"Director Ge... no, Team Leader Ge, long time no see."
Gao Fei, who suddenly appeared outside the building, strode forward.
Seeing Gao Fei extend his right hand, Ge Qing clasped his hands behind his back. "What are you doing here?"
"I was threatened with a gun, so naturally I came to Team Leader Ge for protection."
Gao Fei produced a transparent bag containing a golden bullet casing.
"Now you know to seek police protection. Why didn't you tell us the truth when our colleagues came to question you last night?"
"Team Leader Ge, the people threatening me are using sniper rifles, which means they are constantly monitoring me. If I had told the task force the truth, and they suddenly came back, I would have been shot dead. So, Team Leader Ge, my concealment was also out of necessity."
Gao Fei feigned the fear and helplessness of someone threatened by gunmen. His "Actor" profession's simulation skills were fully utilized.
For Ge Qing, ever since he deduced that Gao Fei had used the Hu brothers to eliminate his rivals, Gao Fei's credibility in his eyes had plummeted. Faced with Gao Fei's panicked demeanor, Ge Qing saw nothing but heavy acting, devoid of the fear of being threatened by gunmen.
"Mr. Gao, you understand the law. Lying to the authorities is a crime. You claim the people threatening you with guns are monitoring you; do you have any evidence?" Ge Qing asked sarcastically, his smile not reaching his eyes.
But in the next moment, his expression turned cold. Gao Fei took out four or five listening devices from his bag and sighed innocently. "Team Leader Ge, these are listening devices I found in my office and car. I was right, wasn't I? The people threatening me have been monitoring me."
Seeing the five listening devices, Ge Qing's face became extremely unpleasant. However, he forced a smile and praised Gao Fei's vigilance. Why didn't he dare to directly admit that he had planted the listening devices? Because Gao Fei was not the target of this special operation, and surveillance required an application. Ge Qing had only submitted the application last night, and it hadn't been approved yet. Now, with Gao Fei presenting the listening devices as being installed by those threatening him, Ge Qing not only couldn't refute it but had to accept the loss, swallowing his pride.
Ring, ring! His phone suddenly rang. As soon as the call was connected, the surveillance team reported the latest situation. Upon learning that Yu Min had escaped the group's building during the fire and had disappeared from the surveillance scope, Ge Qing was filled with rage. He coldly looked at Gao Fei, who was pretending to be panicked, his fists clenched tightly behind his back. At this moment, he finally understood why Gao Fei had suddenly appeared right after Yu Min escaped. Gao Fei wanted to use the task force to create an alibi for himself.
"Mr. Gao, your scheming... it's truly hard to believe you're just a nineteen-year-old university student."
Gao Fei feigned surprise, furrowing his brow and shaking the bullet casing and listening devices in his hand. "Team Leader Ge, I was being monitored and threatened with a gun, so I came to seek your protection. Scheming? I don't understand what you mean."
Ge Qing gritted his teeth and nodded, then said to his team members, "Mr. Gao wants us to protect him, right? You two, follow Mr. Gao. Until I return, whether he's drinking, eating, or using the restroom, you are to stay with him and not leave his side."
"Yes!" The two team members looked at Gao Fei and gestured for him to proceed. Ge Qing glanced back at his receding figure and, with a cold expression, walked out of the office building.
...
Five hundred meters away from the Tian'an Group Building, in Jiao Yue Hutong.
Yu Min, wearing a hat, sunglasses, and a mask, appeared in the alley. He scanned his surroundings, then looked at the message on his phone. Following the instructions, he wound his way through the alley for over two minutes before stopping in front of a row of trash cans. Seeing that no one was around, he retrieved a black plastic bag with a mark from behind the trash cans. Inside the bag were a set of ordinary clothes, a wig, a fake beard, and some facial prosthetics.
Yu Min carried the bag to a secluded spot and quickly changed into the clothes and pants prepared in the bag. Then, he put on the wig, fake beard, and other disguises. Once he was done, he had completely transformed. At first glance, he was no longer the imposing figure of a mob boss who commanded loyalty, but an ordinary, inconspicuous middle-aged migrant worker walking on the street.
"He's got some skills!" Yu Min said, nodding with satisfaction as he looked at his transformed self through his phone screen.
Buzz! His phone vibrated again, and a message arrived through a virtual communication software. "Leave from the east side of the alley, go to the parking lot of Qinglu Apartments, find a van with the license plate Jingxxxxx. Someone will be waiting for you there."
After reading the message on the software, Yu Min set off again, walking briskly towards the east side of the alley. Not long after he left, a sanitation worker appeared where he had changed clothes. Glancing at the empty alley, the sanitation worker quickly picked up the black plastic bag from the ground and left.
Yu Min, having left Jiao Yue Hutong, stood on the street, cautiously looking around. The passersby around him treated him as an ordinary migrant worker and ignored him. He breathed a sigh of relief, looked at the traffic police checkpoints at the intersection ahead, and boldly walked towards them.
By the time he crossed the crosswalk and reached the other side of the road, the traffic police had not noticed that the suspect they were searching for had slipped away right under their noses. Seeing this, Yu Min finally felt at ease and walked towards Qinglu Apartments mentioned in the text message.
...
Tian'an Group Building.
After the surveillance team discovered Yu Min's escape, they immediately apprehended Xiang Nan, Meng Lei (nicknamed "Old Immortal"), and several other target individuals. With nine individuals apprehended, the surveillance team immediately began questioning them. However, during the interrogation, Xiang Nan and the others either claimed ignorance or remained silent.
When Ge Qing arrived at the group building and identified himself to Xiang Nan and the other eight, their attitude immediately changed, and they cooperated with the investigation with remarkable synchronicity. However, during the investigation, whenever the topic of past cases arose, the nine individuals would again tacitly shift the conversation. Observing from the side, Ge Qing noticed that Xiang Nan kept glancing at the clock on the wall every time he answered a question, and he immediately ordered his team members to take them back to the task force. He knew that these people were deliberately being evasive and uncooperative to delay Yu Min's escape time.
Ge Qing intended to review the surveillance footage within the building, but he learned that the cameras had been shut down before the fire occurred. He immediately arranged for people to retrieve surveillance footage from nearby buildings and shops, and also drove back to review the city-wide surveillance.
...
Task Force Headquarters.
Gao Fei, who was 'seeking protection,' was sipping tea and playing a single-player game on his phone. Since his SIM card had been confiscated, he could only play the built-in games on his phone. Opposite him were the two team members who had received orders earlier. One was reading a newspaper, and the other was staring at him.
Just as Gao Fei was feeling bored, Xiang Nan and the others, wearing handcuffs, walked into the task force headquarters. The atmosphere instantly became tense as the two parties met.