Dude, something's really wrong with your abilities.

Chapter 73 The Eavesdropping Scandal

"Who is that person?" Sun Tiemei had been watching Xiao Yuan's micro-expressions the whole time, and she caught the moment when his eye twitched.

Xiao Yuan lowered his head, his voice muffled: "I don't know."

"You don't need to tough it out." Chen Shi's tone was somewhat sarcastic. "It won't be long before Zhuang Wen and his team thoroughly investigate everything about you. Even if you cleared and deleted all the records beforehand, you know how the technical team works; they can still find some trace."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "You killed Zhao Lei, so you should know exactly what your fate will be. Of course, it's not that I look down on you, but you're not the kind of person with faith who would be willing to risk your life for loyalty. If you had faith, you wouldn't have willingly defected to the enemy and betrayed your colleagues for your own future."

Chen Shi's tone was somewhat sarcastic; he genuinely hated Xiao Yuan's actions. Tonight, the bureau was merely setting a trap to test three suspects. Even if the investigation ultimately failed, Xiao Yuan could continue to remain safely undercover and wouldn't be exposed for the time being.

But in order to completely clear his name, he did not hesitate to kill Zhao Lei, shifting all the blame onto the dead man, showing extreme selfishness.

"You're no longer of any use to me." Chen Shi's words were like knives, tearing away all of Xiao Yuan's dignity. "To put it bluntly, you're just a useless piece of chess. You know very well that the other side won't go to great lengths to save you. You're not that valuable." Then, he changed his tone and directly hit Xiao Yuan's weakest spot.

"Perhaps you don't care about your own life or death, but I've seen your information. Your parents are still alive, and you have a younger sister in school. Are you sure you're not afraid of anything and want your whole family to suffer because of you?"

These words shattered Xiao Yuan's last psychological defenses. Before being arrested, he was afraid of death, exposure, and disgrace. But the moment he was caught, he became resigned to his fate, accepting whatever it might be. His bottom line, however, was never himself, but his family. He didn't care if he himself became corrupt, but he absolutely couldn't drag his parents and sister down with him.

Xiao Yuan suddenly raised his head, his voice panicked: "It has nothing to do with them, don't mess with my family."

"That depends on how you cooperate." Sun Tiemei felt that Chen Shi was more like a villain than Xiao Yuan at this moment.

"All my intelligence was previously compiled and sent to a designated email address; I never contacted anyone directly!"

"This time is different! The plan you devised to investigate the mole tonight was sent to me by someone else! That person knew my identity, but I had no idea who they were!"

Sun Tiemei didn't believe it and was about to ask for details. But Chen Shi raised his hand to stop her.

"No need to ask, team leader," Chen Shi said in a very low voice. "He wasn't lying."

Sun Tiemei looked at him: "What's wrong?"

"It's a very simple principle," Chen Shi said frankly. "If that high-ranking mole hidden in the bureau were really acting with that idiot Xiao Yuan, we wouldn't have been able to catch him so easily."

"He's just a expendable pawn now, and that's all the information we have. We won't get anything new out of him, it's a waste of time. The most urgent thing is to report to Director Liu. After all, the fact that his private conversation with you and me was leaked is the most pressing issue right now. As for Xiao Yuan, we'll put pressure on him again based on the evidence we get after the technical team has searched and collected the evidence."

Sun Tiemei pondered for a few seconds and nodded in agreement.

"Transfer Xiao Yuan to a special-grade single cell, with 24-hour shifts and strict prohibition on any private contact." The police officer immediately stepped forward and took Xiao Yuan away.

The two walked side by side out of the interrogation room toward Director Liu's office.

On the way, Sun Tiemei suddenly called out to him, "Chen Shi."

"What's wrong, team leader?"

Sun Tiemei looked at him, her expression hesitant: "You said before that you thought the administrative department was comfortable and you wanted to just coast along, was that the truth?"

Chen Shi paused for a moment, then laughed: "I was just joking, I said it on purpose to relax Xiao Yuan."

But Sun Tiemei didn't believe him, so he had to admit: "When I first joined the company, that's really what I thought. I came to the bureau just to get a stable job, and I knew that my abilities were not as good as anyone else in the team, and that I would probably hold everyone back most of the time."

"Don't be modest. In fact, you are very useful," Sun Tiemei interrupted him directly.

"Thank you, everyone is praising me like this now." Chen Shi touched his nose. "But I'm very clear about the difference in my mind. Group Five accepted me when I was nobody. To me, you are no longer just ordinary colleagues, but family."

"I often complain about how easy it is for others to have a leisurely job and how dangerous fieldwork is, but when it comes to actually changing positions, I've never even considered it."

To prove he was telling the truth, Chen Shi gave an analogy: "It's like someone who envies other people's children every day for being so good at this and that, but if you really asked them to change their child, they definitely wouldn't."

Sun Tiemei rarely laughed, though she remained very restrained: "Alright, stop joking. With your writing skills, if you really went to the administrative department, you'd be criticized every day and wouldn't have a moment of peace."

Chen Shi immediately retorted, "You underestimate me. If I really wanted to slack off, the administrative work wouldn't be a problem for me. The main thing is that writing reports can make you go bald, and that's what I'm really afraid of."

As they spoke, the two had already reached the door of Director Liu's office. All the members of the bureau's leadership team were present today, waiting for the interrogation results.

Sun Tiemei didn't speak, but quickly walked to Director Liu's side and reported in a low voice: "Director Liu, the plan to investigate the mole tonight has been leaked in advance. There is a problem with this office, and we need to investigate it first."

Director Liu's expression changed drastically. Without asking for details, he immediately raised his hand to stop everyone from talking: "Everyone, sit down and don't make a sound."

Ignoring everyone's reactions, he dialed the internal line: "Have Zhuang Wen bring the equipment and people to my office immediately, quick."

Within minutes, Zhuang Wen arrived with his technical team. Chen Shi whispered the situation in his ear. Without further ado, Zhuang Wen got to work, checking every corner of the room.

Soon, Zhuang Wen stopped what he was doing, his face looking rather grim: "Director Liu, there were three miniature listening devices hidden in this room. They were in a very remote location and had been operating all along. They have now been removed."

He then added, "Just in case, we have turned on the signal jamming equipment, so you leaders can speak normally now."

These words caused an uproar among everyone present.

Deputy Director Zheng's face turned ashen: "Three listening devices? This is the director's office! The most important meeting place in our bureau! To have been bugged and monitored is an utter disgrace!"

"This is outrageous! It's like our every move is being watched!" Other team members chimed in, both angry and terrified. No one had expected that the core of the bureau had been secretly infiltrated.

Director Liu said in a deep voice, "Tie Mei, report on tonight's interrogation."

Sun Tiemei nodded: "Xiao Yuan, who was arrested tonight, was an undercover agent in the administrative department. After joining the company, he was bribed by the underground organization and developed a second superpower. Tonight, we used the cultural performance to investigate and eliminate the mole. He got the top-secret plan in advance. In order to protect himself and escape punishment, he deliberately killed Zhao Lei and framed him, trying to disrupt our investigation."

"According to his own confession, he usually only has access to some routine intelligence. Tonight's plan was sent to him anonymously, and he did not know the identity of the person who sent it."

Chen Shi added at the opportune moment: "Leaders, in other words, Xiao Yuan isn't the only mole in the bureau. The real mastermind is extremely well hidden. He can both eavesdrop on our core secret conversations and know Xiao Yuan's undercover identity. He's using this opportunity to kill someone else and clean himself up completely."

Director Liu's face was grim: "This is no longer a simple case of an undercover agent leaking information; this is a blatant insult and provocation against our Special Abilities Bureau."

He made a decisive decision: "Zhuang Wen, your technical department should immediately conduct a full-scale investigation. If my office can be bugged, it can only be worse elsewhere. Prioritize all investigations and postpone all other work. Lao Zheng, you will be in charge of the bureau's daily operations for the next two days. I will personally report to headquarters."

After speaking, he looked at Sun Tiemei and Chen Shi, his tone softening considerably: "Team Five has been working non-stop on this case lately, thank you for your hard work. Going forward, Team Five will continue to be fully responsible for the follow-up interrogation and custody of Xiao Yuan. You don't need to worry about other miscellaneous tasks; just focus on this core lead."

"Yes."