It was 11 a.m. on the fifth day when the panic began.
The streets were deserted, with almost no pedestrians to be seen. Only workers in white protective suits were disinfecting the streets, and it was unknown whether the poison gas used by Xu Zhe would work.
Most of the vehicles passing by had their trunks stuffed full, with valuables tied up in the cars as they headed out of the city.
However, it was in this city where panic was spreading that a strange convoy drove into the Wuhan Police Headquarters.
The reason why they were weird was that they had military license plates, and several jeeps leading the way had heavy machine guns mounted on them, which was quite scary.
Even the police station gatekeeper didn't dare to conduct a routine check and simply opened the door to let them enter freely.
Then, that special man appeared again in the police station's office building.
He was wearing a black suit that looked like it was newly bought. He was in his twenties, and his height of nearly 1.8 meters was considered tall in Country Z. His handsome appearance attracted the policewomen who were passing by to stop and admire him.
Who is he? What is he doing here? Everyone is constantly guessing. Especially when they see the two groups of mighty soldiers following him in an orderly manner, they become even more curious about his identity.
How could he not see all this? The concern and attention from everyone naturally put a smug smile on his handsome face. It seemed that he was very satisfied with this state of being noticed
The man walked straight into the office of the paranormal investigation specialist without even knowing the basic courtesy of knocking on the door.
He pushed the door open vigorously, thinking that he would attract everyone's attention. But in the office, everyone continued to do what they were supposed to do, and no one paid any attention to him.
Even Ouyang was brewing his favorite Longjing tea, carefully savoring the fragrance of the tea.
"Chief Ouyang, we meet again." The man had expected such treatment. From his words, it was clear that this was not the first time he had dealt with the Paranormal Investigation Division. "How have you been lately?"
"Mu Ming, you are really a ghost that lingers around. You always interfere with everything we do." Boss Ouyang sighed helplessly. He still didn't look at the person, but he knew exactly who he was...
There is no way. He is so famous in the Security Bureau. He is simply a star among agents, the 007 of Country Z.
What made Ouyang have to know him was that this guy, like his enemy in his previous life, was extremely unhappy with the Psychic Investigation Division. Every year at the National Security Council, he would tirelessly propose a motion to abolish the Psychic Investigation Division, but unfortunately, it was never successful.
I don't know if this is true or not, but this guy holds a grudge and keeps looking for trouble with the Spiritual Investigation Division. No matter where the Spiritual Investigation Division goes to investigate a case, he will follow them whenever he is free, collect evidence of the Spiritual Investigation Division's crimes, and report to his superiors. How annoying...
But then again, it is precisely because of the special historical background and origins of the Spiritual Adjustment Department that the upper echelons almost turn a blind eye to it. As long as nothing serious and unforgivable happens, the Spiritual Adjustment Department can still survive like this.
But now, looking at Mu Ming's smug smile, Ouyang knew that he came prepared this time.
"Chief Ouyang, the whole city is in such chaos, are you still in the mood to drink tea here?" He walked to Ouyang's desk with frivolous steps, and sat directly on the chair opposite Ouyang without caring whether others were willing or not.
"What does the chaos in the city have to do with us? Since we are the Paranormal Investigation Department, of course we are investigating ghosts and the like. Since ghosts don't appear, it would be nice for us to have some free time..." Ouyang's explanation was so natural.
"Really?" Mu Ming didn't believe this nonsense. "But what a coincidence, I found that you are suspected of not doing your job properly. Do you know this person?"
Then, Mu Ming placed a completely empty grenade on Ouyang's desk and drew a circle on the edge of the ammunition with one finger.
"You should recognize them, right? These are grenade shells unique to the Security Bureau's ammunition depot, which can be filled with various compressed gases. But the strange thing is, they are not lying quietly in the Security Bureau's warehouse, but appear in the city's trash cans. And they are releasing unknown poisonous gases..." Mu Ming's hints were so clear that even a fool could understand them. "What's more interesting is that I remember that Chief Ouyang, you were the person in charge of the Security Bureau's ammunition depot 20 years ago. You were transferred here to serve as the chief because of the loss of ammunition..."
"In that case, you should investigate the current person in charge of the ammunition depot. Maybe you can assign someone to my department. I am in need of a deputy section chief." Ouyang smiled indifferently, looking like he had nothing to do with me.
"Ouyang, how long can you keep the sign of the Spiritual Adjustment Department?" Mu Ming turned his face like turning the pages of a book. He was smiling just now, but now his face is gloomy. "Poisoning the whole city... You are really so brave. I don't think anyone can protect you this time. Don't cancel your department. Even execution is a light punishment."
"Watch your tone. I can sue you for defaming state officials at any time." Ouyang's counterattack was so powerful that Mu Ming was stunned.
Since he is a person who plays with the law, he must have a thorough understanding of the law.
Although all the evidence pointed to the Spiritual Adjustment Department, Mu Ming did not have enough "capital" to convict them.
"Well, Chief Ouyang, can I ask you a question?" After a while, Mu Ming's tone finally softened. However, he still did not wait for the other party to agree, and started to talk on his own, "Where are Xu Zhe, Haozi, Tiechui, and Wu Qian?"
"They really are worthy of being in the intelligence business. Even I, a new member of the team who has only been in the team for a few days, have been investigated in such detail." Ouyang sighed with a smile.
"Don't change the subject. Where are they going?" Mu Ming asked seriously.
"Xu Zhe has been expelled from the Investigation Division. I sent the detailed documents to the Security Bureau headquarters yesterday. How come you didn't receive them?" Ouyang explained without leaving any room for error. "As for the other three team members, they all have their own tasks and are currently carrying them out. According to the internal management regulations of the Security Bureau, no one has the right to know the specific work content of the Supernatural Investigation Division... Not even the President of the country has the right to inquire..."
This is an important regulation that distinguishes the Paranormal Investigation Division from all other departments, as if it were a disregard for the regime.
But even so, no one can touch this rule, because it is said that this is the premise for the country to grow steadily and healthily. People who know too many secrets of this department can no longer look at the world they live in with the eyes of normal people...
"Okay, you're so cruel. We have a long way to go, plenty of time to play this game of cat and mouse." Fortunately, the angry Mu Ming had no beard, otherwise it would have been curled up now.
Mu Ming stood up from his seat depressed, having gained nothing, and walked towards the main door. But when he reached the main door, he unexpectedly stopped and turned his head slightly.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I came here with special approval from the military. If we find the culprit of this incident, we will do our best to capture him. If the prisoner shows any signs of escape or resistance, he is allowed to be shot on the spot, even if he is a government employee..." Listening to Mu Ming's words word by word, even Ouyang, who was usually calm, had his pupils widened.
“Hehehehe…” With a disgusting smile and the neatly-organized special forces soldiers, Mu Ming disappeared from sight.
Don't worry, that's fake. Although Mu Ming is a complete loser when dealing with ghosts and monsters, he is definitely a killer when dealing with humans.
If Xu Zhe and his men were to face off against that group of well-trained soldiers, even Ouyang couldn't imagine what would happen...
After much hesitation, Ouyang picked up the phone on the table and dialed the familiar number.
Inside the hotel, Xu Zhe, who was sitting in the garden enjoying the tranquility, turned on his vibrating cell phone. The screen showed his boss's landline number, and he instinctively knew something was wrong.
The call was quickly connected, but no one spoke.
What came from the microphone was the sound of tapping on the table, once, twice, and it was extremely clear.
Nine seconds had passed, and Xu Zhe hung up the phone without hesitation, took out the phone card, broke it in half and threw it out of the building. The thin card flew far away with the wind...
"Old fox, you are playing dirty tricks on me..." On this side, Mu Ming, who was sitting in the electronic command vehicle, put down the headphones in his hand. The monitoring just now still had no effect.
The short call time was not enough to reveal the exact location, and the phone call without a single word could not serve as evidence of Ouyang's collusion with Xu Zhe in the future.
"Report, a soldier stood in front of Mu Ming holding a document and saluted in a standard military manner, "The previous call has been analyzed and is speculated to be Morse code. The content is as follows..."
"Here comes the persistent fellow. Hide your tail and don't let the dog bite you." Mu Ming read out the content of the code first. This is basically the introductory course for intelligence agents. "But you think too highly of my ability. I just want to see how well you can hide your tail?"
After returning to the hotel, Xu Zhe strode into the living room with an extremely serious expression, which scared Tiechui, Wu Qian and Haozi who were in the living room.
"Take your belongings with you, we must evacuate within ten minutes, quickly!" Xu Zhe gave the order quickly, without caring whether others understood him or not, and went straight back to his room to pack up.
"What on earth happened?" The three of them were confused and gathered around Xu Zhe's door, watching him busy cleaning up.
"That bastard Mu Ming is here..." As soon as he finished speaking, Tiechui and Haozi hurried back to the room as if they had taken some crazy medicine, and started packing up their things more efficiently than Xu Zhe.
"What's wrong with you guys? Who is Mu Ming? Is there anyone with the last name Mu?" Wu Qian felt confused, as if she was in the team but knew nothing about it...
This is indeed the case...
"Mu Ming is just a code name. He works for the intelligence department of the Security Bureau and is a top-notch intelligence agent." Xu Zhe explained as he packed up his belongings. "He has many combat experiences abroad. In the five years since he joined the Security Bureau, he has won four championships in the bureau's internal decathlon. He is good at blasting, sniping, tracking, stealth, espionage, command, assassination, and various other techniques..."
"The most important thing is..." Tiechui had packed up and stood in front of Xu Zhe's door again, "That guy is ruthless to Xu Zhe. He always makes trouble for us and wants to kick us and Xu Zhe out of the Security Bureau together."
"Why? Why would such an outstanding person hate Xu Zhe?" In Wu Qian's opinion, the two are not even on the same level of comparison.
"Because Tiechui and I made a bet..." At this time, Haozi also finished packing and walked over. "Two years ago, Tiechui and I made a bet that as long as Xu Zhe participated in the decathlon, he would be better than that white-faced guy and would definitely take first place. Tiechui didn't believe it, so he started the bet. In the end, of course, I won. Xu Zhe is really amazing. Whether it was blasting, sniping, tracking, stealth, espionage, command, assassination, rescue, escort, or fighting, he did it all by suppressing Mu Ming. At that time, I don't know how many judges praised Xu Zhe as a genius, and there were so many departments looking for the boss every day to ask for people. At that time, there was a wave of investigating Xu Zhe in the Security Bureau, but it was a pity that the boss hid Xu Zhe's information too well. Everyone knew nothing about Xu Zhe except his name and appearance, so he also earned the title of 'Invisible Man'."
"Did Xu Zhe really go?" Wu Qian couldn't believe it, because Xu Zhe was not the kind of person who would waste his energy on a boring gambling game.
“I couldn’t help it. My salary hadn’t arrived yet, but my rent had. And if I won the competition, I’d get a 10,000 yuan bonus… What a stingy department. They competed in life-threatening projects, but I only got 10,000 yuan if I won…” Xu Zhe was depressed and closed his backpack.
"Aren't you going to clean up?" Suddenly, the three of them looked at Wu Qian in unison. Wu Qian just woke up from listening to the story and rushed back to the room.
At the same time, the iconic military convoy was approaching the hotel at full speed...
In the leading military truck, Mu Ming had already taken off his neat suit and put on a combat uniform like a soldier. Like the soldiers, he carefully checked the gun in his hand, pulled the bolt, and the bullets were loaded and unloaded with a crisp and powerful sound.
"Xu Zhe, I'm here to kill you..."