Chen Ke had finished his disguise.
He wore a floral dress, put on a wig, and his Adam's apple was concealed with makeup applied by Xu Mo to make it less noticeable.
In pursuit of perfect detail, Chen Ke even stuffed two steamed buns into his clothes.
From any angle, he looked just like a young woman.
The other police officers had also changed into plain clothes and were equipped with their service weapons.
Everything was ready, just waiting for the right moment.
Once the time came, they would head out to conduct their sting operation at the location where Xu Mo predicted the human traffickers would likely strike.
...
Nine o'clock at night.
In the old district.
A van was parked in a dark alley, with four men inside and a dirty, pitiful-looking little girl.
The four men each held masks of the Four Pilgrimage Brothers, ready to put them on before getting out to kidnap someone.
These four were the human traffickers the police were trying to catch.
As for the dirty little girl, she was their tool to lure other girls into the alley.
The van they were sitting in was the same one Xu Mo had identified through traffic camera footage, though out of caution, the traffickers had switched to another fake license plate.
They had many similar fake plates and would change them after each operation for safety.
The man holding the Pig Monk mask felt uneasy and looked at the others.
"I keep feeling nervous, and my right eye won't stop twitching. I hope nothing goes wrong tonight?"
"That's superstition! It's all fake - a right eye twitch is just normal muscle spasms, nothing more. Quick, don't say such unlucky things!"
"Boss, before we left you were going on about your left eye twitching, saying we'd definitely catch a prime target tonight... How come a left eye twitch means fortune but a right eye twitch is superstition? I really have a bad feeling about this! We've kidnapped so many women in three days, the police must be onto us by now. Maybe we should stop!"
"A twitching left eye meaning wealth... that's scientifically proven! But a right eye twitch meaning disaster isn't - that's just superstition!" The man holding the Tang Monk mask thought for a moment and agreed that Pig Monk had a point: "But you're right, we have been operating too frequently. The police must be targeting us by now. It's time to wrap things up. Let's do one final job tonight, then sell off all the merchandise in the warehouse. We'll take the money and lay low for a while."
His thinking was simple.
They could stop, but since they were already here, they couldn't leave empty-handed.
Even if they were going to quit, it would be after tonight's operation.
"Alright! One last job then!"
...
Meanwhile.
The police had just finished testing Chen Ke's earpiece for audio transmission.
After confirming it was working properly, Han Fei added one last reminder.
"Cover the earpiece well with the wig, don't let anyone spot it and get suspicious."
"Understood!"
"Go on then, but walk slowly, don't move too fast or we won't catch any fish."
"Don't worry, Captain Han, I know what to do."
Chen Ke set out.
He walked slowly.
Firstly, to avoid moving too quickly for the traffickers to notice him.
Secondly, because he was disguised as a woman, and to make it convincing, he had to pay attention to details like taking small steps.
When he passed by the alley, he caught the traffickers' attention just as planned.
"Boss, look at this one! How about her?"
"That figure... Perfect! She's the one. Didn't I say we'd find a prime target tonight? Get ready to move!"
"Got it..."
With that, all four men put on their masks of the Four Pilgrimage Brothers.
The next moment, a little girl's crying could be heard from the dark alley.
Chen Ke purposely glanced inside.
A little girl stood in the dark alley, and she was the source of the crying.
Behind her was a parked van.
Chen Ke recognized that van!
Despite the changed license plate, he could tell it was the same vehicle with fake plates they'd been searching for in surveillance footage.
With the van here, the traffickers must be nearby!
But what was the deal with this little girl?
Curious, Chen Ke walked into the alley.
He didn't speak, knowing his voice would reveal he was male.
The traffickers must be hiding nearby, but he wasn't sure exactly where, so he couldn't risk exposure just yet.
Almost as soon as he entered the alley, four masked men emerged from the shadows, surrounding him.
At the same time, 'Sha Monk' exclaimed: "Damn, Boss, this really is a prime catch! This girl's a real beauty!"
'Tang Monk' chuckled.
"See? I told you my twitching left eye meant we'd make money today. Was I wrong? This one will fetch a high price, quick, let's grab her and go!"
'Pig Monk,' 'Sha Monk,' and 'Monkey King' moved closer to Chen Ke, ready to grab him.
They found it strange that this girl showed no reaction to their presence...
Normally, girls in this situation would panic and start shouting "Who are you?" or "Don't come any closer!"
Some would even try to pull out their phones to call the police.
This one was oddly different, unusually so!
Not saying a word, showing no signs of fear... Was she overconfident, or had the Four Pilgrimage Brothers lost their touch?
While they were pondering this.
The "girl" they had surrounded showed a slight smirk, revealing a hint of mockery.
"Surprise, motherfucker!"
The Four Brothers: "????"
Although Chen Ke wore a floral dress, a wig, and had been disguised as a girl by Xu Mo's makeup skills.
His voice couldn't be changed.
Rough and hoarse.
Obviously male.
Before Chen Ke spoke, the Four Brothers had been thinking about how much money this beautiful girl would bring them.
But as soon as Chen Ke opened his mouth, that thought vanished instantly.
Because... this was a man! A crossdresser! Worthless to them!
"Holy crap! It's a man!?"
But what surprised the Four Brothers even more was that.
This "girl" wasn't just a crossdresser, but a police officer here to arrest them!
"Finally found you bunch of scum!" With that, Chen Ke suddenly threw a punch straight at 'Pig Monk's' face.
'Pig Monk' was stunned by the unexpected punch: "Damn it, how dare you hit me? Get him!!"