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

"They're all numbered." Lu Yike slammed the ledger on the table. "The names and flow of information have all been replaced with codes. We were prepared."

Qi Tongwei didn't look at the accounts. He went around to the back of the warehouse and stared at the cement floor under his feet.

"On the blueprints, this is a cold storage room." He tapped the ground with his heel, the sound hollow. "A mezzanine. Pry it open."

The SWAT officers found a crowbar, and several of them worked together to lift up the disguised floorboards. A cold, musty smell rose from underneath, mixed with the distinctive ink odor of banknotes.

Below is a passageway less than one person high.

Qi Tongwei bent down. The beam of the flashlight swept across the wall, revealing stacks of cash bundles wrapped in plastic film against the base of the wall, and on the iron shelf next to them, a handwritten ledger with worn edges.

"They didn't have time to move the cash," Lu Yike said, her voice low. "They left in too much of a hurry."

Qi Tongwei picked up the ledger and opened it. It was filled with densely packed handwritten entries: dates, amounts, and counterparty numbers, one by one.

His hand stopped when he turned to the middle page.

A small note was pasted on that page; it was an approval slip from Haizhou. Eight characters.

They only kept records and did not leave their names.

The handwriting and formatting are exactly the same as the one in the hard drive's address book.

"It matches up." Qi Tongwei closed the ledger and handed it to Lu Yike. "Secure the evidence and record the whole thing on video."

Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps came from deep within the passage.

"Over there!" the SWAT officer shouted.

The flashlight beam followed and revealed a man in overalls carrying something as he rushed towards the restroom at the end of the corridor.

"Hold him down!"

Two SWAT officers pounced on him and pinned him against the wall. The USB drive in the man's arms fell to the ground, and he was still trying to reach for the toilet with his foot.

Qi Tongwei walked over and picked up the USB drive.

"Treasury manager?"

The man remained silent, his neck hunched, his eyes darting around.

"Trying to flush it away?" Qi Tongwei waved the USB drive in front of him. "Too late."

"I...I'm just a bookkeeper." The man's voice trembled uncontrollably. "I don't know anything. They just told me to keep the books—"

"You're referring to the transfer of funds related to terrorism." Qi Tongwei squatted down, looking him in the eye. "You know how many years you'll be sentenced for this amount."

The man's lips trembled.

"There's one more thing you need to think about." Qi Tongwei's voice slowed. "Haizhou is clearing out its supply lines tonight. Your name is at the top of the list. Do you think they'll spare you?"

The man looked up abruptly, his face as white as mold on the corridor wall.

……

Upstairs, in a corner of the warehouse.

Lu Yike put the ledger into the evidence bag and turned to look for Qi Tongwei. He was taking out a crumpled piece of paper from his inner pocket.

Those were torn pages from the black book. Something Gao Yuliang had tucked into the files during the handover.

"Lu Yike." He handed over the tattered page. "Look at this line of text on it."

Lu Yike leaned closer. The tattered page bore Chu Pingshan's handwriting, hasty and waterlogged.

On the day of the investigation, find out who Sha Ruijin had met.

"What do you mean?" she asked, looking up.

"Before Chu Pingshan was brought down, he deliberately left this sentence." Qi Tongwei's gaze darkened. "Sha Ruijin's connection with Haizhou didn't happen overnight. But one day was crucial."

"Which day?"

"The day Chu Pingshan was suspended," Qi Tongwei said, "who Sha Ruijin met that day, who the middleman was, it's all in the access control and vehicle records."

Lu Yike took the torn page and read it carefully.

"I checked the entry and exit records for the day I went to the provincial party committee compound." She carefully put away the tattered pages. "Access control, surveillance cameras, attendance books—I didn't miss a single one."

"Quickly," Qi Tongwei said. "Clear the Haizhou line, not just the logistics park. The middlemen on the Sha Ruijin line are also on their list."

Lu Yike nodded and turned to leave.

"Lu Yike".

She stopped.

"When checking the records, don't go through the obvious channels of the Provincial Party Committee Office." Qi Tongwei looked at her. "Go through our own system. Sha Ruijin's circle may not be clean."

Lu Yike pursed her lips, responded, and quickly walked out.

Qi Tongwei stood alone in the warehouse. The light from a flashlight shone up from the entrance of the underground passage, casting flickering light on half of his face.

He glanced down at the ledger in his hand, then at the USB drive in the evidence bag, and closed the ledger tightly.

"The account is here, and the person is here too," he said softly, as if speaking to himself. "If Haizhou wants to clear the line, he'll have to ask me for this knife first."

……

At the same time, the Provincial Party Committee.

Sha Ruijin's personal cell phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number, and the caller had a Haizhou accent.

He hesitated for two seconds before answering.

"Secretary Sha," the voice on the other end was very polite, "we can fill the financial hole in the three cities of Handong. You don't need to worry about the interest or the procedures."

Sha Ruijin remained silent.

"In exchange," the other party paused, "you can hold back on personnel matters at the provincial department. Qi Tongwei has overstepped his bounds; it needs to be delayed."

Sha Ruijin gripped his phone, his knuckles turning white. Outside the window, dawn had broken, and the plane trees in the provincial party committee compound were bathed in morning light.

"I'll think about it," he said, and then hung up the phone.

The phone screen went dark, revealing his gloomy face.

At the entrance of the logistics park, at seven o'clock in the morning.

A black sedan pulled up, and a man in a sharp suit stepped out. His hair was neatly combed, he carried a briefcase, and his leather shoes were gleaming.

He stepped over the seal and walked straight inside, his face expressionless.

"Who's in charge?" He stood at the warehouse door, glanced around, and his gaze landed on Qi Tongwei.

"Qi Tongwei. Provincial Public Security Bureau." Qi Tongwei didn't move. "And you are?"

"The person in charge of funds here at Haiheng." The man pulled a stack of documents from his briefcase and slammed them on the table. "Overseas consulting cooperation compliance filing. Every transaction has proper documentation. Director Qi, this is an illegal search."

Lu Yike stepped forward, flipped through two pages, and didn't say anything.

"Release them immediately and return their belongings." The man raised his chin. "Otherwise, I reserve the right to pursue further action."

Qi Tongwei glanced at the stack of documents but didn't touch them.

"The paperwork is complete," he said casually. "It all sounds very natural."

"It's already complete," the man sneered. "This is an inter-provincial financial transaction, an international financial matter, which requires special approval. Does your provincial public security bureau have that authority?"

The young people who had been inspected nearby exchanged glances, somewhat intimidated.

"And another thing," the man pressed, "you're mobilizing police from another city. Did the provincial party committee approve it? No, that's overstepping your authority. I can make a call right now—"

"Go ahead and hit him," Qi Tongwei interrupted him.

The man was taken aback.

Qi Tongwei took out a piece of paper with a red stamp from his inner pocket and placed it on top of the stack of compliance documents.

"Military assistance receipt." His voice was low. "The three overseas accounts associated with the logistics park have been frozen due to a screening for suspected terrorist financing."

The man's gaze fell on the paper, and the smile on his face froze for a moment.

"Shen asked me to pass on a message to you," Qi Tongwei said, looking at him. "When it comes to national security, explanations are not acceptable."