Hou Wendong strained to dredge up fragments of memory, desperately trying to piece together a complete picture, but he hopelessly found that he saw and heard too little at the time to capture any useful information.

"Damn it!!!" Hou Wendong's emotions were almost out of control, his fists clenched tightly, veins bulging on his temples.

The physical pain forced him to calm down. He shifted his thoughts, beginning to self-examine, "Alright, I need to be rational. Who have I offended recently? Who would have the audacity to kidnap me?"

He started to review recent events one by one, as if combing through a complex web:

"Yesterday, I exposed Mr. Li's scandal; the day before that, I bribed a researcher from Holy Light Pharmaceutical; not long ago, I did something for Mr. Wang, which resulted in a conflict with the law firm..."

Hou Wendong's thoughts traveled through the timeline, he continued to recall: "Four days ago, I..."

"Five days ago..."

"..."

"Ten days ago, I arranged for a thief to sneak into Ma Bin's office, attempting to find the account book left by Zheng Si. Although nothing was found, Ma Bin should not have noticed this small action of mine..."

"Before that, I also sent someone to the Patrol Office to investigate the details of Zheng Hang's disappearance case..."

"Further back, last month I used a journalist from the newspaper to spread rumors online, attempting to tarnish Governor Dong's reputation..."

In Hou Wendong's mind, a series of events replayed like high-definition movie scenes; his memory was extraordinary, capable of recalling most details.

Along with the review of these events, familiar and unfamiliar faces appeared in his mind like a rapid slideshow, switching frequently and swiftly.

In this memory tableau, the hypocritical face of Ma Bin with gold-rimmed glasses also interspersed, but this face didn't appear frequently.

In general, Hou Wendong felt that Ma Bin was not highly suspicious. In his memory, the new head of the Cyan Wolf Gang, Ma Bin, was far more measured, sensible, and obedient than the previous Zheng Si.

The latter left an impression of a cautious and shrewd character, unlikely to make such a rash and crazy move.

The deeper Hou Wendong delved into his memories, the more intricate his thoughts became, enveloping his heart with a profound sense of despair.

For he suddenly realized, his grudges were too numerous, and among them, barring a few small roles like Ma Bin that could be ruled out as suspects,

besides these few, most of the weighty figures had sufficient motive and courage to strike back at him, or, to stir up a storm through him, to target the big figures behind him.

This realization sent a chill through Hou Wendong, feeling as though his small boat was amidst a sea filled with hidden reefs, unable to escape the wreck no matter which direction he drifted.

"Did Xiuwan get into trouble?" Hou Wendong suddenly thought of that noodle shop owner who so resembled his late wife.

On one hand, he was concerned because he truly had feelings for this woman, on the other hand...

"If Xiuwan is unharmed, she should have reported it by now." Hou Wendong's thoughts were as tangled as a skein of yarn, and at this moment, he didn't even know if he subconsciously hoped Li Xiuyan had reported the incident.

"If Xiuwan has indeed reported it, Mr. Wang should have already learned about my kidnapping. What action will he take? Will he make every possible effort to rescue me, or is he up to something…?"

Hou Wendong's heart was filled with anxiety. He painfully realized that among those friends he carefully maintained over the years, there was unlikely anyone willing to genuinely lend a helping hand at this critical moment.

They might now be more eager than the kidnappers to see him dead.

"In life, there ought to be one or two true friends who can share adversity, otherwise, once you pass away, even the secret evidence you hold, you wouldn't know who to entrust to expose it."

Hou Wendong thought mournfully, swearing that if he could escape this time, he would use "sincerity for sincerity," at least to cultivate a true friend.

At the warehouse entrance.

Three true friends who had just completed a major task together, binding their lives together, removed their concealing hoods, revealing their most sincere appearances to each other.

Li Shang emotionally patted the shoulders of Ma Bin and Chang Erbing, speaking with a heavy yet firm tone:

"You both risked your lives to help me, this kindness I, Li Shang, will remember deeply. I won't waste words on excessive gratitude, from now on, you two are my life-and-death brothers."

Chang Erbing's cheeks flushed with a touch of red, responding emotionally:

"Captain Li, even without this incident, I, Chang Erbing, was already determined to follow you. I don't respect any other captain in the Patrol Office, but you, Captain Li, I sincerely admire."

Ma Bin gently pushed up the bridge of his glasses, also revealing an excited expression on his face, echoing Xu:

"Once Captain Li safely gets through this crisis and resolves the matter with the special commissioner, your official promotion to captain is just a matter of time."

Li Shang laughed twice, the excitement bringing a fresh, stark red flush to the fading five-finger mark on his face.

He warmly extended both arms, embracing Chang Erbing and Ma Bin on either side, and said with ardor:

"When there are outsiders present, you can call me 'Captain Li,' but in private, we are blood brothers, call me 'Big Brother.'"

Chang Erbing immediately responded loudly, "Big Brother."

Ma Bin pursed his lips slightly, shyly followed with a call, "Big Brother."

"Good! Good! Good!"

Li Shang's face beamed with satisfaction. He then quietly instructed Ma Bin,

"What happens next is up to you to handle. Erbing and I must hurry back to the Patrol Office and prepare to receive instructions from above."

No sooner had he finished speaking than his phone buzzed with vibration in his pocket.

He quickly answered, hearing an urgent voice on the other end: "Captain Li, where are you? Come back quickly, there's been a major incident in the district, it's extremely urgent!"

Li Shang cast a glance at Ma Bin and Chang Erbing, and they immediately fell silent.

Only then did Li Shang respond solemnly, "I'm outside tracking Mask's clues; the special commissioner is pushing hard, almost urging me every day. Humph, what case could be more important than the tasks assigned by the special commissioner?"

The voice on the other end raised in volume: "Captain Li, this is truly urgent! An important secretary from the Executive Government has been kidnapped, it's a serious situation. They say someone from the Executive Government will come soon to directly guide the Patrol Office's work."

"Understood, I'll be back immediately." Li Shang concisely ended the call, turning to Ma Bin, "Next, follow your plan; we'll split up."

With that, Li Shang and Chang Erbing quickly walked out.

Ma Bin stood in place, watching their backs, advising with concern: "Big Brother, you must keep a firm hold on this case."

Li Shang turned back and waved a fist, got into a tagged used car, drove a long distance, switched back to a blue-and-white car, circled around, and then drove back to the Patrol Office.

Ma Bin waited until the sound of the car completely faded into the distance before slowly pulling out his already silenced phone from his pocket.

The screen displayed a missed call notification.

Ma Bin took a deep breath, pinching his voice, imitating a hoarse voice just awakened from a dream, pressing the redial button:

"Secretary Du, I'm sorry, I was sleeping too soundly just now. What? Oh, okay, I understand. I'll send all the Cyan Wolf Gang brothers out."

"As for the Patrol Office, yes, I've dealt with them a few times, I'm quite familiar with Captain Li there. He, um, loves money but his mouth is reliable."

"I'm not too familiar with Captain Li's investigative abilities, they should be okay. Uh huh, yes, it was Boss Zheng who Captain Li killed, uh huh, I haven't told him anything, uh huh, okay, I understand."

"Please tell the leader through Secretary Du that our Cyan Wolf Gang will definitely do our utmost to relieve the leader's concerns."

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