Chapter 57: The Car Was Stolen

At around 9:00 PM that evening, Jiao Xingjian received a call from Mi Xiangyan, stating she had an important matter to report.

He was getting on in years and was only four years away from retirement, so he usually went to bed early. He was already asleep when Mi Xiangyan called, but after taking the call, Jiao Xingjian got up quickly, dressed, and headed to the office.

On the way, something drifted across the front of his car. He felt a thud as if he had hit it. Judging by the size, it seemed to be a large dog or a small child.

It was rare for children to be running around outside at this hour, but accidents couldn’t be ruled out.

Worried, Jiao Xingjian pulled over to the side of the road, turned on his hazard lights, and got out to search for whatever he had hit.

He had only taken two steps when the sound of a car driving off came from behind him. Jiao Xingjian turned around just in time to see his car being driven away by someone unknown.

He wanted to call the police, but a quick pat of his pockets reminded him that his phone and car keys were both in his coat. Driving in a heavy coat during winter was cumbersome, so he had habitually tossed it onto the passenger seat as soon as he got in.

This wasn’t an insurmountable problem; he could just borrow a phone or find a landline to report it. Besides, Jiao Xingjian was a Deputy Director of the Public Security Department himself. Was it even possible he wouldn’t be able to find a stolen phone and car?

Being a cautious man, he felt he had to first determine what he had hit before taking the next step.

In the roadside bushes, he found a rag doll. It was roughly the same size as the object he had hit, and the location matched. It seemed the “victim” was nothing more than this doll.

Jiao Xingjian picked up the doll and weighed it in his hand. It was unnaturally heavy. Tearing open the cotton stuffing, he found iron blocks hidden inside.

Only with this kind of weight would a driver suspect they had hit a person and get out to check.

The theft of his car had been premeditated.

If the culprit were just an ordinary car thief, Jiao Xingjian should now head to the nearest police station, request a review of the surveillance footage, track the car’s location, and have the local traffic police intercept it.

Jiao Xingjian had a mental map of every police facility in the city. After a moment’s thought, he recalled a station about a kilometer away.

At a brisk pace, he could reach the station in ten minutes. He could likely recover his car in less than an hour.

But the timing was too coincidental.

As a veteran officer and a member of the country’s first generation of the special events disposal group, Jiao Xingjian had seen too much.

His intuition told him something was wrong.

Mi Xiangyan had just called to report something important, and then his car was stolen.

If he wasted an hour now, there was no telling what might happen on Mi Xiangyan’s end.

Jiao Xingjian broke into a run toward the nearest station. Despite his age, he remained in excellent physical condition, covering the one-kilometer distance in five minutes.

Upon reaching the station, Jiao Xingjian presented his credentials to the officer on duty. The officer looked up Jiao Xingjian’s photo on the official website, and seeing that it really was the Deputy Director, he became visibly nervous. He immediately rolled up his sleeves, ready to help find the car.

Jiao Xingjian said, “Before we look for the car, lend me your phone. I need to call my office.”

He didn’t memorize everyone’s full mobile numbers, but the internal system used short-code extensions¹. Since the duty officer’s phone was also within the department’s network, he could dial the short codes directly.

The short codes were only six digits long. The Disposal Bureau’s codes all shared the same prefix, making them very easy to remember. Even if he couldn’t recall a specific one, it was simple enough to cycle through them.

Jiao Xingjian first called Mi Xiangyan. The automated voice informed him she was out of the service area.

He tried Liao Tianhua next. Still out of the service area.

Then Qiu Hailan. No one answered.

He proceeded to call the landlines for his own office and the offices of those three. They, too, were “out of the service area.”

A landline being out of a service area was beyond bizarre.

These three were the backbone of the grassroots operations, so Jiao Xingjian naturally called them first. He would only consider others if he couldn’t reach them.

After a moment’s hesitation, he dialed the new short code recently assigned to Xia Mi.

Xia Mi had officially become a permanent employee today and was now the captain of the Supernatural Squad, which also made her a grassroots leader. Furthermore, she lived in the staff dormitory, so she could get to the office quickly.

This time, the call finally went through.

“Hello?” Xia Mi’s polite voice came through the receiver.

Relieved to finally reach a living soul, Jiao Xingjian said immediately, “Xia Mi, this is Jiao Xingjian. Go to the Bureau immediately and find Mi Xiangyan, Liao Tianhua, and Qiu Hailan. I suspect something has happened to them.”

Xia Mi sounded confused. “Deputy Director Jiao?! Whose phone are you using? You just called me a moment ago and told me to come to your office to see you. I’m in the office elevator right now, heading to your floor!”

Jiao Xingjian’s heart skipped a beat. He said urgently, “Don’t go to my office. Go to their offices first. And see if you can even leave the building. I suspect our Bureau has become a Nest!”

Xia Mi asked, “Deputy Director Jiao, why are you using someone else’s number? Who was the person who just called me?”

Jiao Xingjian quickly explained the car theft and praised her. “You didn’t dismiss me immediately, nor did you believe me instantly. Good. You’re being cautious. In these situations, you must verify the caller’s identity.”

Xia Mi said, “Deputy Director Jiao, you interviewed me just today. Did I say anything that left a deep impression on you?”

Not a single word!

During the interview today, Xia Mi had behaved exactly like a seasoned corporate veteran. Every answer she gave was either straight from a textbook or filled with bureaucratic jargon. Jiao Xingjian felt like he was looking at another version of himself.

When they first met, Xia Mi had been a promising, slightly shy college student. After only two months of training, he had no idea how she had turned into this!

The things Xia Mi said during the interview were so familiar to Jiao Xingjian that he heard and spoke them every single day. He could no longer distinguish which parts were Xia Mi’s answers and which were things he had said himself in the past.

Xia Mi asked over the phone, “Can’t you answer?”

The only person he could contact was doubting his identity. In his desperation, Jiao Xingjian cast aside all pretenses and said honestly, “My only impression is… did you memorize all the speeches I’ve given at meetings over the years?”

Xia Mi’s voice was full of pleasant surprise. “You noticed? I’m on the internal network, and I’ve memorized every single one of your speeches from over the years.”

Jiao Xingjian asked, “Do you believe my identity now?”

“Wait a moment, don’t hang up,” Xia Mi said. “I’m going to go confirm the identity of that other ‘Deputy Director Jiao’.”

Jiao Xingjian waited patiently for two minutes before Xia Mi’s voice returned to the receiver. “Deputy Director Jiao, that one over there is a fake. I asked him what his deepest impression of me was, and he actually said I was a beautiful, charming, and outstanding person. Oh my god, when he said it, he lowered his voice and used this gravelly bedroom voice. It was practically workplace sexual harassment! It was terrifying!”

“That’s great, Xia Mi. You’ve finally confirmed who I am,” Jiao Xingjian said. “Quickly, go check on Group Leader Mi and the others. I suspect the enemy’s goal is to impersonate me, and I’m afraid something has happened to them.”

“Yes, sir!” Xia Mi’s reply over the phone was loud and powerful.

“Keep it down,” Jiao Xingjian said. “And stay on the line!”

“Yes,” Xia Mi replied again, this time in a very low whisper.

Immediately after, Jiao Xingjian heard the rapid thudding of footsteps over the phone. After a while, Xia Mi reported back, “That’s strange. I can’t find anything. There’s no one in any of the offices, including yours.”

“Can you walk out of the building?” Jiao Xingjian asked.

After another moment, Xia Mi’s confused voice came through the line. “I can walk out. The building doesn’t seem to be covered by a Nest. However, Deputy Captain Liao is on duty today, and he’s not in the duty room either. He’s usually very serious and responsible; he would never abandon his post. There’s definitely something wrong.”

Ever since Xia Mi had become a permanent employee, Liao Tianhua and Qiu Hailan’s titles had changed to Deputy Captains, though their salaries were still paid at the level of full section-level officials.

Xia Mi, meanwhile, was the Acting Captain. The reason she wasn’t the official Captain was that according to the Supernatural Squad’s Bianzhi, the leader had to be at least at the deputy division level. Xia Mi didn’t hold a high enough rank yet, so she could only serve in an acting capacity.

Because the squad’s official status had been upgraded, even though Liao Tianhua and Qiu Hailan’s nominal titles had dropped to Deputy Captain, their career paths had actually opened up. They now had a chance to be promoted to the deputy division level, which was a much better prospect than before.

Xia Mi said over the phone, “Deputy Director Jiao, not a single light is on in our office building tonight. Is that normal?”

It was extremely abnormal.

At that moment, the police officer at the station said to Jiao Xingjian, “Deputy Director Jiao, we’ve tracked your car. The last place it was seen was on the road near the Special Processing Branch. In other words, your car drove toward your workplace, went inside, and never came back out.”

Jiao Xingjian said, “Xia Mi, go to the underground parking lot and see if my car and phone are there.”

Xia Mi replied quickly, “Your car is here, but your coat and phone are missing.”

Jiao Xingjian felt a bad premonition. He asked, “Was the car unlocked? How do you know the phone isn’t inside?”

Xia Mi said, “Reporting to Deputy Director Jiao, I smashed your car window. Please punish me!”

Jiao Xingjian rubbed his temples. “Punish you for what? Well done! You can distinguish between what’s urgent and what’s not, and you don’t let your hands be tied when taking action. You’re an excellent frontline combatant!”

Xia Mi said forcefully, “Thank you for the praise, leader! I will continue to work hard!”

Jiao Xingjian added, “But since we’re currently on the phone, could you mention it before you smash my car next time? It doesn’t seem like it would be much trouble.”

Xia Mi remained forceful. “Understood! I will improve next time!”

Jiao Xingjian felt that talking to Xia Mi was exhausting.

He thought for a moment and said, “Based on my experience, I suspect the building has fallen into a special Nest. On the surface, everything looks fine, and it might not even interfere with people’s work, but some people are trapped inside the Nest where we can’t see or touch them.”

Xia Mi said, “Reporting to the Deputy Director, in gaming terms, this is an Inner World. Are Group Leader Mi and the others trapped in the Inner World?”

“Yes,” Jiao Xingjian said. “But we can’t find the entrance to the Inner World right now. I don’t know how to rescue them.”

Xia Mi said, “Please wait a moment, Deputy Director. I’m going to play a game first.”

Jiao Xingjian knew Xia Mi’s abilities. He understood she was going to use a game to find a way into the Inner World Nest, so he waited for her patiently.

About ten minutes later, Xia Mi’s voice came through the phone, sounding a bit hesitant. “Um… Deputy Director Jiao… Well…”

“Just say it,” Jiao Xingjian said.

Xia Mi said, “The game prompt says I’m missing a key ite… a key person, so I can’t enter the Inner World. I suspect the key person the game mentioned is you.”

Jiao Xingjian understood immediately. He said, “I see. The enemy used my identity to open the Nest, which makes them the ‘me’ of the Inner World. I am the only point of intersection between the normal world and the Inner World, so I am the key to entering. No wonder they stole my car and lured me away; it was to prevent anyone else from entering the Nest.

“Xia Mi, wait for me in front of the building. I’m coming over right now.”

With that, Jiao Xingjian told the police officer he had an emergency and needed to borrow the phone, and he also requested a police vehicle.

With the help of the police station, Jiao Xingjian headed toward his office at maximum speed.

Translator’s Notes