Chapter 66: Wave After Wave of Attacks

At noon.

In the Inspection Bureau's interrogation room, although Tang Baiqing wasn't handcuffed or locked in an iron cage, all his personal items like phone and documents had been confiscated. Moreover, the people questioning him had installed two sets of law enforcement recording equipment in the room and, strictly following interrogation regulations, had assigned a record keeper, main interrogator, and supervision officer to question Tang Baiqing.

This setup was very formal - almost all officials who were stripped of their positions faced this kind of interrogation before being detained.

If Tang Baiqing said he wasn't nervous at this moment, that would definitely be nonsense.

In the dim interrogation room, the main interrogator looked at Tang Baiqing expressionlessly: "From now on, whatever I ask, you just answer. Answer questions directly, don't evade, no need to explain, understand?"

"Understood," Tang Baiqing nodded.

"What time did you enter the port on the day of the incident?"

"According to regulations, I entered the port at 4:30 PM."

"Good, after entering the port, when did you board the maritime police patrol ship?"

"At 8 PM, after the shift change personnel came back, I and other team members boarded the patrol ship," Tang Baiqing replied, his forehead sweating.

"I looked at your internal shift schedule. On the day of the incident, the captain on duty should have been Huang Zhicheng. Why did he switch shifts with you that day? Did you propose it, or did he propose it?" the interrogator asked.

Tang Baiqing hesitated: "I proposed it because I originally had something to do today, so I wanted to switch one day's shift."

"Your entire squad rotated shifts, meaning that besides you, all other maritime police officers in your squad also changed shifts," the interrogator continued with furrowed brows. "You had something today - did all members of your squad also have something?"

Tang Baiqing clenched his palms: "...Night patrol for maritime police requires very detailed zone division. I'm not familiar with Old Huang's people and don't have much tacit understanding with them, so we switched the entire squad. This makes work easier, and it's not uncommon in the maritime police department."

"Are you sure you didn't deliberately switch shifts without any other purpose?"

"No!"

"Why did your patrol area repeatedly avoid Patrol Zone 4? A smuggling fishing boat visible to the naked eye entered the port head-on, and you didn't notice anything beforehand? How did you divide the patrol areas? Did you consider that your patrol plan had loopholes?" The interrogator pressed aggressively.

Tang Baiqing had come prepared, but facing the inspection officer's relentless questioning, he felt somewhat panicked inside.

Even the most brilliant lies would have holes, let alone when Tang Baiqing was facing professional inspection officers. These people might have dealt with bureau-level officials and detective chiefs before, so how could they be stumped by Tang Baiqing?

After twenty minutes of questioning, the sweat flowing from Tang Baiqing's body had already soaked through his clothes.

......

Around 3 PM, Tang Baiqing was temporarily released by the Inspection Department, but they made him sign a notice that he couldn't leave Dragon City in the near future and must be ready to answer summons at any time.

After leaving the Inspection Bureau, Tang Baiqing immediately returned to his unit and found his superior, the maritime police squadron leader.

In the office, Tang Baiqing closed the door and said in a low voice to the bald squadron leader: "Damn it, the Inspection Bureau people dragged me in for questioning and made me sign a notice that I can't leave Dragon City. Old Wang, I think this matter is getting big."

The squadron leader glanced up at him, his face gloomy, saying nothing.

"Here's what I'm thinking - can we get the dock gang people to insist that the gold bricks on the ship were placed by another group of bandits, that this was a frame-up, and have them only admit to smuggling ordinary goods?" Tang Baiqing asked.

"Don't you have a brain?!" The squadron leader frowned and replied: "Nearly 400 kilograms of gold bricks - how did the bandits transport them all onto the fishing boat in just a few minutes? How do you explain the fingerprints?! And if the bandits have video footage of the scene, if we say this and they publish it on any platform, the maritime police will be immediately crushed, and the matter will become even bigger!"

Tang Baiqing pondered for a while, then continued very anxiously: "Then how about this - I call the dock gang people and have them push Feng Hai out to take the fall, saying he colluded with some of our maritime police to conduct smuggling secretly. This would get us out of it, and the case would end with them."

"You're still thinking about getting yourself out of this?" the squadron leader asked incredulously.

"What else?!" Tang Baiqing asked in return.

The squadron leader stood up gritting his teeth, took two notices from his desk, and stuffed them into Tang Baiqing's arms, shouting: "Still thinking you can avoid being implicated - are you sleepwalking?! Damn it, you and I both have to stand up and take responsibility, understand?!"

Tang Baiqing looked down and saw that the two notices in his hands were orders for him and the squadron leader to be suspended pending investigation, issued directly by the Maritime Police Bureau.

Tang Baiqing was stunned: "What does this mean?"

"Never mind whether you colluded with the dock gang for smuggling and drug trafficking. Just the fact that the smuggling ship blatantly entered the inner harbor and rushed into the estuary - you and I both have undeniable suspicion of dereliction of duty! What are you paid for? You're maritime police! The ship came in and you had no reaction at all - how can this be explained?" The squadron leader shouted, his composure also exploding: "Nearly 400 kilograms of gold bricks - how big a matter is this? Even if your father gets in trouble, you can't let this get in trouble!"

Looking at the notice ordering his suspension, Tang Baiqing's blood rushed to his head, and the negative emotions in his heart kept rising.

Since accidentally killing that woman, Tang Baiqing hadn't encountered a single thing that went smoothly!

......

In Longkou, at the dock gang's main hall.

Wei Xiangzuo sat next to the old man who was nearly sixty, head lowered, saying nothing.

Xu Hu walked in from outside, first offered incense to Guan Yu, then respectfully called out to the old man: "Master!"

"I only brought in 300 kilograms of goods, why was nearly 400 kilograms found in the end?" the old man asked, gesturing.

Xu Hu lowered his head, unable to respond for a moment.

......

Around 8 PM, on Guangji Island, a gentle breeze blew and the stars were bright.

A group of young people sat on mats around a fixed bonfire, having a get-together.

"Today climbing the mountain, I came in last, I have nothing to say," Bai Hongbo, who had drunk quite a bit, held a microphone connected to a computer and waved his hand, calling out: "Let me sing a song for everyone!"

"Stupid as a pig!" Doll pouted, cursing extremely exasperatedly: "Everyone else had reached the mountaintop while we were just at the foot."

"Please welcome Miss Doll for a dance accompaniment!" Su Tianyu shouted to stir things up.

Doll stood up unwillingly, took out a pipe from her small box, immediately adjusted her mood, and stood beside Bai Hongbo saying: "I'm not good at dancing. Never mind, I'll play the xiao for everyone."

"...!" Hearing this, Bai Hongbo felt a bit jealous: "I personally suggest you'd better give me a solo performance tonight."

"Go fuck yourself!" Doll spat a curse and waved her small hand, shouting: "Brothers and sisters, let's get hyped!"

......

At a certain location in Zone One, two SUVs bearing the war hammer logo passed through the checkpoint and immediately headed toward Dragon City.

In the car, a black brother frowned and cursed: "The dock gang are just a bunch of idiots. We practically gave them nuclear carrier escort... but the goods still got into trouble... I simply can't understand it."