Not expecting more than a hundred people to be reduced to just over twenty, I wondered if my decision had been a mistake.
I looked questioningly at He Bailing. "Are you sure about the information?"
"I distinctly saw them here before. Could it be that they moved the people after discovering something was wrong?" He Bailing replied. Just then, He Jinghui leaped down from a high platform. "I just saw Gao Mingqiang and the others being taken away by elevator. Follow me!"
As He Jinghui spoke, we all followed him to an elevator. Not all of our people could fit inside; many had to go down by stairs. However, the company building was quite tall, and taking the stairs would have consumed a lot of time. Since the building had been cleared, the elevator should be safe. Indeed, we descended without incident. We didn't wait for the officers coming down by stairs, as they would use the elevator. He Jinghui, He Bailing, and I, along with others, searched the vicinity of the company.
He Bailing activated the Hound Gate's sense of smell and seemed to have caught a scent. He Jinghui's nose twitched, and I activated the same ability. The three of us then looked towards a warehouse in a certain direction.
Gao Mingqiang, you are indeed clever.
You know how to use scents to leave your trail.
This guy probably broke some bottles when they weren't paying attention. Gao Mingqiang had a unique body odor, common among overweight people, but his was particularly strong.
Others wouldn't be able to distinguish it, but He Bailing and I were different. We reached the warehouse and, pulling the door open together, entered. Inside, we found Gao Mingqiang and many criminal police officers bound to pillars!
However, they were surrounded by numerous mercenaries, and a man stood in their midst. He had golden hair, wore a long black leather coat, and sunglasses. He also had epaulets on his shoulders and armor on his body, with heavy steel plates embedded in his chest. In his hand, he held a carbine. A carbine, generally referring to a type of rifle, was originally used by cavalry for combat and later by artillery, paratroopers, infantry, and other branches. Carbines are usually modified versions of rifles.
"I knew you'd find this place. Well done, He family! Blood King told me to wait here. He saw your movements on the monitor. This game of cat and mouse officially begins now..."
"Are you the errand boy working for him?" Liu Yuning cursed.
"I am not his errand boy. We are all independent individuals, using each other. My name is Mo Derong. I was originally the boss of this company, but now I am the leader of Polaris!"
"Heh, another fool being manipulated!" Du Wantian said sarcastically, her eyes filled with contempt.
"What are you talking about? Can't you see your own situation?" Mo Derong sneered, tightening his grip on the carbine. The surrounding mercenaries and some men in black pointed their guns at us.
Du Wantian retorted with a cold smile, "Do you know? Back in the Assassination Gate, I took down an entire family! What's the use of numbers? Let me show you what true power disparity means!"
As soon as Du Wantian finished speaking, she vanished. For a moment, I was stunned, but I knew it was only because she was too fast. Mo Derong and the other mercenaries were pointing their guns everywhere, but they couldn't find her!
We immediately attacked. A dozen of us charged forward. He Jinghui appeared behind us, just like Du Wantian. He Jinghui unleashed palm strikes, faster than lightning and as fierce as a storm. Within minutes, he had sent several mercenaries flying. Du Wantian's fists and legs were like iron, and with a single exertion, countless mercenaries fell to their knees in pain.
Kicking someone flying is not unheard of. In physics, there's the law of conservation of momentum: if a system is not subjected to external forces, or the net external force is zero, the total momentum of the system remains constant. This conclusion is known as the law of conservation of momentum. The momentum of the initial two-person system is zero. After the kick, one person's momentum is m1v1, and the other person's momentum is -m2v2. Due to the conservation of momentum, m1v1 - m2v2 = 0, which shows that the velocities of the two are inversely proportional to their masses.
As long as one has sufficient strength, not only can they kick one person away, but several. Liu Yuning was also engaged in a fierce battle with me and the criminals. The clever He Bailing directly used her sword to break the chains binding Gao Mingqiang and the others. Seeing that the sword could directly break the chains, Mo Derong was so terrified that he collapsed. Since he claimed to be the leader of Polaris, I took out my precious handcuffs, twisted his hands behind his back, and cuffed him. "Mo Derong, you have been officially arrested by the Guangming City Police!"
"You... you are really police? Are police this powerful?"
"Heh, what do you think?"
"This is the first time I've heard such a foolish question. It seems you're not much of a leader after all. No wonder you were arrested so quickly. We won't kill you. When we leave here, you can reflect in prison."
Thus, we swept through the demonstration company like an autumn wind scattering leaves, breaking through all resistance, and rescued Gao Mingqiang and the others.
Some criminals were still resisting, but when Mo Derong shouted for them to give up, they laid down their arms and surrendered. We arrested all we could. When we ran out of handcuffs, we used ropes. We closed the warehouse and left people to guard it; it should be fine.
This time, the situation was different. Since they surrendered, we couldn't open fire. If we still shot, it would be a violation of our professional ethics.
Handling different situations with different methods, analyzing specific problems, and dealing flexibly – these were another of Minister's requirements.
To combat Polaris, on January 10, 2023, Police Day, the Minister convened a meeting of all public security representatives at the Ministry of Public Security in Beijing. Liu Yuning and I also attended. The Minister's specific requirements are still vivid in my memory. This year, the Year of the Rabbit, we should be able to unite police officers from around the world and completely eliminate Polaris.
This is our ultimate goal for 2023!
Lost in thought, Liu Yuning handed me several cans of food. To my surprise, they were the beef cans we had eaten at the tourist area before, along with some new cod cans. I thought we could finally have some peace. We planned to stay put and rest, as we had lost quite a few people this time, and even Li Fan had fallen.
After Zhao Xiong's death, he was another captain who sacrificed his life for the police force.