After breaking up with my boyfriend, I made a fortune and rose rapidly in my career.

The message lingered on the screen for less than ten seconds. A cold wind blew in through the cracks in the car window, hitting Chen Pingfang's face and completely extinguishing the warmth he had felt in the provincial party committee meeting room.

Criminal case.

AetherX is showing no mercy and intends to trap Gu Weizhen in the United States.

Chen Ping opened the car door and got in; the sound of the door closing was muffled in the empty underground parking lot. Without starting the car, he dialed his mentor Zhou Zhengqing's encrypted hotline.

The phone was answered after only one ring.

"Teacher, this has escalated. AetherX has reported it to the FBI, and it's now a criminal case."

Zhou Zhengqing on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment, his voice calm, as if he had expected this. "Commercial litigation is just the beginning; criminal charges are their real weapon. It would be strange if they didn't use the state apparatus."

Zhou Zhengqing's steady voice calmed the tense situation somewhat.

"Going through normal legal and diplomatic channels is useless; it will only drag on indefinitely. If we want to bring them back, we have to use some other methods."

Chen Ping leaned back against the cold chair. "I need a solution."

"A clever escape," Zhou Zhengqing uttered. "No matter how tight the FBI's surveillance network is, it's bound to have loopholes. We need a legitimate reason for him to leave the United States, a reason that even the FBI can't openly prevent."

Chen Pingfang immediately realized. "Academic exchange?"

"Yes. I checked. There's a top-tier semiconductor physics symposium in Zurich, Switzerland next week, and Gu Weizhen is on the invitation list. If the FBI forcibly prevents him from attending a conference of this caliber, it will have a significant negative impact on the international academic community. This is our first opportunity."

Chen Pingfang's mind raced, and he immediately grasped the key to the plan. "He went to Switzerland, and then what?"

"Then it won't be FBI territory anymore," Zhou Zhengqing continued. "I'll arrange for a friend in the Middle East to meet him in Zurich. He'll need to transfer there, shake off his pursuers, and then return via a third country."

Are the contacts in the Middle East reliable?

"A student I sponsored overseas twenty years ago is now a well-known Chinese businessman in the area. He owes me a favor."

Chen Ping didn't ask any more questions. He hung up the phone and immediately dialed Qin Yu's number.

"Qin Yu, prepare to arrange for someone to leave the country. The target is the United States, and the final destination is Southern State. The FBI has already opened a case, and the risk is very high."

Qin Yu didn't hesitate at all. "Give me the time, the route, and the entry point."

"The target is Gu Weizhen. He will fly to Zurich, Switzerland, before next Wednesday under the pretext of attending an academic conference. This is his only legal way out of the country." Chen Pingfang spoke quickly. "You need to pick him up in Zurich without leaving any trace. My teacher will arrange for someone to meet him in a transit country; I'll send you the details later. Your task is to safely get him onto the plane to the transit country."

"Zurich Airport has a very high level of security, and the FBI will definitely be following us. To disappear in the airport, we need to create chaos." Qin Yu's professionalism was immediately apparent.

"That's your problem." Chen Ping didn't care about the process; he only cared about the result. "I need you to use all available resources to ensure success. This time, it's not just about bringing them back, but also about showing the Americans that they won't get away with using such methods to detain our people."

"Understood." Qin Yu's response was brief and forceful.

In the following days, there was little activity on the official front in Nanzhou Province. News of Vice Governor Wang's suspension and investigation circulated within a small circle, but it didn't cause much of a stir. Inside the Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, Chen Pingfang continued his daily meetings and document reviews as usual, as if the matter of Gu Weizhen was already over.

Meanwhile, a rescue operation spanning three continents is underway.

California, USA.

Gu Weizhen received a formal electronic invitation to the Zurich seminar. He calmly replied to the email, confirming his attendance and booking his flight to Zurich. The moment he pressed the confirm button, he could sense someone in the black SUV outside his apartment window simultaneously updating their records.

Nanzhou, Provincial Foreign Affairs Office.

As arranged by Chen Pingfang, the Foreign Affairs Office, through official channels, expressed serious concern to the US Embassy in China regarding the US's abuse of judicial means to suppress Chinese scientists. The statement was strong and the attitude was firm.

This official process was done so convincingly, it was as if they were preparing to resolve the issue through diplomatic channels, thus attracting most of the attention from the United States.

Six days later, Zurich International Airport, Switzerland.

Gu Weizhen walked out of the arrival hall with a simple suitcase, followed by two tall white men in casual clothes at a distance.

He got into a pre-booked taxi and headed to the conference hotel. As the car merged into the evening traffic in Zurich, the two FBI agents followed in their car.

No one noticed that on the smartwatch on the taxi driver's wrist, a red dot was slowly approaching another green dot on the screen.

The second day, morning, at the main venue of the seminar.

Gu Weizhen, as a special guest, gave a brief 15-minute speech. After his speech, he walked towards the restroom through a side door. Two detectives stood guard at the restroom door, one on each side.

Three minutes later, the fire alarm suddenly went off at the other end of the venue, thick smoke billowed out of a trash can, and the crowd immediately became chaotic.

The two detectives exchanged a glance. One rushed toward the fire, while the other stood guard at the bathroom door.

In the chaos, an Asian man wearing the same style of suit and about the same height as Gu Weizhen quickly left through another emergency exit and got into a waiting car.

The detective standing guard at the door called his colleague on the walkie-talkie, only to be told it was a false alarm; someone had just carelessly discarded a cigarette butt. He breathed a sigh of relief, pushed open the bathroom door, and found it empty. The window was open, revealing a narrow back alley.

The detective broke out in a cold sweat.

Meanwhile, at a small private airport on the outskirts of Zurich, a Gulfstream G650 business jet took off, heading towards the Middle East.

Ten hours later, the plane landed in Dubai, UAE.

At the end of the VIP passage, a well-mannered middle-aged Chinese businessman had been waiting for a long time. Seeing the somewhat tired Gu Weizhen, he didn't exchange any pleasantries, but simply handed him an envelope.

"Dr. Gu, you must be tired from your journey. Professor Zhou asked me to give you my regards."

The envelope contained a new passport and a boarding pass for a regular commercial flight to Southern Australia.

"It's safe here. Take a commercial flight back, and no one will be watching you anymore." The Chinese businessman patted him on the shoulder. "You're going home."

Nine more hours passed.

Chen Pingfang's office at the Department of Industry and Information Technology of Nanzhou Province.

He stood before the huge floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the distant horizon. Zheng Xian sat on the sofa, his laptop screen displaying a real-time flight tracking app; the aircraft icon representing Air China flight CA942 had entered the airspace of Nanzhou Province.

Everything went incredibly smoothly.

Just as Chen Ping breathed a sigh of relief, the internal phone on his desk suddenly rang urgently. He went over to answer it; it was the person in charge of the airport tower, whom he had notified in advance.

"Director Chen, something's happened." The voice on the other end of the phone sounded very anxious.

Chen Ping's heart leaped into his throat. "Speak."

"We have just received an emergency notification from the Northern Theater Command Air Traffic Management Bureau that a temporary military exercise will be conducted in the airspace over the provincial capital immediately, and all civil aircraft are required to make diversions. Flight CA942... is unable to land at this airport."

Chen Ping's breath hitched for a second. "Where to make an emergency landing?"

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone, as if they were confirming something they couldn't believe.

"Sujiang Province, their plane is turning around and heading to Sujiang International Airport."