150: You've kept it well hidden, Lao Lin.

The two of them stumbled into the boiler room.

The manhole cover that had been pried open was still on the ground.

"Go down!" Chen Mo pointed at the sewer opening.

"What about you?"

"I'll light the fire."

Chen Mo pulled the rusty lighter from his pocket.

It was a memento left by Old Lin; it usually wouldn't light, but in critical moments, it always managed to produce a flame.

Thud, thud, thud.

Heavy footsteps approached.

Zhang Zhen's massive frame blocked the doorway, casting a shadow over the entire room.

"It's useless, Chen Mo."

Zhang Zhen sneered, holding a fire axe he had ripped off the wall. "These little tricks won't save you."

He approached step by step, his red electronic eyes scanning the room. "Do you think you can win just by breaking my gun? My body is the weapon."

Chen Mo leaned against a rusty, oversized valve.

It was the main gas intake valve.

The pressure gauge on it had long been broken, the needle stuck at zero.

But Chen Mo could hear it.

Inside those thick iron pipes, gas was hissing as it flowed.

The pressure was high.

"Old Zhang."

Chen Mo looked at the monster and suddenly smiled, a somewhat desolate smile. "Do you remember what Old Lin taught us in our first lesson when we joined the force?"

Zhang Zhen paused, then snorted disdainfully. "That old stubborn fool? He only knew how to teach us how to write self-criticisms."

"No."

Chen Mo shook his head, his fingers gripping the valve wheel. "He taught us: if you can't catch the suspect, blow up the crime scene, and everyone can write self-criticisms together."

Zhang Zhen's expression changed, his electronic eyes instantly capturing Chen Mo's movement. "Stop!"

He lunged forward.

It was too late.

Chen Mo used all his strength to violently turn the valve.

Hiss—!

A pungent smell of gas instantly gushed out, accompanied by the whistling sound of high-pressure airflow, immediately filling the entire cramped space.

"Qingxue, jump!"

Chen Mo roared, lit the lighter in his hand, and threw it toward the direction of the gas flow.

Then he fell backward, tumbling directly into the sewer opening.

BOOM—!!!

A massive fireball exploded in the boiler room.

The blast wave, mixed with flames, surged out from the manhole, Li Ke an angry fire dragon.

Even down in the sewer, Chen Mo felt a scorching blast wave pass over his head, singing his hair.

The explosions above were continuous; the entire basement was shaking, and dust rained down.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Chen Mo landed in a pile of sludge, feeling as if his internal organs had been displaced.

His broken leg hurt so much it had gone numb.

A pair of cold hands pulled him up.

"You're not dead, right?" Su Qingxue's voice had a sob in it, her face covered in soot Li Ke a smudge-faced cat.

"Not dead yet."

Chen Mo spat out a mouthful of blood-tinged saliva and looked up.

The manhole opening had collapsed; rubble blocked the exit, with only a few wisps of smoke filtering down.

There was no movement above.

That metal monster, even if not blown to death, was likely buried in the ruins.

At the very least, it would hold it off for a while.

"Let's go."

Chen Mo pulled the iron box from his chest, clutching it tightly. "This isn't safe here; this pipe leads to the moat."

The two trekked through the dark, damp, and foul-smelling pipe.

They didn't know how long they had been walking when a sliver of light finally appeared ahead.

It was the drainage outlet.

Outside was the beach of the moat.

The night breeze blew in, carrying the fishy smell of the river, which perked them up.

Supporting each other, they crawled out of the pipe and collapsed into the reed beds by the river.

In the distance, the Municipal Bureau building was billowing black smoke, and the sound of sirens rang through the night sky.

"Is it over?" Su Qingxue looked at the building that had once symbolized justice, her eyes filled with confusion.

"It's only just begun."

Chen Mo used the moonlight to open the iron box.

He took out the pellet drum.

The smiling faces of the two chubby dolls on the drum surface looked somewhat eerie in the moonlight.

"What exactly is this?" Su Qingxue leaned in.

"This is more than just a toy."

Chen Mo gripped the drum handle and twisted it hard.

Click.

The drum handle could actually be rotated.

As it rotated, the drum surface painted with the chubby dolls suddenly split open, revealing the structure inside.

It wasn't hollow.

Embedded inside was a complex set of mechanical gears, and in the center of the gears, a small crystal chip was lodged.

"This is..." Su Qingxue's eyes widened.

"The key."

Chen Mo carefully removed the crystal chip. "This is the physical key for the hard drive Li Ke had. Old Lin hid it in the most inconspicuous place."

"What about the cassette tape?"

Chen Mo picked up the cassette tape.

It was just a regular Sony T-120 cassette, common in the nineties.

"I don't think this is just for audio recording."

Chen Mo flipped the tape over, his fingers tracing the screw holes on the back. "Old Lin was an agent; he wouldn't do anything unnecessary."

He unclipped a micro-multitool from his belt, the prying tool he always carried.

He skillfully unscrewed the screws and pried open the cassette shell.

The tape reels spilled out.

Inside the cassette case, there was actually a memory card smaller than a fingernail stuck to it.

You hid it so well, Old Lin.

"This will also need a reading device." Su Qingxue frowned. "Our phones can't read this kind of industrial memory card."

"I know where we can read it."

Chen Mo put the items away, his gaze turning toward the bustling commercial district on the other side of the river. "There's a place there that specializes in collecting this kind of shady intelligence."

"The black market?"

"No."

Chen Mo shook his head, his eyes deepening. "It's an internet cafe."

"An internet cafe?" Su Qingxue was stunned.

"Red Lantern Internet Cafe."

Chen Mo braced his knees and stood up, his broken leg stiff in the cold wind. "That's Ninth Master's lair. It's also the largest underground intelligence exchange in all of Jiangcheng."

"Didn't Ninth Master run away with Li Ke?"

"He ran away, but all his underlings are still there."

Chen Mo glanced into the distance. "Besides, I have a feeling that Ninth Master hasn't run very far."

Just then.

Chen Mo's ears twitched.

A rustling sound came from the reed beds.

It was very light, Li Ke wind blowing through leaves.

But there was no wind.

"Someone's there."

Chen Mo immediately pressed Su Qingxue down. "Three o'clock direction, two people."

"Are they pursuers?" Su Qingxue raised her empty gun.

"No."

Chen Mo narrowed his eyes. "Heartbeats are fast, breathing is rapid. They're scared."

The two figures pushed aside the reeds and walked out.

"Oh my god, you scared the hell out of me!"

Ninth Master scrambled out, panting, his hair a mess, holding a steel pipe he'd picked up from a trash heap.

Behind him, Li Ke clutched the hard drive Li Ke a frightened quail.

"You guys..." Su Qingxue was stunned. "You didn't run?"

"Run my ass!"

Ninth Master threw the steel pipe aside and plopped onto the ground. "I watched that building explode and figured if you two kicked the bucket, that old bastard Professor Qin would definitely hunt us down across the whole city. Since it's death either way, I might as well come back to collect your corpses."

"I didn't expect you two scourges to be so tough."

Chen Mo looked at this bullshitting fat man, and a wave of warmth suddenly surged in his heart.

"Where's the car?"

"It's hidden under the bridge." Ninth Master pointed upward. "But there's not much gas left."

"Is it enough to get to your internet cafe?"

"Why go there?" Ninth Master looked at him vigilantly. "It's crawling with informants right now."

"To load the save file."

Chen Mo held up the crystal chip and the memory card.

"I want to see what kind of earth-shattering secret Old Lin left for us."

"And by the way..."

Chen Mo looked back at the smoke-billowing Municipal Bureau building.

"Prepare a return gift for Professor Qin."