[Inside the Car]
Pan Youguang spoke with a hint of apology, "I'm sorry, Captain Han. I failed to handle the situation properly this time and even caused you trouble. I just wanted to ask, my family, are they still…"
Smack!
Before he could finish, Han Lingye's palm landed hard across his face.
The sheer force sent Pan Youguang sprawling to the floor, his right cheek visibly swelling and reddening before their eyes.
"Captain Han…"
"Useless trash."
Han Lingye's tone dripped with disdain.
"A district chief who can't even manage to swap two exam papers properly, what kind of district chief are you?"
"You failed to get the job done, and fine, I could've let that slide, but you couldn't even keep your own bureau director in line, and now you've dragged the mayor into it! Because of you, I had to kill people right in front of everyone to silence them!"
As he spoke, Han Lingye kicked Pan Youguang hard in the chest.
"I really don't know what use you are! Your family's lives all depend on you, and you dare to screw things up? You botch the operation and still have the face to question me?"
Pan clutched his chest, kneeling on the floor in pain, and only after a long while did he manage to catch his breath.
He suppressed the resentment rising in his heart and tried to defend himself, "Captain Han, it's true I didn't manage my subordinates strictly enough, but in the end, this can't all be blamed on me. If you need to vent your anger, you shouldn't take it out on me, or on my family."
Han Lingye snorted coldly, "What, trying to shift the blame now? You're already an old man, dare to do it but not dare to admit it?"
Pan Youguang pushed himself up and sat back in the car seat, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.
"If the operation failed because of me, then I'd have nothing to say. But I want to ask Captain Han one question—"
"The one who stirred up the Education Bureau's Director He Kui was sent by Mayor Chen Zhongming. And Mayor Chen Zhongming, who do you think sent him?"
"Before I even switched the test papers, Chen Zhongming already had confirmed intel and sent He Kui to block me."
"When every move I make is being predicted ahead of time, even if the King of Heaven himself showed up, he couldn't pull it off! How can the failure of the exam swap be pinned on me?"
Han Lingye's brows knitted tightly.
"You're saying someone leaked the plan in advance?"
Pan Youguang pressed his chest, spat out a mouthful of bloodied saliva, and said, "Without an insider, there's no explaining this! Unless you want to say the other side can see the future?"
Han Lingye lowered his head and thought for a moment before asking again, "If I remember right, Wen Shu handed in her paper early. Could it be the two examiners in the hall weren't careful enough and tipped her off, so she went out and reported it?"
"Spotted something early? I hadn't even touched the exam papers yet!"
Pan Youguang felt even more wronged, "When He Kui's people searched and found that fake paper, it was still hidden inside a layer of underwear! She never even saw it, how could she have noticed anything?"
Han Lingye asked again, "Then does this Wen Shu have some kind of detection ability?"
Pan snapped, too tired to restrain himself, "Captain Han, you're saying Wen Shu, a regular high school student sitting the college entrance exam, had a Sequence ability and just didn't disclose it?"
"Impossible?"
"Even if you want to speculate, you should base it on reality. Captain Han, do you know how poor her family is? If it weren't for her grades, the school wouldn't have made special exceptions for her. Her blind grandmother would've starved to death long ago! If she'd awakened a Sequence ability, would she still be living like that? You think she enjoys suffering?"
Smack!
Another slap landed squarely across Pan Youguang's other cheek.
"Pan Youguang, get this straight, you're in my car right now. Since you chose to come with me, show some damn respect when you speak."
After this second slap, Pan's left cheek swelled too, perfectly symmetrical now. He looked like a bloated frog croaking in a pond.
Seeing how domineering and unreasonable Han Lingye was, Pan even started to regret getting into the car.
But with his family all in Han's hands, and himself already deep in Han's pocket, he knew there was no getting off this thief's ship.
He'd thought the exam paper swap would go flawlessly, yet somehow it had all gone sideways.
It really was cursed.
Why was it that every time he ran into Qin Siyang or anyone connected to him, he always ended up spitting out teeth?
Han Lingye didn't even bother looking at him anymore, lost in thought.
"If she doesn't have Sequence powers, then why'd she hand in her paper early?"
Pan hid the disdain flickering in his eyes and said nothing.
Receiving no answer, Han prompted, "District Chief Pan, I'm asking you a question."
Pan reluctantly spoke, "I guess… maybe the test was too easy for her."
"Too easy? She's a good student?"
Pan immediately realized Han Lingye didn't know Wen Shu's grades.
Though he didn't understand why Wen Shu had offended Han Lingye, the reason Han wanted her test swapped was clearly because she scored too well, he wanted her to fail the Academy entrance exam.
'So Han Lingye doesn't even know this detail?'
'Then… is Han not the one who gave the original order?'
'Whoever the real mastermind is doesn't matter anymore.'
He couldn't even handle Han Lingye, how could he possibly deal with whoever was behind him?
Suppressing his doubts, Pan answered, "Wen Shu placed second in the last Eight-State Joint Exam."
Han rubbed his chin, "Second in the Eight-State Joint Exam? Meaning, out of tens of thousands of people, she came in second?"
Pan corrected, "Out of over a million people, she came in second."
Hearing that, Han raised his brows slightly, "There are that many people taking the college exam?"
Pan was dumbfounded, thinking Han's earlier 'tens of thousands' had been a slip of the tongue.
But now it seemed Han really had no concept of what life was like for ordinary people inside the Safe Zone.
A spoiled young master through and through.
Yet after two slaps and a kick, Pan didn't dare show even a hint of displeasure.
"Yes, the Eight-State Joint Exam had over three million participants."
When Pan said that number, Han's face showed obvious shock.
Pan continued, "So, if anyone else turned in their paper early, sure, it'd look suspicious. But for her, it's completely normal."
Han nodded, "I see. So Wen Shu really is impressive. Handing in early probably wasn't an issue."
"So, District Chief Pan, you're saying the operation failed because someone leaked it in advance?"
"Tha'sh wigh (That's right)."
Because his cheeks were so swollen and bruised, his tongue barely had space to move, and his speech had grown slurred.
Han gave a glance to the soldier beside him.
The soldier immediately opened the pocket on his chest, pulled out a syringe filled with pale green fluid, and, without saying a word, jabbed it into Pan Youguang's arm, pushing all the contents in.
Pan's eyes widened in horror, "Wha' ish this? Yoo guys gonna kill meh, shut meh up?"