The next day.
Early in the morning, Han Fei contacted the media, wanting to publicize the criminals' methods to warn more people about this kind of trap through media coverage.
As for who would be interviewed by the media, naturally, it was Xu Mo.
After all, Xu Mo was something of a celebrity, and the media was more willing to interview him because any coverage involving Xu Mo would definitely generate traffic!
This was a win-win situation.
The media would get their traffic, while the police would spread awareness about new trafficking methods to prevent others from falling into similar traps.
Using Xu Mo's celebrity status for this publicity would definitely be twice as effective, achieving much better results than if someone else were interviewed.
Han Fei called Xu Mo to his office.
"When the reporters arrive, go give them an interview. Expose the criminal methods used this time, educate people about this new type of trafficking, raise public awareness, and then you can take the rest of the day off - you don't need to come back this afternoon."
Time off?
Xu Mo noted that since joining the police force, there had never been talk of time off... mainly because cases kept coming one after another without pause. In such circumstances, forget about time off - even normal rest was hard to guarantee.
Besides, Xu Mo now had the turtle breathing technique, meaning he only needed two hours of sleep to maintain his energy.
Whether he got time off or not made no difference to him, since his entertainment time was already maxed out...
At ten in the morning.
Various media outlets arrived at the police station with their cameras and equipment, ready to interview Xu Mo.
This included not just legal affairs and social news media, but even entertainment news outlets and the famous "Shocking News Department" showed up.
In fact, entertainment media made up the majority of those present.
The police station entrance was soon completely surrounded.
"Damn... it's really lively. Our police station has never been this busy before."
"Why are entertainment news media here for the interview? Wasn't this supposed to be about new trafficking methods? That has nothing to do with entertainment news."
"True, but they're obviously here for Xu Mo. Although he's not streaming anymore, his online popularity hasn't dropped. Interviewing him is guaranteed traffic... But it's fine, entertainment news gets more views, so if they help spread awareness about these new trafficking methods, more people will probably see it."
"That's true. Before, it was always such a hassle trying to get media coverage, hardly any media outlets were willing to interview us. Now we're benefiting from Xu Mo's influence..."
Though these words sounded somewhat bitter.
But this was the reality - when the police wanted to publicize useful information to the general public, they could hardly find any channels.
Many district police officers were even forced to establish an online presence, registering short video accounts to post anti-fraud guides and various crime-fighting related videos.
Meanwhile.
Xu Mo was being bombarded with all sorts of questions from reporters.
"Why did you choose to become a police officer? Can you share your journey with us?"
Xu Mo pushed away the microphone that was practically being shoved into his mouth!
"There's no special journey to share. I mainly wanted to fight crime and uphold justice."
"Really? I don't believe that."
"..."
"Recently, there were online rumors about Yang Jingxuan entering your villa late at night in disarray. Do you have any comments about this?"
"What qualities are you looking for in a partner?"
"You're very popular among netizens. Do you have any plans to enter the entertainment industry?"
"We heard that Sky Eye Action is about to film its third season. Will you make a guest appearance again?"
"Please..."
"..."
What kind of media had Han Fei invited? Weren't they supposed to be publicizing new trafficking methods to prevent more people from becoming victims? What were all these questions about? Xu Mo quickly corrected the direction of the interview.
"We invited everyone here today mainly to raise awareness about a new trafficking method that emerged in a case we solved yesterday. We want to help as many people as possible recognize this type of trafficking to prevent more victims. Let's stick to relevant questions."
The reporters still wanted to ask other questions, but Xu Mo showed no intention of cooperating.
Since Xu Mo wouldn't answer their unrelated questions, the reporters had no choice but to inquire about case-related matters.
"What kind of trafficking case was it?"
"Yesterday, our police force solved a series of trafficking cases, arrested four criminals, and rescued all fourteen victims. Currently, all fourteen victims have returned home. In this series of trafficking cases, the criminals used the following method..."
...
According to Han Fei's earlier promise.
After completing the media interviews, Xu Mo could go straight home and didn't need to return to the police station in the afternoon.
However, just as Xu Mo finished the media interviews and was about to leave, another case came in...
Well, there went his half-day off.
Xu Mo and several other officers were gathered by Han Fei, preparing to respond to the call.
"I originally promised you half a day off," Han Fei said apologetically. "This is really bad timing... but don't worry, your time off is still valid. Once this case is over, I'll give you a full day off!"
Xu Mo just listened to these words without taking them to heart.
Time off seemed destined to remain a distant dream for him...
Oh well, might as well find something to do. People shouldn't be idle - idleness leads to decay, Xu Mo thought.
At Laoying Mountain Reservoir.
Upon arrival, the police immediately set up crime scene tape.
The person who reported the case was an angler.
"Were you the one who reported this? Where's the skull you found?" Han Fei asked.
The somewhat tanned man swallowed hard and nodded, still looking shaken.
"Yes, I reported it. The skull..." he pointed at the reservoir, "it's in the water. When I was reeling in my line earlier, I pulled it up. When I realized what I'd caught was a skull, I was so scared I couldn't hold onto the rod - I dropped everything, including my fishing rod, into the water."
Hearing this, Han Fei didn't find it particularly strange.
He also enjoyed fishing.
As an angler, you might catch anything except fish.
Speaking from personal experience, Han Fei himself had fished up all sorts of things from rivers - wallets, key chains, underwear, shoes, tree branches, and so on.
"Before you dropped the fishing rod, do you remember roughly where the skull was?" Han Fei asked again.
The man thought for a moment, then pointed to an area: "There, over there."
After looking at the area the man indicated, Han Fei turned to the officers behind him and said: "Get someone to dive down and search for it."