Officer Walker finally found irrefutable evidence—a newspaper in the hands of an old man not far away!

It was a copy of "Tian Nan Daily," the official newspaper of Tian Nan Province. William Walker had excellent eyesight and clearly saw the publication date under the masthead—June 6, 1996.

That year, William Walker was twenty-two, just graduated from Tian Nan Police Academy.

Alright, I’m back!

No matter how absurd William Walker felt this was, the newspaper forced him to calm down and start accepting the reality.

So, what am I supposed to do now?

Naturally, William Walker began to desperately recall—on June 6th, twenty years ago, he was sitting on a bus. Where was he headed?

Nanhu No. 1!

This address immediately popped into William Walker’s mind.

Nanhu No. 1 wasn’t a single building, but a large compound, famous throughout Tian Nan Province. It was the residence of the province’s top leaders; anyone with a bit of political sense knew what Nanhu No. 1 meant.

Almost all the provincial bigwigs lived in Compound No. 1.

William Walker’s grandfather, Howard Walker, also lived there!

Howard Walker had once been the top figure in Tian Nan Province’s political and legal circles, and had retired a few years ago.

Today was the old man’s birthday.

His birthday wasn’t celebrated according to the lunar calendar, but the Gregorian calendar. In fact, it was the day he joined the army. On June 6th of that year, the old man joined the People’s Army, and soon after began the epic southern campaign, fighting all the way from the northernmost point to the southernmost, then, responding to orders from above, transferred to civilian work in Yundu City, started a career in public security, settled in Tian Nan, and worked there for decades until retirement, settling in Yundu, never returning to his northern hometown.

During his years at the police academy, every June 6th, William Walker would go to celebrate the old man’s birthday.

Today was no exception.

At this thought, William Walker couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

He never expected to have another chance to see the old man in this lifetime!

In William Walker’s memory, the old man’s appearance had actually become a bit blurry, since he’d passed away many years ago.

But now, he was going to celebrate his birthday.

Just thinking about it made his head spin.

Fortunately, William Walker had a special trait: a particularly strong mentality, always calm in the face of trouble. No matter how unbelievable something seemed to others, he could adapt quickly.

For example, right now, if it were someone else, they’d probably get off the bus immediately to catch their breath, or else risk going crazy!

Officer Walker was different; even in this situation, he could still catch a pickpocket.

Strictly speaking, it was the pickpocket who was clueless enough to reach for the pocket of an old detective!

Actually, this pickpocket was a seasoned thief, definitely not a rookie. He was dressed neatly, with a crisp white shirt, holding a newspaper, even wearing gold-rimmed glasses, looking every bit the scholar.

Among all the passengers, probably no one could tell he was a thief.

William Walker was, of course, an exception.

A pickpocket could never escape his eyes.

Back in ’98 and ’99, pickpockets were rampant in border cities, and the city bureau organized several special crackdowns. William Walker had worked as an anti-pickpocketing expert for several months, developing a sharp, discerning eye.

Whether it was the market, hospital, mall, or bus, as soon as Officer Walker scanned the crowd, he could instantly tell who was honest and who was a thief.

This scholarly thief must have lost his mind, squeezing up next to William Walker, and under the cover of his newspaper, reached straight into William Walker’s pants pocket, pinching a small notebook-like item between two fingers and pulling it out.

Honestly, the scholarly thief picked William Walker purely on a whim. Passing by and seeing him looking dazed and absent-minded, he just couldn’t resist. Usually, young guys like this didn’t have much worth stealing.

Especially since William Walker looked every bit the student.

But for a habitual thief, if someone nearby is being careless and you don’t steal from them, it just doesn’t feel right.

It’s an itch you have to scratch!

Sure enough, from the feel of it, the little notebook wasn’t a wallet, probably some kind of ID. But a lot of students liked to tuck cash into their student IDs—not much, usually just a few dozen yuan, but enough for a meal.

But this time, what he pulled out was actually a police ID!

Of course, it was actually a police academy student ID.

Looking closely, there was a big difference between a police academy student ID and a real police badge. The key thing was, as soon as the scholarly thief saw the national emblem, his arm started to tremble—he didn’t dare look any closer!

Talk about bad luck—he’d just tried to steal from a cop!

But the scholarly thief was a pro. He quietly took a breath, steadied himself, and gently put the student ID back.

But as his hand came out of William Walker’s pocket, suddenly his wrist was gripped tightly, like an iron clamp, and his whole arm went numb.

The scholarly thief gasped.

This guy’s grip was strong!

William Walker grinned, revealing a set of neat, white teeth.

This was one of the many “miracles” about William Walker—he smoked, and not lightly, but even into his forties, his teeth were still perfectly white and straight.

But at this moment, in the eyes of the scholarly thief, those neat white teeth had turned into a terrifying, gaping maw, ready to swallow him whole.

“Buddy, tough luck. All these years, you’re the first one who’s dared to steal from me…”