S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 3 Chapter 65

Ghost Murderer 32 – Top Secret

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Zhan Zhao waited in front of the monitor and watched carefully.

"Xiao Bai, there are people at the back ready to enter, should we have our men keep them out or let them in and you guys take care of them?"

"Don't startle the snake." Bai Yutang said, "Make sure things are safe on Qin Ou's side first."

"Okay." Zhan Zhao knew that Bai Yutang's greatest fear was that there would be people watching or lying in ambush near Qin Ou, and it would be bad if the wind blew outside and someone took control inside.

At this moment, Qin Ou was already preparing to disarm the bomb.

He checked around the container first and said to Chen Mi, "There are no other bombs around."

Chen Mi raised an eyebrow and asked, "Did you have a good look?"

Qin Ou frowned, and Chen Mi remained expressionless as he watched.

Zhan Zhao heard it on the other end and said to Bao Zheng, " Bao Sir."

Bao Zheng nodded, "Understood, Chen Mi spontaneously went rogue. As to why he went rogue, I don't know, but what is certain is that there are bombs nearby! What's in this box is probably very important to the other party, if they can't get it out, they'd rather blow it up than hand it over to someone else, right?"

Zhan Zhao nodded, "What should we do? Do you have anyone else who knows how to defuse bombs?"

Bao Zheng shrugged, "It's hard to tell if those bombs are timed or if there's anyone monitoring them."

"Then the best course of action is to pull out?" Zhan Zhao looked at Bao Zheng.

"Let Yutang and the others pick them up, but of course… the other party's men are released first to create confusion!" Bao Zheng said, "After the box is taken out, we will find a safe place and slowly dismantle it."

"Then what if it explodes in the process?" Zhan Zhao was worried.

"So it's time to play with those people." Bao Zheng smiled faintly, "Let those people in, free-for-all… in the middle of the chaos is just the right time to steal the dragon and turn the phoenix!"

Zhan Zhao nodded and wanted to tell Bai Yutang, but Bao Zheng's walkie-talkie was on. Bai Yutang had heard it long ago and replied, "Understood, let's send in people from both sides!"

"Okay." Bao Zheng got through to the SWAT team member responsible for the assault and told him to prepare and work with Bai Yutang.

When they were ready, Bai Yutang joined Zhao Hu, Luo Tian, and the others and approached the container where Qin Ou was.

At this moment, Qin Ou was hesitating; he understood Chen Mi's words and knew that there were explosives nearby. Once he dismantled this bomb, he might become a living target, but the key was that he could not take away the contents… What should he do?

Thinking of this, Qin Ou suddenly had a bright idea and said to Chen Mi, "I can't defuse it here!"

"Huh?" Chen Mi froze.

"I need water! And a square sink!" Qin Ou said, "There's not enough light here either."

Zhan Zhao heard it in the car, and with a faint smile, he said, "Xiao Bai, Qin Ou seems to be trying to leave the container. Just in time for us to prepare a surprise attack and have Ma Han take out the men in black… By the way, don't take out Chen Mi as well!"

"Understood."

Bai Yutang immediately arranged for people to act.

Zhan Zhao tensed up and stared closely at the monitor. At this moment, those who had snuck in from the outside were already very close to Bai Yutang and the others.

Bai Yutang said a few words to Ma Han, then hid with Zhao Hu and Luo Tian, waiting for those raiders to come in first.

The basic plan for this operation was simple.

Qin Ou and Chen Mi get out of the container first, and wait until the raiders go in to make a scene. Meanwhile, Ma Han shoots the black clothed men and the raiders, creating confusion. Afterwards, the police back-up force that followed in behind them comes in and engages the opposing raiding force…

Bai Yutang and his men's mission was to take advantage of the chaos to take Qin Ou and Chen Mi away with the box.

It was easy to say, but the most crucial thing was the timing.

"Have you found a good position yet?" Bai Yutang asked Ma Han.

"En," Ma Han replied, "the view is quite good."

"When you fire, we'll move."

"OK!"

……

What followed was a tense period of waiting.

Zhan Zhao’s gaze was fixed on the monitor. If those boxes have a charge of explosives in them and are remotely controlled, then everyone is in danger! They had to be quick.

Soon, Qin Ou and Chen Mi walked out carrying the box.

A man in black at the door asked Chen Mi, "What's going on?"

Chen Mi shrugged, "He said it couldn't be dismantled inside."

"How come…"

Before he could finish his words, he saw many heavily armed, black-clothed, masked men coming from ahead.

The two men froze.

"Incoming." Bai Yutang gave a signal to Ma Han.

"Xiao Ma Ge is here!" Jiang Ping pointed to a corner of the satellite image… Zooming in, they could see that Ma Han was on top of a three-storey container.

"How did he get up there?" Bai Chi wondered.

"What's he doing?"

Jiang Ping's startled cry was met with the sudden sight of Ma Han turning back and shooting a shot in the air, up at an angle…

"Ah!" Zhan Zhao immediately understood, "The other side also has a sniper ambush!"

"Has he shot them down yet?" Bai Chi asked as he grabbed Jiang Ping.

"Can't find any footage of the other side. Say, how did Xiao Ma Ge find them…" Jiang Ping searched the footage.

Before Jiang Ping could finish his sentence, he saw that Ma Han had already turned around extremely quickly and hit the man in black with two shots, then rolled over and rolled off the backlit side of the container… disappearing without a trace.

As he rolled away, bullet holes and faint smoke appeared on the container behind him.

"There are still snipers nearby!" Zhan Zhao frowned.

At that moment, Bai Yutang's voice could be heard coming from the walkie-talkie, "Action!"

When his words fell, the assault troops had just entered and saw two men in black collapse… Just as they were about to go forward to grab Qin Ou and the others, a series of gunshots sounded behind them.

On the ground… a few tear gas canisters rolled over.

"Shit!"

Zhao Hu's cursing voice came over… They weren't wearing gas masks.

"Hurry!" Bao Zheng was anxious.

They saw Bai Yutang and the others dash out to cover Qin Ou and Chen Mi, who were already running over wildly… They started to flank those black-clothed raiders left and right with the backup troops, and instantly, the whole scene became chaotic.

Tear gas smoke spread out with a nauseating smell as Qin Ou carried the box and quickly got behind Bai Yutang.

At the same time, a military jeep burst in from outside.

"Where did that car come from?" Zhan Zhao wondered…

Bao Zheng looked at him somewhat helplessly, "How can the SWAT team not even have a military jeep? I'm fully equipped with the best of the best here, not those amateur SWAT officers from a certain country, saving people with hammers. That's arbitrarily killing people!"

"That's true." Zhan Zhao nodded, picked up his walkie-talkie, and shouted, "Xiao Bai! Run, run!"

Bai Yutang led the group and retreated.

The black-clothed attackers obviously had orders to keep an eye on Qin Ou and the box until they died, and immediately tried to chase after them… however the firepower was too densely intertwined, and they couldn't get close for the moment.

Bai Yutang and others covered Qin Ou and got into the car.

The military jeep withdrew as fast as it could… Bao Zheng shouted to the SWAT team, "Retreat! Retreat! Hurry up and run!"

"Where's Ma Han?" Bai Chi asked.

"I'm fine!" Ma Han's voice came from the other end of the phone, "I'm in a safe area!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

After throwing a few stun grenades, the SWAT officers withdrew in a quick and orderly manner, with no intention of trying to capture the black-clothed assailants, who, as could be identified at a glance from their equipment and combat strength, were all mercenaries.

There are now nearly a hundred mercenary companies around the world. Of course, there are mercenaries who work explicitly with the various international military forces, but there are also private companies who work exclusively for the mob. Since the old days, there have been brave men who have been rewarded, and there have been desperadoes in this world.

Those who possess great strength often fall into two categories: the fighters who wish to protect the weak and maintain peace, and the war animals who are motivated by profit and eager to kill.

The former is responsible for eliminating chaos, the latter for creating it. Such people are useless even if they are caught, as many of them are stateless and have no identity…

As the SWAT team quickly withdrew, amidst the glare and noise of the stun grenades, the crowd heard a loud, earth-shattering sound.

It shook the entire ground, and Zhan Zhao clearly felt the car body shaking. On the monitor, there was a cloud of fire that shot up to the top of the abandoned factory.

"How many bombs are packed in here?!" Bai Chi's mouth opened wide, "Are all the ones that were lost before here?"

"Xiao Bai!" Zhan Zhao shouted into his walkie-talkie, "Yutang, have you gotten out yet?"

There was chaos and noise from the other end of the walkie-talkie.

The hearts of everyone over here were in their throats.

After a long time, they heard Bai Yutang's voice coming from the other side, "Cat!"

Zhan Zhao's ears perked up at his shock, why was it so loud, "Are you alright?"

"Ah?!" Bai Yutang shouted loudly, "I can't hear you!"

"Are you all alright?!" Zhan Zhao shouted

"I'll talk about it when I get back, Bao Sir, where can Qin Ou go to defuse the bomb? He said time is running out!"

Zhan Zhao sighed in relief, he seemed to be fine.

"Found it!"

At that moment, Jiang Ping adjusted the angle of the satellite positioning and, through the lens, saw the military vehicle parked outside, and Bai Yutang and the others all walking back. The SWAT officers and the ambulance crew who were waiting outside were carrying the wounded out.

The firefighters started to put out the fire.

The wounded were all black-clothed assailants… By the way they reacted, they shouldn't have expected that their employers would have kept a backup and prepared so many bombs for them.

"Not far from here is a small military airfield." Bao Zheng said, "Have Qin Ou and the others take the bomb there to defuse it, and I'll apply for its use and protection."

"En!" Zhan Zhao opened the car door and got out with Bai Chi and the others.

Bai Yutang stood not far away and waved at them.

Zhan Zhao darted over and pulled him over to look him up and down, "Are you alright?!"

"It's nothing." Bai Yutang looked at his mouth and shook his head, digging out his ears, indicating that he couldn't hear them, which was pretty much the case for everyone there, who had just been briefly deafened by the loud noise of the bomb.

Chen Mi was stopped by Bao Zheng, and Luo Tian handcuffed him.

"What do you have to say?" Bao Zheng asked him.

"I have to go with them to defuse the bomb."

"Why?" Bao Zheng asked, "Your identity is questionable."

"My identity is indeed questionable, but you can't open the box without me." Chen Mi spoke lightly, and didn't seem to be nervous.

"Why?" Zhan Zhao looked at his expression and was a little suspicious.

"I know the code." Chen Mi said indifferently.

"The code?"

The group froze.

"Let him come." Qin Ou heard and said to the group, "The last layer of this old-fashioned bomb does require a code."

"Why would you know the code?" Zhan Zhao wondered.

"Because the person who made the bomb is my father." Chen Mi’s words were astonishing.

Bai Yutang's ears weren't very good, and neither Luo Tian, Zhao Hu, nor a grey-faced Ma Han behind him could hear much, but they saw that his mouth shape seemed to be – Dad?!

"You're… Chen Xinglong's son?!" Zhan Zhao was taken aback.

"The payment for making this bomb is that I get to survive and live a good life." The look on Chen Mi's face as he said these words carried a sense of desolation.

"You're Chen Yu's brother?" Bai Chi was also surprised, why had he never heard anyone talk about it before?

"Not really close, I guess." Chen Mi smiled, "I'm an illegitimate son… or maybe she's an illegitimate daughter? Anyway, one of the two of us is illegitimate."

"Let's go." Qin Ou loaded the bomb onto the military vehicle, "There's not much time."

"Won't you just tell him the code?" Bao Zheng wanted to keep Chen Mi, "I have other things to ask you."

"No, I want to see for myself what is hidden inside." But Chen Mi stubbornly shook his head.

Bao Zheng frowned.

Chen Mi returned all the equipment on his body, the gun, and his police officer's badge to Bao Zheng, "I have lived this long to find out what exactly is contained inside!"

After saying that, Chen Mi looked at Luo Tian and raised his handcuffed hands.

Luo Tian looked at Bao Zheng, who nodded his head.

After Chen Mi's hands were uncuffed, he got into the car with Qin Ou and the car drove towards the small airport, with a military jeep escort beside it.

Bai Yutang and the others also drove off.

In the car, Zhan Zhao held his chin, feeling as if everything seemed to be going in a direction that was neither good nor bad, but exciting nonetheless.

Bai Yutang leaned against the car to look at him, also looking puzzled.

"Hey, what's on your mind?" Zhan Zhao wanted to hear Bai Yutang's opinion.

Bai Yutang had bad ears, so the car was handed over to Bai Chi to drive.

"Well…" he asked Zhan Zhao seriously, "why are Qin Ou and Chen Mi's ears fine?"

Zhan Zhao froze.

Bao Zheng, who was in the passenger seat, turned back and gave him a blank look, "Because they are bomb disposal officers and have earplugs to wear at all times."

"Oh!" Bai Yutang clapped his hands together as realisation dawned on him.

While Zhan Zhao was mulling over the confusing case, Bai Yutang had the heart to joke around and pounced on him to rub his hair fiercely.

"Bao Sir," Bai Chi asked, "you said you knew what was in that box… What is it?"

Bao Zheng was silent.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang also stopped and looked at Bao Zheng.

Bao Zheng sighed and lit a cigarette, "Actually, back then, Yunwen and I both suspected one thing."

"What?" Zhan Zhao was puzzled.

"Why did Zhao Jue burn his research results with his own hands?"

……

Hearing Bao Zheng's words, Zhan Zhao was startled, "Bao Sir, do you mean to say that what Zhao Jue burned back then might have been fake… Are they really hidden?"

Bao Zheng smiled, "Hopefully yes, and hopefully no."

"Why so contradictory?" Zhan Zhao was excited, "With those clues, that means there's hope for the case from back then!"

Bao Zheng smiled, "Zhao Jue is really a genius, it's indeed a pity that those things were lost like that. However, those things caused a huge storm back then... those research results really shouldn't exist in this world."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: February 27, 2022