The crowd gradually dispersed, and Meng Lang and Xiao Yu also left the scene. Director Zhang inadvertently caught sight of their backs as he turned.

Isn't that... that annoying young man?

Why do I always run into this guy whenever something unlucky happens...

Right, what did he say last time when we met?

Said my dog wouldn't live long... afraid I'd have to give it back?

His eyebrows slightly knitted.

Did this jinx actually predict it right? Could that guy have received the news in advance?

Judging by his attire, he doesn't seem like someone from the high circles with insider information. Plus, the topic about dogs hadn't even caught traction nationwide by then.

Surely, he can't be a prophet, can he?

It should...just be a coincidence...

...

Shanghai, a certain police station.

"Bang!"

"Bastards!"

Wang Zhao Ping cursed as he slammed the phone down.

"What's wrong, Captain Wang?" Qin Xiaoru asked upon seeing this.

"The higher-ups ordered us to pull back and cancel the surveillance on Iwazaki Hideyoshi!"

"Huh? Why?"

"They didn't say, just told us to follow orders..." Wang Zhao Ping looked helpless.

As it turns out, the Iwazaki family can even bring back someone like Iwazaki Yuhei, who's implicated, so lifting mere surveillance is a trivial matter.

For major cases, politics are involved, and the Mitsubishi Consortium behind the Iwazaki family definitely fits that level...

It's been over a month since the Buddha head went missing, and there's still no news, so of course, the police can't just let it go.

Wang Zhao Ping has been stationed in Shanghai for a while now, aiding the local police in tracking down the Buddha head.

Unfortunately, aside from monitoring the Iwazaki family, the main suspect, the police are completely clueless.

The surveillance footage from the museum has been studied for over a month, yet no flaws have been found, which proves there's no trick in the scene analysis.

This inexplicable case has even alarmed crime investigation experts from Beijing.

They ultimately reached a chilling conclusion.

The mysterious force that stole the Buddha head at the very least has a top-tier hacker.

Moreover, they likely possess a video tampering technology that deceives as truth...

This conclusion has brought even bigger repercussions than the Buddha head's disappearance.

Artifacts are ultimately dead objects, a technology that could profoundly impact the future garners more attention.

If someone truly possesses such a terrifying technology, the "Skynet System" established by world nations through surveillance essentially has a gaping hole.

Imagine, if you can't trust even the videos you see with your own eyes, how many false or wrongful cases would there be worldwide?

Not to mention, if they can easily steal a Buddha head, wouldn't it be a free for all with other museum artifacts?

Social trust would unravel, evidence chains would be nonexistent, crime rates would soar, a completely foreseeable disaster.

For an old detective like Wang Zhao Ping, he has one more reason to catch the "Ghost Thief"...

Yet finding clues from the surveillance is still far off, and the only lead, the Iwazaki family, is about to vanish from monitoring...

This gave rise to a feeling of powerlessness within him.

"Captain Wang, now that Iwazaki Yuhei has returned to his country, even if the item is with the Iwazaki family, after so much time, retrieving it would be next to impossible.

Besides, if it's truly a case of thieves falling out, the chances of the item being with the Iwazaki family are very low..."

Wang Zhao Ping sighed helplessly.

He knows such things all too well.

The longer it goes on, whether it's transferred or hidden, the chances of the police retrieving it become increasingly slim.

However, he has been busy searching for this Buddha head for over half a year, and just when he thought it was in hand, it slipped away again.

Of course, he's unwilling to give up.

"Is there any news about the Buddha head in the underground market?" He and Iwazaki Hideyoshi reached a consensus.

"Well... there actually is. Just recently, a mysterious collector offered a high price of 100 million US dollars on the dark web, rewarding for the missing Buddha head and any relevant clues.

Because the amount was so sensational, a hacker friend of mine mentioned it to me as gossip."

"Oh?" Wang Zhao Ping was somewhat surprised.

"Captain Wang, do you think this could be the work of the Iwazaki family?"

"Hmm... there's a real possibility!" Wang Zhao Ping stroked his chin.

100 million US dollars is no small amount, most artifacts wouldn't fetch that price even at auction.

Sparing no expense...Motive is there, and the strength to post such a huge reward lies solely with the Iwazaki family, relentlessly fixated on the Buddha head...

From this point of view, the good news is it seems the Iwazaki family doesn't have the item, the bad news is everyone is clueless about who does...

"Captain Wang, why not ask your well-informed top informant?" Qin Xiaoru suggested slyly, leaning in and whispering.

Wang Zhao Ping glared at her.

"Do you think he's a god who can find the Buddha head in such a blind chase?"

"Well, didn't he even retrieve a snakehead from a stone elephant? It's not like finding a needle in a haystack is impossible..."

"Oh, have him do all your work, then why should the state pay us, or would you like to give your month's salary and bonus to him?"

"No way! I was wrong, okay?!"

Qin Xiaoru stuck out her tongue and quickly slipped away hugging a stack of files.

"Seriously, always thinking about shortcuts every day..."

Wang Zhao Ping scolded her lack of initiative with his mouth, but his body honestly peeked out of the office, glanced around quickly to ensure no one was outside, closed the door, locked it, all in one go...

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