The first day Su Qing hurriedly came back, he found a crowd of people gathered together, dithering over a stack of microchips. There were over a hundred microchips in each black box, and each box had the name of a country stuck to it. They had only had time to grab seven or eight. 

At first Chang Dou hadn’t given up. He had wanted to take along Cheng Weizhi, again synthesize the strange frequency that could nonetheless perfectly correspond to Type 4 emotional energy, and again open that space. But this was unsuccessful. He was sent off by their grim-faced Captain Hu to break the cypher on the microchips. 

Su Qing didn’t know a single thing about this, so he went to do his own business. 

When Su Qing wasn’t courting death, he was very reliable and very aware of boundaries. Hu Bugui knew that there were many things that even if he himself had gone into the field, he couldn’t necessarily have been able to do as well as Su Qing. Among people…there were always specialties. Each one had the edge in something. That was what gave a team value. 

But that didn’t mean that Captain Hu could be overly indulgent towards a certain person’s staying out all night problem. 

Hu Bugui stuck his communicator in his pocket. He had sent hundreds of communication requests, but they had sunk like stones into the sea. There had been no response from Su Qing. So tonight, the people continuing to work through the night saw that their Captain Hu’s thoughts evidently weren’t on the microchips. Every five minutes, he stood up and walked around, then came back looking even more unhappy. 

Around three in the morning, Cheng Weizhi, at his age, couldn’t stand staying up any longer. He was asleep. Lu Qingbai had taken over his work, using a program to sort out the cypher on the microchips according to what Cheng Weizhi had said. Qin Luo had already slept. She had gotten back up and was ready to wash her face with cold water, then come back to work some more. But when she passed by Hu Bugui, with one look at the ice-cold aura of gloom he was wrapped in, her head immediately cleared. So she turned around and silently returned to her original position. 

Fang Xiu heard the movement and turned to glance at Hu Bugui, meanwhile fiercely slapping the back of Chang Dou’s head, which was starting to droop bit by bit. Chang Dou gave a start and raised his head in confusion, blinking tearful, bleary eyes and looking foolishly at Fang Xiu. 

Fang Xiu raised his chin. “If you can’t hold out, then say so. Go over to the couch if you want to sleep.” Then he once again focused his attention on the screen, ignoring him. 

But Chang Dou seemed to have been galvanized. He shook his head and was suddenly in high spirits. Even his eyes seemed to light up. Flexing his arms and rolling up his sleeves, he once again shone with vitality, his fingers click-clacking over the keyboard. 

“I have to work harder,” Chang Dou very foolishly and naïvely imagined, “to prove my capability to Fang Xiu. Then he won’t look down on me anymore.” 

The poor technician. He didn’t know that Mr. Fang in fact didn’t mean anything by this; he was only having an endocrine imbalance from staying up late, and the unusual jitteriness was coming out as habitual nitpicking. 

Kou Tong had been lying on the table sleeping. He was woken by their movements, straightened up, and stretched. He rubbed his eyes, then raised his head and glanced at Hu Bugui. Seeing Captain Hu’s grim face, Dr. Kou explicably became clear-headed. He was not only clear-headed, he even seemed a little cheerful. 

Probably because…facing a stack of unintelligible microchips every day was truly too dull. 

So Dr. Kou yawned and very obnoxiously asked the question that everyone wanted to ask but hadn’t dared to ask in view of their superior’s dignity: “Huh? Where’s Su Qing? Why hasn’t he come back yet when it’s so late?” 

Lu Qingbai kept up a gentlemanly appearance, not raising his head, but his ears pricked up. Qin Luo surreptitiously exchanged a look with Fang Xiu. Only Chang Dou, who didn’t quite understand the situation, grabbed his already bird’s-nest-like hair and said in confusion, “Oh, that’s right, why isn’t Su Qing here?” 

He got his head held down to the keyboard by Fang Xiu’s hand. 

Then, ignoring Hu Bugui’s even grimmer face, Kou Tong took his phone from his pocket and called Su Qing. He picked up after three rings. Kou Tong, beaming, said, “Hi, Xiao Su, yep, it’s me.” 

Crack. The pen in Hu Bugui’s hand snapped in two. 

Then the smile on Kou Tong’s face became even more springlike. In a soft voice, he said, “When are you coming back… No, there’s nothing going on here, it’s just that you’re out on your own in the middle of the night and won’t answer the comms or pick up the phone. It really makes people worry.” 

…Actually, he only hadn’t returned Captain Hu’s signals, hadn’t picked up Captain Hu’s calls…

The volume on Kou Tong’s phone wasn’t loud. The others stretched their ears and could only hear that Su Qing seemed to laugh and say something. Kou Tong gave two “yeah”s and nodded. “OK, stay safe, all right, all right, see you soon.” 

Then he put the phone down and with softness in his expression and tone said to Hu Bugui, “It’s fine, he says he’s already on the way. He’ll be here soon.” 

Then Kou Tong headed out. As though afraid they wouldn’t know what he was up to, he added, “I’m going to see whether there’s anything left to eat and heat it up for him.” 

“There’s no need to go to the trouble.” Hu Bugui stood up and stiffly said, “You don’t know what he likes to eat.” 

Then he walked out without a look back. 

The remaining people exchanged helpless looks. When Hu Bugui’s footsteps had vanished entirely, Lu Qingbai glanced around like a thief, then gave Kou Tong a thumbs up. “Nice one, comrade.” 

Kou Tong waved a hand, feigning modesty. “You’re too kind. In front of elites like all of you, I’m really nothing.” 

Fang Xiu, with rather gossipy interest, beckoned to Kou Tong and quietly said, “Dr. Kou, what are you planning? Do you really want to undermine our chief’s interests?” 

Playing both sides, entirely unmoved, Kou Tong very cheerfully said as though answering a reporter’s question: “At present I do have some plans on that front.” 

Lu Qingbai and Fang Xiu took the lead in a round of applause. Even Qin Luo came over to get in on the fun. While Chang Dou hadn’t worked out what was going on, seeing everyone’s expressions, he thought that something good must have happened. 

Kou Tong thought he looked entertaining and couldn’t resist teasing him. “What do you think, Xiao Chang, do I have a better chance of success, or does your Captain Hu?” 

“Huh?” Chang Dou opened his big, clueless eyes wide, his glasses slipping off half his face. 

Kou Tong patted him on the head and thought that this technological elite with his extremely high IQ in some aspects resembled Professor Cheng’s son. So he even more patiently asked, “Do you think I’m better, or that your Captain Hu is better?” 

First Chang Dou thought this question was rather awkward. Dr. Kou stood in front of him, leaning down slightly, with a dizzying smile on his face—in fact, Dr. Kou wasn’t especially good-looking, at best on the upper end of average, but when he smiled he seemed particularly amiable, as though that smile could soften your heart. 

Chang Dou was knocked giddy by that smile of his, so without taking the time to think about it, he blurted out, “Captain Hu is a very good person, more suited to being a captain, but Dr. Kou is gentler and more comfortable to be around?” 

Kou Tong asked, “Do you mean that I’m more likable than your Captain Hu?” 

Chang Dou was confused for a moment, but he couldn’t resist the allure of sex appeal, so he nodded. 

His line of sight was blocked by Dr. Kou, so he didn’t notice the others’ expressions change from “sparkling with the light of gossip” to “grief-stricken” in an instant. 

Kou Tong stood up in satisfaction, then turned his head and, pretending to have just noticed him, asked, “Captain Hu, did you forgot something?” 

Hu Bugui stood at the door expressionlessly, staring at Kou Tong for a while. Then he moved his gaze to Chang Dou, who was about to shrink into his chair. He went to the couch and picked up the communicator he had forgotten there. Chang Dou felt that each of Captain Hu’s steps seemed to be falling on the pit of his stomach. 

When he saw Hu Bugui turn and walk out, he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but Hu Bugui, as though having remembered something else, looked back. “Chang Dou, it’s been three days already, and you still haven’t broken the cypher. What’s wrong with your technology?” 

Chang Dou shrunk again. 

Captain Hu’s gaze was incisive. “Is this all you’re capable of?” 

This sentence struck Chang Dou in his weak spot. He opened his mouth, and the rims of his eyes turned red. Hu Bugui glanced coldly at Kou Tong, then turned and went out. 

This time the conscienceless Dr. Kou even felt apologetic. He patted Chang Dou on the shoulder. “Well, actually…” 

Chang Dou seemed to have found an objective. He suddenly sat up straight and glared at the computer screen as though glaring at a deadly rival. “I’ll definitely crack this before tomorrow!” 

Kou Tong gave a dry cough. “Your Captain Hu is worried that a teammate hasn’t come back so late, his mood isn’t very good…” 

The rest of his speech was automatically silenced, because he found that Chang Dou had already entered some frightening working state. It seemed that pitch-black flames were rising behind him. 

“I’m not gentle enough.” After leaving, Hu Bugui remembered Chang Dou’s assessment and immediately felt vast upheavals in his heart. 

In fact, Su Qing hadn’t deliberately been missing Hu Bugui’s calls. He had been running around all over outside, getting in contact with some extremely vigilant people, so he couldn’t make the least trace of extraneous movement. And by coincidence, when Kou Tong had called, he had already been heading back… In fact, this business could only be put down to Captain Hu’s bad karma. 

Half an hour later, dressed all in black, with a file pouch under his arm, Su Qing strode in, even carrying some morning dew. “Everyone come over here and look at this, I found someone to investigate…” 

Apart from the distant and already fast asleep Cheng Weizhi, and Chang Dou, who was burning his Cosmo, the others gave him a certain meaningful look. Su Qing stared, his steps pausing at the door, unable to resist lowering his head to look at himself, then uncomprehendingly touching his face. “What is it?” 

“You’re back! You’ve been working hard.” This was Lu Qingbai, smiling falsely and obviously waiting to watch the fun. 

“…” This was Fang Xiu, quickly turning his head and pretending nothing had happened. 

“Nothing, nothing, there’s nothing wrong.” This was the rather honest Qin Luo. 

“What did you investigate?” Kou Tong very naturally took the things out of his hands and pulled out a tissue to give him. “Here, your hair is covered in dew. Is it cold outside?” 

Su Qing gave him a strange look. 

Hu Bugui had opened his mouth to ask where he had gone and why he hadn’t picked up the phone, but he suddenly remembered what had just happened and fiercely warned himself twice, silently reciting “Be gentle, be gentle.” Then he forced out a stiff smile and put an arm around his shoulders, softening his voice like Kou Tong’s. “There’s no rush to talk about it. Are you tired? Do you want to eat something? There’s some stuff in the kitchen…” 

Sadly, Captain Hu imitating Dr. Kou produced some horrifying results. Su Qing shuddered and broke out in gooseflesh, then touched the back of his hand to Hu Bugui’s forehead in astonishment. “Captain Hu, are you sick?” 

Hu Bugui: “…” 

Fang Xiu accidentally snorted out a laugh and got kicked under the table by both Lu Qingbai and Qin Luo. 

“I went to investigate Xue Xiaolu’s materials,” Su Qing, having come back from taking a hot shower, said twenty minutes later, pointing at a spread out pile of materials. “Her background and life have all been altered. Someone went to a lot of trouble. Though luckily, if you don’t want anyone to know what you’ve done, it’s better not to have done it in the first place. Everything that’s been done leaves traces that can be followed.” 

He picked a photograph out of the document pouch. “Finally, the investigation came to this person.” 

They all looked at each other and simultaneously frowned. “Him?” 

Fei Zhe, fifty-three years old, one of the most active politicians in the political world at present. 

“I think that the person speaking on the phone with her that day was probably him.”