Chapter 135 - 118: Arrest! Eating a Bullet

"If the goal was to kill, the first thing thrown in wouldn’t have been a smoke grenade."

"But... stop this. You’ve had your revenge. There’s no need to drag innocent people into this."

"Look at where your gun is pointing."

"Look at the people across from you, and ask yourself if they’re really the enemy!"

Zhang Wei took a deep breath. He hadn’t been in good spirits since the flight, and he was exhausted.

"’Apple’..."

"Just stop."

His words fell.

A few seconds later...

"BANG!"

A crisp gunshot rang out.

Fortunately, the sound of a baby crying continued, undisturbed.

The men outside frowned deeply.

’Is he going to... defy us to the death?’

A voice came over the radio.

"Team Two reports, the bullet’s impact point is not in our area."

It was the voice of Team Two’s leader.

"It wasn’t aimed at Team Two?"

Xu Huo and the others were stunned, their ears perking up as they listened intently.

"The crying hasn’t stopped, either. So that gunshot was..."

Suddenly, the men’s expressions changed, and they turned and sprinted back inside.

"This is bad!"

"Team Two, breach now!"

Zhang Wei shouted the order as he rushed forward.

He followed behind the others.

By the time they reached the target area on the second floor...

Xu Huo stepped into the office and fell silent at the scene before him.

Before him was a middle-aged man with a square jaw, a resolute face, weathered features, rough skin, and a sturdy build.

His eyes were bloodshot, with fresh tears still glistening at the corners. His head was pressed against Liu Wen’s forehead, one hand holding them both in place.

His other hand held a strangely shaped nail gun, the muzzle of which was in his mouth.

A spray of blood blossomed from the back of his head. Brain matter and blood flowed like water, dripping onto the floor...

He was dead.

Liu Bo was dead.

Suicide by gunshot!

Even in death, his gaze remained fixed on the features of Liu Wen’s stiff corpse, never wavering.

"He’s dead."

Zhang Wei watched. He stared for a long moment, then, as if in a daze, he reached out to close the man’s eyes.

But no matter how many times he tried, the eyes wouldn’t stay shut.

After two or three attempts, Zhang Wei gave up.

He walked over to stand beside Xu Huo, watching the police process the scene.

There was no baby here.

Only a small device playing a recording.

After watching for a long time, Zhang Wei suddenly spoke.

"Do you know why his codename was Apple?"

He explained before Xu Huo could ask:

"When he first came under my command, his daughter was six. She loved to eat apples."

"He wasn’t particularly skilled, was older than the others, and didn’t have much in common with them, so he just buried his head in training. When the others talked about their futures and what they wanted to do, he would just give a simple, foolish grin."

"He said he wanted to take his discharge pay, go home, and open an apple orchard after he retired. He’d plant the trees himself, his wife would relax in the shade, and his daughter would be there eating the apples. That’s why he was called Apple."

"It was that simple."

Saying this, Zhang Wei paused, then shook his head with regret.

"But, from the looks of it..."

"That’s not going to happen now."

A very simple dream.

But for people like them, it was so far out of reach.

Xu Huo listened in silence, his eyes on Liu Bo, who had taken his own life. After a long moment, he finally took a deep breath.

"Pack it up!"

Then, he looked at Li Jianye. No words were needed; the other man understood.

’They’d caught their man, even if he was dead. The case could be more or less closed.’

’But the fallout from the case was far from over...’

Watching the two bodies being carried away, Xu Huo’s expression grew darker and colder, and he unconsciously clenched his fists.

’This case, from the very beginning, from the absolute start of it all...’

’...should never have happened!!!’

’Shen Miao shouldn’t have died, and neither should Liu Wen or Liu Bo...’

’After he finished dealing with Sun Yang’s matter, he still had to go see Cheng Yang...’

’...and settle the score!’

"Let’s go!"