48: traitor

When words don't click, even half a sentence is too much.

Yang Dian, who had already categorized Chen Wenya as a casual acquaintance, began chatting with her using the same tactics he used to deal with technicians in his previous life.

If she said one, it was one.

If she said two, it was two.

Occasionally, he would offer a different opinion, but in the end, he would always be 'convinced' by Chen Wenya.

In short,

Throughout their conversation, Chen Wenya's impression of Yang Dian greatly improved.

Even when they reached the stairwell, about to part ways, Chen Wenya still wanted to invite Yang Dian to lunch.

Looking down at Chen Wenya's glistening big eyes, Yang Dian shrugged:

"Lunch probably won't work."

"The Firefly Bug infection incident that broke out in the city the day before yesterday still has follow-up work to be concluded."

"After reporting in this morning, I'll probably have to go out on duty."

"Let's go out to eat next time I'm free."

Chen Wenya wrinkled her nose, then nodded:

"Then let's make it next time."

"When that time comes, you'll have to tell me all about the opportunity you encountered by the sea."

She looked enviously at Yang Dian's hair:

"To actually grow such beautiful long hair in such a short time..."

After a few more casual words, the two parted ways at the stairwell.

Watching Chen Wenya go up to the Information Department on the second floor, Yang Dian turned and walked towards the squad office.

Pushing open the door, a large cloud of grey-black smoke instantly surged out of the office, stinging Yang Dian's face.

"Captain, are you cultivating immortality?"

Waving his hand to clear the smoke swirling in front of him, Yang Dian held his breath as he entered the office and immediately opened the window.

Turning his head, Lin Mo, surrounded by cigarette ash and butts, with a scruffy beard and looking particularly haggard, came into his sight:

"You smoked in the office all night?"

Lin Mo first looked at Yang Dian blankly for a moment, then looked up at the clock on the wall:

"It's already morning ~"

Hearing Lin Mo's hoarse voice, Yang Dian couldn't help but frown as he pulled up a stool and sat beside him:

"Captain, what's got you so worried?"

"Is your daughter in an early relationship?"

"Does it warrant smoking this much?"

"Sigh..."

Lin Mo let out a long sigh:

"You know Tian Zhen, the Captain of the Second Brigade, right?"

Yang Dian nodded:

"I know him."

"I still remember the Firefly Bug infection incident was related to his daughter, Tian Xin."

"Not just Tian Xin." Lin Mo exhaled a long breath:

"Tian Zhen is also gone."

Saying that, he subconsciously picked up his lighter again and tapped on the table:

"Because of the Firefly Bug infection incident, the organization launched an investigation into Tian Zhen's family."

"The investigation revealed that their family had a huge amount of unexplained assets overseas."

"The organization immediately approved an arrest warrant."

"But when we went to apprehend them, we discovered that their family of four had completely disappeared."

Yang Dian looked at Lin Mo, feeling a bit speechless:

"Captain, when it was discovered that Tian Xin had issues, wasn't Tian Zhen's family immediately put under surveillance?"

"How could they not be?" Lin Mo rubbed his scalp, flaking off a piece of dandruff:

"We immediately monitored several members of the Tian family, and Tian Zhen was even in the office upstairs."

"But when we went to apprehend them, they were already gone."

"They just vanished so suddenly under our surveillance."

"No one knows how they slipped away right under our noses, and even SkyNet didn't monitor any useful information."

At this point, Lin Mo forcefully slapped his cheeks to make himself more alert.

Then he woke up his computer, performed some operations, and looked at Yang Dian:

"I've already sent you the follow-up investigation details of the Firefly Bug infection incident."

"Analyze it and see if you can find any useful information."

Yang Dian rubbed his temples and sat back at his workstation, opening the internal network and then the information Lin Mo sent.

The investigation information was very detailed.

It meticulously recorded who, where, and when they were parasitized by Firefly Bugs.

In addition, it traced the source, identifying the origin of the Firefly Bug incident.

“A month ago, Yang Fei, the boss of Xindonggang Import and Export Trading Company, traveled to the Philippines, during which he was out of contact for three days, suspected of liaising with an overseas secret organization.”

“Half a month ago, Yang Fei returned to the country on Pacific Ocean Airlines, and during the flight, he had relations with a female flight attendant from the Philippines.”

“According to the investigation, it has been confirmed that the Filipino female flight attendant was parasitized by Firefly Bugs and subsequently cross-infected 36 other passengers, including Indian, British, and American nationals.”

“As a result, the mutated Firefly Bug parasite has spread globally.”

“Upon his return, Yang Fei immediately made private contact with Tian Xin, a member of the Fuzhou Paranormal Management Bureau's Second Brigade.”

“On that day, Tian Xin's overseas account received a transfer of 8 million US dollars.”

“Through tracing the source, the origin of the transfer account was ultimately determined to be the America Agency for International Development.”

“Therefore, this Firefly Bug infection incident is confirmed to be an act by an overseas hostile force, with the America Agency for International Development, i.e., the America official, as the mastermind...”

...After carefully reading the investigation report sent by Lin Mo, Yang Dian closed his eyes again and rubbed his brow.

While reading the investigation report, Yang Dian also mused about the differences between domestic and foreign approaches.

Domestically, when Firefly Bugs were discovered, the immediate thought was to use them for aphrodisiacs and cultivating mutated creatures.

But abroad, Firefly Bugs were directly treated as biological weapons, intended to infect the entire world.

As for the consequences of a global infection?

That group of people abroad didn't care.

They only knew that by doing so, they could make a fortune.

Closing his eyes and curling his fingers, Yang Dian subconsciously tapped the table with his knuckles, making a "thump-thump" sound.

After a long while, he opened his eyes and said:

"Firstly, how to negotiate with other foreign governments regarding the Firefly Bug infection incident is not something we should worry about."

"That's a headache for the higher-ups."

"What we need to do is to determine if there are any other people in the country infected by Firefly Bugs and to apprehend Tian Zhen's family."

At this point, Yang Dian paused again, deliberated his words, and then continued:

"Secondly, since Tian Zhen's family dared to betray the organization, they must have made thorough preparations."

"How to cooperate with Yang Fei to conceal the Firefly Bug infection status, and how to escape after the Firefly Bug infection outbreak—they must have a detailed and complete plan."

"Perhaps there were other overseas forces assisting them, otherwise they wouldn't dare to do these things so openly."

At this point, Yang Dian summarized:

"Finally, I have two conjectures."

"First, besides Tian Zhen's family, there might be others in the organization who have betrayed their faith."

"It is precisely under the cover of this betrayer that Tian Zhen was able to leave the Public Security Bureau without a trace."

"Second, an Awakened from an overseas hostile force has secretly infiltrated the country."

"If no one else in the organization has betrayed their faith, then the remaining possibility is that an Awakened used their innate ability to help Tian Zhen's family escape our sight."

"In this regard, I hope the second conjecture is correct."

Saying that, Yang Dian stood up again and looked at Lin Mo:

"How many meritorious rewards are there for capturing and eliminating Awakened from overseas hostile forces?"