143: Chapter 143 This is truly immeasurable merit!

Meanwhile, inside the police car transporting Zhao Kun back to the precinct, Lei Dapao held his phone, watching Su Yun's livestream.

The interior of the car was terrifyingly quiet. Several young criminal police officers had red-rimmed eyes, their fists clenched so tightly that their fingernails dug into their palms.

Lei Dapao did not cry. But his dark face had turned the color of liver, and the veins on his neck bulged like earthworms.

He turned his head abruptly, staring fixedly at Zhao Kun, who was sitting in the back row in handcuffs.

Zhao Kun had already been beaten black and blue and was still playing dead.

"Stop the car!" Lei Dapao suddenly roared.

The officer driving was startled, slammed on the brakes, and the car screeched to a halt on the side of the road.

Lei Dapao unbuckled his seatbelt, said nothing, pulled open the back door, and climbed in.

Immediately after, muffled thuds of fists hitting flesh echoed inside the car, along with Zhao Kun's pig-like screams.

No one stopped him. No one wanted to.

Even the deputy captain, who usually strictly adhered to principles, silently turned his head toward the window, staring blankly at the night scenery outside.

He beat him for a full five minutes.

Only then did Lei Dapao climb out, panting, straightened his crooked police uniform, took out his phone, and dialed a number.

"Hello, is this the Municipal Engineering Department? I am Lei Dapao from the Municipal Bureau Criminal Investigation Detachment."

"Get me the best engineering experts, and bring the most advanced ground-penetrating radar and concrete analyzers."

"I want to see them under the cross-river bridge at six o'clock tomorrow morning."

"Don't give me any of that nonsense about approval processes! If anything happens, I'll strip off this uniform and take the fall myself!"

After hanging up, Lei Dapao wiped his face and let out a long breath toward the night sky.

"Xiangyang, brother has come to pick you up."

At Jinxiu Jiangnan Community, Su Yun watched the screen full of tributes in the livestream, and the heavy stone in his heart finally settled.

He had done everything he could. The rest was up to Lei Dapao.

"Alright, everyone." Su Yun adjusted his mood and waved at the camera.

"That's it for today's stream."

"Everyone, get some sleep early. Tomorrow will be a nice day."

"It's also a good day to bring someone home."

After saying that, he didn't look at the comments asking him to stay and cut the signal directly.

The livestream went black. But the popularity didn't wane at all; instead, it surged straight to the number one spot on the national trending list.

#The Loyal Bones Under Jiangcheng Cross-River Bridge# #Li Xiangyang, We Are Taking You Home# The "Explosive" tag following these two topics was blindingly red.

Su Yun put down his phone, and the system's notification sound rang in his mind.

[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for assisting the police in capturing the head of a major drug trafficking syndicate and revealing the location of a martyr's remains, triggering a resonance of positive energy across the entire internet!]

[Mission Rating: Perfect!]

[Reward: 1000 merit points!]

[Current remaining merit points: 2800 points.]

One thousand points! Su Yun raised an eyebrow.

This was the highest single reward he had received since getting the system.

It seemed the system was a sensible one, knowing that this job was done well.

Two thousand eight hundred merit points.

This meant that as long as he gathered a bit more, or if he was lucky, he could even directly redeem those heaven-defying items that could change fate.

Even the pancreatic cancer that gave him a headache, when combined with the Ghost Valley Medical Arts, now had hope for a complete cure.

Su Yun stood up and walked to the window. Outside was the night scene of Jiangcheng, with ten thousand lights shining.

In the distance, that cross-river bridge looked like a giant dragon lying across the river, brilliantly lit.

"You see it too, right?" Su Yun gently raised the thermos in his hand toward the direction of the bridge.

"This prosperous age is just as you wished."

The next morning. At the break of dawn, a thin layer of mist floated over the river.

Under the north bank of the cross-river bridge, the area was packed tight, cordoned off by police tape.

Dozens of police cars were parked on the roadside, their sirens flashing, illuminating the surroundings in blue and red.

Lei Dapao stood under Bridge Pier No. 3, sporting two huge dark circles under his eyes.

Behind him stood hundreds of police officers. There were criminal police, SWAT officers, and traffic police.

Everyone remained silent, the formation as neat as a wall.

Several engineering experts in white lab coats were using precision instruments to scan the massive concrete bridge pier.

The atmosphere was so oppressive that no one dared to breathe loudly.

Old Mrs. Wu Xiulan sat in a wheelchair, being pushed by Chen Jin.

The old lady had specially changed into clean clothes today, her hair combed neatly.

She wasn't crying anymore. Those cloudy eyes stared fixedly at the cold concrete pier, as if she could see her smiling son inside, through the thick cement.

"Beep! Beep! Beep!" Suddenly, the ground-penetrating radar emitted a rapid buzzing sound.

Everyone's heart jumped into their throats.

An old expert with gray hair looked at the image on the instrument's screen, his hands shaking violently.

He took off his glasses, wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, turned around, and nodded at Lei Dapao.

"Captain Lei. At this position, at a depth of about two point five meters, we have detected a large number of human bone fragment signals, as well as metal signals. It should be things like a belt buckle or buttons."

Although he had been mentally prepared, when the definitive news came, Lei Dapao's body still swayed.

He really was here. His brother had truly stood in this cold river water for fifteen years.

Lei Dapao took a deep breath, forcing himself not to break down.

He turned around to face the hundreds of brothers behind him.

"Attention, everyone!" Lei Dapao's voice was hoarse, but he roared with the force of a thunderclap.

Clatter! Hundreds of police officers stood at attention simultaneously, the sound of leather shoes hitting the ground uniform and synchronized.

"Salute to Martyr Li Xiangyang! Salute!"

Swish! Hundreds of hands rose simultaneously, stopping at the brims of their caps.

Everyone's gaze was as firm as iron, and tears hung at the corners of everyone's eyes.

The river wind whistled. On the bridge overhead, the roar of early morning traffic sounded like a funeral march played for this hero of the secret front.

Chen Jin, pushing the wheelchair, was already sobbing uncontrollably and knelt on the ground.

Old Mrs. Wu Xiulan looked at the pier, trembling as she reached out her hand, as if trying to stroke her child's face.

"My son... we're going home."

At this very moment. On the periphery of the crowd, Su Yun, wearing a black tracksuit and a baseball cap, watched this scene quietly.

He didn't go over to join the commotion. At a time like this, the stage should be left to the hero and his comrades-in-arms.

"This is truly a boundless merit." Su Yun sighed in his heart.

He could feel that with that salute, a golden aura, so vast it was hard to imagine, was gathering from all directions and shooting up into the sky.

That was the will of the people. That was the righteous spirit.

Just then, Lei Dapao seemed to sense something and turned his head abruptly to look toward Su Yun's direction.

Su Yun lowered his cap and turned to vanish into the morning mist.

The job was done; it was time to see if there were any good items in the system shop.

After all, holding a huge sum of two thousand eight hundred points, he felt an itch to spend them.