122: Chapter 122 The Land of Etiquette!

Lin Ning waved his hand. "Stop buttering me up. I'm already keeping a low profile as it is, and I still ended up being targeted by those lunatics."

Then, changing the subject, he said, "I originally wanted to come up with a code name for you all to use, just to reduce the exposure of the name 'Lin Ning'."

"I never expected this, I really didn't." Lin Ning asked indignantly, "Did Li Chao tell you my code name was 'Scrawny Chicken'? Call him over here! I want to confront him!!"

Chen Zhi couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. Seeing that Lin Ning wouldn't explain what was going on and just insisted on finding Li Chao, he made an internal call to summon him.

Although Chen Zhi often found Lin Ning annoying and felt frustrated by his lack of ambition, to outsiders, he still appeared to "value" and "dote on" Lin Ning quite a bit.

Before long, there was a knock at the door, followed by a shouted "Report!"

Li Chao walked in, standing straight as a ramrod.

Lin Ning, however, couldn't hold back anymore and jumped to his feet.

"Li Chao!" Lin Ning's voice was trembling slightly, "Whose code name is 'Scrawny Chicken'?"

Li Chao was taken aback by the sudden interrogation. He blinked those eyes that shone with the light of justice and replied, "Yours!"

Lin Ning hadn't expected Li Chao to say that so confidently right to his face. "You, you, you..."

Li Chao was even more confused. Looking at the trembling, angry Lin Ning, he said, "Isn't that what you said? 'Shou Ji' from 'Receiving the mandate from Heaven, may you live forever and prosper'!"

The air in the office froze for two seconds.

"Shou... 'Shou Ji'?" Lin Ning repeated, his mouth agape. The expression on his face shifted from anger to confusion, finally settling into a deep sense of powerlessness. He slowly turned his head to look at Chen Zhi beside him.

Chen Zhi had already picked up his teacup, intending to take a sip to mask his expression, but the uncontrollable twitching at the corner of his mouth was accurately captured by Lin Ning.

Case closed.

"It's 'Tianchang'!!!" Lin Ning shouted helplessly. "Tian! Chang! The 'Tianchang' that sounds like 'Cangtian' (Heaven) when reversed! What kind of decent person would give themselves a code name that sounds like 'Scrawny Chicken'?!"

"Huh?" Li Chao was stunned for a moment. At the time, he had been focused on completing the mission assigned by his superiors and hadn't paid much attention to anything else. Now that he thought about it, that did seem to be the case.

He actually wanted to say that "Tianchang" was also quite a mouthful and wouldn't usually be used as a personal code name.

However, seeing the look of grievance on Lin Ning's face, which looked like he was about to cry, he had a rare moment of emotional intelligence and kept his thoughts to himself.

Li Chao sincerely admitted his mistake. "I'm sorry, Tianchang. I remembered it wrong. I only remembered the source and mixed up the beginning and the end."

Lin Ning looked at him and knew his explanation must be genuine; a deep sense of powerlessness washed over him.

In the vast sea of people, meeting like this must be some kind of karmic retribution!

He wiped his face, effectively letting this misunderstanding slide.

He very sincerely requested of the two people in the room, "Brother Chen, Li Chao, please remember, my code name is 'Tianchang'! Also, don't spread the 'Scrawny Chicken' thing!"

If it ever got out, he would be stuck being "Scrawny Chicken" forever.

Li Chao nodded solemnly.

Chen Zhi finally couldn't help it, lowered his head to chuckle, and then straightened his expression, saying, "Understood."

At this moment, the computer suddenly emitted a beeping sound.

Chen Zhi took a glance, his expression darkening slightly, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

He said to Li Chao, "Return to your unit, there's a mission."

"Yes!" The clarity in Li Chao's eyes vanished completely, replaced by the sharpness of a drawn sword.

Chen Zhi carefully reviewed it again, looking at Lin Ning with affection and regret.

"The identities of these two have been uncovered." Chen Zhi pulled up the data on his tablet and pushed it in front of Lin Ning. "Shen Shi, lived in South Korea with his remarried mother during childhood, and returned to the country to restore his citizenship upon reaching adulthood. Jiang Hui, immigrated to the Middle East with his parents during childhood, and also returned to the country to request restoration of citizenship after reaching adulthood. Both have been working and living here for many years. Hah!"

Lin Ning listened, his brows knitting together.

People like this used to be rare, but now that China is doing well, there are more and more people requesting to restore their citizenship upon reaching adulthood.

What if this group had already been recruited and brainwashed while abroad?

He believed it wouldn't be all of them, but if word got out, it would be hard not to develop prejudices against them, which was yet another contradiction and hidden danger.

He looked down at the data. All the information was complete, and sure enough, the names used while living abroad were exactly the same as what he had seen using his Golden Finger.

Lin Ning asked with confusion, "Only two people?"

"How could that be? We checked all their interpersonal relationships and communication records, including residential electronic signal sources, and listed 10 suspects." Chen Zhi took back the tablet. "At their respective hideouts, we found dismantled standard-issue firearm parts and plastic explosives."

Despite having a premonition, Lin Ning's heart still gave a sharp thud.

No matter how awesome a person is, they can be taken down by a single bullet, let alone explosives.

"Since they don't want to be human and prefer to be dogs, there's no need to be polite." Chen Zhi said in an icy tone.

He then picked up the microphone. "Reconnaissance team, coordinate with the strike team, take them all down. Strike team, order code S03. Begin operation!"

Lin Ning didn't understand the order code and shamelessly asked Chen Zhi, "What does S03 mean?"

Chen Zhi replied with a half-smile, "Unlimited lethal force, no requirement to take prisoners. This includes any suspicious personnel who appear suddenly during the operation and are deemed suspect by the strike team."

Lin Ning: "???"

Although he wondered if they didn't need to confirm evidence or something like that, a fire ignited in his heart, and his blood began to feel like it was flowing faster. As the saying goes—his blood was boiling.

It felt good!

He knew it!

We are a Land of Propriety, Propriety, Propriety!!!

Chen Zhi noticed Lin Ning's excitement and immediately poured a bucket of cold water over it.

"The intelligence has been verified," he said, looking at Lin Ning seriously, "proving that their superior handler has become so desperate that they've lost their sanity."

"They have started acting recklessly and flailing about. 'Lin Ning' is the only high-value intelligence provided by Li Xianmin. At a time like this, there is no guarantee what they might do or what methods they might use to find you."

Lin Ning pressed his lips together.

Chen Zhi looked into his eyes and said earnestly, "You are very important, Lin Ning; you are more important than you think you are!"

"So, I suggest you avoid them during their most frantic phase. Don't come near the small building recently; contact us by phone if anything happens. Also, didn't you say you wanted to go back to your hometown to visit relatives? Take this time to go back and check it out."

Lin Ning opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Chen Zhi. Given some of Lin Ning's previous behavior, he was afraid Lin Ning might get carried away or stubborn. "This isn't retreating; engaging in a biting contest with a mad dog is what's insane. Before you return, I will handle the rest."

Lin Ning thought to himself, what kind of wrong perception do you have of me? Am I that brave? Besides, is this even called brave? It's just stupid!

He had actually wanted to ask about his bonus just now.

But now, his attention was diverted. "How are you going to handle it? Will they give up after this wave passes?"

Chen Zhi smiled and said nothing.