Chapter 49 Portrait

"Treated as valuable porcelain and collected!?"

Although everyone felt Chen Mo's hypothesis was absurd, no one dared to deny the possibility.

There was no other reason; Liu Gang's various actions subtly aligned with this guess.

"If the mastermind's goal really is to collect them, how would they go about it?"

"People aren't actual paintings or porcelain."

Xiao Zhang suddenly spoke up, voicing the doubt in his heart.

Porcelain can be collected, paintings can be collected, but how can two living human beings be collected?

"Like ornaments placed in a cabinet?"

"That doesn't seem right, does it?"

Regarding his question, Long Hao was also a bit confused.

"Treating people as collectibles is not something a normal person would do. Since they aren't a normal person, why use normal logic to think about the mastermind's methods?"

These words struck home, and Xiao Zhang's expression turned to one of realization.

"That's right!"

Trying to use normal human thinking to understand an abnormal person was fundamentally flawed.

Not being able to figure it out didn't mean he was stupid.

It served as some psychological comfort for him.

Just then, Chen Mo spoke up at the right moment.

He provided an explanation for Xiao Zhang's question.

"Specimens!"

"The mastermind is likely going to turn the two children into specimens!"

Silence!

The atmosphere around them instantly fell silent.

Both Long Hao and Xiao Zhang looked stunned.

"Specimens!?"

"Why would you say that!"

If that were true, turning people into specimens would be an absolutely heinous act!

"Those are living human beings."

"We previously hypothesized that the perpetrator is an artist or a collector. From the perspective of Criminal Psychology, the perpetrator likely does this because ordinary collectibles no longer interest them."

"Collecting people is inherently very stimulating, but there are too many normal children, and they don't possess collection value. On the contrary, deformed children—each one looks different!"

With these words, Chen Mo once again highlighted the point that the mastermind is a collector.

Since they are a collector, they collect items, not adopt children.

Keeping two children around—could that even be called collecting?

"That's called adoption!"

If it were adoption, would they need to specifically find someone like Liu Gang?

With his status as a collector, plus the children's special condition, he could adopt as many as he wanted.

Moreover, keeping the children alive is too high-risk for him; he would have to constantly guard against the children fighting back, escaping, or calling the police.

Therefore, once the two children fall into the mastermind's hands, the result will only be death.

Combining this with the word 'collection.'

The only possibility is specimens.

"Damn it!"

Long Hao let out an angry shout.

The two children had already lived unhappy lives since birth due to their deformities.

But he never expected that they would even be treated as collectibles!

This fact truly made him feel furious.

"Misfortune always seeks out the miserable!"

"They deserve to die!"

Xiao Zhang, standing to the side, also expressed his intense anger.

He wished he could drag the perpetrator out immediately.

Watching the two angry men, Chen Mo's expression was serious.

"Since it's confirmed that the two children will definitely be turned into specimens once they fall into the mastermind's hands, we must race against time. We cannot waste a single second!"

As soon as he finished speaking.

Both men understood the severity of the situation and immediately adjusted their mindset to begin strategizing how to catch Liu Gang.

"Since Liu Gang's goal is to traffic deformed children and sell them to the mastermind to be turned into specimens, will he continue to strike after Xiao Bo and Xiao Nuan?"

"How about we send people directly to various orphanages and the addresses of other deformed children in the city to stake them out?"

Under the current circumstances, they could only bet that Liu Gang would continue to strike.

In this era, there were no surveillance cameras or facial recognition. To find a person in a city, this was basically the only way.

Chen Mo was just about to speak.

An officer walked over holding a portrait.

"According to the boss's description, this should be Liu Gang's appearance."

Everyone heard this and looked at the portrait.

Since it was drawn, many details were unclear, but judging from the general situation:

His age should be between 30 and 35, he had short, somewhat frizzy hair as if it had been blown messy by the wind, single eyelids, and dark circles under his eyes.

His features reminded Chen Mo of a TV drama character he had seen in his previous life.

There was a classic line that went, "Don't let me catch you, or you're in for a world of pain!"

The resemblance was at least 70-80%.

"He doesn't look like a good guy."

"Since we have the portrait, let's proceed with the plan we just discussed and try to catch him red-handed!"

Long Hao flicked the portrait with his index finger and prepared to assign people to work.

Then, as if remembering something, he looked at Chen Mo.

"Did you have something to say earlier?"

He remembered that when the portrait was brought in, Chen Mo was about to speak but was interrupted.

"Yes."

He nodded.

Given the current situation, betting that Liu Gang would continue to commit crimes and then sending people to stake out orphanages and the vicinity of deformed children was a good choice, and it seemed to be the only choice.

"But!"

"The betting component is too high!"

"What if the mastermind only wanted two children?"

"If we send people to stake out now, wouldn't we be wasting a lot of time?"

"The two children are currently hanging by a thread."

"Wasting even a single second is unacceptable."

Unless they found evidence now to prove he would continue to commit crimes, in his view, it was a waste of time.

"I do have a method; perhaps we can find this Liu Gang."

He preferred to take the initiative to get the desired result, rather than being led by the nose by the phrase "might continue to commit crimes."

"There's another way?"

Xiao Zhang, who was already planning to leave, pulled back the leg he had just stepped out with.

He looked at his dear Brother Mo in surprise.

The perpetrator had committed two consecutive cases, and the only valuable clue was his appearance.

"Besides staking out, what else can we do?"

After hearing Chen Mo say there was another way, Long Hao fell into deep thought.

He admitted that Chen Mo was better than him, but he didn't think he was particularly bad.

A few breaths later.

"The only method I can think of is to go to the prison and check if he has a criminal record."

After all, being a human trafficker, the probability of having been in prison is actually quite high.

Hearing his words, Chen Mo showed an appreciative expression.

That was indeed a good method.

But it was not the same as the method he intended to suggest.

"Then what do you mean?"

Long Hao couldn't think of any other way to find Liu Gang quickly.

"Profession!"

"Don't forget the unique nature of Liu Gang's profession."

"In all of Muhe, there shouldn't be more than ten people engaged in his profession."

"And every profession cannot be separated from the word 'circle'!"

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone on the scene understood what he meant.

The meaning of "circle" was self-explanatory.

And what Chen Mo was referring to was a circle similar to a group of peers.

People like Liu Gang who are engaged in special industries must have a small circle that belongs exclusively to them.

From ancient times to the present, the power of unity has always been far greater than fighting alone.