Li Cheng sighed: "We have mastered the activity trajectory of some suspicious vehicles, but it is difficult to convict because there is no clear image and direct evidence. According to our analysis of several similar cases, these people usually suppress the target through the periphery and force the other party to compromise, but they have always been cunning, and almost all the traces left have been processed."

Qin Yuan was silent for a moment, then said coldly: "Since they are so cautious, we have to be more proactive. Captain Li, I need your cooperation. This time we can't wait for them to take action."

Li Cheng seemed to be infected by Qin Yuan's decisive attitude and nodded and said, "Tell me about your plan, I will cooperate with you with all my strength."

After Qin Yuan hung up the phone, he immediately started the action. He contacted the technical team and conducted in-depth analysis of the parking lot and surrounding areas through the surveillance video provided by Zhou Hong's company. Soon, he discovered an important clue - a van had wandered around Zhou Hong's company many times, and the license plate number was partially blocked, but he could still see several digits clearly.

Qin Yuan submitted the license plate number to the police and asked them to retrieve the registration information of the vehicle. At the same time, he contacted Duan Jinglin remotely and asked the technical expert to assist in analyzing the source of the other party's anonymous email.

Duan Jinglin's voice came through his headphones: "Instructor, these emails were indeed sent through an encrypted virtual server, and the sender tried to cover up the traces. However..." His tone was a little excited, "The other party's technology was not advanced enough. I found the jump node of one of the servers, and the location showed that it was an abandoned factory in the suburbs of Tianhui City."

Qin Yuan's eyes lit up: "The suburbs of Tianhui City? Very good, this may be their hiding point. Can you confirm more details?"

"No more for the time being, but the power consumption of this factory is very abnormal recently, and someone should be active in it. Instructor, you'd better go investigate as soon as possible."

After Qin Yuan hung up the phone, he immediately fed the clue back to Li Cheng. The two quickly agreed that the police were responsible for the periphery blockade, and Qin Yuan led his team members to sneak into the factory to confirm the specific situation.

That night, the abandoned factory buildings in the suburbs of Tianhui City were shrouded in a quiet darkness, and only faint moonlight shone on the dilapidated buildings. Qin Yuan led Zhang Chu and another team member to sneak in quietly. The few were fully armed, their movements were light and fast.

"Instructor, there is light in the factory." Zhang Chu observed with a night vision goggles and whispered.

Qin Yuan nodded, raised his hand and signaled the team members to keep quiet. They slowly approached the factory and peeked in through the broken window. Several men in the house were gathered around a table with several computers and a bunch of documents on it, as if they were discussing something.

"It's them." Qin Yuan whispered, "Be careful, these people are likely to have weapons."

Zhang Chu asked: "Do we act directly?"

"Wait a little longer." Qin Yuan's eyes were sharp and he lowered his voice, "Confirm their intentions and the position of the leader first."

A few minutes later, a tall, bearded man walked out of the inner room, obviously the leader of the group. He glanced coldly around and said, "Don't Zhou Hong let go?"

A subordinate next to him replied: "No. She has been much low-key recently and the itinerary has become difficult to grasp."

The leader snorted coldly: "She is procrastinating, but procrastinating is useless. Tell the people below to increase the threat and let her know our determination. If we don't cooperate, use more extreme means."

Qin Yuan's eyes sank, and he gestured to Zhang Chu to prepare for action.

At this moment, the sound of a car engine suddenly came from outside the factory. A black car parked at the entrance of the factory and got out of the car. A man in a suit got straight into the factory and whispered to the boss.

"Who is that?" Zhang Chu asked in a low voice.

Qin Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly: "This should be the instructor behind him. His contact with this group of people means that they have greater plans."

"Instructor, what should we do?" Zhang Chu was a little excited.

"Stay first." Qin Yuan lowered his voice, "We will take action after the police are surrounded."

A few minutes later, Li Cheng's voice came from his headphones: "The peripheral blockade is completed and you can act at any time."

Qin Yuan curled his mouth slightly and ordered in a low voice: "The action begins!"

With Qin Yuan's order, he took the lead in breaking the window, and the bullet accurately smashed the lights in the factory, instantly causing the enemy to fall into darkness. Zhang Chu and other team members followed closely and quickly suppressed the enemy.

"Police! Don't move!" Li Cheng led a team of special police to rush in through the main gate and quickly controlled the situation.

In the chaos, the man in the suit tried to escape, but was kicked to the ground by Qin Yuan. He pointed the gun coldly at the other party: "Don't move, otherwise you can try."

The man in the suit looked pale, raised his hands above his head, and was sweating all over his head: "Don't shoot! I surrender!"

The battle in the factory ended in less than five minutes, and all the suspects were controlled. Li Cheng patted Qin Yuan on the shoulder with satisfaction: "Beautiful job, now, we finally grasped the clue."

Qin Yuan looked cold and looked at the man in a suit handcuffed and said coldly: "Now, you should tell me who else is behind you."

In the factory, the lights were on again, and the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder. The man in the suit was handcuffed to a shabby chair. His forehead was covered with cold sweat, his face was pale, and his eyes were filled with panic.

Qin Yuan stood in front of him, with his hands wrapped around his chest, his eyes as sharp as a knife, and he said coldly: "For the last chance, let me be honest. Who is your employer?"

The man in the suit swallowed his saliva and his voice was dry: "I... I really don't know who it is! I took the order through the dark web. The employer did not show up and only contacted through encrypted communication. We just used money to do business, and really didn't know his identity!"

"Dark Web?" Qin Yuan frowned slightly, and a dangerous low voice in his tone, "How do you contact me specifically?"

The man in suit quickly said: "The task was released through a trading platform. The employer paid in virtual currency, and all communications were completed by anonymous email. Every time the task was completed, we would receive compensation at the designated location and we had never met the employer himself."

Qin Yuan's eyes became even colder, and his voice was like a low hammer hitting: "Since you don't know who the employer is, why are you targeting Zhou Hong? There is always a reason, right?"

The man in the suit hurriedly explained: "They asked for names to deal with Zhou Hong, saying that her company was blocking their way. We just took the money and did not know the specific reason!"

Qin Yuan stared at him for a few seconds, with scrutiny and threat in his eyes. Then, he snorted coldly, turned around and walked to Li Cheng, and whispered: "What this person should say is true. He is just the executor, and the person behind the scenes is still not exposed."

Li Cheng nodded, and his tone also showed helplessness: "The anonymity of the dark web is too strong, and it is difficult to trace the source of such transactions. Even if we catch these thugs, it will be very difficult to find an employer."

Qin Yuan thought for a moment, his eyes were quiet: "Since they used the dark web to trade, the employer must have left some information. No matter how secret the dark web is, there are no loopholes to follow. We need Duan Jinglin's technical support to let him deeply track down the specific nodes of the transaction."

Li Cheng nodded: "Okay, I will also contact the network security department and follow up on this clue."

Qin Yuan turned around and looked coldly at the man in the suit in a handcuff: "Take him back and review it carefully. He may not have said everything, especially the details of the transaction. Dig a few more layers and you may find a breakthrough."

The man in the suit waved his hands repeatedly, his face paler: "I really said everything! Stop tossing me, I'm really only responsible for carrying out the tasks!"

"Shut up." Qin Yuan's tone was like ice, and he didn't look at him again.

Late at night, Qin Yuan and Li Cheng sat in the conference room of the Tianhui Criminal Police Team, analyzing the documents and equipment seized from the factory. A set of data was displayed on the computer screen - the anonymous transaction record of the man in the suit and a part of the payment record of the virtual currency.

"These records look very hidden." Li Cheng pointed to the screen and said, "They used at least three layers of jump nodes, and the encryption level is very high. It is very difficult to crack and find the employer's IP address."

Qin Yuan said in a deep voice: "I have contacted Duan Jinglin, and he will assist you remotely. He has very strong abilities in technical reconnaissance and may find a breakthrough."

A few minutes later, Duan Jinglin joined the video conference. A complex stream of code appeared on his screen. While typing on the keyboard, he said: "Instructor, I am analyzing transaction records and email sources. The anonymity of the dark web is indeed high, but it is not completely impeccable. I need a little time."

Qin Yuan nodded: "As soon as possible, we will lose the initiative if this clue is broken."

Duan Jinglin laughed: "Don't worry, instructor, you know my style - there is no system that cannot be broken."

At the same time, Zhou Hong's company also fell into a trough due to this incident. Although several suspects in the factory have been controlled, the employer is still at large, which still threatens Zhou Hong's safety.

In the company office, Zhou Hong looked at Qin Yuan with complex emotions in her eyes: "Instructor Qin, is this matter impossible to be completely solved? If even these people don't know who the employer is, then will we always be targeted?"

Qin Yuan's tone was calm but firm: "No one would really hide without a trace. Although the other party was cunning, he would make mistakes. Our task was to find their flaws and completely eliminate the threat."

Zhou Hong pursed her lips and sighed: "I have been wondering these days whether to compromise directly and hand over what they want..."

"Absolutely not." Qin Yuan interrupted her decisively, "Once they compromise, they will only gain a slight advantage. Now they target you because you insist on not compromising. If you let go, they are likely to swallow your company completely and turn to the next goal."

Zhou Hong nodded, but her brows were still furious: "What should I do?"

"You only need one thing - follow the plan we have formulated, protect yourself and your family, and leave the rest to me and the police." Qin Yuan's tone was calm, with a convincing power in his eyes, "I will give you a thorough explanation for this matter."

Zhou Hong took a deep breath and showed a faint smile: "I believe in you, Instructor Qin."

A few hours later, Duan Jinglin received preliminary good news: "Instructor, I found a clue. In the jump node of this transaction record, the source address of the virtual currency was exposed. The funds came from a multinational company, Xinhui Group."

Hearing this name, Qin Yuan's eyes suddenly became cold. He said in a deep voice: "It's them. This clue is enough to prove that the mastermind behind it is Xinhui Group."

Duan Jinglin continued: "However, Xinhui Group has covered it up very deeply. This transaction is only indirect and cannot be used as direct evidence."

Qin Yuan smiled coldly: "No direct evidence is needed, just knowing it is them. I will force them to reveal their true colors."

After he finished speaking, he picked up his cell phone and called Li Cheng: "Captain Li, prepare for the second step of action - we want to get this big fish to hook."

As night fell, Qin Yuan drove the car and took Zhou Hong home. The street lights on the street lengthened the shadow of the vehicle, and the hustle and bustle of the city were gradually replaced by the tranquility of the night. Zhou Hong sat in the passenger seat, looking a little tired, but seemed to feel a little safe because of Qin Yuan's presence.

The car was driving smoothly on the way home, but Qin Yuan's eyes keenly captured a black car that was always kept not far away through the rearview mirror. Its headlights appeared and disappeared from time to time, maintaining a distance of closeness. It seemed ordinary, but the deliberately lowered speed and close driving trajectory made him alert.

"Mr. Zhou, sit firmly and don't panic." Qin Yuan's voice was low and calm, and his eyes were fixed on the rearview mirror. "The car behind him has been following us."

Zhou Hong's heart tightened and she subconsciously looked back, but was stopped by Qin Yuan: "Don't look, let them think we didn't notice it."

She suppressed the uneasiness in her heart and asked in a low voice: "What should I do? Will they attack us?"

"I won't do it now." Qin Yuan calmly analyzed, "Their purpose should be to observe your whereabouts and determine your route home. But if we don't take action, they will likely find more flaws."

His eyes narrowed, and he stepped on the accelerator lightly. The speed of the car suddenly increased slightly. Then he pretended to slow down, turned on a turn signal, and turned into a relatively remote path.

"What are you going to do?" Zhou Hong was a little nervous.

"Test them." Qin Yuan's tone was calm, but with a reassuring force, "If they were really following us, they wouldn't give up easily."

Sure enough, the black sedan also slowed down and turned into the same path in a few seconds, maintaining a similar distance.

"Confirm, they are the ones who follow us." Qin Yuan curled his lips slightly and sneered, "But they are too unprofessional and follow them so obviously."
Chapter completed!