188: Chapter 188 Hidden Lines

Chen Zhi took Lin Ning's medical report, flipped through it back and forth three times, and finally felt relieved.

Lin Ning leaned against the side of the hospital bed, watching him, and couldn't help but laugh: "Brother Chen, I'm really fine. I just bumped into something, I'm not made of paper."

Chen Zhi looked up at him, his gaze filled with complicated emotions.

He wanted to say something, but swallowed the words back down.

Lin Ning noticed he had something on his mind and stopped smiling: "What is it?"

Chen Zhi was silent for two seconds before speaking: "There's a new development regarding Mr. Rosev, who had Ma Xiaofu buy the controlled items."

Lin Ning's heart stirred, and he sat up straight.

Chen Zhi pulled up a chair and sat down. He spoke slowly, but every word carried weight: "He confessed. The bomb target is the China-France-Germany energy project. He gave up several accomplices, and we've arrested them all. They are all low-level operatives who only knew their own part of the mission, and their handler has already left the country."

Lin Ning blinked, surprised that this could actually be linked to that multinational energy project.

Chen Zhi paused: "One of them, James, although also low-level, inadvertently learned something—that their commander, who has already left the country, has another thread in his hands."

Lin Ning narrowed his eyes. "Another bomb?"

Chen Zhi nodded: "And that thread is almost ready."

Lin Ning's heart tightened: "What do you mean?"

Chen Zhi looked at him, his tone carrying a rare trace of anxiety: "James doesn't know the specific target or the personnel. But he knows that the mission progress of that thread is much faster than theirs—it's not just a 'plan,' it's 'already prepared to act.'"

A chill ran down Lin Ning's back, and he took a deep breath: "What about the target?"

Chen Zhi shook his head: "I don't know. This is all the information we have right now."

Lin Ning stared steadily at Chen Zhi: "What do you need me to do?"

Chen Zhi hesitated slightly, but finally said: "The cover for this spy ring is a company that appears to have legitimate business. Except for Mr. Rosev and a few others, the rest of the staff are normal people, including many foreign employees with clean backgrounds."

He paused and looked at Lin Ning: "But for this kind of spy cell, besides the handler on the surface, there is usually a hidden operative. The team members don't know this person exists; their mission is to supervise and judge at any time whether anyone has defected."

Lin Ning understood what he meant: "You want me to go and see if there is this hidden operative in that company?"

Chen Zhi nodded: "There are too few clues right now. If we can root out the hidden operative, we might be able to find the whereabouts of the other bomb thread."

Lin Ning stood up: "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go."

Chen Zhi was stunned for a moment and glanced out the window—it was dusk, and it was almost time to get off work. "Don't you need to rest? Tomorrow will be fine too."

"I'm fine." Lin Ning shook his head. "Who knows when the bomb will go off? Every second we wait is another second of risk. I'm fine now, let's go quickly."

Chen Zhi looked at him, was silent for a second, then nodded. "Let's go."

The car stopped across from an office building.

Chen Zhi pointed to the windows on the seventh floor: "That's the company, they do import and export trade. Mr. Rosev and the others used to work there; on the surface, they were just ordinary employees."

He handed Lin Ning a set of glasses, a mask, and a hat: "Put these on. We'll go in for a walk, and if you see anything wrong, tell me."

Lin Ning took them, got ready in a few moments, pushed open the car door, and walked toward the office building.

The elevator went to the seventh floor, and when the doors opened, they were directly facing the company's reception desk.

Lin Ning walked in with his head down, pretending to wait for someone, and sat down on the sofa in the lobby.

It was just time to get off work, and people were coming out one after another. Foreigners, Chinese people, in twos and threes, talking and laughing.

Lin Ning's gaze swept over their heads—Green. Green. Light red. Green...

He remained calm and continued to watch. The crowd gradually thinned out. Lin Ning felt a bit anxious—what if the hidden operative had already left?

Just then, a middle-aged man came out, wearing a dark jacket, carrying a briefcase in his hand, walking at a leisurely pace with a natural expression.

Lin Ning's gaze swept over his head—[Ryan Muller, Foreign Enterprise Employee] Deep red. So deep it was almost black.

Lin Ning's heart skipped a beat, and he calmly shifted his gaze elsewhere.

When that man walked past Lin Ning, he glanced at him and entered the elevator.

Lin Ning knew the other party must have remembered him; if he appeared around him again, he would immediately become a primary target of attention. He had learned all this at the Small Building a while ago.

But he couldn't focus on that now. Staring at the elevator's downward indicator, after counting down five seconds, while staying alert for anyone else coming out of the company, he immediately reported to Chen Zhi.

"Ryan Muller just took the elevator down."

Chen Zhi had people stationed from the first floor to the parking lot, waiting at any moment to apprehend the suspicious person Lin Ning reported.

After waiting a while longer, the receptionist came out and started locking the door, and Lin Ning did not find a second target with a deep red color.

Lin Ning checked the time; it was just six-thirty.

He didn't know why his brain glitched in such a tense environment—no one was working overtime, what a great company.

After reporting to Chen Zhi that the company was closed and receiving the order to withdraw, Lin Ning stood up to leave.

Back in the car, Chen Zhi was looking at information on his tablet.

Chen Zhi didn't look up: "Ryan Muller, German-American, has worked at this company for three years, clean background, no problematic records."

Lin Ning said firmly: "He has a problem. I just don't know if he is the person you are looking for."

Chen Zhi nodded and turned on his communicator: "Go back, interrogate Ryan Muller immediately."

Lin Ning dared to say it, and Chen Zhi dared to believe it.

Although it had only been a short three months, and he often complained about him, Chen Zhi knew in his heart that Lin Ning was reliable.

The Small Building.

Ryan Muller was being escorted in front, and Lin Ning stared at the dot above his head and clicked it.

He couldn't wait for Chen Zhi to confirm it. In an instant, the blinding red life fragments hit him like a splash of water, causing Lin Ning to briefly suffocate from the impact.

Lin Ning gritted his teeth and chose to look at the most recent one—

[Ryan Muller is sitting in an office, opposite a middle-aged bald man. The man's voice is very low: "...You watch this line, they don't know you exist. If anyone defects, report it immediately."]

[Ryan Muller reports to the bald man, "Everything is normal, no personnel changes." "That's good!" The bald man leans back in his chair, unable to hide a smile on his face, "'Respect' is all set, it will be detonated according to plan. Once the 'Clean-up' plan here is completed, what reason will those guys at headquarters have to cut our funding? Fuck! Just thinking about those guys is bad luck!"]

[Ryan Muller frowns, "Hey, I shouldn't be hearing news about 'Respect'!" The bald man rolls his eyes: "I just said it was ready, I didn't say anything else." Ryan Muller straightens his clothes, stands up, and walks straight out. After leaving, he mutters to himself, "There shouldn't be any slaughter in religious places. Damn utilitarianism, damn Jews!"]

Lin Ning clenched his fists. Apart from knowing it was a religious place, he didn't know any other specific locations or times. This Ryan should be separated from that thread; he only knew the general situation, and he didn't even want to listen when they told him about it.

Having confirmed that the bomb news was true, Lin Ning became even more anxious. Unwilling to give up, Lin Ning activated the Eye of Insight again, carefully looking over the last few red images, but still found nothing.

Lin Ning's face turned slightly pale, and he swayed, but was caught by Chen Zhi beside him.

Chen Zhi frowned and said: "Go back and rest. You've had a car accident and then went straight to work. I'll handle the interrogation here first."

Lin Ning grabbed Chen Zhi back, his expression extremely grim: "Use whatever methods you have, pry his mouth open immediately!"