My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

Karma was truly a bitch.

Wang Chengbing, the renowned king hacker codenamed WANG, finally reaped what he sowed. 

At first, when he was trying to crack into Haishang Technology's firewall, he had adopted a very leisure mentality, almost belittling them. And it didn't help that he had smashed down the first barrier in less than half an hour.

Heh. Such an easy thing to do. He could still finish it even if he picked his feet at the same time.

He thought that he would be able to leave the program running while he finished other works. Wang Chengbing had gotten accustomed to multitasking. There were three keyboards laid out in front of him, connected with three large 16 inch monitors respectively.

There were still so many things to do and first and foremost, he had to track down this son of a bitch @kmeulchian5862 through the money he had wired to Fei Chenghan. The beguiling adolescent boy had been closely monitored these past few days to the point where he didn't even dare to skip class and go to internet cafes. The promised reward still arrived in the end, albeit the other party was smart to use a virtual account that belonged to some inconspicuous white collar worker.

Wang Chengbing was immersed in the cyberworld when all of a sudden, his computer screen buzzed with white and black lines similar to old, half dying TV. All of the codes turned into incomprehensible garbles and a huge, red warning appeared. 

[Loading…reboot in process.]

[Reset all configuration 1% 2%...]

"Fuck!" Wang Chengbing jumped out of his seat, bewildered. "What the hell? Virus?!"

No one in this world dared to claim to be first if Wang Chengbing claimed second when it came to creating viruses. He cracked his fingers and started to type furiously to defend against the virus and at the same time, infiltrated into the other party's computer to steal the files.

The more he typed, the weirder he felt.

Huh? This pattern…seems a bit familiar?

No fucking shit! Wasn't this his own creation that he sold a few years ago in the black market for ten million dollars?!

This was one of Wang Chengbing's proudest creations, Ultimate Destroyer, UD-W01. As the name implied, the virus would hide in between ordinary codes, disguising itself as a firewall and then, when it was cracked down, it would multiply, expand and breed to countless little bugs, gnawing and tearing, until it dominated and devoured the attacker.

One of its many features was how it looked very similar to the original firewall, causing the attacker to lower their guards and when the time arrived, it would wipe everything in one swoop and voila, ultimately destroyed without fail!

Fighting against the virus he created himself, Wang Chengbing might be the only person in the world to earn this kind of privilege.

And most importantly, he recalled how he had confidently assured the buyer that there's no shield UD-W01 couldn't destroy. If an idiot dared to hack into the buyer's computer, then they would be beaten up so hard until they called the latter daddy!

And now, Wang Chengbing had become that exact idiot.

"Damn, damn, damn! Aaaah, my files! My computers!" He pulled his hair, screaming hysterically.

It was no use. UD-W01 was just that powerful. In just five minutes, the loading was completed 100% and all three computer screens turned dark simultaneously. Even the CPUs emitted sizzling, burned smells. 

"NOOO!!!" Wang Chengbing wailed tragically.

Motherfckers, how he regretted ever creating UD-W01! Now look how it had come back to bite him on his ass!

No, more importantly, how could he be so unlucky to come across this virus again?!

This…This…

He scrambled to pick up his phone and dialed Jin Renguang's numbers with tears and snots in his face. "Captain! I—I know who's behind Haishang Technology now!"

"Really?" Jin Renguang sounded genuinely surprised. "That's quick. Good work."

"No…" Wang Chengbing smiled bitterly. Nonetheless, even if Jin Renguang threatened to kill him, he wouldn't admit that he was defeated by his own virus. "It's not that difficult…"

"So, who is it?"

Wang Chengbing took a deep breath, his eyes turning serious. "Captain, be careful. That person isn't someone we can touch casually. He…He's surnamed Jia, called Renyu."

There's a few seconds of silence before the chaotic sounds of something heavy falling, glass cracking and loud screeches were heard from the phone.

"Who did you say it was?!" Jin Renguang's voice rose higher in incredulity.

Wang Chengbing sniffled. "You didn't hear wrong. It's really Jia Renyu, the big boss of the underworld." He added after some thinking, "The leader of China's mafia organization."

Jin Renguang cursed from the other end of the call. He wasn't in an excellent mood to begin with, it had persisted ever since he returned from the cemetery. And with this news, his mood plunged to Mariana Trench, unable to surface anymore.

The SCI squad had formed a team of young police officers to pose as interns to enter Haishang Technology undercover. Yet, upon knowing that their opponent was the big boss of the underworld, the plans had come to naught. How could they win against those people with firearms and ammunition at their disposal?!

Jin Renguang's voice was gloomy. "Do you think the serial killer is someone from the underworld?"

The more Wang Chengbing thought about it, the more it seemed to be. "How else?" He replied. "First, the human skin mask comes from the underworld and only the members with connections can obtain it. Second, the method of killing was quite brutal. It's in line with the underworld members' temperament. Captain…if this was the case, how should we proceed?"

Jin Renguang fell silent for a while. "…We will think of something. Thank you for your hard work. You may rest for now and leave everything to us. I will inform you if there's any development."

Wang Chengbing heaved a sigh of relief, but when his eyes landed upon the three dead computers, he had the urge to cry again.

Why was it so hard to be a proper and upright police officer? Wuwuwu…he wanted to resign and go back to being a hacker. At least, he wouldn't have to worry whether he would have enough sleep and most importantly, enough money to spend on midnight snacks.

---

Rumors said that the Big Boss of the underworld was never married yet he had a son which he brought back out of nowhere. This son hadn't appeared in public ever since some malicious people from the side branch tried to harm him in order to threaten Jia Renyu to hand over the authority. It was unknown how he was now, but judging from the timeline, he ought to be a young man around twenty years old.

The SCI squad came up with two plans.

Plan A was for Wang Chengbing and Tang Wei to look for Jia Renyu's son. Although this was the most risky plan with high probability of casualty in case they attracted Jia Renyu's suspicion, it was also the safest one. With Jia Renyu's son on their side, they could get lots of inside information and might even obtain cooperation.

Plan B; in case they flunked Plan A, Jin Renguang would step out on behalf of the police to come into a deal with Jia Renyu. 

Ever since the era of liberation, the mafia had been suppressed by the government with their authority chipping away bit by bit. Nowadays, everyone subconsciously regarded them as scumbags, trash, dangerous people that must be obliterated. It was completely different from olden times when they could walk everywhere freely around Earth and nobody dared to cross them. That's why, if the police offered a truce, it must be something that Jia Renyu couldn't afford to refuse. 

Of course, this was a proposal which the police could only throw as a last resort. Granting them authority was akin to having a double sided sword by their side, too risky and dangerous.

After a long meeting, the plans were confirmed with the higher ups and everyone could finally have a night of rest.

That's why, because of these twists and turns, Jin Renguang's "wait for me tonight" had to be postponed until six days later.

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A/N:  ohoho, what's the connection between the serial killer and underworld? 

Overall progress of the case: 70% we are getting closer to the end~