Chapter 148: Chapter 148: Who is the Mole?

One hand covered her cheek, while the other slowly let go of the corner of Ling Anxun’s shirt.

"I’m saying this one last time," Cao Daqiang said through gritted teeth, "get in the car quietly."

He grabbed his daughter’s arm, his grip tight.

Though he was speaking to her, his eyes swept over the surrounding crowd.

This time, Cao Jiajia didn’t dare to make another scene. With her head lowered, she followed him, her steps slow and halting.

Just before she left, she couldn’t resist looking back at Ling Anxun one last time, her eyes filled with reluctance to leave.

Shanshan clutched her father’s hand tightly, her gaze fixed on Cao Daqiang.

She stared at Cao Daqiang’s back without blinking.

The black qi behind the man grew thicker and thicker, almost to the point of solidifying.

Outside the alley, the old car issued to Cao Daqiang by his work unit was parked by the roadside.

The car’s paint was peeling, and a crack ran through the right headlight cover.

He shoved his daughter into the passenger seat, and the door slammed shut with a BANG.

Cao Jiajia tumbled into the seat, the back of her head hitting the headrest with a dull thud.

The seatbelt wasn’t buckled, and her body pitched forward from the momentum.

She hadn’t even gotten settled when the door was viciously slammed shut.

The moment the car started, he demanded harshly, "What the hell was that? Why were you in a place like that? And how did you get involved with that man?"

Cao Jiajia shrank into the corner, covering her face, not daring to speak.

She kept her head down, her fingers digging so tightly into her arm that her nails sank into the flesh.

The atmosphere in the car was so oppressive it was hard to breathe.

Outside, the sky was gradually darkening. The dim, yellow glow of streetlights occasionally swept across her profile.

But Cao Daqiang’s mind was a complete mess. He thought of the mission his superior had assigned him, and his forehead broke out in an anxious sweat.

He stared at the dark road ahead, his hands gripping the steering wheel in a death grip.

The lights of passing cars flashed endlessly in the rearview mirror.

The conversation he just had with Cao Jiajia replayed over and over in his mind.

He knew there could be no room for even the slightest error in this matter.

If anything went wrong, the consequences would be unthinkable.

"You’re not going to talk, are you?"

He slammed his hand on the steering wheel.

"It seems you’re itching for a beating!"

The sharp sound exploded in the cramped car, making Cao Jiajia’s ears ring.

Cao Daqiang turned his head and glared at her fiercely.

As he spoke, he started to raise his hand again. Cao Jiajia flinched in terror and quickly stammered out the whole story from beginning to end.

But she didn’t dare raise a hand to wipe them away, letting the tears fall from her chin and onto her collar.

Halfway through her story, Cao Daqiang’s hands began to tremble.

He closed his eyes, quickly running through the times and places Jiajia had mentioned.

The information pricked at his mind like needles, making him realize the problem was far more serious than he had imagined.

He had personally selected this contact point, and he alone had devised the communication method.

If it was traced back to its source, he would be the first to fall under suspicion.

He had arranged the rendezvous for this operation with his own hands.

’If Ling Anxun follows the trail back to me, my entire life is over!’

His expression was terrifyingly grim, his eyes glinting with ruthless determination.

On the way, he constantly checked for tails, deliberately taking detours at several intersections to make sure he wasn’t being followed.

By the time he emerged from a secluded, single-story house, night had fallen.

The wind lifted the hair from his forehead, but his expression was unreadable.

Only then did he remember that his daughter was still in the car.

He looked back and saw she had fallen asleep against the seat, the red mark on her face yet to fade.

The slap mark on her cheek was still distinct, its edges turning a faint purple.

He breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to start the car, he got a call from one of his subordinates.

He glanced at the screen, and his brow furrowed.

"Speak."

"Boss, the guy we had locked up... he’s dead."

"When?"

Cao Daqiang’s grip on his phone suddenly tightened.

"Yesterday. He stopped breathing less than two hours after we brought him his lunch."

After a few seconds of silence, the man added,

"By the time we found him, he was already cold. There was some white foam on his lips, and his body was stiff as a board."

"How did he die?"

"Poisoned, but we can’t find the source. Our own guys delivered his food; no outsiders had contact with him at any point."

The man paused for a moment.

"We tore the room apart, checked the bowl and chopsticks, even tested the water kettle. We found nothing suspicious."

"..."

Cao Daqiang closed his eyes.

"They’ve made their move," he said. "This was to silence him."

He knew what this meant.

The enemy not only knew what was happening on the inside, but they could also administer poison under tight surveillance.

"But we don’t have a single clue who the mole on the inside is."

A helpless sigh came from the other end of the line.

"Everyone’s on edge now, suspecting each other. If this keeps up, the team is going to fall apart."

Ling Anxun wasn’t particularly surprised to hear it.

He sat in his office, holding a cup of cold tea, and watched calmly as his subordinate gave the report.

The lighting in the room was dim, with several old maps hanging on the walls.

When the report was finished, he gently set down his teacup, which made a crisp sound as it met the desk.

"What did you find? Let me have a look."

He gestured with his hand, his tone even.

"Right here. The guy’s a tough nut to crack. He only gave us this much, and who knows how much of it is even true."

The subordinate handed over a piece of paper, looking slightly embarrassed.

Ling Anxun read through it, his brow furrowing tighter with each page.

The contents of the paper were a chaotic mess of fragmented sentences.

He scanned it line by line until his gaze suddenly froze on a particular spot.

It mentioned the coordinates of an abandoned factory.

Following that was a string of code numbers, followed by two words: Military Industry.

When he saw those two words, "Military Industry," an image of Cao Daqiang suddenly popped into his head.

The man had served in the military before being transferred to a civilian post at a local unit. His record stated that he worked in logistics management.

He had personally verified that part of his history. The file was complete, and everyone who had handled the transfer had confirmed it was legitimate.

But looking back now, certain details were starting to seem hazy.

’Cao Daqiang... is involved in this too?’

Back before he adopted Shanshan, he had specifically ordered a thorough background check on Cao Daqiang, leaving no stone unturned.

His character was questionable—he cursed a lot and had a foul temper.

But his record was clean. He’d never done anything out of line.

’If it’s really an act, then it’s a damn near perfect one.’

He opened another file, a summary of related cases from the past few years.

One clue, in particular, caught his attention.

Three years ago, during a secret transfer of materials, the escort team had a last-minute personnel change.

The name of the replacement matched a name on the roster of a work unit connected to Cao Daqiang.

Unfortunately, the person in question was long dead. The trail was completely cold, with no leads left to pursue.

He closed the folder, stood up, and walked to the window.

The night was thick, and the distant city lights were scattered like stars.

’The enemy is in the shadows, making their moves, fortifying each step.’

And all they could do was try to piece together the truth from fragments.

Ling Anxun sighed. He had no choice but to have his people dig into Cao Daqiang’s past all over again.

His footsteps were heavier than usual when he got home. He walked in without changing his shoes and went straight to the living room sofa.

His brow was tightly furrowed, and he unconsciously pressed his fingers to his temples.

He tossed his jacket onto the back of a chair and loosened his tie by two buttons.

Shanshan immediately saw that something was wrong.

She had been curled up in a corner of the sofa watching cartoons. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

The moment she saw her father come in, she turned off the TV and trotted over to his side.

"Daddy, are you in trouble? How about I give you some good luck?"

But the moment Ling Anxun heard that, his nerves went taut.