She is the most beautiful rose

Chapter 333 (Part )

The woman was carrying an exquisite gift bag, as if she had just bought something at an antique shop. She walked hurriedly into an alley, probably in a rush to get home.

In some alleyways, besides the main road, there are passageways next to the shops that lead to private businesses on the second or third floors. However, these shops usually close at six o'clock, and the lack of lighting makes them even darker.

The woman slowed her pace after answering a phone call, walking and talking close to the stores. Some stores were already closed, so she followed the direction of her turn and walked into the inner passageway.

The tall, thin man and his companion followed silently behind. They had only taken a couple of steps inside when the man felt a chill run down his spine from the keen counter-surveillance ability. He was about to turn around when a sharp pain shot through the back of his neck, and then he and his companion fell straight to the ground.

Two tall men appeared behind them without them noticing. One of them crouched down to search them, while the other turned his head and tapped his earpiece. "Team B is finished."

The woman emerged from the shadows, her tongue pressed against her canine teeth as she slightly raised her chin. "Get it back in the car."

After searching her, the man took two cell phones. As he stood up, he looked at the woman's face and paused for a moment, "...I almost thought I was seeing her in person."

The woman glanced at him and smiled, "After all, it's a one-to-one replica."

At the same time, responses from other groups came through the headset.

The teahouse restroom was located in an enclosed open space outside the back door on the first floor. Two people were lying on the ground there as well. Akso, with a cigarette in her mouth, jumped down from the wall. Her dark gray trench coat dragged across the wall, picking up dust. She casually patted it off, and as she stepped onto the ground, the man standing next to her stepped forward and lit her cigarette. "Mission accomplished."

Akso paused, then glanced at the man. Her eyes were naturally deep and captivating, and without any makeup, they held a hint of her usual playful smirk as she stared at him.

The person being stared at had a cold expression, showing no impatience whatsoever. He even calmly looked back, his gray-green eyes as serene as ancient waves.

She chuckled, a cigarette dangling from her lips, and leaned down to reach for his light, her English accent fluent as she uttered, "What the hell? Lord Ares is actually taking the initiative to serve others."

However, she quickly composed herself and walked ahead, her tone low and lazy, "Don't mistake me for your ancestor."

He then made a phone call, his tone much lighter, "Mission accomplished."

"Great, let's evacuate. I'll handle the aftermath."

As night fell, three cars parked at various intersections on Pingyang Street started up simultaneously and merged into the traffic on the main road.

Ten kilometers away from Pingyang Street, on Xuefu Road, in a calligraphy experience store, Shen Manzhi took off his headset, made the last stroke, and hung the brush on the brush holder.

She placed a bookmark on the copy of the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion, stood up and handed it to the person behind her. She lifted the curtain decorated with seashell wind chimes, washed her hands in the outer room, took her coat, and left the store.

In the depths of winter, colorful lanterns are hung high.

Shen Manzhi stood at the door, glanced up at the surveillance camera on the pedestrian streetlight pole, and then smiled slightly as she looked down.

The black Bentley was parked on the side of the road with its hazard lights on. She quickly walked down the steps and got into the car.

Baihu saw in the rearview mirror that she picked up the laptop next to her and started working on it, so he knew that things were going quite smoothly.

With the reading light dim and only the constantly changing light screen on the computer screen visible, Shen Manzhi used nearby network devices as a "botnet" to gain access to the surveillance cameras at various intersections of Pingyang Street.

Once the archive was full, she quickly modified the surveillance data, saying, "Drive towards the city center, find a stretch of road to avoid the cameras, and then take me back to Blue Bay."

Baihu gripped the steering wheel and turned the car around. "Aren't we going to meet up at the base?"

"I won't go now. With so many people disappearing overnight, they'll definitely investigate my whereabouts tonight."

Baihu was taken aback. "We only found six people who entered the country. Weren't they all taken to Pingyang Street tonight?"

Shen Manzhi slightly bent her little finger and pressed the Enter key to complete the final loading bar, then relaxed her neck and leaned back.

"When I was inside just now, I suddenly remembered the nurse I met this afternoon."

Baihu raised an eyebrow. "That intern nurse at the mental health center?"

The mentally ill patient involved in the biting incident was sent back to the health center for compulsory treatment. Shen Manzhi had someone contact a nurse who was an intern there beforehand.

"I happened to be helping out in the lobby yesterday morning when I saw the police escorting that person out of the car and towards Section C. He definitely didn't look well; his face was terrifying, like he was about to eat someone alive..."

“The patients in Zone C are the ones who frequently have relapses, and we intern nurses aren’t allowed in there. They’re very strict,” the young woman said, her brows furrowing as she spoke. “But I took care of that patient before. He had no guardian and no one came to visit him. He was active in Zone A and was considered to be mentally normal. He was almost easy to care for and interacted with other patients like a normal person.”

Shen Manzhi tapped the table lightly, "Has he been in Area A the whole time?"

The nurse nodded, then shook her head. "I didn't see him for a while after that. I heard he was transferred to Zone C."

Shen Manzhi and Baihu exchanged a glance, the latter lowering his brows, "When exactly?"

"About a month ago?" The nurse frowned and thought for a while. "I was in Zone A for the first two months of my internship. It was around the beginning of December when I rotated to another ward. After that, I didn't see that patient again. It seems that around that time, I heard that Zone C had tightened its management."

They locked up a mentally ill patient who was still relatively sane in a high-level controlled area, and there was even a serious incident where the patient escaped and injured people... After leaving, Baihu remained silent for a long time before finally speaking with difficulty, "Are they conducting human experiments?"

Shen Manzhi shook her head. "To put it bluntly, it's probably due to a viral infection."

Rewind to the present, and the Bentley is driving across the viaduct.

Shen Manzhi lifted her eyelids, her eyes darkening. "I left Huaicheng in late November."

In early December, she should have just finished her mission in Yuncheng and returned to the Dominican Republic. At that time, she had no intention of returning to China.

The car was quiet for a while until the save bar was full and a "ding" sound was emitted.

A flash of white light appeared in Baihu's mind. "So, even after you left Huaicheng, they were still creating similar incidents, and now several have occurred in other cities as well. Do they have other motives?"

“I suspect they not only want to arrest me, but may even already have a base in the country and want to use this place as a testing ground.”

After hearing her analysis, Baihu thought about the outcome of the treatment of that mental patient and broke out in a cold sweat. "They've even infiltrated the hospital, and the Third District Police Station..."

Shen Manzhi shut down the computer, looked up and rubbed her temples. "The assessment and diagnosis were done by the hospital, but it's hard to guarantee that the police station doesn't have their people there."

"Akso brought the person back to base; maybe we can get some information out of him."

Speaking of this, Shen Manzhi suddenly remembered that she had thought she had misheard the voice in her earpiece earlier, "Why did she come over?"

Baihu blinked. "Well, among women of similar height and build to you, Akso is one too. And she just finished a mission in Country A a few days ago, so she came over since she had nothing else to do."

“However,” White Tiger said with a hint of mockery in his eyes, as he drove into the underground parking garage, “Ares is here this time too. I wonder if the two of them will get into a fight.”

Shen Manzhi raised an eyebrow.

"By the way, should we get checked at the hospital?"

"Since they want to cause trouble in the country, then the higher-ups have no choice but to intervene."

"I think so too," Baihu said, then paused, "Then..."

Shen Manzhi pushed open the door and got out of the car. "I'll contact Si Ming."

The white tiger opened its mouth, but in the end it could only sigh and turn away.

Contacting Si Ming was not difficult. Shen Manzhi leaned against the elevator, slightly raised her eyes, and suddenly thought of someone's slightly red eyes after drinking.

She stepped out of the elevator, a subtle smile playing on her lips.

Qin Yanfeng was not there, nor was Zhizhi.

She was gone for three days, and when she came back, she was exactly the same as before she left.

She said she needed some time, so Qin Yanfeng didn't bother her too much, occasionally sending two or three messages, still about business trips.

It should have been Bai Qing who came and took her away.

Shen Manzhi took a bottle of water from the freezer and called Qin Yanfeng.

No one got through.

She patiently typed it twice until Qin Yanfeng sent her a message.

[I'm in a meeting, I'll contact you later.]

Holding a meeting this late while on a business trip must mean something very important.

With a formulaic reply, Shen Manzhi pressed down her lips, just about to type "okay".

The next message pops up.

I miss you so much

She stared at the message for a while, her eyes curving slightly.

She received a call notification, replied to Qin Yanfeng on WeChat, answered the phone and walked towards the kitchen, "What's wrong, Jia-ge?"

"Jiang Zai's back, shall we get together tomorrow?"

The transition leads to an important plot point; the characters mentioned in this chapter belong to the female protagonist's own faction.