Official title: Refused to stay at the university, started his career in a rural town.

When Zhang Hongsheng walked out of the conference hall, the corridor was lit by a stark white light.

Several cadres who had been sitting next to him quickly walked past him, some with their heads down, others looking at their phones, and none of them greeted him.

His colleagues, who were just having a meeting with him, are now all avoiding him.

Zhang Hongsheng stood still, watching the figures of those people disappear at the end of the corridor, the fire in his chest burning from his throat to his temples.

He didn't go to Han Baotian to apologize!

What mistake are you going to admit? Go find Han Baotian now and say what? Say he signed the document when he was drunk that night? Say that bastard Sun Jianjun forced him to drink?

How could I say these things? And what good would it do? The one who signed it was Zhang, not someone else.

The root of the problem lies with Qi Tongwei. As long as this young man can emerge alive from the drug den, unharmed, and then dismantle the entire drug trafficking group, then Zhang Hongsheng will at most be accused of "lax oversight."

Han Baotian gave him a dressing down, but Liang Qunfeng's side made a lot of noise but did little, and in the end, he was punished with three cups of wine.

But what if something happens to Qi Tongwei? Even if they take down this drug trafficking gang, Zhang Hongsheng won't have a good outcome.

If he really does perish inside, then what Han Baotian said tonight, and the silver bracelet that Secretary Liang Qunfeng mentioned, might really be something prepared for him.

As Zhang Hongsheng stepped out of the conference hall, a gust of night wind sent a chill through him.

He raised his hand and looked at his watch; it was 12:30.

He pulled out his smartphone, found the number for the criminal investigation team's command center, and dialed it. It rang three times before being answered. The voice on the other end sounded groggy: "Feed?"

"I am Zhang Hongsheng."

There was a pause of one second on the other end, then the voice immediately became clear and loud. "Director Zhang?"

"Now, immediately, convene all members of the Criminal Investigation Team's Party Committee and all leaders of the Narcotics Enforcement Brigade to a meeting in the Criminal Investigation Team's conference room."

"Now?"

"Now. Summon them immediately. When will they arrive? As quickly as possible."

"...Director Zhang, at this time, let's verify their identities—"

"You fucking let your boss answer the phone!"

With a click, a different voice came from the other end of the microphone. "Director Zhang, this is Zhou Ming."

"This is Zhang Hongsheng! You recognize me, right? Do as I say, notify everyone immediately. All members of the Criminal Investigation Team's Party Committee and all leaders of the Narcotics Enforcement Team—not a single one can be missing. Anyone who doesn't show up, tell them to put their resignation letter on my desk tomorrow!"

There was a moment of silence on the other end. "Understood."

1:30 a.m., Criminal Investigation Brigade Conference Room.

The lights were blindingly bright, and the smell of smoke lingered from the moment the first cigarette was lit.

About twenty people sat on either side of a long table, all sitting upright. Some people yawned but forced back the yawn, some had a button undone on their shirts, and some were wearing slippers.

They were all dragged out of bed.

In the 1990s, who didn't sleep late at night? Even those who went out for social events would just get home and lie down.

The pager beeped, his wife cursed, the kids cried, and he pulled up his pants and ran to the team.

boom.

The door was pushed open with a thud.

Zhang Hongsheng strode in, startling everyone in the room from yawning.

His eyes were bloodshot, the whites of his eyes were full of blood vessels, he was breathing heavily, and he walked to the front of the stage with heavy footsteps. He sat down in a chair and did not say a word.

Two officers were pasting materials onto a board—several enlarged photos, a string of names and relationships, and graffiti-like arrows pointing from one name to another. The only sound in the meeting room was the swishing of the materials being pasted.

Zhang Hongsheng looked at the audience and the Party committee members around him, and then spoke. His voice was not loud, but his throat was terribly hoarse.

"I just finished a meeting tonight, a meeting of the Municipal Political and Legal Affairs Commission! Secretary Han came back in the middle of the night to hold it for us!" He raised his hand to look at his watch. "It ended an hour ago. Secretary Han said a few words at the meeting, and Secretary Liang said a few words after closing the door. I'll read them to everyone verbatim."

He recounted what Han Baotian had said at the meeting. When he said, "Anyone who neglects the safety of undercover officers for the sake of credit—report it to him, he won't get credit, but he'll get plenty of handcuffs," the officer who was pasting materials trembled, and the thumbtack almost fell to the ground.

The board is now pasted up.

Zhang Hongsheng stood up and walked to the front of the board. The eyes of about twenty people were all fixed on those photos and those lines.

He raised his hand and poked his index finger at the photo in the very center of the board.

"Everyone in the underworld calls him Sixth Master."

The photo shows a middle-aged man, around forty years old, with a square face, thick eyebrows, and a sinister look in his eyes. He has a scar on his left cheek that runs from his cheekbone to his chin.

This photo was unearthed from some archive some year ago; the edges are yellowed.

"Male, around forty years old, real name unknown. The head of this drug trafficking group, our undercover comrade is now infiltrated into his gang."

Zhang Hongsheng turned around, his bloodshot eyes sweeping over the people surrounding him.

"From now on, I don't care what methods you use—legitimate intelligence networks, underworld informants, informants, technical investigations, use every damn thing you can."

He slammed his hand on the board.

"One week! Within one week, I need to know where this Sixth Master is staying, where he delivers goods, and where he sleeps, and then I'll immediately close the net."

He paused, then lowered his voice.

"Before the head of the operation closes in, the undercover officers must make sure everyone is informed and withdraws first! Understand?"

"Understood!" The twenty or so people responded in unison, the sound waves hitting the wall and bouncing back, making the fluorescent light tubes buzz.

Those people who were yawning just now are no longer sleepy, and they all stand up straight.

Zhang Hongsheng just read Han Baotian's words verbatim on stage—what the province said, what the city said, not a single word was omitted, and not a single word needed explanation.

Everyone present was a veteran detective. Who couldn't sense the weight of those words?

Liang Qunfeng personally identified the undercover agent, and Han Baotian held a general meeting at 10 p.m., pointing the finger directly at Zhang Hongsheng.

If Qi Tongwei can't be protected, and if the drug trafficking group can't be taken down—Zhang Hongsheng will bear the brunt of the blame, and none of the people under him will escape either.

Who doesn't know the work ethic of the criminal investigation team? Which of their usual irregular practices could withstand a thorough investigation by the provincial or municipal authorities? Tonight, not one of us in this room will be able to sleep soundly.

"Alright!" Zhang Hongsheng slammed his hand on the board. "Put aside the less important tasks for now and free up manpower!"

"Team leaders, return and deploy immediately! Intelligence team, review all materials related to Sixth Master again. I need the initial screening results before dawn! Narcotics squad, send people to monitor all known distribution points 24/7! Move out now! If I don't wipe out this drug trafficking syndicate within a week, I'm not Zhang Hongsheng!"

"yes!"

Seeing the captain panting heavily with bloodshot eyes, the officers below had no doubt that if they couldn't take down this drug trafficking group, the captain would take them down!