Solving the case: Combining the police dog's olfactory genes at the beginning

He desperately suppressed the excitement and sobs in his voice, squeezing out a few words through his teeth with all his might.

"I...I believe you! Officer Luo! I'll tell you everything I know!"

In the shadows, Zhou Shaokang gripped Luo Fei's arm tightly, as if he were holding onto the only stable rock in a turbulent river.

He trembled all over, his teeth chattering, not from the cold, but from excitement, fear, and the rekindled, faint yet burning hope.

He tilted his head back, trying to see Luo Fei's expression in the darkness. His voice was very low, but it carried a sense of resolute determination.

"I believe you! Officer Luo! I'll tell you everything I know!"

"it is good."

Luo Fei's voice remained steady, carrying a calming power.

"But before that, I need to confirm your understanding again."

He slightly adjusted his squatting posture to ensure that his voice could be heard by Zhou Shaokang but would not spread to other corners of the cell.

“Zhou Shaokang, listen carefully. I will only say this to you once. My true identity is Luo Fei, a police officer belonging to the national security system. I have come to Dongguan City to carry out a special investigation mission assigned by my superiors. You should understand what the word ‘national security’ means in Daxia.”

Zhou Shaokang's breath hitched, and he instinctively tightened his grip on Luo Fei's arm. National Security!
These two words exploded in his mind, which was in a state of near despair, like a thunderclap. In his mind, it was a powerful department with special authority, handling major and sensitive cases, and even a touch of mystery, whose authority far exceeded that of ordinary local police.

It's almost unbelievable that a young suspect locked up in a detention center would suddenly claim to be a national security police officer. But recalling Luo Fei's behavior since his arrival—his calm and composed demeanor in the face of Xue Debiao, his incredible card tricks, his lightning-fast shrewdness in stopping his own suicide attempt, and those eyes that seemed to see through people's secrets—all this "irrationality" seemed to add a touch of eerie credibility to this astonishing identity.

"National...National Security?"

Zhou Shaokang's voice was extremely hoarse, filled with extreme shock and bewilderment.

"You...you really are...but how did you get here? And you've even..."

"The mission requires us to disguise our identities and infiltrate to investigate."

Luo Fei succinctly interrupted his question, his tone leaving no room for argument.

"Now is not the time to explore how I got here. What matters is whether you believe what I'm saying and whether you're willing to seize this one and only opportunity that could change your and your family's destiny."

Zhou Shaokang's chest heaved violently, and in the darkness, the changing expressions on his face were unreadable; only his heavy breathing betrayed the intense struggle within him. To believe such a young, imprisoned "national security policeman"? It sounded like a fantasy. But if he didn't believe him, who else could he trust? Wang Qiang? The detention center director who had threatened him with the lives of his family to kill someone? Or the legal procedures that had already convicted him and were awaiting execution? He was already a dying man; what could he possibly deceive, what could he possibly lose? Besides, the other man had just saved his life, preventing his suicide.

After a long while, Zhou Shaokang seemed to have exhausted all his strength and slowly loosened his grip on Luo Fei's hand, but he did not let go completely, as if he still needed this little bit of contact to confirm the reality.

His voice was hoarse, carrying a final, almost desperate, question.

"How...how can you prove it?"

Luo Fei seemed to have anticipated his question and gently shook his head.

“My identification and equipment were taken away according to procedure when I was ‘arrested’, so I cannot show them to you now.”

but."

He changed the subject, his gaze sharp even in the dim light.

"The best way to prove my identity is not by showing me any documents, but by what I am about to do and whether you are willing to tell me the whole truth about the injustice you have suffered."

Zhou Shaokang, I'm asking you now, is the verdict against you, stating that you 'illegally possessed a particularly large number of firearms, and were sentenced to death, to be carried out immediately,' true? Did you really possess that many guns?"

When the case was mentioned, Zhou Shaokang was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Although he tried his best to suppress it, his emotions still became agitated instantly, and his voice was full of injustice and indignation.

"No! I didn't! I was framed!"

Those guns… I’ve never even seen them before! They’re all fake! Someone’s trying to frame me!”

He spoke rapidly, as if he wanted to pour out all the grievances he had been holding back for so long.

“They said I used my personal information to buy over two hundred replica BB guns online! The goods had just arrived at the courier point when I was apprehended! But I really didn’t buy any! My shopping account password was very simple, so it must have been stolen by someone else! In court, the prosecutor said that the replica guns had been tested and found that their muzzle kinetic energy exceeded the prescribed standards, making them extremely lethal, and that they should be treated as real guns… The judge believed him! Based on this, he sentenced me to death! To be carried out immediately!”

By the end, his voice was trembling with sobs, a desperate lament of having nowhere to turn and no way to defend himself.

"More than two hundred replica guns? Would that be punishable by death for using real guns?"

Luo Fei's brows furrowed tightly.

Although he is not a full-time legal expert, he still possesses basic common sense and judgment. While the large number of replica guns involved in the case certainly constitutes a serious offense, sentencing someone to immediate execution without any actual harm caused, especially given the recent trend of cautious sentencing in replica gun cases, is indeed unusually severe.

It's hard to imagine this happening without a powerful driving force behind it.

"You keep crying foul, saying you've offended someone. Tell me, who exactly have you offended? Who would use such a vicious and thorough method to try and kill you?"

Luo Fei pressed on in a deep voice, knowing that the key lay here.

Zhou Shaokang's body trembled again, this time not from excitement, but from a deep-seated fear.

He glanced around instinctively, and although he knew that only the two of them were talking quietly in the corner in the darkness, he still showed great apprehension.

Instead of answering Luo Fei's question directly, he asked a question in return.

"Officer Luo... do you know what I did before I came in here?"

"I've heard a little, but not in detail. Tell me."

Zhou Shaokang took a deep breath, as if gathering enough courage, before lowering his voice and speaking word by word.

"I used to be... He Wenbin's personal driver, the director of the Dongguan City Education Bureau. I've been with him for almost eight years."

The driver of He Wenbin, the director of the Education Bureau? A knowing glint flashed in Luo Fei's eyes.

The personal driver of the head of a key department—this very identity means he has access to many secrets that outsiders cannot know, which explains why the other party would use such extreme measures to "silence" him.

“Go on.”

Luo Fei gestured.

“When you drive for a leader for a long time, some things… it’s hard not to know.” Zhou Shaokang’s voice carried a complex mix of emotions: regret, fear, and resentment.

"I'm a pretty tight-lipped person. I don't look at things I shouldn't see, and I don't listen to things I shouldn't hear. That's my duty as a driver."

Director He… He Wenbin was initially quite nice to me. But some things, just because you don't want to know them doesn't mean they'll stay away from you.

He paused, as if organizing his thoughts, or perhaps overcoming his immense fear.

"I have two huge pieces of dirt on He Wenbin."

The first issue is that he maintained an improper relationship with Xiao Fangfang, the wife of one of the city's vice mayors, for a long period of time.

This was a very secretive matter, but I often picked people up and dropped them off, and the places I went to were quite remote. Over time, I was able to see the signs.

Moreover... and the deputy mayor's second son, the one who just started elementary school this year, is actually... actually He Wenbin's son.

I found out about this by accidentally overhearing He Wenbin and Xiao Fangfang arguing in their car once, and I let it slip.

Luo Fei's eyes narrowed. An affair between the Education Bureau Director and the Deputy Mayor's wife, possibly even involving issues of offspring, was a major scandal that could ignite a major uproar in the local officialdom.

"The second piece of evidence."

Zhou Shaokang continued, his voice lower but clearer.

"It was He Wenbin who accepted a bribe of 13 million yuan from a construction company called 'Hongyuan Construction' in the bidding for the expansion project of a key middle school's new campus two years ago!"
This money wasn't transferred through a bank; it was all in cash. I personally witnessed Hongyuan's boss putting the suitcase containing the money into the trunk of He Wenbin's car in two separate trips.

and……"

He licked his chapped lips.

“I know where He Wenbin hid this money.”

He dared not deposit the money in a bank, nor at home, so he secretly bought an old detached house in the suburbs, dug a cellar, and hid the money there.

A driver who possesses such a deadly secret about his leader is himself a ticking time bomb. Luo Fei had already roughly guessed what would happen next.

“I… my family has always been poor. My mother has a heart condition and needs to take medication all year round. My daughter is still young, and my wife ran away… my meager salary is simply not enough to make ends meet.”

Zhou Shaokang's voice was filled with remorse.

“I was bewitched… I saw He Wenbin taking so much money and living such a carefree life, and I felt resentful. And then I thought about how much I knew about his dangerous affairs… so I… so I had wicked thoughts.”

"You blackmailed him?"

Luo Fei asked calmly, without accusation, simply stating a fact.

Zhou Shaokang nodded painfully.

“I used a black card I bought on the street to send him an anonymous message, mentioning two things I knew without being too explicit, but he definitely understood what I meant. I asked him for two million... It was a huge sum for me, but for him it was just a drop in the ocean. I figured he would pay me to keep his position and reputation in order to avoid trouble.”

"He agreed?"

"He replied to my message and agreed readily. He told me not to tell anyone, that he needed time to prepare the money, and that we would meet somewhere to give it to him."

Zhou Shaokang's face showed an expression even more unpleasant than crying.

"I thought I had succeeded, and I was both nervous and excited... But I was too naive! He Wenbin is a ruthless person, how could he really be threatened by me? He kept me calm on the surface, but secretly he used some means to find out that I was the one who sent the message."

He had no intention of giving me money; he wanted to kill me!

What happened next was perfectly logical.

"He didn't call the police, nor did he confront me."

He used his connections to place orders in batches through loosely regulated online channels, buying over two hundred high-fidelity BB guns. He even used a place I could be linked to as the shipping address.

Then... he anonymously reported it. The police arrived quickly and accurately, catching him red-handed.

From my arrest to the first trial, and then to the second trial upholding the original verdict, the speed was astonishing. I protested my innocence, saying I was framed, but who believed me? The chain of evidence was 'perfect'! The shopping records were my account, the delivery information was linked to me, the items were seized at the courier point… I couldn't explain myself no matter how hard I tried! He Wenbin must have exerted considerable influence behind the scenes to push for a swift and severe verdict!
He wants me dead! Only if I'm dead can his secrets be preserved forever!

Zhou Shaokang's voice was distorted by extreme fear and anger.

"He even...he even sent a message to the detention center warning me that if I dared to talk nonsense in court or implicate leaders, my mother and daughter would..."

He couldn't continue, his body curled up, and he let out another suppressed sob.

It was a deep-seated fear of power and intrigue.

Luo Fei listened quietly, his heart also filled with turmoil.

The fact that an education bureau chief could so easily manipulate the judiciary to send a driver who had committed no major crimes to the guillotine in order to cover up his own scandals and crimes is truly alarming. The ruthlessness of his methods and the power he wields are not to be underestimated.

This also explains why Wang Qiang obeyed the Xue family to deal with him, this "hidden danger," because their way of dealing with "trouble" has always been so simple, brutal, and deadly.

"How did He Wenbin and Xiao Fangfang get together? Were they old acquaintances?"

Luo Fei asked about a detail.

Zhou Shaokang nodded, sobbing.

"Hmm... I've heard them mention it, it seems they were high school classmates. Last year their high school had some kind of alumni reunion, He Wenbin went, Xiao Fangfang went too... and then, and then..."

The rest is self-evident.

A class reunion rekindles old flames, leading to the uncovering of power-for-sex deals and a potentially more complex network of interests. Luo Fei keeps all this information in mind.

Looking at the man before him, overwhelmed by immense injustice, fear, and remorse, Luo Fei knew that despite revealing his identity, Zhou Shaokang likely still harbored doubts deep down. After all, his own situation didn't seem much better; he too was imprisoned and barely able to protect himself.

Sure enough, Zhou Shaokang cried for a while, then raised his head, his red and swollen eyes filled with complex emotions: expectation, doubt, and deep worry.

"Officer Luo... Officer Luo, I believe about 70-80% of what you said. But... but you're here now, how can you help me? I... I heard from Chief Wang that they might also target you..." (End of Chapter)