Chapter 56: There

The man kneeling on the ground trembled, his features were of a thief‑eyed, mouse‑eyed type, and he was short.

Lu Cheng felt something was off because the search, justified as looking for lost items, was being conducted while the enemy spy didn't know his identity had already been exposed.

Even if he knew his identity was exposed, he would still struggle until the very last moment.

Therefore, there was no need to step forward and admit anything.

When Ding Han Zhen heard Lu Cheng say something was off, he also reacted quickly and blamed him for being too agitated.

He walked over and made the man lift his head: "You say you admit—what exactly are you admitting?"

The man glanced at the more than twenty uniformed Train Police, looked frightened, and said in a trembling voice.

"I admit I stole the money, but I only stole two coins."

Seeing Ding Han Zhen take a breath, he thought Ding didn't believe him and immediately became anxious, about to burst into tears.

"It's really just two coins. I'm not lying to you; if you don't believe it, you can search. No, I'll hand them over myself—see, these two coins are stolen, and this three‑mao coin is mine."

Ding Han Zhen almost wanted to punch him: "Admitting two coins here is nonsense."

The man actually began to cry: "I can't not admit it; you're scaring me. I ran here from the first Carriage, and you've been searching all along…"

"I only stole two coins, why all this fanfare? You're treating me like I broke a heavenly law."

I'm being honest now, so please don't shoot me. I have an eighty‑year‑old mother upstairs and a still‑nursing child below; this is my first…

"Shut up!" Ding Han Zhen barked, speechless inside.

The other Train Police were also at a loss, having thought they'd caught a big fish, only to find a tiny shrimp.

It turned out to be a complete blunder.

But since he was still a thief, Ding Han Zhen ordered a Train Police to escort the man away, then had Jiang Mengmeng in the Broadcast Room make an announcement asking who had lost money.

The remaining team continued the search; when Lu Cheng had checked a few people and was about to search an old man sitting by the window seat, he suddenly found the man familiar.

He tilted his head, looked, and exclaimed in surprise, "Lei…"

The man, dressed as an ordinary civilian, was indeed Lei Zhan Ge.

Lei Zhan Ge waved his hand at Lu Cheng, indicating not to call him.

Lu Cheng instantly understood, having thought Lei Zhan Ge hadn't boarded the train; it turned out he was traveling incognito, though it was unclear whether he was supervising everyone or secretly observing the enemy spy.

Lei Zhan Ge naturally required no inspection, so Lu Cheng pretended nothing had happened and continued checking the next person.

A tall team member saw this, thought Lu Cheng was slacking again, and stormed over, saying, "Why did you skip checking someone? Your work is too careless."

Lu Cheng replied offhand, "That man is an old guy, no need to check."

"What's wrong with an old man? He could still be an enemy spy. Can you be more diligent at work?"

Lu Cheng was speechless: "Fine, fine, you go check."

"If I'm going, I'm going—let me show you how I treat my work…"

The tall team member walked straight over, put his arm around the old man's shoulder, and just as he was about to speak, he swallowed the words.

Seeing Lei Zhan Ge's Eagle Eye stare straight at him, the tall team member broke out in cold sweat.

When the tall team member approached, Lu Cheng stifled a laugh: "You're not taking your job seriously either—didn't even dare to say a word?"

"Go, go, go, that man is Captain Lei; why didn't you tell me?"

"You never asked."

……

A little over an hour later, after passing the Platform, many passengers disembarked, leaving the Carriage considerably emptier.

【7】 Lu Cheng walked to a seat and sat down.

Lu Cheng walked to a seat and sat down.

Lei Zhan Ge, who was reading the Newspaper, didn't even lift his eyelids: "Ding Jingzhang, using the pretext of lost items to search each Carriage, that was your rotten idea, wasn't it?"

Ding Han Zhen understood him; although his work ability was strong, he was upright and always acted within the rules.

As for the other Train Police, despite brief interactions, he could see that everyone was very rule‑abiding.

Regarding Lu Cheng, he had previously heard the Department Committee talk about him: not only did he capture a thief single‑handedly, but when the Coal City Station Railway Bureau tried to detain the thief for credit, the kid actually shackled himself to the thief on the spot and even swallowed the key.

It was indeed a bit rogue, and the idea of today's carriage search was exactly the same.

Hearing Lei Zhan Ge's question, Lu Cheng did not deny it.

"Captain Lei, this isn't a rotten idea; although we searched every Carriage and didn't find the enemy spy, we still got extra gains, such as…

We caught a thief, three smugglers, and a fugitive; the results were still very significant."

If this were a normal day, catching so many criminals at once would earn Merit.

But today's target wasn't these people.

Honestly, these criminals tied together aren't as important as any enemy spy.

Yet the Train Police had already done their utmost, not letting any person or piece of luggage slip by, and still didn't locate the enemy spy.

Lei Zhan Ge sighed, placing the Newspaper on the small dining table in front of him.

"Could the intelligence be wrong? This enemy spy didn't board the train!"

Ding Han Zhen shared the same thought; he gathered all the Train Police into the Dining Car, and everyone looked dejected.

Only Lu Cheng was idle and bored, so he went over to Lei Zhan Ge to chat.

Lu Cheng took the floor: "There are only two possibilities now—one, as Captain Lei said, the enemy spy might not have boarded the train; the other, this enemy spy is hiding extremely well."

Lei Zhan Ge turned his head, crossing his hands: "Which possibility do you lean toward?"

He thought that although Lu Cheng didn't strictly follow rules, this tricky situation precisely required someone who doesn't.

Lu Cheng paused briefly: "I still think the second possibility is more likely."

"Oh? Explain why."

"I can only say that the harder we fail to catch the enemy spy, the more it proves the importance of that document. Assuming that premise, the spy must have made flawless preparations, so even searching bodies and luggage won't easily reveal him."

Lei Zhan Ge nodded slightly: "So you mean we should conduct another thorough search?"

Lu Cheng shook his head: "This is really a waste of time; just now we also searched very thoroughly, we were just short of stripping off people's clothes, but we can't really make passengers take off their clothes, can we?"

For this kind of superficial inspection, although most passengers are quite cooperative, there are also many who have objections.

If we made people take off their clothes, ninety percent would not agree.

Lei Zhan Ge naturally also understood this in his heart, and couldn't help sighing: "I have only a few years left before retirement; it seems I failed to capture the enemy spy this time, leaving a blemish on my revolutionary career."

Thinking of Lei Zhan Ge, who has spent his life in military service, joining the revolution at fifteen, experiencing countless battles big and small, suffering multiple wounds, to this day a fragment of shrapnel still remains in his chest, not yet removed.

He, who has earned countless merits, never expected to finally be thwarted by a tiny enemy spy.

What disgrace!

Thinking to this point, Lei Zhan Ge's fingers lightly began tapping on the small dining table surface.

Whenever he falls into thought or recollection, he always makes this unconscious gesture.

Many people have this habit, but Lu Cheng's eyes flashed with inspiration.

"Captain Lei, perhaps things haven't yet reached the worst point; there is a method we can try."