At 1: 30 p.m.
Zhao Yu and the others finally arrived at the location of the exploration team's base. It was a barren wasteland. The task of the geological survey team was to help Tarstan find mineral deposits in this wasteland.
The base was built on the side of a huge rock. Although it was facing away from the wind, the temperature was close to zero, which made Zhao Yu feel the cold of winter.
While walking, people's breaths formed a cloud of white mist.
Led by Bian Dong, Zhao Yu went straight to the simple room of the exploration team and met with the commanders of both sides.
The commander sent by the Chinese side was named Lu Kaixuan, who had always been in charge of the Central Asian region of the Secret Service. When the incident occurred, he was attending a conference in nearby Kazakhstan, so he arrived a day earlier than Zhao Yu.
Moreover, because of the difference in rank, Lu Kaixuan took a military helicopter and flew directly from the capital of Tarstan, so he naturally saved more time than Zhao Yu.
To Zhao Yu's surprise, the commander of the Tarstan team turned out to be a female officer in her forties. Her name was Anar.
This woman had the typical characteristics of a Central Asian woman. She was tall, had long legs, and had a strong physique. She had thick eyebrows, long eyelashes, and big eyes. She was also very beautiful.
Although she was from the army, her smile was very sweet.
"Thank you for your hard work, Officer Zhao!" When Zhao Yu entered the room and met everyone, Lu Kaixuan was the first to shake hands with Zhao Yu. "Actually, the last time in Feng Ping, we met once. But, I was sitting behind the division chief … "
"Oh …" Zhao Yu thought about it and seemed to have some impression of it. He asked, "You seemed to be wearing glasses last time, right?"
"Yes," Lu Kaixuan nodded. "No wonder you're a detective. Your memory is really good! As I'm getting older, my eyes are a little blurred, so I need to wear glasses to read documents.
"At that time, the officers all praised you very much!" Lu Kaixuan complimented. "It's rare to find a talent like you who is skilled in both literature and martial arts.
It's great that you can help me this time!
"Come, let me introduce you." Lu Kaixuan pointed to the beautiful officer and said, "This is the commander of the Tarstan team, Anar!"
As she spoke, the female officer took the initiative to reach out and shake Zhao Yu's hand.
"I've heard a lot about you," Anar said in native Chinese, "Just call me Anar! Tarstan's investigation skills are really limited. I hope Officer Zhao can guide us! "
"You're welcome, you're welcome …"
In fact, although Zhao Yu was a good talker, he was very resistant to official communication. So, after exchanging a few words with the two commanders, he went straight to the point and discussed the case with them.
"During the day, we checked the surroundings of the exploration team," Lu Kaixuan said. "We didn't find any suspicious traces.
"The ground here is hard, the weather is dry, and it's windy all year round. It's very difficult for ordinary vehicles to leave traces, which is very disadvantageous to our investigation!"
"Right now, we can only have a preliminary suspicion that someone took advantage of the night when they were asleep to control and kidnap the 12 exploration team members, and then took them away.
"But …" Ana pointed at the map hanging on the wall and said, "They could have escaped in any direction. The Wasteland of Tauz is vast and accessible in all directions. It will be difficult to find them."
"What about the surveillance cameras?" Zhao Yu asked. "The exploration team didn't have any surveillance cameras?"
"No," Lu Kaixuan replied simply. "They are all simple mobile houses, so there is no need for surveillance cameras."
"Our highway equipment on the plateau is also very simple," Ana added. "Only a few checkpoints have surveillance cameras. I've already sent people to retrieve all the surveillance videos that can be found!"
"To be honest, this case is indeed a bit strange!" Lu Kaixuan said doubtfully. "We didn't find any traces of fighting in the base. Everyone's resting room looked normal.
"Their phones, wallets, and other personal belongings were not touched. Obviously, they came for the people!"
"Yes," Ana said. "I've dealt with several armed hijackings in China. The scene usually looks very chaotic. Any valuable belongings will be taken away. It shouldn't look like this!
"The sleeping bags are open, and the clothes are gone. It feels like …" Ana frowned. "It feels like they put on their clothes and walked out!"
"I suspect …" Lu Kaixuan said. "This hijacking was done by a professional team. Someone hired a master! After all, we have four experienced security personnel among them. If they were hijacked, they should have at least left some clues … "
"Master?" Zhao Yu thought quickly and seriously. Was Lu Kaixuan's idea correct?
"We were just discussing this issue," Ana said bluntly. "I also agree with Officer Lu's speculation. It might not be difficult to kidnap 12 hostages, but to do it quietly, it won't be so easy!"
"The Tarstan election is near, and the wind and clouds are gathering, and the undercurrents are surging," Lu Kaixuan said. "I think someone must want to use the disappearance of the exploration team to achieve their own goals!"
"There are so many Chinese citizens missing in China," Ana said. "This will definitely embarrass the ruling party and cause them to lose the election!
So, our goal now is to start with who will benefit the most after the ruling party steps down. Look … "Ana pointed out a few cards on the table to Zhao Yu." These are the most powerful opposition factions in the country. We plan to use our intelligence agency to find clues from these factions! "
"Wow … That many?" Zhao Yu picked up the cards and looked at them. Although he couldn't understand the words, he could clearly see the number of cards. There were as many as six.
"Among them, these three factions are currently the most popular." Ana took out the three cards and said, "They are also our primary targets now …"
Listening to Lu Kaixuan and Ana's introduction, Zhao Yu was thinking in a completely different direction.
He always felt that the disappearance of the exploration team had nothing to do with any faction struggle!
Using the 12 exploration team members as a bargaining chip to threaten the election seemed reasonable, but if he thought about it carefully, it wasn't appropriate for a situation like Tarstan, where there were many factions fighting.
Just think about it, if the incident was really done by one of the opposition factions, then they might be able to use this matter to make the ruling party step down, but how could they guarantee that they would come to power themselves?
Moreover, the kidnapping of Chinese citizens was no small matter. Once this matter was exposed, it was bound to be destroyed, and the loss would outweigh the gain.
So, Zhao Yu was more inclined to believe that it was done by terrorists. Perhaps, this case was just some terrorists who wanted to take advantage of the election to kidnap and extort money from the authorities!
But … If it was done by terrorists, why hadn't anyone called to extort money yet?
Moreover, the level of terrorists was limited, so how could they have done it so cleanly and quietly? Also, they were all poor people, so they wouldn't have even taken their phones and wallets.
Tsk tsk …
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