bail
"It's like this," Falcon continued to explain, his expression sincere. "We heard the elders in the village talking during the day. They were talking about this family at the east end of the village. They used to grow very good vegetables. They grew very fast and in a special way. It seemed that they could even... cure some minor ailments."
He paused, as if he found it difficult to speak.
"As professionals, we're quite sensitive to these kinds of unusual soil and plant growth phenomena, so... we're just a little curious."
Xiao Zhou lowered his head at the right time, twisted his fingers together, and looked guilty as if he had done something wrong.
Kobayashi tilted his head slightly and looked at the ground, as if he felt embarrassed.
"So you wanted to steal some samples in the middle of the night when no one was around?" the older policeman's tone became more serious.
"We weren't stealing!" Siefen denies immediately, his tone urgent. "We just wanted to...quietly dig up a little soil and see if we could find some remaining plant roots or something to take back for analysis. It's purely academic curiosity! We figured it wouldn't disturb anyone at night, so...we just got carried away."
He spoke with heartfelt emotion, attributing his motivation to the recklessness of young students and their thirst for professional knowledge.
The two policemen looked at each other.
This argument sounds... plausible, but also seems a bit weird.
Climbing over the wall into someone else's house in the middle of the night to collect samples?
Which decent university would do this?
"Where is your team leader?" the older policeman asked.
"We haven't had time to report the specific location to the teacher." Falcon answered without any mistakes.
The older policeman was silent for a few seconds, and his fingers stopped tapping.
"Regardless of your purpose, breaking into someone else's home is illegal."
His tone softened a bit, but still remained serious.
"This is now classified as trespassing. You need to notify your family or someone from the school to come and process bail pending trial."
Falcon heaved a sigh of relief, "Yes, yes, we'll contact you right away."
He nodded quickly, his attitude very humble. "Uncle police, I have another question, how did you know?"
"Of course it was the owner who called the police. They discovered it through surveillance," the young police officer said. "Since they were out of town, they must have installed surveillance at home to prevent theft. I didn't expect there would be one."
There really is a surveillance camera! But why didn't he notice it? Falcon thought to himself. He looked around the entire yard and didn't find any surveillance cameras.
City Center Hospital, single room.
Li Qiang has woken up, but his eyes are still a little dazed as he stares blankly at the ceiling.
Besides him, there were two strange men in plain clothes in the ward.
One of them sat on a chair by the window, holding a newspaper in his hand, not turning the page for a long time. The other stood not far from the bed, looking out the window calmly.
Li Qiang moved his dry lips, wanting to say something, but didn't know where to start.
"How do you feel?" The man standing by the window suddenly turned his head and asked calmly.
Li Qiang was startled and looked at the other person.
It was an expressionless face with deep eyes that showed no emotion.
"It's...it's okay." Li Qiang answered subconsciously, his voice a little hoarse.
"The doctor said you need to rest." The man nodded, asked no more questions, and turned his gaze to the window.
The other man who was reading a newspaper never looked up.
Li Qiang felt an inexplicable chill in his heart.
These two people are definitely not ordinary visitors or caregivers arranged by the hospital.
They are... the Watchers.
He was sent by the higher-ups.
Realizing this, Li Qiang's heart sank.
Police station, a relatively quiet corner.
Falcon took out his cell phone and dialed an encrypted number.
The call was quickly connected, and a steady male voice came from the other end.
"explain."
"Calling headquarters, the operation has been blocked." Falcon lowered his voice and spoke very quickly.
"We found a suspicious individual, a woman named Zhong Ling. While we were investigating at the target location, we were detained by local police on charges of trespassing."
"The person who called the police was... the target homeowner, Zhong Ling, who was monitoring the alarm remotely."
"The disguise of identity has failed, and villagers witnessed it."
“Bail from the school is currently required.”
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds.
"Understood." The calm male voice was free of any emotion. "Remain silent and await instructions. Someone will handle it."
"clear."
Falcon hung up the phone and the screen went dark.
He looked up out the window. Things were more complicated than he had expected. It seemed that Zhong Ling had laid an invisible net in the dark, and they had crashed into it.
At the same time, in a heavily guarded office somewhere in the capital.
Zhou Zhenguo had just finished a call with the frontline command center, and a flicker of emotion flashed through his eyes. He put down his internal encrypted phone and tapped his fingertips lightly on the mahogany tabletop.
"Bobcat," he called to the door.
A moment later, a figure pushed the door open and walked in. It was the leader of the action team, Bobcat.
"Boss, I heard about the situation." Bobcat's voice was deep and powerful.
"He was detained by the local police station for trespassing," Zhou Zhenguo said succinctly. "The person who called the police was the target, Zhong Ling, who was being monitored remotely."
Lynx's brow furrowed. "Remote monitoring? An old house in the countryside? Did she discover our people?"
"Not only did they discover it, but they also reacted extremely quickly, calling the police and trapping them at the scene." Zhou Zhenguo picked up the preliminary information on Zhong Ling on the table. It was only a few pages, but it was full of suspicious points. "This Zhong Ling is no simple matter. Liefian and his gang were too reckless this time."
"The villagers saw it too. Our disguises are no longer valid," Shanmao added, sounding a bit annoyed. "What should we do now? Should we just reveal our identities and rescue them?"
"No," Zhou Zhenguo flatly denied. "The mission is highly confidential and cannot be exposed to the local level due to a single mistake. Besides, we still don't know the details of Zhong Ling and whether there are other forces behind her. If we move, we might alert the enemy."
He pondered for a moment and made a decision: "Activate the backup plan. Send a 'carrier pigeon' over there, posing as a 'representative of the Geological University.' Get the person out and minimize the impact."
Tell Falcon and the others to temporarily withdraw, stay where they are, and await further instructions."
"Understood." Bobcat nodded, "I'll arrange it right away."
"Also," Zhou Zhenguo stopped him, "we need to adjust our strategy regarding the investigation of Yunxi Village and Zhong Ling. Suspend all direct contact and switch to peripheral information collection and technical monitoring.
Focus on analyzing the 'YX Factor' data provided by Li Qiang, as well as the force that prevents him from revealing the truth. This Zhong Ling may herself be the biggest 'anomaly'.
Shanmao obeyed the order and turned to leave quickly. The office returned to silence again, with only the sound of Zhou Zhenguo's fingertips tapping on the table echoing in the room.
The unexpected setback of this operation may indicate that the next task will be even more difficult.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
