194: Chapter 194 Wish

At 19:03, a message popped up on Chen Zhi's encrypted channel.

He was looking down at the whiteboard when someone beside him handed him a tablet.

A single line of text.

Very short.

"Langley has issued a kill order for Ministry of State Security consultant Lin Ning."

Chen Zhi's gaze was nailed to that line of text.

His fingers slowly tightened, the edges of the screen turning white from the pressure.

Three seconds later, he handed the tablet to the person beside him: "Print it out and archive it."

His voice was very flat.

So flat that it was as if nothing had happened.

19:15, Command Center.

Chen Zhi stood in front of the whiteboard, staring at the chaotic annotations on it without turning back.

"Upgrade Lin Ning's classified file to Level 3."

The person behind him froze for a moment: "Th-that exceeds your authority."

"I will seek retroactive authorization from the Minister later." Chen Zhi's voice was steady. "Upgrade Lin Ning's citizen file to a multi-trigger early warning system, at the same level as mine. Change internal queries or external penetration from system alarm searches to source locking."

"Understood."

"For open-source networks, have the technical team set up keyword monitoring. His name, photo, any potentially related information—as long as someone searches for it on the internet, track it immediately."

Chen Zhi turned around, ice and fire colliding fiercely in the depths of his eyes.

"I want to see how many rats jump out on their own this time."

19:40, small conference room on the third floor.

Several bigwigs from the Ministry were still there.

The Minister sat at the head of the table, holding a cup of tea; the tea had already gone cold.

Chen Zhi knocked and entered, then stood still.

"Report."

The Minister looked up at him for a second: "Speak."

"The five members of Tutubailamu have all been captured, preliminary interrogation has made breakthroughs, and the source of the bombs is being tracked. A secondary sweep of the area around Erxunhan'na showed no abnormalities. Public opinion monitoring has been initiated, and there is currently no negative escalation."

Chen Zhi spoke at a steady pace, "Additionally, there has been movement from Langley."

He handed over the printed intelligence.

The Minister took it and glanced at it, his gaze lingering on that line of text.

Then he sneered.

"They weren't hurt enough."

He placed the paper on the table and looked up at Chen Zhi: "Where is that young man?"

Chen Zhi's Adam's apple bobbed: "301 Hospital. He has been in emergency surgery for fourteen hours."

"The one who made the CIA mistake him for your secret weapon?" an old man beside him asked.

"Yes." Chen Zhi paused, "He contributed to identifying the spy in the energy project. Yesterday afternoon, he saved Professor Wu Boyu at the vehicle management office, a national key materials science expert. Last night, he ferreted out a covert line. Early this morning, he traded his life for those two location names."

The Minister listened without speaking.

After Chen Zhi finished speaking, he also fell silent.

The room was quiet for a few seconds.

The Minister set down his cold tea, his voice softening: "For a person like this, not only is his ability rare, but his character is as well."

He looked at Chen Zhi: "Does he have any difficulties? Or anything he wants? He isn't a soldier, so we can't award him medals; we can only compensate him in other ways."

Chen Zhi was stunned for a moment.

Director Li urged him quickly: "Speak."

Chen Zhi hesitated for a moment, then spoke: "He has a dream; he wants to live in a siheyuan."

The Minister raised an eyebrow.

Several bigwigs nearby also looked over.

Chen Zhi braced himself and continued: "A single-courtyard one, even after a discount, still costs thirty million. I originally told him that if he performed more meritorious service, he might get a further discount later."

The corners of the Minister's mouth twitched: "A siheyuan? That's no small dream."

Chen Zhi didn't speak.

The Minister looked at him and suddenly smiled: "Are you trying to say something on his behalf?"

Chen Zhi was silent for two seconds, his voice dropping: "This child has no other thoughts; he just wants a courtyard of his own."

The Minister stared at him for a while.

Then he turned to look at the person beside him: "That single-courtyard one, how much is it?"

The person beside him checked their phone and reported a number.

The Minister gave a grunt of acknowledgment, then turned back to look at Chen Zhi: "Let him move in first. We'll talk about the money later. Once he accumulates enough merit, the courtyard will be his. If he doesn't accumulate enough, he can pay it off slowly."

Chen Zhi was stunned.

The old man waved his hand: "Go handle it. Don't let those who risk their lives feel disheartened."

20:20, at the entrance of the Command Center.

Chen Zhi stepped out quickly, and someone came up to greet him: "Division Chief Chen, the car is ready."

Chen Zhi nodded without speaking and climbed into the back seat.

The car drove out of the compound and turned onto the main road.

Night had already fallen, and the interplay of lights and moonlight gave this city a unique tenderness amidst the cold concrete.

Chen Zhi leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes.

His phone vibrated.

He picked it up and glanced at it—the hospital dedicated line.

His fingers hovered in mid-air, trembling slightly; two seconds later, he pressed answer.

"Division Chief Chen, the patient's vital signs are stable, and he is out of danger, but he remains in a coma."

The hand Chen Zhi was holding the phone with relaxed slightly.

"Understood."

After hanging up, he looked out the window and remained silent for a long time.

20:50, at the entrance of the 301 ICU.

Chen Zhi exited the elevator; there were two Ministry of State Security personnel standing at the end of the corridor who nodded when they saw him.

He didn't speak, but walked over and stood outside the ICU glass window.

Inside, Lin Ning lay on the hospital bed, covered in tubes, his face devoid of color, lips cracked, and eye sockets sunken.

But the lines on the ECG monitor were jumping steadily—beep, beep, beep.

Chen Zhi stood there, looking at that face.

He looked for a long time.

Then he took out his phone and found Jiang Yu's number.

He dialed it.

The phone rang four times before being answered.

There was no sound on the other end.

Chen Zhi's voice was hoarse: "Come to the hospital. Lin Ning is seriously injured; he just came out of emergency surgery."

The other end of the line was silent for a few seconds.

Then came a very faint, almost inaudible gasp.

Chen Zhi didn't say anything else and hung up.

He put his phone away and took another look at Lin Ning inside the glass window.

The ECG monitor was still beeping—beep, beep, beep.

21:03, at the entrance of the ICU.

At the sound of the elevator door opening, before Chen Zhi could turn around, he heard a rush of hurried footsteps.

Jiang Yu rushed over from the end of the corridor, her hair disheveled, her forehead covered in sweat, wearing one sneaker and one canvas shoe she had found God knows where, running with an uneven gait.

She ran to the entrance of the ICU and was pinned in place by the scene inside the glass window.

Lin Ning was lying inside. He was covered in tubes, his face devoid of color, lips cracked, and eye sockets sunken.

She just stood there, staring at that face, motionless.

Chen Zhi opened his mouth, wanting to say something.

Jiang Yu didn't look at him.

She raised her hand and pressed it against the glass, her fingertips turning white.

"The patient's blood loss is near the limit, with multiple instances of ventricular fibrillation..."

"If it deteriorates further, we really won't be able to hold on..."

Chen Zhi had heard those words over the phone, but now, looking at Jiang Yu's back, those words suddenly had weight.

He was silent for two seconds, then took a step forward.

His phone vibrated.

Chen Zhi looked down at it.

Encrypted channel, marked in red.

He opened it.

A single line of text.

"Multi-trigger early warning: At 21:01, the keyword 'Lin Ning' was searched on the dark web. The search source IP points to domestic territory; tracking has been initiated."

Chen Zhi's gaze was nailed to that line of text.