Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 962: Chapter 958: Close Call, Almost Got Caught

Huo Sining returned to the boat and quickly sailed the fishing boat back to the Qianye Fishing Village dock. Although she was certain that nothing she had done would be discovered by anyone, Huo Sining still felt a vague sense of unease in her heart. She thought it would be wiser to quickly leave the scene.

With this in mind, Huo Sining planned to drive the boat away, but just at that moment, the previously calm area of forest and beach suddenly echoed with the sound of an engine.

Hearing the sound of a car, Huo Sining’s heart skipped a beat. She crouched on the fishing boat and dared not move, secretly speculating whether Ouyang Jun’s classmate had returned, planning a sneak attack?

Huo Sining felt nervous and instinctively held her breath, poking her head out from behind the coastal reef to look towards the nearby beach.

Bright headlights lit up from the beach, illuminating a small section of the coastline. Several uniformed police officers, wielding guns, suddenly rushed out of the car and dashed into the forest.

Seeing the police, Huo Sining stiffened with fear, her face turning deathly pale. Instinctively, she began to recite an incantation for invisibility.

”Where’s the cargo? Why is it missing?”

”You still have the nerve to speak? If you hadn’t lost their trail while driving, would we have wasted so much time going around that peripheral road?”

”You can’t blame me. Those smugglers intentionally gave us false information. They did it to buy time.”

The police officers started arguing as soon as they got out of the car, bickering for more than a minute before the leading officer’s patience snapped, and he shouted angrily:

”Why are you arguing? Is this the time to assign blame? Someone tell me what the hell happened! Where’s the stuff? Where did it go?”

The officers, scolded by the harsh shout, fell silent immediately. They exchanged embarrassed glances but said nothing.

At this point, a young officer among the silent group suddenly spoke up:

”Inspector, judging by the tire tracks and the chaotic footprints on the beach, this must have been the destination of those vehicles we saw. Also, we saw the large truck leaving Qianye Fishing Village empty, which proves that those machine tools must have been unloaded here.”

The young officer shone his flashlight on the beach at the spot where there were five deeply embedded rectangular marks.

The leading officer’s eyes focused sharply, his pupils constricting: ”Right, this must be the unloading site for the machine tools. Such deep marks—this is definitely the primary crime scene!”

The officer nodded and continued: ”To unload here, they absolutely needed a contact. Although we took a detour, it only delayed us by a little over ten minutes. There’s only one exit in the fishing village, and since those smugglers left, no trucks have entered or exited on this road, which proves one thing.”

”What is it?” the officer known as the inspector asked urgently.

”Those five machine tools must still be in Qianye Fishing Village, hidden by those cunning smugglers!”

”They probably realized that we’ve received intelligence, so they couldn’t make a big move. They could only move the machine tools to another safe location. But those machine tools are too conspicuous and can easily be exposed. I think those smugglers are about to lose their patience; they might try to disguise and smuggle them out!”

The young officer, brimming with confidence, believed his deductions without a doubt.

The inspector fell silent for a moment, then looked up with a delighted smile, patting the young officer’s shoulder:

”You’re right in your analysis. With only one exit in Qianye Fishing Village, the cargo must still be hidden in there. Mobilize some men to guard the exit. Tomorrow, we’ll apply for a search warrant and go through Qianye Fishing Village meticulously. We must find those machine tools no matter what!”

”Inspector, should we still maintain the lockdown at Dongdu Port? Those smugglers might try to stash the cargo on a fishing boat leaving the port.”

The other officers, displeased with the new recruit’s moment in the spotlight, instinctively glared at the young officer before they spoke up.

”Customs can’t let down their guard either. I’ll call the Police Department and have them enforce a strict lockdown at all major ports, conducting thorough searches. We can’t afford to let a single one slip through the net.”

The inspector finished speaking sternly, then turned back with a warm smile at the young officer and asked, ”Yehara, you just started, didn’t you?”

The young officer, whose earlier analysis was spot on, beamed with joy, nodded, and said with a smile, ”Yes, I’ve only been on the job for a week.”

”To have such keen observational and logical analysis skills just after joining, you’re quite talented. It’s clear you’re a natural at this—impressive!” The inspector nodded repeatedly, praising the young officer.

The young officer glowed under the praise, while the other officers wore expressions of displeasure, their gazes at him tinged with dissatisfaction and shadows of envy.

The young officer didn’t seem to mind, as he continued inspecting the traces on the beach with his flashlight, conducting a meticulous investigation before following the inspector away.

However, after only a few steps, the young officer frowned slightly, his gaze landing on a series of footprints leading into the nearby forest. The footprints looked fresh, with one set going into the woods and another coming back out.

”What’s with these footprints? It seems like someone from the smugglers went into the woods.”

The young officer mumbled unconsciously.

The other officers laughed immediately: ”What’s so strange about that? Someone must have gone into the woods to relieve themselves—nature calls, and that can’t be held back.”

The inspector initially thought to have someone check the footprints when he heard the young officer mention them. Still, after hearing the other officers’ reasoning, he found it quite logical and waved them off, saying, ”Let’s go. Leave two people at the village exit to stake it out. The rest, return and rest up—we’ll continue tomorrow!”

The young officer wanted to say something more; he found the footprints worth investigating, but the words stuck in his throat, and he had nothing further to say.

Seeing his colleagues walking away, he could only follow the other officers, feeling somewhat helpless but distinctly aware in his heart that he might have missed an important clue.

He looked back frequently, his gaze involuntarily returning to that series of footprints, his eyes glinting with thought, as if contemplating.