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

The atmosphere in the Audi RS7 on the way back to the city bureau was terribly oppressive.

Su Qingge gripped the steering wheel tightly, the veins on the back of her hands bulging, clearly still recovering from the confrontation.

She glanced at Lin Chen in the back seat through the rearview mirror.

This guy didn't say a word from the moment he got on the bus, just fiddling with his phone, as calm as an outsider.

"What are you looking at?"

Su Qingge finally couldn't help but speak, her voice carrying a hint of worry that she herself didn't realize.

"Professor Zhang's courseware."

Lin Chen didn't even look up, his fingers flying across the screen.

"Well said, reviewing the old helps one understand the new."

Su Qingge: "..."

What time is it?!

How can you still be in the mood to study?

Little did she know that what was displayed on Lin Chen's phone screen was not a chemistry lesson plan at all.

Instead, it's a real-time mirrored computer desktop.

It was Zhang Yan's laptop that he had "accidentally" spilled liquid on!

The top-tier Trojan implanted using [god-level hacking techniques] is now acting like a loyal spy, continuously transmitting all the data from the computer.

Lin Chen's gaze swept quickly across a pile of seemingly normal academic papers and teaching videos.

Suddenly, his fingers stopped.

An encrypted folder lies quietly in the most inconspicuous corner of the computer's D drive.

The folder name is a string of random characters with no discernible pattern.

A cold smile curled at the corners of Lin Chen's lips.

found it.

Without the slightest hesitation, his hands moved swiftly, typing codes into his phone.

Brute force!

Even the world's top hacker teams would need at least 72 hours of continuous computation to deal with this military-grade encryption.

But in the face of god-level hacking skills, the so-called barriers are as fragile as window paper.

Less than a second.

"bite."

A soft sound.

The encrypted folder opened instantly!

What came into view was not evidence of a crime or a murder plan.

Instead, it was an incredibly complex architectural diagram, covered with densely packed fluid dynamics calculation formulas and chemical equations.

Lin Chen's pupils suddenly contracted.

He recognized it at a glance—Century Square, a landmark building in the center of Jiangcheng City!

At the very core of the structural diagram, a certain area is heavily circled in red.

Next to it, there was a prominent label.

[Fountain Pump Room]!

This madman, he wants to blow up the fountain in Century Square?

Not right.

This is so wrong!

An eyewitness in a restaurant alley, a folder that is encrypted yet can be cracked...

A meticulous criminal like Zhang Yan would never leave such obvious clues.

Unless, of course, he left all of this behind on purpose.

He wasn't being negligent; he was sending out invitations, inviting us to arrest him.

He wants to be caught; this is definitely a trap!

……

Municipal Public Security Bureau, Major Crimes Unit Office.

Li Mingyu stood before the crowd with his hands behind his back, his face flushed, spitting as he spoke.

"Thank you for your hard work, everyone!"

"Through my tireless efforts, I have found the key eyewitness!"

He slammed his hand on the table triumphantly, raising his voice by eight octaves.

"A witness saw Zhang Yan's car appear in the alley behind the seafood restaurant before and after the incident!"

"The evidence is overwhelming! He can't escape!"

A sparse clapping sounded in the office.

Li Mingyu enjoyed this brief moment of glory, feeling that he was capable again.

He had even begun to fantasize about personally handcuffing Zhang Yan and then showing off his ruthless methods as the vice-captain in front of Su Qingge.

Just then, Lin Chen and Su Qingge pushed open the door and entered.

"Don't arrest him."

Lin Chen's voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly throughout the entire office.

The smile on Li Mingyu's face froze instantly.

"Lin Chen! What do you mean?"

He shouted angrily.

"The evidence is conclusive, and you're saying we can't arrest him? Are you trying to protect a criminal?!"

"This is a trap."

Lin Chen walked up to him, his gaze as calm as if he were looking at a fool.

"He deliberately left clues, hoping we would arrest him."

"fart!"

Li Mingyu was completely enraged and pointed at Lin Chen's nose, cursing loudly.

"Am I handling the case or are you? You're just an unofficial consultant, yet you dare to boss me around! I think you're just jealous that I found a clue!"

Su Qingge's brows furrowed tightly.

"Li Mingyu, calm down and let Lin Chen finish speaking."

"I won't listen!"

Li Mingyu was blinded by his own achievements and jealousy, and he couldn't listen to any advice.

He snatched the detention warrant from the table, picked up a pen, and signed his name in a flamboyant manner.

"I'm in charge of this operation! My word is law!"

He slammed the detention warrant on the table and waved it at the officers behind him.

"Everyone, listen up! Target: Jiangcheng University. Bring Zhang Yan back to me!"

"yes!"

The officers looked at each other, but carried out the order nonetheless.

Lin Chen looked at Li Mingyu's face, which was filled with stupidity and arrogance, shook his head, and said nothing more.

Some people won't understand what death means until they bring it upon themselves.

"Waaah—waaah—"

The piercing sirens of police cars ripped through the sky as several police cars sped toward Jiangcheng University.

An hour later, Zhang Yan was taken to the No. 1 interrogation room of the Municipal Public Security Bureau.

Cold metal tables and chairs, glaring incandescent light bulbs.

Sitting in the presiding judge's seat, Li Mingyu felt that he had reached the pinnacle of his life.

Opposite him, Zhang Yan sat quietly in handcuffs, his face showing no sign of panic, but rather a playful smile.

"Zhang Yan!"

Li Mingyu slammed his hand on the table, making a loud noise, trying to intimidate the other party with his imposing manner.

"Confess and you'll be treated leniently; resist and you'll be punished severely! Were you involved in the seafood restaurant case?!"

Zhang Yan slowly opened his eyes, looked at him as if he were a clown, then closed his eyes again and continued to rest.

Utterly and completely ignored!

"you!"

Li Mingyu felt like he had punched cotton, and his face turned a deep purplish-red with anger.

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his anger, and adopted a businesslike tone.

"We have witnesses who saw your car near the crime scene. What is your explanation for this?"

Zhang Yan kept his eyes closed and remained silent.

"You're not going to talk, huh? Fine! We have plenty of ways to make you open your mouth!"

Li Mingyu was preparing to continue his roaring.

"Bang!"

The interrogation room door was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

A middle-aged man, dressed in a top-notch bespoke suit and with his hair meticulously combed, led a "dream team" of seven or eight lawyers as they filed in.

The man at the head of the group is a renowned top lawyer in Jiangcheng and even nationwide.

It is said that his hourly consultation fee is as high as six figures.

"Which one of you is Vice Captain Li Mingyu?"

The top lawyer pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, his tone calm yet carrying an undeniable air of authority.

Li Mingyu's momentum instantly diminished.

"I...I am."

"very good."

Without uttering a single wasted word, the top lawyer slammed a thick stack of documents onto the interrogation table.

"My client, Professor Zhang Yan, was giving a public lecture with more than two hundred teachers and students in the lecture hall of Jiangcheng University at the time of the incident you mentioned. This is evidenced by the video recording and the signatures of all the attendees."

"Another document is the meeting minutes and the backend login IP address, which are from another case where Professor Zhang was participating in an online academic seminar organized by the Municipal Education Bureau. He has a perfect alibi throughout the entire event."

"Finally, you forcibly arrested a renowned scholar without any solid evidence, and during the search, you found none of the prohibited chemicals you claimed to have found."

With each word the top lawyer spoke, Li Mingyu's face paled a little more.

When he heard the last sentence, cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead.

The legal team's firepower was overwhelming!

His pitiful "evidence" was utterly shattered in the face of this irrefutable evidence built up by money and expertise!

He was speechless, his mouth agape, unable to utter a single word.

"According to the law, you must release my client unconditionally within 24 hours."

The top lawyer looked down at him with icy eyes.

"Furthermore, we reserve the right to pursue legal action against those responsible for abusing their power and using excessive force!"

Li Mingyu's legs began to go weak.

He felt like he wasn't interrogating a criminal, but being judged.

Ultimately, under immense pressure from the legal team, the bureau chief personally called and was forced to issue the order.

Release people.

Holding the phone, Li Mingyu walked out of the interrogation room, feeling a burning pain on his face.

It felt like being slapped dozens of times by an invisible hand.

He became the laughingstock of the entire police department.

On the other side, surrounded by lawyers, Zhang Yan slowly unlocked his handcuffs and straightened his expensive suit.

He strode gracefully out of the interrogation room.

Throughout the entire police station lobby, all the officers looked at him with a complex expression.

They knew they had arrested the wrong person.

And it's wildly wrong.

Zhang Yan walked through the crowd, and just as he was about to walk out the door, he suddenly stopped.

He turned his head and his gaze precisely locked onto Lin Chen, who was standing in the corner.

He smiled and slowly walked up to Lin Chen.

Under the astonished and uncertain gaze of everyone.

He leaned down slightly, brought his ear close, and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"Consultant Lin, right?"

His voice was gentle.

"To thank you for your warm hospitality, I will put on a spectacular fireworks display for this city at 8 p.m. tonight."

"Celebrate my freedom."

Lin Chen's pupils suddenly shrank to the most dangerous pinpoints!

Zhang Yan straightened up, his smile growing wider, even carrying a hint of morbid fanaticism.

He looked at Lin Chen, his eyes filled with provocation and declaration.

That look seemed to say: The game has only just begun.

And you, like me, are just an audience member.

After saying that, he didn't linger.

Surrounded by a group of lawyers, Zhang Yan burst into laughter and walked out of the city bureau gate.