Time flew by, and another half hour swiftly passed. Suddenly, a double knock echoed on the office door. The old man drank a mouthful of water and said, "Come in."
The bespectacled man arrived in front of the old man and said in excitement, "Chief, how did you find Chu Tian?"
"Looking?" The old man shook his head with a smile and said, "Let's talk about the latest discovery."
"Chief." The bespectacled man seemed a little excited, "This Chu Tian, very likely in the shadow of a while ago, suddenly disappeared."
"Oh! Why?" The old man said.
"He has a peculiar income situation," The bespectacled man explained. "When we investigated his bank account, we discovered something strange. It seems that money materializes out of thin air in his account without any record of it entering. And the amounts that appear match exactly with the payments we made to the shadow operative."
"For example, once, 30 million appeared out of nowhere, precisely the reward given to the shadow operative for helping remove a compromising video from the internet. Another time, an additional 54.9 million mysteriously appeared, aligning perfectly with the bonus we granted for capturing Master Half Billion.' After deducting Wang Xiao Feng's 100,000 commission, the remaining 54.9 million matched."
"Similarly, there was an instance where 26.6 million emerged, coinciding with the payment for the shadow operative's work in identifying system bugs. And the last occurrence involved 65 million, which was the exact amount paid to the shadow operative for fixing a security loophole."
"What's most peculiar is that the bank has no record of any of this money entering his account. Currently, the only person we know capable of erasing these transaction traces is the shadow operative."
The old man nodded slowly and said with a smile, "So, they all fit together, and we can basically conclude that he was the shadow that suddenly disappeared a while ago?"
"Yes." The bespectacled man said, "More than 95% confidence. This Chu Tian should be the shadow. Chief, what should we do next?"
The old man thought for a moment and said, "Continue to investigate. We'll investigate him and the people around him recently. Something must have happened on his side. Continue to investigate."
"Understood," The bespectacled man nodded and said, "Let's continue our investigation then."
After speaking, he exited the office once again. Fifteen minutes later, he returned to the office.
The old man inquired, "What did you find out?"
In response, the bespectacled man replied, "Chief, I've discovered that Chu Tian has more than just one girlfriend. His Pure Bar is managed by a woman named Li Sisi. This Li Sisi she's quite a seductress. She exudes a captivating and alluring charm that's hard to describe. Looking at the photos, her femininity is on full display."
"Not long ago, a brand-new Ferrari was registered under Li Sisi's name. It's the latest limited-edition Rafah 20, with only 30 models in the world. Our country has only five of them. Currently, there are only two of these cars on the road in our country, one in the capital and the other belongs to Li Sisi. It costs 53 million yuan, which suggests that Chu Tian must have bought it for her since Li Sisi couldn't afford it on her own."
"Therefore, based on Chu Tian's willingness to spend money on her, it's apparent that Li Sisi is one of his girlfriends."
"In addition, there's another woman named Li Niannian. She is Li Sisi's younger sister and serves as the manager of Chu Tian's white milk tea shop. While she may not possess the same captivating charm as Li Sisi, she still has a certain goddess-like aura, albeit with a more down-to-earth demeanor."
"Interestingly, Li Niannian was arrested by the Haicheng police today on suspicion of murder."
"Oh?" The old man's interest was piqued. Li Niannian was arrested on the same day for a murder case by the Haicheng police.
Upon hearing the bespectacled man's report, the old man chuckled and said, "Indeed, that seems to be the case. Tell me, what do we know about Li Niannian? Why was she arrested by the Haicheng police?"
"Replying to the Chief." The bespectacled man said, "This Li Niannian called the police this morning and said she killed someone. The victim's name is Zhou Kang"
Not long after, the bespectacled man told the old man about Li Niannian's case.
"Although this Li Niannian said that Zhou Kang wanted to rape her, she was the one who accidentally stabbed Zhou Kang to death. However, because she couldn't provide evidence that Zhou Kang wanted to rape her, Li Niannian might be convicted of intentional murder in this case."
"Oh!"
Upon hearing the bespectacled man's report, the old man nodded in understanding and said, "So that's how it is. I was mistaken to think that Chu Tian had undergone a sudden change and developed a sense of altruism. I overestimated him."
The bespectacled man looked puzzled and asked, "Chief, forgive me for being blunt, but what's happening now? How did you locate Chu Tian?"
The old man explained, "Chu Tian actually reached out to me. When he called, he revealed his identity as the shadow operative and expressed his desire to contribute to the country. He offered to create an impenetrable firewall that no one else in the world could breach and do it for free. However, he had one condition, he wanted to meet and talk with me."
The bespectacled man's face lit up with understanding. He smiled and said, "I see. So it's true that he's doing it for free. But if there's a condition, it must be related to releasing Li Niannian."
"Exactly," The old man said, smiling as he lit a cigarette. "Little Four."
The bespectacled man responded, "Yes, Chief?"
"Make the necessary arrangements," The old man instructed. "I will leave for Haicheng tonight."
"Understood, Chief," The man nodded. "I will take care of the arrangements immediately."
With that, man turned and exited the office.
Half an hour later, under the National Security Bureau's office building in the capital, the old man emerged with a group of agents dressed in suits. He got into a black commercial vehicle, and they drove away from the location.