Chapter 160: The Sacrifice of Shen Ye

"Time is tight, it's not mature, there's no time for the procedure, and besides, Team Leader Lu, I have to remind you that I'm an external hire, and I'm listening to Deputy Group Leader Shen's words."

"……"

Lu Chen was choked and couldn't utter a single word.

Seeing Lu Chen silent, Xie Wantang turned to look at him; Lu Chen's eyes burned as he stared at her, his gaze like a gravitational pull, deadly.

Xie Wantang withdrew her gaze, "Then, Team Leader Lu, why did you do that?"

She truly hadn't expected Lu Chen to call her wife on the spot; others might be forgiven, but Yan Xiu is Lu Yanze, so he would surely connect everything that happened before.

Perhaps over all these years, Lu Yanze suspected that Lu Chen was Lu Yanshen, perhaps he never doubted, but from today on, if he's not too stupid, he'll understand everything.

So, will Yan Xiu, who belongs to Lu Yanze, settle the score with Lu Chen?

The answer is definitely yes.

In that case, Xie Wantang's bait plan originally intended to have Yan Xiu focus on her, strike her, and expose him; now, who he'll actually target is uncertain.

"I am the group leader; all actions of the task force are arranged by me," Lu Chen said.

"……"

Yes, you're awesome; you call the shots.

"Xie Wantang, that night, didn't you promise me, promised properly? Not letting our daughter…"

Before Lu Chen could finish the rest, Xie Wantang interrupted him.

"I did promise you, but Little Qianqian has that ability; I just want to achieve twice the result with half the effort, finish the mission quickly, so the task force can be disbanded."

"…so you mean you don't want to be in the same task force as me," Lu Chen this time didn't misunderstand at all.

It is indeed so, but Xie Wantang didn't correct, "Team Leader Lu, you should change perspective; we just want to catch the bad guys as soon as possible."

"Enough, stop talking."

Xie Wantang had Little Qianqian stare seriously at the venue exit, then gave her a notebook.

For the rest of the time, Xie Wantang and Lu Chen helped Little Qianqian watch the exit; when Little Qianqian said someone was a bad person, Xie Wantang drew an X on the paper and noted the time.

When Little Qianqian said someone was good, Xie Wantang drew a ○ on the paper with the corresponding time.

After finishing, Xie Wantang handed her notes to Lu Chen, "Team Leader Lu, the venue's surveillance video is now up to you; investigate the people marked with X thoroughly. That's all Qianqian and I can do."

Lu Chen took them.

Before getting off the car, Little Qianqian held Lu Chen's hand, "Dad, work well, catch the bad guys with Uncle Shen soon, and come home early; Mom and I are waiting for you."

Lu Chen looked at Xie Wantang; Xie Wantang didn't deny Little Qianqian's words, but that didn't mean she readily forgave Lu Chen.

She just didn't want Little Qianqian to be sad.

Xie Wantang got off the car; Shen Ye's car pulled up, and Shen Ye hurriedly took the two of them to the airport, dispatching Senior Brother Six and Senior Brother Nine from Xie Wantang's group to send them back.

Shen Ye stayed behind and worked on the next tasks together with Lu Chen.

After the two met, Lu Chen showed Shen Ye the paper Xie Wantang had left, and with a single call, secured the video surveillance of the venue exit.

They investigated everyone marked with an X; in no time they discovered that each had a complicated web of connections.

Lu Chen finally realized Little Qianqian's role was huge.

Xie Wantang was right; proper use truly yields twice the result with half the effort.

Half a month after Xie Wantang returned to Haishi, neither Lu Chen nor Shen Ye had come back.

They cooperated and accomplished a major deed in Sijiucheng.

They joined forces to completely eliminate Yan Xiu; Shen Ye embraced Yan Xiu and perished together with him.

Lu Chen, leading an expert team, personally verified the true identity; having spent over three years with Lu Yanze in the Lu Family, Lu Chen knows exactly what traits Lu Yanze possesses.

Last time, that charred corpse was burned too thoroughly, so its identity couldn't be confirmed.

This time, it can.

When the news of Shen Ye's sacrifice reached Haishi, Xie Wantang was still analyzing data from the video Shen Ye had sent two days earlier.

Before the analysis was finished, Xie Wantang received the news of Shen Ye's sacrifice.

He and Yan Xiu, that is Lu Yanze, perished together.

Xie Wantang put down her work, covered her face, and wept bitterly.

Three days later, Lu Chen carried Shen Ye's ashes back to Haishi and buried them in the city's Martyrs' Cemetery.

Shen Ye was an orphan; his name was given by the orphanage director.

He had no family; a few junior brothers and sisters were his only relatives.

Xie Wantang wore sunglasses, stood at the tombstone, her expression calm and solemn.

Senior Martial Brother, if there is a next life, let's be ordinary civilians, may the world have not only peace but also no crime.

With Yan Xiu dead, the facial case was declared solved; his subordinates were either killed or captured, and the remaining interrogations were taken over by other departments.

The task force was disbanded.

Senior Brother Six and Senior Brother Nine of Xie Wantang earned merit in this task force; since Shen Ye was their Senior Martial Brother, when Lu Chen took over the leadership, he advocated for them, and the two stayed in Sijiucheng.

Consider it a promotion.

Xie Wantang's Senior Brother Nine was even promoted to Shen Ye's former international criminal investigation unit.

The task force completed the mission ahead of schedule; all members received commendations and merit.

Out of thirty‑plus people, only one—Shen Ye—was sacrificed.

The bad guys were completely wiped out; we lost a single soldier, which is a relatively small loss, indicating improvements in the armed forces' weapons and protective measures.

Next goal: capture future bad guys with zero casualties.

As Yan Xiu vanished completely from the world, his profile went online; he was Lu Yanze, and previously the Lu Clan Group had ridden on Yan Xiu's name to become a viral sensation online.

It was merely a posthumous flash; everything of the Lu Clan Group faced total consumer boycott and suppression across the internet.

Moreover, Lu Yanze's crimes are numerous; the Lu family's annihilation tragedy was caused single‑handedly by him.

This report shocked netizens immensely; after all, Lu Yanze was the Lu family's legitimate son and grandson, yet in the end he, this murderous maniac, actually wiped out his own family.

Some netizens with a novel take said, "Wiping out one's own clan is also fine; it's better than wiping out someone else's clan."

That comment garnered countless likes from netizens.

Some netizens said, parents who give birth to such a child can only consider themselves unlucky.

Finally, before Lu Yanze's online popularity completely faded, a psychological expert published an article in which he thoroughly analyzed Lu Yanze's personality and deviant psychology, starting from his poor health in childhood.

Many who read it felt both hate and heaviness of heart.

In short, as the saying goes, a pitiful person must have something hateful about them.

Netizens were all focused on Lu Yanze, but only Xie Wantang silently mourned her senior martial brother Shen Ye.

Sacrificing one's life for someone like Lu Yanze is truly not worth it.