Time: 11:05 PM. Twenty-six hours and thirty-four minutes remaining.

*Xin Lei*

It felt as if General Song wanted to hide his shock but failed miserably. He did his best not to show it on his face, but that second of his body stiffening and his eyes slightly widening gave him up.

That meant that he knew about the boss.

"CrimsonInstinct is your boss. Your gang uses an app - FriendsChat to lure in the victims and then kill them. That is how they caught Chu Jie too."

General Song refused to say anything.

He said, "I don\'t know, and neither are you getting anything from me."

Major General squinted his eyes. "General Song. It would be in your best interests to tell everything."

He snorted. "Sure. You can try."

Bai Li said, "Do you think that Zhang Chao is going to help you out?"

He shot a sharp gaze at him. "What?"

"You are working for her daughter."

His eyes widened as if they would pop out of their sockets.

"You think that Zhang Chao can cover you if you threaten him to expose everything? Are you relying on that? Because he wouldn\'t want his daughter\'s crimes to be told all over the world. His reputation would take a big hit. He will lose his seat for sure. So, throw that help in the trash can already. As a politician, he would think and act for his own benefit.

So, General Song. You are mistaken. Zhang Chao wouldn\'t help you get out of anything."

General Song chuckled. "You know quite a few things, Bai Li. But you are still not close enough. I would get all the help I need, and I don\'t have to threaten anybody with anything."

I narrowed my eyes. He surely meant Zhang Chao, but he didn\'t mention his name. He was cautious until the end. Bastard.

Bai Li shook his head.

"Really, General Song? Do you think he would want to associate with you?"

"Associate? What the fuck are you talking about?"

"You must have understood that your career in the Army is over. You killed Tan Ye, forged the autopsy report to kick me out by misusing your power, harmed Yu Zichen, kidnapped and attempted to murder Su Weiyuan, and are a part of a vicious gang who kills people for fun. Then there is your affair with Sergeant Zi Mimi too. There might be many more charges against you to be still dug out. You know what will happen to you, right?"

Silence.

"A soldier labeled as a traitor and a shiny dishonorable discharge coming your way. They will take away all your medals and glory. They would strip you of your prestigious position you had over the years. The army would quietly deal with you privately because they don\'t want the citizens to lose their trust. Of course, you know how it works, right?" he smiled.

Su Weiyuan said with an expressionless countenance on his face. "The highest-ranking soldier of the Army is a traitor; there would be serious repercussions if this came out."

Major General said, "Are you really in the illusion that Zhang Chao would help you, knowing that he could get in trouble trying to save a traitor? Will he think about you or himself?"

I faintly smiled because it seemed as if General Song didn\'t seem so sure anymore. I could sense a cloud of suspicion in his gaze and a sense of anxiety creeping in it too.

We exchanged silent glances.

I typed. "I think he won\'t hesitate to kill you either. You know. To keep your mouth shut? I mean, look what happened to Duan Deming. He is with IB but is your boss helping him at all? What makes you think you are any different?"

General Song glowered at us. "Heh. That man is just a little pawn. He is unimportant. Do you think the boss has the time to deal with every pest?"

Bai Li said, "A threat is a threat when you are caught, General. Being a pawn or king doesn\'t matter. For your boss, you or Duan Deming are just ticking time bombs." He smiled. "But you know that the Army won\'t kill you. And who knows, your boss might kill you the same way as it does to others? I mean, why not have some fun along the way?"

General Song took a deep breath.

"I will tell you everything, but in return, you won\'t expose anything about me."

"Beggars can\'t be choosers."

"Bai Li!"

He shrugged. "Either choose to spit out everything you know and stay alive or don\'t say anything but die either way."

General Song gritted his teeth.

"Alright...You are right. The boss and the other men use the dark web through which they access the app and sends out fake emails to trap them...and sometimes to do illegal deals too."

"What is your role in all this?" Yu Zichen asked.

"Protection mainly. And ears to keep tabs on any information from other countries since we do illegal trading. Being in the army gives me the advantages to know what is going on with other countries."

"They have kidnapped another woman, right?"

He nodded. "Because they cannot kill Chu Jie, so they kidnapped another woman."

Bai Li quietly asked. "Tell me one important thing. Who killed Fu Meili?"

The air suddenly felt a lot quieter. My eyelids flickered as I remembered how we had found her buried in the Natural Park. That bone-chilling memory still sent a shiver down my spine. And now, once again, I felt my gaze go blurry with tears.

"I know that everyone is guilty of her murder. But I want to know who slashed her throat. Who swung the knife and ended her life?"

Bai Li seemed deadly serious. I felt a dark aura emanating from him that could make anyone shiver and which made me recall his promise.

\'I couldn\'t save her from dying. But I will give her the justice she deserves.\'

\'I will be her hero.\'

General Song said, "I heard it was someone who went by the username - Bloodygame."

I had seen that username on the dark web when Qi Qiang was showing the chat records.

"...I see." Then Bai Li gave his coldest smile ever. He inclined towards him and said with a quiet but deadly voice, "And you didn\'t do anything about the fact that they killed an eight-year-old girl?"

General Song said nothing.

"Not even a little bit of conscience shook you to know that they killed a little girl and buried her. Just a child who accidentally stumbled across your crimes. Just a child who wanted to see so much of this world, but she couldn\'t."

"She was a threat-"

Suddenly Bai Li grabbed his head and banged it hard on the table.

"Ughh!!"

"Just like you, isn\'t it? Now you are no more than a threat either for your boss."

Blood oozed out from his forehead, and he clutched it, blinking his eyes.

"Bai Li, you bastard."

"I cannot be more of a bastard than you. Now spit it out. Where are the others kept? And give me a name."

"Ugh…"

Major General said, "Do you want to add more pain? I will gladly bang your head again."

"W-wait! I will tell you. C-Chu Jie and the others a-are kept at-"

*CRASH. BANG. BANG.*

"Ah!"

Suddenly, the tiny window at the opposite wall shattered into pieces, and General Song slowly collapsed on the floor with blood gushing out of his neck.

We froze for a moment. I looked at him, stunned and aghast.

Sergeant Zi Mimi on my side collapsed, too, as I saw a hole drill in her temple. Her head bobbed sideways, and she seemed motionless.

What happened?

"Fuck! Somebody got a whiff of it, and they came to kill the General!" Yu Zichen cursed.

Su Weiyuan dashed towards the window and peeked. "The man is escaping."

Bai Li rained curses. "Fuck! We cannot waste time. Go and try to catch him!"

Major General shouted. "Let\'s go! We have to stop him."

Su Weiyuan and the others quickly left the place.

Bai Li asked, "Xin Lei. Sergeant Zi Mimi?"

I checked her pulse and shook my head. I typed. "Dead. Bullet pierced through her temple into the brain. Instant death."

"Damn."

I quickly held General Song\'s head and put my hand on his wound to stop the blood.

"Ugh…" General Song was squirming restlessly on the floor. His eyes were rolling back because he was having difficulty breathing.

"How does it look, Xin Lei?"

I cursed because I knew he would die at any moment. I quickly typed. "The bullet has definitely damaged his windpipe. Even if I am stopping the blood flow, he might have only a few minutes to survive. He needs an emergency operation, but we will be too late till we reach the hospital."

"Fuck!"

"B-B-Bai Li…"

Bai Li leaned. "General. Where are Chu Jie and the others kept? What place is that?"

He was tightly knitting his brows as if he was gathering his every last bit of strength to speak. He was sweating hard.

"S...S-Sch…"

"Sch…?" Bai Li said.

"S-Sch…aaahh…"

He suddenly gasped hard. His eyeballs froze at the spot, and his head rolled backward.

"General? General?"

I typed. "General Song is dead."