Chapter 472: He Finally Fell Into My Hands

Just by looking at their expressions, can you lock down the mole?

Yu Dazhang certainly wouldn't be that rash.

As a criminal police officer, he naturally had to let the evidence do the talking.

Observing the changes in expression on these researchers earlier was also meant to further verify his own inference, and to see if there were any other suspicious people while he was at it.

He did some quick math in his head.

The gunfire earlier had lasted roughly five minutes.

Judging by the time, the other side should have been wiped out.

Unlike last time, this wasn't an encounter battle — it was a trap set by National Security, just waiting for these people to walk right into it.

So for them to walk away clean like before was almost impossible.

Afternoon.

Yu Dazhang took the excuse of feeling unwell, asked for leave, and went to the hospital the test area had set up for itself.

In the ward where Ye Lin had previously stayed, he met Li Mingzhao.

"Where's Ye Lin?" After entering the room, Yu Dazhang swept his gaze around it.

In his memory, no matter where Li Mingzhao went, Ye Lin was always at his side.

"I gave her the day off today."

When Li Mingzhao said this, a smile hung on his face, and he looked to be in a good mood:

"Her current physical condition isn't suitable for taking part in the operation."

Credit to you as a decent leader… Yu Dazhang smiled back:

"Quite a haul this time, right?"

It was the first time he had ever seen this Team Leader Li smile so happily.

The corners of his mouth couldn't be pressed down — it was joy radiating from deep within.

Looking at the smile brimming on his face, for some reason Yu Dazhang always felt a chill run through him.

"This time we caught a top-tier agent who had been lurking in our country for years."

Li Mingzhao stared at Yu Dazhang, eyes shining:

"His code name is 'Reptile.' He has a long list of blood debts in the country — two National Security officers lost their lives at his hands."

"For the past two years he's practically vanished off the face of the earth; no one knew where he was hiding."

"Never thought he'd fall into my hands today."

He excitedly threw a punch in the air, looking just like a child showing off his favorite toy:

"Do you know what it means to catch him?"

"Do you know how many secrets he has that nobody knows about?"

"Most importantly…"

Li Mingzhao's voice suddenly dropped low, his smile vanishing in an instant, and a flash of viciousness and madness swept through his eyes:

"This demon that has made countless people grind their teeth in hatred has finally fallen into my hands today."

In this stretch of words, he said "fallen into my hands" twice.

The first time was excitement.

The second time was vengeful fury.

It was clearly the same content, yet Li Mingzhao gave it two entirely different flavors.

Whichever it was, it made Yu Dazhang's heart pound, and he didn't even dare look into Li Mingzhao's cold, gloomy eyes.

Yu Dazhang couldn't be bothered to guess that agent's ultimate fate.

One thing he was clear on: that so-called top-tier agent was in for a world of suffering.

National Security would definitely dig out everything he knew.

That's right — "dig," not "ask."

A single character apart, and naturally the methods were worlds apart.

It's inevitable that saints would appear among the police, but over at National Security there definitely weren't any.

Put another way, saints weren't allowed to exist in National Security's ranks either.

Their mission was to safeguard the nation's security and interests; any factor that might threaten that had to be eliminated.

"Having you come help out was the best decision I've ever made."

Li Mingzhao could hardly contain his excitement as he stared at Yu Dazhang and said:

"Your judgment was completely right — the other side really did send a squad this time, and their target was the grove."

"Thanks to your foresight, if we'd set up an ambush outside the mountain, it would've been hard to catch them all in one net."

Yu Dazhang listened quietly, and only after Li Mingzhao finished did he speak:

"Did you find what I wanted?"

"Here it is." Li Mingzhao pulled a small transparent business card box from his pocket; inside the box was a small slip of paper rolled into a tube:

"I've already looked at it — the slip is covered in irregularly arranged numbers, probably some kind of cipher." After taking it, Yu Dazhang didn't open it, but tucked it straight into his pocket.

"What else?" he asked again.

"This." Li Mingzhao handed over a shoebox from beside the bed:

"You guessed it all right on the money."

Yu Dazhang looked around the room, grabbed a plastic bag from beside the bed, and then put the shoebox Li Mingzhao had handed him into it.

"Wait for my word."

He picked up the plastic bag holding the shoebox and gave Li Mingzhao a wave.

Just as he reached the doorway, Li Mingzhao suddenly asked:

"Do you want me to call two people to accompany you?"

"No need for that." Yu Dazhang said without turning around:

"There are some things I cannot confirm yet. With too many people around, it might attract unnecessary trouble."

When he returned to the experimental hall, he found only two guards left there.

After asking, he learned that ever since the gunshots rang out outside, everyone had been somewhat distracted.

Seeing the research team's poor work performance, the two academicians decided to grant a half-day holiday, sending everyone home.

Yu Dazhang then went to the living area and met Chen Yang and Liu Hai.

The three discussed it briefly.

Since they had nothing to do this afternoon, they prepared wine and dishes in advance, planning to gather in Chen Yang's room tonight.

That night.

Yu Dazhang, carrying a box of beer, arrived at Chen Yang's room on time.

After the wine and dishes were set on the table, the three raised their glasses and drank together.

Strangely enough, compared to last time, all three of them were clearly controlling their alcohol intake today.

Yu Dazhang noticed that Chen Yang seemed somewhat cautious while drinking, no longer as unrestrained as before.

Probably because Chen Yang had spoken too freely last time, saying things he shouldn't have, he dared not drink as openly this time.

Liu Hai was not as lively as last time either; he looked Burdened with worries, and no one knew what he was fretting about.

Now, the drinking table became Yu Dazhang's domain instead.

He kept raising his glass repeatedly, forcing Chen Yang and Liu Hai to keep up with him.

After the box of beer was emptied, all three had slightly flushed faces.

"What's going on today?" Chen Yang asked, reeking of alcohol:

"Why are there gunshots again? There was already one round of shooting a while ago. Why is it endless?"

Liu Hai sighed and said, seemingly helplessly:

"Is there any need to ask? We must have been targeted. Otherwise, we wouldn't have moved."

Yu Dazhang narrowed his eyes, scanning the two men's faces several times before finally settling on Chen Yang.

"Where is your squirrel?" he asked, pointing at the cage on the desk.

At that moment, the cage was completely empty; there was no sign of the squirrel from before.

"I'm looking for it too."

As Chen Yang spoke, he glanced around the room:

"When I came back this afternoon, the cage was already empty. I searched the entire room but couldn't find a trace of it."

From his expression, it was clear he was truly afraid something had happened to that squirrel.

Yu Dazhang looked at him with a smile:

"Don't worry. The squirrel is with me."

He stood up and made a downward gesture to the two men:

"Wait for me a moment. I'll go get it for you."

After saying this, he turned and left the room.

When he returned, he was holding a shoebox. After sitting down, he opened it in front of the two of them.

Inside was exactly the squirrel Chen Yang had been raising.

"How did it end up with you?" Chen Yang asked in surprise.

Yu Dazhang looked at him with a half-smile:

"This squirrel appeared in the woods outside the experimental area before the gunshots rang out this afternoon. Someone deliberately released it."

Just as Chen Yang and Liu Hai looked utterly bewildered, he took out a transparent business card holder.

Waving it before the two men, Yu Dazhang pointed to the rolled-up paper strip inside the holder and said:

"This is a cipher found on the squirrel's leg. Actually, I don't quite understand it. It's already 2015, yet someone is still using an old method from a hundred years ago."

(End of this chapter)