31. Major Discovery

"Transfer it to me?"

Lin Qing couldn't help but size up Zhao Jiayi in front of him, asking, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah," Zhao Jiayi nodded lightly.

Lin Qing thought for a moment and said, "Since you've mastered the version 46 Practice Method, it means you solved the enemy by yourself, so this Third-class Merit was originally yours."

"But, team leader, if you hadn't helped me then, I would definitely have been killed by those two people."

Zhao Jiayi sincerely said, "Anyway, a single Third-class Merit won't teach me any Combat Skills, it's not of much use to me keeping it, consider it a thank you."

"In capable situations, Patrol not saving a companion who is dying is originally against the rules," Lin Qing shook his head slightly.

Merit was originally accumulated bit by bit, how could it be of no use?

He could feel that Zhao Jiayi wasn't secretly in love with him, she was merely expressing goodwill.

"Here's the thing, I do indeed need a Third-class Merit now."

Lin Qing thought for a bit and said, "Let's consider it a loan from you, and when I have an extra Third-class Merit, I'll transfer one to you."

Zhao Jiayi was slightly startled.

She couldn't help but mutter under her breath, but Lin Qing didn't understand what she said.

"What?" Lin Qing asked, puzzled.

"It's nothing, just a saying from my hometown."

Zhao Jiayi gestured with her hands and said, "Then consider it a loan to the team leader, and when the team leader has more Merit than he can use, he can return it to me."

"Okay,"Lin Qing nodded, "Once the reward money comes in, I'll buy you some High Energy Release Liquid."

Having lived through the apocalypse, he had seen much darkness in people's hearts, and he understood the value of kindness, like a ray of light in darkness.

Therefore, he didn't like owing good people, otherwise if they ran into trouble later, it might affect his judgement and make him soft-hearted.

"Have you had lunch, team leader?" Zhao Jiayi asked somewhat sheepishly, as if gathering the courage to ask.

"I'll eat at home later." Lin Qing glanced at her, "Where are you eating?"

Zhao Jiayi muttered something, Lin Qing heard it clearly but didn't understand.

"Using dialect again?" Lin Qing couldn't help but raise an eyebrow slightly, "Which dialect is that?"

"I mean, I'm eating out, my dad is coming to pick me up."

Zhao Jiayi hurriedly shook her head, "Just a local dialect, I've grown used to hearing it since I was a kid, sometimes I say it subconsciously."

Lin Qing looked at her suspiciously, feeling that the dialect she mentioned didn't convey this meaning, but he couldn't understand it.

"Alright, I'm heading home too," Lin Qing stood up, "Since Feiyu is on duty, it's fine for you to go out to eat, shall we go together?"

"Hold on." Zhao Jiayi quickly walked toward the office, "I need to change out of my uniform."

…

After the two left the precinct, Lin Qing waited at the door for the rideshare to arrive.

"See you tonight, team leader."

Zhao Jiayi, now dressed in a casual little dress, lacked some of her usual sharp charm but added a touch of girlish cuteness, waved at him, and briskly stepped into a blue and white private car parked by the roadside.

Soon, the pretty private car drove onto the road and sped away.

"The family's doing quite well, huh."

Lin Qing didn't know much about cars, but he knew that private cars in this era were generally at least in the mid to high-end market, and even the license plates were expensive.

Not something one could afford without several hundreds of thousands to a million.

Anyway, he didn't have that kind of spare cash to buy a car.

But, seeing as they could afford to raise a beautiful daughter like Zhao Jiayi, whether through surgery or natural, it was clear her family was well-off.

He hadn't seen Zhao Jiayi's father just now; he probably wasn't too interested in meeting his daughter's supervisor.

…

In the ceaseless flow of vehicles, inside a blue and white private car.

"Dad, did you come to pick me up just to see the team leader?"

Zhao Jiayi leaned lazily against the back seat, looking at her father next to her, "Why didn't you come out and meet the team leader just now?"

"I know him well enough, and there's no need for him to know me yet," the middle-aged man wearing glasses said with a gentle smile.

"Dad, I wanted to award him a Third-class Merit, but he refused; he only wanted to borrow mine."

Zhao Jiayi puffed her cheeks, "He clearly wants to learn Combat Skill, exactly when he's lacking Merit, and yet he only wants to borrow mine?"

"That's good," the middle-aged man smiled. "It shows he doesn't want to owe anyone anything. The more he is like this, the more sincerely he will treat you once he approves of you."

"Anyway, I feel like he's very secretive..." Zhao Jiayi muttered. "It seems like he has a strong sense of crisis."

"Is that so?"

The middle-aged man laughed, "He's even more secretive than you think."

...

Days passed by.

Lin Qing spent his days practicing and leading Team Seven on patrols, but no opportunity for merit had arisen.

Suddenly, five days had passed.

On January 19th.

"Team leader, I've made a significant discovery. When can you come to the station? I'd like to talk to you privately."

In the afternoon, after finishing that day's Practice Method and Combat Skill, Lin Qing saw a WeChat message from the suspected golden child 'Teng Feiyu.'

"Could it be that there's progress with the Underground Boxing Arena?"

Lin Qing originally planned to stay home and read, but clearly, the matter of the Underground Boxing Arena was more important, as it related to his promotion to a Patrol Officer. Without hesitation, he headed to the station.

Once at the Team Seven office, he immediately went with Teng Feiyu to the neighboring Conference Room.

"Let's hear it."

Lin Qing casually grabbed a bottle of ready-made tea, glanced at Teng Feiyu sitting across from him.

"Team leader, after several days of investigation, I've made a significant discovery."

Teng Feiyu sat upright, his voice grave, "I can now confirm that beneath the Red Oak Boxing Gym, there indeed exists an Underground Boxing Arena. Besides hosting daily death matches, it's also suspected of involving large amounts of gambling and illegal transactions, and besides those who have signed servitude contracts due to huge debts, the other fighters are all fugitives."

Lin Qing listened quietly until he'd finished, then asked, "You hadn't found anything before, how come you have results these days?"

Teng Feiyu was silent for a moment, took a deep breath, then spoke somewhat humiliated, "These days, I've actively sought to acquaint myself with several VIP members of the Underground Boxing Arena."

He took out his phone, opened a recording file, and said, "This is what they told me after getting drunk. I compared several people's statements and then confirmed it was true. The recordings are all here."

"These days, private recordings and visuals can't serve as evidence."

Lin Qing glanced at it, without reaching out, simply stated, "Just tell me about the Underground Boxing Arena situation you've gathered."

AI nowadays can produce lifelike voices and images; a slight blur can make authenticity challenging to discern.

Moreover, being a private recording, it can hardly serve as evidence, holding very low reference value.

"The Underground Boxing Arena is situated right beneath the Red Oak Boxing Gym."

Teng Feiyu continued, "The entrance for VIP members to the Underground Boxing Arena is located in the underground parking lot of the Qingtai Hotel that we previously investigated, namely that VIP elevator.

"The VIP elevator is disguised. The personnel from the Underground Boxing Arena only control the elevator to descend after verifying the VIP's identity, landing in a camouflaged underground warehouse. From there, it proceeds along a pathway through manifold checkpoints before entering the Underground Boxing Arena.

"The underground force behind the Boxing Arena is an organization known as 'Yuanhong Society,' which is said to be the largest underground force in Lin'an city, and even dominant within the province.

"All spectators invited by Yuanhong Society to watch the death matches are pre-screened and verified multiple times and have signed confidentiality agreements, rendering it virtually impossible for outsiders to infiltrate. It's entirely by internal invitation.

"Moreover, Yuanhong Society must have a protective umbrella and is quite knowledgeable about official information, so it's fundamentally hopeless for officials to get in.

"According to my investigations these past few days, the various people I've interacted with claim that the most exhilarating part is the 'death match' phase, where two fighters must fight to the death; the involved betting amounts are immensely large.

"Futhermore, Yuanhong Society also provides so-called female or male companions as playthings for the VIPs, though their origins remain unknown for now."

Teng Feiyu took a deep breath, looked at Lin Qing, "In summary... Team Leader, I believe a search will definitely yield results."