"What's wrong?"
"Dad, have you heard anything recently?"
"You mean that serial disappearance case? Hmm, it's quite interesting, but we haven't received any notification for an investigation yet?"
"No, Director Zhang received a collaborative investigation notice today. We'll likely have to go to Longhua Town in Guangming City."
"Oh? Alright, I was just thinking it was about time for something to do, and then a case comes up!"
We drove two police cars to bring everyone from the Punishment Squad.
Liu Yuning, He Xin, Gao Mingqiang, and Lu Chusheng were in one car with me. Gao Mingqiang was driving. On the way, He Xin brought up the strange subway on Route K21 in Longhua Town.
"The police in Longhua Town have been investigating for over a month, but there's still no news."
"Yeah, they suspect the disappearances are related to this bus."
"Why?" Gao Mingqiang asked curiously.
He Xin looked at her phone and explained, "Don't you know? The K21 Death Subway. There's actually a strange legend that about a certain year, there was a subway collision accident. Many passengers were engulfed in fire and couldn't escape, all burned to death in the subway."
"How did it catch fire? Did it crash, and the fuel tank exploded?"
"No, someone on board, for some reason, was carrying flammable items without being discovered, which led to a major accident. After that, the subway station was sealed. But recently, people have reportedly seen the subway running there again. I don't know what's going on?"
"No way? That's so creepy. Could it be something… driving the subway?"
Gao Mingqiang saying that was bad enough, but then I immediately scolded him, "Hey, hey, hey! What are we here for? Don't talk nonsense!"
"Understood, Group Leader He. We're going to Longhua Town first to get information from the local police station?"
"Okay!"
After our conversation, we fell silent. It was already past 5 PM when we arrived in Longhua Town. We hadn't expected to spend the entire day just traveling.
We found the Longhua Town Police Station, and a Director Li greeted us. Upon hearing that we were from the Punishment Squad, Director Li became exceptionally excited and enthusiastic. He gripped my hand and said, "Detective He, your presence here gives us hope for this case!"
"You flatter me, Director Li. Please, tell me about the case!"
"Alright, you all come with me to the conference room."
Director Li turned and led the way, and we followed behind him.
Soon, we arrived at the conference room. The equipment here was too rudimentary, far inferior to the high-end equipment at the provincial department. However, it was just a local police station, so we didn't dwell on it. As we entered the conference room, several police officers were still discussing the case. They stopped talking as soon as Director Li arrived.
"These are the leaders sent from the provincial department. We must cooperate with them to uncover the truth of this case!"
"Yes, Director Li. Gentlemen, please look at this information first." A male officer distributed some files to us, which we began to examine.
"On April 19, 2022, 20 girls went missing. According to investigations, they were all from Zhengguang University. They were traveling home for the holidays by subway but, for some unknown reason, ended up at the supposedly closed subway station and boarded the non-existent subway, leaving. They never returned."
"On April 22, 2022, 20 girls went missing again. This time they were from a nearby luxury university. It seems they were leaving to attend some gathering. The situation is almost identical; they all took that mysterious subway."
Then there were similar cases on April 24th and 25th, 2022, continuing until May 15th. Initially, the missing persons were only in the dozens, but by today, the number had reached over 500. All the missing persons were female university students aged 20 to 22.
Looking at these files, He Xin furiously cursed, "Who is the bastard doing this? They're not even sparing university students, committing crimes repeatedly, and treating us police as if we're invisible!"
"They're targeting university students. Look, the victims are all girls of similar age. After these girls are taken, who knows what they'll be subjected to?" Liu Yuning muttered.
"This case must be investigated thoroughly and immediately, or more victims will appear," I said seriously.
"Yes, today is the 20th. It's likely someone will go missing today or tomorrow. We cannot let similar incidents happen again."
We all voiced our outrage, but it was all empty without action. I thought for a moment but couldn't come up with a plan. Liu Yuning, however, said at this moment, "How about we go to that abandoned subway station tonight to scout it out? If we see that subway pass, we can board it!"
"No way, Captain Liu? You want to ride it yourself?" Gao Mingqiang immediately understood Liu Yuning's intention.
"Of course. If we don't ride it once, how will we know if that eerie legend is true?"
"The legend is definitely false. Most likely, someone is using it to commit crimes. With girls disappearing frequently, this situation is probably human trafficking or something similar," Xiao Yuande frowned, analyzing the data.
"There's a possibility. Otherwise, why abduct so many people at once? These girls are likely being forced into illegal activities, or worse, dissected," Gao Mingqiang added.
I felt everyone had a point. We couldn't figure it out now. To investigate further, we really needed to ride this subway ourselves.
Of course, we couldn't go like this; we'd need to disguise ourselves. When it came to disguise, Gao Mingqiang said sheepishly, "The missing are all girls. Do we have to cross-dress?"
I was wondering how we would manage it when Gao Mingqiang brought it up. Even though it was embarrassing, it was a good idea. So, I snapped my fingers, "Is that settled then?!"
"Uh, you're not kidding, Group Leader He." Gao Mingqiang's ears drooped, looking like he'd been tricked.
I said firmly, "For the sake of solving the case, we have to go all out."
A few minutes later, we adjourned the meeting. Everyone needed to completely change their appearance and pose as university girls. For someone with my delicate skin, posing as a girl wasn't difficult. I returned to the police dormitory, applied some skincare products in front of the mirror, then put on eyeliner and drew the line, added a touch of blush, and with a head of coffee-colored curly long hair, a beautiful "girl" appeared before my eyes.
This look reminded me of many cross-dressing influencers. Of course, I was absolutely not a pseudo-man. Looking at myself in the mirror, I felt I could fool those criminals. I nodded with satisfaction.