Chapter 237 42

Chapter 237: 42

Hearing approaching footsteps, Li Shang knew it was He Lin without needing to turn around. He tilted his head slightly and asked, “What brings you up here?”

He Lin offered a plausible reason: “I wanted to see you. I guessed you’d be here, so I came up. How are you holding up? After being up all night, are you feeling alright?”

Li Shang shook his head. “I’m fine.”

His face was slightly pale and showed signs of fatigue, but his eyes were sharp and alert.

He Lin didn’t press the issue. The investigation had reached a critical juncture; those individuals had committed so many heinous acts, and without completely eradicating Ψ, there was always the risk of their resurgence.

He knew that, both in terms of combat experience and understanding of the situation, Li Shang was the most crucial and indispensable commander for this operation.

As the leader of the task force, He Lin also bore an undeniable responsibility and needed to participate in the mission.

Moreover, he was aware that Rong Qing had always carried a deep sense of guilt and regret over the events of two years prior.

Bai Zang and Xia Yan were Rong Qing’s enduring burdens, and even though he had become Li Shang, this fact remained unchanged.

These people had evaded capture for over two years; he would not allow them to escape again.

In their commitment to upholding justice, both men were equally resolute.

At such a moment, neither would falter.

Thus, He Lin said nothing about keeping Li Shang out of harm’s way. Instead, he inwardly resolved to do everything in his power to ensure Li Shang’s safety.

Li Shang then spoke again: “With so many of us mobilized this time, I’m concerned the provincial department’s police force might be stretched thin. I’ve already discussed with Director Xu about bringing in officers from various cities for emergency support. Lin Hui and Jin Tingrui should already be en route. He Yuan will also be joining us from Qincheng.”

He Lin nodded. “Good, you’ve thought of everything.”

He then followed Li Shang’s gaze, looking out ahead.

It was the cusp of dawn, the sun slowly ascending from the horizon, bathing the world in light. Its warm rays dispelled the darkness, enveloping the newly awakened city in a distinctive tranquility.

Before them lay a beautiful vista.

The morning sun cast a golden glow upon Li Shang’s slightly pale face, and the breeze ruffled the bangs on his forehead.

He Lin felt a sudden stir within him and asked Li Shang, “Why do you like coming to the rooftop before a mission?”

In the past, he had posed the same question to Rong Qing, but Rong Qing had never given him a direct answer.

Li Shang gazed at the city below, silent for a moment, before finally speaking: “Because looking down at the city before a mission makes my courage more tangible. It allows me to see what I’m truly fighting for.”

The Rong Qing of the past had always charged forward fearlessly, yet he was still human—he felt fear. No one could be entirely unafraid of life and death; he, too, needed to summon the courage to face everything.

He had long lost his parents and family, but the peace and prosperity of the populace were his concern; the myriad lights of homes were his responsibility.

This was his path, and the unwavering belief of his life.

Just as in this moment, he wished to engrave this serene, hopeful cityscape firmly in his mind.

Finally receiving his answer, He Lin looked at Li Shang’s handsome, resolute face, momentarily captivated.

Li Shang’s gaze shifted from the sunrise and the city to He Lin’s face. He looked at him for a moment and said, “It’s almost time. Let’s head downstairs.”

After taking just two steps, He Lin reached out from behind and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

Feeling the warmth from He Lin’s hand, Li Shang turned to look at him.

He Lin said, “Let’s go. To avoid any complications.” He stepped forward, moving to Li Shang’s side. “But before that, give me a few seconds. You protect the peace and well-being of others; I’ll protect you.”

The rooftop was deserted except for them, and the bright morning sun illuminated their profiles.

After speaking, He Lin cupped the back of Li Shang’s neck with one hand, leaned in, and kissed him.

Li Shang remained silent, tilting his head up, ready to respond.

Just as He Lin’s lips touched his, a sudden realization flashed through Li Shang’s mind.

*To avoid complications…*

Accompanying this phrase was the memory of the expression Bai Zang had given him at the end of the interrogation.

Li Shang’s eyes snapped open, and he abruptly pushed He Lin away. “This is too fast!” he exclaimed.

He Lin, who had been leaning in with closed eyes, was pushed back and stood stunned for a few seconds. Then, a bit disappointed, he licked his lips and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Bai Zang gave in too quickly,” Li Shang blurted out, leaving He Lin even more confused about his meaning.

Li Shang didn’t notice He Lin’s bewildered and slightly hurt expression. Instead, he clenched his left fist against his lips, pacing back and forth as if deep in thought.

Then he continued, “Although some parts of my interrogation of Bai Zang were unexpected for him, the situation wasn’t entirely beyond his control. My plan was merely to create an information gap, to confuse Bai Zang and thwart his immediate plans. But that’s all it was. He had plenty of excuses he could have used. Based on my understanding of him, as a high-level strategist, he shouldn’t have been driven to such hysterical helplessness in this situation.”

He Lin frowned slightly. He hadn’t participated in the earlier interrogation of Chen Yanchu and hadn’t fully grasped Li Shang’s meaning.

But Li Shang’s thoughts were becoming increasingly clear. He went on, “Chen Yanchu was acting. His failure, his anger—it was all a pretense to deceive me.”

Li Shang was a commander, a strategist in this entire event. As someone controlling the entire board, a single misstep could potentially shift the situation, but it often wasn’t enough to secure victory.

He was the type to think several moves ahead.

Similarly, Bai Zang was also an excellent strategist. Li Shang had never believed Bai Zang was as emotionally unstable as he appeared. In reality, Bai Zang was the kind of desperado who wouldn’t shed a tear even at his own funeral.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have repeatedly evaded police raids and investigations.

The recent investigation had been going too smoothly. From capturing Bai Zang, preventing the prophecy, detaining Jin Lie, to locating the island where Ψ was hidden—it had been a series of victories, with the opposition retreating step by step.

Bai Zang’s plans couldn’t be this simplistic. Even if one node failed, other contingency measures should have surfaced quickly.

What suddenly occurred to Li Shang was that Bai Zang couldn’t possibly have no contingency plan for his own capture…

Unless everything happening now was part of Bai Zang’s plan.

Li Shang put himself in Chen Yanchu’s mindset to reason it out.

Chen Yanchu’s programming language was like encountering “if-then” statements during a program’s execution, making choices to continue running.

In other words, within the current plan’s loop, even if a few steps yielded negative outcomes, the program’s execution might not have stopped.

What he wanted was ultimate victory.

Ever since the island operation plan began taking shape, Li Shang had felt a lingering unease. He had even discussed in advance with Director Xu about transferring police forces from nearby cities.

The reason was that most of the provincial department’s SWAT forces would be deployed for the island operation, occupied for a while. During this time, the department’s security would be significantly weakened.

And wasn’t that the perfect opportunity for the opposition?

But what if all of this was actually Bai Zang’s real plan?

If he was clever enough, like that AI program he designed, he might have set things up in certain places long ago.

And now he was immobilized; he was still waiting, waiting for the police to deploy, waiting for Xia Yan to return to the island ahead of the police, to give them the best shot at winning.

At this thought, Li Shang broke out in a cold sweat. If his current inference were true, then his eagerness to storm the island and deploy most of the police force would play right into Bai Zang’s hands, potentially plunging the entire city into crisis, and he would unwittingly become an accomplice in Bai Zang’s plan.

Yet at the same time, Bai Zang’s earlier remark might have been a deliberate provocation. If they didn’t send enough police to apprehend Engineer Yuan and Xia Yan now, those two might escape. Sooner or later, Ψ would surely resurge.

So how to decide and allocate forces became the critical question at this moment.

Chen Yanchu didn’t care about those two carloads of people; the number of people he wanted to sacrifice was far greater than that. Who knew what else this madman might do?

Li Shang found himself stuck between a rock and a hard place.

When he shared his thoughts with He Lin, He Lin frowned slightly but quickly grasped the logic. He nodded and said, “Based on our previous analysis of his personality, and my understanding of him, he has never been one to let emotions dictate his actions since childhood. On the contrary, he controls his emotions very well, even using them to win others’ favor.”

As he spoke, He Lin gave a bitter, victimized smile.

“Moreover…” He Lin naturally recalled the Zero Case. “He is the type who, when wronged, stays silent but will inevitably bite back later, and once he does, he never lets go.”

They were on the same page.

He Lin then asked, “But after all, this is just our speculation without solid evidence. The operation is already deployed. How do you plan to respond? Delay the plan to ensure the city’s safety? Or proceed with the original plan and deal with the aftermath after the arrest? What are you going to tell the higher-ups?”

Li Shang pondered for a moment before looking up resolutely. “He wants me to lose, but what if I want to win on both fronts?”

He Lin sucked in a breath. “So you mean reduce the number of people landing on the island while also monitoring the city’s situation?”

Li Shang nodded decisively. “Cut the operation team size, switch to an elite squad for the island landing, leave some police stationed in the city, and with those external reinforcements, we might just pull this off.”

He Lin fully understood how risky Li Shang’s plan was. He took a deep breath and said, “Let’s discuss it with the leadership first. If anything goes wrong, I’m with you on this.”

The two went downstairs, bypassing the assembly, and headed straight to the leadership conference room.

Several high-ranking leaders of the provincial department were in a meeting about recent developments. When Director Xu heard Li Shang’s reasoning and response strategy, his first reaction was to reject it: “No, it’s too dangerous. That’s their headquarters. What, you think a few people can just break in? You might end up in danger.”

A minister surnamed Song beside him added, “Commander Li, I think you might be overthinking this. In my opinion, that Bai Zang might not be that clever. He’s locked up—how could he possibly stir up trouble?”

Even Deputy Director Zhang, who had always supported Li Shang, voiced objections: “The higher-ups are very focused on the Ψ case right now. It’s best to deliver results as soon as possible. As for other matters, we can deal with them when there’s concrete evidence. You’re worrying too soon.”

Others urged, “Isn’t the helicopter ready? You should proceed with the operation as planned without delay.”

The leaders disagreed, a result He Lin had anticipated.

Li Shang sat silently listening without rebutting a single word. But he did not accept the leaders’ opinions, nor did he rise to leave. He simply lowered his head and glanced at his watch.

Just as the leaders finished speaking, the clock struck the hour, and a duty officer from the provincial department’s reception desk rushed in frantically from outside, his face as pale as if he’d seen a ghost.

“Just now, an explosion occurred by the lake at Zhaolu Park! There are already casualties!”

Li Shang looked up at the leaders before him.

It has begun.