327: Chapter 327 This freezer is big enough to hold two people.

Dongdu, Central Business District, Global Finance Building.

On the thirty-sixth floor, the mirror-like marble floor reflected the hurried figures of white-collar workers.

Everyone was dressed in suits and ties, walking in a hurry.

The air was filled with the aroma of coffee and the intangible pressure of the elite class.

Suddenly, a slight commotion arose at the edge of the open-plan office area.

Employees involuntarily raised their heads, their gazes converging on a single point with slightly stunned expressions.

The chairman of the company, that usually dignified bald fat man whose voice shook the heavens when he scolded people, was acting just like a newcomer intern right now.

With both hands, he carefully held a tray carrying three cups of freshly brewed top-grade Dahongpao tea.

His back was slightly arched, and his face wore a humble yet stiff smile.

First, he walked up to the heavy walnut door of the chairman's office and gently knocked with his elbow.

After receiving a deep response from inside, he sidestepped to push the door open and respectfully delivered the tea inside.

Moments later, he backed out and carefully pulled the door shut.

The entire process did not make a single unnecessary sound.

After finishing all this, the bald old man straightened his waist, habitually adjusted his tie, and recovered some of the chairman's airs.

When his peripheral vision swept across the employees who were secretly sizing him up, his brows instantly knitted together into a knot.

A tangible, stern gaze instantly swept across the entire room.

Inside the office area, all heads lowered with a swishing sound.

Only the clatter of keyboard typing remained.

Inside the luxurious office, there was dead silence.

An expensive red sandalwood executive desk had been roughly pushed into a corner.

In its place was a minimalist yet imposing set of black leather sofas.

Minister Luo Lie sat in the main seat.

Without looking at the two people standing beside him, his gaze penetrated the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, overlooking the steel jungle beneath his feet.

Towering buildings stood tall, and traffic flowed like a weaver's shuttle.

The entire city was like a huge, precise chessboard laid out before his eyes.

Station Chief Feng Jincai and Zhuo Feng stood respectfully to the side with lowered hands, deliberately slowing down their breathing.

The air seemed to have solidified into substance, pressing heavily on their shoulders.

Two days had passed since the Demon Hunting Operation that ended in a disastrous defeat.

The Dongdu Branch had suffered unprecedented, heavy losses.

What was even more fatal was that those mad dogs from the Special Investigation Team had somehow obtained a massive amount of clues and were conducting a city-wide manhunt against the Noah Organization.

Stronghold after stronghold was uprooted, and member after member lost contact.

As surviving executives, they had no choice but to temporarily hide in a relatively safe "white glove" company to avoid the sharp edge of the enemy.

This was a legal property of the Noah Organization and a major taxpayer; without conclusive evidence and a search warrant, even the Special Investigation Team could not barge in arbitrarily.

The prolonged silence pressed like a giant boulder on the hearts of Station Chief Feng Jincai and Zhuo Feng, making it hard for them to breathe.

Cold sweat had already begun to silently soak the back of Zhuo Feng's shirt.

He knew that as the head of intelligence, he was absolutely to blame for the failure of this operation.

Station Chief Feng Jincai secretly glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, his lips moving, but ultimately he didn't dare to make a sound.

In the end, Zhuo Feng couldn't withstand the suffocating pressure, plucked up his courage, stepped forward, and lowered his head deeply.

"Minister Luo... The responsibility for the failure of this operation lies entirely with this subordinate."

"There was a major negligence in my intelligence work, I..."

"Foolproof?"

Minister Luo Lie did not turn back, his deep voice coming through to interrupt his confession of guilt:

"I remember this was your exact phrasing."

This understated sentence struck Zhuo Feng's heart like a heavy hammer, choking back all his subsequent words and turning his face instantly pale.

"Minister, this... this really was an accident!"

Seeing this, Station Chief Feng Jincai hurriedly defended Zhuo Feng from the side, a hint of eagerness in his voice:

"No one expected the target to be so cunning, even... even being able to turn around and use those mad dogs from the Special Investigation Team against us. This completely exceeded our contingency plan."

Minister Luo Lie finally turned around slowly, his deep gaze falling upon the two of them.

There was no anger or blame in that gaze, only a bottomless calm.

However, it was precisely this calmness that was most terrifying.

"Talk about the losses."

He asked indifferently, as if inquiring about today's weather.

Station Chief Feng Jincai and Zhuo Feng exchanged glances, feeling slightly relieved in their hearts, but still not daring to lower their guard.

Minister Luo's willingness to listen to the report meant there was still room for redemption.

Station Chief Feng Jincai cleared his throat and answered cautiously:

"Minister, due to the suddenness of the incident, most members entered a state of silence in accordance with the highest emergency contingency plan, cutting off all routine communications..."

"Therefore, currently... we can only compile a very preliminary and rough situation."

"Yes."

Zhuo Feng immediately took over the conversation, adding eagerly to show his diligence, though his voice sounded somewhat dry:

"According to the sporadic news gathered so far, we have at least eight cadres below level six who lost contact during the retreat, with a high probability of being arrested or... killed on the spot."

"The losses of ordinary members are preliminarily estimated to be over fifty people."

Speaking to this point, Zhuo Feng's expression became exceptionally solemn. He paused for a moment, seemingly organizing his words.

"The worst part is... three of our level-seven cadres were confirmed killed last night..."

Hearing this, Minister Luo Lie's deeply furrowed brows finally twitched imperceptibly.

"Among them was Captain Chen Rui, the head of the intelligence department responsible for tracking the target."

Zhuo Feng continued, lowering his voice even further:

"When our men rushed to the slaughterhouse where he lived, the police had already cordoned off the scene."

"According to descriptions sent back by our informants, Captain Chen Rui died in an extremely miserable state. The scene was littered with broken bones and rotting meat of those fierce dogs, as if an explosion had occurred."

"Furthermore, someone used his blood to draw a huge, grinning Smiling Demon face on the wall of the slaughterhouse."

Hearing these words, Minister Luo Lie's gaze suddenly turned sharp, like an unsheathed sword piercing straight at Zhuo Feng and Station Chief Feng Jincai.

"It is definitely that bastard, it is definitely Cheng Jiashu who did it!"

Before Zhuo Feng could continue speaking, Station Chief Feng Jincai chimed in through gritted teeth:

"He is demonstrating to us; this is a blatant provocation!"

Clearly, because the Dongdu Branch suffered heavy losses, as the general person-in-charge, he harbored extreme hatred for the mastermind who caused him to take the blame.

"Yes, Station Chief Feng's guess is correct."

Zhuo Feng nodded, forcing his tone to calm down:

"The same mark was found at the death scenes of the other two killed level-seven cadres."

"You are well aware of Captain Chen Rui's strength. Although he was only level seven, his special ability made him extremely difficult to kill, and his comprehensive combat power was not even inferior to some level-eight cadres."

"To be able to silently eliminate him overnight and take care of two other level-seven cadres along the way... it must have been done by Cheng Jiashu himself."

Zhuo Feng took a deep breath and laid out all the conclusions he had analyzed without sleep over the past two days:

"He must have obtained information from some channel before we took action, which is why he could lay traps in advance, lure over the Special Investigation Team, and thus crack our encirclement."

"After escaping, he used the information he mastered to turn around and track and hunt down our core cadres as a means of retaliation!"

Hearing this, Minister Luo Lie fell silent.

His fingertips tapped lightly on the sofa's armrest, making rhythmic clicks, each sound like a strike on the hearts of Station Chief Feng Jincai and Zhuo Feng.

In Minister Luo Lie's mind, involuntarily surfaced that stormy night on Yongan Island, the raging waves dyed red with blood.

And that figure wearing a white mask who killed his sworn brother and brought him massive losses.

White Owl...

Cheng Jiashu...

Smiling Demon...

These titles gradually overlapped in his heart, finally transforming into a bone-chilling murderous intent.

"Since he has already made his move."

Minister Luo Lie slowly spoke, the chill in his voice seeming to lower the indoor temperature by a few degrees.

"Then as a special envoy dispatched by the headquarters, I cannot just sit by and watch the show."

As soon as these words came out, Station Chief Feng Jincai and Zhuo Feng both felt a chill in their hearts, and another layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on their backs.

The implication was self-evident.

Because he was extremely disappointed with the performance of the Dongdu Branch.

The minister decided to take action personally!

Minister Luo Lie indeed thought this way.

Initially, considering White Owl's mysterious origin and the tone in which that old ghost Zheng Hongxin respectfully referred to him as the "God Child" of the Zhenxiang Society, he harbored some degree of apprehension in his heart.

To ensure foolproof success, he agreed to Zhuo Feng's proposal to conduct a roundup with thunderous momentum.

But now, the Dongdu Branch had suffered heavy casualties and was chased by the Special Investigation Team like stray dogs.

Under such a jittery and tense situation, organizing an operation of the same scale again was utterly impossible.

The Foundation that the Dongdu Branch had operated for decades must never be ruined because of a mere enemy.

Otherwise, even if he successfully resolved the target in the end, he wouldn't be able to account to the Board of Directors upon returning to the headquarters.

Thinking it over, only by taking action personally and rapidly suppressing this enemy with absolute power was the only way to break the deadlock right now.

Judging from the intelligence gathered from all aspects, Cheng Jiashu's strength was roughly at A+ grade, close to the threshold of S grade.

Even if he had hidden his true strength and it had already reached S grade...

Minister Luo Lie still held absolute confidence in this.

Because there was a huge gap even between S-grade individuals.

And having stepped into S-grade for many years, his methods and strength had long surpassed the conventional evaluation category.

However, just as Minister Luo Lie made his decision, Zhuo Feng hesitated for a moment and spoke:

"Minister Luo, there is one more crucial issue."

"Cheng Jiashu... has disappeared."

"Before the Demon Hunting Operation unfolded, to ensure complete control over the target's whereabouts, our men constantly maintained surveillance on the periphery of his villa."

"However, ever since he left the villa that day and headed to the orphanage, he didn't return all night, and up until now, he has never gone back."

Station Chief Feng Jincai's face was full of sorrow, and then he chimed in:

"He made such a big commotion, he must have anticipated that we would launch a crazy retaliation, and he probably went into hiding long ago."

"Dongdu is so big; wanting to find a transcendent ability user who is deliberately hiding is no different from finding a needle in a haystack..."

Minister Luo Lie's brows furrowed, and his gaze turned sharp once more:

"Do you have any way to drag him back out?"

This question stumped Station Chief Feng Jincai. A look of embarrassment appeared on his face as he muttered:

"Perhaps... we could ask his agency?"

On the contrary, a flash of shrewdness crossed Zhuo Feng's eyes, as if he had been waiting to seize this opportunity, and he answered confidently:

"Yes!"

"For Cheng Jiashu to make such a precise response, he must have planted a mole inside our organization and maintained constant contact with him!"

"As long as we can weed out this rat hiding by our side, we can follow the vine to unearth the melon and dig him out completely!"

Minister Luo Lie's deep gaze looked at him, signaling him to continue.

Zhuo Feng then analyzed methodically, his voice revealing a determination to redeem himself through meritorious service:

"At that time, the meeting to discuss the operation plan had extremely strict security measures, and the possibility of being eavesdropped on did not exist."

"The specific operational deployment was also issued separately just before the operation started. Therefore, the source of the leak could only come from among the twenty-seven cadres who attended the meeting at that time."

"And now, among these twenty-seven people, eight have lost contact, three are dead, and excluding Station Chief Feng and myself... there are only fourteen suspects left!"

"The scope has been greatly narrowed down."

"Next, as long as we pay a little attention, we can even deliberately release some fake bait intelligence to test them. I believe it won't be long before that rat exposes its tail on its own..."

After hearing these words, Minister Luo Lie's tense face finally relaxed a bit.

"Very good, this task is handed over to you to handle."

He nodded approvingly, then shifted the topic:

"Once you discover the traces of that murderer, report to me immediately. Do not act without authorization."

"Yes! Minister, please rest assured, guaranteed to complete the mission!"

Zhuo Feng immediately straightened his back, his tone filled with the excitement of regaining trust.

"Just go ahead and do it."

Minister Luo Lie's words carried a hint of encouragement:

"If you need any resources, talk directly to Station Chief Feng."

"Then... what about the Special Investigation Team?"

Station Chief Feng Jincai still asked worriedly; this was his biggest headache at present.

Minister Luo Lie's mouth curved into a contemptuous sneer.

"Just a pack of dogs raised by the officials, can they really turn the world upside down?"

"The Foundation of Noah in Dongdu, and even the entire Xia Country, is far from something a mere Special Investigation Team can shake. The high-level game is far more complex than you imagine."

He paused, speaking in a flat yet powerful tone:

"They won't be able to bounce around for many days; the situation will calm down soon."

Hearing this, a trace of exhilaration simultaneously rose in the hearts of Station Chief Feng Jincai and Zhuo Feng.

The two exchanged glances, both seeing a sense of relief in each other's eyes.

That haze that had weighed on their hearts for days, making them almost suffocate, seemed to be easily dispersed and swept away by this sentence.

Minister Luo Lie said no more and cast his gaze back outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.

A ray of sunlight happened to break through the thick clouds, sprinkling among the city's skyscrapers and refracting dazzling light.

...

Guanlan District, Haitian Garden.

Inside a bare apartment that had just finished basic renovation, the air was still permeated with the faint scent of latex paint and wood.

"Master, over here, put the sofa against this wall, and place the table right in front of the living room..."

Fang Cheng, wearing a somewhat worn casual outfit, was directing several moving company workers.

"Heave-ho!"

The workers shouted in unison as they lifted a huge chest freezer—one that could almost fit two adults—off the ground and carefully moved it to the designated location.

The freezer's foot pads made a harsh scraping sound against the concrete floor.

"A bit more to the left, right, good, right here."

Fang Cheng stepped back a few steps, squinted to size it up, and nodded with satisfaction.

"Young man, your freezer is really big enough. Living alone, are you opening a grocery store?"

A worker wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked half-jokingly.