Searching for someone in northern Myanmar, and you call that earning tuition fees?

Su Ming walked alone into the abandoned stadium, his figure quickly swallowed by the darkness.

Inside the police command vehicle, a dozen surveillance screens displayed dark images of various corners of the sports park, but the main stadium remained completely silent, without any infrared signals.

Li Changfeng paced back and forth outside the car, his security guard uniform crumpled from his grip, his forehead covered in sweat.

"No! I have to go in! This kid's a greenhorn, he doesn't know anything about danger!" Li Changfeng jumped up and down in a panic, reaching for his tactical vest. "I've eaten more salt than he's eaten rice! Does he think this is child's play?!"

Jiang Nanyan grabbed him and said, "Advisor Li! Calm down! Since Su Ming dared to go in, he must have his own plan! What we can do now is trust him and block all escape routes!"

"I don't believe him for a second!" Li Changfeng shouted until his voice was hoarse. "He's a money-grubber! He'd risk his life for five hundred yuan! What if... what if something happens to him? How am I supposed to explain this to those old men in Xishan!"

He grew angrier as he spoke, pointing at the blurry figure on the screen: "Lin Xiaoyue is gone, the city is holding a memorial service for her, and the entire school is observing three minutes of silence! If Su Ming is gone, those old men in Xishan will take both of our ashes and use them to fill the sea!"

"Li Changfeng, you fucking shut up for me!" Jiang Nanyan was also enraged by his shout.

Just then, a red encrypted phone, temporarily installed by the special operations command and never rung before, suddenly emitted a piercing buzzer in the command vehicle.

"Beep—beep—beep—"

The very existence of this phone is top secret, meaning that the military or national security forces have been involved in this operation.

The car fell silent instantly.

Everyone stared intently at the phone, and Jiang Nanyan nervously swallowed.

Her hands trembled as she answered the phone, standing at attention: "This is the temporary command center for the 'Shadow' project in Jiangnan City! I'm Jiangnan Yan, the branch captain!"

A dignified and composed voice came from the other end of the phone: "Who I am is unimportant. I only have one question: Did you allow a private consultant named Su Ming to enter the encirclement alone?"

Jiang Nanyan broke out in a cold sweat instantly: "Reporting, sir! The situation..."

"I don't need the details! I just need the answer! Yes or no!"

"……yes."

There was a full ten seconds of silence on the other end of the phone. During those ten seconds, Jiang Nanyan's heart was in her throat.

"Listen, I don't care how many hostages are inside, or how bad your SWAT team's casualty figures will be. The only criterion for evaluating this operation is Su Ming's absolute safety; not a single hair on his head can be lost."

He paused, his tone chilling: "If anything happens to him, from you, Jiang Nanyan, to the Municipal Bureau, and then to the Provincial Department, every single one of them will be prepared to face questioning from the Supreme Military Court. That's all I have to say."

The phone clicked off.

The busy tone lingered for a long time after the call ended, but Jiang Nanyan remained in the same position as if the receiver weighed a ton. She slowly shifted her gaze back to the screen, and the young man's figure under the spotlight instantly became unfamiliar and heavy in her eyes.

She looked at Li Changfeng, her voice trembling slightly: "Advisor Li, who...who exactly is he? A single phone call can directly mobilize the Supreme Military Court...just for the safety of a student?"

Li Changfeng did not answer her.

He turned around, clasped his hands together, faced the monitor screen showing Su Ming's back, closed his eyes, and began to chant: "Gods and Buddhas above, ancestors of all kinds! I am Li Changfeng, employee number 9527. I've never asked anyone for anything in my life, but today I'm risking my reputation to kowtow to you! Please have mercy and protect that kid inside so that nothing goes wrong. I'll burn incense for you all every month, a different kind every month!"

Suddenly, a blinding beam of light shot down from the highest point of the main stands, locking Su Ming in the center of the beam.

Su Ming stopped and raised his hand to shield his eyes from the light.

A laugh laced with electronic music echoed through the empty stadium.

"Welcome, my dear...optics expert."

Su Ming lowered his hand, adjusted to the light, and looked around. In the dark stands, he felt countless eyes on him.

"The lighting setup is terrible," Su Ming commented. "The color temperature is wrong, the Fresnel lens on the follow spot is flawed, and the edges of the light spot are blurry. And are you using such a strong top light to cover up your actual position in stand three with shadows? That's such an old-fashioned method."

The laughter from the loudspeaker suddenly stopped.

Inside the command vehicle, the technicians were stunned and looked at each other in bewilderment.

Is this guy... discussing lighting and stage design with a deranged serial killer who has kidnapped hostages?

After a moment of silence, the voice rang out again, tinged with annoyance.

"It seems you haven't realized your situation yet."

"Look," the voice boasted, "the entire city, no, the entire underworld, is watching. They crave chaos and worship absolute power. And I am the prophet who bestows miracles upon them."

He snapped his fingers.

The giant GG screens around the stadium lit up instantly, displaying the same image—a dark web live stream room filled with code and bizarre symbols, with the number of online viewers rapidly increasing.

"Su Ming, you are special. You are the first person who can follow my train of thought. Therefore, I grant you the honor of witnessing a miracle up close."

"Let me play a game with you."

However, Su Ming simply raised his wrist and glanced at the digital watch.

He asked somewhat impatiently, "Can you hurry up? I booked a vocabulary practice session for 9:30, and I'll miss it if I'm late, which is a real hassle."