Chapter 58 A Familiar Silhouette
Although Kendall denied it, Mark's admiration for her continued to flow like a raging river.
Without waiting for Kendall to ask, Mark immediately told her the reason for his call over the phone.
After days of searching and investigation, the Ruby Road Police, along with police forces from other provinces, cities, and counties across the country, worked together to crack down on and apprehend Helen's entire syndicate.
They finally traced the vine to the melon, capturing the entire group and rescuing many victims.
The Ruby Road Police finally redeemed themselves.
They immediately posted a video of the human trafficker's arrest online, along with an official announcement. The announcement explained the full context of the situation to netizens and clarified why they had not responded to the trending topic during that period.
The Ruby Road Police's video and announcement were posted on TikTok this afternoon, and they immediately shot up the hot search rankings.
Netizens who had been aggressively posting in the comment section were now apologizing profusely. Many more simply came to watch the excitement.
Most, however, praised the Ruby Road Police's patience and ability to quietly lay in wait, which allowed them to catch all the despicable human traffickers in a single sweep.
The comment section was lively and joyful, celebrating as if it were a holiday.
Mike, the live streamer who had been insulted by netizens until he was afraid to stream, also cautiously reappeared after the Ruby Road Police's response.
He started a live stream and said plaintively, "You guys disappoint me so much. When everything was fine, you called me 'Sweet Mike,' and when something happened, you called me 'Scummy Mike'!"
Netizens were amused. This time, he was not met with endless insults, mockery, and malicious speculation, but with various apologies and many curious onlookers who rushed to the stream.
While giving him virtual gifts and filling up his online wallet, netizens left comments that read, "Your Highness Mike, don't cry. Your good fortune is yet to come!"
Mike let out a small laugh. Having gone through this incident, Mike learned his lesson. He earnestly bowed and apologized to the netizens in the live stream, giving a public self-critique. 'Without seeing the whole picture, one should not comment!'
The hot search list on TikTok this afternoon was completely dominated by the Ruby Road Police's response.
At the same time, netizens also noticed an important point in the official announcement.
user @ILoveRain: "So, the person who first reported the human traffickers was also one of the victims?!"
user @BeautyNo1: "Ahhh, she's amazing! She was kidnapped by human traffickers but used her wits and courage against them! Not only did she successfully escape, but she also rescued the other victims!"
user @BooksAreLife: "That's not all! She tied the human traffickers to the roof of the van and brought them out of the mountains!"
user @Don'tTalkToMe: "I'm absolutely crying for her.
That little van was already so dilapidated, and the space was so cramped, yet she still had the great mercy to bring those two murderous human traffickers out.
If it were me with my vindictive nature, I'd have thrown them off a cliff to feed the wolves! "
user @RamenLover: "What did the wolves do to deserve being fed that disgusting, rotten meat? Their crimes are so severe, they don't even deserve to be fed to the wolves! They should be thrown into a cesspit and drowned alive!"
Netizens discussed this excitedly and soon discovered that the Ruby Road Police had quietly posted a third TikTok video. The content of the third TikTok was an online search for a person.
The video posted by the Ruby Road Police showed the slender back of a young woman walking out of the police station. The video was very short, lasting only about twenty seconds.
The Ruby Road Police explained that the staff member who received her at the time did not realize that the slender young woman in front of them was the whistleblower and the crucial heroine of the entire case.
The staff member thought she was just one of the victims, so they did not question her further. Who knew that when everyone wanted to contact the whistleblower later, they couldn't reach her.
This was because the phone Kendall used to call the police was not her own, but a phone she had taken from the human traffickers.
This realization immediately stunned the Ruby Road Police. 'They just spaced out for a moment, and the person disappeared!'
Kendall's presence was vital to this human trafficking case. One could say that without Kendall, there's no telling when this group of human traffickers would have been caught.
And for every day they remained at large, they could destroy more families and traffic more victims.
Kendall's contribution to this case was immense!
Yet, they couldn't find such a cool and brave young woman?
The Ruby Road Police had no choice but to leverage their own trending topic and attempt to locate her online.
They deliberately only showed her back view and did not reveal her face, fearing that it might negatively impact Kendall's life.
The trending power of TikTok was undeniable. Especially since this was a person the Ruby Road Police had publicly asked the public to help find.
Netizens would surely dig three feet deep to find this person.
Then, some careful netizens noticed something was wrong.
user @SantaClaus'sWife: "Why does this back view look so familiar?"
Some sharp-eyed netizens immediately recognized her.
user @WhiteThread: "Isn't that the terminally ill young lady?"
It was unclear who first made the connection, but the words 'terminally ill young lady' carried a lot of trend power, and more and more netizens saw these messages.
user @HotCocoa: "I took a close look, and I think @WhiteThread above is right!!! The silhouette, hair colour, and hair length are all especially similar to the terminally ill young lady! [comparison picture.jpg]"
user @CleanLaundry: "How are they similar?! The one today's skin is clearly paler!"
user @MostPopular: "Ahhh, she really looks like her!!!"
user @HappyGoLucky: "Holy cow, no way! I specifically checked the screenshots of the terminally ill young lady I saved on my phone, and I'm stunned, their figure is exactly the same!"
Other netizens also debated.
user @BrokeBitch: "Don't be ridiculous. Even if the terminally ill young lady hasn't shown her face, the two times she caught criminals before, she was in Orapolis. Ruby Road is a two or three-hour train ride from Orapolis! How could it be the same person!"
user @PessimisticPotato: "How do they look alike? They don't look alike at all! How sad would the real whistleblower be if you randomly attributed the credit to someone else!"
The comment section debated fiercely, and the topic quickly shot up to the top of the hot search rankings. Mark was bored today, so he took out his phone to scroll TikTok and saw these posts.
He was the first, and one of the few people who knew Kendall's identity as the 'terminally ill young lady'.
Mark clicked on the missing person video posted by the Ruby Road Police and watched it several times, finding the back view increasingly familiar.
Furthermore, looking at the date in the Ruby Road Police's announcement, it coincided exactly with the days Kendall was out of Orapolis!
Mark even specifically called a friend who worked at the Ruby Road Police to ask about the matter.
After chatting with his friend there, Mark's hunch became stronger, which was why he picked up his phone to call Kendall and confirm it himself.
Thinking of the netizen's comments online, Mark couldn't help but say, "Your 'terminally ill young lady' identity really carries a lot of traffic.
Netizens are defending you like crazy, and the rumour guessing that you are the whistleblower has already hit the top of hot search list. I estimate the Ruby Road Police will notice it soon. "
"The criminals you've caught a few times before are all here with us. I expect the colleagues over at Ruby Road will call us very soon to ask about your identity."
(End of Chapter)