We asked you to solve cases, and here you are sharing your criminal experiences?

The next morning, a sense of impending storm hung in the air in the Jiangcheng City Public Security Bureau compound.

Old Zheng stood by the window, holding a thermos, staring at the black cars with provincial license plates parked downstairs.

Zhou Zheng paced irritably in the office, his military boots creaking on the floor.

"What exactly are these inspectors trying to do? We were just starting to make progress on the Night Owl case, and now they're coming down here to do a debriefing?"

"Alright, that's enough."

Old Zheng tightened the cup lid.

"The provincial department's visit was definitely targeted. Captain Gu submitted the report last night, which probably alerted the higher-ups."

Song Qianxia was huddled at her workstation, her eyelids twitching violently, with a feeling that those black cars were coming for her.

Lin Wan, wearing flat shoes, jogged in from the outside corridor.

She mysteriously closed the office door, then leaned close to Song Qianxia and Lao Zheng, lowering her voice.

"Something's happened! The inspection team is led by Deputy Director Zhou Hui. They went straight to Director Qin's office as soon as they entered."

Zhou Zheng stopped in his tracks. "Director Zhou? That infamous Iron Lady? What's she doing here?"

"Not only her, but Captain Gu was also called in." Lin Wan swallowed. "I was passing by on my way to the technical department to deliver some materials when I heard them checking case files inside."

"What files are you looking for?" Song Qianxia's heart skipped a beat.

"Director Qin's previous memo, and the operation logs that the technical department extracted when you were tracking on the dark web." Lin Wan looked at Song Qianxia with sympathy.

Song Qianxia tightened her grip on the paper cup.

Oh no, they're really after her!

……

At this very moment, in the office of the director of the Criminal Technology Division.

Zhou Hui, dressed in a black business suit with her hair neatly styled, sat in the center of the sofa, flipping through several documents in her hands.

Gu Tingchen sat opposite her, his expression calm and his back ramrod straight.

Director Qin Zhenhai stood to the side with a big smile on his face, holding a freshly brewed tea in his hand.

"Director Zhou, please have some tea. You've come all the way to Jiangcheng, it must be tiring."

Zhou Hui didn't take the cup of tea; instead, she slammed the documents in her hand onto the coffee table.

"Director Qin, I'm not here to visit relatives and friends, so I won't drink this tea. The Night Owl Task Force is currently the focus of attention across the province, and we can't afford to make any mistakes."

She turned to look at Gu Tingchen, her gaze sharp.

"Captain Gu, let's talk about you, our specially appointed technical advisor."

Gu Tingchen met her gaze. "Director Zhou, are you referring to Song Qianxia? Consultant Song has played a crucial role in several recent cases."

"A key role?"

Zhou Hui sneered and pulled out Qin Zhenhai's memo.

"It says here that the forensic doctor found traces of black market strangulation techniques on the body of the deceased, Wang Lei. Director Qin analyzed and compared these traces with Song Qianxia's fighting movements, and concluded that they originated from the same source."

Zhou Hui tapped her fingers on the paper.

"Captain Gu, your explanation at the time was that this was the latest modified Krav Maga course that you brought back from overseas exchanges, and Song Qianxia was talented, so she learned it quickly."

"Yes," Gu Tingchen answered without hesitation.

"Very well, then explain it to me."

Zhou Hui took out a document with a red stamp from her briefcase.

"This is a course report issued by the provincial police tactics training team. Your so-called method simply doesn't exist in the entire police curriculum database!"

The office fell into dead silence.

Gu Tingchen clenched his fist.

Qin Zhenhai wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, not daring to interrupt.

Zhou Hui didn't give Gu Tingchen a chance to breathe and threw out a second document.

"This is the dark web operation log submitted by the technical department. Song Qianxia bypassed three military-grade firewalls in just ten seconds. She even uncovered Night Owl's money laundering network by modifying only one underlying logic."

"Captain Gu, an intern with the worst grades at police academy and a clean record like a blank sheet of paper, yet she not only possesses deadly black market fighting skills but also top-notch hacking abilities. Don't you find that suspicious?"

Gu Tingchen looked at the evidence, his tone remaining completely calm.

"Under extreme crisis, people can unleash potential beyond reason. While the ability to learn across disciplines is rare, it is not without precedent."

Zhou Hui laughed in exasperation.

"Captain Gu, are you telling me a fantasy novel? Rules are rules. The chain of evidence is incomplete, and the background check is questionable. Keeping someone like this in the core task force is a recipe for disaster. If anything goes wrong, you'll be facing a military court!"

"Having gone through all these events, I believe in my team member's abilities and attitude, and I can vouch for her actions."

Gu Tingchen stood up, his attitude firm.

Zhou Hui closed the file, stood up,

"Your guarantee is worthless in the face of the system!"

"I am now formally summoning Song Qianxia for questioning on behalf of the Provincial Department of Supervision. If she cannot provide a reasonable explanation in accordance with procedure, I will immediately terminate her consultant status and take mandatory isolation measures!"

"No way." Gu Tingchen retorted without even thinking.

"Since the task force was established, Song Qianxia has not made a single mistake, nor has she violated any police dispatch rules. On the contrary, if it weren't for her, we would have had many more civilian casualties. She is a meritorious contributor, not a suspect; the word 'interrogation' is completely unnecessary for her!"

"If the provincial department has any questions about her background, as the head of the task force, I will submit a detailed written report to the Inspectorate. But I will never allow anyone to interrogate my team members like criminals."

Zhou Hui was amused by his tough attitude, crossed her arms, and looked Gu Tingchen up and down.

"Gu Tingchen, do you even remember you're a police officer? You're so protective of an intern of unknown origin, even risking your own future. What, are you two in cahoots?"

"Director Zhou, please watch your words!" Gu Tingchen's voice turned completely cold.

Seeing that the two were about to completely break off relations, Qin Zhenhai, who was standing to the side, was so frightened that his soul almost flew away.

"Oh, you two, calm down!"

Director Qin quickly stepped between the two, wiping the cold sweat from his bald head with a handkerchief while frantically trying to smooth things over.

"We're all doing this for the case, for the bigger picture! Director Zhou, Tingchen is just stubborn like that, please don't take it to heart. Tingchen, how dare you speak to the provincial leaders like that? Hurry up and..."

No one paid any attention to Qin Zhenhai's attempts to smooth things over, and the atmosphere in the office became extremely tense.

Right now, outside the door.

Song Qianxia leaned against the corner of the corridor and heard the conversation inside clearly.

Having spent ten years in the underworld in my past life, I was used to betrayal, treachery, and sacrificing one's comrades for others. As long as I could live, who cared about the deaths of others?

But a law-abiding policeman like Gu Tingchen should stand cleanly in the sunlight, why should he take the blame for a rat in the gutter like her?

Song Qianxia lowered her eyes, a sense of unease and helplessness rising within her. She could handle assassins with ease and deceive multiple layers of scrutiny without batting an eye, but when faced with this kind of blatant protection, she was at a loss.

Forget it.

In both her past and present lives, she dislikes owing favors to others.

Song Qianxia took a deep breath, concealing the nonchalance in her eyes, straightened the collar of her police uniform, raised her hand, and knocked on the door.

"Knock, knock, knock."

Before anyone inside could respond, Song Qianxia pressed the doorknob, pushed the door open, and went inside.