Chapter 129: Arguments

The next day, around 9 AM, at the Zhou family estate.

Nearly twenty-four hours had passed since Zhou Tonghui and Yu Mingfei were kidnapped.

In the conference hall.

Zhou Yaoxiang sat in the main seat, smoking a cigar, his expression calm.

Though his most beloved youngest son was missing, Zhou Yaoxiang displayed very calm emotions. Since receiving the definite news yesterday, he hadn't blamed the Yu family once, hadn't interfered in the case, and had even sent his eldest son personally to the hospital to visit Yu Jinrong.

At the table, an overseas Chinese captain spoke softly to everyone: "According to our intelligence, the planner of this kidnapping is called Nick, a core member of the Old Mo gang's War Hammer organization, and an old drug dealer. He's currently in Dragon City, and only he likely knows the whereabouts of the kidnapped Zhou Tonghui and Yu Mingfei, so to rescue them, we must get him first."

"Through War Hammer's internal personnel, can we find out where the people are being held?" a middle-aged man beside Zhou Yaoxiang asked with his hands in his sleeves.

"Probably not, and it would easily alert them," the other party shook his head and replied. "This War Hammer organization is quite large with many internal factions. Simply put, others wouldn't know about what Nick is doing."

The middle-aged man nodded.

Zhou Yaoxiang took a puff on his cigar: "Then what's your plan?"

"Commander Miller's idea is that we directly coordinate with Dragon City's officials, have their security departments and police forces cooperate with us to secretly arrest Nick in Dragon City and bring him back to Zone One for interrogation," the captain said with his hands in his sleeves.

"Can you convict Nick in Zone One? What if he doesn't talk?" Zhou Yaoxiang asked with furrowed brows.

"As long as we catch him, I have ways to make him talk," the captain answered very confidently.

Su Tianyu sat with his hands in his sleeves to the side, listening to the captain's words while having other thoughts.

"Secret arrest through official channels is the most direct and effective method," the captain continued with his hands in his sleeves. "But this all has prerequisites. The kidnappers have made two demands that we must fulfill within a week, but the arrest needs preparation and time, so we need to pretend to cooperate with them now. I've discussed with Mr. Yu Jinrong, and he's willing to apply for transfer from the Management Council, but the kidnappers' second demand still needs the Bai family's cooperation."

"Bullshit!" Bai Hongbo exploded upon hearing this. "How can we cooperate with this? They want my father, to exchange hostages outside the district. Their purpose is obvious - they want to kill my father. Who can guarantee my father won't be harmed outside the district?"

The captain looked up at him, then turned to Yu Jinhang and said: "Not everyone can speak at this kind of meeting, otherwise we can't communicate."

Although Yu Jinhang was personally involved in this case, the direct person in charge wasn't him but Branch Three's Deputy Director Major Miller. However, he hadn't come today and only sent his subordinate, this Chinese military officer, to communicate with the victims' families.

This captain surnamed Niu had a work mindset very aligned with special departments and trusted official forces more.

Su Tianyu pulled Bai Hongbo: "Sit down first."

"Anyway, I'm making my position clear - I definitely won't let my father be bait outside the district," Bai Hongbo had become especially protective of his family members after losing his brother. "My father is over sixty, he can't take this kind of ordeal."

"How can you ensure the hostages' safety without placating the criminals?" Captain Niu said with furrowed brows. "We are the District Security Department, you should trust our work ability and cooperate with our arrest plan."

"Your plan might not only fail to rescue the hostages but also lose two more people!" Big Bai frowned and said: "Do you really understand Dragon City's situation?"

"Sir, we took only about ten hours to catch the criminal who planned the kidnapping," Captain Niu replied with his hands in his sleeves. "Are you questioning the Security Bureau's capabilities?!"

Bai Hongbo was speechless.

Once it became official, things became complicated, because some plans needed to follow official regulations. But this case involved too many families, everyone had their concerns and thoughts, and it was hard to reach agreement for the moment.

Su Tianyu originally didn't want to speak, because everyone here individually carried significant weight. But after hearing Captain Niu's plan, he also had doubts, so he couldn't help sharing his thoughts: "Captain Niu, I feel... this matter better not go through official channels."

Captain Niu looked at him: "Why?"

"Dragon City's situation is quite different from Zone One. If we handle the case officially, at least several departments will touch the core case information," Su Tianyu said softly. "First we need to coordinate with Dragon City's internal security departments, then have them contact the local police system to investigate Nick and his people's whereabouts. But the problem is, who can ensure there won't be any possibility of information leaks in these steps?"

Su Tianyu paused before continuing: "Especially since Nick and his people have close relationships with the Dragon City dock gang. If you want to make official arrests, you definitely need to go through the customs police units, and those people... I personally think they can't be trusted."

"The Security Department isn't an ordinary unit - would Dragon City's local police units dare play tricks in this matter? And we don't need to communicate with too many departments, just need the local Dragon City security department to find the port's direct units to cooperate in making arrests," Captain Niu said with furrowed brows. "This is a very simple and effective plan. Otherwise, if you rely solely on Zone One departments for parachute arrests, who will take responsibility if accidents happen? Moreover, Dragon City's side might have other thoughts about your lack of notification and courtesy. To mention the most likely scenario - if arrests require gunfire and people get injured or civilians are affected, who will bear the responsibility when Dragon City's side demands accountability?"

Su Tianyu looked at him with furrowed brows, also getting somewhat excited as he said: "You don't understand Dragon City's situation! The dock gang and customs units wear the same pants, and you only have one chance to rescue the hostages. If things leak, and they kill someone over there, what will you do?!"

"My mission is to rescue the hostages to the greatest extent possible, but the premise is that it must comply with procedures and regulations," Captain Niu said, standing up at this point and looking down at Yu Jinhang. "I don't think this discussion is working. Let's focus on actual actions, since the kidnappers haven't given much time."

Yu Jinhang glanced at Su Tianyu and waved for him to sit down first, then went along with Captain Niu as they walked out.

Su Tianyu sighed and turned to look at Yu Mingyuan, saying: "They're not from Dragon City's security department and understand too little about the situation there. This plan won't work."

Yu Mingyuan remained silent.

"Let's just talk about the simplest point - like last time when we went to snatch people at Tianhong Port, how many people surrounded us as soon as things kicked off? If the garrison hadn't arrived to break the siege, none of us would have gotten out," Su Tianyu said softly. "In a place like this, thinking a few parachuted Security Bureau workers can handle things is too naive! One zone, two systems, brother! Each place has its own rules - your methods for doing things in Zone One won't necessarily work in Dragon City."

Zhou Yaoxiang sat in the head position and took a puff on his cigar: "This young brother makes sense."

After the kidnapping occurred, internal arguments broke out in the Dragon City dock gang, while on the passive Yu family side, there were also fierce debates between different internal opinions.

The people had been taken away - how could they break the deadlock?

Dog Six pondered for a while before turning to Yu Mingyuan: "I have an idea..."