The salty sea breeze, carrying the scent of the ocean, couldn't dispel the heaviness and confusion in Li Zicheng's heart.
Johnny's words were like a thorn, precisely piercing the deepest part of what he tried to hide.
He indeed needed to ask his heart, but that heart had already become bloody and unrecognizable, torn between black and white.
He stood there for a long time until the cold sweat was dried by the sea breeze, bringing a chill, before he slowly turned and walked towards the car parked not far away.
Ding Qing's convoy had already left, leaving only a black sedan and a silent driver waiting for him.
This was Ding Qing's arrangement, as "thoughtful" as ever.
Returning to the city of Yeosu, to the home where no bloody incidents seemed to have ever occurred, Li Zicheng entered the room, locked the door, and slid slowly to the floor, leaning against the cold door panel.
He took out his phone; the screen displayed Chief Jiang's encrypted number, but his finger hovered over the dial button, unable to press it.
What could he say?
Say Xin Yu was dead?
Say Shi Wu was personally slit by Ding Qing?
Say... he himself had pulled the trigger, ending Xin Yu's life?
No matter how he tried to phrase it, he couldn't imagine Chief Jiang's reaction upon hearing this news.
It wouldn't be understanding or comfort; it would more likely be cold suspicion and complete abandonment.
He had personally cut off the last bridge to return to the police force, a path Ding Qing had chosen for him, and one he had tacitly accepted when he pulled the trigger.
A vast, suffocating sense of loneliness consumed him.
He was no longer a police officer, at least no longer trusted by the police.
And his life as a gang executive, starting today, would also be completely different. Every pair of eyes that looked at him seemed to carry scrutiny and suspicion, whether from his own people or his enemies.
Meanwhile, in Ding Qing's luxurious hotel suite.
He had changed out of his blood-stained clothes and was wearing a comfortable bathrobe, standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the night view of Yeosu. Ice cubes clinked softly in the whiskey glass in his hand.
Johnny sat on the sofa behind him, unhurriedly wiping his glock 34, as if everything that had just happened in the warehouse was merely routine.
"Do you think he completely understood?"
Ding Qing didn't turn around, asking in a calm voice, his gaze still on the neon lights outside the window.
Johnny's movements didn't stop, and he replied without looking up: "He's a smart man. The moment he pulled the trigger, he had no turning back. Now all he needs is time to digest this fact and then accept it."
Ding Qing took a sip of his drink, the spicy liquid sliding down his throat.
"I just hope he understands that I'm saving him. Wavering means death. Only by standing completely on my side can he survive, and live very well."
"You are saving him, and you are also binding him."
Johnny hit the nail on the head, "Chains forged with blood and betrayal are the strongest."
Ding Qing turned around, a complex smile on his face, neither admitting nor denying it.
"Brother... sometimes extraordinary measures are necessary. On the police side, Jiang Chenghao lost two important pieces, especially Yin Xinyu as a contact person; that will hurt him for a while. In the short term, they shouldn't dare to easily touch anyone from my Goldmoon Group again, especially... Zicheng."
His calculations were far-reaching and ruthless.
Eliminating internal traitors, deterring the police, and completely pulling Li Zicheng into the dark camp—killing three birds with one stone.
"What's next?" Johnny re-holstered his assembled Pistol, "Lee Joong-ku is still inside. The Di Ri Faction and Tiger Faction are leaderless, but they won't give up easily."
"Lee Joong-ku?"
Ding Qing sneered, swirling his glass, "The police won't hold him for too long; without solid evidence, they'll have to release him eventually. But Goldmoon, after he gets out, will no longer be a place where he calls the shots. As for the Di Ri Faction and Tiger Faction..."
A ruthless glint flashed in his eyes: "Strike while they're down. Clean up what needs cleaning, absorb what needs absorbing. I'll entrust this matter to Zicheng."
Johnny raised an eyebrow: "Make him spill more of his own people's blood? Completely extinguish his hopes?"
"This is the fastest way for him to grow, and the fastest way for him to establish himself."
Ding Qing's tone was unequivocal, "He needs achievements; he needs to prove his worth and loyalty to everyone. There's no better 'initiation' than cleaning up Lee Joong-ku's remnants."
Just then, Ding Qing's phone rang.
He glanced at the caller ID, made a silencing gesture to Johnny, answered the phone, his tone instantly becoming warm and slightly anxious:
"Hello? Zicheng! Are you okay? You looked unwell earlier, so you went back to rest?... Hmm, good to hear you're fine. Don't dwell on today's events; those traitors deserved to die!... Oh, right, come to my room tomorrow morning; there's something important I need to discuss with you. It's about... how to deal with those messes. Now that Lee Joong-ku is down, it's a good opportunity, and I trust you most with this."
On the other end of the phone, Li Zicheng listened to Ding Qing's usual, even more trusting and warm tone, but his palms were icy cold.
He mechanically agreed. After hanging up, he looked at the city lights outside the window, feeling as if he was standing on the edge of a cliff, with Ding Qing's "warm" but undeniable hand behind him, and a bottomless dark abyss before him.
Ding Qing's plan was meticulously crafted, completely sealing off his last retreat.
Dealing with the Di Ri Faction and Tiger Faction?
This would be a complete gang purge. Once he acted, there would be no possibility of him being accepted by the police or his past self again.
Johnny watched Ding Qing's instant change of expression, secretly marveling. This guy was truly a top-tier actor, changing his face in a second.
And his deep cunning was awe-inspiring, one link connecting to another, one link locking into another, absolutely leaving no breathing room for the other party, whether it was Li Zicheng, the police, or Lee Joong-ku.
It was no surprise that Lee Joong-ku would fall into his hands; after all, that fool was truly all brawn and thought things too simply. And the true angler was this seemingly ordinary, even somewhat ugly, Ding Qing.
He was the one truly sitting steady on the fishing platform.
But what did it matter?
The other party was his employer, and he only needed to obey. As for those so-called questions and such, they were merely for him to get an observer's answer; he just needed to cooperate.
That night, the neon lights of Yeosu still flickered, but the fates of many had irreversibly changed direction in the bloody warehouse and the sunken barrels by the coast.
Li Zicheng's struggle was far from over; in fact, it had just begun, but this time, the battlefield of his struggle was completely mired in the dark swamp.
And Ding Qing stood calmly by the edge of the swamp, watching him, and also pushing him, step by step, towards the deepest part of the abyss.
At this moment, in the police office, a red dot flickered continuously in the darkness. As the camera slowly zoomed in, Jiang Chenghao's face, illuminated by the red dot, slowly entered the frame, alternately brightening and dimming in the darkness.
He had been waiting in the office, waiting for his subordinates to send him the latest news, but he had waited in vain for so long, with no word.
Although he didn't know what had happened, he had a faint bad premonition, which came from his intuition as a police officer for many years.
As a police officer, one faces life and death every day, and even more so as an undercover agent. Once one embarks on the path of an undercover agent, one should have a clear understanding of one's future outcome.
Only no one knows whether that day comes early or late, and as the superior of these undercover agents, it is precisely so; each person is someone he has poured his heart into teaching.
Every loss of contact also means wasted effort, which is a loss for the police.
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