System Only Gives Me Useless Gifts

Within 45 minutes, the robbers loaded as many artifacts into the box truck as possible. As they were finishing, the three robbers in charge of the hostages moved them into a small room and chained up the door from the outside. The hostages waited inside for ten minutes with their nervous tapping permeating through the silence. They all looked at each other, wondering if it was safe to talk.

“Is it finally over?” Professor Laisu whispered.

“It might be,” responded another archeologist, but then another round of silence. They were all too afraid to attempt an escape from the room.

Li Yun could see through his cognitive map that the vehicle and perpetrator had left. They were safe now that the real guards returned.

"We have a problem! None of the guards or researchers are here!" The guards alerted everyone over the radio, and within minutes, guards from the exterior quickly moved into the interior and scoured the complex.

They arrived at the supply room and unchained the door. The guards and workers were horrified to see everyone tied up.

“Professor! What’s going on?” the guards asked as they rushed to release everyone from their captivity. “So many of the artifacts are missing!”

*Beep* "We found four comrades hidden in the other storage room," said a voice over the radio. "They are drugged, but aren't in physical danger, over."

"Did you call the authority?" Asked Professor Laisu.

"Yes sir, the authorities have been notified and they are heading here soon," replied the guards.

The provincial police arrived at the scene along with other miscellaneous government agencies. It was a headache to deal with cultural heritage sites funded by the national government. No one knew who had jurisdiction, but no one wanted to take the lead until they learn more about the case. An estimated 50 million yuan worth of artifacts had been stolen, which could make it a hallmark case for any department, but the problem was whether the case could be solved.

Bu Tao, recently appointed to the provincial office, made his way to the gate checkpoint office. The provincial office wasn't the first to be contacted, but Bu Tao had received a tip-off from Li Yun. Since Xubin was still within the border of the provincial office, Bu Tao had convinced Commissioner Heng to take the case. The discussion regarding jurisdiction was up to the commissioners and he didn't want to be involved. Instead, he spoke with the officer in charge.

“How were the guards allowed to enter?” Bu Tao asked.

“The lunch shift is assigned to fewer guards, and due to shortage, we usually hire the local police officers,” said the lead officer. “The local police always send in a different crew, so we aren't too familiar with them. So the six that came in that day were all new, but they had fake IDs with them.”

“You didn’t check to confirm from the police station?” asked Bu Tao.

“We only did afterward,” the lead officer acknowledged it was an oversight on their part. “When we called them, the local police station said someone used my name and office number to call them and cancel the six officers. The robbers must have spoofed our number.”

Bu Tao jotted the information in the notebook. The robbers could have spoofed the number, or they were already at the checkpoint office and called the police station.

“So they knew the operation enough to know you were in charge of the security details, called the local police, and then used their own people to act as the local police officers,” Bu Tao was getting the gist of what had happened. “What about the security feed?”

“They also got access to the main server room and wiped out the video cameras from inside the temple.”

This would only happen during the lunch hour when security was lax. No one expected a heist to occur during the middle of the day. Once inside, the robbers simply loaded all the artifacts from the main storage site and then drove away without any suspicion. The crime was organized and well-executed. The four guards who were shot were still alive, so no murder had taken place and there were very few clues to go by.

“Do you remember their faces and vehicles when they drove in?” Bu Tao asked.

“Some of the guards remembered, and they are providing your men with facial composite,” the lead officer sounded tired as though he had repeated the information several times already to several people.

Bu Tao thanked the officer and walked outside toward the hallway. As he was unfamiliar with the checkpoint office, and asked a fellow officer about the status of Li Yun's interview. It was standard procedure to interview everyone involved. Li Yun provided what he can and was one of the first to finish early.

“I’m surprised you didn’t attack them,” said Bu Tao as he saw Li Yun walk out of the room.

“You’re kidding? Six armed, possibly military-trained guys with guns?” Li Yun asked. “No way.”

If they touched Rouxi, it may be a different story; he wasn’t sure how he would have handled it. Luckily, they were very focused on completing the mission. During the entire operation, they barely said anything. Li Yun watched much of their interaction and knew that they all looked at the short man before pulling out.

“I scheduled Luba to be last for the interview,” said Bu Tao.

“Did you find out anything about him?” Li Yun asked as they moved into the private room and watched the other interviews from a one-way mirror.

“His real name is Min San, he came from a small village, but ran away from home at fifteen to a nearby city,” Bu Tao explained. “Got himself involved in petty crime, and was in and out of local detection several times before joining the temple at 24. He has been a monk for eleven years.”

Bu Tao showed him pictures of what he looked like when he was arrested.

“You spoke with the abbot at Southern Star Temple?” Li Yun didn't think Luba was a real monk, but he appeared to be wrong.

“Yeah, Abbot Haoyang said Luba is one of the most diligent monks, and only occasionally heads out to assist with research and studies.”

“That doesn’t really make much sense as to why he would have plastic surgery to change his face,” said Li Yun. “The image of him before isn't much different from what he looks like now."

“Then it's likely that Min San isn’t his real identity,” Bu Tao said.

"Can you prove it from blood samples and DNA?" Li Yun asked.

"Min San's hometown is small, they have only started filing information during the past ten years. He doesn't have a clean record either. So is he hiding from something else? Illegals?”

“Could be, or ex-military?”

“Agents who have gone awol or treason?” asked Bu Tao. There were some crimes that warranted capital punishment.

“I don't know about what crime they had committed, but everyone in that operation is very disciplined.”

“Do you think they work alone or have someone backing them up?”

“They have a direct boss whom they are working with, and they are afraid of this person. If it was someone with a political or wealthy background, I don’t see them being directly involved. However, they are likely an independent contracting group.”

In terms of operation, they appear similar to the Blue Moon, but it was very different. The Blue Moon appeared messier, but there were multiple layers of secrecy that made them difficult to track down. The group of robbers seemed like an independent group that specialized in tracking antiquities and forgeries. They also seem more reluctant to kill.

“How about the insurance scam angle?” asked Li Yun.

“The government is funding the operation, and if any of the artifacts are stolen, there would be no payout."

"There's no museum associated with the artifacts?" Li Yun thought it was odd.

Li Yun's phone beeped.

Rouxi: Done with interview

Li Yun: Head back to the hotel with the professor and others. I'm helping Bu Tao with the investigation.

Rouxi: All right, I'll get you dinner, don't overwork!!!

Li Yun watched a couple of interviews with Bu Tao until they saw Luba entering the interview room. Bu Tao took the cue to enter the room and begin the interrogation.

“Thank you for coming to the interview,” Bu Tao greeted the monk and sat down across from him. "I'm Captain Bu. I apologize for the long wait, there are a lot of people to interview."

“It is not a problem, I understand the scope of the problem,” said the monk.

“All right, we will start the official interview. Name?” Bu Tao asked Luba sitting across from the interview room.

“Birth name is Min San. My Buddhist name is Luba.”

“Your reason for being at the Perceived Blessing Temple?”

“I was invited by Professor Luisa.”

“How did he come to know you?”

“I have met him before at the university.”

Bu Tao showed Luba the composite pictures of the six men. “Do you recognize any of these men?”

The monk scanned through the six pictures. “Are these the men the ones who held us hostage?”

“We believe so,” said Bu Tao.

Luba looked at the sixth picture, and his chin twitched slightly. Unlike the other picture, the last one looked like a monk.