“Lu Zheng!” Lin Wan exclaimed, both shocked and delighted. “What are you doing here?”
“Going to Japan with you!” Lu Zheng said matter-of-factly. “You’re just delivering a case and then you’re free, right? Even if you fly back tomorrow, it’s basically a day gone. So, I thought you could take a day off, plus the weekend, and we could have four days to explore Japan.”
Lin Wan: (⊙o⊙)
Her colleague, the veteran detective Hong Liang, burst out laughing, nodding repeatedly. “That makes sense!”
“Lu Zheng, Lin Wan’s boyfriend!” Lu Zheng extended his hand to Hong Liang.
“Hong Liang, Lin Wan’s colleague!” Hong Liang shook his hand firmly.
“What cabin are you in?” Lu Zheng asked.
“Business class,” Lin Wan replied.
“Not bad.”
“And you?”
“First class,” Lu Zheng said casually.
Hong Liang raised an eyebrow, sizing Lu Zheng up. Ordinary clothes, calm demeanour, handsome with a masculine charm, he seemed like a refined, low-key rich kid. An average family couldn’t produce such polished composure. Lin Wan had good taste!
“Did you get the same flight as us? You didn’t mess it up, did you?” Lin Wan teased, snatching Lu Zheng’s ticket to check.
Alright, no mistake.
Lu Zheng took the ticket back, his eyes scanning the crowd in the terminal. He exchanged a glance with Lin Wan, her look questioning. She shook her head, and Lu Zheng did the same, indicating no suspicious figures.
Since Takeuchi Mingmei had been found dead at an airport, Lin Wan was naturally vigilant, and Lu Zheng was too. Clearly, neither spotted anything amiss.
“Will someone from Japan pick you up when you land?” Lu Zheng asked.
“Yes,” Lin Wan nodded. “Tokyo’s Interpol branch. They’ll take us straight to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.”
“Once we deliver the package to the police and check in at Interpol’s Tokyo office, we’re done,” Hong Liang added.
“Sounds easy enough.”
“As long as nothing goes wrong en route,” Lin Wan quipped.
“Once we’re off the plane, keep your distance,” Hong Liang told Lu Zheng. “After we’re done at the police department, Lin Wan can contact you.”
Knowing Hong Liang meant well, Lu Zheng smiled. “Got it!”
…
They checked in, boarded, and took off. Haicheng and Tokyo, two world-class cities, were so close with just a one-hour time difference. Flights ran frequently, like popping next door. Board at 3 p.m., and by 6 p.m., you could be dining in Ginza.
As the plane landed, Lu Zheng and Lin Wan disembarked together. The moment they stepped onto the shuttle bus, Lin Wan and Hong Liang’s expressions shifted. Outwardly calm, their eyes turned sharp, alert as hawks. They casually scanned the driver and airport staff, their gazes subtly sweeping the surroundings to ensure no one could launch a surprise attack.
“Impressive,” Lu Zheng muttered, rubbing his chin, keeping his distance.
The shuttle stopped, and passengers disembarked. Lin Wan and Hong Liang waited until the last group before getting off, walking side by side toward the exit. Lu Zheng trailed seven or eight steps behind, observing the crowd.
“Mr. Hong, Miss Lin.”
Two middle-aged men intercepted them at the exit.
“Mr. Tsunoda,” Hong Liang nodded.
“This way, please!” Tsunoda gestured, glancing at Lu Zheng.
Lin Wan shook her head, and Tsunoda withdrew his gaze, leading her and Hong Liang to the underground parking garage.
Lu Zheng couldn’t follow. Seeing they’d made contact safely, he assumed the risk was low, so he signalled Lin Wan to call him later and left the airport.
Lin Wan and Hong Liang followed Tsunoda.
“Straight to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department?” Lin Wan asked.
“Yes. The encrypted package and Ueda’s team have reached Tokyo. They’re en route. We’ll meet at the police department, no more than half an hour apart,” Tsunoda said.
“Timed precisely.”
“We can’t let them pick us off one by one. It has to be foolproof,” Tsunoda replied.
They reached the second level of the parking garage, stopping at a Toyota minivan. The driver’s window rolled down, revealing another middle-aged man who nodded to Tsunoda and his companion, then greeted Lin Wan and Hong Liang.
The van’s door slid open with a hum.
“Get in,” Tsunoda gestured.
Hong Liang glanced at Lin Wan, about to let her board first, when her eyes narrowed. She yanked him back. “There’s a bomb in the van!”
“What?”
“What!”
Hong Liang was stunned but didn’t hesitate. Tsunoda and his companion instinctively stepped back, though their expressions showed doubt.
The driver looked baffled. “I checked the van before leaving the branch. I haven’t left it since…”
*Boom!*
The van exploded in a deafening blast.
*Bang!*
Debris from the van smashed into nearby cars.
*Crash!*
Windows within a dozen metres shattered.
*Beep! Beep!*
Every car alarm in the parking garage wailed.
A fiery shockwave erupted, then collapsed, turning the van into a massive fireball. The driver, mid-sentence, was torn apart by the blast. Tsunoda and his companion, caught close, were hurled back by the shockwave.
Hong Liang, pulled back by Lin Wan, had retreated farther and ducked behind another car as the explosion hit. Aside from being rattled by the blast and noise, they were unharmed.
“Bloody hell!” Hong Liang swore, rushing toward Tsunoda and his companion once the explosion subsided.
They were clearly allies, caught in the blast. Lin Wan followed, finding them in a pool of blood. The unnamed man’s neck was half-severed, beyond saving. Tsunoda was riddled with wounds but had no obvious fatal injuries, though he’d taken the blast head-on, likely suffering severe internal damage.
“Tsunoda!”
“Watch out!” Lin Wan shoved Hong Liang, who stumbled aside.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
A line of bullet holes appeared where Hong Liang had stood.
“Gunmen!” Hong Liang gasped, spotting two men in suits approaching, firing short bursts from Uzis.
“Two gunmen?”
In the next moment, Lin Wan charged forward.
“Lin Wan!” Hong Liang nearly panicked.
To the shock of Hong Liang and the gunmen, Lin Wan twisted through the gunfire, weaving like a phantom.
“Impossible!” one gunman gasped in Japanese.
*Crack! Crack!*
Her hands struck like blades, shattering both gunmen’s wrists.
*Crack! Crack!*
Their legs followed, snapping under her strikes.
