Chapter Forty-Three: The Dilemma

When Liu Zhiyang learned from Haifeng that the headquarters of this pornography ring was in Annam, he knew that this mission would be more challenging than any before. Handling cases across regions within the country was already a complicated matter, involving issues of jurisdiction and the costs of working in a different locale. If the case was large enough or had sponsors, funding was not a concern; there was even room for entertainment and comfort along the way, as long as the arrest succeeded in the end.

But for smaller cases, no one was eager to travel. Not only was it tiring, but it often yielded little reward for much effort. If an investigation trip produced no results, the leadership would not look kindly on it. And since there was no guarantee of success, officers would avoid travel unless they were completely sure of a breakthrough.

Moreover, in many places, the reimbursement process was so complex that it became a headache for officers on assignment. As a result, many cross-regional cases were effectively closed as soon as they were opened.

Leaving aside the costs, the level of cooperation from local police also had to be considered. When working out of town, the difference between local police being cooperative or not was like night and day. Without prior arrangements, it could be extremely difficult to locate suspects, and even if they were found, taking them away was not always possible.

In some regions, there were even underhanded rules requiring payment before any meeting could take place. If your 'communication fee' was insufficient, the likelihood of getting support was greatly reduced; after all, good service requires good "communication."

Of course, most of the time, officers conducting investigations in other regions would receive local cooperation. While there were some who cared only for money, most tried to help their peers, understanding that everyone may someday need a favor returned, and it was best not to make things difficult for fellow officers.

But abroad, things were not so simple. Domestic police had no authority to carry out law enforcement activities in foreign countries; their status as police officers was not recognized. Even with police cooperation agreements, they could not act independently and required local collaboration for any operations. Furthermore, differences in international law often meant that acts considered crimes in China could be perfectly legal elsewhere. No matter how strong your desire to "communicate," you would be powerless to act in such cases.

Even crimes recognized in both countries could present difficulties. While preparing documents or making arrests, targets often fled before action could be taken, for a variety of reasons.

The most troublesome issue, however, was that there were places in the world where not even the government had true control. International cooperation was not an option in such areas, yet the existence of the internet allowed criminals in these small zones to connect to the world. Many would choose these places as a base from which to commit crimes against China, making them a paradise for criminals.

Because of the difficulty of cross-border enforcement, many officers who were truly committed to bringing criminals to justice felt a sense of helplessness and frustration. For those less inclined to put in the effort, this was the perfect excuse to shelve cases and wash their hands of them.

Through the efforts of Li Weiwei and Zhao Zhijie, the White Tiger Unit had already pinpointed the rough location of this pornography ring, and it was precisely this location that gave Liu Zhiyang a headache. The site was in Annam, but unlike China, not all areas there were under central government control—some were ruled by faction leaders. The ring’s servers were located in just such a lawless zone.

The de facto ruler of this area was General Batu, a warlord completely outside the control of the Annam government.

Through conversations with the Chinese police liaison in Annam, Liu Zhiyang learned that official police cooperation would be ineffective in this region. The only way to extract a suspect would be to have General Batu’s men hand them over, after which the handover with the Annamese authorities could be formally processed, and then the suspect could be escorted back to China.

The Chinese police liaison in Annam promised Liu Zhiyang that the Annamese government would handle their side, ensuring a smooth transfer. However, anything involving General Batu’s territory was beyond his power; Liu Zhiyang and his team would have to come up with their own solution.

Liu Zhiyang was confident in his legal skills, including international law, but only when the law could be applied. Without that foundation, he was powerless. When a scholar meets a soldier, reason is hard to argue; facing a warlord, he could not think of any way to persuade the other to hand over their people willingly.

He went to discuss the problem with Haifeng. After listening to Liu Zhiyang, Haifeng did not seem troubled. He replied confidently, "Don’t worry. You handle all the legalities and paperwork. Leave the rest to me!"

Looking at the confident Haifeng, Liu Zhiyang said no more. Though he had no idea what scheme Haifeng might be plotting, he knew that with Haifeng involved, there was always a way—a possibility born from the impossible.

Not all news was bad, however. The White Tiger Unit also received a piece of good news. Through Zhang Mufeng and Zhao Zhijie’s investigation, they discovered that the platform responsible for Li Tangmei’s suicide was the same one that Qian Zhen had sought to collaborate with. Further information about the platform came via Zhang Yue.

During a White Tiger Unit case briefing, Zhang Mufeng and Zhao Zhijie shared these findings.

Zhang Mufeng said, "Zhao Zhijie and I interrogated Zhang Yue again. Through him, we learned more about the organization. Their leader is named Chai Yan. After verification, Chai Yan is from Mingzhou, and he was the main culprit in that infamous prostitution ring in Ming City, the case you, Chief Hai, were also involved with."

"After that case, Chai Yan has been on the run. Now it seems he’s in Annam, where he’s established a new pornography ring based on live streaming. According to Zhang Yue, Chai Yan is now in the Dayan region, controlled by General Batu. There, he has a technical team of over a hundred, plus his thugs and other staff for marketing and operations, making a total of nearly four hundred people."

"Zhang Yue told us that Chai Yan’s success in Dayan is due to his backer—the Little Prince, who is none other than General Batu’s son. In Dayan, nobody dares cross Chai Yan, but his platform is not aimed at Annam; it targets China, and the key recruiters and streamers are all based here."

"Previously, Qian Zhen wanted to contact Chai Yan to sell off those who owed him loan shark debts. The men would serve as recruiters or marketers domestically, or go to Annam as Chai Yan’s henchmen. The women would become his new streamers. Of course, this mutually beneficial plan was foiled by our intervention."

When Liu Zhiyang heard that Chai Yan’s backer was the Little Prince, his anxiety about the case deepened. As the police liaison had said, in order to bring Chai Yan to justice, they first had to get him out of Dayan, which required the cooperation of General Batu’s men. But since Chai Yan had the Little Prince’s protection, that would be nearly impossible.

Hoping for Chai Yan to foolishly walk out of his safe zone into the hands of the White Tiger Unit was nothing short of a fantasy. Liu Zhiyang glanced at Haifeng, curious how he would react to this news, but he saw only Haifeng’s usual calm, unruffled expression.

Zhang Mufeng continued, "Zhang Yue also provided another crucial piece of intelligence. His contact there is a man named Wu Jing, who is Chai Yan’s confidant. Wu Jing frequently selects attractive female streamers in China to be sent to Annam for Chai Yan’s amusement."

Haifeng pondered and asked, "How much do you know about Wu Jing?"

Zhang Mufeng replied, "We went to immigration to find his information. Wu Jing is from Yuannan. He used to make a living trading small goods at the border. He speaks Annamese well, but isn’t much of a businessman—he failed in a partnership, lost everything, his wife divorced him, and his parents both passed away in recent years. He has no family left in China."

"After that, he moved to Annam. According to people from his hometown, he’s doing well over there, working for a big boss—who must be Chai Yan. The local economy isn’t great, so many young men from his hometown were enticed by Wu Jing to join him in Annam, becoming his followers. They’ve made good money for their families, though no one ever talks about the nature of the work. Eventually, people stopped asking questions."

Haifeng asked, "Does Wu Jing still visit his hometown often?"

Zhang Mufeng shook his head. "Rarely. It’s been ages since anyone there has seen him."

Haifeng pressed on, "You said Wu Jing regularly selects female streamers in China for Chai Yan. How often does he travel back? What routes does he use? Is there any way to predict his next appearance?"

Zhang Mufeng shook his head again. "We checked his entry and exit records. There’s no fixed schedule or location—he probably travels to wherever the selected streamers are located, which is why his movements are so irregular."

Haifeng asked, "Is there a way to track him down?"

Zhang Mufeng replied, "Yes, but not in China—in Annam."

At Haifeng’s signal to continue, Zhang Mufeng explained, "Zhao Zhijie and I found that although Wu Jing’s return times and locations in China are unpredictable, whenever he travels he always flies through Dada Airport in Annam. Their international airports are few, unlike ours. Every time he returns to Annam, he goes through Dada Airport."

He paused, then added, "Moreover, he always stays in China for nearly a week each time. So if we get to Dada Airport before he returns, we should be able to intercept him."

Haifeng asked, "Since he stays in China for a week, can’t we wait for him at whichever airport he’ll use to re-enter Annam?"

Zhang Mufeng shook his head. "That won’t work—he’s got a good sense of counter-surveillance. He uses different airports each time he enters or leaves China, so it’s almost impossible to catch him here."

Haifeng thought for a moment. "Understood. I’ll ask our colleagues at immigration to keep an eye out for Wu Jing. We’ll wait for him at Dada Airport."

He continued, "Let’s focus first on locating all the recruiters and streamers for this platform operating in China. Once we learn that Wu Jing is back, Yuxin, Mengyang, Mufeng—the four of us will tail him and try to get Mufeng inside their network. Zhiyang, you’ll work with Zhijie and Weiwei to locate all the recruiters and streamers, then join us."

For the next month, Wu Jing did not appear. But during that time, the White Tiger Unit had located all of Chai Yan’s recruiters and streamers operating in China, though Wu Jing was still missing.

Haifeng began to doubt whether waiting for Wu Jing was the right strategy. After all, there was no telling when he might turn up. But if they went straight to the server location, there was a risk of encountering the same situation as with Sun Zhentao—a server hosted remotely, and everything for naught. Since the server was in Dayan, they couldn’t conduct police operations as they would in China. If they alarmed Chai Yan’s group, bringing them to justice would become even more difficult.

Haifeng was deeply troubled by this dilemma.

Just as he was about to give up waiting for Wu Jing and proceed to investigate the server location found by Li Weiwei and Zhao Zhijie, immigration reported that Wu Jing had returned to China.

Upon receiving this good news, Haifeng immediately assembled the White Tiger Unit. They all flew to Annam and began waiting for Wu Jing at Dada Airport.