Beneath the wide brim of his raincoat, the man chuckled softly, his voice as gentle as a spring breeze, seemingly able to ease the tense atmosphere.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he slowly raised his head, revealing his handsome face.
Behind the silver-rimmed glasses were a pair of captivating eyes, and the way they looked at Chuanliu carried a meaningful smile.
Chuanliu met his gaze without flinching.
"So... should I call you Boss Zhou, or 'Joker'?"
Zhou Zheng took a step forward, leaned slightly forward to get closer to the girl, and raised an eyebrow at her. "I still miss the days when you called me Brother Zhou Zheng."
The man's scent wafted over him, and Chuanliu chuckled, turning his head away. "To conceal your identity, you went so far as to lure Liu Xingxing into this scheme from the very beginning. You've been planning this for a long time, haven't you?"
When Liu Xingxing revealed that she was "Joker," Chuanliu knew that Zhou Zheng's goal had been achieved.
Over the years, he had personally cultivated a man who was utterly loyal to him. This man was willing to self-destruct to help him conceal his identity and eliminate the last threat to him on Paradise Island.
That day, when Chuanliu ran out of the conference room and looked back at the raging fire, he couldn't help but be moved.
Liu Xingxing had denied her feelings for Zhou Zheng to Wang Qiao, but the truth was that her love was too deep, so deep that no one would think of it that way.
Chuanliu even wanted to ask on behalf of Liu Xingxing: after so many years of sharing joys and sorrows, had this man in front of him ever been sincere?
The girl's understanding of Zhou Zheng was completely changed.
Zhou Zheng did not answer her question, but straightened up and said, "Chuanliu, we are the same kind of people."
Indeed, they are the same kind of people.
selfishness.
egoism.
It has never changed from beginning to end.
This is why, after having some suspicions in her mind, Chuanliu waited for the right opportunity and, without the slightest hesitation, went directly to Zhou Zheng.
That was before the Chuanliu Plan infiltrated Plum Blossom City.
“Let’s talk privately,” Chuanliu said to Zhou Zheng after a meeting.
“Okay.” Zhou Zheng didn’t ask any more questions and sat down facing Chuanliu.
Chuanliu stared intently at him and said directly, "It's you, isn't it?"
"What?" Zhou Zheng raised an eyebrow, pretending not to understand.
“You know what I’m talking about,” Chuanliu didn’t want to beat around the bush. “Of course, it’s fine if you don’t want to admit it. I can tell you that I will enter before Plum Blossom City is sealed off. If anyone sends me a cooperation invitation in advance, there will be no place for you here.”
Zhou Zheng's eyes were hidden behind his glasses as he said, "Plum Blossom City? Aren't you afraid they'll kill you?"
Chuanliu leaned back in his chair, looking completely relaxed. "Come to think of it, 'Plum Blossom' and I both work for the WD Investigation Bureau. Thinking about it, I think I should be on their side."
"WD Investigation Bureau? You're from the WD Investigation Bureau?" the man said in a slightly wary voice.
Chuan Liu remained completely unmoved. "Zhou Zheng, we're all seasoned foxes. What kind of ghost story are you playing with me for? Do you think I can't tell you had Liu Xingxing follow me?"
Seeing that the man still didn't speak, Chuanliu sighed, "Fine, cancel the invitation. I'll go talk to 'Plum Blossom' about my suspicions."
With that, she stood up and walked toward the door without looking back.
"Aren't you afraid I'll kill you for saying this on my turf?" The man's cold voice came from behind Chuanliu.
A smile spread across Chuanliu's face. "What? Finally admitting it... 'Joker'?"
Zhou Zheng's gaze towards her carried a faint threat.
Undeterred, she turned and stepped forward. "It doesn't matter. You shouldn't be worried about whether I'll tell, but whether this news will reach WD's ears. If I don't come home on time, someone will naturally find a letter and a way to contact me..."
Zhou Zheng took a deep breath, looked at the woman who had anticipated his thoughts, and asked in a deep voice, "Since you've thought it through so clearly, why did you come to me? Why do you want to cooperate with me?"
Seeing that he had relented, Chuanliu sat back down. "Have you forgotten? Haven't we been working together all along?"
She was referring to the collaboration between Zhou Zheng and her team to "find the little devil together."
Zhou Zheng didn't speak; he knew that Chuanliu's reason definitely wasn't that.
The girl then said, "One holds my freedom in his hands, forcing me to work for them; the other allows me to negotiate with him on equal terms. If you were me, who would you choose?"
"Hmph," Zhou Zheng curled his lips into a smile with a hint of admiration, "Equality? I seem to be the one being threatened by you right now, so where is the equality?"
The girl shrugged innocently. "What can I do? You're my backup plan. It's not like WD will talk to you about equality just because they caught you. So why have you been hiding all these years? Cooperate with me, I'm a really nice person."
Zhou Zheng smiled and shook his head.
He knew that Chuanliu was right, but he never expected that he would truly get to know this opponent who was his equal in strength at this time and place.
"How did you guess my identity?" he asked.
Chuanliu explained calmly: "I think that after your 'Joker' identity was officially exposed to WD, you would know that among my group of people who came to the island, there would most likely be one WD member who came specifically to find you. According to your calculations, since WD's people are all concentrated in 'Clubs,' this time it should be someone with a higher status, more inclined towards 'Diamonds' or 'Hearts.'"
However, the highest-ranking player in our group was Fang Ming's "10 of Spades," and I was the only one in the City of Diamonds with a "3 of Diamonds," not to mention that in your eyes I was just a "2 of Diamonds." So you initially focused your attention on Fang Ming, but didn't find anything suspicious. Later, you probably had Liu Xingxing keep an eye on my movements, and at one point even tried to balance Xu Zhi's and my forces, but it backfired.
Although you weren't constantly monitoring me, my exceptional abilities and rapid leveling up still aroused your suspicion. So, when you later discovered I was searching for the 'little devil,' you began to wonder if my true target was you.
Because you wanted to test me, you did something that made me start to doubt you.
Chuanliu stopped talking, waiting for Zhou Zheng to understand on his own.
Zhou Zheng understood her words in an instant, "You mean... you want to cooperate with me to find 'Little Ghost'?"
Chuanliu nodded. "That's right. If you really wanted to find 'Little Ghost,' you couldn't have gone four whole years without making any moves. So, Brother Qian Liu, who's been by 'Little Ghost's' side all along, couldn't have been completely unaware of this kind of investigation."
So there's only one explanation: you never intended to look for 'Little Ghost'. Because you were unaware of the relationship between Brother Qian Liu and 'Little Ghost,' you were exposed to me.
Of course, I can't assume Brother Qian is all-knowing and all-powerful. What if your operation to find 'Little Ghost' really is flawlessly concealed?
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