Hearing Qiu Tu's words, Yan Chen asked deeply, "A welcome gift?"
Qiu Tu nodded, "Yes."
Then he gestured towards Jia Shu and confirmed, "It's exactly what Chief Jia mentioned earlier, 'repelling the United Front with six shots'."
"Back when I was at my home, Miss Shuman had already told me that she would arrange for the United Front to attack."
"She told me to be on my guard and not to get accidentally injured."
"She also told me that this attack was designed to make me famous."
"During the incident, members of the United Front would deliberately expose their weaknesses for me to shoot, and even deliberately walk into my bullets. Afterwards, I would be celebrated for repelling them all by myself."
"To ensure that the Special Service Department wouldn't steal my thunder, the members of the United Front would do everything possible to avoid getting hit by the agents of the Special Service Department."
"So, even if there were some good opportunities for a counterattack on the scene, they would pretend not to see them."
After listening to Qiu Tu's exaggerated yet somewhat reasonable explanation, Yan Chen's gaze was deep, his inner thoughts inscrutable.
Meanwhile, Jia Shu squinted his eyes, the gaze behind his glasses flickering non-stop, as if he was constantly contemplating.
The pace on the scene was now in Qiu Tu's hands, so seeing that the two men were silent, Qiu Tu also shut his mouth, saying nothing.
For a time, the room fell into an eerie silence.
As time ticked away second by second, the atmosphere in the room grew increasingly oppressive.
Just when the tension was about to reach its peak, Jia Shu snapped back to reality. He looked at Yan Chen and, seeing no objection from him, he forced a smile and took the initiative to break the deadlock, "Qiu Tu, all you've said is just your side of the story. Do you have any additional details or evidence?"
Qiu Tu had prepared thoroughly when he planned everything, so he declared confidently, "Of course, I do."
"1. Since I knew in advance about the United Front's attack, I was mentally prepared early on. This allowed me to react first and rush to protect Miss Shuman when the attack occurred, while the trained agents of the Special Service Department were still unresponsive, thus continuing the plan."
"2. Knowing that the target of the United Front's attack was neither Miss Shuman nor myself, when Agent Fang Ming arranged for me to retreat first while protecting Miss Shuman, I did not retreat. Instead, I waited on the side for an opportunity."
"3. Because I was aware of the intended outcome of this play, and at Miss Shuman's request, I sent a message to the Old Alley Street Public Security Office in advance, asking backup agents to come and assist—actually to increase the number of eyewitnesses and magnify the impact of the incident."
"The heads can verify these points by inquiring with Agent Fang Ming or agents from the Special Service Department and the Old Alley Street Public Security Office."
Hearing Qiu Tu's words, Yan Chen gestured indifferently towards Jia Shu.
Jia Shu bowed slightly in acknowledgment, then left the study to verify the information.
After Jia Shu had left, only Qiu Tu and Yan Chen remained in the room.
Yan Chen stared at Qiu Tu for a while, then picked up a cigarette case from the mahogany desk and pulled out a cigarette.
He put the cigarette in his mouth and then fished out a matchbox.
"Scratch!" Accompanied by the sound of the match striking, a flame burst forth in the dim study.
Yan Chen brought the flame close, lit the cigarette, then shook out the matchstick and tossed it into the ashtray.
Qiu Tu watched silently the entire time, not speaking.
Having lit his cigarette, Yan Chen smoked and played with the matchbox, 'clack clack,' shaking it quietly. After doing this for a while, he exhaled twin dragons of smoke from his nose and began to speak distantly,
"Qin Shuman could not possibly be an informant. You have been looking for the wrong excuse from the very beginning."
Perhaps because of the certainty in Yan Chen's words, for a moment, Qiu Tu's heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and he felt an ominous premonition.
Yan Chen didn't look at Qiu Tu. He silently smoked his cigarette and said slowly, "In your communication, you said she had several suspicious points."
"For example, she just arrived in Xinjie City, yet she seems to know Xinjie City very well."
"For instance, she clearly comes from the lower class, yet her skin is smooth, fair, and without a single scar or callus."
"Another thing is, with Xinjie City being so large and chaotic, why such a beauty just happened to be found by me...."
As he spoke, Yan Chen looked profoundly at Qiu Tu, "The doubts you've found do seem very reasonable."
"But you've overlooked the most important point."
"That is... the origin story of Qin Shuman I told you is fake...."
Hearing Yan Chen's words, Qiu Tu's pupils slightly contracted, a bolt of shock flashing through his mind!
Yan Chen lowered his head and took a drag of his cigarette, continuing, "Qin Shuman was not a Disaster Zone refugee I found while on patrol."
"She was a 'Cloned Female Body' presented to me by the Qin Family."
"This technology predates the Cataclysm."
Surrounded by swirling smoke, his voice seemed even more ethereal, "Humans are a very resilient species. The great Cataclysm of 40 years ago nearly wiped out humanity, but still, some people stubbornly survived."
"Among these people, the majority are ordinary folks, but a small portion are national leaders, wealthy businessmen with control over various means of production, and scientists with core technologies."
"In the first few years of the Cataclysm, they laid low to conserve their strength."
"But after the Cataclysm ended, they burst forth from the soil, using their core competitive advantages to grow and multiply through blood and interests in the various Cataclysm-affected cities, eventually forming clans and interest groups of various sizes."
"And the Qin Family... is one of them."
"The technology they possess is 'Cloned Female Bodies'."
At this point, Yan Chen paused, looking at Qiu Tu dispassionately,
"Over the years, the Sanctuary has been expanding into the Disaster Zones, establishing a number of Planning Areas, which inevitably leads to conflicts with the existing powers in those Disaster Zones."
"Faced with these established powers, the Sanctuary typically uses two methods to resolve issues."
"One is cooperation. Collaborate with clans and interest groups willing to side with the Sanctuary by conceding some positions in the Governing Hall and the Investigation Bureau, absorbing them to jointly govern the Planning Areas."
"Like Fang Ming, he became a First Level Detective in a crucial department at such a young age with no remarkable accomplishments— simply because his family elders hold high positions in the Investigation Bureau."
"The other is suppression. Resolutely suppress, without mercy, the Underground organizations, Dark forces, and some clans and interest groups that are unwilling to cooperate."
"The United Front, those disgusting vermin, are merely the remnants who luckily escaped our crackdown."
"As for how to distinguish which clans and interest groups are willing to cooperate, and which are not...."
As he spoke, Yan Chen exhaled his last puff of smoke, snuffing out the glowing cigarette butt in the ashtray, "That is determined by the Investigation Bureau Chiefs of each Planning Area."
After finishing, he looked deeply at Qiu Tu and summed up, "So, the Qin Family dare not offend me."
"Not just offend— they have even been secretly pledging allegiance to me since four years ago."
"And Qin Shuman was a Cloned Female Body specifically found and cultivated to my tastes by them...."
"Because the technology isn't perfect, so her lifespan isn't long, just a few short years."
"You mean... such a woman with that identity was a spy planted beside me by City Hall? And today, she even helped you make a name for yourself?"
In the end, Yan Chen crossed his hands and rested his chin on them, looking at Qiu Tu with interest....