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

Qi Tongwei pushed the official document to the corner of the table with one hand, the newly changed gauze on his left arm emitting a pungent smell of iodine. Two authorizations were spread out on the table: one from the Political and Legal Affairs Commission regarding stability assessments, and the other from the military regarding a suspected terrorism investigation.

"Sha Ruijin's enforcement is controlled by the provincial department, but it can't stop the stability assessment, much less the military's cooperation in the investigation." Qi Tongwei tapped his finger on the table. "Tonight, we'll take down the net while everyone's standing."

Lu Yike adjusted the recording equipment on the table: "The entire process will be recorded. The timestamps will be directly incorporated into the joint military-civilian file. Anyone who wants to argue about the procedure afterward should start by examining these three master tapes."

Lin Huahua pressed her hand against the spare magazine at her waist, the walkie-talkie channel lit up with a green light: "Director, all four positions are in place. We're just waiting for your command."

"First route: the transfer warehouse in the north of the city, retrieve the ledgers and card boxes." Qi Tongwei's gaze swept across the whiteboard. "Second route: the checkpoint at the city exit, the SWAT team will hold off on that black minivan from Haizhou. Third route: open the door to the evidence area and release bait, waiting for the rat inside to crawl into the cage by itself."

Lu Yike closed the folder: "What about the protection point?"

"The moment the decoy is moved, the protection point will immediately be upgraded to level two. Zhou Weiguo will lead the military to take over the outer perimeter, and I will personally go to oversee the situation." Qi Tongwei picked up his police uniform jacket from the back of his chair. "Move out."

……

Chengbei Logistics Transfer Station.

The roller shutter door was half-open, and two henchmen were pushing cardboard boxes into the cargo compartment of a small truck. Old seals from Qingfeng Pavilion were visible through the seams of the boxes. Lin Huahua, crouching in the shadows of the container, whispered into the walkie-talkie, "Wait until they've finished loading and sealing the truck before moving. The account books are definitely buried in the bottom compartment."

The battering ram slammed heavily against the roller shutter door with a loud crash, causing the warehouse lights to flicker. Four detectives rushed out from a dark corner of the shelves and slammed the two henchmen who had just reached for the back door handle to the ground.

One of the men being held down stubbornly shouted, "We're just laborers carrying tea sets! Why are you arresting us?!"

Lin Huahua walked over and kicked open the nearest cardboard box. The box was pried open, and a row of old cell phones, a SIM card changer, bundles of cash, and half an account book were poured out. The detective tore open the bottom layer of the box and pulled out a thin stack of photocopies, which were copies of QC-2 approval slips.

"More than three hundred SIM cards stuffed in the tea set? Does your family offer free phone credit with your tea?" Lin Huahua tossed over several evidence bags. "Take photos, put them in bags. Don't mix up the serial numbers."

……

Provincial Department of Public Security Evidence Area.

The overhead light was only half-on. The inspection officer swiped his access card, his shoes leaving wet stains on the floor tiles. He didn't touch the light switch, but went straight to the back-end technical cabinet. An old access card was inserted into the card reader, and a hidden folder popped up on the computer screen—"Coordinates of the Joint Military-Civilian Protection Point."

The USB drive was plugged into the port, and the copy progress bar had just reached three percent when the alarm red light on the ceiling suddenly flashed. Lu Yike walked out from behind the glass partition, holding the recording equipment.

"Take your hands off the keyboard. That document was bait, but the charge against you is undeniable."

The inspector took two steps back, his back bumping against the server rack: "I'm just following procedure to retrieve the files, what are you doing!"

Lu Yike slammed a stack of back-end log lists on the table: "Using a resigned account as a secondary springboard, erasing the card swipe records of the evidence cabinet, and leaking the access control time of the safe house. It all originated from your terminal."

The man hunched over, staring silently at the paving stones beneath his feet: "My son was set up in Haizhou and is now drowning in gambling debts. They're using photos to blackmail me... It's that middleman surnamed Qin, the one with the round badge around his neck. Everyone at the tea shop calls him Number Two. Hiding the surveillance footage, tipping off people, finding out new addresses—those were all deadly tasks he gave me."

Lu Yike filled in the number on the statement bag: "We're taking over the safety of your family. If you want to protect your son, let's see how much solid evidence you can spill next. Take him away!"

……

At 3:18 a.m., outside the joint military-civilian protection point.

A medical waste collection truck was parked in front of the gate. The driver was handing out exit slips when a dull thud of metal clanging came from the back of the truck. Zhou Weiguo, who was guarding the gate, paled and immediately pressed down on the railing: "Turn off the engine. Get out and open the back door."

The driver looked down and reached under the seat, but the SWAT officer yanked open the car door, dragged him out, and pressed him down on the asphalt with his knee.

The moment the rear door was flung open, an assassin sprang from a pile of discarded medicine boxes, a short knife in his hand, and charged straight at the guard post. Qi Tongwei darted out from the side of the guard post, forcefully deflecting the assassin's charge with his right shoulder. The blade grazed his left arm, and the newly changed gauze immediately bled a large patch of crimson.

Zhou Weiguo kicked over the medicine box, and the SWAT officers pounced from both sides, locking the man in place. The assassin tilted his head, trying to bite the poison sheath in his back teeth, but Qi Tongwei grabbed a police baton and pinned his chin down.

"Even if you die, you have to wait until you finish giving your statement before you die." Qi Tongwei tightened his baton and turned to look at the carriage.

Zhou Weiguo pulled a black canvas bag from deep inside the carriage and unzipped it: "A gasoline bottle, a remote-controlled detonator, fake license plates. They've covered all the tricks for destroying evidence."

A police car screeched to a halt outside the gate. Lu Yike, who had just dealt with the mole in the evidence area, pushed open the car door and ran over. She was carrying a recording device, and her gaze was fixed on Qi Tongwei's left arm.

Qi Tongwei pressed down on the bleeding gauze with his other hand: "First, secure the evidence at the scene; it's just a superficial injury."

Lu Yike pointed the camera at the medical waste truck and said bluntly, "If you keep trying to fool me with these trivial matters, I'll move the dressing room into your office tomorrow. Record everything; not a single piece of evidence of Haizhou's last desperate struggle can be missed."

……

At 4:40 a.m., the three battle reports were compiled and sent to the temporary command room of the military-civilian protection point.

Chengbei Warehouse: 326 black cards, 7 copies of approval slips, and 1 paper cash ledger were seized.

Evidence area: The mole is exposed, and the three lines of wiping cards, selling access control systems, and tipping off others are completely closed loop.

At the city exit checkpoint: the special police team reported good news, the middleman surnamed Qin was arrested, and the waterway for escaping from Haizhou was completely cut off.

Lu Yike put the three master tapes into the anti-magnetic box one by one and locked it: "Close the net, remove the hidden stakes, and eliminate the witnesses. The whole loop is closed in one night."

Qi Tongwei finished signing the case closure document and threw down his pen: "Don't be too happy yet. The net in Handong has been cleared, but the core page hasn't been turned yet."

As dawn approached, special police escorted a riot control vehicle into the protected area. The middleman, surnamed Qin, was handcuffed and led out of the vehicle; the metal badge with the serial number "Q7-HZ-019" on the left side of his neck had already been placed separately into an evidence bag.

As he passed Qi Tongwei, he stopped and gave a smirk: "Director Qi, you can arrest me, but you can't arrest the person behind me."

Qi Tongwei stood still, his gaze as cold and hard as iron.

"I've seen the whole face now. The upper half is hidden in the core; we'll uproot it when General Shen returns."