It was 1:20 a.m., and Chu Qiao closed the door to the bathroom. She walked over to the sink to wash her hands.

The prison was dead silent, not a single noise was heard. At this time of the night, usually a person would be most exhausted. Even if a person was a special forces operative who had gone through rigorous training, their alertness and strength would be less than optimum. Chu Qiao looked calm. After washing her hands, she lifted the towel off the rack and dried her hands thoroughly. The loud swooshing of the toilet flush filled the cell as she placed her finger on her pulse, calculating the time silently.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4…

Time’s up. Chu Qiao turned her body calmly and walked towards her bed.

All of a sudden, a muffled bang sounded and large splashes of water exploded from the pipes. A dim glow from the explosion could be seen from the burst water pipe. Chu Qiao was not far from the burst pipe and was hit by a jet of water that knocked her onto the floor.

Outside the cell door, the prison guards were stunned. They could only see the burst water pipe within the cell and that the prisoner had been hit by the explosion. She could be dead or alive. With so much happening, the guards panicked and keyed in the access code to the cell. With a walkie-talkie in one hand and a submachine gun in the other, they rushed into the cell. However, the momentary burst of the pipes disrupted the radio transmission. During those five seconds, the main station could only hear indistinct rustling from an unidentified channel.

Opportunities cannot be missed, as they may not return. When the two prison guards ran into the cell to check for the cause of the burst pipe, Chu Qiao, who was originally unconscious, opened her bright eyes. All of a sudden, her body was as nimble as a cat asshe bounded out of the cell door. The prison guards were taken aback, but before they could cry for help, the doors slammed tightly shut.

Chu Qiao ignored the furious prison guards and sped into the surveillance room. She copied the footage recorded from an hour ago and quickly transferred it into a small DVD where she cut, edited, and deleted the footage. After that, she dragged a chair under the camera that was pointing at the cell and turned the DVD around. She then played the edited video for the DVD to record. She then went back into the surveillance room to sever the transmission signals of the walkie-talkie.

The timing was just right. After five seconds, the mini explosive device that was used to burst the pipe started to self-repair after the blast. Portions of the pipe that had leaks were quickly mended by a liquefied adhesive, which hardened rapidly. All this while, she had this mini device hidden in her hair. In the sealed cell, the furious screams and howls of the guards trapped within seemed like the buzzing of irritating insects, the sound unable to penetrate through the walls. The surveillance devices were back to normal. The footage that the main station was seeing was the footage from an hour ago, a female prisoner sitting quietly on her bed, while the two prison guards were doing their rounds. All seemed quiet and normal.

Her gaze was sharp and she checked her surroundings. It was all clear.

She went back into the surveillance room and opened the prison guards’ reserve box. Taking off her wet clothes, she changed into the uniform of the prison guards of the 4th prison. After putting on her cap, she picked up an AK74U and fitted it with a silencer. Placing the gun at her waist, she walked out of the room.

When the two prison guards had decided to open the prison cell, it had not been an uncalculated and rash decision.

The 4th prison was right next to the capital. With its geographical location secretive and remote, all prisoners that were detained here were repeat felons that were awaiting trial from the nation’s senior military court, and its importance could be inferred. The defense mechanism of every prison cell was impeccable. Every cell was independent of each other, the weapons provided to the guards were top of the line, they were highly surveillanced, and guards were sufficiently dispatched. Three special forces operatives were used to guard each cell, split between the inner and outer cell doors. Similar to the cell Chu Qiao was in, if one had the codes for the inner door, one could open them. As for the outer doors, one had to obtain the fingerprints of the last person who locked the door. Only then could it be unlocked.

The three guards were rotated routinely. At that time, there were already two guards in the cell, Chu Qiao held the film containing the fingerprints of the guard which she had prepared earlier and scanned it on the fingerprint scanner. Soon enough, a crisp click sound was heard. In the standard military uniform, under the ferocious gaze of the two guards, she openly walked out of the prison’s main gates.

After passing the gates, there was a long corridor in front of her. She was now in level four of the underground prison. To achieve her objective, she still had a long way to go. The surveillance footage could only hold out for an hour, so she had to move quickly.

In level four of the prison, all detainees were top military commanders and secret agents waiting for the ruling of the nation’s military court. The detainees in level three were all mostly wanted criminals. Level one consisted of the working quarters of the 4th prison’s officials. As for level two, it was where receptions were held for guests that had come to the 4th prison, and that was where she had to go.

After walking for about two minutes, she was leaving the cell area. At the end of the outer corridor, there were four highly trained and fully armed prison guards holding submachine guns. In the 4th prison, there were no air conditioning ducts and no empty underwater pipes. Other than this corridor, the only way to get out was to hack her way through the concrete walls. To escape out of this prison unscathed was nearly impossible.

When the guards saw Chu Qiao’s unfamiliar face, they started to become nervous. The leader of the group raised his muzzle and yelled, “Stop there! Who are you? Password?”

Chu Qiao gazed right into the eyes of the guards as she walked forward, straightening her back. With a thick binder of documents in her arms, she said, “I am Colonel Liu Siwei from the military law department. I am holding document 12685 which investigates a case of military arms smuggling. Please call Lieutenant Colonel Tan Zhongming. I have important documents to convey to him.”

The guard remained dazed and frowned with a confused look. He said, “Ma’am, Lieutenant Colonel Tan Zhongming is not on duty tonight. His personal number is confidential. Can you please show your identification?”

“The military law department does not need to show their identification in the 4th prison. I was invited to help on this case by Warden Li of the 4th prison. Three days ago, Colonel Lu Fanghao personally escorted me into the prison’s trial hall, didn’t you know?” Chu Qiao frowned as she sized up the guard out of the corner of her eye. She continued, “Which unit are you from? Are you familiar with military regulations? Tell me your serial number, as well as your unit’s code.”

After hearing this, the soldier was shocked. Rankings in the military were clear. This lady had a way of speaking, and she seemed to be very familiar with Lieutenant Colonel Tan and Warden Li. He could not help but feel a tinge of reverence for her. He replied, “Ma’am, my serial number is 0475, belonging to the 8th Southern Army 309 Brigade Task Force 571. We are not under the authority of the regular army. We have just been transferred over for two days, that’s why we did not know that you had been personally escorted into the trial hall by Lieutenant Colonel Tan.”

As Chu Qiao heard this, her expression softened and her brows relaxed. She nodded and said, “You are from the 8th army? How is your assistant commander, Commander Liu? Was he the one that brought you all in? Coming into the capital to work, are you guys staying for a few more days?”

The soldier started to gain respect for her. He told himself that those in the military law department were indeed different. He replied, “Ma’am, Commander Liu is well. Our team was brought here by Advisor Yan and we will not be following him back to the South.”

“Oh,” Chu Qiao nodded and said, “I started my military career from the 8th army too and was working in the intelligence department of the 8th army. You can say we were comrades too. When you see your commander, please send him my regards. Okay, I still have matters to settle. Go to the transmitting center to fax these documents out, two documents in a single form. Also, notify Advisor Zhang and Commander Hua’s secretary, that tomorrow morning at six, Colonel Liu Siwei from the military law department will be paying a visit to discuss some issues.” Upon finishing her sentence, she turned and walked off.

The soldier stayed rooted at the same position, his arms wobbling from carrying the huge stack of documents with “CLASSIFIED” printed clearly on the top.

Advisor Zhang… Commander Hua…

Walking out of the cell area of the 4th prison, the back of Chu Qiao’s shirt was drenched with sweat. She leaned against the wall and was slightly breathless. She raised her wrist and looked at her watch. Ten minutes had passed. Taking a deep breath, she stood up straight and continued walking.

After searching and monitoring the other levels, she finally arrived outside the VIP room on level two. Looking at the plaque which read “Military Law Department” hanging on the door, the edge of Chu Qiao’s lips curled to reveal a tiny smile.

Very good. There is a lead for injustice and an owner for a debt. She finally found the real owner.

She spent no time figuring out the password for the door, after which she gently twisted the handle and slid into the room sideways. Although it was late in the night, the corridors were very well lit, and there were still many people moving around. Chu Qiao maintained her composure, held her head high and walked through the corridor of the Guest Department, nodding and waving to the officials of the 4th prison that passed by her.

Although they did not recognize her, her calm demeanor and military outfit allowed her to blend in with the other officials without raising any eyebrows.

Five minutes later, she left the office corridor, and the Military Law Department’s employees’ resting room came into view. She could smell the wafts of alcohol coming from that room, she knew that she was in the right place.

Chu Qiao’s slender hands were on the AK around her waist in no time.

A man wearing a black suit stuck his head out and was greeted with the black muzzle of the gun. With the help of the silencer, the bullet flew out of the muzzle and blasted a huge bloody hole in his chest. His pupils widened and Chu Qiao was quick to support his body while covering his mouth, right until his pulse stopped. Only then did she carry him into the room.

There were two rows in the room, with sixteen people living in it. Apart from the man that was just killed, the rest were still fast asleep. These were insiders, the ones who took care of the informants and creators of legal identities.They were top quality comrades with precise weapons.

Chu Qiao had always lacked compassion toward the enemy. Although she had been involved in behind the scenes planning for all these years, it did not mean she lacked the courage to pull the trigger. Chu Qiao held up the pistol and aimed the muzzle straight at a middle-aged man lying on one of the beds. With a dull thud, the man shuddered violently in his sleep and passed away without knowing what had happened.

Without any pauses, she quickly walked forward. After ten seconds, there was no one left alive.

Opening the door inside, there were only five men lying on the bed, sleeping soundly. Many times, killing was much easier than eating or having a bath. There was no hesitation. Five rounds were shot continuously, with dull thuds heard each time. Fresh blood oozed out of the wounds along with minute cracking sounds, the air soon filling with the nauseating smell of blood.

From the man lying furthest into the room, Chu Qiao found a small DVD while rummaging through his wallet. Standing over the bodies strewn all over the place, she turned on the device and started to watch the videos on it.