"What do you think?" After finishing his analysis, Han Fei looked at Xu Mo.
Following Han Fei's lead, Xu Mo nodded in agreement.
"I think the same as you. It probably isn’t him. It’s understandable for a newcomer to want to get a feel for a gun. Guns have a strong allure for young people. Who could resist the temptation of a 'biabiabia' gun?"
"Besides, since he’s already joined the police force, he’ll have the chance to handle a gun sooner or later. There’s no need to rush."
A young man with a strong sense of justice would most likely disdain doing something as underhanded as stealing, let alone stealing a gun.
"That leaves two suspects: Old Zhou, the auxiliary officer, and Old Zhang, the security guard," Han Fei said.
These two shared a common trait: they were both veterans of the police force.
Those who could stay in the police force for a long time usually had no issues with their character. After all, those with questionable conduct would have been kicked out long ago and wouldn’t still be around.
The descriptions of them from other officers also supported this point.
This was why Han Fei and Xu Mo hadn’t initially suspected them. Two seasoned officers with good conduct were unlikely to engage in illegal activities.
Of course, since they were on the list of suspects, they couldn’t be entirely ruled out. Han Fei and Xu Mo wouldn’t dismiss their suspicions just because of their seniority.
"Old Zhou, the auxiliary officer, and Old Zhang, the security guard…" Xu Mo murmured. "If they stole the gun, what would their motives be?"
As the saying goes, stealing a gun must have a motive. It’s not something one would do without reason.
"I think Old Zhou might be the one. Auxiliary officers aren’t allowed to carry guns. Maybe he, like Su Chen, wanted to get a feel for a gun, so he stole Hao Qi’s service weapon?" Wang Dachuan suddenly chimed in.
Hearing this, Han Fei turned to look at Wang Dachuan.
"That’s possible!"
Then, Han Fei turned back to Xu Mo.
"That’s a plausible idea," Xu Mo agreed with Wang Dachuan’s theory.
"But if he stole the gun just to get a feel for it, wouldn’t the sacrifice be too great? Stealing a gun isn’t a minor crime. If caught, he’d face jail time. And… if he really wanted to handle a gun, he could work hard to become a full-fledged officer. Once he’s a regular officer, he’d have the right to carry a gun. That would be a much safer route. A rational adult would weigh the pros and cons before acting. There’s a contradiction in this theory."
As soon as he finished speaking, Han Fei chuckled.
"Becoming a regular officer isn’t as simple as you think. You’re new to the force, so you don’t understand. It’s not something you can just decide to do overnight."
"Is it really that hard?" Xu Mo asked.
"It’s not exactly hard, but it’s not easy either. There are several paths to becoming a regular officer," Han Fei briefly explained the different ways an auxiliary officer could transition to a full-fledged role.
"First, there’s merit-based promotion, but that’s a special case and not something you can count on. Even regular officers rarely get such opportunities, let alone auxiliary officers. Auxiliary officers don’t even have law enforcement authority—they need to be accompanied by a regular officer to enforce the law. So, achieving merit… that’s tough."
"Or, there’s regional reform. If you’re lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, you might get a chance. But that depends on the region. As far as I know, Ram City doesn’t have such a system."
"Another possibility is that some regions occasionally offer promotion slots. Those with ability or connections can get promoted, but again, that’s not something you can rely on."
"Lastly, and most commonly, there’s the exam route. Every year, there’s an exam, and if you pass, you can get promoted. But the exam isn’t easy either."
As soon as Han Fei finished, another officer added,
"Speaking of that, I remember Old Zhou has been working really hard—almost obsessively so. He spends every spare moment studying and takes the exam every year. But the exam isn’t easy, and he’s getting older. His memory isn’t as sharp as it used to be, so he’s always fallen just short… It’s a shame. Our branch doesn’t have promotion slots, or else Director Gao would’ve promoted him long ago, given his seniority."
Hearing this, a strange expression crossed Xu Mo’s face.
Taking the exam every year? It seems Old Zhou really wants to get promoted…
As the officer said, the exam isn’t easy, and with Old Zhou getting older, his memory isn’t as good as it once was. So, year after year, he’s fallen short.
As for regional reform or promotion slots, neither of those options exists at the Qinghe Bay Police Branch.
That leaves only one path to promotion: merit.
"Merit-based promotion…" Xu Mo muttered softly, a bold conjecture forming in his mind.
Unfamiliar with these policies, Xu Mo turned to Han Fei.
"What kind of merit would qualify someone for a special promotion?"
"Solving major cases, of course. If you crack big, important cases, you’ll definitely get promoted. Talented individuals who can solve cases won’t be overlooked."
The next moment, Xu Mo looked at Han Fei and said slowly, "Would a case involving a missing service weapon count as a major case?"
"Of course! A missing service weapon is a top-priority incident. It has to be reported immediately—this could lead to serious consequences… Wait a minute! Are you saying…?" Han Fei’s eyes widened as he stared at Xu Mo.
Not just Han Fei, but the five members of the seventh team who had come to assist with the investigation, as well as the three officers from the Qinghe Bay Police Branch, seemed to have caught on to Xu Mo’s implication. Their eyes lit up as they focused on him.
A missing service weapon is a major case. Solving such a case would undoubtedly count as a significant merit!
If an auxiliary officer could recover the missing weapon and solve the case, they could be directly promoted!
Someone who can solve cases is a talent. Why bother with exams? They could be promoted outright!
Old Zhou desperately wants to get promoted. He takes the exam every year but always falls just short. As he gets older, his memory declines, and his chances of passing the exam grow slimmer.
Faced with the hopelessness of promotion through exams, could he have turned to a more devious plan?
With Xu Mo’s reminder, everyone began to see the logic. This could very well be the motive behind the theft!
Stage the theft, then recover the missing weapon, solve the case, and get promoted… It all adds up!
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
