At twenty in the morning, Chu Qiao closed the bathroom door and walked to the sink to wash her hands.
The cell was dead silent, without the slightest sound. This was the time when people were most fatigued and drowsy in the day. Even specially trained special forces soldiers would experience a slight decrease in alertness and physical strength compared to normal times. Chu Qiao’s expression remained calm. After washing her hands, she took the towels from the rack and dried them meticulously. The toilet flushed loudly as Chu Qiao’s fingers rested on her pulse, silently counting down the time.
Ten, nine, eight… five, four…
Time was up. Chu Qiao calmly turned around and walked toward the bed.
A muffled boom suddenly sounded. Massive water splashed violently in all directions. Tiny flames shot out from the drain pipe. Chu Qiao, standing at just the right distance, was struck by the water spray and bounced up, falling limply to the ground.
The prison guards outside were startled. They saw the water pipe burst in the cell and the prisoner struck by the explosion, her fate unknown. They immediately panicked. Two guards quickly entered the access code, rushing in with one hand holding a submachine gun and the other a communicator. However, the brief pipe explosion disrupted signal transmission. Within five seconds, the control center could only hear unclear, static-filled signals.
Opportunities come but once. While the two prison guards ran to the bathroom to investigate the cause of the explosion, the woman who had appeared unconscious suddenly opened her bright eyes. Her body sprang like a wildcat, darting out through the cell door. The two guards were shocked, but before they could shout, the cell door slammed shut with a bang.
Chu Qiao didn’t even glance at the two enraged men inside. She quickly walked to the monitoring room. She rapidly extracted the surveillance footage from an hour ago, transferred it to a small DV device, made brief cuts and deletions, and then climbed onto a chair in front of the pinhole camera outside the cell. She reversed the footage in the DV, pointed it directly at the camera, and began playing the images, then returned to the control room to cut off the intercom signal transmission.
The timing was perfect. Just as five seconds passed, the sulfide-improvised explosive device began its self-repair after the explosion. The water pipe leak was quickly sealed. In the completely enclosed cell, the angry shouts of the two prison guards were like mosquito buzzes, unable to penetrate the sealed cage. The monitor returned to normal. The footage at the control center showed images from an hour ago—the female prisoner sitting quietly on the bed, with two prison guards patrolling outside. Everything was peaceful and quiet.
Chu Qiao’s gaze was sharp as she looked around. All was safe.
Returning to the control room, she opened the guard’s supply box and changed out of her wet clothes, putting on the uniform of the Fourth Prison guard. After donning the cap, she took an HK handgun from the armory, attached a silencer, tucked it at her waist, and walked out.
The two prison guards who had dared to open the cell door weren’t recklessly careless.
The Fourth Prison was adjacent to the capital, its geographical location remote and concealed. Those imprisoned here were all major criminals awaiting trial by the state’s high military court, their importance was self-evident. The defense and security of each cell had reached a meticulous level. Cells were independent, equipped with high-end weapons, extensive monitoring, and well-allocated personnel. Each cell had three national special forces soldiers guarding it, divided between the inner and outer gates. For cells like Chu Qiao’s earlier one, the access code was enough to open it, but the outer prison door required the fingerprint of the person who had most recently locked it.
The three guards worked in shifts. Now with two people already in the cell, Chu Qiao took the fingerprint film she had prepared earlier and placed it against the scanner. Soon, there was a crisp clicking sound. Dressed in standard military uniform, under the glares of the two national soldiers, Chu Qiao walked grandly out through the prison gate.
Outside was a long corridor. She was currently on the fourth underground level of the prison. To accomplish her objective, she still had quite a distance to go. The surveillance recording only covered one hour; she had to hurry.
The fourth level housed high-ranking national military officers and secret agents awaiting military tribunal decisions. The third level held major criminals. The first level was where the Fourth Prison officials had their offices, and the second level was the reception area for external visitors. That was Chu Qiao’s destination.
After walking for about two minutes, she left the cell block. At the end of the outer corridor stood forty elite soldiers, fully armed with heavy machine guns. In the Fourth Prison, there were no air conditioning ducts and no empty drainage pipes. Apart from this corridor, one would have to dig through concrete to escape. The probability of getting out alive and unharmed was practically zero.
The guarding soldiers became tense at the sight of Chu Qiao’s unfamiliar face. The lead soldier raised his menacing gun barrel and shouted, “Halt! Who are you? Password!”
Chu Qiao walked straight ahead, her back perfectly straight, holding a thick stack of documents. As she walked, she said gravely, “I am Colonel Liu Siwei from the Military Law Division, stationed at the Fourth Cell Block to investigate a weapons smuggling case under Order No. 12658. Please connect me immediately with Lieutenant Colonel Tan Zongming. I have important documents to deliver to him.”
The soldier was taken aback, then frowned in confusion and said, “Report, Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel Tan Zongming is not on duty tonight. His line is a private secure line. Please show your credentials.”
“The Military Law Division never needs to show credentials at the Fourth Prison. I am here at the invitation of Prison Warden Li to assist with the case. I was personally escorted to the trial hall by Colonel Lü Fanghao three days ago. Don’t you know this?” Chu Qiao frowned, looking the guard up and down with sidelong glances, and said gravely, “Which army are you from? Have you thoroughly studied military regulations? Tell me your number and unit code.”
Hearing this, the soldier was startled. Military ranks were clear, and this person spoke with distinction, casually mentioning Lieutenant Colonel Tan and Warden Li with such familiarity. He immediately felt a sense of awe. He replied gravely, “Report, Colonel, my number is 0475, assigned to the Special Task Force of the 571st Brigade, 309th Corps of the Eighth Southern Army, not under regular military establishment. We were just deployed here two days ago, so we weren’t aware that you were personally escorted in by Colonel Lü Fanghao.”
Hearing this, Chu Qiao’s brow slightly relaxed. She nodded and said, “You’re from the Eighth Southern Army? How is your Deputy Commander Liu? He brought you in, right? You’ll be staying in Beijing for some time on this official business, I suppose?”
The young soldier immediately showed respect, thinking to himself that the Military Law Division was indeed different. He replied, “Report, Colonel, Deputy Commander Liu is well. Our unit has been transferred to the Fourth Prison and won’t be returning south with the commander.”
“Oh,” Chu Qiao nodded, “I also came from the Eighth Army, having served in the Intelligence Inspection Brigade of the Eighth Army. In a way, we’re comrades. When you see your commander, give him my regards. Now, I have urgent matters to attend to. Go to the transmission station and fax this document out, two copies, and notify Chief of Staff Zhang and Commander Hua’s secretarial office, telling them that Colonel Liu Siwei from the Military Law Division will visit at six o’clock tomorrow morning.”
With that, she turned and walked forward.
The soldier stood dumbfounded, holding a large pile of documents marked “Top Secret,” his hands trembling slightly.
Chief of Staff Zhang… Commander Hua…
By the time she left the fourth level of the prison, the clothes on Chu Qiao’s back were soaked through. She leaned against the wall, breathing slowly, then raised her wrist to check the time. Ten minutes had already passed; time was running out. She took a deep breath, stood straight, and continued forward.
Fingerprint decoder, infrared scanner, retinal interface main frequency—through layer upon layer of searches and monitoring, she finally arrived at the visitor room on the second level. Looking at the room with the Military Law Division sign, Chu Qiao’s lips curled slightly.
Good. The guilty party had been found; she had finally located her main target.