Hearing Qiu Tu's words, Yan Chen asked in a deep voice, "A greeting gift?"
Qiu Tu nodded. "Yes."
Then he gestured toward Jia Shu and affirmed, "Just as Director Jia mentioned earlier—repelling the Reform United Front with six shots."
"Back when we were at my home, Miss Shuman told me she would arrange an attack by the Reform United Front."
"She told me to stay on guard and avoid being caught in the crossfire."
"She also told me that this ambush was staged entirely to make a name for me."
"The Front's members were supposed to intentionally leave openings for me to shoot, and even throw themselves into my bullets before being driven off by me alone."
"And to ensure the Special Service Department wouldn't steal my limelight, the members of the Front did everything possible to avoid being shot by the Special Service Department agents."
"That is why, even when opportunities presented themselves to return fire, they pretended not to notice."
Listening to Qiu Tu's exaggerated yet strangely plausible narrative, Yan Chen's gaze grew unfathomably deep, giving nothing away about his true thoughts.
Beside him, Jia Shu narrowed his eyes, the light glinting restlessly behind his lenses as if his mind were working in high gear.
The rhythm of the conversation had fallen entirely into Qiu Tu's hands. Seeing that neither of them spoke, Qiu Tu closed his mouth as well, remaining silent.
For a time, an eerie silence settled over the room.
Seconds ticked by, and the air inside grew increasingly suffocating.
Just as the oppressive tension reached its peak, Jia Shu snapped back to attention. He glanced at Yan Chen, and seeing no objection, broke the deadlock with a thin, artificial smile. "Qiu Tu, everything you've said is just your word against hers. Do you have any other details or proof?"
Qiu Tu had prepared for every contingency when crafting his plan, so he answered resolutely, "Of course I do."
"First: precisely because I knew in advance that the Front would strike, I was mentally prepared. That was why, when the ambush began, even the Special Service Department's seasoned agents failed to react in time, while I was able to charge forward immediately to protect Miss Shuman and proceed with the plan."
"Second: because I knew that Miss Shuman and I were not the Front's targets, when Agent Fang Ming told me to escort her and pull back first, I didn't retreat. Instead, I waited on the sidelines for an opportunity."
"Third: knowing how the whole drama would conclude, and at Miss Shuman's request, I messaged the Jiuxiang Street security post in advance to have temporary agents come and assist. The real objective was to bring in more eyewitnesses and amplify the incident's impact."
"On all of these points, Director, you can question Agent Fang Ming, the Special Service Department, or the agents from the Jiuxiang Street security post."
Hearing Qiu Tu's response, Yan Chen gave Jia Shu an indifferent nod.
Jia Shu bowed slightly to acknowledge the order, then stepped out of the study to verify the claims.
Once Jia Shu left, only Qiu Tu and Yan Chen remained in the room.
Yan Chen stared at Qiu Tu for a moment, then reached for a cigarette case on the rosewood desk and drew out a cigarette.
Placing it between his lips, he fetched a matchbox.
*Scritch!* A flame bloomed in the dim study with the scrape of a match.
Yan Chen drew the flame near, lit his cigarette, then shook the matchstick until it went out and tossed it into the ashtray.
Qiu Tu watched in silence throughout, uttering not a word.
Having lit the cigarette, Yan Chen took a slow drag while rattling the matchbox back and forth with a soft *rustle*. After shaking it quietly for a moment, he exhaled two plumes of smoke through his nostrils and spoke in a slow, distant voice.
"Qin Shuman cannot be a mole. You picked the wrong excuse from the very start."
Perhaps because Yan Chen's tone was so absolute, Qiu Tu's heart gave a sudden lurch, and an ominous premonition crept into his chest.
Yan Chen did not look at Qiu Tu. Taking another quiet drag, he said slowly, "You listed several suspicious points about her over the communicator."
"For instance, that she supposedly just arrived in Xinjie City, yet seemed very familiar with it."
"For instance, that she supposedly came from the bottom of society, yet possessed smooth, fair skin completely devoid of scars or calluses."
"And that in a city as vast and chaotic as Xinjie City, a beauty like her just happened to be picked up by me..."
At this point, Yan Chen fixed a profound gaze upon Qiu Tu. "The suspicious points you pointed out do seem very reasonable on the surface."
"However, you overlooked the most crucial fact."
"The background story I gave you about Qin Shuman was fake."
Hearing this, Qiu Tu's pupils contracted slightly, a thunderclap resounding in his mind!
Yan Chen lowered his head, took another puff, and continued, "Qin Shuman was never some disaster victim I picked up during an inspection in the Cataclysm Zone."
"She is a 'cloned female body' presented to me by the Qin family."
"Technology from before the Cataclysm."
Wreathed in drifting smoke, his voice seemed almost ethereal. "Humans are a resilient species. Though the Great Cataclysm forty years ago pushed humanity near extinction, a fraction of our kind still stubbornly survived."
"Most were ordinary people, but a small portion were state dignitaries, wealthy merchants controlling diverse means of production, and scientists holding core technologies."
"During the early years of the Cataclysm, they went into hiding to preserve their strength."
"Once the Cataclysm subsided, however, they broke through the soil. Leveraging their core advantages, they grew and multiplied across various disaster-stricken cities across generations, bound by blood and mutual interest, eventually forming large and small clans and interest groups."
"The Qin family... is one of them."
"The technology in their hands is the 'cloned female body.'"
Here, Yan Chen paused, his expression neither happy nor sorrowful as he looked at Qiu Tu.
"Over the years, the sanctuaries have been expanding into the Cataclysm Zone, establishing one zone pending planning after another. Inevitably, conflicts arise with the entrenched local powers in those zones."
"When handling these old powers, the sanctuaries generally employ two methods."
"The first is cooperation. We cooperate with the clans and interest groups willing to pledge allegiance to the sanctuary, ceding certain positions in the Executive Hall and the Investigation Bureau, absorbing them so that we may govern the zone pending planning together."
"Take Fang Ming, for instance. Young as he is, without a single merit to his name, he holds the rank of first-class agent in a critical department simply because the elders of his family hold high offices in the Investigation Bureau."
"The second is suppression. When dealing with underground organizations, criminal syndicates, and clans or interest groups unwilling to cooperate, we suppress them ruthlessly and eradicate them without mercy."
"The bedbugs of the Reform United Front are mere remnants who managed to slip through the cracks of our crackdown."
"As for how to distinguish which clans and interest groups are willing to cooperate and which are not..."
At this, Yan Chen exhaled his final wisp of smoke and crushed the glowing butt dead into the ashtray. "...that is determined solely by the Director of the Investigation Bureau of each zone pending planning."
He fixed Qiu Tu with a weighty stare and concluded, "Therefore, the Qin family would never dare cross me."
"To say nothing of offending me, they secretly pledged their allegiance to me four years ago."
"And Qin Shuman was a cloned female body they specifically located and cultivated to suit my tastes..."
"Because the technology remains imperfect, her lifespan is not long—a mere few years."
"Are you telling me that a woman of such origins is a mole planted at my side by City Hall? That today she tried to win you over and helped you make a name for yourself?"
Yan Chen rested his chin upon his laced fingers, looking at Qiu Tu with unconcealed amusement.
Chapter 10