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

"Don't move!"

"Put down your weapons!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Heavy footsteps and the clanging of metal echoed in the corridor as a dozen or so armed police special forces members, dressed in black combat uniforms, wearing bulletproof helmets and carrying Type 95 automatic rifles, surged in like a tide.

The dark muzzle of a gun, the gleaming tactical flashlight, and the crimson laser sights instantly sealed off the narrow stairwell.

All the targets were focused on Shen Zhong alone.

The atmosphere was extremely tense.

The air seemed to freeze, and every breath felt heavy as steel.

Hou Liangping limped behind the armed police, his face contorted with a mixture of relief at surviving the ordeal and overwhelming resentment.

He pointed at Shen Zhong, who was still standing with his gun, and hysterically accused him: "It's him! He assaulted a police officer! He was illegally possessing a firearm! He even tried to kill me! Arrest him! Cuff him!"

The armed police captain leading the team was around thirty years old, with a square face and sharp, eagle-like eyes.

He ignored Hou Liangping's shouts and kept his eyes fixed on Shen Zhong and the strangely shaped pistol in his hand.

As a veteran soldier, he immediately recognized the gun's extraordinary nature.

But he had a duty to fulfill, and faced with a standoff with guns, he had to take swift and decisive action to control the situation.

"You are surrounded! Drop your weapons immediately and put your hands behind your head! This is your only chance!" The voice of the armed police captain was full of irresistible authority.

He Xia's heart was in her throat. She gripped Shen Zhong's clothes tightly, her body trembling uncontrollably.

Dozens of guns were pointed at her husband.

This scene is enough to drive any ordinary person to a mental breakdown.

However, Shen Zhong remained eerily calm.

He ignored all the gun barrels pointed at him and Hou Liangping's venomous gaze.

He slowly moved the gun he was pointing at Hou Liangping away, but did not put it away.

Then, under everyone's tense gaze, he reached his other hand inside his coat.

"What is he going to do!"

"Be careful, he might have other weapons!"

The armed police officers tensed up instantly, their fingers on the triggers.

Hou Liangping was so frightened that he shrank back.

But what Shen Zhong pulled out was not a weapon.

Instead, it was a dark red hard-shell ID card and a heavy-looking fanny pack wrapped in canvas.

Without even looking at it, he casually tossed the red ID to the armed police captain.

"Shen Zhong, the Dragon Fang Special Forces directly under the Huaxia Command."

"This is my gun license, specially approved by the state!"

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly to everyone's ears in the deathly silent stairwell.

Dragon Fang Special Forces?!

The armed police captain's pupils suddenly contracted!

As a soldier, he had certainly heard of this legendary unit!

That is the true sharpest weapon of the nation, directly under the command of the highest level, carrying out top-secret, level nine death missions! Every member of this unit has an SSS-level encrypted file!

He took the document with trembling hands and opened it.

A steel stamp! A red seal! And that cold, austere one-inch photograph that was almost too daunting to look at!

Just as the captain was in shock, Shen Zhong threw the heavy canvas pouch over again.

"Splash—"

The canvas bag scattered in mid-air, its contents spilling onto the ground.

Instantly, everyone stopped breathing.

Golden light!

A dazzling golden light!

Medals, symbolizing the highest honor for Chinese soldiers, covered the cold ground!

First-class merit!

Another first-class merit!

It was a first-class merit award!

One, two, three... more than a dozen first-class merit medals, and countless second-class and third-class merit medals, were scattered in front of everyone like a pile of worthless metal blocks.

All the armed police officers present were former soldiers.

They knew better than anyone what a first-class merit meant!

That means that a soldier must, at least once, on a battlefield where life and death are at stake, single-handedly turn the tide and achieve unparalleled merit!

For an ordinary soldier, earning even one second-class merit award in their lifetime is enough to bring honor to their family and ancestors.

A first-class merit is something that can be written into military history and engraved on the wall of merit!

But in front of...

There are more than a dozen!

What does this mean?

This means that this man in front of us has given his life to the country at least a dozen times, and crawled back from the mountains of corpses and seas of blood!

This glory was earned with lives! This is a living legend!

The armed police captain's breathing became extremely heavy. He bent down and carefully picked up the nearest first-class merit medal. The heavy weight of it and the blood-red serial number on the back made him feel incredulous!

He immediately picked up the walkie-talkie and quickly confirmed with his superiors, his voice trembling.

"Report to command center! Target suspected to be Major General Shen Zhong of the Dragon Fang Special Forces! Possesses...possesses a special-authorized firearms license! Identity verification required! License number: 20260121..."

There was a long silence on the other end of the walkie-talkie, as if they were also stunned by the news.

Ten minutes later, an extremely serious and urgent voice rang out: "Stand by! No! Immediately disengage! Ensure the safety of our heroes!"

"yes!"

The armed police captain suddenly turned around, faced Shen Zhong, and put away all his weapons and guards.

He straightened his back, put his feet together, and gave a perfectly standard military salute, reflecting the weight of his colonel rank!

"Reporting, Major General! Captain Zhou Weiguo of the Special Operations Detachment of the Beijing Armed Police Corps is reporting for duty!"

The title of Major General caused Hou Liangping's mind to go completely blank.

The resentment and ecstasy on his face froze, replaced by endless bewilderment and fear.

Major General?

A meritorious official?

How...how is this possible?

He had clearly checked through the internal system before he came that He Xia's husband, Shen Zhong, was just an ordinary soldier who had retired from the border troops, and his file was clean!

The only explanation is that the other party's file was encrypted at the highest level! His permissions were simply insufficient!

What happened next made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

After saluting, Armed Police Captain Zhou Weiguo turned around abruptly and faced the dumbfounded Hou Liangping and his entourage. His eyes instantly turned cold and angry.

He let out a deafening roar:

"Everyone has it!"

"Target corrected!"

"Protect the heroes!!"

"Splash—"

A series of uniform metallic scraping sounds.

Within a second, all the armed police special forces members turned their guns around.

A dozen automatic rifles and dozens of laser sights were simultaneously transferred from Shen Zhong to Hou Liangping and his subordinates!

The once arrogant anti-corruption bureau officials were now ashen-faced, their legs trembling, completely dumbfounded.

Why would the machinery of the state be turned against itself?

What kind of being did they mess with?!

Just then, Shen Zhong's phone rang.

He answered the phone, and a strong, authoritative voice came through the line, carrying a hint of concern.

"Xiao Chong, have you been wronged?"

"It's a minor issue, old boss," Shen Zhong's voice remained calm.

"Hmm." The person on the other end of the phone hesitated for a moment. "I know everything. You've just returned, so stay in Beijing. I've found you a good place to settle down."

Shen Zhong remained silent for a moment, his gaze falling on his wife who was still clinging to him tightly behind him, her heart still pounding with fear.

The coldness in his eyes melted instantly, turning into tenderness.

Then, speaking softly yet with unwavering conviction into the phone, he said:

"Old boss, I want to go to Handong!"