At thirty, I started my comeback from the intelligence system.

Lang Hehe stood in front of the huge electronic screen, one corner of which displayed an image that had just been urgently transmitted from the interrogation area—Lu Jiahao slumped in the interrogation chair, the tiny, fatal wound on his chest shockingly visible in close-up.

Her face was expressionless, but deep within her light amber eyes, it seemed as if polar ice was freezing and about to burst.

The air pressure inside the command center was so low it was suffocating. All the staff subconsciously moved less and even breathed more carefully.

"Good, very good!"

Lang Hehe's voice rang out, not loud, but it sounded like it was carrying shards of ice, each word striking the silent air.

"Right under my nose, a key suspect was silenced. This is a provocation, a declaration of war against the entire state's apparatus of violence!"

She slowly turned around, her gaze sweeping over Director Wang, whose face was ashen, Chang Le, whose arm was wrapped in bandages, and several of her officers.

"Chang Le, your judgment is correct. The other party has informants within the police force, or... they have technical means that we do not yet know, which allows them to accurately control the pace of the interrogation and create this perfect opportunity for the power outage."

"The assassin was extremely familiar with the internal structure, and his actions were swift, precise, and ruthless; he was a top-tier professional. This was not an ordinary gangland cover-up; it was a quasi-military level decapitation operation."

She walked up to the huge map of Shenzhen and pressed her finger on the spot representing the Royal Palace Nightclub.

"Lu Jiahao's lair, the Royal Palace Nightclub. There must be secret passages, secret rooms, or... more evidence and clues there that we haven't yet discovered."

"We originally thought that with Lu Jiahao in our hands, we could investigate him at our leisure, but now it seems we can't wait a moment longer!"

Lang Hehe's eyes were sharp as knives. "Director Wang, I need your coordination to immediately impose the highest level of martial law and evacuation on the Royal Palace Nightclub and surrounding areas, citing counter-terrorism and the investigation of major security risks and assets related to organized crime as reasons."

"Colonel Lang, this... requires procedures, and the impact is too great..." Director Wang hesitated.

"I'll have the war zone handle the paperwork, immediately!"

Lang Hehe interrupted him, his tone leaving no room for argument.

"Impact? Last night's gunfight at the docks and the city police's cover-up early this morning—weren't those impacts huge enough? I'm going to expose all those things hiding in the shadows to the light of day today!"

"All personnel, listen up! Level one combat readiness! Target: Royal Palace Nightclub! Dig deep! All related personnel, leave no one out, take them all under control! Any resistance or abnormality, authorize the use of necessary force! Move out!"

The order is absolute! It is as powerful as thunder!

The piercing alarm instantly resounded throughout the city police compound, followed by the deep, dense roar of military trucks and armored vehicles engines from afar.

The sound of helicopter rotors cutting through the air could be heard from above.

An impenetrable encirclement, disguised as a counter-terrorism operation, suddenly unfolded at dawn.

At 9:00 AM, GG Company of Hanfeng Group.

Sunlight streamed through the brand-new blinds, illuminating a small, simply furnished but fully functional private office of about fifteen square meters.

The sign on the door reads "Chen Geng, Technical Director." This is no longer the slightly crowded workstation in the open office area outside, but a space that truly belongs to him.

Wei Songqi and three or four other employees who were usually marginalized and unsuccessful in the planning department gathered at the door early, their faces showing undisguised excitement and restraint.

"Brother Geng! Congratulations! You now have your own office!"

Wei Songqi was the most enthusiastic, genuinely happy for Chen Geng.

"Director Chen, I hope you will take good care of me in the future."

The others were respectful, clearly indicating their intention to seek refuge with them.

Chen Geng recognized them; they were all honest people with some ability, but who had never achieved success due to their personality or background.

"Thank you everyone. Let's work together and learn from each other in the future."

Chen Geng responded with a smile, neither overly enthusiastic nor cold, his attitude calm yet weighty.

He knew that Wei Songqi was a confidant, and these people were capable, but they needed to be observed.

He then added, "We just moved in today, and it's a mess. So, after get off work this afternoon, let's find a place and I'll treat everyone to dinner, as a celebration and to help everyone get to know each other better."

Upon hearing this, the group was overjoyed and thanked them repeatedly.

As I was packing up my last personal belongings in the common area outside the office, I ran into Qian Jin and Zhao Gang.

These two men were more senior than Chen Geng and had some prior acquaintance, but their expressions were complicated at the moment.

"Wow, Director Chen, this move is faster than a promotion notice!"

Qian Jin twitched the corners of his mouth, his tone slightly sour.

"Yes, he'll be a leader from now on, so he'll have to take good care of us old colleagues."

Zhao Gang replied half-jokingly and half-seriously, but there was no real smile in his eyes.

Chen Geng glanced at them and recalled that in the system intelligence, the two of them were among the "parasite" targets that Li Qianqian was looking for.

I was hoping that, considering our past relationship, I might offer some advice if the opportunity arose in the future.

But seeing their current behavior, that thought faded away.

Everyone has their own ambitions and their own path; you can't force them. Let's respect other people's fates.

"Brother Qian, Brother Zhao are joking. We're still colleagues, so let's learn from each other."

He replied calmly and then said no more.

Just then, his office phone rang. It was a call from the headquarters administration office, informing him to go to the group headquarters building immediately to attend the morning board meeting.

The news spread like wildfire throughout GG Company.

The way everyone looked at Chen Geng changed completely.

Is the newly appointed CTO of GG Company allowed to attend board meetings?

This specification...

Chen Geng understood that it was Mu Xueke's doing.

With a calm expression, amidst the surprised, envious, or inquisitive gazes of the crowd, he picked up his car keys and left GG Company.

Half an hour later, at the Hanfeng Group headquarters building, in the top-floor boardroom.

Led by his secretary, Chen Geng gently pushed open the door and entered.

The core members of Hanfeng Group sat around a huge circular conference table.

The person in the main seat was Mu Xueke. Today, she was wearing a royal blue Armani custom-made suit dress, her long hair was elegantly styled, her makeup was exquisite, and her aura was calm and composed. She was completely different from the slightly tired "Xiao An" yesterday.

To her left was the soon-to-retire chairman, Li Pengcheng, and to her right was an empty seat. Below them were a group of directors and senior executives, including Song Rui, Lu Shiming, Liang Dan, Wang Zhenye, Sun Liwei, and Qian Jianguo.

Chen Geng's arrival caused a brief pause in the meeting, which was in the middle of Sun Liwei's report. All eyes, filled with scrutiny, curiosity, incomprehension, and even displeasure, instantly focused on this young man who had suddenly barged in.

Sun Liwei coughed twice and quickly finished his report.

Lu Shiming frowned immediately, his expression displeased.

As the marketing director, Zhou Peng, sitting behind Lu Shiming, had a sinister look in his eyes.

His ex-wife, Su Qingqing, was sitting in the back row taking notes as Lu Shiming's assistant. Her eyes widened, her face filled with disbelief.