Insights Chapter 108: Objectives

Chapter 108: Objectives

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

Early morning, at Gu Yanchen’s home.

“I have some things to tell you,” Shen Junci began. “In fact, the provincial capital and even higher levels have been paying attention to the situation in Penang all along, including the downfall of Director Wang, which was the result of high-level maneuvers. But the Bureau of Public Security knows that removing the entrenched forces in Penang that have been there for years is not an easy task.”

Gu Yanchen nodded. During Director Wang’s tenure, he nurtured a group of lazy officials. Gu had experienced the styles of the Second and Fourth Bureaus. It wasn’t realistic to pull everyone out at once; it had to be done gradually. Moreover, the relationships inside were complex, and they would cover for each other.

Shen Junci interlocked his fingers. “From top to bottom, you won’t find anything. You have to get involved in the game. So, I was sent in as an advance player to the Penang City Bureau.”

This was an essential step before confronting the other party. It was also a daunting and dangerous task. He needed to delve into Penang’s police system, delve into the grassroots of Penang, and understand the entire situation there.

“Regularly, I will report the progress of our work here to the provincial authorities.”

Many things in Gu Yanchen’s mind now had answers. He asked, “So, were you the one secretly helping Zhang Kabei back then?”

Shen Junci replied, “At that time, someone contacted Zhang Kabei through some technical means, sent me the video, and after editing it, I anonymously released it with the aim of attracting the attention of the police and finding her whereabouts as soon as possible. Afterwards, the provincial cyber police department secretly seized and investigated many accounts.”

Gu Yanchen then asked, “Who are the people above you?”

Shen Junci answered, “I’m directly under Director He.”

Although many actions were unconventional and did not follow standard official procedures, they were all special treatments under special circumstances, and Director He was aware of them and approved them.

After hearing his explanation, Gu Yanchen breathed a sigh of relief, “When did the plan start?”

“At the beginning of this year.”

“Does Director Ding know the purpose of your assignment?”

Shen Junci shook his head. “I just informed him about my assignment, without telling him the purpose, let alone the detailed plan.”

The medical examiner was not a detective and would not attract attention within the City Bureau. It was easier to operate while hiding.

“So… Director Ding was also kept in the dark,” Gu Yanchen still had some doubts, “Then why didn’t the provincial authorities choose to inform Director Ding directly?”

Shen Junci explained, “Shortly after Director Lin’s death, Director He was transferred to the provincial authorities. At that time, Director Wang had already taken office. During the process of rectifying the provincial authorities, Director He kept an eye on the situation in Penang and found that although the situation in Penang seemed calm, there were actually many problems. The City Bureau and the provincial authorities are kilometers apart, somewhat distant. Director He noticed Director Wang’s anomaly and also learned about the Hetu Trading Association. He took advantage of Director Wang’s work mistakes, which led to Director Wang’s downfall. The first step of the rectification plan was to select Director Ding to be stationed at the Penang City Bureau.”

Gu Yanchen pondered for a moment and then said, “Director Ding is a good policeman, upright and fair. But he is not aggressive and doesn’t have enough deterrence. He has been diligently carrying out his duties…” Such a person would not cause the other side to feel threatened, nor would he alert them prematurely. “If someone was sent down with a big fanfare and started to act aggressively, they might encounter a lot of resistance before even getting to the core of the matter, and they might even push the other side to desperation, causing a repeat of Director Lin’s tragedy.”

Shen Junci nodded. “Actually, since Director Ding took office, there have been deliberate attempts by some people to test him. Because Director Ding is unaware of the determination and plans of the provincial authorities, those people think that the higher-ups know very little. This makes them act even more recklessly. If Director Ding knew the purpose of the provincial authorities, his actions would be more targeted, and those people would be more cautious. It would backfire.” He continued, “The senior officials of the provincial authorities have also considered many plans. Initially, they also considered setting up a task force directly under Director Ding to investigate the Hetu Trading Association.

“But the Hetu Trading Association is invisible on the surface, deeply entrenched in various aspects of Penang. If such a task force were really established, it would likely face resistance from top to bottom as soon as it was formed. The work would be difficult to carry out, and there would be a high risk of leakage. So, Director He believes that, considering the overall situation of the city, parachuting in from the higher levels recklessly won’t achieve the objective, and doing so would make the target too obvious.”

Gu Yanchen deeply understood this. He had already felt resistance from the subordinate bureaus while leading the Special Criminal Division. If even the Special Criminal Division faced such challenges, establishing a task force directly targeting this issue openly would likely be extremely difficult.

“This plan is a long-term one, aimed at investigating the illegal activities of the Hetu Trading Association and exposing the people behind it. To ensure a smooth transition, we can’t rush things and we can’t make the other side too alert or vigilant from the start. So, the provincial authorities guided Director Ding to establish the Special Criminal Division to carry out this plan.”

Gu Yanchen understood, “Because the Special Criminal Division deals with major public opinion cases, it will inevitably come into contact with the Hetu Trading Association and its backers…”

Shen Junci nodded, “Some cases come to us on their own, some cases we actively seek out, and some are directly ordered by the provincial authorities to be handed to the Special Criminal Division. By inserting the investigation of the Hetu Trading Association into ordinary cases, we can be more covert and safer.”

Gu Yanchen asked, “What about my selection?”

Shen Junci candidly replied, “The provincial authorities also considered whether to transfer personnel, but outsiders might not adapt well. So, you were selected as the operative half a year ago. At first, Director He had concerns about your investigative abilities and didn’t fully understand the overall situation, so I couldn’t be honest with you earlier.” He paused for a moment and whispered, “I’m sorry for keeping it from you for so long.”

Gu Yanchen said, “I understand, it’s for the job.”

Because at the beginning, it wasn’t confirmed that Gu Yanchen would be the final operative, so for a period of time, it was like a probation period for him. Before this, there were many complications, and Shen Junci couldn’t nod to many things. It wasn’t convenient for him to disclose them to Gu Yanchen.

On the surface, they had an intimate working relationship, even harboring feelings for each other, but when it came to work matters, Shen Junci had to keep him in the dark. Yet, this concealment served as a form of protection. After the Foundation was investigated, Gu Yanchen gained recognition from the provincial authorities. Shen Junci could finally be honest with him.

As they talked, Shen Junci nodded slightly, “I suspect that the Hetu Trading Association thinks it’s the Special Criminal Division’s people who have discovered them, so they’ve taken some actions recently.”

Gu Yanchen said, “But actually, those people have long been under surveillance by the higher-ups.”

Shen Junci nodded, “When the time is right, a supervisory team will be drawn from the central and provincial levels. Then the entire Special Criminal Division will be transformed into a task force targeting the Hetu Trading Association.”

Gu Yanchen asked, “When will the supervisory team come?”

Shen Junci said, “The timing isn’t right yet. Director He believes the weight of the cases isn’t heavy enough. We need to find concrete evidence to present to the highest levels.”

Currently, only the Foundation has been exposed, and the Hetu Trading Association has taken measures to cut ties and shift blame onto Han Qingyi. Even if the supervisory team were to come now, they would only deal with the immediate issues and wouldn’t be able to uproot the problem entirely. Those people would become more cautious and destroy evidence.

In short, the current cases aren’t enough to shake the higher-ups. They need to dig deeper and uncover more wrongdoing. As the conversation reached this point, both of them felt considerably relieved. They didn’t discuss Director Lin or personal grievances. But what they discussed today was closely related to themselves, the entire City Bureau, and even the fate of the entire city.

Gu Yanchen understood, his gaze profound. “Then let’s make this fire burn even brighter.”

Shen Junci said, “Actually, it’s not just the two of us. Many people have been working behind the scenes.”

Gu Yanchen asked, “Do we have the next target?”

Shen Junci pondered for a moment and said, “If we can find relevant cases, I want to investigate Mansion 13.”

Gu Yanchen walked over and sat on the sofa. He turned his head, looking at Shen Junci’s profile. “No matter what lies ahead, I’ll be by your side.”

In the sky, clouds were rolling, indicating that it might rain tonight. In the darkness of the Penang night, everything was shrouded in black. After a muffled thunder, heavy rain poured down relentlessly, washing away all traces. The city’s drainage system seemed overwhelmed, unable to drain the water fast enough. Thick puddles formed on the roads, almost overflowing onto the curbs.

On such a night, most people chose to stay indoors. The streets were deserted, with only occasional vehicles that had to travel. At this moment, a silver car was speeding along the road out of the city. The car was driving fast, its tires spinning rapidly, making splashing sounds on the flooded road.

The driver of the car was a young man. Sweat dripped from his forehead, his hands tightly gripping the steering wheel as he stared straight ahead. The windshield wipers swung back and forth incessantly. Beyond the city limits, darkness prevailed, and at the end of the road, it seemed like an abyss.

Soon, the car finally stopped in the darkness of the night. The man rolled down the car window and looked around, his expression tense. It was silent all around, with no one in sight, as if isolated from the world.

In front of the car was a towering ancient tree, a camphor tree, with dense foliage and a sturdy trunk that required several grown men to encircle it. The trunk was entwined with giant vines, and various red strings of blessings hung from the branches. Wouldn’t it be easy for someone to notice it here?

The man finally breathed a sigh of relief. In the orange light inside the car, his young and handsome face could be seen, but he seemed to have not slept well for days, with deep dark circles under his eyes and a stubble on his chin. The rain continued to fall, drumming on the car window, making a pattering sound.

After observing for a while, the man opened the car door and stepped outside. He didn’t use an umbrella, allowing the heavy rain to soak his clothes and body. The man took a flashlight and opened the trunk, bravely taking out a black bag from it and unwrapping it layer by layer. Even in the rain, a nauseating smell of blood permeated the air.

The flashlight illuminated the contents of the bag, emitting an eerie glow. The man’s heart raced as he clenched the flashlight in his mouth and used both hands to pull out the chunks of the corpse from the bag. It was a corpse from the head to the chest, including both arms.

The flashlight could only illuminate a small area, and the man’s hand touched the long hair on the corpse’s head, his fingers sinking into the flesh as if plunging into the weeds at the bottom of a lake. As he held that part of the corpse, his breathing became rapid. He intended to place the corpse under the tree, but before he could do so, there was a muffled thunder in the sky, followed by a loud clap, and a bolt of lightning tore through the black sky.

In the flash of lightning, the man met the gaze of the severed head. The skin of the corpse’s face had already been corroded, and where the face used to be, there was now a bloody mess. One of the woman’s eyes was half-open, the pupil turning gray. It seemed as if her gaze was fixed on him, silently accusing him, as if she would turn into a vengeful ghost in the next moment, opening her toothless mouth to attack his neck.

The man’s heart raced like a drum, and he let out a scream, dropping the corpse from his hands. He fell to the ground, his hands and feet scratched by branches, blood flowing out. The flashlight fell, and the pitch-black rainy night was so dark that one couldn’t see their own fingers. The wind blew, and the bells on the tree rang loudly.

Another bolt of lightning tore through the sky, and he knelt on the ground.

The man trembled all over, his teeth chattering as he repeatedly knocked his head, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t harm you. I couldn’t bear to see you die in an unknown place. It was so hard to bring your corpse here. By tomorrow morning, someone should discover you, and someone will seek justice for you.”

He knocked his head several times until his muscles felt weak, then he stopped. The corpse in front of him seemed to understand his words. As the thunder and lightning subsided, silence fell again, the bells stopped ringing, and only the sound of rain remained.

The man looked up, and the corpse’s face seemed less terrifying than before. After a long time, the man’s heartbeat returned to normal. He struggled to his feet, like a puppet just learning to walk, and stumbled back into the car. Sitting inside the car, the man wiped the rainwater off his face, then nervously turned on the warm air from the air conditioning. The temperature inside the car gradually rose.

After calming himself down a bit, he looked back again. In the pitch-black night, the bloody corpse stood before the tree. He sent a few messages from his spare phone, bidding farewell to family and friends. The last message he sent to a special friend, “I’m sorry, I betrayed them again. From today on, please don’t contact me anymore.”

After doing all this, the man started the car again. His eyes bloodshot, he looked ahead and took a long breath.