Watchmen

October 9th 2016, a terrorist attack occurred south of T city.

This morning, the city"s officials had received a threatening letter. The letter stated that in an unknown chemical factory on the outskirts of the city, they had set up a significant number of timed bombs.

In the beginning, the officials had doubts towards the letter and did not place enough importance on it.

However, an hour after they received the threat, the aforementioned chemical factory had a small explosion. While there weren"t many injured, the shock given to the city officials was not a trivial matter.

Half an hour after the explosion, the city officials had received another letter. It stated that the explosion just now was a warning. If the officials did not comply with their demands, there would be a much larger-scaled explosion on their conscience.

Even though this chemical factory was located on the outskirts of town, but it was not too far from the city either. If a ma.s.sive explosion really happened, a great deal of the chemical substances from the factory would directly affect T city. Additionally, these plants were not far from the sea as well. At that time, not only would the city area be endangered, but the sea that was beside it would also be adversely affected.

The city officials had finally realised the severity of the situation; this was a premeditated terrorist attack.

Soon after, the city"s officials immediately a.s.sembled a group of people and started to do a strict, thorough investigation into the chemical factories. Without using even three hours, they had already apprehended a suspect and managed to find the two bombs buried in a chemical plant.

This allowed them to confirm that the contents of the letter were not just empty words. Plus, the two bombs buried in the chemical factory were absolutely not the only ones.

The suspect known as Wu Ma was an engineer in the chemical factory. He has worked there for seven years and knows every nook and cranny of the chemical plant like the back of his hand.

During the interrogation, Wu Ma confessed that the bomb was planted by him and it wasn"t just two. However, no matter how much they tried, he kept silent on the location of the other bombs.

Regarding Wu Ma"s obstinance, the police had exhausted all their methods, but Wu Ma would not break. No matter how they tried, they couldn"t pry his mouth open. The degree of his willpower made it seem as if he had been brainwashed.

Without even reaching the twenty-four-hour mark, the investigation had reached a standstill.

If twenty-four hours pa.s.s and the chemical factory explodes, the consequences would be unimaginable. At that point, not only T city but all surrounding regions would undergo a catastrophe.

Just as all of them were at their wit’s end, the person in charge of the case, Zhang Ju, suddenly hired two people out of nowhere.

One middle-aged man, one young man. They were Luo Yi De and the matured Jiu Jie.

These past few years, Luo Yi De"s already spa.r.s.e hair had become even more spa.r.s.e; he was practically bald already. Jiu Jie, on the other hand, from that sixteen-year-old youth had become an outstanding twenty-year-old young man.

The situation was urgent, so they weren"t able to exchange greetings before Zhang Ju brought the two of them to see the imprisoned Wu Ma.

"How is it, Old Luo? Have a solution?" Zhang Ju asked.

"It"s too early to say. Let him sleep before we jump to conclusions." Luo Yi De.

Following that, to everyone"s surprise, Zhang Ju had a.s.signed people to give Wu Ma an injection, letting him sleep. After that, in the adjacent detainment cell, they arranged a bed, allowing the young man who was invited, Jiu Jie, lie on the bed and sleep. Luo Yi De was at Jiu Jie"s side, staring at his electronic notebook screen; several wires protruded from the notebook"s socket, sticking to Jiu Jie"s head.

Everyone in the precinct looked at each other in dismay, all wanting to know what drugs Zhang Ju was on.

In such a grave situation, they actually let the suspect sleep. Everyone was baffled and felt that Zhang Ju had gone mad.

Everyone was at a loss as they watched the suspect fall asleep. Although they were filled with doubt, in light of Zhang Ju"s reputation, everyone could only suppress their questions.

Four hours pa.s.sed by in a flash; they all waited until they couldn"t wait anymore; each one of them was like an ant on a frying pan.

It was at that moment that the sleeping Jiu Jie woke up in the neighbouring cell.

Zhang Ju made his people wait outside the door and entered by himself.

"So?" Zhang Ju asked as soon as he stepped through the door.

Currently, Zhang Ju had a significant amount of pressure on him, saying that he wasn"t anxious would be a complete lie.

Jiu Jie shook his head rapidly to clear his mind.

"I need Wu Ma"s social relations, placing importance on investigating his relationship with a female colleague, especially one who"s had experienced misfortune or an accident before," Jiu Jie said.

"Okay, I"ll immediately send someone to do that. Anything else?"

Jiu Jie shook his head, "No."

The city official"s efficiency was very high. Once Zhang Ju had pa.s.sed on his order, not even an hour later, a stack of papers detailing Wu Ma"s social relations was sent over.

Jiu Jie looked over the pieces of information, nodded and said, "d.a.m.n, so I was right."

He then turned and asked Luo Yi De, who was beside him, "Uncle Luo, how much is needed to treat Leukemia?"

"That"s hard to say. It could be hundreds of thousands or a few million, plus, the doctor"s ability and the patient"s individual condition need to be taken into consideration. Jiu Jie nodded then looked up and asked Zhang Ju, "Zhang Ju, if the chemical factory blows up, how much money will be lost?

"This, I cannot be sure," Zhang Ju said, "Economically speaking, at a minimum, the losses will be at least a hundred million. Even worse would be the indirect consequences this would bring. If it explodes, half of T city and the surrounding villages and their seaside would all be polluted. Just looking at the bare minimum is enough to give one a headache. The losses cannot even be measured by money."

"I asked something I shouldn"t, Zhang Ju," JiuJie said, "What were the conditions in the threat letter?"

"The terrorist wants to use the threat, to ask us to release one person," Zhang Ju said.

"Oh, if this can"t be solved, to prevent losses, can you free that person?" Jiu Jie asked.

Zhang Ju shook his head, "No, I don’t have the needed authority. Even if I did, I still wouldn"t free them."

"Why?"

"Because the consequences of letting him out would be even worse. Even if it means letting the entirety of T City go into ruin, this person cannot be set free.”

Zhang Ju"s tone was resolute. After Jiu Jie heard this, he couldn"t help but try and guess. The person the terrorist wants to save, where did he come from? …to actually be such a significant threat.

Time was precious, Jiu Jie knew that now was not the time to chit-chat.

He continued asking, "Zhang Ju, if I said that I can let you guys solve this case for a few hundred thousand or less, would you guys be willing?"

Zhang Ju furrowed his eyebrows, saying, "Of course."

"That"s good," Jiu Jie said, "Just follow my instructions… when the time comes, Wu Ma will be obedient and cooperate with you."

Zhang Ju finished listening and nodded his head saying, "Good, I"ll send people to do it."

In a location not ten hours away from the bomb, Zhang Ju suddenly sent someone to bring in a person from the outside – a young woman.

This woman was named Pan Rui, Wu Ma"s colleague. She had resigned after being diagnosed with Leukemia.

The time left was not enough, everyone was feeling anxious. The success or failure of the case this time was dependant on that lady.

After Zhang Ju arranged everything, he brought Pan Rui into the detainment cell after that ordering the police officers to leave. The only ones left in the cell were Wu Ma and Pan Rui.

When Wu Ma saw Pan Rui walking in, he was visibly emotional, but he still held it in and didn"t talk.

In the beginning, the two of them didn’t speak; the detention cell was silent.

Outside the cell, the people were keeping an eye on the screen, the atmosphere was tense. Everyone"s heart was itchy, except the loitering and yawning Jiu Jie as well as the calm and cold-eyed Luo Yi De.

In the end, it was Pan Rui who spoke first, "Little Ma, I know that you did all this for me, thank you."

After Wu Ma heard her words, his whole body trembled, eyes becoming red.

"Little Ma, I know you like me. Actually… I also like you."

Listening to the other’s emotional words, Wu Ma had a momentary loss of control, actually started to silently cry.

"Little Ma, you don"t need to concern yourself with my situation," Pan Rui continued, "Just now the leader of the city office already told me: he will find me the best treatment, absolutely free, and on top of that will give me an allowance. But all these are not important. To me, your well-being and happiness are the most important, okay? You have to live well."

At this, Wu Ma, who had collapsed on the table, sobbed silently.

"Little Ma, I will be outside waiting for you. You need to come out well and find me, okay?" Pan Rui asked movingly.

Wu Ma"s tears and snot kept flowing, having crossed his emotional threshold.

"Promise me, you will be well and find me." Pan Rui said softly.

Wu Ma earnestly nodded, wiped his nose, choked with emotions, "Yes, yes, I promise I"ll be fine, and I will go and find you when I get out."

Pan Rui smiled and said, "Okay, it"s a promise."

Facing the situation in the cell, the people watching the screen could only stare dumbly.

Yet, what made them, so shocked was still the end result. Wu Ma, who was stubbornly silent after being arrested, a "hard bone", after seeing Pan Rui, had his att.i.tude do a one-eighty. He not only detailed the criminal act but also revealed the locations of the other bombs.

Zhang Ju immediately sent the bomb experts to where Wu Ma had pointed, defusing the bombs at the chemical factory one by one.

The thirty-six hours in the threat letter had pa.s.sed, the factories were peaceful. A ma.s.sive crisis had thus pa.s.sed by smoothly. Everyone let out relieved breaths.

In T city, not many people knew that they just had a brush with death. And the one who had saved them was an ordinary-looking youth surnamed "Jiu."

After concluding everything, Luo Yi De brought along Jiu Jie to say goodbye to Zhang Ju.

Zhang Ju pulled Luo Yi De"s hand, thanking profusely, expressing grat.i.tude in his words.

"Old Zhang, you know," Luo Yi De said, "This time I came to help you due to our friendship. Information regarding the Watchmen is top-secret. Please don"t leak anything."

"That"s only natural. I"ll protect your ident.i.ties. Any information regarding the Watchmen will not be divulged." Zhang Ju said.

"That"s good. What comes next… I also can"t help much. This is goodbye. There are still a lot of things you need to clean up, and I won"t inconvenience you any longer."

Zhang Ju smilingly said, "With our relationship, I won"t be polite. I won"t hold you back if you want to leave. There is ample time; this favour I will remember. But I still have some questions that during our separation I would like to clarify.

"Oh? What do you want to ask?"

"Before, no matter how we asked, Wu Ma refused to open his mouth. Why only did he relent when we asked Pan Rui to say those scripted words?"

Luo Yi De pointed at Jiu Jie, laughing and said, "You"ll have to ask him."
Jiu Jie gave a yawn and replied, "Actually it"s quite simple. Once you know the desires of a person"s heart, you naturally know how to exploit it. There are two types of war, one on a battlefield and one with the mind (兵战为下，心战为上嘛).”

"Oh? Then what was Wu Ma"s heart"s desire?" Zhang Ju asked again.

Jiu Jie yawned incessantly, "According to what I speculated, Wu Ma fell for a woman, and this woman definitely had a big problem. Additionally, the surrounding people were all very uncaring, no one was willing to help her. So Wu Ma took a risk out of desperation, trying to use such an extreme method to save his beloved woman. Right, Zhang Ju?"

Zhang Ju nodded his head and said, "Not bad. According to what Wu Ma has said, he did fall for Pan Rui. However, Pan Rui had gotten leukaemia and had no money for a doctor. However, their colleagues were utterly heartless and made matters even worse. Wu Ma wanted to help her, but he had a limit. Later, a person went to find him and told him to follow the instructions to plant bombs in the chemical factory which would get him a lot of money, enough to treat Pan Rui"s condition. Wu Ma had no other choice and decided to do it. Then, after that, everything happened.

Jiu Jie nodded, "En, Just as I had suspected."

"But, how did you deduce all of this?" Zhang Ju enquired.

"Of course, it’s all according to his dream," Jiu Jie answered.

"His dream?"

"Oh yeah, Zhang Ju, what do you think dreams are?" Jiu Jie inquired.

"Dreams?" Zhang Ju thought about it and said, "You think in the day and dream at night. Dreams are this what you encounter in the morning and what you imagine at night."

Jiu Jie shook his head, saying, "No, Zhang Ju, the essence of dreams is not that simple,"

"Then what is the essence of dreams?"

Jiu Jie paused for a moment then replied, "Dreams, are what you desire to accomplish. To be more precise, they are the suppressed goals that you pretend to accomplish. They reflect one"s innermost desire, they are the doors to the deepest parts of one"s heart."

Zhang Ju nodded his head, eyebrows crinkled for a moment, his expression like he did not understand.

Jiu Jie continued his explanation, "Let"s take Wu Ma as an example. In his dream, there was a train car. This represents his workplace. The faceless people in the train car represent his cold coworkers. The unconscious woman served as Pan Rui, and Pan Rui turned into a caterpillar. After that, she turned into a b.u.t.terfly which represents his hope for her to be cured. He killed all the people in the train car who had turned into caterpillars, which showed that he hated his colleagues… wait. Right at the end, his heart"s desire was that he wished for Pan Rui to be saved, which is why he used the method of killing a lot of people for one person.”

“But these are all indirect metaphors. Since it"s his innermost desire, why wasn"t it all just directly played out?" Zhang Ju asked.

Jiu Jie pointed at the head, saying, "That"s because the brain has a processing mechanism in dreamland.

"Processing mechanism?"

"Yes, because some desires are morally wrong or embarra.s.sing, once such a desire pa.s.ses through into the dreamland, its appearance will undergo the brain"s processing mechanism"s conditioning, and the desire will disguise itself. For example, Wu Ma wished that his colleagues would all go die, but this wish was not ethical. Thus, in dreamland, it would be distorted and used those disgusting caterpillars to represent his colleagues. This appearance can pa.s.s through dreamland"s processing mechanism conditions.

Zhang Ju was profoundly moved, "So that"s what happened. So that"s why you said that dreams are the representation of the innermost desires."

"Yes," Jiu Jie nodded.

"Last question," Zhang Ju asked, "According to my knowledge when you investigated Wu Ma"s dream, you went through three layers of dreamland right? Why was it so troublesome? Was he being used by someone else before?"

Zhang Ju"s question was particular and crucial. Jiu Jie and Luo Yi De could help but take a glance.

"Yes, he was indeed being used." Jiu Jie said, "His mind had been tampered with to conceal something. At this point, I had to go through three layers before I could reach his heart"s desire. I think this is also the reason why no matter what you did, he wouldn"t talk."

At this point, Luo Yi De suddenly asked, "Old Zhang, regarding this case, the master in the shadows, are you able to investigate who it was?"

Zhang Ju shook his head, "I can"t. The mastermind was very cautious. Wu Ma never actually met him face-to-face. They only communicated on the net. When we checked, we could only get a name."

"They? The mastermind is not one person but a group?" Luo Yi De asked.

Zhang Ju nodded, "Yes."

"What are they called?"

"Ba Su." Zhang Ju spat out these two words.

When Luo Yi De and Jiu Jie heard these words, they were surprised. This wasn’t their first time hearing the name; they were both very clear on what this group entailed.

"Old Zhang, I would like to ask you for help," Luo Yi De said seriously.

Zhang Ju laughed, "You are too formal. Considering our relationship, you can just ask."

"If, next time, there is any information regarding this group, could you tell it to me first? Of course, in a completely legal situation," Luo Yi De said.

"Of course, this is no problem." Zhang Ju quickly agreed.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

After hearing the name Ba Su, the incessantly yawning Jiu Jie suddenly gained energy, eyes sharp as arrows. He nodded his head solemnly and sank into his thoughts.

Zhang Ju eyed Jiu Jie and smilingly asked Luo Yi De, "Your seventh department is full of talented people. This young man must be a well-known Watchman."

Luo Yi De shook his head. "No, he"s still an apprentice Watchman. He still has a long way to go before becoming a full-fledged member. If not for the fact that there"s a lack of staff, I wouldn"t have brought him out this time."

The two, after chit chatting for awhile, finally bid their goodbyes.

Outskirts of Nanjing, in a specific villa:

A middle-aged man was flipping through the newspaper. At this moment, the phone beside him suddenly rang.

"Wei, what is it?" He held up the phone and asked.

"Wei, Old Gu, it"s me. The situation you wanted me to keep an eye out for has started to take shape," the voice on the phone said.

"Oh? Tell me more."

"Currently, all the high-ranking members of the seventh department have been sent out. At Luo Yi De"s side is only an apprentice Watchman. Their headquarters is empty."

"Good, I got it. Thanks."

Finished, the middle-aged man hung up.

"What happened? There"s news?" the young woman beside him asked.

The middle-aged man folded up the newspaper, smiled and said, "According to multiple sources, the time is ripe. Our plan begins."