Chapter 35: Chapter 33: System Mall Opens Chapter 35: Chapter 33: System Mall Opens Qi Cheng parked the car, and just at that moment, Liu Guobin and Kuang Tun were rescued by the police from the roof of the minivan. Considering himself as one of the first to have discovered the incident, Qi Cheng moved forward with a look of concern and asked, “Are the two of them alright?”
No sooner had the words left his mouth, and his sympathetic gaze fell upon the two traffickers, than Zhang Hongze, who had been speaking with Jiang Ning, turned his head toward him with an indistinct expression, “Do you know them?”
“Ah, no, I don’t.” Qi Cheng shook his head honestly. “I just wanted to understand what was happening.”
Zhang Hongze looked at him with even stranger eyes.
This was a severe case of human trafficking. According to the information just provided by Jiang Ning, these three traffickers had been in the trade for no less than ten years and had formed a mature and perfect industry chain.
What business did this irrelevant bystander have approaching the scene?
To Zhang Hongze, Qi Cheng’s inexplicable behaviors appeared highly suspicious.
Zhang Hongze didn’t hide his expression, and Qi Cheng, who had been watching the two men rescued by the police, caught a glimpse of Zhang Hongze’s somewhat wrong look. Qi Cheng immediately got the shivers and quickly defended himself, “Officer, I have absolutely nothing to do with this matter, please don’t misunderstand.
I am just a bystander who was about to go pick lychees on the hillside and discovered this minivan with people bound inside while I was livestreaming. It was my assistant who called the police.”
The more Qi Cheng explained, the more confused Zhang Hongze became, “Your assistant, reported to the police?”
“Yes, yes,” Qi Cheng confirmed with a nod. He had originally wanted to say something else but suddenly noticed that the two men rescued from the minivan weren’t being taken to an ambulance; instead, silver bracelets were being clamped onto their wrists.
Instead, there were nurses looking anxious as they carried two unconscious children out of another minivan and placed them in the ambulance.
Qi Cheng was stunned, “…” What was going on?
While he was dazed, several police cars appeared at the end of the road, heading this way.
Belatedly, Qi Cheng realized something was amiss.
Jiang Ning, who had been silently standing by, raised an eyebrow and kindly reminded him, “Move aside, those might be the police who were called after your assistant reported the incident. These police and ambulances are here because I made the call.”
Qi Cheng: “…” His face turned red, social death!
He had been too excited a moment ago and had forgotten a practical issue, which was the distance it would take for the police to travel from the town to this location.
He had not come far chasing down from the hillside, so how could the police, who were even further away, arrive faster than him!
Police aren’t 5G signals!
The arriving squad of police was not from the same team as Zhang Hongze’s group; they initially thought it was a coincidence that they encountered colleagues on their mission and even grumbled a bit, planning to continue driving forward.
Qi Cheng, feeling somewhat guilty, stood in front of the police car, raising his hand to stop it.
The police car window rolled down, and the officer driving poked his head out.
At this point, Qi Cheng already had an idea that they might have misunderstood something, but he brazenly approached and asked, “Excuse me, are you here to intercept that minivan with two adults bound inside?”
“Yes, we just received a report from the public about a minivan dangerously driving on the road with two adults bound inside,” the officer responded. “Comrade, do you know where this vehicle is?”
So it was indeed the case!
These were the police that had been called following his assistant’s report!
The problem was, there seemed to be a mix-up, and a false alarm was reported!
Qi Cheng covered his face in embarrassment, “I know, the call to you was the one I had my assistant make. I’m sorry, I might have done harm by wasting your trip here…”
Under everyone’s puzzled looks, Qi Cheng took a deep breath and laid out the whole story of how he had asked his assistant to call the police.
After he finished speaking, Zhang Hongze finally understood the situation.
He patted Qi Cheng on the shoulder, “You did the right thing. You’re enthusiastic and courageous. It’s already good if an ordinary person can help report to the police, but you went out of your way to chase them down alone. You are a real man!”
Suddenly praised, Qi Cheng blushed and felt a bit embarrassed, “Not at all, I didn’t think that much.”
Qi Cheng’s gaze fell on the two men who were clamped with silver bracelets and he tentatively asked, “So what exactly is going on? May I ask? It was the fans in my livestream room who first noticed it, and after their reminder, I turned the camera back. I went offline suddenly, so they might still be waiting for my follow-up in the livestream room.”
“I can’t disclose details at the moment,” Zhang Hongze shook his head. Although He Hui, Liu Guobin, and Kuang Tun had been captured, the fact that these three could operate for so long without detection suggested the possibility of other accomplices.
Human trafficking has always been an issue subjected to severe crackdowns and zero tolerance by the state. As he knew, after receiving Jiang Ning’s emergency call that morning and the information she provided, the police had dispatched two teams for the rescue and arrest, and other relevant departments were also working overtime to investigate the information of the three individuals.
“We will make an announcement once the investigation is complete,” Zhang Hongze stated.
Qi Cheng nodded.
“Captain Zhang, one of these two children is in a bad state, we need to rush back to the hospital immediately,” a nurse approached and said.
Zhang Hongze straightened his expression, “Alright, let’s leave immediately.”
Everyone promptly got into their vehicles.
Jiang Ning and the other girls were also arranged to sit in a police car.
And that minivan, as one of the pieces of evidence against the traffickers, was driven back to the station by another police officer with a driver’s license.
A clean police car is much more comfortable than a small van, and she doesn’t even have to drive.
After getting into the car, Jiang Ning raised her hand to pull her hat down over her face, leaned back, and closed her eyes as if to rest. But actually, she was conversing with the System in her mind.
“System, System, since He Hui got caught, does that mean I missed my reward?”
[Yes, that’s right. But it’s okay! Look, Host, though you missed one task, you completed two tasks!]
The System pulled up its screen, which appeared in Jiang Ning’s mind, shimmering with a faint golden light.
Host: Jiang Ning
Merit Rank: 0[3/10]
Merit Points: 413
Jiang Ning looked thoughtfully at the number 3.
From the time she bound with the System until now, she had caught a total of four criminals.
But Liu Guobin and Kuang Tun were part of a simultaneous chain task, so the number of times she completed tasks wasn’t counted by the number of criminals caught, but by the number of times tasks were issued?
[Host, you have one chance for a prize draw. Would you like to use it now?] the System asked.
Jiang Ning: “Yes!”
[Alrighty. ]
As the System spoke, the familiar prize wheel page appeared in Jiang Ning’s mind.
As the saying goes, practice makes perfect, and this was Jiang Ning’s third time at the prize draw, handling it with ease.
The pointer on the prize wheel spun rapidly. Jiang Ning waited quietly until it started to slow down, finally stopping on a particular spot.
[Congratulations, Host! You’ve received 20 times your Merit Points!]
The System’s cheer erupted.
In her previous two prize draws, Jiang Ning had received tangible items, both of which—the Flat-bottomed Pan and the Safety Amulet—she really liked.
She had been somewhat looking forward to seeing what she would get this time, only to end up with Merit Points… Was getting Merit Points sort of like getting a “thank you for participating” in a scratch card?
No, that wasn’t right; the System had previously mentioned that Merit Points were useful for something.
[Host, you’ve accumulated 100 Merit Points, which means the System Mall is now open ahead of time. You can take a look and see if there’s anything you like.] The System guided proactively, bringing up the System Mall page.
A thought sparked in Jiang Ning’s mind.
She seemed to have heard the System mention this in the morning.
However, this morning, her attention was more on the real world, so she hadn’t really listened to what the System had said.
In Jiang Ning’s opinion, as it was called a mall, the products for sale were bound to be varied, and the selection wide and dazzling.
But…
“Is this it?” Jiang Ning asked skeptically.
The page of the System Mall that appeared before her had only three product displays, and they were even specifically marked with: Limited-time Flash Sale
It was almost like they were advertising scarcity.
[Ahem.] The System chuckled awkwardly: [Host, this System hasn’t been fully developed yet. In the future, as it upgrades, there will be more features, and more items will be available in the mall, too.]
Jiang Ning nodded in understanding: “So it’s a newly launched System.” No wonder it sometimes seemed naive and clumsy—it was a System that hadn’t been exposed to the world or experienced its harshness yet.
Jiang Ning focused on the only three available items.
Item 1: [Einstein’s Wisdom]
Description: With this item, you’ll become as brilliantly wise as Einstein from Planet Earth!
Price: 100,000,000 Merit Points
Item 2: [System Backpack*3]
Description: Backpacks that exist within System space, each one can store a single item.
Price: 300 Merit Points
Item 3: [Reap What You Sow]
Description: While its name might suggest otherwise, it’s actually a fruit filled with justice! When used on someone who has done something bad, the consequences of their actions will bounce back onto them.
Price: 100 Merit Points