Chapter 115
Answering this question is the only way to truly face utter ruin.
Pan Zilong had no intention of revealing this deepest secret now; if he could, he would prefer to bury it for the rest of his life. Even if his conscience would be troubled, he could still walk a long way before he could bear it no longer.
“Iris is already helping you find a legal team,” Zhuang Zhuoyuan guessed his thoughts. Of course, he also wanted to persuade Pan Zilong to repent and truly take responsibility for his mistakes, but not everyone can articulate profound truths well, nor can everyone listen to them. The fastest way for him to achieve his goal at the moment was through a combination of enticement and emotional appeal.
But what kind of benefit is that? Pan Zilong clearly understands the difference between not being convicted and having his sentence reduced during sentencing. His future in the public security, procuratorate, and judicial system is over. If he wants to have a future after being released from prison, he must preserve his last bit of reputation. Compromising for his wife and daughter can also be seen as showing compassion and righteousness, and there will always be someone who appreciates it. Of course, he doesn't want to live a life involved in organized crime again, but he doesn't want to fall into the mire either. Zhuang Zhuoyuan is relentlessly pursuing him, and Pan Zilong knows that if he doesn't give an explanation today, the police won't let him go. Once they dig deeper into his case, the case he has concealed for many years may resurface, making it even harder for him to recover. And his rejection of Zhuang Zhuoyuan today could very well become the reason the Zhou family rejects him in the future.
Then he said, "I remembered something. It's true that Jinji wanted to take over that batch of drugs, but he wasn't keeping them for himself. He was going to use Flying Tigers to steal them. Flying Tigers would help him drive away those Colombians, and he would hide the stuff and reap the benefits."
"You mean, his plan was discovered by the Colombian police?" Zhuang Zhuoyuan frowned. Pan Zilong was clearly unwilling to talk about his past; he couldn't waste time on him. If there were new leads, they should be dealt with first.
The fact that Jinji was willing to abandon the 100 million he had painstakingly acquired proves the immense crisis he was facing. The supplementary information about the Colombian gang completed a missing piece of the puzzle. After clarifying the logic, the team members, based on their respective criminal investigation experience, ultimately decided to trust the clues provided by Pan Zilong and expand the investigation into the Colombian drug lords. This operation was originally intended for Zhan Hantao's participation, but at this time, the CIA sent Agent Jin Xiuji to assist Flying Tigers with a case. Considering the current situation, the higher-ups decided to temporarily appoint Zhan Hantao as the head of the SDU, cooperating with Jin Xiuji.
The timing of Kim Soo-hee's arrival was so coincidental that Derek almost suspected she was a plant sent by Edward. However, no new orders were issued from AK, which meant that whether the visitor was one of their own or not was none of their business, and they should not interfere.
Given Iris's recent heightened sensitivity, she would normally have made sure Derek thoroughly investigated the background of the new character. However, Miss Zhou was incredibly busy these past two days and neglected the matter. After learning of Pan Zilong's situation, she did indeed, as Zhuang Zhuoyuan had said, join forces with Pan Sir's ex-wife and use her resources to find several top lawyers specializing in criminal cases for him. Just as she left the law firm, Su Wenqiang called again, saying he had decided to keep the baby and temporarily apply for a transfer back to an administrative position. This immediately brought a host of other things to do, such as contacting the hospital, instructing the baby store to prepare backup gifts, and discussing with Su Wenqiang how to deal with the Yu family. Actually, many of these tasks should have been handled by Yu Xueli, the expectant father, but men are often more oblivious. Yu Xueli was completely unaware of many of Su Wenqiang's concerns, and even if he noticed one or two, he ultimately called Iris for help. So, going all the way, Ms. Iris, who was criticized by her husband for being a busybody, simply did everything she should and shouldn't have done as a member of her sister's family, hoping that her good friend could truly find happiness.
And it seems there are quite a few auspicious days this year. Iris was even relieved that the Yu family was wealthy and powerful, so she didn't have to help Su Wenqiang with wedding planning. Just a few hours later, Alice sent over a design sketch of her dream wedding. Zhang Jiguang, like her husband, was still working overtime. Iris never expected Alice to drop a wedding invitation at this time. She was quite surprised: "It's only been a short time, and you've already saved enough money?"
Alice smiled sweetly, her voice brimming with joy: "We decided to get married first. The day we celebrated our anniversary, the atmosphere was so wonderful that Ah Guang made a ring out of flowers and proposed to me, and I said yes. Later, we went back and reviewed the proposal, and then we decided to get married sooner rather than later."
"Wow, wow, wow! Who used to say marriage was the grave of love? Now it's a palace!" Iris understood this feeling all too well; when blinded by love, one especially longs for marriage. As she listened to Alice's sharing of happiness, she looked at her manuscript: "Alice, I'll send you the wedding materials for reference later. As for the venue setup, I'll ask Larine; she's done a pretty good job with this over the past year. And Elaine, we should call her back from England too; she can have a custom-made wedding dress made for you."
With so many helpful people, Alice naturally couldn't let any of them go to waste. If Tangyuan weren't so young, she would even have wanted to call him up on stage to be a flower boy. So the group quickly created a group chat to discuss things. Larine, who was taking on wedding decoration work for the first time, was both serious and excited, coming up with many good ideas, which made Alice very happy. She kept releasing new viewpoints to exchange with Alice, and the entire chat room was almost entirely filled with their back-and-forth. Iris had to exert some effort to occasionally interject a few words. As for Elaine, she was most likely struggling with her studies and would only be able to reply to all the discussions when she had free time.
Larine, whose job wasn't primarily about making money, found herself increasingly comfortable chatting with Alice. She immediately offered Alice a 50% discount, essentially charging only for materials and venue fees. Alice, it was clear, was already considering investing in Larine's studio. If Larine were to add wedding planning to its services, Alice would be the first to volunteer. Ideally, she'd find a new owner to manage their small shop, and Iris quickly added this to her to-do list, filling five pages. She felt a pang of melancholy; she'd confidently promised her husband a life of just going between home and work, but now she was practically running all over Hong Kong.
Zhuang Zhuoyuan is no longer worried about his wife running around. With Pan Zilong and Zhong Wei'en's matter resolved, the biggest threat to her has been eliminated. However, Zhuang Sir never expected that the matter of those Colombian drug traffickers would also involve Zhong Wei'en.
Perhaps sensing the police investigation, the Colombian gang set a trap, using Chung Wai-yan's obsession with the whereabouts of the chicken to lure and kidnap her. While the task force was dispatched to investigate Chung Wai-yan's whereabouts, the criminal gang seized the opportunity to storm the Flying Tigers' headquarters. This was even more shocking than the courtroom hijacking case earlier this year, and such a targeted attack clearly indicated that the attackers were targeting the Flying Tigers.
Derek was stunned when he heard the news. He never expected that the Fanling base, with Zhan Hantao in charge, would be raided so easily. However, the truth was that Zhan Sir himself led the undercover agent in and told him about the base's internal structure, team training, and duty schedule.
“This is definitely a major stain on Zhan Sir’s life,” Derek sighed. Iris disagreed: “It’s not just Tao’s responsibility. That Kim Soo-hee had a multi-layered identity, even deceiving high-ranking police officers. If it weren’t for that formal introduction, Tao’s guard against her wouldn’t have dropped so much. In a way, it’s the responsibility of the entire police force.”
What leader could possibly be wrong? Derek could only hope that Zhan Hantao wouldn't have to take the blame.
But who exactly is this Kim Soo-hee? Why is she going to such lengths to get close to the SDU? What grudge does she have against them?
The two sides were locked in a standoff when Kim Soo-hee mentioned a name, and all the memories of the truth came flooding back like a tidal wave.
"Accept fate."
Zhan Hantao then remembered that this wasn't the first time he'd seen Kim Soo-hee's face. He'd seen her photo in the transcripts of the hostage situation at the High Court. Back then, she was a court clerk, with longer hair and more understated makeup. So even though he had an intuitive sense of familiarity with her this time, the contrast in her appearance made it impossible for Zhan Hantao to connect the sharp and capable detective before him with the gentle and refined court clerk.
Su Hong, Jin Xiuji, and An Tianming were not siblings, but their bond was stronger than that of siblings. They all lost their parents at a young age, shared remarkably similar experiences, and were later adopted and raised by the same grandmother. The three always stood together, vowing to carve out their own path. In the end, Su Hong died at the hands of an undercover police officer, and An Tianming was killed by the Flying Tigers. How could Jin Xiuji not avenge such a deep-seated hatred?
By taking a high-ranking official hostage, Kim Soo-hee's gang, along with a group of Colombian mercenaries posing as EU personnel, successfully entered the base in assault vehicles under the guise of a meeting. When the Flying Tigers returned from training, they discovered that the criminals had seized all the crucial weapons, equipment, and advantageous terrain.
All the hostages were bound hand and foot in a conference room containing a time bomb, and they didn't have much time left. After watching the video sent by Jin Xiuji, Zhan Hantao made a decisive decision: he told the guards on duty to report the situation, and at the same time led his team to the EU assault vehicle to find equipment, which was better than nothing at the moment.
Zhuang Zhuoyuan and Zhang Jiguang were on their way to the base to meet with Zhan Hantao regarding Zhong Wei'en's situation when they heard a radio call. They immediately accelerated and rushed to provide support. When they arrived, the other brothers had already engaged in a fierce battle with the criminals. The mercenaries had seized the equipment stored by Flying Tigers and were relentlessly suppressing them with heavy firepower. Zhan Hantao tried his best to deploy his troops to minimize casualties, but every now and then, one or two team members would be wounded by bullets fired from sniper positions.
The best OT (Operation Team) position was already taken, so Zhuang Zhuoyuan didn't hesitate and headed to the other rooftop. He didn't need to discuss it with Zhan Hantao much; their years of tacit understanding were enough for them to understand each other's intentions in the blink of an eye. Zhan Hantao would handle the battlefield below, while Zhuang Zhuoyuan would deal with the trouble at the high ground. Zhuang Zhuoyuan went upstairs alone, and a quick glance at the surroundings made him realize the situation was bad. It was easy to defend and difficult to attack. Even if he could pinpoint the enemy sniper's approximate location based on his experience, the sufficiently high railing would become the enemy's most effective shield when they raised their guns to fire. If they moved again, the sniper's attack would become a guerrilla tactic.
Zhuang Zhuoyuan quickly pressed himself against the wall for cover and slowly moved to observe. At that moment, the enemy had clearly spotted him; a bullet grazed his face. Cold sweat immediately broke out on Zhuang Zhuoyuan's back.
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