James Brooks's heart was pounding. This... this can't be another shady job for everyone, can it! Whenever there was a demolition, a petition, city management officers beating people or getting beaten, or a dead body fished out somewhere, or when a leader at the station wanted to mess with someone, they'd definitely drag the auxiliary police out to take the fall. Last time, the mess was a corpse pulled out of the Wulong River. James Brooks led a team to watch over it for a whole day, waiting for the criminal police to arrive. Watching for a day was nothing, but he ended up having nightmares for a month.

Sure enough, Instructor Smith changed his tone and started the pre-mission pep talk: "Comrades, everyone has performed well lately, but we must keep up the good work, always maintain 120% vigilance, guard strictly, and absolutely not allow any illegal or criminal activity to disrupt our harmonious situation. We must not let a handful of bad elements ruin our good public order. Our station has been an outstanding unit in comprehensive management for six consecutive years, and we absolutely cannot let that honor slip away in our hands... Today, we are to cooperate with the City Bureau's First Criminal Investigation Team on a special mission! Tell me, do you have confidence?"

"Yes!" James Brooks echoed weakly along with the other auxiliary police! Hearing this, his spirits sank.

Drinking, fighting, causing trouble, or harassing decent girls—those were fine. Tagging along with the community police to shake down karaoke bars or catch prostitutes, everyone was willing to go. But going on a mission with the criminal investigation team? Dangerous and no perks—who would want to do that?

"Louder, do you have confidence!" Instructor was very dissatisfied with their lack of spirit.

"Yes!" The volume went up a few decibels!

"Good... At ease. Next, Captain Johnson will assign your tasks!" As Instructor spoke, three people had already walked out of the station office—plainclothes, with the leader being especially imposing. James Brooks estimated his height—must be at least 1.9 meters, a whole head taller than the two shorter ones behind him!

"Hand these out to everyone... one copy each!" the big guy said softly, and the two behind him handed out a stack of papers.

When it got to James Brooks, his heart thumped even harder. The person handing him the paper was actually a woman—an oval face, small nose, eyes full of heroic spirit yet still charming. If she weren't dressed in men's clothes and hiding her looks under a cap, she'd definitely be a beauty.

Now that's a real police flower, totally incomparable to the garlic-pretending narcissus Instructor! James Brooks noticed a small red mole on her right brow bone, and her long hair was tucked into her cap, but James Brooks had no doubt that if she let it down, it would be long and flowing, with a unique charm! ...Wow, wonder if she's armed—imagine her turning back with a smile while holding a gun. Oh no! Turning back with a shot—no one could resist that! ...If she flipped her hair and fired two guns at once, James Brooks instantly thought of Lara from Tomb Raider. Looking at this police flower again—full lips, big eyes, a mix of charm and heroism—she really did resemble the character from Tomb Raider!

Wow... what a treat for the eyes today, seeing beauties one after another! ...James Brooks fantasized, his gaze wandering downward. Loose clothes, long pants, sneakers—couldn't make out her figure at all, what a disappointment!

The policewoman seemed to have noticed James Brooks's wandering eyes. She flicked the stack of papers in her hand, brushing it past James Brooks's head, startling him. When he looked up, she smiled and pointed at what he was holding, scolding lightly, "Look at the suspects, not at me!"

"Oh..." James Brooks withdrew his gaze a bit embarrassed, unfolded the paper, and was amused again. On the paper were four mugshots, all odd-looking—one bald, one with long hair, two with short hair. One looked like a fat radish, two like peeled potatoes, and the last one had a face as rough as dried beef!

He instantly compared the impressions of these four people to dishes he was good at making! It deepened his memory. Anyone who'd worked in a restaurant was sharp-eyed when it came to recognizing people. James Brooks was used to associating people's heads with radishes, potatoes, and pork heads, almost to the point of photographic memory. That was a chef's skill—if you forgot a regular customer's name, that would be a big mistake!

The auxiliary and regular police looked on, whispering among themselves. It wasn't the first time they'd assisted the city bureau in a case. The groundwork of investigating and collecting clues for big cases was always done by the grassroots police stations, but when it came to the front lines, fighting with real knives and guns, it was these undercover criminal police who did the job! When everyone looked at the plainclothes detectives, there was a hint of respect in their eyes.

As they watched, the big policeman spoke: "Comrades, the portraits in your hands are of suspects who robbed the Kimberley Gold Store in Dayuan City, the provincial capital, four days ago. Of the five robbery suspects, one has already been caught. The four in the portraits are still at large. According to our information, these four have already escaped the provincial capital's outer blockade. Two of them are from Wulong, so it's very likely they'll pass through Wulong County along the national or secondary highway to leave the province... Your task is to set up checkpoints at designated intersections and wait for them to show up... Let me emphasize: all four suspects are armed. In the Dayuan gold store robbery, two people were already injured. If you spot the suspects or encounter an emergency, report immediately to the county public security bureau command center. Do not act on your own... Do you understand?"

"Understood!"