Xiao Yang stared at the phone in his hand with great interest.
The officer recalled clearly: the suspect had borrowed his phone and made a call.
It didn't last more than a minute.
But to a professional, a minute was all it took.
Xiao Yang raised the phone to his ear.
There was no case on it. The way he held it—just slightly tilted—happened to shield one area.
The SIM tray.
As we all know, many phones can carry not just SIM cards but also TF memory cards for storage expansion.
So, in the span of a phone call—or even just the pretense of one—could someone discreetly slip something into the tray?
For a regular person? No way.
But for a trained intelligence agent?
Absolutely doable.
He set the phone down and took the SIM pin offered by one of the officers.
Poked. Click! The tray popped out.
Flipping it over—a tiny memory card lay tucked inside.
> "I admit it," Xiao Yang muttered with a grin, "you're even slicker than me."
The eyes of everyone in the room widened in unison.
Shock, realization, and awe flickered across their faces.
> "Take this to National Security," one senior officer said grimly.
"This kind of thing… isn't for us to look at."
There are lines even police can't cross.
Xiao Yang didn't waste a word. He stood, pocketed the card, and strode out of the restaurant.
Chu Dongchan's eyes gleamed with depth and intent. She followed him silently.
They hopped into a police cruiser. Under the silent gaze of the other officers, they drove off.
---
> "Are you really doing this?"
Chu Dongchan's voice was calm as she took the wheel.
> "Didn't you say you didn't want to be a cop?"
Xiao Yang, leaning back in the passenger seat with eyes shut, replied solemnly:
> "See, I'm not the kind of guy who holds grudges. Most of the time, I just blow out the enemy's brains on the spot."
> "And if I can't do it on the spot, I'll find the bastard later—and blow his brains out then."
Chu Dongchan's lip twitched.
She'd never heard someone justify their pettiness so righteously.
> "Are you sure they'll show?"
She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, unable to hide her irritation at how smug he looked.
> "You already know the answer," Xiao Yang replied smoothly, "Right, my dear blind date?"
Chu Dongchan opened her mouth but had nothing to say.
He was right.
She had figured it out.
This was a setup.
Xiao Yang had been acting since the moment he gathered all the officers at the restaurant.
Because he knew someone was watching.
And someone had followed them.
What's more amazing—all the police had played along.
Otherwise, why would only the two of them be en route to National Security?
Because if there were escorts, the enemy wouldn't dare act.
> "But this trap's so obvious," she asked herself, "Would they really fall for it?"
Yes. They would.
Humans are born gamblers.
With the prize right in front of them, people can't resist the urge to risk it.
Heaven or hell—it's just one bet away.
For people in the business of dancing between life and death, opportunity is everything.
Xiao Yang understood that, and that's why this trap worked.
This was no longer a chessboard where he was a pawn.
He was the player now.
---
> "Didn't you say the dreamer inside you had already died?"
Chu Dongchan smiled for the first time, her dimple blooming.
She still remembered what he had said back then:
"The dream-chasing boy was found rotting beneath the bed."
> "Ever heard this one?" Xiao Yang opened his eyes, gaze blazing like the sun.
"A man may grow old, but the boy inside dies last!"
Her smile deepened—less icy now, more radiant.
It was like watching an ice sculpture come to life.
Suddenly.
> "They're here," Chu Dongchan murmured.
Behind them—two black business vans were approaching at high speed.
> "F**k—already!?"
Smug Xiao Yang immediately turned anxious.
His brain felt like a stampede of dumb Pokémon just trampled through it, leaving chaos behind.
> "Scared?" Chu Dongchan asked teasingly, her eyes glinting playfully.
She turned the wheel, making a sharp turn off the main road.
> "Of course I'm scared!" Xiao Yang shot back.
"I'm not a soldier. I'm not a cop. Why wouldn't I be scared?"
The only reason he dared to play this game was because of the badass female soldier beside him.
Plus, he'd stolen one of her combat skills through his system.
He thought he had it all covered.
He had the cheat.
He had the soldier.
What could go wrong?
---
Well… real danger changes everything.
It's like giving a normal guy a race car.
You can't expect him to drive it like a pro without crashing.
That's Xiao Yang right now.
He had the skills—but no real battle experience.
No real fight. No life-or-death moment.
> "Okay… maybe I got a little too cocky."
First time's always a panic, right?
> "Now this feels like you're actually 22," Chu Dongchan chuckled.
> "Keep mocking me," he thought, scowling, "Sleep with one eye open tonight—I'll glue your mouth shut."
Suddenly—BANG!
A van slammed into the rear of the police cruiser.
The impact thundered through the night.
The cruiser lost control, lifted off the ground like a leaf in a storm.
It flipped—an arc of steel and glass slicing through the air.
Inside the cabin, Xiao Yang was surprisingly calm.
He turned to look at Chu Dongchan.
She was already looking at him.
They shared a strange, electric glance—as if a bond had just been forged.
BOOM!
The car slammed down, roof-first, wheels up.
Smoke and dust exploded from the wreckage.
From the vans, six men jumped out and sprinted toward the crash.
One knelt by the shattered window.
Inside, Xiao Yang sat with eyes closed.
No sign of Chu Dongchan.
The man froze, trying to warn his teammates—
Then—
Xiao Yang opened his eyes, grinning like a devil.
> "Yo. You out here to take a sh*t too?"