Chapter 25: Changes

In the corridor outside the office, a small crowd had gathered, all eyes looking toward the door. Secretary Ding, the woman in a business suit, was there as well.

But the moment they saw Yaoguang walk out of the office, everyone simultaneously withdrew their gazes, no longer daring to look in that direction even for a second.

Everyone else, including several middle- and high-level staff members of Yulong International, behaved with absolute obedience at this moment.

Dayu was ultimately different from Feiyu.

Instead of rushing in to silence Inspector Lin Xiaowei, Xia Wuyuan, and Yaoguang, what they were truly scrambling to do right now was destroy incriminating evidence. Some were even thinking of fleeing before more of the police bureau forces arrived, escaping through a checkpoint to seek refuge in a neighboring country.

Quite the commotion.

Yaoguang noted silently.

Based on how the higher-ups handled an incident of this scale, he could more or less glimpse a small part of the hidden daemon forces lurking beneath the surface.

All he had to do next was simply wait for this matter to escalate.

***

Half an hour later, the first wave of the police bureau's reinforcements finally arrived.

Even though Lin Xiaowei and Xia Wuyuan did not trust Shanlong City Police Bureau and did not want them overly involved, the few of them alone were far from enough to keep a huge corporation like Yulong International under control.

Besides, there were matters for which they had no choice but to rely on the Shanlong City Police Bureau. With local bureau personnel quickly flooding Yulong International, the best they could do was to station people in key positions to supervise.

While Lin Xiaowei recorded the scene, Zhang Qing, Ye Yuhe, and a group of bureau officers hurried over.

"How is it? Is it like Su Yaoguang said, that a group of people were being held below?" The moment she asked, Zhang Qing and Ye Yuhe's expressions turned noticeably unnatural, especially Ye Yuhe's.

When she saw the body in the office that had yet to be removed, and the large patches of blood still visible everywhere, her face abruptly turned pale.

"

Ugh.

" She quickly darted to the side and started gagging. But after several dry heaves, nothing came out.

Zhang Qing's face also looked pale, though he held up slightly better than Ye Yuhe.

"What happened?" Lin Xiaowei quickly asked. "What did you see down there?"

"Those people—No, they didn't count as people anymore. They were livestock." Zhang Qing clenched his jaw hard. "They actually threw living people into meat grinders to destroy the bodies. Thankfully, we arrived quickly. Otherwise, the remaining sixty-three captives would have ended up like the nine who were thrown in before them, with nothing of their bodies left."

Just picturing that scene made Lin Xiaowei go pale. She involuntarily thought of Yaoguang's words.

He didn't kill people!

"Yulong International is a transfer hub for human trafficking. Every month, hundreds of people are transported away using the routes they arranged," Zhang Qing spoke through gritted teeth.

He did not say where those people were sent, nor what awaited them afterward...

But Lin Xiaowei, sensitive as she was, immediately thought of the sharp rise in missing persons cases in Yunmeng over the past few months...

A flash of pain crossed her eyes. If they had taken those missing cases more seriously earlier, perhaps the number of dead victims wouldn't have been as high.

"My senior brother says this case is no longer something your division can investigate. He will report it upward and have the Prosecutor's Office take over." Ye Yuhe told Lin Xiaowei seriously.

"I am not an ordinary officer..." Lin Xiaowei said softly.

"It's not the same." Ye Yuhe shook her head. "Your task force may handle major homicide cases, but the level this case touches is far above homicides or serial killings. Especially since, based on Young Master Su's analysis, You Long and Ou Zhengyang aren't even the masterminds. Above them is an even larger network."

Her expression tightened. "If you force your way deeper, not just you, but even the Lin family might not be able to bear the consequences."

"Because of divine blood?" Lin Xiaowei asked.

"Likely. My senior brother didn't tell me much, but just knowing what this thing can do is enough. Anyone involved would be operating at extremely high levels," Ye Yuhe explained.

Longevity and eternal youth. Who could resist such temptation? Even if the World Health Organization banned it outright, there would always be people who risked everything to refine it in secret. The benefit was simply too great.

"I..." Lin Xiaowei suddenly recalled the chaos earlier, and how Jiang Feng, Ou Zhengyang, and everyone else from Yulong International had completely disregarded her authority.

She knew Ye Yuhe was speaking the truth. Ou Zhengyang had already dared to ignore her. But the people above him were so terrifying that he would rather die than expose them. Just imagining it sent chills down her spine.

"The Prosecutor's Office is the most suitable unit to handle this case," Ye Yuhe continued, her expression thoughtful. "Young Master Su probably understood this as well. He could have acted far more discreetly, yet he intentionally left flaws. His goal was to draw eyes with enough influence to dig deeper into this."

Lin Xiaowei felt helpless, but in the end, she ended up nodding in agreement.

The Prosecutor's Office reported directly to the royal family. When enforcing the law, it always operated under the principle that its authority surpassed local officials by one level. They had the power to arrest anyone, including local officials, and conduct closed-door interrogations. They were accountable only to the royal house.

"Young Master Su... left?" Ye Yuhe asked.

"He left." Lin Xiaowei nodded.

"My senior brother asked me to relay a message to him. Every person should handle matters according to their role. My senior brother will dig deep into this case and will never allow criminals to escape justice."

Ye Yuhe paused for a moment before continuing. "He will also continue investigating the backgrounds of Long Daoqi, Xia Li, and the others. If he determines they have no connection to the Yulong International case, he will definitely bring Young Master Su to justice, regardless of his strength or status."

"I will pass those words to him," Lin Xiaowei said.

***

More and more police personnel arrived at the scene.

Not only the police bureau, but many prosecutors from the Prosecutor's Office also arrived.

As a senior prosecutor who once won the National Martial Dao Tournament, Xia Wuyuan enjoyed the privilege of being a chief prosecutor, and his subordinates included an entire team of prosecutors.

With their arrival, along with Yunmeng Police Bureau's reinforcements, Yulong International was completely turned inside out.

In an instant, the truth of this hellish human-trafficking hub was laid bare before everyone. Especially after visiting the meat-grinding facility on basement level four, even some seasoned officers could not help vomiting until they nearly fainted.

The incident was massive in scale, compounded by the fact that dozens had been killed by Xia Wuyuan during armed resistance. As a result, Lin Xiaowei and the others were busy until dawn before they finally had a moment to rest.

When she sat back inside a police car returning to Yunmeng, Lin Xiaowei felt an overwhelming exhaustion and powerlessness.

She could not understand how these people could have the audacity to trample the law so completely, nor could she understand why an operation of this magnitude had remained hidden until today.

In fact, if not for Su Yaoguang's decisiveness and ability to cut through the chaos, by the time they slowly interrogated Ou Zhengyang and got anywhere, the case would have already been handed over to Shanlong's Police Bureau.

Given the collusion between Shanlong's Police Bureau and Yulong International, even if they had reached basement level four later, they would have only seen a facility where all evidence had been erased.

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Under circumstances like these, even if she did not approve of Su Yaoguang's violent methods, she had to admit that it was precisely his efficiency through violence that allowed them to save the sixty-three people who were moments away from being disposed of, preventing them from becoming ground meat.

At that thought, Lin Xiaowei hesitated. She did not know whether she should message Su Yaoguang and apologize. But when she recalled his personality and the violent approach she refused to endorse as an inspector, she pushed the thought away.

Scrolling through her phone, she found Su Yaoyu's name. Ignoring the late hour, she dialed her number. As soon as Su Yaoyu picked up, she directly said, "I think we need to have a proper conversation about your brother..."