Xiang Qian stepped out of the crowd. Vector couldn't help staring at his easy, charming manner as he chatted and laughed. For a young man with both wealth and talent, appreciative looks from women were nothing new. Xiang Qian casually nodded to Vector in greeting, then met Weather Witch's scrutinizing gaze.
It was as if some special switch had been flipped. The moment Xiang Qian met Weather Witch's eyes, his steps abruptly faltered, and his easygoing air gave way to awkwardness.
"They look like they're about to draw up an attack plan. Aren't you going over?" Xiang Qian pointed toward the officers getting down to work. Even Vector could tell he genuinely wanted to get the stern female Special Task Force captain out of his way.
Weather Witch fixed Xiang Qian with a cool stare and said nothing for a long moment. Only when he began to look increasingly uncomfortable did she finally speak, unhurriedly. "There's no need. Their tactical thinking comes straight from the old Russians. I can guess what they'll do without asking. You found all the possible escape routes for the terrorists. The next step will be to seal the exits and trap them in the caves until bunker busters arrive from the rear, then blow the whole place to smithereens. If one bomb isn't enough, they won't hesitate to drop another eight or ten."
Xiang Qian's expression suddenly darkened. "I thought the Bureau's objective was to take them alive. If we want to lure out Mandarin, Temugin is the best bait."
"I want to take them alive too, but this is Tajikistan. They call it a joint operation, but we're still on someone else's turf. We can't expect to have everything our way."
"Can't you do something? You're the Special Task Force captain, and our representative in this joint operation." Xiang Qian's tone turned accusatory, his earlier awkwardness replaced by a stern expression.
Weather Witch was unmoved by his change in demeanor. "I told you, if there's a chance, I want to take them alive too. But I also know what I have to do. It's precisely because I'm the Special Task Force captain that I'm responsible for my people's lives. I won't send them blindly to their deaths."
Under Weather Witch's gaze, Xiang Qian's sharp tone faded as quickly as it had come. Less than half a minute later, he couldn't hold the captain's gaze any longer and awkwardly looked away.
Vector stood beside them, shifting about in embarrassment as if she were standing on a bed of thorns. Before she could come up with an excuse to escape, the folder in her hands suddenly felt lighter. Xiang Qian had snatched away the folder containing all the briefings for the joint operation.
Watching Xiang Qian plop down in a corner and grumpily review the briefings one by one, Vector had the strange feeling she was looking at a child who'd been wronged and had gone off by himself to sulk.
No, no. How could that be? Who was Xiang Qian? He was a widely recognized genius in cutting-edge technology, a future business leader whom the media predicted would become the world's richest man before he turned forty—and a foul-mouthed hothead known to everyone at the Spear Bureau. With a personality like a hedgehog's, who could possibly make him feel wronged?
It must be my imagination! Vector laughed at her own wild idea and shook her head, driving the "absurd" thought from her mind. Then she saw her captain walk over and crouch beside Xiang Qian, speaking gently. "I'll go to the front line to secure the perimeter. As soon as the bombing is over, I'll go in and search for survivors. As long as Temugin is alive, even if he's barely breathing, we'll bring him back."
How does this look more and more like a parent comforting a child? Vector's imagination was already running wild, inventing more than a dozen scenes of backstory for what she was seeing.
Xiang Qian didn't react at all to Weather Witch's reassurance. He rapidly flipped through the briefings, his brows furrowed. Just as Weather Witch was about to say something else, Xiang Qian suddenly looked up and shook a page of the briefing. "This Hashimov—do you have any more detailed information on him?"
Weather Witch paused. "Hashimov? Who's that?"
"The commander of the Kuliya Armed Police Force. He's the one who ordered the police to refuse the joint command's orders several times. Do you have any more detailed information on him?"
Weather Witch was even more bewildered. As the Chinese representative on the joint force, she dealt mostly with members of the command. Although she had gone down to the front lines, she hadn't had much contact with the local forces. After all, they didn't even speak the same language. Seeing how serious Xiang Qian looked, Weather Witch turned to Vector, who was responsible for handling the documents, and gave her a questioning look.
Vector hurriedly shook her head. "No. Kuliya's armed police are a local Tajik force, barely even a paramilitary unit. They're poorly trained and rank at the very bottom of the joint command's order of battle. Apart from the commander's name and the unit's basic statistics, there's no more information."
"What's wrong with him?" Weather Witch could tell something was off about Xiang Qian's expression, and quickly pressed him for an answer.
Xiang Qian glanced at the group of officers deep in discussion nearby and deliberately lowered his voice. "Temugin has an aide named Maksum, who's from Kuliya. Maksum's mother was a widow who remarried. After she remarried, Maksum took his stepfather's surname. His biological father's surname was Hashimov."
"You mean the commander of the armed police is related to one of the terrorists in Temugin's inner circle? Are you sure your information is accurate?"
Xiang Qian tapped his temple and gave a cold laugh. "My memory never fails. Don't you think it's too much of a coincidence? They were both originally named Hashimov, and they're both from Kuliya. Yet Hashimov's unit has repeatedly dragged its feet during the operation. And there's an even bigger coincidence..." Xiang Qian pointed at the projected map of the caves. "Hashimov's forces seem to be responsible only for flank security, with no involvement in the front-line cordon. But in reality, their zone faces a hidden tunnel exit... The briefing says the militants have successfully attacked your cordon several times, doesn't it?"
Weather Witch's expression turned serious. "Do you have any more concrete evidence?"
"None!" Xiang Qian shook his head without hesitation. "Unless we thoroughly investigate the families of everyone involved, there's no way to be sure. That kind of investigation could easily settle the question, but it would take a lot of time."
"We can't take action without evidence. We can't question the commander of a police force based only on your suspicions. And to them, we're outsiders, after all."
Xiang Qian looked up at Weather Witch, his expression almost a smile. "I'm not planning to do anything to Hashimov. In fact, I'd rather he really were in cahoots with the terrorists. That way, at least Temugin wouldn't be blown to pieces by a bunker buster."
Weather Witch immediately understood what Xiang Qian meant. She was silent for a while, then finally nodded in agreement. "I'll keep an eye on him myself. If Hashimov really opens a gap for Temugin, none of them will get away."
"Temugin might not even want to escape." Xiang Qian scanned the briefings in his hands and made another grim suggestion. "When the operation starts, leave Saber behind to protect our support staff and civilian personnel. I have a feeling Temugin is going to give us an unexpected surprise."