You went on a blind date and presented an A-level wanted criminal as a meeting gift?

2:17 a.m.

The emergency lights in the city bureau building's corridor cast a dim yellow glow on the empty floor; there wasn't a soul in sight.

Lin Chen leaned against the ventilation duct in the space opposite the archives room on the second basement floor, his body motionless.

This was a spot he had scouted out three hours earlier. The cross-section of the ventilation duct was just large enough for an adult male to squeeze in sideways, and the inspection port on the duct wall was aligned with the front of cabinet number 12 in section B.

The view is excellent.

With the phone screen set to its lowest brightness, the live feed from the miniature camera at cabinet number 12 is displayed.

There was nothing in the scene except rows of iron-gray cabinets standing quietly in the darkness.

Su Qingge's car was parked at the corner of the back gate of the Municipal Bureau compound, with the engine off and all the lights off.

The sound of her very light breathing could be heard occasionally through Lin Chen's Bluetooth earphones.

Neither of them spoke.

Waiting is the most tedious part of criminal investigation work, but it is also the part that tests one's patience the most.

Lin Chen wasn't in a hurry.

He knew Zhao Deshun all too well.

A veteran police officer with 32 years of experience, who has spent most of his life lying in the shadows, must be extremely cautious in his actions.

He wouldn't act immediately after sending the email at 11:00; that would be too stupid.

He wouldn't wait until dawn, because the email said that the extraction and decryption would begin at nine o'clock, leaving him with an increasingly smaller window of opportunity.

Between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. is the time when the police presence in the entire building is at its weakest.

The staff on duty were tired, so the patrol frequency was reduced to a minimum.

If it were Zhao Deshun, he would choose this time.

2:21.

The camera feed remained unchanged.

2:35.

Lin Chen's ears picked up the sound first.

It wasn't footsteps, but the very soft electronic notification sound of the access control system being activated.

"drop."

The iron door to the archives was pushed open a crack from the outside.

The inspection port of the ventilation duct has a limited view, so Lin Chen can't see what's happening at the door, but he doesn't need to.

His hearing told him everything.

The person who came in was wearing soft-soled shoes, took small steps, and kept his center of gravity low while walking, making almost no sound.

This way of walking is not something ordinary people can do; it requires long-term training.

However, there was a very faint "click" sound when his right knee hit the ground, which was the sound of joint wear caused by osteoporosis in the elderly.

Zhao Deshun.

Lin Chen's lips twitched slightly in the darkness.

coming.

A dark figure appeared in the camera footage.

Zhao Deshun wasn't wearing a police uniform; he was dressed in a dark tracksuit and a baseball cap with the brim pulled low.

He held a small LED flashlight in his hand, the beam of light sealed with tape into a thin slit, leaving only a pinhead-sized point of light.

The same old tricks.

A professional approach ingrained in their very being.

He moved quickly along the cabinet numbers, passing through section A and entering section B.

He stopped in front of counter number 12.

Lin Chen saw him reach out to pull the cabinet door.

The cabinet door was unlocked.

Lin Chen deliberately left it unlocked.

Zhao Deshun opened the cabinet door, and the thin beam of his flashlight swept inside.

There were only a few file folders and a plain black USB drive in the cabinet.

The USB drive is obviously fake.

There's no data inside.

But Zhao Deshun didn't know that.

He reached for the USB drive.

Just then, a loud and energetic shout suddenly came from the corridor outside the archives room.

"Who's there!"

Zhao Deshun's hand suddenly stopped.

The flashlight was switched off with a "snap".

Footsteps came from the corridor, neither too loud nor too soft, with a lazy rhythm unique to patrol duty.

Immediately afterwards, a beam of flashlight shone through the crack in the door and drew a circle on the wall.

The door was pushed open.

Li Mingyu walked in with a flashlight. Two buttons on his uniform were undone, and his hair was messy. He looked like he had run out to patrol halfway through his shift.

His flashlight swept around, and the beam fell on Zhao Deshun.

"Zhao...Deputy Captain Zhao?"

Li Mingyu was stunned.

"What are you doing here so late?"

Lin Chen, inside the ventilation duct, almost cursed out loud.

He knew that this good-for-nothing was on night shift tonight, but he didn't expect Li Mingyu to come on patrol at this critical moment.

He usually slacks off when asked to work overtime, but he suddenly becomes diligent when it matters most.

But since things had come to this point, Lin Chen did not move.

He wanted to see how Zhao Deshun would handle it.

This is the real touchstone.

When an innocent person is caught entering the archives late at night, the normal reaction is to panic, explain, and make excuses.

When an insider is caught, there's only one reaction.

To silence them.

There was a two-second silence in the archives.

Li Mingyu's flashlight was still shining on Zhao Deshun, whose face showed a mixture of confusion and unease, his mouth agape, as if he was about to ask something else.

Zhao Deshun smiled.

A smile, even gentler than during the day, appeared on that kind old face.

"Hey, Xiao Li, it's me."

His voice was exactly the same as usual—kind, easygoing, and reassuring.

"I'm getting old and need less sleep, I can't sleep, and I remembered there was an old case file in the archives that hadn't been filed, so I came over to tidy it up."

Li Mingyu said "Oh," and the flashlight beam shifted slightly.

The next second, Zhao Deshun moved.

His speed is completely disproportionate to his age.

With a slap of his left hand, he knocked Li Mingyu's flashlight away.

At the same time, his right hand slashed out, the edge of his palm precisely striking the back of Li Mingyu's neck.

Hand chop.

The clean and decisive hand chop, with the angle and force just right, can stun the opponent instantly without causing fatal damage.

This is a technique that only those who have received professional combat training possess.

Li Mingyu didn't even utter a sound. His eyes rolled upwards, and he collapsed to the ground like a sack of flour.

The flashlight rolled a long way before coming to a stop with a "clatter" against the cabinet leg, its beam shining obliquely onto the ceiling.

Zhao Deshun glanced down at Li Mingyu, and after confirming that he had completely lost consciousness, he finally tore off the gentle mask on his face.

The expression he revealed was completely different from the kind-hearted person he was during the day, drinking coffee in the office.

Cold, ruthless, and experienced.

He turned around and went back to cabinet number 12, grabbed the USB drive, and stuffed it into his pocket.

Then I started rummaging through the file folders in the cabinet, quickly scanning the labels.

He was looking for the file containing the "undercover agent list".

Lin Chen only mentioned the USB drive in the email, but not the case file.

But Zhao Deshun was clearly not satisfied with just taking the USB drive; he wanted to destroy everything that might expose his identity.

suspicious.

Thirty-two years old, and he's indeed suspicious to the core.

Zhao Deshun flipped through three file folders and found what he was looking for in the fourth one.

A file with the word "Confidential" printed in red on the cover.

He pulled a miniature lighter out of his pocket.

The moment the flame lit up in the darkness, Zhao Deshun's face was illuminated by flickering light.

He wants to burn it.

Lin Chen gently moved his fingers, which were already somewhat numb, inside the ventilation duct.

The time has come.

He said one word into the earpiece.

"open."