Chapter 191: A sad fact about fate predictors.
The precinct was light with tension as detectives and officers prepared for the round up. Liwu’s team was heavily silent as they strapped on their vests and weapons. Their thoughts were crowded with Linlin’s revelations. Liwu’s jaw was tight as she turned to her team. "I need you all to be at your best. I know the timing could be better but it is what it is. We have a long list of suspects to bring in from different cities, from fate predictors, lawyers, social workers to camp employees.
Some of these people work in government offices. Some own successful companies and some are famous. Act accordingly. Don’t break the law, but get the job done. Human traffickers tend to be involved in arms smuggling so vests on at all times.
Remember, Sleazy Han already revealed the picture and name of....the boy in the barrel so some people are already on the run. We are not letting any rat escape the net. We move now."
The detectives straightened, adrenaline replacing doubt. Linlin wiped her face, still pale but resolute. She even managed to touch her fist to Xuanji’s.
The team led by Liwu headed to the camp at the edge of the forest clearing in the Lotus district. Ahead loomed the camp, a cluster of small wooden houses surrounded by wooden fences, floodlights and cameras. This was where the ’troublesome’ children in the adoption scam were taken to be disciplined and broken.
Liwu’s stomach churned. "This it it. Linlin, are you with me? If your mind is not here, then you have to stay back."
"I am with you." Linlin replied with a heaviness in her voice. Her eyes glowed with unease. The boy at the precinct was a monster, but so were the people that run this camp. His matter was complicated, this one was easy.
"SWAT, breach on my signal." Liwu commanded. She waited for the drones disguised as birds to fly over the camp and land on some trees. Then she barked, "Go."
The gates exploded inward as SWAT stormed the compound. Shouts erupted, guards scrambling, SOB officers in their jackets and vests which identified them clearly poured out of eight cars, sprinting through chaos, kicking doors, dragging suspects out. Teachers, counselors with forged certificates, guards with sketchy backgrounds, cooks in a dirty kitchen, trainers with whips.
Children huddled in corners, eyes wide with terror. Linlin knelt, whispering comfort while Liwu barked orders. "Secure everyone. If someone tries to be smart, shoot them. Get medics here, some of these children are bleeding. And someone find out which dummies investigated this camp before and failed to shut it down."
While she was barking orders, a suspect bolted--a bulky man with predatory eyes, who had been found with a whip. He was sprinting toward the lake behind the camp.
Liwu’s fury ignited. "Don’t you dare make me chase you," she screamed. But her legs were already on the move, tearing after him. Her boots pounded dirt, and her breath sharpened. Two dogs followed after her, barking loudly. The man leapt over a fence and crashed through a bush, desperate. Liwu’s rage fueled her speech. She hated runners. She abhorred any criminal that made her chase because every step was a taunt.
"When I catch you, I am going to shove my fist down your mouth," she growled. "You better stop before I have to put you down like a sick cow. Which is what you look like by the way, despite all those muscles."
Those who could hear Liwu just shook their heads.
"Who taught you how to run, your grandma?" Liwu screamed.
The man tripped, rolled over and continued his escape attempt. The lake shimmered ahead and Liwu’s bad luck throbbed. The man dove in, thrashing toward the boat tied to a small dock. Liwu cursed, but she didn’t hesitate. She plunged after him, icy water biting her skin.
The dogs jumped in two seconds after her. The chase became a battle in the lake. The man forgot to escape, and decided to fight back, swinging a fist as Liwu closed the gap. She slammed into him dragging him under. Two drags bit into his legs. They surfaced in a violent struggle, water splashing everywhere.
"Let go of me! Help me." He snarled and begged at the same time.
Liwu’s fist connected with his jaw, a crack echoing in the air. "You think you can run? You think you can make me chase you?"
The dogs barked loudly, excitedly.
She locked his arms, twisting them behind his back. SWAT officers rushed in, and she shoved the man toward them.
[+300 points: Falling in water.]
Liwu was so used to the pings that she didn’t pay attention. She accepted a towel from another officer, and walked towards the ambulances. All the children had been transferred to one point. The rest of the property was being searched.
Linlin looked at partner, eyes wide. "Liwu. Are you--"
"I am fine." Liwu snapped, wiping water from her face. She glared in the direction of the suspect. "Moron made me chase him all the way to the lake. I should have let the dogs have him. I am signing up as a witness at his trial just so I make sure he pays for this sprint."
Linlin laughed. "Given what we found here, I don’t think your testimony will be needed. This man and his friends are going away for a very long time."
An hour later, SWAT secured the camp, suspects lined up in chains. Children were escorted away, trembling but free. But the round up was not over. While a group stayed behind to collect evidence, Liwu led others to a second location.
They found a couple preparing to flee abroad, with the six year old girl they had adopted only two months ago.
At a third location, they stopped the fate predictor from jumping off a roof to escape his crimes by death. Linlin glared at the man. She couldn’t help wanting to punch him. "You are an embarrassment to our kind."
On the drive back to the precinct in the evening, she said to Liwu, "Do you know the saddest thing about having a system that predicts fate?"
Liwu sipped her canned soda through a straw. She glanced at her partner curiously. "Amaze me."
Linlin scoffed, it was not amazing. "We can predict the fate of others, but not our own. So, we can save others, but not ourselves. Sometimes, it makes me envious of ordinary people who can turn things around because of us."
This fact made Liwu wonder if it was the reason why many hosts with fate prediction systems willingly led others down dark paths.
