The Research Center That Was a Front for Something Else

The SUV was traveling west along the South Sixth Ring Road.

After turning onto the newly paved asphalt road, the still-growing poplar trees on both sides helped Sing Sing recognize the direction.

"Isn't this the road to the United Center? Where are you taking me?"

"We shared a section of road up to the front; the two roads diverge only after we pass the fork."

You Xiao Liu!

With his thick eyebrows and big eyes, he looks honest, but did he already know about the headquarters' relocation?

So the whole unit knew headquarters was moving, but he, the director of the Overseas Special Talent Recruitment Office, was left in Xinjiang to bathe the crops?

"Old Six." Sing Sing raised the tip of his shoe and nudged the back of the driver's seat.

Chan Ka-kui glanced at him in the rearview mirror. "What, trying to pee in the car?"

"Screw you! Drive carefully! Can't you see our specially invited expert is a little carsick?"

"If you kick me again, I'll throw you down!"

Chan Ka-kui turned the steering wheel, and the Jeep went around the corner, hugging the curb.

"You dare! You'll make me write an accident report!"

"I'll just keep writing. I've already written six this month!"

"With your work ethic, how did you get to wear a big red flower? It seems the Ministry of Public Security's evaluation system needs a serious re-evaluation."

The two men raced all the way to their destination. As soon as the jeep rounded the bend, a gate wide enough for several heavy trucks to pass side by side blocked their way, with a new sign hanging next to it.

National Research Center for Abnormal Environments and Materials

Sing Sing leaned out of the window and looked out. The wall extended to both sides, and there were no cameras on the top of the wall.

There were no guard posts near the gate, and not even a security guard to register license plates.

Just as he was about to speak, a blue light shone from a roadside pillar, scanning from the front of the car to the back, and the screen verified the vehicle number, occupant identity, and visitor permission in sequence.

After his identity was verified, the door opened automatically, and Chan Ka-kui walked in without any fuss.

Sing Sing turned around and stared for a few seconds. "You just let yourself in like this? What if an outsider tries to force their way in?"

"You can get out and try," Chan Ka-kui grinned. "The test team rammed the door with an armored vehicle, and the paint on the door didn't even chip off."

There were no concrete barracks inside the gate.

A main road leads deep into the park, with green belts on both sides and blue signs with white lettering hanging on the lampposts.

Comprehensive Office Building Number One, continue forward.

Materials and environmental testing area, turn right.

Turn left at the living support area.

"Hey, hey!" Sing Sing patted Chan Ka-kui on the shoulder twice.

The jeep was parked by the roadside. Chan Ka-kui turned around and asked, "What is it now?"

Sing Sing pointed to the sign by the roadside, his eyes wide. "Staff Canteen, Second Restaurant, 6:30 AM to 8:30 AM. What does this mean?"

"Does it mean you won't get soy milk if you're late? What else could it mean?"

"No."

Sing Sing opened the car door, jumped out, walked to the sign, and reached out to touch it.

"This sign is up to municipal standards! Even the font is exactly the same as the one used by the street office."

"What's the big deal? It was originally a joint project with the municipal government. The higher-ups said the more it resembles a legitimate research institute, the better."

Is this a research center or 749 Bureau?

Both.

"What kind of nonsense is this? A case of false advertising?"

"Watch your mouth! The research center has official approval; we're just the ones who happened to be passing by."

Chan Ka-kui drove the two around the base for over an hour, introducing each of the office buildings, experimental areas, training grounds, and living support areas along the way.

The further they went in, the bigger Old Zhou's eyes widened.

They even dug out an independent supermarket and a small artificial lake!

Along the way, I also saw several researchers in white lab coats riding shared bicycles.

Sing Sing's heart was bleeding.

Wang Pangzi is usually so stingy that he even uses both sides of a printer paper, but this time he's actually willing to spend so much money on infrastructure.

They must have used the technology he brought back to negotiate with their superiors for special funds!

He worked himself to the bone recruiting men, but the bureau chief took the lion's share to build houses.

As Old Zhou was pondering how to make up for the price difference, his gaze swept over the family dormitory building, and his smile faded.

"Old Six... you just said we'll be working here from now on?"

"Yes, the accommodations are all in the living support area, single rooms with private bathrooms, the conditions are much better than before."

"What about the place I used to live in?"

Sing Sing's voice started to waver, "You mean that Siheyuan outside Xizhimen, with a yard and a leaky roof?"

"It's been demolished."

"It's been demolished?"

"The entire unit is relocating. Director Wang said that your dilapidated courtyard was originally owned by the bureau."

Chan Ka-kui was completely unaware of the murderous glare from the person in the back seat.

"The leader said that no one was living there, so they simply returned it to the logistics department for registration as a dilapidated building."

Sing Sing slumped back into his seat, all the color draining from his face.

Storm looked at him with some concern. "Stephen, are you feeling unwell?"

"I feel much more than just unwell?" Sing Sing clutched his chest and coughed violently.

"Last time they confiscated the gold bars I hid under the kimchi jar! I haven't even had a chance to avenge that blood feud yet! And now they've actually wiped out my entire stronghold!"

My vinyl record! My spare sunglasses!

"My secret stash of money hidden in the crevices of my bed! It's all the hard-earned money I made, chopping pork piece by piece!"

"It's all gone!"

"This is an illegal forced demolition! It's a blatant trampling on the right to a secure livelihood for grassroots cadres!"

Chan Ka-kui stared at him disdainfully, "Nothing's lost! I brought it all with you!"

"749, who doesn't know you're stingy? You even packed up that half-roll of toilet paper by the bedside, so you wouldn't later claim it's an imported limited edition and demand compensation from logistics."

"That's good, that's good."

Sing Sing straightened his crooked tie. "The organization is quite thoughtful in its work."

"To prevent you from losing your odds and ends, the chief even arranged for someone to pack your personal belongings."

Nina volunteered to help you organize your wardrobe.

Sing Sing nodded. The little girl was meticulous; at least she wouldn't sell his records as scrap plastic.

"Just her?"

"And Anton." Chan Ka-kui pulled the handbrake, turned off the engine, and got out of the car.

"They spent the whole afternoon turning your shabby house upside down."

Sing Sing's face, which had just begun to warm up, turned deathly ashen.

His room still contained many unreimbursed expense receipts, which were Zhou's last line of defense for maintaining his position in the 749 Bureau.

He could even picture Anton slapping those fraudulent invoices one by one onto his desk.

Storm looked at Sing Sing, who looked ten years older.

"So, your Anton, who's in charge of the money, is even more terrifying than Magneto, who can control magnetic Magneto?"

Magneto is nothing!

Sing Sing was on the verge of tears.

"Magneto might just take the coins off me, but Anton a living devil who could make me work for free for the rest of my life!"