Chapter 18

Chapter 18

When the camera was snatched away, the screen just went black, but the livestream wasn't closed yet. The chat went quiet for a moment, then exploded.

"What happened to the streamer's camera?"

"Looks like someone snatched it."

"Wow, robbing someone in broad daylight? Is Ningchuan really this unsafe?"

"Wait, it might not count as robbery, because the camera was flying above the streamer's head. The guy used something to snag it out of the air, so it might count as public theft."

"That's still messed up. Streamer, call the cops."

"Should you call the police?" Huang Xin asked worriedly.

Shen Dongqing nodded and said, "Can you call the cops for me first? My flying camera has GPS tracking. Let me check it."

"Go ahead and check," Huang Xin said, already dialing the cops.

"Yeah, someone jacked a flying camera. This thing's super pricey. Someone offered fifty grand and the owner still wouldn't sell, and now it's been stolen. We're at the square across from Tianhong Supermarket..." Huang Xin made sure to stress how pricey the stolen camera was when reporting it, worried the cops might brush it off.

By then, Shen Dongqing had already pulled up the flying camera's location. It wasn't far—only a few hundred meters in a straight line. The thief had stopped and wasn't running further, for whatever reason.

Shen Dongqing thought for a second, tapped his phone, and switched the camera to silent mode.

This feature was originally meant for nighttime shooting, so the device's lights wouldn't spook animals. Now it was a neat trick to make the device look like it was off.

The viewers heard Shen Dongqing say he had GPS tracking, which calmed them down a bit—after all, with tracking, they should find the camera quickly. But they were still chatting away when, the next second, the screen lit up, and a face wearing a hat and mask appeared on screen.

"What... is he doing?"

"Turning himself in? That's wild."

"So confused right now."

"Everyone's lost, but I'm the only one spotting a hopeless dumbass."

"Wait, does he think that since he ran this far, the camera's off and can't see his face?"

"Bingo, you nailed it."

"This thief doesn't even know what the thing is, but still dared to steal it. Big balls."

"I bet the thief heard that guy offer fifty grand and couldn't resist, so he went for it. That's fifty grand! Stealing other junk, he might not make that in half a month."

"This is a perfect example of 'people die for money, birds die for food.'"

"Fifty grand is a huge amount. That's three to ten years behind bars."

"Honestly, I think the streamer was in a good mood today and didn't really want to chase the thief, but the thief basically forced his hand."

"So compared to other thieves, he'll also get the harshest sentence. *shrugs*"

The thief clearly had no clue he was being filmed. He held the flying camera and flipped it over, checking it from every angle. Even with the mask on, viewers could tell he was blown away—he was clearly stunned by how slick the camera looked.

Huang Xin finished the call and turned around, only to see a vaguely familiar face. After a second, wasn't that the thief's face?

What was going on?

Huang Xin had genuinely never seen anything like this before. The thief steals the flying camera, doesn't turn it off, films himself, and then gets streamed live to everyone. This...

Actually, Huang Xin was being unfair to the thief. When the thief got his hands on it, he did try to turn it off, but he flipped the whole thing over and couldn't find a switch. And since the camera was in silent mode, he figured it was already off, so he didn't think twice about it.

Still, after checking it out, the thief carefully stashed the flying camera away. This was stolen goods—if someone caught him on camera with it, he'd be screwed. He needed to be careful.

But no matter how careful the thief was, half his face was already caught on camera and spreading across the internet. This clip was just too entertaining. Before the livestream even ended, people were already cutting clips.

"Preview of a hopeless dumbass getting arrested."

"Stealing a camera and taking selfies—is this moral decay or just twisted human nature?"

"Robbery vs. public theft: what's the difference?"

...

Clickbait titles, educational stuff—all kinds of clips were quickly made and spread online.

A lot of people scrolled past these clips, and after watching, instinctively wanted to search for what happened next. Only then did they realize this had just happened, and the thief hadn't been caught yet. To see what happened next, they'd have to wait in Shen Dongqing's livestream.

Some people weren't that curious, or didn't have time, so they just liked the video to find updates later. Others were more curious and could afford to slack off and watch, so they jumped into Shen Dongqing's stream.

The chat suddenly got wild. Some told Shen Dongqing to chase the thief now, some said wait for the cops, and others asked him to keep showing the thief to see what he'd do after the heist. People said all kinds of things.

But Shen Dongqing wasn't focused on that—he was focused on the cop on the phone.

After getting the report, the dispatcher sent a nearby officer over. The officer had already reached the square but couldn't spot them, so he called Huang Xin's phone to ask. But that voice...

Shen Dongqing muted the stream and looked around, quickly spotting Zhao Rong at the edge of the square. The officer hadn't spotted him and Huang Xin yet.

"Officer Zhao, I see you. Stay right there, I'm coming over." Hearing Zhao Rong and Huang Xin still trying to figure out where each other was, Shen Dongqing cut in.

"Who's this..." Zhao Rong started to ask, but that familiar voice immediately jogged his memory. "Shen Dongqing, you're the one who got robbed?"

"Yeah, I've already got the thief's location. Don't move, I'll take you there now." Shen Dongqing said, then asked Huang Xin if he wanted to tag along.

He'd already done his part by calling the cops. If Huang Xin had stuff to do, he could go—Shen Dongqing could handle it alone.

"I made the call, so I'm going." Huang Xin had nothing else going on anyway. He just wanted to watch the show. This was the first time he'd run into something this interesting, and he'd kick himself if he didn't see it through.

Most importantly, Huang Xin really wanted to tell the thief he'd been live-streamed.

Huang Xin was dying to know what face the thief would make when he heard that. Just thinking about it got Huang Xin all excited.

Huang Xin couldn't hide his expression, and Shen Dongqing gave him a confused look. Was meeting a cop really that exciting?

Shen Dongqing figured he'd called the cops so many times that he'd lost the average person's mindset around law enforcement.

After all, the average person might call the cops once a year at most, while he'd been in and out of police stations a dozen times in just over two weeks, so familiar that walking in felt like coming home.

Zhao Rong's feelings were a bit mixed, but he'd seen Shen Dongqing so many times that he was used to it. He pulled himself together before Shen Dongqing showed up with Huang Xin.

"Officer Zhao, look, this is where the thief is. He's still on the move." Shen Dongqing showed the camera's current location on the tracker. The thief had already ducked into a nearby street, whether to fence the goods or head home to lay low.

"If the tracking's accurate, we can go grab him right now. We'll catch him red-handed with the goods, so he won't be able to deny it." Zhao Rong said, grinning at the location.

The thief who'd snatched the camera really wanted to unload it fast, but after checking it out, he found no obvious brand markings, and a reverse image search didn't turn up anything similar.

Even though he knew someone had offered fifty grand for it, if he took it to Old Wu, the guy would definitely lowball him hard. Wouldn't that make his risky heist a total waste?

So he decided to search more online to see what the market was like. As for the camera, he'd just stash it at home for now—it was small enough to just shove in a corner.

The thief was still feeling smug, heading straight home, but Shen Dongqing and Zhao Rong had already caught up to him.

Shen Dongqing spotted the thief up ahead at a glance—the jacket in his hand was all too familiar.

"That's him." Shen Dongqing pointed at the thief ahead.

Zhao Rong gunned the electric scooter. The thief up ahead seemed to sense something behind him and turned to look.

The second he saw Zhao Rong, he froze up, but he still held onto a sliver of hope. He'd only had the thing for such a short time—even if Shen Dongqing had reported it, the police wouldn't arrive this fast, and there was no way they'd come straight after him.

But that hope didn't last a second before the thief spotted Shen Dongqing following behind. His looks were too striking to forget after just one glance.

The thief didn't have time to wonder how they'd tracked him down—he bolted for a nearby alley, but two legs were no match for two wheels, and the cops cornered him right at the alley entrance.

Even cornered, the thief was surprisingly quick. He managed to slip through their grasp and took off the other way.

There was another alley across the street, where the scooter couldn't pick up speed. He knew those streets like the back of his hand—if he could just get in there, he could lose the cops.

He hadn't been thinking straight when he stole the thing, but now, knowing what would happen if he got caught, he absolutely could not get caught.

As the thief ducked into the alley, he didn't notice Shen Dongqing had vanished. He charged in and turned right.

Zhao Rong chased after him, kicking himself. He was getting older, and his body wasn't as nimble as the younger guys'. He should've brought the new officer along. Now that the thief was in the alley, he might actually escape.

Just then, a heavy thud echoed from up ahead.

Did the thief trip and fall?

Zhao Rong's heart jumped. He sped up and rounded the corner, only to see Shen Dongqing pinning the thief down with one arm, while Huang Xin had a death grip on the guy's legs.

Zhao Rong didn't have time to wonder why Shen Dongqing was there—he whipped out the cuffs and locked the thief up.

Only after making sure the thief was subdued did Shen Dongqing go pick up the Flying Camera that had hit the ground.

"Did it get damaged?" Huang Xin asked, eyeing the camera on the ground nervously. That kind of precision gear was delicate.

Zhao Rong looked over too. This thing was worth tens of thousands—if it broke, even with the thief caught, Shen Dongqing would be out a fortune.

Shen Dongqing glanced at his phone and shook his head. "The lens is fine."

"How can you tell just by looking?" Zhao Rong figured Shen Dongqing hadn't even checked it—how could he know if it was broken? "You should give it a good look. If it's busted, you can make him pay for it."

Shen Dongqing took the camera out of silent mode and had it fly a circle around him, then confirmed, "Really, it's fine."

Huang Xin stared at the Flying Camera, totally envious. It flew so smoothly, and on the livestream it made Shen Dongqing look great, plus it was tough—the more he watched, the more he wanted one.

"Brother Shen, this..." Huang Xin trailed off. After watching the livestream for a bit, he knew Shen Dongqing was a full-time streamer and the Flying Camera was his main broadcasting gear—no way he'd sell it.

"I won't sell it, but I can let you borrow it for a couple days when I'm not streaming." Shen Dongqing hadn't forgotten the help Huang Xin had provided.

Huang Xin was over the moon, thanking him over and over, practically glowing with joy.

It wasn't until he watched Zhao Rong haul the thief away that Huang Xin remembered he still had something to do.

Catching him wasn't enough—he still had to rub salt in the wound.