That lone "Who?" was like a needle, puncturing the balloon that had been stretched to its limit in the conference room.
"It's her! She's back!" Li Mo's voice was suppressed, like a wild beast that had spotted its prey, the veins on the back of his hand bulging. "She's testing us! She's using unknown technology to reverse-locate us!"
He abruptly turned to Qin Xiao, his hand once again gripping the gun handle at his waist, and growled fiercely, "Give me the phone right now! It's evidence! It's also a trap!"
Fang Mengru froze above the keyboard, while Geng Yu and Ling Changning shrank back into their chairs in fright. Geng Yu trembled as he touched Ling Changning's arm, his lips moving slightly but unable to utter a single word. The two of them wished they could become wallpaper on the wall.
Qin Xiao ignored Li Mo's roar. He simply picked up his phone, glanced at the screen, and then looked at Leng Nan, whose gun had been instinctively raised an inch.
“A top predator, when faced with incomprehensible bait, doesn’t react with attack, but with curiosity.” He spoke calmly, as if explaining a case in class. “Ten million dollars, a mysterious company, a suddenly canceled capture operation. She has more questions in her head than any of us combined. Her asking ‘who’ proves that my first move was right.”
"What kind of bullshit chess is this! This is gambling with everyone's lives!" Li Mo took a step forward, his killing intent almost solidifying.
"Li Mo." Leng Nan spoke, her voice low, but it successfully made Li Mo stop in his tracks.
She didn't look at her deputy; her bloodshot eyes, filled with shock and humiliation, were fixed on Qin Xiao. She spoke, her words dripping with sarcasm, as if venting her frustration or forcing Qin Xiao to reveal his hand: "Now, what are you going to do? Provoke her by replying 'I'm your father'?"
This emotionally charged statement didn't sound like a military officer's words, but rather like the scream of a woman driven to the brink of despair.
“No.” Qin Xiao shook his head. He stretched out his finger and began to type slowly on the phone screen. “I want to give her an answer she can’t refuse. An answer that will make her understand that I am not her enemy, and even… I can become her only ally.”
As he was speaking, he suddenly asked a completely unrelated question.
"Captain Leng, with your rank, you should have heard of the 'Dragon King's Palace' organization, right?"
Leng Nan's body stiffened for a moment.
The Dragon King's Palace? In the military's archives, this name is a top-secret operation on par with "Ghost." A vast, mysterious underground empire with tentacles reaching across the globe. Several targeted military operations have all ended in failure, failing to even touch its core structure.
"How did you know...?"
"I also know that the Dragon King's Palace lost a core member, codenamed 'Black Buddha,' in the Golden Triangle three years ago. I also know that the Dragon King's Palace has a top female assassin codenamed 'Ink Rose,' who is trained by the same master as 'Ghost.'" Qin Xiao didn't answer her question but continued to drop bombshells.
Seeing the utterly bewildered expressions on Leng Nan's and all the Snow Wolf team members' faces, he turned his phone screen towards them.
On the screen is a line of text that has been edited but not yet sent.
"I'm not here to arrest you, Mei Xinya. I'm here to give you a chance to avenge your parents."
Mei Xinya!
When Leng Nan saw this name, her mind went blank.
This is "Ghost's" real name! It's core intelligence that the military, even using its highest authority and sacrificing three A-level undercover agents, couldn't obtain! How could he know? Who exactly is he?
Avenging his parents? What does that mean? The ghost's background is completely blank in the file, could it be...?
"You...you..." Li Mo pointed at Qin Xiao, his tongue tied, unable to utter a complete sentence. He felt that the worldview he had built up over twenty years was being shattered by the man in front of him in an incomprehensible way.
“Madman…you are a complete madman…” a Snow Wolf team member muttered to himself, preferring to believe it was an illusion.
Qin Xiao didn't give them any more time to process the shock.
Under the astonished gazes of everyone, he gently pressed the "send" button with his thumb.
It was like pressing the button to detonate a nuclear bomb.
"What did you do!" Leng Nan almost screamed as she lunged forward, trying to snatch the phone, but it was too late.
The message has been sent.
A deathly silence fell over the entire conference room. Everyone held their breath, staring intently at the small phone screen. One second, two seconds, three seconds… time seemed to crawl by, and everyone could hear their own heart pounding like a drum.
They didn't know what would happen next. Would it be mockery? Utter silence? Or... an untrackable bullet fired from some corner?
"Buzz—"
The phone vibrated again almost the second after the message was sent.
This time, what was displayed on the screen was no longer text.
It was a screenshot of a satellite map. The map's precision was astonishing; even the air conditioner units on the rooftops were clearly visible.
On the map, a bright red dot is flashing continuously.
The red dot marks the location of the factory office building right beneath their feet.
Below the red dot, there is a line of text so brief it's almost suffocating.
[Rooftop. Ten minutes. You are alone.]
"Splash—"
Li Mo finally drew his gun, this time with the safety off, the dark muzzle pointed directly at Qin Xiao.
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