Chapter 431: Dying After Relieving the Addiction
Translator: Azza
Editor: Conspiracing
Hearing the gunshots, Lin Qiupu quickly jumped out of the car. The other police officers also got off as well, leaving the car left in the middle of the road.
The situation was critical and there was no time to change into their bulletproof gear. Lin Qiupu waved a hand to the officers who were preparing to rush forward and shouted, "You guys should come after changing into your bulletproof vests. The others will follow me!"
They followed the gunshots to a little bar. There were not many guests during the day. All of them were holding their heads and hiding behind the table at this moment. A strong-looking man lay on the ground with blood on his legs. He was holding his wound and moaned incessantly.
"Don’t move!"
Upon hearing someone shouting that, Lin Qiupu looked up. Behind the counter was a man wearing a t-shirt who was so skinny that he looked like his skin directly wrapped his bones. He was holding a pistol in his right hand. The muzzle was still smoking. He held a cup in his left and was using it to smash some crystal-like objects. It was quite obvious that those were drugs.
The incoming police officers unconsciously raised their guns and the skinny man said slowly, "You have guns. I have a gun too. Let’s see who is afraid of who!"
"Put the gun down. Otherwise, we will shoot." Lin Qiupu said.
"Humph!" The skinny man leaned his head against his gun. "Fire it! Do you dare?"
The man on the ground said, "Officer, I came here to drink. This madman suddenly shot me. It's got nothing to do with me."
"He’s a drug dealer. You should hurry to catch him." The skinny man said.
The man on the ground was still bleeding and the bullet seemed to have penetrated a large artery. If he wasn’t attended to as soon as possible, it could prove fatal. Lin Qiupu negotiated, "You take your drugs first. We won’t hinder you, but we have to take this person first. Didn’t you want us to catch him?"
The skinny man continued to cut his drugs with dribbles of saliva flowing in the corner of his mouth. He acted like he was deaf.
"Sir, can we take this drug dealer away first?" Lin Qiupu raised his voice. "Look, I’m putting my gun away. Can I come over?"
The man on the ground said, "I’m not a drug dealer. I really just happened to pass by."
Lin Qiupu gritted his teeth angrily. I’m trying to save you. Don't you know that?
He glanced at the officer next to him, making a phone call gesture. The officer noticed and went out to call an ambulance.
The skinny man was still pressing his temple against the gun, "Don't move! I’ll commit suicide if you move! I have a worthless life anyway! I don't care!"
Then, he divided the smashed drugs into thin strips with a card, picked up a straw, and began to suck it up. He lifted his head in bliss after one go as drool fell from the corner of his mouth. His whole body was trembling, and he rubbed his nose vigorously. He picked up the straw while still trembling and prepared to have another go.
"When I’m done, I’ll end my life on my own. I won’t cause trouble to the people's police."
Lin Qiupu frowned. This man seemed beyond rescue.
"Good lad. You’ve got guts!" The drug dealer said while still lying on the ground. "Do you dare to kill a policeman?"
"Haha, why wouldn’t I?" The skinny man raised the gun and panned it in a circle. The police clenched their own guns nervously and the customers behind screamed in fright.
Old Zhang whispered, "Shoot him in one go!"
"No, don't shoot!" Lin Qiupu said with cold sweat forming. "He doesn't seem to want to hurt anyone. After he finishes taking the drugs, we’re up!"
"Be careful!"
The skinny man pressed his temple against his gun again. He lowered his head and began to suck the second line. This time, he was in so much bliss that he began trembling even more and couldn’t hold the gun properly. He pointed it to the ceiling.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lin Qiupu shouted, "Go!"
He rushed forward like an arrow and pressed the man’s shoulder down on the bar table as the pistol fell from his hand. At the same time, Old Zhang came from behind and pressed his head on the counter. What made people speechless was that at the moment of his arrest, he was still desperately sucking up the powder on the table. For the parts he couldn’t, he licked it with his tongue.
"Still sucking?!" Old Zhang picked him up and pushed him to the other side, making the drugs out of reach.
The skinny man thrust his tongue out and he burst into tears. "Let me get high! After that, I’ll die. I won’t cause any trouble to anyone!”
"Take him away!"
As he was taken away, the ambulance came. When the drug dealer was brought into the car, he held Lin Qiupu's hand and said, "Thank you. Thank the people's police. You came just in time. I’ll send you guys a silk banner later.”
"Why did you encourage him to kill the police just then?" Lin Qiupu asked coldly.
"Aiya, I was thinking that this kid might only have one bullet, but I wasn’t completely sure. I thought that if he tried shooting you guys that you’d be able to shoot him to death. This was to create opportunities for you!"
"Okay, hurry and go!"
Old Zhang picked up the gun and showed it to Lin Qiupu. Lin Qiupu took it in his hand. "Russian-made Makarov pistol. He’s only fired two bullets. How fortunate!"
"I asked the people in the bar. The person who was injured really was a drug dealer. It seems that the two of them quarreled because they couldn’t come to an agreement on the price. Then, the suspect shot him and took the drugs whose price could not be negotiated. He robbed the drug and got high by himself... No matter what though, no one died. It’s a good start!”
Lin Qiupu frowned. Did it count as a good start? He believed that the shooting incidents would soon spread throughout the city.
"By the way, the person who gets the guns may try to fire a test shot like him. Keep in touch with local police stations and branch offices. Immediately lock onto the area when gunshots are heard. Also, release a public notice on Weibo to caution citizens to pay attention."
"Should we really go public with this matter? Does the chief agree?"
"I'll tell him. You just need to do it."
The third team also made progress and found two missing guns. Similar to the situation here, all the parties fired a test shot and got reported to the police.
Interestingly, the owners of the guns they currently found were made up of this guy who was poor and had an addiction, a middle-aged bachelor who was dejected, and a homeless man who lived in odd places. They didn’t know each other, but there was one common point between them: They all lived very unsatisfying lives.
It seemed like the murderer deliberately selected such people and mailed the pistols to them, lest the world not have enough chaos.
In the evening, Lin Qiupu and the third team’s captain, Bi Guoliang, were called to the chief’s office. The white-haired chief threw a report to them and said, "The first team has already found out information about these guns. There’s a total of sixteen pistols and over two hundred rounds of bullets with three silencers... Since this happened, my phone exploded with calls today. The public heard gunshots and are now in a panic. The higher ups are trying to hold us accountable, but I know this isn’t just responsibility, so I’ll bear it down. Don’t be stressed. Try your best to find them!"
Lin Qiupu said, "Our team found one and Captain Bi found two. In addition, I have already disclosed this matter on Weibo. After all, since we can’t keep this matter under wraps, it’s better to let the public help to provide clues. It may even be faster.”
The chief nodded. "It's a good idea. At the moment, we must put the safety of the people first. In addition, I heard that when you arrested the addicted gentleman today, you didn't shoot. Is this true?"
Lin Qiupu said, "He didn't have the intent to harm others, so we used our intellect to resolve the matter."
"That’s too dangerous. There were so many people on the scene. The next time you encounter such a situation, if you need to shoot, you should shoot!"
"But these people are just ordinary people. The mischievous murderer was the one who gave them the gun! If we kill them, we’ve played into the murderer's intentions, isn’t that right?”
"The gun was given by the murderer, but the action was taken by themselves. We’re trying to take reactive preventative measures for them now. We must minimize the loss and risks. If this happens again, I’ll allow you to shoot! Put the safety of the masses first, followed by yourselves. Leave the suspects last, okay?”
Although he was reluctant to accept this cruel decision, Lin Qiupu knew that "absolutely no casualties are allowed" were nothing but empty words. This incident was bound to cause casualties.
He saluted the chief and said, "Understood!"
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