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

Zhou Weiguo immediately turned around and went out.

There were only two people left in the interrogation room.

The deputy director looked up, his voice a little hoarse.

"Sir, I really don't know what they're up to. The coordination letter went through internal circulation and I thought it was just for Haizhou Port to conduct joint research on combat readiness data."

Shen Zhong sat down again.

"You, a deputy director, can't even distinguish between official documents and internal memos?"

The deputy director didn't dare to look up.

"The other party is of a very high rank."

How tall?

"I've never met him." The deputy director gritted his teeth. "The phone call was on an encrypted line. He was very familiar with the procedures on the northern line and even mentioned the time you were transferred back."

His heavy hand stopped on the table.

"Mention me?"

"He said that before Major General Shen returns to the northern front, the data must be backed up first."

"Your exact words?"

That's roughly the idea.

Shen Zhong looked at him.

"Something like that, go and use it to appease the junior staff in your war preparedness bureau."

The deputy director swallowed hard.

"The exact words were, 'Before Shen Zhong lands, the door on the north side should be opened once.'"

The room was quiet for a few seconds.

Shen Zhong listened to those words without showing any extra expression on his face.

The other party knew his itinerary, yet still dared to open the door on the northern route.

This audacity has now extended into the military.

Less than ten minutes.

Zhou Weiguo returned with a kraft paper seal.

There was no glue used to seal it; it was just wrapped with two thin threads, as if the person handling it was afraid of leaving a mark.

"Sir, we've found it."

Shen Zhong took it and removed the stitches.

There was only one piece of paper inside.

The paper felt thick to the touch, with fine dark lines pressed along the edges, and a few words printed at the top.

Frontline Coordination Group.

Coordination letter.

The relevant units on the northern route are required to cooperate with Haizhou Port Group to complete the reservation of combat readiness data interfaces and the verification of historical data.

The following are three items.

Military supply contract number.

Strategic reserve storage allocation code.

Communication support and joint debugging frequency bands.

Zhou Weiguo's eyelids tightened as he looked at it.

"They connected all three lines."

Shen Zhong did not respond.

He stared at the signature.

There were no official document numbers or national emblems there, only an internal circulation stamp.

The red ink was pressed very lightly.

It was as if she was afraid of being too heavy, or as if she was afraid of being recognized.

The deputy director hurriedly explained.

"Sir, I didn't dare to stop you because I saw the words 'Frontline Coordination Group'."

"You didn't even check if it had a seal or not?"

The deputy director spoke in a low voice.

"They were in a rush at the time."

Shen Zhong laid the coordination letter flat and pressed his fingers down to stop his head from looking up.

"When will the Forward Coordination Group be able to directly command the Northern Front Combat Readiness Support Bureau?"

The deputy director had nothing to say.

Zhou Weiguo took out a magnifying glass and a cold light plate from the evidence box and pressed the coordination letter onto the transparent plate.

"Sir, there's a problem with the transfer permit."

Shen Zhong turned to the side.

Zhou Weiguo handed over the magnifying glass, his voice very low.

"When you press down on a normal inkpad, there will be ink buildup at the edges, especially with this type of internally flowing seal. The seal body is relatively soft, so the border will be a bit thicker."

He touched the corner of the red mark with the pen cap.

"The ink has bleed too much here, it looks like it was added later. The paper doesn't absorb the ink properly either; military paper has tight fibers, the ink wouldn't spread like this."

The deputy director looked up, his eyes momentarily darting around in confusion.

"This is how it looked when I received it."

Shen Zhong didn't look at him.

"Where's the paper?"

Zhou Weiguo touched the edge of the paper.

"It's not the military paper issued to the northern front. It feels too thick, and the subtle texture is too fine, like the high-grade official paper used in government offices in Beijing."

The deputy director quickly responded.

"That's why I believed it. Ordinary people can't get their hands on this kind of paper."

Shen Zhong flipped the coordination letter to the back.

The back is clean, with only creases.

There are three creases, pressed very neatly.

Was it folded when it arrived?

"Yes, it was in a white envelope."

"Where's the envelope?"

The deputy director choked.

"Burn it."

Zhou Weiguo had a cold face.

"Who told you to burn it?"

"I reminded you over the phone to keep a copy of the letter and dispose of the cover."

Shen Zhong raised his eyes.

"remind?"

The deputy director's face turned even uglier.

He said the cover had a circulation record, and keeping it wouldn't be good for me.

Zhou Weiguo almost burst out laughing.

"They asked you to destroy the evidence, and you actually did it for them?"

The deputy director's lips moved, but he didn't dare to object.

Shen Zhong placed the coordination letter into the evidence bag.

"Telephone time."

"The night before last, around 9 PM."

"Number."

"I can't find any encrypted landline forwarding information."

Who answered the first call?

"My office insider."

Zhou Weiguo immediately wrote it down.

"Check the internal switch logs?"

Shen Zhong shook his head.

"Don't touch the switch yet."

Zhou Weiguo was taken aback.

"Chief?"

"He dared to use an inside contact to call in, he knew we would investigate." Shen Zhong sealed the evidence bag tightly. "Check the papers first."

The deputy director looked up at him.

"Paper?"

Shen Zhong picked up the coordination letter and looked at it under the light for a few seconds.

"This kind of high-grade official paper with subtle patterns is only available in a few places in the capital. Paper is more reliable than telephones; telephones can be convoluted, but paper won't magically appear."

Zhou Weiguo nodded.

"I asked a technician to extract the paper fibers."

"Re-watermark the photo."

Shen Zhong handed him the bag of evidence.

"Extract all the details: subtle patterns, fibers, cut edges, and batch fluorescent spots. Don't go through the regular northern lab; go through the confidential passage."

"clear."

The deputy director sat in his chair, looking as if all his bones had been removed.

"Sir, I've confessed, could you...?"

Shen Zhong looked at him.

The deputy director swallowed back what he was about to say.

"All you can do now is pronounce each word accurately."

Shen Zhong pushed the pen on the table over.

"From the moment you receive the call, write down who notified you, how they notified you, and what they said exactly. Even if the other person coughed once, write it all down for me."

The deputy director picked up the pen, his hand trembling violently.

Zhou Weiguo, standing to the side, added a comment.

"If you write down a time incorrectly, we'll help you recall it."

The deputy director lowered his head and began to write.

The pen tip scraped across the paper, making a soft, scratching sound.

There was a knock on the door.

A confidential staff officer peeked in.

"Sir, there's an encrypted briefing from Jingzhou, and Director Qi is relaying it simultaneously."

Shen Zhong took the folder, opened it, and read a few lines.

Qin Kewen.

Special passport.

Sha Ruijin's father-in-law's former chief secretary.

He closed the file, his face revealing neither joy nor anger.

Zhou Weiguo glanced at his expression.

"Has someone been bitten in Handong too?"

Shen Zhong placed the folder on the corner of the table.

"Bite the tail."

"Can this be connected to the coordination letter?"

"Whether it can be connected depends on the paper."

Shen Zhong stood up and walked behind the deputy director.

The deputy director paused for a moment as he wrote.

"Keep writing."

Shen Zhong bent down and looked at the first line on the paper.

At 9:06 PM the day before yesterday, the office intercom rang, and the caller identified himself as the coordinator of the overall planning group.

Shen Zhong reached out and pointed to the words "coordinator".

"What did he say his name was?"

Sweat dripped down the deputy director's forehead and temples.

"He didn't say his full name."

"Code name?"

He said his surname was Bai.

Zhou Weiguo's eyes darkened.

Shen Zhong withdrew his hand.

Write it down.

The deputy director quickly added two more words.

Bai.

Shen Zhong turned and walked out.

"The personnel are detained on the northern front, and all information is blocked. The official statement is that the deputy director of the War Preparedness Support Bureau is temporarily participating in a closed-door review."

Zhou Weiguo followed.

"That coordination letter?"

The corridor light fell on the brim of Shen Zhong's military cap.

He took out the unlit cigarette, held it between his fingers, and then put it back.

"Find a technician to extract the paper fibers. This high-grade official paper with subtle patterns can only be used in a few specific places in the capital."