SDT 44

Dai Jingxi said the detective would probably wake up soon, and he was right. The next morning, the man on the hospital bed slowly opened his eyes.

He tried to move his mouth, and the oxygen mask on his face shifted slightly. He didn’t actually need it anymore, so Ye Yisan helped him remove it. The weak Omega’s eyelids trembled, his jaw moved, and his lips parted. The first sound he forced out was a faint, broken phrase: “Ding, Qi…”

Ye Yisan froze for a moment, then replied, “Alright, I know. He didn’t get away.”

The man’s expression relaxed, and his eyes closed again.

“…” Ye Yisan thought maybe he shouldn’t have answered so directly, it probably wasn’t helpful for the patient’s recovery.

That afternoon, the police officer from S Country woke up again. This time, he didn’t fall back asleep so quickly.

It took a while for him to regain clarity and control of his limbs. By evening, he was sitting up and even drinking water. Then, with effort, he spoke to Ye Yisan. “I, could feel you, helping me, exercising… You saved me? Thank you.”

Ye Yisan said simply, “No need to thank me.”

“I’m really sorry,” the detective said.

“For what?”

“Saving me must’ve cost you a lot of time and money,” he said. “But actually, I’ve been seriously ill…”

“Rest first. Don’t think about it too much,” Ye Yisan said. “You’ll get better.”

…

Not long ago, the city bureau and the narcotics unit had jointly closed a major case. But recently, everyone at the bureau had been weighed down by gloom.

EX’s group had been ambushed and killed by Ding Qi. As for Ding Qi’s own team, two of his men were caught on the spot when they were dumping a body, while the rest died when their car slipped off a cliff in a rainstorm, turning into a heap of twisted metal and corpses.

Two officers had died in that case. Yet the criminals who killed them, one died from infighting, another from “accident.” None faced trial. What kind of justice was that?

They got what they deserved, but for law enforcement, this ending was far from satisfying. Did they even know the evil they’d done? Did they ever feel the slightest regret? There’d never be an answer to that.

Compared to what their colleagues suffered, didn’t those murderers die too easily?

Worst of all, more than half a month had passed, and there was still no trace of Captain Yu. The river currents were fast during the rainy season. After so long, everyone knew the chance of finding him was almost zero.

Chen Zihan had been far more irritable than usual. Everyone in the office could hear his voice echoing in the hallway. “Who the hell worked with Yu Xiaowen every damn day? Can’t that big-shot take a bit of responsibility for once? Fuck!”

The bureau chief dragged him into his office and slammed the door shut.

Chen Zihan kept raging for a while inside. Director Li didn’t stop him. After letting him vent, he finally said, “You’re not a rookie, you know this already. Complaining won’t help. You’re driving me today, we’re going out.”

“Where?” Chen Zihan looked at him.

Director Li looked at the crystal swan on his desk.

“You know Director Lu from the Institute of Life Sciences, right? He was hospitalized for a while. He just got discharged. We’re going to visit him.”

“Lu Kongyun? …When did you even meet him?” Chen Zihan followed the chief’s gaze to the swan. “He’s sick? And why the hell are you giving a glass ornament to a grown man? I’m not going. I’m heading to Shijia City with A Jie to chase some leads and shut those old bastards up. You’re ignoring Xiaowen’s case but worrying about some guy’s hospital visit?”

Lately, Chen Zihan had been blowing up like a rocket launcher, even at his boss.

Director Li didn’t argue. He just gently brushed the swans’ glass cover. “Then I’ll go myself.”

He had to deliver the swan, to fulfill Xiaowen’s request.

Now that Director Lu had recovered, giving it as a gift made a good excuse, something natural. Otherwise, Li wouldn’t have known how to properly deliver this heavy, unknown token of emotion from Xiaowen to the Lu family’s second young master.

Chen Zihan still picked up the swans. “I can at least put this glass thing in the car… ‘A Hundred Years of Happiness, Together as One’? What the hell is this? Is Dr. Lu getting married?”

He gave Director Li a suspicious look.

Director Li sighed. “…Just get moving.”

…

Across the street from the police bureau, a car with tinted one-way windows was parked quietly. It looked ordinary and hadn’t been there long enough to attract attention.

For the past weeks, Yu Xiaowen had been recovering in a sealed-off room. There was no internet, only newspapers. The case was technically closed, but since it involved military families, the reports were vague and edited. But the man who saved him had told him a lot. Yu Xiaowen understood what had happened. Both EX’s group and Ding Qi’s gang had been destroyed, only a few low-level members were captured. Ding Qi’s car had slipped off a cliff in the rain, and everyone assumed Yu Xiaowen had died too.

Yu Xiaowen realized this person knew every detail of the case. He seemed honest, and everything he said matched what Yu Xiaowen knew. But about himself, the man remained completely silent.

Who exactly was he?

Today, that man had injected Yu Xiaowen with something, and Yu Xiaowen had fallen asleep. When he woke up, he was in the back seat of a car, looking out the window at the police bureau.

He’d actually brought him back to the station. Yu Xiaowen had no idea why.

Since he was already here, Yu Xiaowen naturally wanted to get out right away and tell his colleagues he was alive. But Ye Yisan stopped him. “You tell them you’re alive, then die again in a few days because of your illness. You want everyone to suffer twice?”

“…”

He was right. Yu Xiaowen realized there must be another reason he was brought here.

The man had saved his life and taken care of him all this time, but Yu’s instincts said it wasn’t that simple. Maybe he’d find out today. So, he didn’t rush out of the car.

After a moment, he saw Director Li’s car roll out from the back of the bureau and stop by the front gate. Then, Chen Zihan came out of the building, holding a glass case, and placed it in the back seat.

…Glass swans?

Yu Xiaowen leaned closer to the darkened window, staring at the box. His eyes started to sting. “Ah, so fast… The death benefit’s already been processed?”

He knew everyone must be grieving him. Just from Chen Zihan’s face, he could tell. And the director was already fulfilling Yu Xiaowen’s last request. Maybe he shouldn’t have teased him so much about delays and overtime pay. The sight filled him with emotion and confusion.

Ye Yisan asked, “What death benefit?”

Yu Xiaowen traced the window with his fingers. “I told my chief that I wanted to use my death benefit to buy a gift. I said it jokingly, but he really did it… Ha, but I’m not dead. Guess I’ll have to return the money to the bureau?”

It was the first time since he’d woken up that Ye Yisan heard him speak in such a light tone.

Ye Yisan paused, then said, “That’s not a death benefit. You don’t have one.”

Yu turned to him, confused. “…What?”

“Because your body was never found. The case box also disappeared. No one could confirm the corpse they saw was yours, and the rain washed away all traces in the car. The warehouse where the suspects hid only had your blood. That’s not proof. So, there’s no tombstone for you at Haoran Cemetery. Some people questioned your integrity. They don’t have evidence, but the higher-ups decided that until the facts are confirmed, it’s inappropriate to list your name among the martyrs.”

“Integrity…?” Yu Xiaowen froze.

He suddenly pulled the door handle, but the door was locked.

His face went pale. “Unlock it, let me out! I need to go explain it to them! My team would never think that, they’re probably worried sick right now…”

Ye Yisan stopped him. “Of course. Your teammates believe in you. You don’t need to explain to them. The ones who don’t believe you,,explaining won’t help.”

Yu Xiaowen hesitated, then spoke again, his voice tight with panic. “But the case box was clearly in Ding Qi’s hands. He’s dead, so the box should be in his car. How could it vanish? Could someone else have escaped…?”

He cut himself off, suddenly wary, and looked at Ye Yisan.

Ye Yisan nodded. “The box is with me. Ding Qi was silenced by me.”

“…?”

“What? You, who are you? Cough…” Yu’s weak body was racked with coughing fits.

“I’m not part of that organization. I’m from M Country’s Biochemical Pharmaceuticals.” Ye Yisan took out some medicine and offered it to him, but Yu Xiaowen didn’t take it.

He lowered his hand and continued. “Captain Yu, you’ve been following this case, so you must know the drugs that were stolen from our company. I was sent to retrieve them. You all thought it was just contraband taken by traffickers, but the truth is, it’s far more important than that. This secret is worth more than my life. That’s why I couldn’t hand it over to you or let anyone in your country know about my mission. You ended up taking the blame for me. I had no other choice. I’m sorry.”

“Taking the blame… Then why save me? Why tell me this?” Yu Xiaowen looked at the agent. “What are you after now?”

“Because I know it’s unfair to you.” Ye Yisan pressed the medicine into his hand again. “So I want to help you however I can.”

He continued, “The drugs you’ve been given include top-secret experimental compounds. With your identity as a foreign civil servant, you’d never get treatment rights for them. But if you’re willing, I can give you a new identity and bring you to M Country as a clinical test subject. There’s a high chance your illness can be cured.”

“…” Yu Xiaowen was speechless.

“You mean… I can live?” His voice was doubtful. It seemed impossible, but now that he thought about it, the suffocating pain and exhaustion in his body really had lessened lately.

“Yes,” Ye Yisan said firmly. “Not as Officer Yu Xiaowen, but under the new identity I’ll give you.”

Silence.

“Test subject,” Yu Xiaowen repeated slowly, then met the Alpha’s eyes. “Are you sure this is to help me? Or did the drug react unexpectedly in my body, and now you want to take me back for research?”

Ye Yisan was quiet for a few seconds, then clapped his hands lightly, trying to ease the tension. “Why can’t it be both? I do want to help you, and you’ll benefit from it too.”

So the man did plan to use him.

Yu Xiaowen wanted to believe he was lying just to comfort him, but the facts lined up too cleanly. He’d found Yu Xiaowen before the police could, brought him back to Manjing, and Ding Qi’s “accident” matched his story. Everything pointed to the truth.

Integrity…

After a while, Yu Xiaowen’s hand moved to his ribs, still broken from when EX had kicked him. The surge of emotion made the pain flare up, and he clutched his side.

He stayed silent for a long time before speaking hoarsely. “No. I can’t just leave. I’m a police officer, not a criminal.”

His action reminded Ye Yisan of the footage and audio from the mission day, the moment he’d first seen and heard him through surveillance.

Ye Yisan turned forward again. He couldn’t bear to look at the Omega undercover agent holding his side.

“I know you’re a good officer, and you care about your reputation.”

“But I won’t testify for you,” Ye Yisan said. “About the box, or how you survived. Even if you arrest me and bring me in, you won’t get a single statement. And once you step out of this car, you’ll lose treatment. Even if you’re not detained, you’ll soon die under suspicion and illness.”

The man in the back seat stayed silent.

After a long time, Yu Xiaowen’s reflection appeared in the rearview mirror. His eyes were red, and he stared at the police bureau outside.

“So unless I’m a corpse, I’ll never be clean. Is that it?”

“…” Ye Yisan couldn’t answer.

At that moment, a uniformed officer walked through the bureau gates. Even though the military and police uniforms weren’t exactly alike, just the sight of it made Yu Xiaowen’s body tremble. He had to go. He had to leave.

He clenched his hand, then suddenly reached and pressed the button. The soft click of the door unlock sounded.

He exhaled. “It’s your life. What happens next is your choice. Officer Yu Xiaowen, you can get out now, or inject the sedative yourself. I’ve said what I came to say. I’m leaving.”