Hearing Xu Ze’s words, the police officer’s face darkened. He stared at Xu Ze, his throat dry, and forced out a protest: “Colonel, this is Xingcheng City—it falls under our police jurisdiction. You have no law enforcement authority here. You can’t just do whatever you want. I need to report this to my superiors…”
“No need. I’ll call your Chief Zhang Jingming in a moment. I’m sure he’ll come personally to give me an explanation,” Xu Ze said flatly, then turned to the major and ordered firmly, “Search these people first.”
“Yes, sir!” The soldiers behind him didn’t hesitate for a second. They flipped the security guards and waiters onto the ground and began searching them thoroughly.
Meanwhile, Xu Ze looked over at Xu Hao, who was still trembling as Xu Qing’er and Lin Wei held him up. “Did you get those things from here?” he asked.
With his older brother questioning him, Xu Hao didn’t dare hold anything back. He lifted his head, glanced at the boy across from him, and then hesitated. “I… I don’t know…”
Xu Ze chuckled softly, then turned his gaze to the boy behind the major. “Lan Qi… you’re Lan Qi, right? Speak up—did you get those things from here?”
Under Xu Ze’s questioning, Lan Qi also hesitated, not daring to answer. But with a single glare from his cousin, he spilled everything like beans from a broken bamboo tube, pointing at one of the waiters. “I got them from him…”
Xu Ze nodded. Just as he’d suspected. He’d thought it was off from the start—Xu Hao and his classmates might be a bit wild, but they weren’t the type to go out and score drugs on their own. Most likely, this KTV had something shady going on. That’s why he’d used his X-ray vision earlier to give those waiters a quick scan, and he’d spotted something on two of the male staff.
Finding that made Xu Ze furious. If these people were peddling to strangers, he couldn’t care less. But now that Xu Hao had been dragged into it, he was determined to root them out and settle the score.
And that police officer clearly had some connection to the place—he was covering for them. Lucky for Xu Ze, some of General Peng Zhihua’s men were here, so it was much safer to leave this matter in their hands.
As for any other issues, Xu Ze wasn’t worried at all. Once they found the evidence, he’d call Zhang Jingming—the newly appointed police chief of Xingcheng—and Zhang would have to give him a proper explanation.
Sure enough, it didn’t take long for the soldiers to pull several small packets of powder and two little bags of pink pills from the vests of the waiters and security guards.
Xu Ze took the items, examined them, and used his toxin-analysis function to scan the two bags of pills. A cold smirk crossed his face. They even had “Magu” here…
Seeing the evidence, the major finally relaxed. He turned to his men and ordered, “Two of you stay and guard them. The rest of you, keep searching.”
As for Xu Ze, he looked at the ashen-faced manager and the now-pale officer, then gave a faint smile. He dialed Zhang Jingming’s number. From here on, it was the police chief’s job to handle. There was no point in sticking his nose into their internal affairs.
About twenty minutes later, Zhang Jingming arrived in person with a large contingent of officers. When he spotted Xu Ze standing there in full military uniform, he froze for a moment, then hurried over, looking somewhat embarrassed. “Xu Ze, I’ll conduct a thorough investigation and report back to you as soon as possible. If there are any problems within my ranks, I won’t go easy on them.”
“Mm… Chief Zhang, it seems the entertainment industry in Xingcheng has some deep waters. Looks like a serious crackdown is overdue,” Xu Ze said. He didn’t give Zhang a hard time—after all, even a police chief couldn’t catch everything happening right under his nose. He just smiled lightly.
Zhang Jingming stole a glance at the rank insignia on Xu Ze’s shoulder and couldn’t help but draw in a sharp breath. He wiped his brow and chuckled. “You’re absolutely right. I haven’t been doing my job well. I’ll launch a rectification campaign immediately.”
“Alright, Chief Zhang. I’ll leave the rest to you. I’ll have the military personnel head back first—no need to stir up more trouble,” Xu Ze said, nodding. He then turned to the major with a smile. “Alright, thanks for your hard work. Please give my regards to General Peng when you get back.”
“Yes, Colonel!” The major saluted, then added apologetically, “Rest assured, Colonel. I’ll discipline my good-for-nothing cousin properly when I get back. I’m sorry for the trouble he caused.”
“No worries. He’s just a kid who doesn’t know any better. A word or two of scolding will do.” Xu Ze returned the salute and nodded.
Hearing this, the major breathed a sigh of relief. He handed the detained waiters over to the police, then led his team away. But inwardly, he was thinking, “A word or two of scolding will do”? You nearly beat your own brother senseless back there. And I’m supposed to let mine off with just a few words?
Meanwhile, the officers who had arrived earlier stood off to the side, their faces pale and silent. Seeing their boss’s boss show up in person—and treat this colonel with such respect, even promising a full investigation—they knew they were in deep trouble, and their immediate superior was in for it too.
With everything pretty much wrapped up, Xu Ze said goodbye to Zhang Jingming and took Xu Hao, Xu Qing’er, and the others away.
On the way, Xu Ze bought a tube of ointment and handed it to Xu Hao. He dropped them off at school. As Xu Qing’er and Lin Wei helped Xu Hao out of the car, Xu Ze looked at his younger brother, who still had a trace of fear in his eyes, and said sternly, “I’ll transfer another ten thousand to your account later. But if I find out you’re still messing around out there, or wasting money recklessly, I’ll make sure you remember today’s lesson. Understood?”
Xu Hao shrank back, nodding frantically. “Yeah, Bro, I got it. I won’t do it again…”
Xu Ze nodded, turned the car around, and drove off.
Back home after half a month away, Xu Ze checked the time—it was almost ten. He decided not to call Sun Lingfei. After a shower, he lay down on the bed and resumed his energy-circulation training.
This place was still his favorite. The energy particles by North Lake were especially rich. As his internal energy cycled rapidly, those particles surged into his body once more, drawing a comfortable sigh of pleasure from him.
The next day, Sun Lingfei’s eyes lit up when she saw Xu Ze in his uniform. She gently straightened his collar, stepped back for a look, and smiled, offering just two words: “So handsome.”
“Lately, when I talk to my dad on the phone, he hasn’t mentioned anything about us,” Sun Lingfei said shyly as they sat in the Victoria Western-Chinese restaurant outside the school.
Xu Ze chuckled. “Of course… I doubt he has any reason to object now.”
“I’ll come visit your place during your winter break,” Xu Ze added with a smile.
Sun Lingfei’s face lit up with surprise and delight. “Really?”
“Really. Even if your dad tries to kick me out again, I won’t be scared off. Haha…”
“You’re so good to me…” Sun Lingfei nestled against Xu Ze, her face filled with happiness.
Xu Ze didn’t stay in Xingcheng long. Before he knew it, he was flying back to Yanjing. Though the Special Operations Division didn’t have much pressing work for him, he’d only been on the job for half a month. Even with Lin Beijia approving his leave, staying away too long wasn’t ideal—he needed to be present at the office as much as possible.
After two days without the deputy director around, the staff of the Special Operations Division were delighted to see their young deputy back at work, his gloom gone and his usual smile restored.
Once Xu Ze returned, he breezed through his duties in just a few hours. And soon enough, he found himself with plenty of free time again.
On the other side of the world, in Africa—Lima—it was the dead of night. At the foot of the Divine Mountain, seven or eight figures were carefully making their way up the slopes.
The officer leading the group looked back at the five soldiers still standing and a flicker of grief passed through his eyes. His entire squad—ten men in total—had escorted two scientists safely into Lima, thinking this mission would be a cakewalk. But who could have guessed that once they entered this target mountain range, traps, venomous snakes, and deadly spiders would claim five of their comrades?
The one silver lining: thanks to the soldiers’ protection, both scientists had made it through unscathed. The mission still had a chance.
At that moment, a man in his forties, panting heavily, plopped down onto the ground. He looked up at the lead officer—a captain—and pleaded, “Captain, I can’t go on… I need a break…”
The captain checked his satellite positioning device. They were still a few kilometers from the target. He let out a soft sigh and nodded. “Alright. Ten minutes.”
Hearing the order, the other, younger scientist—who had also been pushing himself to the limit—dropped to the ground without hesitation and gasped for air.
The captain sat down on a nearby rock, unscrewed his canteen, and took a light sip. He watched the two scientists panting on the ground, a trace of helplessness in his eyes.
He didn’t understand why—given the excellent relations between their country and Lima—they had to sneak in undercover like this. And why, for such a critical mission, hadn’t they sent the most elite unit, one specialized in covert infiltration—like the Wolf Fang—instead of his team, which had no experience in this kind of foreign jungle operation?
His unit was a special forces team too, but they were from the southwestern Tibetan region, trained for high-altitude wilderness combat. Tropical rainforests were completely foreign to them. What on earth were the higher-ups thinking?
