As Elder Lin's assistant, not only did Song Yun assist in work, but she also had to take care of the logistics and coordination for the underground researchers' daily life. Seeing Elder Lin's dissatisfaction and scolding, Song Yun felt aggrieved and didn't know how to react. She was, after all, a young girl with no experience dealing with special agents. How could she have anticipated soone poisoning the water? Her face turned deathly pale.
"Elder Lin, of course we will investigate this matter, but we need to do it secretly to avoid alarming anyone. As for Song Yun, it was an unintentional mistake. After all, she has no training in security, and the anomaly was discovered inadvertently. We cannot entirely bla her," Lan Xue interceded smoothly.
"Fine, handle it as you see fit. Everyone present is a departnt leader from the institute. I expect your full cooperation and support. Otherwise, you will be charged with treason," Elder Lin sternly declared, his usual kindness replaced by anger. He glared at Song Yun and added, "Learn well. You're smart and capable, but that doesn't an you know everything. It's ti to ta your proud nature; there are always higher skies."
"Oh," Song Yun responded, casting a grateful glance at Lan Xue, then looked at Luo Zheng, who seed lost in thought. She suddenly understood the difference between herself and Lan Xue: she was outwardly gentle but inwardly strong, while Lan Xue was outwardly strong but inwardly gentle. n, few of them liked dominant won. Did she really need to change?
"I'll go check the surveillance footage," Luo Zheng said to Lan Xue with affection.
"Go ahead, be careful," Lan Xue replied.
The scene of their silent communication didn't escape Song Yun, and she felt a surge of jealousy. Any doubts she previously had vanished, her expression hardened with resolve. I am who I am, why should I change? On what grounds should I change? Song Yun would not give up until the very end. She sent a provocative look toward Lan Xue only to find her already heading to the door, with Elder Lin and the others following. She quickly pursued them.
Lan Xue escorted Elder Lin and the others to the basent, while Ghost Hand, Snow Leopard, and Mountain Eagle continued to search for suspicious individuals. Luo Zheng and Zheng Duo arrived at the surveillance room to review the cafeteria footage on the third floor but found the private room was not within the surveillance scope. Luo Zheng was shocked, and Zheng Duo, realizing sothing, gave a wry smile, "Considering the privacy of the leaders, we didn't install one there before."
Luo Zheng was speechless, and after a mont, he reluctantly said, "Let's review what else might have been overlooked and where there are blind spots. We're going to work overti tonight to improve the surveillance, adding one in a hidden location. Choose soone reliable for the task." As he spoke, he began marking up the existing surveillance layout, indicating where to increase coverage and how to direct the caras, clearly docunting these details in small writing beside each point.
Zheng Duo acknowledged and reached for the communicator to call a few people over. They picked up several dozen surveillance caras from the warehouse and, with Luo Zheng's annotated diagram in hand, bustled off to work. Luo Zheng sat in the surveillance room, monitoring the installation progress and chatting casually with Zheng Duo. He asked, "Captain Zheng, has anything peculiar happened recently?"
"Peculiar?" Zheng Duo looked at Luo Zheng in surprise. Just as a cara was properly installed and its feed appeared on the screen, he used the communicator to remotely instruct the worker to adjust the angle slightly. Once satisfied, he addressed Luo Zheng, "I haven't heard of anything unusual. What do you an, exactly?"
"Anything at all, let's hear about it," Luo Zheng prodded after a pause.
Zheng Duo pondered, and Luo Zheng didn't interrupt. A mont later, Zheng Duo suddenly said, "I haven't really noticed anything strange. Speaking of which, I've been here over a decade, and while I can't claim to know everyone at the Military Research Institute, I know most. The only thing that might be considered odd is that three months ago, the old director's son-in-law suddenly returned ho and has been living here ever since, not working, but mingling well with the people around."
"What does the forr director's son-in-law do?" Luo Zheng asked with a surprised and inquisitive tone.
"Heard he started a trade company, but the specifics are unclear. He usually lives outside and scarcely cos back. This ti he ca back and just didn't leave, isn't that odd?" Zheng Duo inquired.
Luo Zheng pondered for a mont. The son-in-law had suddenly moved here three months ago and decided not to leave upon arrival. Indeed, sothing felt strange about this, yet he could not pinpoint what was peculiar. Logically, it seed quite normal for a son-in-law to take up residence, so he said, "Let's go, take to check it out."
"Alright." Zheng Duo summoned soone to enter the monitoring room to assist with the installation of surveillance equipnt, then led Luo Zheng towards the employee residential area. They walked across a wide expanse of grassland and soon arrived at a block of residential buildings. Zheng Duo pointed at a unit on the ground floor and said, "Their ho is on the first floor. The old director and his wife passed away a year ago, leaving the house to their only daughter. She moved out to take care of her child's schooling, so the house was usually empty."
"Oh?" Luo Zheng looked at the first-floor apartnt in surprise. The curtains were drawn tight even during broad daylight, which was sowhat peculiar. He gave Zheng Duo a knowing glance and stealthily drew his handgun. Zheng Duo, not noticing, went on to knock on the door. After a considerable wait, soone inside responded with a call to wait a mont longer.
A few minutes later, soone ca to open the door—a man in his forties, about one ter seventy tall, quite well-built, dressed in pajamas, radiating a lazy vibe. Drawing the curtains to sleep at ho during the day seed perfectly reasonable. Luo Zheng took a cautious look around, not noticing anything unusual, then focused his attention on the man.
The man yawned, covering his mouth, and said, "Captain Zheng, you're here. I was up late playing cards and just couldn't keep my eyes open. I was just asleep, sorry about that. Is there sothing you need from ?"
"Oh, no, nothing. Just ca to casually check things out," Zheng Duo responded nonchalantly, "I'm accompanying the new security guard to get familiar with the environnt. Won't you invite us in for a sit?" The old security guard was quick on his feet, adept at improvising.
"Sure, co on in," the man readily agreed and headed inside.
Luo Zheng followed Zheng Duo inside. The living room wasn't large but was well-kept. The doors were tightly shut, which made it uncomfortable to inspect without an excuse. He sat down next to Zheng Duo, giving him a aningful look, to which Zheng Duo nodded subtly and continued, "You seem to be living quite leisurely now. Looks like you've made it big."
"Not at all, you flatter . I've been in poor health and ca here for so quiet recuperation. The people are very simple, unlike the deceitful business world. It's very comfortable living here," the man said with a smile, casually pouring water for them, appearing completely at ease with no sign of any wrongdoing.
Luo Zheng shifted his attention from the man and discreetly surveyed the room. It was a standard three-bedroom, one-living-room setup. The bedrooms were out of sight, the living room had so old-fashioned furniture, likely left by the previous generation, and a shoe rack held several pairs of shoes, one of which had yellow clay on the soles—almost imperceptible unless given a close look.
Luo Zheng was startled; this yellow clay was unfamiliar, seemingly not from the surrounding area, and looked quite fresh. He kept a ntal note of it and continued to silently observe his surroundings without arousing suspicion. Noting nothing else out of the ordinary, he sent another glance to Zheng Duo who, understanding the cue, said, "Alright then, you go about your business. I'll go take a look elsewhere."
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