Hello, Mr. Major General

“Chief.” Ye Zitan immediately stood up in salute when she picked up.

“Dr. Ye?” Secretary Cao could sense Ye Zitan’s tension and rigidity, so he chuckled. “I wanted to ask Dr. Chen something. I’m not sure if you know?”

“Please ask. If you’d like, I’ll be sure to inform you of everything and anything I know.” Ye Zitan saw that there was no one else in the office, so she began twirling the phone cord around her finger to calm down.

“Ok, so there aren’t any DNA records for the three Gu’s in the archives. I wanted to ask if Dr. Chen had them. If he does, can he please deliver a copy to the No. 1 Military Building here?”

Ye Zitan quickly replied, “We did make a record. It’s not in the archives for the Gu’s? Dr. Chen already sent it over? Oh, but he didn’t directly deliver it to General Ji. He gave it to Huo Shao…”

Secretary Cao’s mind began to work when he could sense Ye Zitan was implying that even if there was a fault, then it was Huo Shaoheng’s and not Chen Lie’s. But what relationship did Huo Shaoheng and General Ji have? It wasn’t one easily affected by hearsay from a minor doctor. Secretary Cao laughed. “Oh, perhaps there was an error. No problem, you can deliver another copy to us as long as you have the records.” Secretary Cao considered it and then decided to remind her, “Once Chen Lie has finished his experiment, have him personally deliver them to the No. 1 Military Building and give them directly to me. Thank you, Dr. Ye.” He hung up.

Ye Zitan set down the phone with a quiet sigh. Her head half hanging, she felt some guilt. But this guilt was nothing compared to the medical studies she pursued. She wanted to be the top doctor in the nation and surpass even Chen Lie. However, she had limited talent and came from a common background, so she didn’t have Gu Nianzhi’s luck and had to entirely rely on herself. She’d create her own luck if she started with none! Turning on her computer, Ye Zitan read about a groundbreaking breakthrough in a certain virus research that someone had sent her and was completely spellbound.

…

Chen Lie came out after finishing the experiment, and Ye Zitan immediately shut down her computer as she said to him, “Dr. Chen, there was a call from General Ji’s Secretary Cao. He asked you to deliver a copy of the DNA records for the three Gu’s. He said it was for the archives.”

Chen Lie’s heart sank, because he knew right away that Gu Nianzhi’s background couldn’t be concealed anymore. He and Huo Shaoheng had been half purposely hiding the fact that Gu Nianzhi wasn’t Gu Xiangwen’s biological daughter in order to wait and see once she received even more guarantees. The ideal scenario was that she would marry Huo Shaoheng before this truth was revealed. But now it seemed like it could no longer be hidden. Who was the big mouth that leaked this? Chen Lie stayed quiet as he solemnly took out the DNA reports for the three Gu’s and placed them in a red “Top Secret” file. He called several armed soldiers from the Special Operations Forces over to escort him to General Ji’s No. 1 Military Building.

…

General Ji did not appear as if anything was amiss. He sat alone in his office for half an hour without reading a single word of the document in front of him. He didn’t believe for a second that Chen Lie didn’t perform a DNA test on Gu Xiangwen and Gu Nianzhi. He also didn’t believe that Huo Shaoheng was unaware of this. When he thought about it, he carefully recalled that Huo Shaoheng and Chen Lie already seemed to know Gu Nianzhi wasn’t Gu Xiangwen’s daughter when they went to Barbados to retrieve Gu Xiangwen.

The evidence they had was the result of comparing the DNA and dental records of Gu Nianzhi and Gu Xiangwen’s youngest daughter, instead of comparing the results against Gu Xiangwen’s DNA. In that case, how did they know that Nianzhi was adopted? How did they know to prove that she was adopted? The legal documents seemed to be from a long time ago. How did Huo Shaoheng and Chen Lie know? Numerous questions swirled around General Ji’s head, and he began to feel even more suspicious. Soon after, Secretary Cao came in to report, “Chief, Dr. Chen Lie is here. He has brought the DNA reports for the three Gu’s.”

General Ji waved his hand. “Have him come in.”

Chen Lie carried the red file stamped “Top Secret” as he anxiously walked inside. Standing before General Ji’s desk, he reached out to push up the round glasses on his nose. His fat face was so sweaty, it gleamed like grease. General Ji also remained silent and sat behind the desk as he peered up at him over his reading glasses. The heavy pressure was enough to send Chen Lie’s heart leaping out of his throat, but he forced himself to stand with a straight back and didn’t buckle under General Ji’s glare. After a long moment, General Ji pointed to the chair in front of his desk. “Sit.”

Chen Lie secretly sighed in relief and set the red folder on General Ji’s desk. “Chief, this is the information you requested. I confess, this was my fault. I should’ve given these reports to Huo Shao earlier, but I was so busy with work that I forgot. By the time I remembered, Huo Shao had already left on his mission. I planned to give it to him when he returned. I didn’t expect you to think of it already. It’s all my fault. Please punish me!”

General Ji looked at Chen Lie and said gravely, “It’s only your fault? You forgot to explain how Shaoheng would forget, as meticulous as he is. Are you protecting him or setting him up?” Chen Lie still dared to cover this up for Huo Shaoheng… Though it was honorable of Chen Lie to not betray Huo Shaoheng, playing tricks in front of his superior was also an unwise decision.

General Ji remained solemn as he took the red file Chen Lie had set down on the desk. Opening it, he removed the three DNA reports to read. All three records were excellent and contained detailed data and clear comparisons as well as medical terminology accompanied with professional interpretation, so even a layman was able to clearly understand it. Gu Nianzhi really wasn’t Gu Xiangwen’s daughter, while Gu Yanran was.

General Ji couldn’t help recalling how Gu Yanran had clearly asked for Huo Shaoheng’s protection when she first contacted them… At the time, if they had known Gu Yanran was the biological daughter of the owner of the blueprints, there was no way they would’ve rejected her like that. It could be said that she was unlucky, or maybe Gu Nianzhi was lucky and blessed!

After General Ji finished reading them, he didn’t say much and placed all three records back into the file. Resealing it, he put his own red seal on the front before calling an internal line to have Secretary Cao take the file. “Take it to the archives. It’s Level 1 confidentiality.”

Secretary Cao took it with both hands and walked out smiling. General Ji began to question Chen Lie. “Where did you get the evidence to go find Gu Xiangwen in Barbados?”

Chen Lie choked and began to mutter, “That you’ll have to ask Huo Shao. I really don’t know. I went because Huo Shao asked me, and I investigated what he asked me to. The only thing I forgot was to remind him to archive the three reports.”

“Haha, fine. You can go now. Ask Secretary Cao to come back in.” General Ji removed his reading glasses and rubbed his eyes. “I still have business. I’ll call you in for a meeting when Shaoheng is back.” This blatant disregard for discipline and conduct must be rooted out!

Chen Lie left with his head hung low and ran into Secretary Cao at the door. Secretary Cao smiled at him before entering General Ji’s office. “Chief, Dr. Chen appeared very disheartened just now..” Secretary Cao sat down with a smile. “Did you scold him? It actually wasn’t Dr. Chen’s fault. Dr. Ye told me that Chen Lie forgot to give the records to Huo Shao. Huo Shao must’ve been too busy and was in a hurry to go abroad, so he didn’t get to submit them in time.”

“Hmph! Young people always learn the hard way. I’ll teach them a lesson!” General Ji laughed ruefully and took out a document. “You think I don’t know what kind of relationship he has with Shaoheng? Go, distribute these documents first. Keep a close eye on the Special Ops. We can’t have another power rise up from within. Right now, Shaoheng is away, so we have to be wary of people causing trouble.” Someone had already dared to gossip about Huo Shaoheng to General Ji. When the cat’s away, the mice will play!

Secretary Cao quickly rose. “The Chief is right. The Special Ops can’t fall into chaos while Huo Shao is gone.” He picked up the document from General Ji and went off to arrange the work.

General Ji then remembered the earlier call and dialed Huo Guanchen. “Guanchen, this situation is neither minor or serious. How about this, we must find Nianzhi, and we will continue using the highest specifications in order to find her as soon as possible. When necessary, we can use all our strength in Germany to rescue her.”

Huo Guanchen stiffened. He had just lowered the specifications, but General Ji was still insisting they use the highest… He assumed that their target had always been Gu Xiangwen, so Gu Nianzhi was still a shortcut to him, just like how it always had been. But Gu Xiangwen was already moved to the Hua Xia Empire, and his biological daughter, Gu Yanran, also followed him here. Gu Nianzhi was no longer as important.

Truthfully speaking, if it wasn’t for Gu Nianzhi’s relationship with Huo Shaoheng, Huo Guanchen didn’t even want to send Hua Xia personnel to look for her in Germany. He would only have had the embassy urge the local police to do the searching. He didn’t expect General Ji to insist on using the highest specifications, but he certainly wouldn’t argue. Huo Guanchen could only obey all his superior’s orders unconditionally.

General Ji stated severely, “This must be kept confidential! I’ll execute anyone who dares to let Shaoheng know!”

Huo Guanchen finally sighed in relief. Although he was still unhappy, he was feeling a lot better than before. As long as it didn’t affect his son, who even cared if Gu Nianzhi survived or not? She wasn’t even Gu Xiangwen’s biological daughter, and Huo Guanchen thought that Gu Yanran was just being polite when she said how Gu Xiangwen treated his adopted daughter better than his biological one. What idiot would believe it!? Setting down the phone, Huo Guanchen revised his planned course of action once again and sent it to his subordinates to execute.

…

In order to truly execute the operation, they had to rely on the Special Ops. Huo Shaoheng, Yin Shixiong, and Zhao Liangze were all away, so the main commanding officer within the Special Ops was a Deputy Commander. He received Huo Guanchen’s command and learned of Gu Nianzhi’s disappearance, so their personnel must assist. He stiffened and immediately had his subordinates investigate. “We used to have a tracking device on Gu Nianzhi. Go check if it’s still working.”

Gu Nianzhi used to enjoy the highest level of security measures, so not only did Special Ops personnel secretly protect her, but Huo Shaoheng had also prepared a top tier satellite tracking system on her. As long as the device didn’t leave Gu Nianzhi, they would find her in no time. The Special Ops personnel who used to be in charge of Gu Nianzhi’s security immediately checked the memo and found the device’s frequency and code in order to input it into the Special Op’s central control system. Using the super computer, they could connect with the Hua Xia-invented Nandou Satellite Tracking and Navigational System. This system had twice the accuracy of the European Copernicus System and the American GPS.

In the following day and night, the personnel at the Special Op’s central control computer busied themselves using the Nandou Satellite’s designated channels to change its orbit over Europe and target the Munich area, because they knew that was where Gu Nianzhi last appeared. With that location as a starting point, they began expanding the search in all directions in order to locate her. After the successful orbital change, they still had to complete many calculations and use various feedback data to undergo analysis and simulation. Finally, on the following night, which was evening in Germany, a small red dot glowed on their locating map. It was weak in the beginning, but as the operating personnel increased the signal strength transmitted by the satellite in the area, it finally began to grow brighter and brighter.

“Chief, look at that location. Why isn’t it in Munich but near Berlin?” The researcher in charge of data analysis was perplexed. He looked at it over and over again. Wasn’t this location too far from Munich? They had received reports that Gu Nianzhi went missing near Munich. Could she have gone to Berlin? Also, was the tracking device even her on person?

The leader of the central data control team looked at the coordinates obtained by the researcher and mused, “Send this location to our field personnel in Germany. Have them go check it out. We will send two people over to meet them.” According to regulations, personnel going on missions must undergo body checks at the Special Op’s infirmary. Everyone knew they would be going on missions but also understood that these weren’t questions that could be asked, so no one asked anything they shouldn’t.

Ye Zitan brought a vaccine chart over and asked, “According to regulations, we must check if you’ve had these vaccines before going on missions. Take a look, check the ones you already have. If you haven’t…” She paused. “Different places require different vaccines. I don’t know where you’re going, so you must rely on yourselves.”