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Cao Bin's investigation has reached a stalemate.

The surveillance of Suning lasted for weeks, but the results were disappointing.

That young man lived a life as disciplined as an ascetic: he opened and closed his shop on time every day, spending most of his time in the shop reading or wiping down the unsold goods. When he occasionally went out, he would go to the nearby supermarket to buy daily necessities. He had almost no social activities, let alone any suspicious contact.

That "Prince Indian God Oil" shop was as quiet as an empty store.

Online monitoring also yielded no results.

The previously active, mysterious QQ group has completely fallen silent, as if it had never existed.

They inquired with all known fellow patients again and again, only to receive wary silence, blank headshakes, or agitated rebukes: "Officer, if we had money to buy medicine, would we be waiting to die? If we had any leads, we would have bought it long ago!"

The pressure is increasing day by day.

The superiors demanded that the case be solved within a specified time, and representatives of international pharmaceutical companies would come every few days to "inquire" about the progress, but the breakthrough in the case seemed to be firmly blocked by an invisible wall.

Cao Bin smoked his cigarette in frustration, feeling as if he were fighting a fog.

However, just when he was almost convinced that the other party might simply be being overly cautious and not actually be the target, or that they had completely ceased operations, new information came from the legitimate pharmaceutical manufacturer.

Through their own expensive market monitoring channels, they discovered that a very small amount of Indian Gleevec seems to have started circulating again in extremely secretive circles!
The quantity is much smaller than before, and the methods are more covert, but they do exist.

It seems the ghosts haven't disappeared, they've just become more cunning.

Cao Bin immediately tensed up, and the investigation was launched again with full force.

So he intensified his inquiries with known patients, trying to find the source of the reappearance of this tiny stream of water.

……

Faced with repeated questioning from the police, the patients' resistance reached its peak.

They formed a silent alliance, using silence and "I don't know" to resist the investigation.

For them, providing clues is tantamount to cutting off their own and countless other patients' only path to survival; it is a form of resistance based on the instinct for survival.

"Officer Cao, please stop asking! We don't know anything!"

"If you're so capable, go and drive down the price of the genuine drug! What's the point of staring at us who are about to die!"

"You're all lackeys of those foreign pharmaceutical companies!"

Insults, cries, silence...

Cao Bin encountered unprecedented resistance.

He understood their despair, but duty compelled him to investigate.

Seeing this, legitimate drug manufacturers unleashed their "trump card".

They no longer relied solely on the police, but directly targeted the patient community, issuing a cold "reward notice":
"Anyone who provides valid clues that help uncover the source and sales ring of large-scale Indian generic 'Gleevec' will be rewarded with RMB 100,000 upon verification, and will also be eligible to purchase genuine drugs at a low price through special channels provided by our company."

100,000 yuan in cash!
Plus the right to access genuine medications at a low price!

This reward offer was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, instantly creating a huge wave in the community of patients who were already fragile and vulnerable due to illness and poverty.

The complexity and dark side of human nature were magnified infinitely at this moment.

On one side is morality and the collective survival interests of all patients; on the other side is a huge amount of cash within reach and a guarantee for personal survival.

For some who have almost lost everything in dire straits, overwhelmed by enormous debt and the fear of death, the answer to this choice begins to tilt.

……

Although the vast majority of patients scoffed at it or even cursed it, cracks eventually appeared in the face of the enormous temptation.

A patient with the online name "Dead Tree Comes Back to Life" had a son who had been ill for many years, leaving his family destitute, heavily in debt, and his wife who left him due to excessive pressure.

Looking at the reward notice and then at his son lying in the hospital bed, writhing in pain, he went through a hellish ordeal.

Ultimately, his reluctance to part with his son and his despair for reality overwhelmed the remaining sense of morality in his heart.

He contacted the pharmaceutical company's representative through the secret channel listed in the announcement, and tremblingly revealed a few names and his former lifeline—the QQ group number: "...They...they are mainly organized by a woman named Liu Sihui in the group...there's also someone surnamed Lü, named Lü Shouyi, who seems to be a patient as well...oh right, there's also a Pastor Liu, the one at the church...he knows more...that's all I know...money...when can I get the money?"

Liu Sihui, Lü Shouyi, Pastor Liu!

These three names and QQ group numbers were immediately synced to Cao Bin's desk.

……

The target became clear instantly!

Cao Bin was greatly encouraged and immediately deployed the operation.

Police quickly summoned Liu Sihui, Lü Shouyi, and Pastor Liu.

However, the result left Cao Bin feeling powerless once again.

When questioned, the three behaved remarkably in unison.

Liu Sihui: "QQ group? There used to be a patient support group, but I disbanded it because people kept posting ads. I just wanted to help everyone encourage each other."

Lu Shouyi: "Pastor Liu is a good man! He often comes to see me and brings me food. Medicine? What medicine? I'm taking the medicine prescribed by the hospital, but it's too expensive..."

Pastor Liu: "As a servant of God, what's wrong with me caring for my fellow believers and praying for them? As for medicine, that's the doctor's and hospital's business."

Their testimonies were airtight, clearly indicating that they had made thorough preparations beforehand.

Police searched their residence and Pastor Liu's church but found nothing.

There were no medicines, no transaction records, no evidence of financial transactions (cash transactions), and even the crucial cell phone had vanished without a trace.

The QQ group that was betrayed, though exposed, had already been thoroughly cleaned up, containing no valuable information and becoming a truly "dead group." The trail seemed to have gone cold once again.

Cao Bin had only a solitary, unverifiable confession and three seemingly flawless interrogation subjects.

He knew that his opponent was far more difficult to deal with than he had imagined.

They are well-organized, highly vigilant, and have the protection of some patients.

The investigation felt like hitting a high wall covered in cotton; it was futile, yet everyone knew a huge secret was hidden behind it.

The dead end seemed to have grown even longer.

But Cao Bin's intuition told him that the breakthrough must be somewhere, it just hadn't been discovered yet.

……

The sirens of the police cars gradually faded into the distance at the entrance of the narrow alley, eventually disappearing into the hustle and bustle of the city.

The cigarette between Su Ning's fingers had burned down to the filter, and the scalding heat made him realize it was burning. He then stubbed it out in the ashtray full of cigarette butts.

The atmosphere in the small aphrodisiac shop was so oppressive it was suffocating.

Liu Sihui sat on the small stool opposite, her face expressionless, but her heart was filled with complex emotions.

Lu Shouyi also looked depressed, knowing that their "business" was unlikely to continue.

As for Pastor Liu, he also seemed quite confused, unsure of what would happen to them after Su Ning backed down.

"What exactly did the police ask during their questioning? Did they mention 'generic drugs' directly?" Su Ning's voice was deep, his gaze sweeping over the three men like a hawk.

Liu Sihui's voice trembled slightly from suppressed emotion: "Yes! They kept asking if we had anything to do with Zhang Changlin, but they kept trying to find out which fellow patients we were in close contact with, who often 'helped out' in the group, and who was in charge of 'organizing'..."

Suning tapped her knuckles lightly twice on the cold glass counter, producing a soft, resonant sound.

The police didn't find them by accident...

Liu Sihui controlled the channels and information, Lü Shouyi was responsible for liaison and coordination, and Pastor Liu provided credibility and some offline points. This was their core division of labor, which was extremely secretive.

unless……

“There’s a mole.” He uttered those three words, his tone cold and certain, leaving no room for doubt.

Lu Shouyi suddenly raised his head, his face filled with disbelief: "Impossible! Boss Su, those are brothers and sisters who crawled out of the gates of hell together! How could they..."

He stopped mid-sentence.

He recalled that several fellow patients had privately complained about the rigid pricing, and some had even been found to have secretly contacted Zhang Changlin's people. At the time, everyone assumed it was a momentary lapse of judgment due to financial hardship and did not investigate further...

“It’s not impossible, it’s already happened.” Su Ning stood up and walked to the glass door that offered a view into the alleyway. Her sharp gaze swept over the hurried pedestrians outside. “Zhang Changlin cheated people, the evidence is conclusive, but the police are just muddling through, giving each of them a half-hearted punishment and letting them go. That’s not normal in itself. Now Zhang Changlin is selling genuine medicine, but the police have directly shut him down. Now they’re targeting the three of you, and that’s no coincidence. They want to use you as a starting point to trace the real source of the medicine and uproot us all!”

"What should we do then?" Liu Sihui, Lü Shouyi, and Pastor Liu all looked at each other in bewilderment.

Then Su Ning turned around, her gaze heavy as she looked at the three of them, her tone resolute and brooking no argument: "From now on, everyone, enter the deepest state of hibernation. Sister Liu, all the contact methods you used before—that QQ number, that SIM card—are invalidated. Move to the safe house we've prepared immediately. Do not show your face without my notification. Brother Lü, stop all offline medicine delivery and visits. All the warehouses and outposts you used before are to be abandoned and you are never allowed to approach them again. Pastor Liu, temporarily reduce the number of times you go to the church, especially stop all conversations and contact related to the patients' medications. If anyone asks, just say it's ordinary concern for church members."

Pastor Liu opened his mouth, his face showing reluctance and anxiety: "But Mr. Su, those patients can't wait! Many of them are counting on..."

Su Ning raised her hand and forcefully pressed down on Pastor Liu's arm, interrupting him. Her eyes were sharp as knives: "Pastor Liu! Now is not the time to be soft-hearted! If we show ourselves now, we'll be walking into a trap!"

The three looked at each other, and finally all lowered their heads heavily.

……

Suning sat alone in the dim light of the "Prince Indian God Oil" store, calmly scrolling through the news and trending topics on his phone screen.

Suddenly, that familiar, emotionless electronic notification tone echoed once again deep within his mind:
【ding dong】

[Main quest completed: Successfully brought ... into the national public eye, sparking ... and leading to ...]

[System Notification: The core objective of the mission has been achieved. The host may choose to leave the current instance world and return to the real world at any time.]

Task Reward Distribution:
1. Funds acquired in the instance world (totaling 386 million yuan) have been legally converted to real-world assets, accompanied by complete stock market investment returns and lottery winning certificates, and can be used freely;
2. Skills Granted: Master-level acting skills (Mastering ultimate emotional control and micro-expression management, able to perfectly integrate into and handle various social and special situations);

3. Skill recovery and enhancement: English (Level: Native speaker proficiency, covering multiple professional fields such as academics, business, and law, with no difficulty in application)

Su Ning was stunned, and then a complex and indescribable smile slowly crept onto the corners of his mouth.

He subconsciously touched the unbranded bank card in his pocket; the cold numbers inside had finally been given a pass to be used in the sunlight.

The two skills, "master-level acting skills" and "native-speaker level English," are even more generous rewards than expected, as if they were tailor-made survival tools for him.

Su Ning raised her head and looked at her own young but weathered face reflected in the glass door, her eyes deep and unfathomable.

However, completing the mission does not mean the end of the story.

The option to return to the real world is right in front of you, within reach.

But as far as the eye can see, one can almost still see Lu Shouyi's hunched back, Liu Sihui's red eyes, Pastor Liu's perseverance, and countless unfamiliar faces waiting in despair for the "Medicine God" to return.

He was silent for a moment, then finally picked up the new phone he had prepared beforehand and sent a short message to an encrypted number: "The wind hasn't stopped, but the rain is getting lighter. Be patient, the darkest hour is before dawn, but the light will surely come again."

On the other end of the message, Liu Sihui, hiding in the safe house, saw this sentence, and her tense nerves finally relaxed a little, and tears silently streamed down her face.

Suning put down his phone and looked out the window again.

He knew that, for this instance world, his mission might have come to an end.

But for many here, the real struggle has only just begun.

His choice will determine the fate of many people.

...(End of chapter)