American comic book: I, with my abundant martial virtue, love to do good to others.

The people in the office split up to work, while Lynn continued to bury himself in his work. Despite the heavy workload, he remained calm and broke down every detail into actionable steps.

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

Lynn put down the report in her hand, a glint of light flashing in her eyes: "Very good. Immediately search the database for nearby vehicles based on the license plate information. 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 for the address where the target vehicle was registered.

Lynn and Mark led their team to the vehicle's registered address, a secluded warehouse. The red van was parked quietly beside the warehouse, looking exactly as described in the report.

"Action team, spread out and surround," Lynn ordered in a low voice. "Approach only after confirming the surroundings are safe."

The team members quickly carried out the order and cautiously approached the vehicle. Mark checked the license plate first, then frowned: "Detective, this car has a fake plate."

Lynn's heart sank upon hearing this. He carefully examined the vehicle's exterior and noticed a fresh scratch on the edge of the door, seemingly recent. He gestured for his team to open the door and inspect the interior.

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

"Damn it," Mark muttered, "they're too cunning; they even used fake license plates on their cars. We're back to square one."

Lynn didn't speak. He walked to the back of the car, squatted down, and carefully inspected the underside. When his flashlight beam swept across the bottom of the car, he found a plastic bag stuck to the bottom, containing a crumpled map.

"What's this?" Mark leaned closer to take a look.

Lynn carefully took out the map and unfolded it, finding several locations marked in red. One of the marked points was less than ten kilometers away and appeared to be an abandoned industrial park.

"This might be their temporary shelter." Lynn stood up, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "Let's go check it out."

The team acted swiftly, splitting up again to conduct reconnaissance. When they arrived at the industrial park, they found it overgrown with weeds and the buildings dilapidated, seemingly untouched for a long time. But in a secluded corner, Lynn noticed a barely noticeable tire track.

"Someone's been here," he said in a low voice, pointing to the marks on the ground. "And recently."

Mark nodded and gestured for his team to remain vigilant. Lynn led the way, following the tire tracks into an abandoned building in the industrial park, where they found a door slightly ajar, from which faint footsteps could be heard.

Lynn raised his hand to signal his team to stop, then quietly approached the door. He listened intently for a moment, and after confirming that someone was indeed inside, he whispered into the communicator, "Suspicious target detected. Prepare to storm in."

The team members quickly took their positions, and Lynn counted down three seconds with a hand gesture before pushing open the door and rushing inside.

The people inside were clearly caught off guard by the intrusion and panicked, trying to escape. But Lynn's team was prepared and quickly subdued the two men inside.

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

The two men exchanged a glance, clearly not expecting Lynn to bring up the child so directly. They stammered, trying to deny it, but Lynn already knew the answer from their flustered eyes.

"Take them back to headquarters for interrogation," Lynn told his team, while beginning to search the rest of the house.

Soon, he found some children's items in the corner: a little girl's hat, a teddy bear, and a pair of shoes that were clearly for children.

Lynn picked up the items, his gaze hardening. He knew they were close to the truth, but the search was not over.

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

Despite the fragmented clues, Lynn's intuition told him that they wouldn't leave empty-handed this time.

Lynn's team quickly launched a thorough search of the industrial park, everyone aware of the urgency. Based on the children's belongings found inside the house, Lynn deduced that Emily might still be nearby. His gaze swept over the dilapidated buildings and overgrown paths; every seemingly peaceful corner might conceal crucial clues.

Mark led two team members around to another abandoned factory building. After inspecting it, they reported via communicator: "Detective, we didn't find anything here, but we found some drag marks on the west side, as if someone was moving a heavy object."

Lynn immediately turned west and led several team members forward quickly. The drag marks led to a hidden underground entrance, which appeared to be an abandoned underground warehouse in the industrial park. The iron door to the entrance was half-open, covered with a thick layer of dust, but the lock had clearly been recently damaged.

"That's probably where they're hiding," Lynn whispered, gesturing for his team to approach. "Mark, take two men and circle around to the other side. We'll attack from the front. Once we spot anything, move in immediately."

Mark nodded and led his men around the area, while Lynn carefully pushed open the iron door. A dark staircase led down into the ground, the air thick with a musty smell mixed with engine oil. He led the way in, the team following closely behind, their steps light and cautious.

After descending the stairs, they entered a narrow passage, where faint sounds could be heard in the distance. Lynn raised a finger to signal his team to be quiet and slowly approached, hugging the wall. As they drew closer, he heard a little girl's soft sobs and an adult man's impatient whisper.

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

Lynn frowned, quickly gesturing for his team to disperse and surround the man. He took a deep breath and burst into the room. His gun was firmly pointed at the man inside, and he hissed, "Don't move, FBI!"

The man was clearly terrified by what he saw. The metal rod fell to the ground, and he raised his hands, his voice trembling, "Don't shoot! Don't shoot! I didn't do anything!"

Lynn gave him a cold glance, then turned to look at the little girl in the corner. Emily was huddled next to the worn-out sofa, trembling, tears still streaming down her face.

"Emily?" Lynn's voice softened as he slowly approached her. "I'm from the FBI. Your family sent me to find you. You're safe now."

The little girl hesitated for a moment, her eyes filled with fear, but when she saw Lynn, she finally rushed to him, crying. Lynn knelt down on one knee, hugged her tightly, and gently patted her back: "It's okay, it's okay. We'll take you home."

Meanwhile, Mark and his team subdued the man and began searching the room. On the other side of the room were ropes, duct tape, and other kidnapping tools, as well as a computer with several encrypted emails displayed on its screen.

"Detective, this computer might hold more clues." Mark picked up the computer, a cold glint in his eyes. "This guy definitely did this more than once."

Lynn nodded, handed Emily over to a female agent, and then walked towards the kidnapper, his gaze icy: "You'd better start confessing everything. Did you do it alone, or did you have accomplices? And what's the deal with these emails?"

The kidnapper, sweating profusely and with a trembling voice, said, "I...I was just doing a job! Those emails were from my employer; I had no idea who they were! They just paid me to kidnap a child to scare people!"

"Trying to scare people?" Lynn's voice grew even colder. "Who hired you? Who is the target?"

"I don't know!" the kidnapper cried, almost screaming. "I've never seen them before, I was just following orders!"

Lynn looked at him, knowing he wasn't lying; this low-level thug was likely being manipulated by a larger mastermind. But the most important thing right now was ensuring Emily's safety. He stood up and ordered his team, "Take him back to headquarters and interrogate him thoroughly. Mark, you're in charge of bringing the computer and all the evidence back to the tech department; have them start decrypting the emails immediately."

Mark nodded: "Understood."

As Emily left the industrial park, she was safely put into a police car. Lynn watched her face gradually calm down and breathed a sigh of relief.

The latest novel is first published here!

Back at headquarters, Lynn escorted the suspect into the interrogation room. He sat across the table, his gaze icy as he looked at the man: "Since you're unwilling to confess, let's start over. Who hired you? Through what channels did they contact you?"

The suspect, head bowed and hands nervously rubbing together, said, "I've already said I don't know who it is. They've never shown their face; they only give me instructions via email."

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

The suspect hesitated for a moment, then swallowed hard. "I used a laptop. The emails were sent through an anonymous, encrypted platform. The content was simple: they told me who to arrest, where to take them, and then I would receive payment."

Lynn leaned back in her chair, her gaze piercing like needles as she asked, "How much did they pay you?"

"It's different every time," the suspect said in a low voice. "This time it's five thousand dollars, transferred directly to a virtual account."

"A virtual account?" Lynn frowned. "What kind of account exactly?"

"It's a cryptocurrency wallet," the suspect looked up, a hint of fear in his eyes. "I only used that account to withdraw money; I've never had any direct contact with them."

Lynn paused for a moment, then stood up and left the interrogation room. He went straight to the technical department and told a technician the information he had just obtained: "The target used cryptocurrency for payments. Here's his wallet information; can we track the flow of funds?"

The technician adjusted his glasses, opened his computer, and quickly began working: "Cryptocurrency offers a high degree of anonymity, but fund transfer records can still be traced. If we find his wallet address, we can trace the source of the funds."

"Handle it as soon as possible," Lynn said firmly. "This is our only lead right now."

The technician began analyzing the flow of funds, explaining to Lynn, "Although the cryptocurrency transaction chain is long, if these funds eventually end up in 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: "Detective, some progress. The money was transferred through multiple wallets in an attempt to conceal its origin. But ultimately, it ended up in the account of a small company that ostensibly deals in logistics, but its cash flow is highly irregular, like an empty shell."

Lynn picked up the report and looked through it, his brow furrowed. "Where is this company registered?"

"Manhattan," the technician replied, "the registered address is in an office building, but our initial investigation suggests that the office may never have been used."

Lynn nodded. "Very good. This is our next target."

He immediately assembled his team and presented the clues at a briefing: "We now have reason to suspect that this logistics company is just a front for a larger transaction network. Mark, you're in charge of leading the team to the company's registered address to confirm the situation there. Eric, you and I will investigate the registration information behind this company to see if we can find the real mastermind."

Mark led his team to the logistics company's registered address and confirmed that the office had indeed been unused for a long time and lacked even basic office equipment. Upon returning to headquarters, he reported this to Lynn and provided further investigative materials.

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

Lynn flipped through the documents, his gaze lingering on an unusual financial record: "There's a transaction here that went directly to a private medical research institute. What's the background of this institute?"

“We’ve investigated,” Eric interjected. “This research institute belongs to a medical technology group, whose behind-the-scenes funder is Robert Cavill—a wealthy man suffering from a rare, late-stage disease. He also has several charitable foundations, but the flow of funds is extremely complex.”

"Robert Cavill..." Lynn repeated the name, his brow furrowing slightly. "If he's the financier, then he could be the mastermind behind it all."

Eric nodded: "What's even more interesting is that this medical technology group has had multiple financial dealings with the gene experiment organization we investigated before. It seems that he is not only a funder, but also possibly a direct beneficiary of the experiments."

Lynn pondered for a moment, then finally made up his mind: "Contact the medical research institute; we need to find out the specific relationship between him and these experiments. At the same time, assign a team to investigate Kavel's lifestyle and social circle." (End of Chapter)