American comics: I am full of martial virtues and I love to be kind to others.

The people in the office split up and went about their business, but Lynn continued to work. Despite the overwhelming workload, he remained calm and broke down every detail into actionable steps.

Time passed slowly, and in the evening, Mark returned to the office with several community police officers. "Detective, we found an elderly man who lives near the missing location. He said he saw the man in the hoodie get into a red van. He can't make out the license plate, but he remembers some of the letters."

Lin En put down the report in his hand, a glint in his eyes. "Excellent, immediately use the partial license plate information to screen nearby vehicles in the database. We must act quickly, time is of the essence for the child's safety."

A few minutes later, the technical department sent back the screening results. Lynn, along with Mark and several agents, quickly set off to the address where the target vehicle was registered.

Lynn and Mark led their team to the vehicle's registered address, a remote warehouse. The red truck, parked quietly beside the warehouse, looked exactly like the description in the report.

"Action team, spread out and surround," Lin En ordered in a low voice, "Make sure the surroundings are safe before approaching."

The team members quickly followed orders and cautiously approached the vehicle. Mark was the first to check the license plate, then frowned, "Inspector, this car has a fake license plate."

Lin En's heart sank when he heard this. He carefully examined the exterior of the vehicle and noticed a fresh scratch on the edge of the door, which seemed to have appeared recently. He gestured to the team members to open the door and check the interior.

The carriage was empty, with almost no clues except a few old boxes and a pungent smell of engine oil.

"Damn it," Mark cursed under his breath. "They're so sneaky, they even use fake license plates on their cars. We're back to square one."

Lin En didn't say anything. He walked to the back of the car and squatted down to carefully check the situation under the car. When his flashlight swept across the bottom of the car, he found a plastic bag stuck to the bottom, which contained a crumpled map.

"What is this?" Mark came over to take a look.

Lin En carefully took out the map and unfolded it, noting several locations marked with red pen. One of the marked points was less than ten kilometers away and appeared to be an abandoned industrial park.

"This might be their temporary resting place." Lin En stood up, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "Let's go take a look."

The team quickly moved, splitting up again to conduct reconnaissance. When they arrived at the industrial park, they found it overgrown with weeds and dilapidated buildings, seemingly untouched for a long time. But in a secluded corner, Lin En noticed a subtle tire track.

"Someone has been here before," he whispered, pointing to the marks on the ground. "And recently."

Mark nodded and gestured for the team members to remain alert. Lynn led the way, following the tire tracks into an abandoned building in the industrial park. He found a door slightly ajar and could faintly hear light footsteps from inside.

Lin En raised his hand to signal the team to stop, then quietly approached the door. He listened for a moment, and after confirming that there was indeed someone inside, he whispered into the communicator, "A suspicious target has been detected, prepare to enter."

The team members quickly took their positions. Lynn counted down to three seconds with gestures, then pushed open the door and rushed in.

The people in the house obviously did not expect someone to break in and tried to escape in panic. But Lynn's team was well prepared and quickly controlled the two men in the house.

"Who are you?" Lynn asked coldly, "Where is the child?"

The two men looked at each other, obviously not expecting Lin En to mention the child directly. They hesitated and tried to quibble, but Lin En had already got the answer from their panicked eyes.

"Take them back to headquarters for interrogation." Lynn said to the team members and began to search other parts of the house.

Soon, he found some children's items in the corner: a little girl's hat, a stuffed bear, and a pair of shoes that were obviously worn by a child.

Lin En picked up the items, his eyes becoming more determined. He knew they were getting closer to the truth, but the search was not over yet.

"Mark, bring back this evidence," Lynn said, "and expand the search area. The child is likely still nearby."

Although the clues were sporadic, Lynn's intuition told him that they would not return empty-handed this time.

Lin's team quickly launched a sweeping search of the industrial park, everyone aware of the urgency of the situation. Based on the children's belongings found in the house, Lin concluded that Emily might still be nearby. His gaze swept over the dilapidated buildings and overgrown paths, each seemingly peaceful corner potentially hiding a crucial clue.

Mark led two team members around to another abandoned factory building. After a thorough inspection, he reported via the communicator, "Inspector, we found nothing here, but we did find some dragging marks on the west side, as if someone was moving a heavy object."

Lin En immediately turned west, leading several of his team members forward at a brisk pace. The drag marks led to a hidden underground entrance, seemingly an abandoned warehouse in an industrial park. The iron door was ajar, covered in thick dust, but the lock had clearly been recently tampered with.

"That's probably where they're hiding people," Lin En whispered, waving his hand for the team to move closer. "Mark, take two people around to the other side. We'll focus on the front. If we find anything, we'll act immediately."

Mark nodded and led the others around. Lynn carefully pushed open the iron door. A dark staircase led underground, and the air was filled with a stale smell mixed with oil. He led the way in, and the team members followed closely behind, their steps light and cautious.

After descending the stairs, they entered a narrow corridor. Faint noises could be heard in the distance. Lin raised his finger to signal the team to quiet down, then slowly approached, following the wall. As he drew closer, he heard the soft sobs of a little girl and the impatient whispers of an adult man.

"Shut up, or I'll throw you out if you cry again!" The man's voice was full of threats, followed by the sound of a chair being kicked over.

Lin En frowned, and quickly used gestures to direct his team to disperse and surround the area. He took a deep breath and rushed into the room. He pointed his gun steadily at the man inside and whispered, "Don't move, FBI!"

The man was obviously frightened by this scene. The metal stick in his hand fell to the ground. He raised his hands and said in a trembling voice: "Don't shoot! Don't shoot! I didn't do anything!"

Lynn glanced at him coldly, then turned to look at the little girl in the corner. Emily was huddled beside the worn sofa, trembling all over, tears still on her face. "Emily?" Lynn's voice softened as he slowly walked towards her. "I'm from the FBI. Your family sent me to find you. You are safe now."

The little girl hesitated for a moment, her eyes filled with fear, but when she saw Lin En, she finally rushed over crying. Lin En knelt on one knee, held her in his arms, and patted her back gently: "It's okay, it's okay. We'll take you home."

At the same time, Mark and other team members also controlled the man and began to search the room. On the other side of the room were some ropes, tape and other kidnapping tools, as well as a computer with several encrypted emails displayed on the screen.

"Inspector, this computer may hold more clues." Mark picked up the computer, a cold look flashing in his eyes. "This guy must have done this more than once."

Lynn nodded and handed Emily to a female agent. Then he walked towards the kidnapper with a cold look in his eyes: "You'd better start confessing everything. Did you do it yourself, or did you have other accomplices? What's the matter with these emails?"

The kidnapper was sweating profusely, his voice trembling. "I... I was just doing a job for someone! Those emails were from my employer. I have no idea who they are! They just paid me to capture a child and scare people!"

"Scare people?" Lin En's voice became even colder. "Who hired you? Who is the target?"

"I don't know!" the kidnapper's voice was almost crying. "I've never seen them. I'm just following orders!"

Lynn looked at him and knew he wasn't lying. This small-time thug was likely being manipulated by a larger mastermind. But the most important thing right now was Emily's safety. He stood up and ordered his team, "Take him back to headquarters and interrogate him thoroughly. Mark, you're responsible for taking the computer and all physical evidence back to the technical department. Have them begin decrypting the emails immediately."

Mark nodded: "I understand."

When leaving the industrial park, Emily was safely put into the police car. Lynn looked at her gradually calming face and felt a little relieved.

After returning to headquarters, Lin En escorted the suspect into the interrogation room. He sat across the table, his eyes icy, and said, "Since you're unwilling to confess, let's start over. Who hired you? How did you get in touch with them?"

The suspect lowered his head and rubbed his hands nervously. "I've already told you, I don't know who they are. They never showed up, they only gave me instructions via email."

Lynn placed a printed email record on the table and pushed it in front of the suspect: "Where did these emails come from? What device did you use to receive them? What was your response?"

The suspect hesitated and swallowed. "I was using a laptop, and the email was sent via an anonymous, encrypted platform. The content was very simple. They told me who to arrest, where to take them, and then I had to pay."

Lin En leaned back in his chair, his eyes piercing the other person like needles: "How much did they pay you?"

"It's different every time," the suspect whispered. "This time it's five thousand yuan, directly into a virtual account."

"Virtual account?" Lin En frowned. "What kind of account is it?"

“It’s a cryptocurrency wallet,” the suspect raised his head, a look of fear in his eyes. “I only use that account to withdraw money. I’ve never had direct contact with them.”

Lin En was silent for a moment, then stood up and walked out of the interrogation room. He went straight to the technical department and told a technician the information he had just received: "The target paid using cryptocurrency. Here is his wallet information. Can we trace the flow of funds?"

The technician pushed up his glasses, turned on his computer, and started working quickly. "Cryptocurrency is highly anonymous, but the transfer of funds can still be traced. If we find his wallet address, we can reverse-trace the source of the funds."

"Deal with it as soon as possible." Lin En said firmly, "This is our only clue now."

The technician began to analyze the flow of funds and explained to Lin En: "Although the cryptocurrency transaction chain is very long, if these funds eventually enter a bank account or are converted into physical assets, we can find the target's identity."

A few hours later, the technician knocked on Lynn's office door, holding a printed report. "Inspector, we've made some progress. The money was transferred through multiple wallets in an attempt to conceal its source. But in the end, it flowed into the account of a small company. This company ostensibly does logistics, but the flow of funds is extremely irregular, like a shell company."

Lin En picked up the report and looked through it, frowning: "Where is this company registered?"

"Manhattan," the technician replied. "The registered address is in an office building, but our preliminary investigation suggests that office may not even be occupied."

Lynn nodded: "Very good. This is our next goal."

He immediately gathered the team and presented the clues to everyone at a briefing: "We now have reason to suspect that this logistics company is just a front to cover up a larger trading network. Mark, you will lead the team to the company's registered address and confirm the situation there. Eric, you and I will investigate the registration information behind this company to see if we can find the real manipulator."

Mark led the team to the logistics company's registered address and confirmed that the office had indeed been unoccupied for a long time and lacked even basic office equipment. Upon returning to headquarters, he reported the situation to Lin En and provided further investigative information.

"Detective, the company's registration documents list the legal representative as a man named Harold Winslow, but our preliminary investigation shows that this name is fake," Mark said, placing a stack of documents on the table.

Lin En flipped through the documents and stopped at an unusual fund record. "There's a sum of money that went directly to a private medical research institute. What's the background of this institute?"

"We've checked," Eric interrupted. "This institute is affiliated with a medical technology group, and the group's backer is Robert Carvel, a wealthy man suffering from a terminal rare disease. He also has several charitable foundations, but the flow of funds is extremely complicated."

"Robert Carvel..." Lynn repeated the name, frowning slightly. "If he is the sponsor, then he might be the mastermind behind this."

Eric nodded. "What's even more interesting is that this medical technology group has had multiple financial transactions with the genetic experiment organization we previously investigated. It seems that they are not only a funder, but may also be a direct beneficiary of the experiment."

Lin En pondered for a moment before finally making up his mind: "Contact the Medical Research Institute. We need to investigate his specific relationship with these experiments. At the same time, assign a team to investigate Cavell's life trajectory and social circle." (End of this chapter)