"Swire, this intelligence of yours is good stuff."
Driving the car, Hoshiguma spoke back excitedly to the others.
"This time we've hooked a fat fish. Hah—must've been half a year since we saw a case this meaty."
"Mhm," Chen Huijie added from the back. "This time Swire's earned a lot of merit."
Even she had to admit that much.
That fake-drug workshop alone was enough to count as a major achievement. What she had not expected was that after hauling people back and interrogating them, the department would uncover an even bigger surprise: a malignant incident already in the making, now suddenly exposed to full view.
And on top of that, the counterfeit-goods case that Swire's other undercover, A Shui, had been investigating also seemed to be turning up results.
A Shui himself was still unconscious from his injuries, but the minor gang members already in custody had begun to crack. The interrogation team would likely have key intelligence in hand before long.
Which meant that in less than twenty-four hours, Swire had effectively broken two major cases back-to-back.
Something like that had not happened in the Guard Department in years.
With credit like this, it would not even be strange if Swire rose directly from Senior Inspector to Superintendent.
"Small matter, small matter. Just a happy accident."
Swire waved it off as if it were nothing, though the corners of her mouth curling upward could not have betrayed her satisfaction more clearly.
Today had simply been too satisfying.
And if someone asked what exactly the best part had been?
Easy.
Chen Huijie.
That stuffed-lung dragon had been butting heads with her every day, and today she finally had nothing to say, didn't she? The woman was always criticizing her methods, always insisting Swire was corrupting the spirit of the Guard Department, always pointing fingers—
Now she had no footing to lecture from, did she?
"When this operation's over," Hoshiguma said with a grin, "you should bring that big contributor of yours back so everyone can meet him."
She continued,
"We all saw what happened just now. Even with us tailing the shipment that closely, they still nearly managed to destroy the evidence. One of them even picked up a bomb and tried to take our brothers with him. That alone shows how vicious and cautious these fake-drug people are. For your undercover brother to dig out the location of a place like that… just imagining it makes you feel how hard it must've been."
"...Ah. Right. That's… actually true."
Hoshiguma's words were perfectly reasonable.
The man had carved honor with his life. Uniform or not, his loyalty shone as brightly as any badge.
Even if he had acted for ideals rather than fame or profit, what he deserved still had to be given.
The instant Hoshiguma put it that way, Swire suddenly remembered a rather important problem.
She did not, in fact, have a second undercover agent.
That intelligence had come from Chen Huijie.
He was still waiting for her to award him his five-star-good-citizen banner.
She had been so busy reveling in her own triumph that she had completely forgotten about it.
No. The moment this operation wraps up, I'm dragging him into my team somehow. Sure, maybe it's buying the ticket after boarding the train—but a ticket's a ticket.
Wait.
Swire's expression abruptly changed again.
Because only now did she realize another critical fact:
She did not have Chen Huijie's contact information.
Then I'll stake out the apartment.
She made the decision at once.
She was from a major financial house, after all. There was no way that with enough techniques stacked one on top of another, she couldn't win over one Chen Huijie.
"Once this is over, I'll get in touch with him," Swire said leisurely after mentally reviewing her full 'lure with benefits' plan. "Assuming nothing goes wrong, I'll have him conclude the undercover mission and come back to the Guard Department to meet everyone."
"Swire, what kind of image do I even have in your head?"
Chen Huijie shot her an annoyed glance.
"You don't need to remind me about something like that. I know what I'm doing."
"Mhm, that's good then."
…Why is Missy smiling so sinisterly?
From the rearview mirror, Hoshiguma caught the strange look on Swire's face. It was as though she were holding something back.
But after thinking it over seriously, Hoshiguma still could not see anything especially strange about the whole matter.
Did that undercover have some sort of conflict with Old Chen?
If so, so what?
Who would hold something like that against a brother who worked undercover?
"Officer Swire, Officer Chen, Officer Hoshiguma—we've completed the encirclement."
A transmission came in from the officers at the perimeter.
Swire very much wanted to curse at the continued butchering of titles, but now was obviously not the time to correct forms of address.
The three women dismounted together, split up to lead their respective teams, and launched the assault on the site.
The resistance they met inside, however, far exceeded expectations.
The moment the fight broke out, the Guard Department realized these criminals had received at least some degree of military-style training.
And their intentions were obvious:
Break out.
At any cost.
This is going to go bad.
Chen Huijie, Swire, and Hoshiguma all realized that at the same time.
Given the manpower currently on hand, there was no way to keep all of the enemy here.
That was why, prior to the operation, they had already factored in the possibility of surprises and drawn in other squad members to ensure success.
Yet now even the reserve team had already been committed, and still they could not fully suppress the opposition.
But—
They could not be allowed to escape.
Chen Huijie gripped Chi Xiao, face grave, and tried to wrench it out by brute force.
If these dangerous people got away, the threat they posed to Lungmen's civilians would be immense.
Against that, being lashed by Chi Xiao's own sword qi in return was nothing worth hesitating over.
At that very moment, one of the enemies noticed what she was doing and immediately raised an explosive crossbow in her direction.
The shot came—
And at the exact same time, wind and sand erupted from nowhere.
They became a wall, intercepting the incoming attack for her.
"Hmph. These people broke the rules. Take them all."
A cool, crisp voice rang beside Chen Huijie's ear.
Lin Yuhsia, glass-forged sword in hand, stood nearby and said calmly to the dragon woman before her:
"Why are you still standing there? Go charge in and make arrests, unless you'd prefer to watch the show."
"…"
Chen Huijie said nothing.
She simply clenched her weapon and plunged into the fight.
Lin Yuhsia, too, joined in the suppression.
And yet some small part of her attention kept drifting back to that slip of paper. She remembered the confidence on that man's face, and suddenly her heartbeat went a little off-rhythm.
Don't tell me…
He calculated even this too?
…
Bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzz.
Elsewhere, inside the detective agency, Mr. Lee glanced toward the phone vibrating on the table and reminded the young man across from him,
"Young friend, you've got a message. Not taking a look?"
"It's fine. No need."
Chen Huijie lifted his teacup and took a leisurely sip.
"It's just the memo app canceling an overdue itinerary item."
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Succubus Chen Sir Reborn in Terra, with the Ability to See Affection Levels? (30 Chapter)
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