Nominal: Hou Liangping blocking the door? He was slapped away!

"Buzz—Buzz—Buzz—"

All the red physical alarm lights embedded in the corners of the four walls of the confidential room were lit up.

The red light swirled, sweeping across the metal tabletop, across his face, and across the locked soundproof door behind him.

The whole room was turned into a pot of red paste.

Liu Qigang stared at the still-flashing black dialog box on the screen, his mind exploding with a "boom".

Heavy.

Deputy Secretary of the Military Region of Handong Province.

Major general.

Su Zhenhai spoke casually on the phone—"A young major general who just arrived in the local area," "running around in Handong," "deal with him if necessary."

What a load of crap!

This is no ordinary major general!

The person who can trigger the "Iron Curtain" is someone that even if you tie ten Su Zhenhais together, let alone one Su Zhenhai, you still can't touch a hair on his head!

Liu Qigang's mind was racing.

Su Zhenhai asked him to investigate Shen Zhong's background, saying it was his "private identity" and that he only needed to "take a look."

Take a look?

If the higher-ups really take this seriously, they could send Liu Qigang to a military court!

"Unauthorized access to top-secret information"—that alone is enough to get him into serious trouble. Not to mention the system has already uploaded his terminal's physical address and identity information—

Where did it go?

Supreme Security Council.

The person sitting there is the one who can decide whether Liu Qigang can still wear this military uniform.

Liu Qigang did not hesitate any longer.

He abandoned the keyboard, reached directly into the card slot, grabbed the officer identification card, and pulled it out forcefully.

"Click."

The sound of the chip detaching from the reader was particularly crisp in the enclosed space.

But the red warning on the screen did not disappear.

The black dialog box is still there.

The language has changed.

"Operator identification has been taken offline."

"The system will be forced into a silent lockout in thirty seconds."

"30...29...28..."

The countdown has begun. White numbers are jumping down second by second on a red background.

Liu Qigang stuffed the identification card into the inner pocket of his military uniform, grabbed the jacket draped over the back of the chair, and turned to leave.

Two steps to the door.

He slammed his palm on the doorknob and pushed hard.

He pushed open the heavy, soundproof door. The white light in the hallway made him squint.

"Commander!"

When his confidential secretary, Xiao Zhao, saw him come out, she immediately came to greet him.

But the words were cut off by Liu Qigang's expression as soon as they left his mouth.

Xiao Zhao had followed him for three years and had never seen his boss like this before—his forehead was covered in sweat, the top button of his collar had come undone at some point, and his face was as white as the corridor wall.

"Sir, inside—"

Don't ask.

Liu Qigang's voice was low and fast.

"Immediately seal off this secure room, cut off all external power, and no one is allowed to enter, including yourself."

"yes!"

Xiao Zhao didn't say anything more and turned around to carry out the task.

Liu Qigang had already strode out to the other end of the corridor.

His leather shoes pounded on the ground at twice the usual pace. Armed police sentries, spaced three meters apart, flashed past him, one after another.

He walks fast, but his mind works even faster.

Now there is only one path before him—

Report it immediately.

It wasn't a phone call, nor was it an encrypted telegram.

Go in person. Say it face to face.

Using a phone? What a joke. The system has already recorded his actions. At this critical juncture, reporting via any electronic communication method would be intercepted or misjudged, which wouldn't just be a "violation," it would be "collusion."

Liu Qigang pushed open the door to his office and took three steps to his desk.

He pulled open the second drawer with his right hand and pulled out a special report folder with a red cover from a stack of documents.

This type of clip is used exclusively within the Central Military Commission for presenting matters of utmost importance; an ordinary person might never use it even once in their lifetime.

He sat down, took a pen from the pen holder, and unscrewed the cap.

The pen tip landed on the report paper, and the wrist was remarkably steady.

He memorized the alarm code triggered in the secure room, every line of text that popped up in the system, and the exact number of seconds the countdown timer locked.

Each point was written clearly and precisely.

He paused for two seconds on the last line and added: "This inquiry was entrusted by Comrade Su Zhenhai of the Supervisory Commission."

The evidence is irrefutable, written in black and white.

After finishing writing, I closed the report folder.

He looked up at the secure telephone on the table.

Didn't move.

He stood up, clutching his red report folder, and left the office.

He knew this building very well. From his office area to the core area, he had to walk through a 200-meter-long corridor, pass through two security checkpoints, and go through a metal detector gate.

He usually walks this road with ease, but today every step he takes carries weight.

His relationship with Su Zhenhai is well-known. Back when Su Zhenhai was in charge of Handong, he was just a regimental-level cadre. It was Su Zhenhai who put him on the fast track into the Central Military Commission system.

He remembered this favor for decades.

But human relationships are human relationships, and life is life.

The man Su Zhenhai asked him to investigate, Shen Zhong, was no pushover. He was someone the military protected by the Iron Curtain Agreement. Dealing with someone like that was like touching a high-voltage power line.

Su Zhenhai pushed him into a fire pit in order to protect the corrupt local officials in Handong.

He can't help with this.

We can't help either.

The first security checkpoint.

Liu Qigang took out his identification, which was verified by the security guards, and then he was allowed to pass.

The second metal detector gate.

With a "beep," the green light turned on, and we passed.

At the end of the corridor, there are two sturdy wooden doors.

Two guards stood at the entrance, both over 1.85 meters tall, standing as still as gateposts.

Liu Qigang stopped in front of the door and showed the red report folder in his hand.

"In case of emergencies involving top-secret information, it is necessary to report to the leader in person."

The guard on the left took the report folder, glanced at the number on the cover, and didn't ask any further questions.

He turned around, picked up the internal telephone on the wall by the door, and dialed a short number.

"Reporting to the leader, Committee Member Liu Qigang requests an audience, saying he has top-secret matters to report in person."

It paused for a few seconds.

Liu Qigang couldn't hear what was said on the other end of the phone.

The guard hung up the phone and turned around.

The two people, one on the left and one on the right, simultaneously reached out and pushed open the two doors.

The office behind the door is very large.

A row of neatly trimmed clivia plants sits on the windowsill.

Behind the desk, the elderly man with completely white hair but a ramrod-straight back put down a document in his hand and looked up.

Liu Qigang stepped across the threshold.

Two meters in front of the desk, stand with your feet together, snap to attention, and salute.

"Sir, I made a mistake."

Without any preamble, his first words were a confession.

"Twenty minutes ago, I violated procedures and used a high-privilege terminal without authorization to attempt to access the personnel file of Comrade Shen Zhong, Deputy Secretary of the Handong Provincial Military Region."

The pair of eyes behind the table fixed on him.

"The system has triggered the 'Iron Curtain' protocol. My terminal has been locked, and the operation log has been uploaded to the Supreme Security Council."