"Imitate Skinny Dog's voice?"
Xu Changsheng and Wang Hu were both taken aback by Su Ming's suggestion.
With a look of surprise and doubt, Xu Changsheng asked seriously, "Xiao Ming, are you sure? Can you imitate Skinny Dog's voice convincingly enough to fool those two fugitives? You know, this is our best chance to catch them, and if something goes wrong, it'll be a huge problem."
Although Su Ming had shown impressive skills before, capturing these two fugitives was an invaluable opportunity, and Xu Changsheng couldn't afford to be careless. If they escaped, things would get even more challenging, and there was the risk of them committing retaliatory acts.
Su Ming didn't answer right away. Instead, he cleared his throat, adjusted his voice, and, using a tone almost identical to Xu Changsheng's, said, "Brother Sheng, I think we should give it a try. Back in high school, I actually wanted to be a voice actor, so I trained in voice modulation for a while. I can mimic most voices pretty well."
"Besides, with the slight distortion of a phone call, it's almost impossible to tell the difference."
Wang Hu, seated in the back, was amazed. His mind raced, thinking, What a genius! All he did was some self-study in high school, and he can already mimic other people's voices? We were in the same class, but why do I feel so useless?
However, what Wang Hu would never guess was that Su Ming's skills weren't merely self-taught in high school. This ability was one he had honed through countless crime simulations, learning it to execute various forms of scams effectively.
Xu Changsheng stifled his amazement, refocusing on the task. Catching these A-level fugitives was the priority, so he immediately issued a command.
"Old Chen, hurry and bring Skinny Dog over. We can't afford to give those fugitives a chance to realize something's off."
With the order given, Old Chen, who was on his way back to the police station with Skinny Dog, immediately turned his car around and sped towards Su Ming's location.
…
Three minutes later.
An SUV skidded to a halt beside Xu Changsheng's car. Old Chen hurriedly pushed Skinny Dog into Xu Changsheng's car and handed over a sealed bag with Skinny Dog's phone, his brow furrowing.
"Old Xu, the fugitives just called again. If we don't act quickly, I think they'll run any moment now."
The situation was critical.
Without needing further instruction, Su Ming immediately took action, staring down the visibly shaken Skinny Dog with a steely gaze. "Skinny Dog, say something right now!"
The trembling Skinny Dog, panicked about facing either life imprisonment or worse, could barely stammer, "I…I…I…"
But aside from repeating "I," he couldn't get out a single coherent word.
Time was running out.
Slap!
A loud slap echoed as a shocked Skinny Dog looked up, terrified, his right cheek imprinted with five red fingers.
Everyone stared at Su Ming, surprised by his sudden action. But Su Ming didn't care, merely giving Skinny Dog a cold, piercing stare.
"Say something."
Under Su Ming's intense gaze, which seemed capable of frightening anyone, Skinny Dog nervously yelled, "Officer, what do you want me to say? I really don't know!"
Under the pressure, Skinny Dog finally managed to say a full sentence.
Su Ming then picked up the bag with the phone, cleared his throat, adjusted his voice, and took out Skinny Dog's phone. Looking over at Xu Changsheng, he said earnestly, "Brother Sheng, we can't rely solely on the chance that Luo Zhen will meet up with the other two fugitives. You'd better have the tech team in the investigation unit start tracking this phone number as soon as I answer the call. Even if those two change SIM cards, they likely won't change the meeting location for their double-cross plan. Using both methods for tracking is the safest approach."
"I'm about to answer the call now. Everyone, stay silent to avoid arousing their suspicion."
Xu Changsheng, reminded by Su Ming's words, quickly stepped out of the car and had Skinny Dog pulled away, simultaneously contacting the technical team for phone number tracking.
At that moment, Su Ming answered the call, switching on the speaker, and in a voice almost identical to Skinny Dog's, said impatiently, "Hello, who is it?"
"Why do you keep calling? Looking to die or something? I'm enjoying myself here!"
Although Skinny Dog currently looked terrified, Su Ming could roughly guess that as a repeat offender with access to high-level drugs, he would normally act very arrogantly.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have shown up at the Zhongshan Road deal reeking of acid with just a simple worker's outfit to cover it up.
So Su Ming figured that this rough and impatient tone would be the best way to answer the call.
Three seconds later, just as he expected, the two hidden A-level fugitives didn't take offense at his attitude; they just chuckled and said nonchalantly, "Dog Bro, I got that top-shelf stuff. It's pure, way better than the junk those other crooks push with all their additives."
Hearing this, everyone in the car was now certain. Just as Su Ming had predicted, the two fugitives had no idea anything was amiss—they fully believed they were talking to Skinny Dog.
Keeping his cool, Su Ming responded in an impatient tone, "Good stuff? Isn't that what you'd expect? Go ask around in Shanghai—who else but me, Skinny Dog, can get such quality? You know who controls this scene, right?"
"Quit the chit-chat. Go enjoy yourself. Even five doses won't knock you out. I'm hanging up!"
With that, Su Ming decisively ended the call.
The youngest member, Wang Hu, was stunned and quickly blurted, "Ming Bro, what are you doing? Wasn't everything going smoothly? Why'd you hang up so suddenly…"
Su Ming raised his hand, silencing Wang Hu's questions, then showed everyone the phone, which was already displaying another incoming call. He spoke calmly and confidently.
"That was just the probe. The real game is only beginning now!"