"Drive faster!" Xu Mo urged after revealing his identity as a fugitive.
The taxi driver gulped.
Judging from the color and texture of the gun in Xu Mo's hand, it didn't look fake.
This could very well be a real weapon!
So... had he really picked up a wanted criminal!?
At this moment, the taxi driver wanted to give himself a hard slap.
Why did he have to be so nosy?
He could have just driven quietly and dropped off his passenger without incident.
But no, he had to make small talk.
And now look what happened - he chatted up an armed fugitive and got himself kidnapped!
The livestream viewers burst into laughter.
"Hahahahaha, this driver is killing me! If he hadn't talked so much, Xu Mo might not have taken him hostage."
"A fugitive traveling all over the country for 'work' is too damn wild, and even working year-round without breaks. Xu Mo's explanation makes so much sense!"
"The driver's face has gone completely pale, hahahahaha!"
"Stop laughing, do you know how traumatizing it is for a taxi driver's innocent mind to pick up a wanted criminal?"
"..."
Meanwhile,
Han Fei was leading his officers to the next location where fugitives were hiding.
Two suspects were concealed near Grain Road Street.
This was a fairly well-known food street.
Many shops on the street were popular spots for social media check-ins, attracting numerous visitors.
Besides those coming to experience the cuisine, there were also schools in the area.
So the foot traffic was considerable.
Moreover, both sides of the street retained many old-style low-rise buildings and a maze of narrow alleys.
Presumably, the two fugitives chose to hide here because of the crowds and the relatively complex terrain.
Surveillance footage showed the two suspects ducking into a small alley off the main street.
After that, they vanished from sight.
There were hardly any cameras installed in the small alleys, with comprehensive coverage only on the main roads.
Hiding in an alley without cameras seemed clever but was actually self-defeating.
As long as the police blocked all exits and brought in a few people familiar with the area to lead officers in searching the alleys, it wouldn't take long to flush them out.
On the way there, Han Fei had already contacted the local police station to find officers who knew the alleyways well.
...
Grain Road Street.
"Stop at that internet cafe up ahead," Xu Mo instructed the taxi driver.
Stepping on the brake, the driver turned to Xu Mo with a bitter smile.
"Brother, please let me go. I have elderly parents and young children to support... Don't worry, I know the rules. I promise I won't report this to the police. I'll just pretend I never saw you today!"
"That won't do," Xu Mo shook his head with a smile. "You're coming with me."
With that, he yanked the driver out of the car.
One arm around the driver's shoulders, he pressed the gun against the man's lower back with his other hand. "Don't try anything funny, or you know what'll happen."
Feeling the pressure on his back, the driver immediately assured he wouldn't pull any tricks.
"Brother, I swear I won't do anything. Could you... maybe put the gun down? I'm afraid it might go off accidentally."
Xu Mo ignored him.
The gun had a safety catch. It couldn't fire unless the safety was off.
Accidental discharge? Not possible.
He only took out the gun to intimidate people.
Holding the driver hostage, he entered an internet cafe and used the man's ID card to log onto a computer.
Xu Mo didn't have access to police resources. He couldn't seek help from the local police station like Han Fei could.
But he had just thought of a method - locating the fugitives' phones!
However, this method had a prerequisite.
The fugitive's phone needed to stay connected on a call for a period of time.
After logging in, Xu Mo worked for a while.
He found the fugitive's detailed information.
First, he called the fugitive's father, pretending to be an insurance salesman, and chatted aimlessly for a bit.
Then, using hacking techniques, he spoofed the phone number of the fugitive's family member and called the fugitive.
As soon as the call connected, Xu Mo spoke first.
Of course, when speaking, he imitated the voice of the fugitive's father.
"Hey, son, have you done something illegal? I heard people saying the police are after you?"
The fugitive on the other end was momentarily stunned, then hurriedly tried to explain.
"No, Dad, how could I do anything illegal? It's true the police are after me, but this is a ga-"
He was cut off before he could finish explaining.
"You little bastard, so what others said was true. You're really wanted by the police!?"
"No, Dad, it's not what you think. I'm being chased by the police because I'm participating in a-"
"You're still trying to deny it? Think you're so clever now, huh? Where are you right now? I'm coming over to break your legs!"
"Oh, come on, Dad! It's really not what you think. It's all fake! I'm just pretending to be a fugitive!"
"Pretending to be a fugitive? Why would you pretend to be something like that? You want to go to jail?"
"..."
With Xu Mo's deliberate confusion and interruptions,
What could have been explained in one sentence ended up taking a full minute to clarify.
And in that minute, Xu Mo successfully obtained the fugitive's phone location.
In the livestream chat:
"What a show-off, not only did he get the fugitive's location, he also made the guy call him 'Dad' so many times for free."
"This move? This move is called 'acknowledging the thief as father'!"
"How devious is Xu Mo, pretending to be someone's father to trick them?"
"This poor guy is going to be devastated when he finds out he called Xu Mo 'Dad' so many times."
"..."
After obtaining this fugitive's location, Xu Mo didn't plan to go catch him immediately.
He had only just thought of using phone tracking to get the fugitives' precise locations.
He didn't expect the method to work so well!
Next, Xu Mo repeated the process, using the same method to get the locations of the remaining two groups of fugitives, intending to catch them all at once.
In fact, the police also had the technology to track phones during active calls.
However, this method wasn't very practical.
Most fugitives knew the police had this capability, so they simply wouldn't answer calls from strangers. Even if they did pick up, they would hang up immediately if they sensed something was off, to prevent being tracked.
Xu Mo found this method effective because he could mimic the voices of the fugitives' family members.
This was a feature that came with the disguise skill rewarded by the system.
Moreover, as long as he chose a good conversation starter and chatted with the fugitive for a short while, he could successfully pinpoint their location.
After busy work at the internet cafe,
Xu Mo had obtained the locations of all the fugitives except himself.
With these locations in hand, Xu Mo left the internet cafe with the taxi driver.
He was ready to go catch them!
Of course, the small taxi couldn't fit that many people.
He needed a larger vehicle.
As luck would have it, a delivery van was parked in front of a nearby small shop, with the keys still in the ignition.
Thanks to the kind brother for providing a van!