37: Chapter 37 Actors? No, these are devils who utterly crush the police force!

"Bang!"

A three-hundred-page case file was slammed heavily onto the mahogany conference table.

The dull thud echoed within the enclosed space.

Jianghai City Police Headquarters, Conference Room No. 1.

The air felt as if it had solidified into concrete, pressing down and making it difficult to breathe.

The twenty-plus high-ranking police officers present all had their heads bowed to their chests, wishing they could crawl into a crack in the floor.

Even Zhao Shanhe, the bureau chief who usually enjoyed twirling his iron balls, was now sitting with his hands on his knees, his posture as upright as a schoolboy who had made a mistake.

At the end of the conference table sat a man.

He was around fifty, with frost at his temples, but he was full of vigor.

His eyes, in particular, were as sharp as two freshly honed scalpels, seemingly capable of slicing through skin and flesh to see the quality of the bones beneath.

The Provincial Department's Inspector General, Sima Changfeng.

A legendary figure in the police force, he had once gone undercover alone in the Golden Triangle for three years and personally taken down three transnational drug syndicates.

"Speak."

Sima Changfeng's voice was not loud; one could even say it was very calm.

But beneath that calm lay a volcano on the verge of erupting.

"Who can tell me what this is?"

He extended his index finger and tapped heavily on the file.

No one dared to make a sound.

Only the air conditioning vent continued to blow cold air with a reckless "whoosh."

"Forty episodes."

Sima Changfeng sneered, truly angered to the point of laughter.

"I spent the whole night watching the livestream replays. Forty full episodes!"

"Hundreds of special police officers, the city-wide surveillance network, plus you commanders who call yourselves elites."

"And what was the result?"

Sima Changfeng stood up abruptly, hands braced on the desktop, his body leaning forward as an oppressive, mountain-like pressure instantly swept across the room.

"You were led around like dogs for three whole days by an extra who was paid a five-thousand-yuan appearance fee!"

"Bank robbery, high-altitude escape, infiltrating the police station, stealing jewelry..."

"He pinned your faces to the ground, rubbed them in the dirt, and even stepped on them a couple of times while asking if you were convinced!"

The flesh on Zhao Shanhe's face trembled, and cold sweat streamed down his weathered old face.

This was just too embarrassing.

The point was, every word Sima Changfeng said was a fact.

It was a critical hit.

"Inspector..." Zhao Shanhe swallowed, his throat dry. "This kid... he doesn't play by the rules. We never expected an actor to know so much..."

"An actor?"

Sima Changfeng acted as if he had heard the greatest joke in the world.

He grabbed the remote control and pressed a button facing the large screen.

The image froze.

It was the exact moment Qin Feng, thirty stories high at the Convention Center, grabbed the drone bar and made a "peace" sign at the camera.

That smile.

Even through the screen, it could make one feel a bone-chilling coldness.

That indifference toward life, that mockery of rules, and that arrogance of having everything under control.

"You call this an actor?"

Sima Changfeng pointed at the screen, his finger trembling.

"What film school could teach such a student? If this is truly acting, then the Oscars owe him a truckload of golden statues!"

"This is clearly a devil in human skin! He is a high-IQ criminal genius with an antisocial personality!"

The conference room was in an uproar.

The big shots whispered to each other, their eyes full of shock.

With even the head of the Provincial Department giving such an assessment, Qin Feng was really going to tear the sky down this time.

"No."

An untimely voice suddenly rang out.

Everyone was stunned and turned their heads in unison.

In the corner, Xie Qingshang slowly stood up.

He looked disheveled.

His dark circles were as heavy as a panda's, the collar of his white shirt was torn open, and his signature trench coat was nowhere to be found.

But the light in his eyes was brighter than anyone else's present.

It was the fanaticism of meeting an equal opponent.

"Crunch."

Xie Qingshang stuffed a piece of dark chocolate into his mouth and chewed forcefully, his cheeks bulging as if he were chewing on Qin Feng's bones.

"Inspector Sima, you are wrong."

Xie Qingshang pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose, the reflection on the lenses blocking the sharp glint in his eyes for a moment.

"He is not a devil."

"He is a god."

Sima Changfeng frowned: "What did you say?"

"To the criminal world today, he is a god."

Xie Qingshang walked to the large screen and reached out to stroke the clown mask on Qin Feng's face in the image.

"I have seen the top-tier mercenaries in the Middle East, the highest-IQ hackers in Northern Europe, and the most brutal drug lords in South America."

"But no one is like him."

Xie Qingshang turned around abruptly, staring intently at Sima Changfeng with burning eyes.

"Perfect."

"From psychological warfare to tactical execution, from micro-expression control to total situational awareness."

"He is like a work of art born for crime. No flaws, no fear, and even..."

Xie Qingshang paused, his tone becoming somewhat eerie.

"Even without desire."

"He does all of this, it seems, just for fun. This kind of purity is the most terrifying thing."

The conference room fell into silence again.

Only the sound of Xie Qingshang chewing chocolate, "crunch, crunch," could be heard, making one's scalp tingle.

Sima Changfeng narrowed his eyes, re-evaluating this young consultant, and then looked at Qin Feng on the screen.

After a long while.

"Interesting."

Sima Changfeng sat back in his chair, his fingers tapping lightly on the table.

"It seems we underestimated the enemy."

"Since he is a god..."

Sima Changfeng suddenly looked up, a sharp murderous intent erupting in his eyes.

"Then we shall set up a trap to kill a god!"

"Pass on my orders!"

All the high-ranking officials stood up instantly, their chairs scraping against the floor with a harsh sound.

"Bang!"

They all saluted.

"First, raise the danger level of 'Qin Feng' from A-level to 'SSS-level Extreme Danger'! Notify the entire province!"

"Second, fully upgrade the exercise specifications! This is no longer an internal training exercise for the Jianghai City Police Headquarters!"

"Notify the Armed Police Corps; I want to mobilize the 'Sharp Sword' Commando Unit! Tell them to bring live ammunition! Bring heavy weapons!"

"Third..."

Sima Changfeng paused, his gaze sweeping over Zhao Shanhe and Xie Qingshang.

"Contact the Interpol China Office."

"Tell them there is a 'big fish' here who might be able to challenge the top spot on their global wanted list."

"I don't believe that with a dragnet cast, he can still fly away!"

"Yes!!!"

The roar shook the heavens.

Zhao Shanhe felt his blood boiling, the previous frustration swept away.

What a lineup!

What a display of force!

Armed police commandos plus Interpol!

Is this the configuration for catching Bin Laden?

Qin Feng, oh Qin Feng.

If you can still run away this time, I, Zhao Shanhe, will eat this table on the spot!

...

Meanwhile.

Jianghai City, Binjiang No. 1 Courtyard.

Outside the window, the sun was bright.

Inside the room, however, was a rich smell of pickled cabbage instant noodles.

"Slurp—"

Qin Feng was wearing loose, oversized shorts and flip-flops, sitting cross-legged on the sofa without any regard for his image, inhaling a bucket of instant noodles.

"Brother Feng! Brother Feng, look at this!"

Pei Ji rushed over, holding his phone and screaming, nearly tripping over the carpet and falling flat on his face.

"Something big happened! We're about to become famous outside the galaxy!"

Qin Feng swallowed the noodles in his mouth and grabbed a tissue to wipe his mouth: "Calm down. These days, nothing is a big deal except for me."

"It's not that!"

Pei Ji shoved the phone screen into Qin Feng's face.

It was a news headline that had just popped up.

The eye-catching, bold, black-lettered text looked as if it wanted to jump out of the screen and bite someone.

[Shocking! The "devil" bestowed upon the entertainment industry by God!]

[Officially certified SSS-level desperate criminal! Jianghai police join forces with Interpol to set a dragnet!]

[Expert review: Qin Feng's acting skills have transcended human boundaries; it is suggested to investigate if he is an alien!]

The comment section below had already exploded, with millions of comments refreshing too fast to read.

"Is this what you call star power? Love it, love it!"

"Interpol is here too? Brother Feng is really going to break out of Asia and go global this time!"

"The clown was actually me! I thought he was acting, but it turns out he was fighting a war?"

"To the person above, this touches upon my blind spot of knowledge. Can someone tell me if this is a variety show or real combat?"

Qin Feng looked at the line "SSS-level Extreme Danger," and the fork in his hand dropped into the noodle soup with a "plop."

Red chili oil splattered all over his face.

But he didn't even bother to wipe it.

"What the..."

Qin Feng's mouth twitched, and he felt completely numb.

"Armed police? Interpol?"

"What the..."

Qin Feng covered his face in pain, letting out a wail from the depths of his soul.

"I really just wanted to act and earn some rent money!"

"This is giving me way too much credit! If I had this ability, why would I be eating instant noodles? I would have gone to Dubai to eat gold-plated steak by now, wouldn't I!"

Beside him, Alice was sitting and wiping that Glock model gun.

Hearing this, she looked up, a hint of playfulness flashing in her deep blue eyes.

"Boss, don't be modest."

"This is the fate of the strong."

Alice expertly pulled back the bolt, making a crisp "click" sound.

"Besides, I'm looking forward to it."

"Being able to make that lunatic named Xie Qingshang call for so many people shows that he's scared."

Qin Feng rolled his eyes.

Scared my foot!

He wants to kill me, okay!

Just then.

A strange sensation of electric current suddenly surged through Qin Feng's brain.

That familiar, emotionless, always-looking-to-cause-trouble system notification sound exploded without warning.

But this time.

The sound seemed a bit different.

It carried a kind of... manic quality similar to heavy metal rock.

[Bzz... Bzz...]

[Detected that the host's shock value has broken through the critical point!]

[Detected that the external environment danger level has been raised to "Purgatory Level"!]

[System underlying protocols are being rewritten...]

Qin Feng was stunned.

What is going on?

Is the system poisoned?

Before he could react, a line of blood-red countdown appeared in his field of vision.

[Volume 2: Global Lockdown]

[Officially starting!]

[New mission released: Escape Jianghai City.]

[Mission reward: ??? (System version too low, unable to display)]

[Failure penalty: The whole city... will be buried with you.]

"What the..."

Qin Feng looked at the last two words, his heart skipping a beat.

The whole city buried with me?

Is this system playing dirty?

"Ding-dong!"

The doorbell suddenly rang.

The sound seemed particularly jarring at this moment.

Everyone in the room instantly tensed up.

The gun in Alice's hand pointed at the door, Pei Ji dived under the sofa, and Su Tang grabbed a... frying pan.

Qin Feng took a deep breath, suppressing the turbulent waves in his heart.

He stood up, walked to the door, and looked out through the peephole.

Outside the door.

There were no heavily armed special police.

Only a courier in a delivery uniform, holding a black package in his hands.

But this courier's eyes...

Qin Feng narrowed his eyes.

Those were not the eyes of someone delivering a package.

Those were the eyes of a wolf looking at meat.

"Mr. Qin, your 'surprise' has arrived."

A whisper came from outside the door.

Qin Feng's hand rested on the doorknob, a layer of fine cold sweat seeping from his palm.

The storm.

It had truly arrived.