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

The warehouse fell silent.

"This...this is a military matter, it has nothing to do with our compliant accounting practices." The man's tone remained defiant. "You can't just throw around accusations of terrorism—"

"There's one more thing," Qi Tongwei interrupted him, "The warehousing area of ​​this logistics park was already incorporated into the military-civilian integration plan on the day the port was closed on February 8th."

The man's expression changed.

"Unauthorized misappropriation of logistics resources within the military-civilian integration sequence," Qi Tongwei said, enunciating each word clearly, "is called endangering combat readiness logistics. This line is not under my jurisdiction, but under military law."

The man took a half step back. His briefcase slipped from his fingers with a "thud" and fell to the ground.

Lu Yike then picked up the stack of compliance filings, turned to the signature page, and handed it to Qi Tongwei.

"Director, look at this signature."

Qi Tongwei glanced at it, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

"This filing agency," he held up the page in front of the man, "is the same shell company that shorted the eleven companies in Jingzhou on the hard drive."

The man stared at the signature line, his face deathly pale.

"You're using this 'compliance filing' as a shield," Qi Tongwei said, throwing the paper back onto the table. "But it's itself stolen goods."

The man's lips moved a few times, but no sound came out. His hand suddenly reached into his pocket.

"Hold him down!" Lu Yike shouted.

The SWAT officer darted forward and pulled the man's hand out of his pocket. A memory card fell to the ground.

"Record the video." Lu Yike's camera was pointed at her. "Record the whole thing from beginning to end."

She crouched down, picked up the memory card, and put it into the evidence bag.

The man slumped in his chair, his suit collar askew, his whole body slumped. All his previous arrogance was gone.

At the entrance of the underground passage, the finance manager was escorted up by special police. When he saw the person in charge, his legs went weak, and he knelt down directly on the pile of torn documents on the ground.

"They made me do it... I'm just the bookkeeper..."

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name 12199.99]

No one cares about him.

Qi Tongwei walked through the shredded paper scattered on the ground to the warehouse door. Morning light shone in from outside the door and fell on his shoulders.

"In Handong, people use compliance as a shield." He didn't turn around, his voice low but clear, "I've seen plenty. None of them can use it as a shield."

……

Nine o'clock in the morning, Provincial Public Security Bureau.

Qi Tongwei had just finished signing the on-site inventory list for the logistics park when the office door was pushed open.

The secretary entered with an official document, his face grim. "Director, this was just delivered by the Provincial Party Committee Office. It's signed and approved by Secretary Sha; it's urgent."

Qi Tongwei took it and glanced at it as he looked up.

Emergency Notice on Regulating the Approval Procedures for Cross-Regional Joint Law Enforcement Actions.

He looked down. The first rule was that any lockdown measures involving cross-city or cross-province cooperation must be approved by the Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Joint Conference before implementation. The second rule was that any lockdown measures already implemented but not yet approved must be immediately suspended and resumed only after supplementary approval.

The date on the document is 6:00 AM today. It was signed by Sha Ruijin.

Qi Tongwei placed the documents on the table. He didn't speak, but tapped his fingers lightly twice on the surface.

The secretary stood to the side, not daring to utter a sound.

"Understood." Qi Tongwei's voice was flat. "You may leave."

The door closed. He pushed the chair back, leaned against the backrest, and closed his eyes for a few seconds.

This document came at the perfect time. The logistics park had just been shut down, the hidden warehouse hadn't been cleared out yet, and the finance manager's testimony had only just begun. Sha Ruijin's notification was like hitting the brakes when he needed the momentum most.

On the surface, there's nothing wrong with it. The cross-regional enforcement and approval process is procedurally just. No one can refute it.

But the approval process takes three days. In three days, Haizhou can wipe all traces clean.

He picked up his phone and sent a message to Lu Yike: "The logistics park's hidden warehouse is temporarily closed."

The reply came quickly: Why?

Qi Tongwei took a picture of the document and sent it over.

Lu Yike did not reply.

……

2 PM, Provincial Hall corridor.

Lu Yike emerged from the inspection office area, her face pale. She strode into Qi Tongwei's office and held her phone up to him.

"The hidden warehouse has been cleared out."

Qi Tongwei looked up.

"I had someone remotely monitor the area around the logistics park. At noon, three vans entered through the back gate and left an hour later. When our people got closer, the door to the hidden warehouse in the east area was open, and it was empty." Lu Yike's lips pressed into a thin line. "The ledgers, receipts, electronic devices—not a single thing was left."

Qi Tongwei remained silent. His gaze fell upon the red-headed document on the table.

From the time Sha Ruijin signed the document to the time the secret warehouse was cleared, exactly six hours passed.

"And another thing," Lu Yike lowered her voice, "the finance manager's wife received photos. Three photos of his daughter being followed on her way home from school, sent to her phone without any text."

Qi Tongwei's fingers stopped.

"The supervisor is emotionally unstable right now," Lu Yike said. "If this continues, he will recant his testimony."

Footsteps sounded hurriedly outside the office. The door was pushed open from the outside, and Li Dakang stood in the doorway, not wearing a suit jacket and with his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

"I just came from the provincial party committee." He walked in, closing the door behind him. "Sha Ruijin held a meeting this morning, but I wasn't notified."

Qi Tongwei handed over the document on the table.

Li Dakang took the document and looked at it for a few seconds, his facial muscles twitching slightly. He slammed the document down on the table.

"Compliance." He squeezed out the two words through gritted teeth, "Written flawlessly, using procedures as a shield for Haizhou."

"I can't find fault with him." Qi Tongwei leaned back in his chair. "If I stand up for him, it would be overstepping my authority and violating the rules, which would just be handing him the knife."

Li Dakang paced back and forth in the room. He stopped at the window, his back to the two men.

"Who's providing backup in Haizhou?"

"I'm not sure," Qi Tongwei said, "but the fact that the hidden warehouse could be cleared out so precisely within six hours means either someone leaked the information, or the document itself is a signal."

Li Dakang turned around and stared at him. "You suspect that Sha Ruijin directly contacted Haizhou?"

"I have no doubt." Qi Tongwei took out a copy of the tattered page from the drawer and placed it on the table. "Chu Pingshan left a message: 'Investigate who Sha Ruijin met that day.' Lu Yike is investigating."

Li Dakang glanced down at the words and said nothing more.

There was silence for about ten seconds.

"The most pressing matter right now isn't chasing Sha Ruijin." Qi Tongwei stood up and walked to the locker. He opened the locker, his gaze falling on the copy of the address book inside before looking away.

He turned to look at Li Dakang.

"The approval process takes three days. Clearing the line in Haizhou only takes three minutes." He stretched out his left hand and tore a hole in the gauze wrapped around his forearm, revealing a wound that was still bleeding underneath.

"I accept this order."

He pressed the gauze back on, his voice barely registering the change.

"But I have other ways."

Li Dakang looked at his arm, his brows furrowed, but he didn't ask any further questions.