Chapter 197: The Missing Piece

The more he thought about it, the more unnatural everything began to feel.

Meanwhile, upon hearing Stan, the officer nodded slowly.

"Its Indeed their base. We weren’t fully certain before today. We only had suspicions. But now we’re sure."

He glanced out the window briefly before continuing.

"And not only that... the information you gave us helped correlate several loose ends from previous encounters we’ve had with the Red Serpents."

He leaned back slightly, his expression turning more serious.

"After putting everything together, we’ve come to the conclusion that the hotel manager isn’t just connected to the Red Serpents."

A brief pause followed.

"There’s a very high chance he’s actually the leader of the entire organization."

Stan’s brows furrowed slightly.

"The leader?"

The officer gave a grim nod.

"And if that’s true, then we need to apprehend him at all costs. The longer he stays free, the bolder the Red Serpents will become."

He paused again before continuing.

"I don’t know if you noticed anything strange about that hotel... but the entire building was completed in just four weeks."

Stan’s eyes widened slightly.

"What? Four weeks?"

"Exactly." The officer spread his hands slightly. "A structure of that size and quality shouldn’t have been possible in such a short amount of time. Not unless someone was pouring absurd amounts of money into it, cutting corners everywhere, or operating far outside normal regulations."

Another officer driving the vehicle added quietly,

"Even with nonstop construction crews working day and night, it still doesn’t make sense."

The first officer nodded again.

"We already had the place under surveillance before today. There were simply too many suspicious coincidences surrounding it."

He pulled a folder closer and tapped it lightly.

"Not long after the hotel opened, Red Serpent activity across the district more than doubled. Armed robberies, disappearances, smuggling operations, extortion... all of it suddenly escalated."

"But every single time we moved to intercept them," he continued bitterly, "they vanished before we arrived. Like they always knew we were coming."

Stan’s eyes narrowed slightly as he listened.

The officer exhaled heavily.

"At first we thought they had an informant inside the department. Maybe they still do." He shook his head slowly. "But now... now it makes far more sense that they’ve been using that hotel as a command center and hideout this entire time."

Another moment of silence passed inside the vehicle.

"I still can’t believe we failed to connect everything sooner," the officer muttered.

Stan folded his arms calmly. "It’s only natural you couldn’t."

The officer looked up toward the ceiling of the car.

"If what happened today hadn’t happened," Stan continued, "you would’ve never found the missing piece needed to connect all those dots together."

The vehicle fell silent for several seconds.

Because deep down, everyone inside knew he was right.

Stan let out a low sigh. "The fact that they’re this notorious makes the whole situation even stranger."

The officer glanced toward him.

Stan frowned slightly before continuing,

"If the Red Serpents are really as dangerous as you’re describing, then why didn’t any of them have firearms during Amelia’s kidnapping?"

He leaned back slightly against the seat.

"If they had guns, I honestly wouldn’t have been able to save her that easily."

The inside of the vehicle fell silent for a brief moment.

Then the officer narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

"You’re right," he admitted. "That part doesn’t add up."

He crossed his arms as he began piecing the situation together aloud.

"A gang operating at their level should absolutely have access to firearms. We’ve recovered illegal weapons tied to their operations before: handguns, modified rifles, even military-grade ammunition during one warehouse raid."

He frowned slightly.

"So for a kidnapping operation involving someone important enough to drug and personally transport to another location..." he muttered, "sending men in without guns makes no sense."

Stan looked toward him calmly.

"Unless they weren’t expecting resistance."

The officer nodded slowly.

"Exactly."

He tapped a finger lightly against the armrest.

"They probably assumed the drugs alone would’ve been enough to keep Amelia compliant. Quiet operation. No noise. No witnesses. No need for gunfire."

Another officer in the front seat spoke up quietly.

"And they also knew the police were already on alert. Firing a gun in that area would’ve caused immediate panic. Too many cameras. Too many civilians. Too much attention."

His expression hardened.

"It would’ve brought police to the scene faster than almost anything else."

The lead officer’s gaze darkened further.

"If the hotel truly is their headquarters, and that other location where they kept Amelia was meant to remain hidden..." He paused briefly. "Then the last thing they would’ve wanted was police swarming the area because of gunshots."

Stan thought back to the men he’d fought earlier.

Now that he replayed everything in his head, their behavior really had seemed overconfident from the very beginning.

As if they believed the entire environment was already under their control.

The officer continued, "There’s another possibility too."

"What?" Stan asked, curious...

The officer’s eyes narrowed slightly. "They may have noticed you... but underestimated you."

Stan raised a brow.

"From what you’ve told us, you intervened suddenly before they could properly react. If they assumed you were just some ordinary civilian trying to play hero, they probably believed a few men would be enough to handle you quietly."

A faint cold smile appeared on the officer’s face.

"They clearly made a very expensive mistake."

The officer then turned his gaze toward the distant city lights outside the window.

"Still..." he muttered thoughtfully, "the fact they avoided firearms tonight could mean something else as well."

Stan looked toward him again.

"They may have been trying to keep the operation hidden even from parts of their own organization."

Stan’s eyes narrowed slightly as he sighed...

The officer continued,

"If the hotel manager truly is the head of the Red Serpents, then a public shootout inside his own establishment would’ve drawn far too much attention to the hotel too early."

His voice turned colder.

"Which means Amelia may have been far more important than we initially realized."

A brief silence settled inside the vehicle.

"This entire situation is far more delicate than it first appeared," the officer said quietly. "There are too many moving parts... too many complications."

He finally looked back at Stan.

"Either way, it’s a good thing you were there."