Chapter 122 - Convinced!
Chapter 122: Convinced! (Part one)
The three bosses behind West Gate, Sanpi, and the others all frowned, all of them seeming to be getting impatient.
Xu Cheng’s men had already checked, so what use would him checking himself have?
Xu Cheng didn’t say anything, but he walked up onto the deck of the ship and said to Wu Gang, “Go and find a hatchet.”
Although Wu Gang was confused, he still found a hatchet from a nearby toolbox on the ship.
“Boss, what should I do?” he asked.
Xu Cheng took a look at the captain, seeing that that guy had no expression on his face. Xu Cheng came up to him and said, “I’m asking you again, where did you hide the money?”
The ship captain nonchalantly said, “I don’t know what you are talking about. Do you police officers all like to force people into confessing?”
Xu Cheng’s eyes swept past everyone, including those three bosses behind West Gate. “You’re still clinging on?”
Right after, he shouted, “Li Chao, Wu Gang!”
“Yes, Sir!”
Xu Cheng: “Go to the lowest floor of this ship, at the bedroom.”
The two nodded and just went in with a hatchet. It was a luxurious bedroom, but they had searched it inside out just now.
“Boss, we are in here,” they shouted out from a window on the side of the ship.
Xu Cheng: “Okay, feel the bed.”
The two searched the bed but didn’t find anything wrong. “Boss, there’s nothing.”
Xu Cheng looked at the ship captain as he said to Wu Gang and Li Chao, “That mattress is about 20 centimeters thick, slice it open and check the insides.
Li Chao immediately went to the ship’s kitchen, grabbed a knife, and stabbed into the mattress, and then he forcefully tore it open. Immediately, a large amount of cash spilled out. Wu Gang, Li Chao, and the other officers were all overjoyed as they shouted, “Boss! Money! Money!”
Xu Cheng looked at the captain with a smile and said, “Got anything to say for yourself?”
The captain was still trying to act tough. “We travel through a lot of places by boat and don’t often get on shore, so we rather store our money on the ship than in a bank. Besides, that cash wouldn’t be safe if we stored it in a safe, so we obviously had to hide it somewhere. It’s not much, just a couple million.”
“Oh, really?” Xu Cheng looked at him from the corner of his eyes, and then he continued to shout to Li Chao and the others downstairs. “Check the wooden board below your feet, there’s a layer of glue that seals it from water. Break the board, use all your strength!”
Right as he said that, the ship captain suddenly bumped away an officer in the way and wanted to jump into the water, but Xu Cheng didn’t even look as he took out his pistol and shot him in the leg. Then, the captain fell to the floor as the other criminal investigation officers immediately subdued him.
“Scared now?” Xu Cheng holstered his gun, and he looked at the captain, semi-smiling mockingly.
On the other side, Sanpi and the three bosses were all pale-faced. Seeing how the ship captain tried to run, they knew the money was hidden there.
Sure enough, not long after, Li Chao shouted excitedly, “Boss! The money’s all below the floorboards! There’s a crap ton, at least 5 billion yuan in cash!”
Those police officers and coastal guards all took in a deep breath upon hearing that.
The three West Gate bosses immediately shouted, “We are just here to get the electronic products, we don’t know anything about the money!”
Xu Cheng sneered. “If you have something to say, just say it in court. Arrest them all!”
“Yes, Sir!”
The criminal police officers immediately began cuffing people up and getting them into their cars. Li Chao, Wu Gang, and the others were all busy packing the cash and trying to count. Xu Cheng went to the ship captain, squatted down, and asked him, “Give up the stuff, and I can alleviate some of your crimes. You are responsible for this ship, so you probably know that there’s enough black money on board to get you a death sentence.”
Chapter 122: Convinced! (Part two)
The ship captain was still breathing in big chunks from the pain, and he also wasn’t stupid. He knew he still had some value, and the thing this officer was asking about would probably be the books those three West Gate heads brought over.
“You can take the money. Just let me go, I can give the books to you too,” he said.
Xu Cheng was really disgusted with people like him that would sell out teammates, and on the battlefield, he would finish him off with one bullet and definitely not have the patience to ask.
“You think I can’t find it? I’m giving you one last chance, you don’t have to take it,” Xu Cheng narrowed his eyes and said.
The killing intent he released from his eyes sent chills down this ship captain’s back. “It’s… it’s on the highest shelf of the refrigerator…”
“Bring him back.” Xu Cheng emotionlessly ordered the officers to carry him into the police car.
Xu Cheng went to the fridge at the head of the ship and found the file bag. Then, the team left the port.
On that day, the police HQ was very hectic. All the other teams and departments were looking at the people from Team 2 coming in and out and handing in all kinds of evidence. They already heard that they were able to seize a huge amount of black money from an underground money house and also shut down one of the largest casinos in the city. That was the biggest one West Gate had, and it was the equivalent of pulling out the tiger’s teeth.
Looking at the puny Team 2 office, they knew that things would not be the same anymore. Team 2 had always been quiet, yet the moment they moved, they took down a big fish.
They heard that there was at least 10 billion yuan of unrecorded cash seized at the casino, and then they also seized another 10 billion at the port. This was basically the largest money laundering case they had seen in recent years.
Li Chao, Wu Gang, and the other Team 2 members were all so busy today, but they were enjoying the pain. They were so delighted to see how the other colleagues at the HQ were looking at them. In the past, it had always been them that were looking at other teams like that.
Anyway, the higher-ups were very happy with this operation, and it was rumored that the director was basically floating on a cloud when he went to the provincial meeting. Last time, after taking care of North Gate, the city mayor rolled out a city development project, and it was rumored that some real estate business invested over tens of billions in yuan into that project. Those were all big achievements! Then, this time, they seized such an amount of unrecorded black money, the director immediately gave Xu Cheng a considerable level of power for him to follow up on the case.
Now, even an idiot could tell that this time, Team 2 not only took the hot potato, they did a fantastic job. They just made an unbelievable comeback, especially the captain of Team 2. From this lightning-fast operation, it was obvious how capable this captain was. From today and on, no one seemed to be able to look down on him anymore.
After handing in some reports, he returned to that narrow Team 2 Office. Right after he entered the room, he saw Li Chao and the others all standing there and saluting him.
“What did you guys smoke?” Xu Cheng was confused.
Wu Gang said in excitement, “Boss, this time we are 100% convinced to be your followers!”
The others all nodded.
Putting the document down, Xu Cheng put his hand on the desk and said, “Listen, this case isn’t over yet, you might still have to be busy for a few more days. But you can trust me.”
“We all trust you!”