I started with a ship full of max-level veterans, and I'm just a complete noob.

At 8:02 a.m., a series of steady footsteps echoed in the corridor on the second floor of the administration building.

The soles of leather shoes fell all the way from the stairwell to the door of the temporary office.

Xu Chongwen sat behind the table with a copy of "Advances in Aerodynamics" open in front of him.

His index finger rested on the formula derivation page seventeen. The water in his teacup had long since cooled, and the curled tea leaves clung to the cup's surface, yet he hesitated to turn to the next page.

When the door was pushed open, his fingers pressed down slightly harder on the paper.

Director Wang stood at the door, with two security personnel behind him holding summons stamped with a red seal.

"Engineer Xu, come with us."

Xu Chongwen raised his head, his gaze first sweeping over Director Wang's face, then landing on the line of text in the middle of the summons.

Suspected of involvement in the illegal transfer of strategic materials.

He only glanced at it for half a second before standing up, straightening his collar, and unbuttoning it from top to bottom.

"I'll cooperate."

Director Wang didn't reply, but simply stepped aside to move the doorway.

Xu Chongwen picked up his coat, but the cuffs got stuck at his wrists. He pulled on it twice before he could get it on. Then he glanced back at the open magazine on the table.

"Should we lock the door?"

"Need not."

He buttoned up his coat, walked out of the office with his back straight and his steps steady, but his right hand remained pressed against the edge of his sleeve.

At the corner of the stairs, he saw his young assistant being stopped by another group of people in the lobby on the first floor.

The folder fell at the assistant's feet, scattering papers all over the floor, with a few pages being swept to the corner by the draft.

The assistant kept his head down, his fingers gripping the seam of his trousers, his knuckles turning blue.

Xu Chongwen paused, his lips moved, but he said nothing and continued down the stairs.

The security department's temporary interrogation room is located on the east side of the administration building.

The room was small, containing only a table and three chairs.

The high window let in a pale, grayish-white light, making the tabletop shine.

Director Wang sat across the table, placed his briefcase on his lap, opened it, pulled out the first document, and pushed it in front of Xu Chongwen.

"September internal memo paper requisition record of the Materials Allocation Department".

He tapped the date field with his fingertip.

"At 10:15 a.m. on September 13, someone claimed to be on official business at the Aerodynamics Center and collected twenty sheets of light blue patterned notepads."

"The signatory is your assistant."

Xu Chongwen looked down at the record, his hands resting on his knees, and did not reply.

Director Wang then pulled out a second document.

"Outbound call details".

"At 2 PM on September 14th, your assistant called the reception room of the East Suburb Chemical Plant. The call lasted four minutes."

"At the same time, Liu Shouxin also made a call from the Third Electronics Factory's mailroom to the East Suburb Chemical Plant. The two calls were less than twenty minutes apart."

Xu Chongwen's Adam's apple bobbed, and his ten fingers, which were interlaced on his knees, slowly tightened.

Director Wang did not ask any further questions, but simply spread out the third transcript and placed it next to the first two documents.

"The receptionist at the East Suburb Chemical Plant said that occasionally a blue slip of paper would be inserted into the monthly order newspaper, which would specify the quantity and purity requirements for the next batch of goods."

The three documents are placed on the table, with the edges aligned.

The dates, phone calls, and testimonies all point to those days in mid-September.

"The timing matches, the physical evidence matches, and the people match."

Director Wang looked up at him.

"Engineer Xu, is there anything else you'd like to add?"

Xu Chongwen remained silent for a long time before raising his head.

"My assistant is young and inexperienced."

His voice was hoarse, but he still tried his best to pronounce each word clearly.

"I will take responsibility."

Director Wang looked at him, but didn't speak immediately. He simply put his hand back on his briefcase.

"Your assistant has already given the report."

Xu Chongwen's hand rested on his knee.

Director Wang continued, "He said that you asked him to get the notepads because the center needed to submit materials to ministries and needed to use standardized paper."

"He also said that you should have him take a few of them back to his office, fold them to letter paper size, write on them with a pencil, and put them in the union's mailing box."

"You dictate the content, and he is responsible for recording it."

Xu Chongwen raised his head, his face gradually darkening.

"He's talking nonsense."

"I didn't make him do those things."

Director Wang took out a piece of paper with a photo attached from his briefcase.

In the photo, the light blue notepad is pressed against a white background, with the pencil writing clearly visible.

On the 17th, three buckets of slag were collected and placed at the base of the east wall of the sand-making plant

"This note was obtained by Liu Shouxin from the union's mailroom."

"Your assistant confessed that he copied the words, but you dictated the content."

"The handwriting analysis results came out last night; the handwriting on the note matches the signature on the material allocation requisition form."

Xu Chongwen stared at the photo, his composure gradually fading.

He opened his mouth, but did not defend his assistant.

The room fell silent.

The wind outside the high window made the notice board in the corridor rustle loudly, and it could be heard clearly even through a door.

Director Wang took the photos back and placed them under the three documents.

"Engineer Xu, I have one last question."

"Is Grey Dove your code name, or do you have someone above you?"

Xu Chongwen slowly raised his head and glanced at Director Wang.

That glance held resentment, weariness, and the calculated moves of someone forced into a corner.

He remained silent until the footsteps outside the door faded into the distance before finally speaking.

"I need to see my advisor."

Director Wang carefully folded the documents one by one and put them back in his briefcase.

"Your advisor can't protect you."

"From this moment forward, you and your assistant are officially detained."

"The investigation will continue. If you are willing to cooperate, we can try to get a lighter sentence."

Xu Chongwen didn't say anything more, only looked down at his hands.

His fingernails had dug into the fabric of his trousers, leaving several wrinkled marks.

At noon, the phone rang in Workshop No. 1.

Jiang Ming picked up the receiver, and Director Zhang's voice came from the other end.

"Xu Chongwen and his assistant have been taken away."

"The chain of evidence is closed; there's no escaping it."

Jiang Ming held the microphone, his gaze passing over the testing table to the five microammeters.

The only sound in the workshop was the low-frequency operation of the equipment, which traveled from the ground all the way to your feet.

Factory Director Zhang paused for a moment, then added another sentence.

"Director Wang also said that there might be others behind Grey Pigeon."

"The deputy director of the materials allocation department is also within the scope of the investigation, and cannot be moved yet."

Jiang Ming paused for a moment at the edge of the microphone.

"clear."

"Factory manager, is there anything else?"

"That's all."

The sound of a chair being moved came from Factory Director Zhang's side.

"Just keep an eye on the pipes, you don't need to worry about anything else."

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Ming put the receiver back on the landline and stood there for a moment.

Old Sun came over from the pulse transformer, still holding a wrench in his hand.

"Jiang, what happened?"

Jiang Ming shook his head.

"Xu Chongwen's operation has concluded."

Old Sun put the wrench into the toolbox, and the metal box lid made a muffled sound.

"That's good, at least he won't be watching us from outside every day."

Jiang Ming didn't respond to that sentence. He simply walked back to the testing station and looked at the five microammeters from left to right.

284.0.

284.1.

281.0.

283.5.

283.6.

Everything is stable.

The clouds outside the window hung low, casting a hazy gray glow over the factory area.

The fluorescent light flickered twice before regaining its steady brightness, illuminating the curves on the wall in a white light.

Jiang Ming opened his notebook and wrote a line at the end of the day.

In the 502nd hour, all five tubes were in normal condition, and the case was closed.

He paused, then added the next half sentence.

The deputy director remained unmoved, and the chain of command remained intact.