label. It was as if he was afraid of not being found.
And what puzzled him most was: why would Jiang Chuan choose to sell such crude weapons?
Logically, even if he really wanted to sell, he should be selling real rocket launchers and mortars.
“Director Zhou, there’s one question — can we really be sure it’s Jiang Chuan? Because in my view, Jiang Chuan very likely has a munitions factory. He shouldn’t stoop to selling such inferior weapons, right?” Wang Hai promptly raised the question.
Zhou Ran couldn’t answer, because he wanted to ask the same thing.
Just then, Jiang Zhuyu thought for a moment and blurted out: “It makes sense. If it’s Jiang Chuan, then everything makes sense.”
“Hm?”
Zhou Ran and all the officers present were stunned, turning to look at Jiang Zhuyu in unison.
Jiang Zhuyu explained: “Here’s the thing, Director Zhou, everyone. Think about it — is Jiang Chuan’s munitions factory really likely to be large? Is Jiang Chuan really a major arms dealer?”
“Officer Jiang, what exactly do you mean?” Wang Hai was somewhat confused.
Jiang Zhuyu said: “What I’m thinking is that Jiang Chuan isn’t really a major arms dealer. He may have a munitions factory, but its scale isn’t very large — nothing compared to those truly major arms dealers.
And from what I know, the Smaha organization previously received a batch of firearms. No one knows who sold them to Smaha.”
“Now it seems those guns were sold to Smaha by Jiang Chuan?” Zhou Ran asked.
Jiang Zhuyu nodded: “That’s right, Director Zhou. That’s what I think.”
“And from what I understand, not long ago, with the Americans’ help, Bato Country developed a new [Iron Dome] interception system. This interception system is designed to intercept rocket launchers, mortars, and drones.
If — and I’m just saying if — Jiang Chuan knew about this, would he develop a special weapon for the Smaha organization that could evade the [Iron Dome] interception system?
After all, the Smaha organization is very likely a major client of Jiang Chuan’s. He would definitely want to hold on tightly to such a big client and not let go.
If that’s really what’s going on, then it also means Jiang Chuan’s munitions factory might not be very large — and might still be in its early stages.
Because only that would explain why he specifically developed such a rocket launcher for the Smaha organization!”
