Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Huo Shaoheng looked at Ma Qiqi’s phone quietly, his expression remaining unreadable. Even Zhao Liangze and Yin Shixiong could not tell what was going on in his head. He was the only one who knew that he felt so suffocated that he couldn’t breathe properly. Holding onto the phone with one hand, his eyes burned into the screen, like he was almost burning a hole into it.
After a while, he sent the footage to his phone and handed Ma Qiqi’s phone to Zhao Liangze. “Delete everything in this phone regarding Nianzhi. If she has a cloud account, delete that as well.”
Zhao Liangze took the phone without a word and used software to check through everything. Then he deleted all of Gu Nianzhi’s footage. “She did not share it to her cloud account. She only saved it on her phone.”
Huo Shaoheng nodded and told Fan Jian, the chauffeur, “Stop the car. Tell the people behind to send Miss Ma Qiqi back.”
The car screeched to a halt on the side of the road. Yin Shixiong exited the car and returned Ma Qiqi’s phone to her. “It has been hard on you today.” Then he added, “Don’t worry. You won’t be beaten up just like that.”
Ma Qiqi shook her head furiously. “I’m okay. You guys will save Nianzhi, won’t you?!” She looked at Yin Shixiong, eyes full of hope. Her swollen face was filled with yearning.
Yin Shixiong’s heart skipped a beat. Turning away, he nodded. “Yes, but this is a secret operation, so it wouldn’t be convenient for you to remain here.”
“Okay! That’s fine! Don’t worry about me. I’m okay. Go back; go back quickly!” Ma Qiqi pushed Yin Shixiong back to the car. “Don’t take me back! I can call for my own ride! You guys go and save Nianzhi, quick! I’m okay, even if I have to walk back.”
They would never allow her to walk back. Yin Shixiong told a female colleague in the car, “Please take her back to B University.”
The female colleague nodded—an indication for him to not worry about Ma Qiqi anymore. Yin Shixiong returned to the car and joined Huo Shaoheng to return to the Special Forces Headquarters.
…
Ma Qiqi took her phone and sighed. Just when she was about to look through the news, she realized that her phone was in bad shape. There were five fingerprint dents on her phone… What the hell! Whose strength is this?! My phone is in bad shape. Oh my god! But isn’t this the hardest screen protector on the market?!
…
Huo Shaoheng closed his eyes briefly and controlled his anxiety. Then, he asked Zhao Liangze. “Have you managed to find Nianzhi’s location? Don’t tell me they removed her GPS tracking system as well.” Even though no one was looking at Gu Nianzhi’s satellite tracking system 24/7, as long as the device was still on her, they would be able to track her location anytime.
However, Zhao Liangze turned around and stammered, “I haven’t checked, Mr. Huo. But… but… I’m worried that it might be too late…”
“What?! Why?!” Yin Shixiong panicked. “What did you find?!”
Huo Shaoheng opened his eyes and said calmly, “Speak.”
Zhao Liangze said with a combination of admiration, pain, and guilt, “Mr. Huo, those people wouldn’t let Nianzhi go. She managed to hack the Geheime Staatspolizei’s confidential information system and sent all – all their confidential documents to our mailboxes, encrypted… Mr. Huo, we’re too late…”
“What encrypted files?” Yin Shixiong did not understand and was just in a state of panic. “Little Ze, can you speak properly?! Speak human language! We’ve already been delayed long enough!”
Zhao Liangze passed the things he found to the back seat. “These mailboxes were created by me. I told her before and demonstrated to her before as well, when I taught her the ropes of being a hacker. I just logged into my system and received countless alerts. My mailbox was almost flooded.”
Zhao Liangze did not even look normal anymore. “So many documents! From the amount and how large they are, it seemed like she sent Germany’s entire high intelligence unit’s confidential information over! We have those that were encrypted, not encrypted, system documents, documentary information, data analytics… if someone were to do something like that, he or she would go down in history in that country! Moreover, she has already been looked upon as a legend in the international hacker society. Mr. Huo, if Nianzhi was someone from our army, with this, she would be able to replace you as the leader of the Special Forces…”
The army was a place where they would reward you for your achievements. This was even more applicable in the Special Forces. In the Special Forces, as long as you produced results, no matter how people tried to sabotage you, they wouldn’t succeed. Similarly, you could climb up to a position by bootlicking, but you had to be able to have the capability to produce the results of someone who could take that position. Otherwise, you would get fired anyway.
Even though this was competitive and harsh, it was the best way to ensure that all of the country’s confidential information would be in the hands of the best, who would be maximized to their fullest potential and chosen from the most suitable candidates.
Yin Shixiong looked through the information that Zhao Liangze had found. Sighing in admiration, he asked skeptically, “Little Pink Pig? Her nickname is ‘Little Pink Pig?’ Are you sure that this Little Pink Pig is Nianzhi?”
“Definitely.” Zhao Liangze closed his eyes, as they had turned red. “Every person who writes programs will have their own style. Any other person except for Nianzhi couldn’t possibly have done all this coding and calculation. However, her equipment must have been rather basic, and her environment must have been bad, too. That would be the only reason why her program was written in a rather rushed manner. But that isn’t the main point. What’s important is that it worked. She grasped the opportunity and most likely attacked directly from their internal server. Opportunities like those are too hard to come by. If I were in her shoes, I would have done the same, too.” Opportunities like that were gold to anyone who worked in the high intelligence industry.
Yin Shixiong looked and became dumbfounded. Even though there were many encrypted files that were unable to be opened in a short while, there were also many that weren’t encrypted. Just randomly reading a couple of them, he was already getting excited. The look on his face was akin to how a jeweler would look when he had found the most precious gem in a mine. This was information that anyone from the Special Forces would lay down their lives for!
“Now, do you understand? Where would Nianzhi be? After what she has done… They… Would never let her go.” Tears finally streamed down Zhao Liangze’s cheeks. When he saw the footage where Gu Nianzhi was electrocuted and heard her screams, Zhao Liangze was already feeling horrible. He very much wanted to look for the people who were doing that to her and do the same thing back to them to vent his anger.
However, when he saw such priceless information and thought of the situation Gu Nianzhi might be in, Zhao Liangze couldn’t speak anymore. He was really crying. Bawling, in fact. After living for almost three decades, he hadn’t cried since he was five. He felt helpless and knew that there was nothing he could do, no matter how he tried.
Huo Shaoheng looked at the information that Zhao Liangze had found. His eyes darkened, and he snapped at Zhao Liangze, “What’s the use of crying? You’re a man. Get out of the car if you’re going to continue crying!”
Zhao Liangze immediately dried his tears with the back of his arm and denied it. “I didn’t. The tears insisted upon rolling down my cheeks. I couldn’t control them.”
Yin Shixiong thought, What in the world… I didn’t know Little Ze had such a glib tongue. He dares to speak like that to Mr. Huo at this point in time? Did he forget what death was?
Huo Shaoheng rolled his eyes and, to everyone’s surprise, did not continue to rage but instead began talking nonsense along with Zhao Liangze. “Since you didn’t cry, locate Nianzhi at once. Inform everyone from the Special Forces who is a lieutenant and above to gather. Also, get every single one of them who is based in Germany as well. Big Xiong, where was Nianzhi when you last located her?”
Yin Shixiong’s heart skipped a beat. He remembered the two soldiers who were sent to look for Gu Nianzhi. Looking at Huo Shaoheng, he said timidly, “I… I… I… I did not manage to locate Nianzhi. However, they did locate her previously and even sent two soldiers to rescue her.”
The corners of Huo Shaoheng’s eyes twitched. “Finish talking and stop stuttering, damn it!”
Yin Shixiong was so afraid that he blurted everything out without another pause. “They had actually located Nianzhi and sent two soldiers to rescue her in Berlin, however, her connection got cut, so they had no choice but to recall me on an emergency basis, but they had been using the central control room since I got back for the tabulation of the votes for the election, so I haven’t been able to enter that place ’til now. Over!”
Zhao Liangze turned on the satellite tracking system with a grave expression, but realized that the connection with the central control room was not available anymore. Turning around, he shook his head. “Mr. Huo, the central control room has cut off the accessibility to the satellite tracking system from the car.”
Yin Shixiong raised his hands in surrender. “I had no choice! The Vice General said that he was afraid that information would leak!” Even though his rank was high, his position was Huo Shaoheng’s personal secretary. Therefore, when Huo Shaoheng wasn’t around, he would practically become a pushover. It was that awkward when one did not have power and authority in the organization.
“Vice General? How dare he!” Huo Shaoheng punched the door of the car. Zhao Liangze and Yin Shixiong both pretended not to have seen the dent Huo Shaoheng made in the bulletproof metal car door.
Letting out a long breath, Huo Shaoheng commanded Fan Jian, who was driving the car, “Enable emergency mode. You have five minutes to get us to headquarters. Failure to do so will land you in the pigs’ sty for their dinner tonight!”
A cold shiver ran down Fan Jian’s spine. He activated emergency mode and informed the entire entourage. All of a sudden, alarms could be heard from the international airport in the Hua Xia Empire all the way to the expressway entering the city. A few Jeeps picked up speed in the blink of an eye.
The rich men’s sons who were speeding on the expressway with their power cars moved aside. They looked at what was going on and were flabbergasted. Formula 1 or NASCAR seemed like child’s play at that moment. Those Jeeps are the thing!
However, how could they talk about efficiency without speed? Fan Jian really had outdone himself this time around. They had actually needed another ten minutes before they could arrive at the headquarters. Of course, under pressure from Huo Shaoheng, Fan Jian only took 21 minutes to get to the headquarters instead of the usual 30 minutes when he sped. Therefore, Fan Jian conquered this route that would take at least one and a half hours with smooth traffic in 21 minutes. It was considered a feat in the history of the Special Forces.
When they exited, Fan Jian was as pale as a sheet. His legs were trembling. Huo Shaoheng, however, got out of the vehicle with ease and headed directly towards the central control building.
He delegated commands as he walked. “Call the disciplinary committee. Arrest everyone who went over his or her own area of power over the three days of vote consolidation for the election in this building. Lock them in cells and get them to write a report the next day. Get them to write the report three times.”
