Absolute power in officialdom

Chapter 149 Operation Light Blade

Soon, suppressed moans and seductive sounds came from inside.

Wu Zhiyuan returned to his office and opened the door a crack.

He wanted to find out who this Xiaoli was.

Judging from Xiaoli's furtive actions, she was having an affair with Zhang Dongsheng.

About half an hour later, the door to the office diagonally opposite opened, and a head peeked out and peered into the corridor. Then, a woman came out.

The woman walks with her toes slightly turned outwards, but she still has a good figure and face.

The woman didn't take the elevator; instead, she took the stairs.

Wu Zhiyuan pretended to be nonchalant and quietly followed behind the woman.

His footsteps were so light that the woman didn't notice.

When she reached the top of the stairs on the third floor, the woman looked back warily.

Wu Zhiyuan had already hidden himself in the shadows at the corner of the stairs.

The third floor is the office area for the administrative management department.

The woman went into one of the offices.

With this information, it is not difficult to find out the woman's true identity.

Wu Zhiyuan briefly reported his observations to "Fisherman" Xiaojing via his encrypted phone, focusing on Xiaoli sneaking into Zhang Dongsheng's office at night to have an affair.

Xiaojing replied: Zhang Dongsheng is married and has a son who is in kindergarten. His wife is a kindergarten teacher and the family is stable.

Xiaoli is an employee in the Administration Department. Her name is Deng Li, she is unmarried, and she is thirty years old this year.

The late-night rendezvous you observed can be identified as an extramarital affair. But this is precisely what is suspicious, or rather, what poses a huge risk.

Wu Zhiyuan replied: You mean that Deng Li herself might have problems, or that their relationship might be being exploited?

Xiao Jing replied: We cannot rule out any possibility. First, is there a problem with Deng Li herself? As an administrative staff member, although she does not have direct access to core secrets, she has access to a large amount of administrative information, personnel dynamics, and even internal documents.

Was her choice to develop this dangerous relationship with Zhang Dongsheng, who had access to the core system, simply a matter of personal affection, or was it a calculated move to get closer to him?

Wu Zhiyuan replied: If it was a deliberate approach, then her target was Zhang Dongsheng's authority.

Xiaojing replied: That's right, that's the most worrying possibility.

Zhang Dongsheng's decision to give up the promotion opportunity is intriguing in itself.

Considering his relationship with Teresa Teng, we can't help but wonder if Teresa Teng influenced or encouraged him behind the scenes.

Wu Zhiyuan replied: I feel the same way.

Xiaojing replied: System administrator privileges can open channels, provide cover, and eliminate traces for espionage activities.

The next step is to secretly investigate Deng Li's background, social circle, and financial situation, especially whether she has any unusual overseas connections.

Sitting back down at his computer, Wu Zhiyuan focused on the monitoring system.

As the system administrator, Zhang Dongsheng has the highest privileges. If he has malicious intentions or is exploited by others, the consequences will be severe.

Wu Zhiyuan sat back down at the computer and focused his attention on the monitoring system's logs and video playback functions.

He knew that if Zhang Dongsheng really had a problem, or if Deng Li was using his authority, the monitoring system would definitely be a key area that the other party needed to avoid or manipulate.

Because surveillance can not only record behavior, but may also expose evidence of crimes.

Wu Zhiyuan initially discovered two suspicious points.

First, a key monitoring probe connecting the corridor of the core laboratory in Building 3 recorded signal interference for several seconds, with the log showing a degraded signal quality.

Secondly, there is a video recording that, although the footage is continuous, has a subtle detail: the second hand of an electronic clock hanging on the corridor wall jumps unnaturally once.

In a normal playback, the digital clock should tick at a constant speed, but in this video, some content is missing.

This means that the video may not be the original live recording, but rather a piece that has been processed and spliced ​​together.

Due to the advanced splicing technology and smooth image, it is extremely difficult to detect without closely observing specific reference objects such as electronic clocks and stopwatches.

Wu Zhiyuan initially judged that someone had used the system administrator's privileges to tamper with the monitoring system in a specific location.

The purpose is to facilitate certain activities that should not be recorded during this period, such as unauthorized access to devices, copying data, or making any kind of physical contact.

……

Significant progress has been made in the background investigation of Deng Li.

Deng Li graduated from a top-tier university and then joined 835 companies.

Her parents are both teachers, so her background seems to be quite good.

However, in-depth investigation revealed that her current mother is her stepmother, who went to the United States after divorcing her father many years ago.

Her mother married a Chinese businessman in the United States, and their business dealings involved several sensitive countries and regions.

During her university years, Deng Li traveled abroad multiple times under the guise of visiting relatives. However, when submitting her political background check materials, she deliberately concealed her mother's trips abroad and her own experiences of visiting relatives overseas.

It was noon on this weekend, and Wu Zhiyuan was taking a walk in the Jingsi Garden of Institute 835. The walk was both a way to relax and a process of thinking about problems.

A man and a woman sat by the artificial hill and pond, whispering to each other.

The woman's profile looked familiar.

It was Wu Ruolan!

Wu Zhiyuan quickly stepped aside.

Wu Ruolan was unaware that he had joined Beijing Guoan.

Of course, even if Wu Ruolan knew that he was now the deputy director of the security department of Institute 835, she would not usually doubt his true identity.

Institute 835 is known for its high salaries and benefits.

The income is significantly higher than what I earned at the Longcheng Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection.

If Wu Zhiyuan explains that he joined Institute 835 because of its good salary and benefits, relatively easy work, and its location in the provincial capital, it would be a perfectly reasonable explanation.

However, he still tried his best to avoid running into Wu Ruolan.

An even bigger storm arrived sooner than expected.

At three o'clock in the morning, Wu Zhiyuan was awakened from his sleep by the specific vibration mode of his encrypted phone.

It was sent by "Fisherman" Xiao Jing, telling him to go to Luo Weiren's office immediately.

Wu Zhiyuan knew that there might have been a major leak, otherwise Xiao Jing wouldn't have summoned him in the middle of the night.

In the office of Director Luo Weiren.

Xiao Jing looked serious, and Luo Weiren also looked solemn.

Close the door.

Xiaojing cut to the chase: "We've encountered the worst-case scenario; the data from the 'Fusion' project has very likely been leaked."

"Fusion" is the institute's internal code name for the "High-Energy Laser Array Cooling System".

This is the most critical bottleneck that determines the practical application of the next generation of laser weapons. Whoever can break through it will master the "light-speed sword" on the battlefield.

Just a week ago, the project team achieved a milestone in the experiment.

Xiaojing continued, "Our external intelligence channels intercepted a highly encrypted shortwave signal, and the source of the signal was located within a five-kilometer radius of the research institute."

The signal content could not be fully deciphered, but the keyword analysis model identified related fragments of "fusion," "critical parameters," and "successful transmission."

"Your judgment?" Wu Zhiyuan looked at Xiao Jing.

"An inside man," Xiao Jing said, continuing, "and not just any petty thief. There are no more than ten people who have access to the core data of 'Fusion'."

I have already reported to the department, and the department has decided to establish a special task force, codenamed "Operation Blade of Light".

The department demanded that we find the mole as quickly as possible and absolutely prevent the leakage of core secrets.

Director Luo has already activated the self-destruct mechanism. That means we have no more than 48 hours left.

We must solve the case before this deadline!