The next morning.
Before seven o’clock, Ling Chen and Nanrong Wanqing boarded a private jet to Beijing. There were not many people accompanying them, only Zhong Wei and Liang Zhao Hui.
Half past eight.
The plane landed on ti at Beijing International Airport.
Leaving the airport, Ling Chen first dropped Nanrong Wanqing off at the hotel, then hurried by car to the Ghost Base.
When Ling Chen arrived at the manor, the once bustling estate had turned into ruins, with broken walls and rubble everywhere, the site scorched black. Over a dozen firefighters were cleaning up and clearing the debris.
Ling Chen frowned and took a quick survey of the surroundings. Then, he walked alone towards a detached villa two hundred ters away.
There was more than one entrance to the Ghost Base; the manor was the main entrance, while the villa in front of him was an ergency exit. Arriving at the villa, Ling Chen pressed the doorbell.
Soon after, the door opened, and a tired Tang Yuan appeared in front of Ling Chen.
Seeing Ling Chen rush over, Tang Yuan squeezed out a faint smile and said, "You got here quite fast."
"Cut the chit-chat, how is everyone doing? Are General and Mr. Han alright?" Ling Chen asked impatiently.
"They’re all fine, it’s just that..." Tang Yuan’s voice trailed off, as if choked, unable to utter another word, and he fell into silence.
Ling Chen, unable to restrain himself, urged, "Just what? Co on, spit it out."
With his head hung low, filled with sorrow, Tang Yuan’s voice choked up as he said, "When the manor exploded, Uncle Mu and Mrs. Chen were in the room... they... they didn’t make it out in ti..."
Hearing this, Ling Chen felt as if struck by lightning, blanking out instantly and standing dumbfounded at the door for a long ti, unable to snap back to reality.
Tang Yuan composed himself, looked at the dazed Ling Chen, and said softly, "Tang Yuan..."
"They... they’re dead? No! That can’t be. They can’t be dead. Old Tang, you must be lying to , right? Tell , are you lying to ?" Ling Chen cried out, grabbing hold of Tang Yuan’s collar, shouting hoarsely.
"Tang Yuan, I wish I was lying to you, but..."
Ling Chen, pale-faced, released his grip as if sapped of all strength, his legs weak, leaning helplessly against the door fra, the color of grief spilling uncontrollably from his eyes.
"Uncle Mu, Mrs. Chen... why did it have to be you..."
Ling Chen muttered to himself, tears streaming down uncontrollably. At this mont, all his strength had crumbled, leaving only boundless sorrow in his heart.
Mu Zhiyuan and Chen Ping, a married couple, both retired secret agents of the Ghost Organization, were responsible for guarding the access points of the Ghost Base and were the base’s first line of defense.
After Ling Chen joined the Ghost Organization, he often received care from Mu Zhiyuan and Chen Ping. This couple even treated him like their own family mber, providing ticulous care. Before eting Nanrong Wanqing, this couple gave Ling Chen his first taste of warmth, akin to a family.
All mbers of the base knew that Ling Chen had a very close relationship with the Mu couple, and referring to them as family was no exaggeration.
Therefore, Tang Yuan was well aware of how devastating the death of the Mu couple was to Ling Chen, and the grief he bore was far greater than that of anyone else.
"Tang Yuan, a person can’t co back to life after death; don’t be too hard on yourself," Tang Yuan comforted.
Ling Chen wiped away his tears and looked up to ask, "Where have Uncle Mu’s and others’ bodies been kept?"
"They are inside the base. The General knows that you had a deep relationship with Uncle Mu and the others, so he wanted you to see them one last ti."
Ling Chen nodded, gathered his emotions, and followed Tang Yuan in a secret elevator to the underground base.
Arriving at the base, Ling Chen noticed that the interior had been damaged to varying degrees, and there were still uncleaned bloodstains on the ground.
"Old Tang, what happened here?"
"We’ll talk about it later."
While speaking, Tang Yuan brought Ling Chen to the outside of a room and pointed to the door, "You go in by yourself; I’ll wait for you outside."
Pushing open the door, Ling Chen saw two bodies covered with white cloth lying on the bed, an overwhelming sadness filled him, and his eyes moistened.
Standing in front of the corpses for a long ti, Ling Chen’s expression was complex, filled with sorrow and rage. After a while, he slowly raised his right hand, his tone resolute as he spoke, "Uncle Mu, Mrs. Chen, rest assured, I will make the murderer pay this blood debt with their own blood."
Coming out of the room, Ling Chen looked at Tang Yuan and asked, "Old Tang, tell what exactly happened?"
"Yesterday evening, the base was attacked by the God Organization. There were over thirty people, all agile, specially trained individuals, and they had also taken enhancent drugs. Less than a minute after the invasion began, Uncle Mu, who was responsible for the first line of defense, sounded the alarm, but when the internal personnel tried to lock down the base, they found a system malfunction, unable to seal off the entrances and exits."
"Traitor!" Ling Chen said coldly, clenching his teeth.
"Exactly," Tang Yuan nodded and said, "Without an insider working with them, they couldn’t have breached our defenses so easily, and moreover..."
At this point, Tang Yuan’s expression suddenly turned ugly.
Ling Chen frowned and asked, "And what?"
"There’s more than one traitor." Tang Yuan let out a self-mocking laugh, saying, "We always thought that Ghost Organization’s security asures were very tight, but what happened last night told us that Ghost had long been infiltrated by outsiders; we just didn’t know."
"Have the traitors been identified?"
"One is Wu Jun, another is Yang Tao."
"Them?" Ling Chen was shocked. He knew Wu Jun, a veteran within the Ghost Organization. As for Yang Tao, he was even more familiar. Back then, when Yang Tao’s mission failed, he and Tang Yuan risked their lives to rescue him from Cyprus. He didn’t expect him to be a traitor.
Tang Yuan explained, "Wu Jun is an operative for the God Organization, but Yang Tao was bought by Mr. Yun. The primary responsibility for this attack on the Ghost Base lies with Wu Jun; Yang Tao isn’t related to this incident."
"How was he exposed?"
"Because of Mr. Yun. Mr. Yun was captured by the Ghost Organization, and Yang Tao worried that he would betray him, jeopardizing his future. So, he sneaked into the prison intending to kill Mr. Yun to eliminate the threat, but was discovered by the patrolling staff."
"Where are they now?"
Tang Yuan said helplessly, "Wu Jun fled with the people from the God Organization, and Yang Tao has been captured by us, but... Mr. Yun was severely injured and is currently undergoing ergency treatnt, it’s uncertain if he will survive."
After speaking, Tang Yuan changed the topic, "Let’s go, I’ll take you to et the General. Since its establishnt, Ghost has never suffered such a severe blow, you can imagine how the General feels. Later, try to console him well."
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