Captain Zhang left quickly and returned just as fast. She had barely stepped back into the small observation room when the phone inside began ringing incessantly.
Within a minute or two, the previously somewhat crowded room emptied out, leaving only Captain Zhang, Guan Xia, and a few others.
"Expert Guan," Captain Zhang said, looking at Guan Xia, "your office has been prepared. Please follow me."
Guan Xia was somewhat taken aback, feeling that Captain Zhang's efficiency wasn't just swift but downright lightning-fast. If she remembered correctly, Captain Zhang had only been out making a call for about five minutes. In just five minutes, she had not only reported the new developments but also managed to arrange an office for them?
Guan Xia naturally understood why they were being given an office, so she didn't say a word and quickly followed Captain Zhang's lead.
The temporary office prepared for them was on the third floor, just a short walk away. It was slightly larger than the one in Shangshuang City, but it was clearly arranged in a hurry. Several cabinets that hadn't been moved out yet were piled in a corner, and some documents were even strewn haphazardly on the floor.
Captain Zhang glanced at the cluttered office and spoke apologetically, "The situation is urgent. We initially thought an office wouldn't be necessary, so we didn't prepare one. Who knew Expert Guan would give us such a big surprise right upon arrival? We could only hastily clear out this room. Please understand."
Guan Xia didn't mind at all and said casually, "As long as it's functional. So, Captain Zhang, shall we start reviewing the surveillance footage now?"
Captain Zhang gave an affirmative hum and glanced at the time. "Actually, right after we brought the person in, we also felt something was off. So, as a precaution, Director Gao immediately had all the surveillance footage from the suspect's office building, residence, and the surrounding areas retrieved. It was just a preparatory measure, but who knew it would come in handy so quickly."
As Captain Zhang spoke, a knock came at the door. Guan Xia looked up to see a person standing at the doorway holding a rather large cardboard box. Without even looking, Guan Xia knew it contained various USB drives.
Sure enough, the young male officer delivering the items said, "Captain Zhang, the surveillance footage is here. As per Director Gao's instructions, it's from the suspect's office building and the vicinity of his residence."
Captain Zhang replied rapidly, "Good, good, good. Bring it here quickly."
The young officer handed the box to Captain Zhang, had her sign a document, then turned to leave, thoughtfully closing the door behind him.
Captain Zhang carefully placed the box on the desk and smiled apologetically at Guan Xia. "Expert Guan, now that the surveillance footage is here, I'll leave it to you."
Guan Xia eagerly found a seat, sat down, and began rummaging through the box of surveillance drives as she said, "No trouble at all, no trouble. I'll get started right now."
Although Guan Xia wasn't part of the police system, her desire to catch Wu Yang was just as strong as Captain Zhang's. Even without being told, she wished she could have started earlier.
With her mind completely focused on finding Wu Yang's whereabouts, Guan Xia became utterly absorbed in her work once she started, not even noticing when Captain Zhang left.
She had been reviewing the footage for over an hour. Guan Xia hadn't spotted Wu Yang himself—after all, she had never truly seen him, so the system's intuitive prompts were useless. What made her suddenly freeze was seeing a familiar figure. It looked familiar, but she couldn't quite recall where she had seen them before.
Guan Xia pondered deeply, and soon the system interface was triggered. Perhaps because it had reached its highest level, the system interface no longer displayed text proactively unless Guan Xia actively inquired. This time was no different; as soon as the interface appeared, it directly played an automatically triggered video.
Judging by the sky and the clothing of the people in the video, it seemed to be a summer dusk, and the location was the orphanage where Guan Xia grew up.
Little Guan Xia must have just finished school and was walking home along the wide, long sidewalk outside the orphanage gate. When she was still about a dozen meters from the gate, she saw a group of people emerging. At the center of the crowd was a very young woman. Even from a distance, one could see her graceful figure, taut skin, and delicate features. Among the crowd surrounding her were not only orphanage staff but also, notably, the orphanage director herself.
Guan Xia hadn't paid much attention at the time, but now, recalling this memory, she quickly understood: this young woman was an important figure, not just for the orphanage, but also for Wu Yang.
Now, over a decade later, Guan Xia saw her again, this time in surveillance footage from the main road near Wu Yang's office building.
As soon as the system interface disappeared, Guan Xia immediately called out to Xu Nian, "Xu Nian, I've found something."
When Xu Nian walked over, Guan Xia pointed at the woman in the video who was about to get into a car and asked, "Do you know who this woman is?"
Xu Nian leaned in slightly closer to the screen, looked for a few moments, and then answered with certainty, "That's Wu Yang's chief assistant. We've looked into her. She also came from your orphanage. Not long after graduating from university in 2005, she started working by his side. She worked her way up from a personal assistant to the chief assistant position. She's considered one of his more capable and trusted aides."
Guan Xia's eyes lit up, and she pressed further, "Did you investigate her thoroughly? Were there any cases similar to Yao Qingyan's or Lu Manqing's involving her?"
Xu Nian shook his head. "No. From the information we gathered, this person has a very high IQ—smart, hardworking, and with high emotional intelligence. Although she came from an orphanage, unlike most orphans, her life has been relatively smooth sailing. From middle school to high school, university, and graduate school, she was always a top student that teachers fought over."
Although it sounded unsuspicious, Guan Xia instinctively frowned. "Then why would such a top student end up at Wu Yang's company, starting as just a personal assistant? Logically, if teachers were fighting over her, it means she had more options than just joining Wu Yang's company. Something must have happened in between."
Xu Nian said, "The task force speculated the same. They suspect that very early on, perhaps when this woman was still very young, she came into Wu Yang's orbit. They likely had private contact, which would explain why she was taken under his wing right after graduation."
Pang Le poked his head over to look at Guan Xia's computer screen and said, "High IQ, smart, hardworking, high emotional intelligence... that sounds familiar. Isn't that just a female version of Wu Yang? I think certain traits of her personality must highly resemble Wu Yang's, which is why he trusts her so much."
Pang Le thought for a few seconds and then added, "Do you think it's possible that last night's attack, and the retaliation, weren't solely Wu Yang's doing?"
Qi Bai also stood up from across the table, listening to their discussion. He glanced at Pang Le and said, "Are you suggesting this woman was also involved?"
Pang Le nodded. "It's obvious, isn't it? The Chief Assistant—in feudal times, that would be the emperor's most trusted eunuch, clearly a confidant. Since she's so valued by Wu Yang, she must share some of his traits. Someone so similar to Wu Yang participating in this kind of operation seems perfectly normal."
Ji An, who had been standing silently behind Guan Xia, suddenly asked, "What time was the surveillance footage from?"
Guan Xia instinctively went to check, but Pang Le was faster, quickly stating, "4:13 AM."
Guan Xia thought of something and turned to Xu Nian. "Where was the fake Wu Yang apprehended, at the company or at home?"
"At the company," Xu Nian replied instantly.
Hearing this, Guan Xia fell silent but immediately began rapidly scrolling back through the surveillance footage. She paused it at the precise moment the vehicle carrying Wu Yang's Chief Assistant had just exited the garage and was closest to the camera.
Guan Xia stared intently at the frame, which showed most of the car's interior through the front windshield. After a few seconds, she spoke up. "What if, besides the driver, the real Wu Yang was also hidden in this car? From this angle, the back seat looks empty, but we can't see the trunk."
The others weren't surprised by this. Pang Le even added, "I said it was odd. The boss hasn't clocked out, but the Chief Assistant has? Even though I haven't worked much, I know that's not right. So that's it. Looks like my earlier guess was correct—last night's retaliatory action was indeed a diversion. But they were more thorough, preparing both the diversion and a convincing double."
A chill ran through everyone. Xu Nian said, "I'll contact Captain Zhang now to see if there are any issues with the surveillance footage from Wu Yang's company garage. If there are, our theory is likely correct."
Xu Nian stepped aside to make the call. Zhong Xiaoyu remarked with a sigh, "This organization is indeed more meticulous than the one in Shangshuang City. If Guan Xia hadn't recognized the imposter so soon after he was brought in, even if we'd discovered it later, so much time would have passed, giving Wu Yang ample opportunity to flee."
Ji An said, "It seems that organization anticipated this day long ago. Otherwise, they wouldn't have had such a convincing double ready. While our large population means lookalikes exist, finding one in a short time isn't easy."
"The most incredible part is the behavior and expressions," Jiang Yingyao chimed in. "The fact that no one has noticed anything off about the fake Wu Yang so far suggests he at least had the chance to observe and imitate the real one."
Wang Yu calculated the time. "If Guan Xia's guess is right, it's now 1:49 PM. From 4:13 AM until now, nearly ten hours have passed. It might not seem long, but for someone trying to flee, it's enough to get very far."
As soon as Wang Yu finished, Xu Nian returned. Looking at Guan Xia, he said, "Captain Zhang has the tech team checking. She said she'll call back within half an hour at most."
Half an hour was short, but Guan Xia shook her head. "We can't wait. If our guess is correct, Wu Yang might have already left the province. We need to figure out which direction he fled as soon as possible."
With that, Guan Xia opened several surveillance feeds from adjacent road sections, speeding up the playback to quickly determine the route of the vehicle suspected of carrying the real Wu Yang.
In that half hour, they only managed to trace the car from Wu Yang's office building onto Yunlin Road, then Yongqing Road, and finally onto Jinyuan Expressway. Then, Xu Nian's phone rang in the temporary office.
Everyone paused their work in unison and looked up as Xu Nian answered. After a few seconds of listening, he hung up and looked at Guan Xia. "The tech team confirmed the surveillance footage from around 4:10 AM was indeed tampered with."
Pang Le punched the air. "Looks like our speculation was right. That bastard really fled after 4 AM."
Xu Nian added, "I've sent Captain Zhang the license plate number of the vehicle carrying that Chief Assistant, Lin Jinnan. She's mobilizing a large team and should soon trace its route."
Guan Xia nodded. During the 4 AM timeframe, none of them, including herself, knew Wu Yang had fled. So, logically, Lin Jinnan and the others wouldn't have focused heavily on creating a false trail. Instead, they would have raced against time to get Wu Yang as far away as possible.
Sure enough, the vehicle Guan Xia tracked via the surveillance footage never stopped and maintained a consistent direction—southeast.
Another half hour passed with no new leads from Guan Xia's team, but Captain Zhang called first.
Xu Nian, sensing something, put the call on speaker. Guan Xia heard Captain Zhang's firm voice through the phone: "Team Xu, it's confirmed. The vehicle's final stop was Longbei Mountain. We're planning to head there now. Will you join us?"
Of course, Guan Xia's team would go. They immediately responded, "Yes, we're on our way down now."
