After being separated from my family, I became a darling of the military region thanks to my medical

Gu Zheng tightened the lid of the military water bottle, turned around, and gave the order directly.

"Call the armorer."

Less than three minutes later, a middle-aged sergeant covered in engine oil strode into the underground bunker.

The man who came was named Qin Baoquan.

A veteran who spent eighteen years in the base's armory.

He usually works with a saw-off gourd, but his hands are frighteningly steady.

He could identify the production year and batch number of anything in the base, from large anti-tank mines to small firing pins of Type 54 pistols, just by handling them once with his eyes closed.

Qin Baoquan put on white cotton gloves, held the special bone clasps, and carefully placed the fragments under the bright light.

The moment the halo hit the edge of the fragment.

The veteran's wrist, which was gripping the clamp, suddenly stiffened, and the flesh on his face twitched twice.

"This is not something from the experimental area."

Commander Peng had just stepped across the threshold when he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Make sure you're sure before you speak."

Qin Baoquan flipped the fragment halfway over, his gloved fingertips touching the extremely tiny lines around the edge.

"Commander, this fine-threaded design isn't from an old-fashioned detonator, nor is it the rough outer shell we use for engineering blasting. Look here again, the surface is covered with residual insulating varnish, and there's copper powder embedded in the seams."

He held the shards high, facing the light.

"This thing is more like a component that came out of an explosion-proof electrical distribution box, or a fixing part for a temporary maintenance light box. The explosion's epicenter was in the experimental area, but this fragment is covered with traces of electrical components."

The faces of the base cadres standing in the corridor all changed.

Someone spoke up urgently.

"Could it be that the shockwave from the explosion shattered the electrical box on the wall? The scene was so chaotic, it's plausible that fragments flew around and pierced Liang's wound."

Gu Zheng didn't respond to that, and directly reached out and took the evidence bag back.

"The explosion's epicenter was in the southwest corner, and Zhou Jianjun fell in front of Liang Gong. This fragment entered Liang Gong's right lung from the direction of the electrical distribution box."

His gaze swept over the crowd, his voice cold.

"The trajectory angle is incorrect."

Qin Baoquan gasped.

"Commander Gu is right. This firing angle... is coming from the side of Channel Three at an angle."

Commander Peng's face darkened completely.

Passage No. 3 is directly opposite the route that Engineer Liang surveyed yesterday.

If this were an accident, the fragments wouldn't have obediently avoided the people in front of them and precisely drilled into the edge of the chief engineer's heart.

If it weren't for an accident.

That means someone had calculated in advance which route Liang would take and the detonation point.

Ye Zhen braced herself against the cold mud wall and stood up straight.

Gu Zheng turned around.

"Sit down."

"The postoperative signs of Liang Gong and Zhou Jianjun have not yet fully stabilized."

Ye Zhen ignored him and simply pulled the medical record folder hanging at the foot of the bed over.

"You handle the investigation, I'll take care of the patients."

After saying that, she turned and walked towards the temporary ward.

Gu Zheng didn't stop them anymore, but turned his head to look at Lin Yi and Li Hong who were following behind, and lowered his voice.

"Stay close to your teacher. From now on, anyone who enters or leaves the ward must have their name recorded, down to the minute."

"clear!"

Gu Zheng led his men straight to Passage No. 3.

The sandstorm had not completely cleared up, and the ground of the passage was covered with a thick layer of yellow sand.

The walls were charred black by the high temperature after the explosion, several charred wires hung down from the ceiling, and a few temporary maintenance lights hung crookedly on one side of the wall.

Qin Baoquan squatted in front of one of the light boxes, stretched out his gloved fingers, and scraped the edge of the tear.

"This is the spot."

A piece is missing from the inside of the explosion-proof light box.

The cut surface is brand new.

There were also remnants of copper powder that had been heated by the high temperature.

Gu Zheng raised his hand.

"Bring me the maintenance records."

Chief Zhou of the Security Section was sweating profusely and immediately had someone bring over the registration book from the duty room.

I flipped to the records from the night before the explosion.

The last line of text was crystal clear.

[The temporary maintenance light circuit in Channel 3 is experiencing fluctuations. Applicant: Maintenance Foreman Ma Chenggui.]

Section Chief Zhou became anxious, his voice trembling.

"impossible!"

He shouted those three words so fast that even Commander Peng glanced at him.

"Commander, Ma Chenggui has served at the base for sixteen years. Three years ago, he braved a fire to cut off the power to the archives room, burning a layer of skin off his back, and saved half of the archives. Old Ma would never do such a thing!"

Several other officials nearby nodded in agreement.

"He's usually very honest; you can't get a word out of him even if you beat him three times."

"The heating pipe in Engineer Liang's office was leaking, and he always got up in the middle of the night to fix it."

"If we investigate Lao Ma based on just one maintenance record, the morale of the subordinates will be thrown into chaos, Commander."

Gu Zheng closed the registration book with a crisp sound.

"We'll only investigate who tampered with this lightbox."

The passageway fell silent.

Gu Zheng handed the registration book to Xiao Wang next to him.

"Seal off. Take photos and samples of all maintenance tools, light box fragments, and shoe prints on the ground in Channel 3."

Section Chief Zhou's lips moved, as if he wanted to say something.

Commander Peng spoke directly.

"Do as the troupe leader says."

On the other end.

In the temporary underground ward, only the ticking of medical equipment could be heard.

The trend of Liang's electrocardiogram monitor appears to be stable.

Ye Zhen stood by the bed, bending over, her gaze fixed on the pericardial drainage bottle beside the bed.

The record sheet from the previous hour reads: 15 ml of light red drainage fluid.

This hour.

The liquid level in the bottle only rose by two milliliters.

She didn't make a judgment immediately; she placed her finger on it and felt down along the drainage tube.

My fingers stopped abruptly as they reached the inside of the foot of the bed.

The originally smooth silicone tube was bent into a sharp, dead angle in the dark.

A pillow landed squarely on that folded corner.

Ye Zhen's gaze suddenly turned cold and sharp.

"Lin Yi, move the pillow away. Li Hong, prepare heparinized saline solution and get a 5ml syringe."

Lin Yi crouched down and moved the pillow away with both hands.

Meanwhile, the blood pressure readings on the monitor were dropping alarmingly.

Ninety-five. Ninety-one.

Eighty-eight.

The veins on the back of Li Hong's hand bulged as she immediately tore open the syringe packaging to draw out the medicine.

"Teacher Ye, your heart rate has skyrocketed to 132!"

"A precursor to cardiac tamponade, blood can't be drained."

Ye Zhen took the syringe, deftly pulled open the plug of the three-way valve with her fingers, connected the needle, and slowly pulled it back.

On the first attempt, there was tremendous resistance, and no liquid came out.

The second time, Ye Zhen added a little more force to her wrist.

A muffled "thud".

A long, dark red blood clot was forcibly drawn into the syringe.

The blocked pipe was cleared instantly.

A small stream of blood rushed in through the drainage tube, and the liquid level in the bottle began to rise rapidly.

The alarm on the monitor weakened.

Blood pressure slowly started to rise again.

Eighty-eight.

Ninety-two.

Sweat dripped directly from Lin Yi's forehead onto the floor.

"Someone has moved things under the bed."

Ye Zhen pulled out the syringe with the blood clot and put it into a sterile bag and sealed it.

"Don't make a fuss yet."

Li Hong stood there, stunned.

Ye Zhen glanced at her sideways, her voice extremely steady.

"The patient's life is more important than arresting him. You two, now re-inspect all the fixtures around this bed, and label all the tubes with time-stamped labels using medical tape. Go check Zhou Jianjun's chest drainage tube."

The two young men immediately sprang into action.

Half an hour later.

Gu Zheng saw the tube of blood clot on the table in the temporary command post.

A chilling storm was brewing in his eyes.

The guard, Xiao Wang, stood by the table, cold sweat dripping down the back of his neck.

"Commander, there really is a mole trying to kill Engineer Liang right there in his hospital bed."

Gu Zheng swept the several evidence bags into the drawer one by one and pushed the drawer shut with his finger.

"Let him think that he hasn't been exposed yet."

It's 10 p.m.

A highly confidential order was issued to the base's security department through Commander Peng.

Engineer Liang regained consciousness briefly.

As for the fragment of Channel 3 removed from the wound, it will be transported by a special convoy dispatched by the military region to the Ministry of Public Security in Beicheng at 2:00 AM for the highest level of metal identification.

This mixed news quickly spread within the base.

at this time.

In the dimly lit break room of the maintenance team.

Ma Chenggui sat on a wooden bench with one leg missing, head down, holding a dirty piece of cotton cloth in his hand.

He was slowly rubbing the large pipe wrench in his hand.

The announcement over the loudspeaker in the hallway seeped in through the crack in the door.

The cotton cloth suddenly got stuck on the teeth of the wrench.

Ma Chenggui did not look up.

The rough corner of the cloth was forcefully pried into the metal teeth.

A little bit of dark red powder.

It fell silently onto the dusty cement floor.