Nominal: Hou Liangping blocking the door? He was slapped away!

Blue smoke was rising from the mouth of the acid bottle.

Qi Tongwei's pupils constricted sharply. The bottle contained concentrated sulfuric acid; poured in, it would turn a hard drive into a puddle of rotten mud within three seconds. Inside were the last batch of core asset valuation data for Handong, irrefutable evidence that sealed the entire chain of interests in Haizhou.

The data custodian's hands were trembling, yet he continued to tilt.

"Don't move!" The SWAT officers pointed their guns at the car windows, but no one dared to fire—the sulfuric acid was splashing out, and no one knew where it would land.

Qi Tongwei didn't speak. He holstered his gun, braced his left hand against the deformed car door frame, and squeezed himself through the shattered window. Shards of glass grazed the back of his hand, drawing blood, but he seemed oblivious.

"Go ahead and throw it," he said calmly, "Haizhou still can't protect you."

The custodian looked up. A young man in his early twenties, his face covered in sweat, his lips trembling. He was holding a silver protective case, its lid wide open, inside which hard drives were neatly stacked. A vial of acid hung directly above the top hard drive, less than a centimeter away.

"If I splashed you, you'd have no evidence." His voice was shrill. "Without evidence, I'm just a security guard; at most, I'll get three years."

Qi Tongwei stared at him.

"Three years," he repeated. "You were transporting core data related to the transfer of terrorist funds. Based on this sentencing, guess how many years?"

The custodian's hand trembled slightly.

"Furthermore," Qi Tongwei leaned forward half an inch, shards of glass scraping his side and tearing a hole in his police uniform, "do you think Haizhou will leave a single living witness?"

These words were like a needle piercing the custodian's eye. He was stunned.

Qi Tongwei didn't give him time to think. He suddenly reached out his right hand and grabbed the acid bottle. The bottle was slippery, and the sulfuric acid was scalding hot even through the glass. He tightened his grip, snatched the bottle from the custodian's hand, and threw it out the car window.

The bottle traced an arc in the night sky before crashing into the drainage ditch outside the railing, hissing as it emitted a plume of white smoke.

The custodian was dumbfounded.

Qi Tongwei didn't look at him, but stared down at the protective case. Inside the case, five hard drives lay quietly, the top one with a few drops of acid on its surface, corroding shallow pits.

"If even one piece is missing from this box, you won't be leaving here alive tonight." Qi Tongwei's voice was hoarse.

The custodian's shoulders slumped.

He stopped struggling, removing his hands from the box as if all his strength had been drained. The SWAT officers climbed in through the car window, pressed down on his head, and handcuffed him.

Qi Tongwei squatted down, closed the protective box lid, and made sure the latch was secure. He straightened up, a sharp pain shooting through his left arm—when he squeezed through the car window, the bandage had completely torn open, the wound was ripped open, and blood was flowing down his arm, dripping several red dots onto the lid.

He glanced down at it.

"Chief!" The SWAT team leader rushed out of the car, his expression changed when he saw the hand, "Your injury—"

"Seal the box first." Qi Tongwei stood up and handed out the protective box. "Not a single hard drive can be missing. Take photos on-site to preserve evidence, and record the entire process on video."

The captain took the box and turned to make arrangements.

Qi Tongwei leaned against the car, rainwater streaming down his hair and soaking into his collar. He raised his left hand to look at it—the wound was deeper than he had thought, and the blood was still flowing uncontrollably.

In the distance, lights appeared at the end of the highway. A convoy of reinforcements from the provincial department was on its way.

He took out a walkie-talkie.

"Lu Yike".

The call came quickly. "Director? I've arrived and am handling the aftermath at the provincial border toll station."

"Got the hard drives. Five, all there." Qi Tongwei's voice was half-hidden by the rain. "How are your wounded doing?"

"Xiao Li suffered minor injuries, only three stitches in his forehead, nothing serious." Lu Yike paused for a moment, "Director, your voice sounds off."

Qi Tongwei chuckled but didn't reply.

"Where are you?" Her tone changed.

"North section of the highway, twelve kilometers from the provincial border." He put down the walkie-talkie and looked up at the sky. The rain had lessened a bit, but the clouds were still thick, and the stars were nowhere to be seen.

When Lu Yike arrived, Qi Tongwei was sitting on the running board of the mine protection vehicle. His left arm was hanging down, and the sleeve from his shoulder to his fingertips was completely wet, and it was impossible to tell whether it was rainwater or blood.

"What's wrong with you?" She rushed over and crouched down to look at his arm.

Qi Tongwei shrank back slightly. "It's alright."

"Are you alright?" Lu Yike grabbed his wrist and turned it over to examine it. The bandage was long gone, the wound was raw and white from being soaked in the rain, and blood was still seeping out. Her face immediately darkened.

"When did you get injured?"

"Three days ago, at the sanatorium." Qi Tongwei tried to pull his hand back, but couldn't. "It's just a minor injury, don't make a fuss."

"A minor injury?" Lu Yike stood up, turned around, rummaged through her car for a first-aid kit, and then came back. She knelt in the mud, pulled his arm over, and began to unwrap the blood-soaked gauze. "Do you know that this kind of injury will get infected if left untreated? Do you know that a ruptured artery can cause immediate shock?"

Qi Tongwei didn't say anything, he just looked at her.

The rain was still falling. In the distance, special police were cordoning off the scene, their flashing lights casting long shadows of two people.

Lu Yike's hands were steady; she cleaned, applied medicine, and bandaged the wound in one smooth motion. She finished wrapping the last layer of gauze, pressed it tightly, and glared at him.

"If you do this again, I'll report you directly and suspend you from your post."

Qi Tongwei looked at her. Rain dripped down her hair, and her face was smeared with mud, but her eyes were frighteningly bright. He suddenly said, "Why are you crying?"

"Who's crying?" Lu Yike released his arm, stood up, and wiped her face with her sleeve. "Rain."

Qi Tongwei didn't expose him. He stood up, leaning against the car door, and walked towards the damaged armored truck.

"Where's the hard drive?" he asked.

"It's loaded onto the truck." The SWAT team leader came up to them. "All five pieces are there, the serial numbers have been checked, nothing is missing."

Qi Tongwei nodded. He turned to face the more than twenty people present—special police, economic inspectors, and the escorts kneeling in the mud.

"About tonight's events," his voice wasn't loud, but it carried far in the rain, "not a single word is to be leaked. Whoever leaks it, I'll investigate them."

No one said a word.

He walked back and paused briefly as he passed Lu Yike.

"Let's go," he said. "Back to the provincial headquarters, take the hard drive to the technical department."

Lu Yike looked at his newly bandaged left arm, gritted her teeth, said nothing, and turned to follow him.

The convoy started and headed towards Jingzhou.