Chapter 544
Blood Foam Continuously Overflowing
Wu Ming's voice was so hoarse that it was almost inaudible. Jiang Nian had to be right next to his mouth to barely understand what he was saying.
After hearing Wu Ming's words, Jiang Nian opened her eyes wide and looked at him in disbelief.
He knew it; when he saved the dagger, he noticed that Wu Ming had nothing on him. So where would the most crucial thing be?
Jiang Nian originally thought that Wu Ming had hidden it somewhere else, but she never expected that the thing was actually inside Wu Ming's stomach.
I doubt even drug lord Wang Ba could have imagined this.
Otherwise, they would never have been able to rescue Wu Ming.
"Brother Tiger, I'm tired... After I die, please bury me with my father."
Wu Ming laboriously raised one hand, barely managed to beckon to Wang Dahu, and whispered.
Blood kept oozing from the corners of his mouth, and the wounds on his body that had been congealing burst open, the bright red blood quickly soaking through the white sheets.
Wu Ming's gaze slowly swept across everyone's faces, and he managed a weak smile.
The moment the smile appeared on his face, he had already lost his last bit of life.
For Wu Ming, dying here might be the best relief.
Suppressed sobs echoed in the operating room.
This wasn't Jiang Nian's first mission, nor was it his first time witnessing death, but never before had he felt so heavy and distressed.
He stared at Wu Ming's lifeless body on the bed, and his heart felt even heavier.
Even though the man was already gone, he couldn't let Wu Ming leave peacefully like that. Instead, he had to dissect his body and take out the documents inside.
Isn't this a form of torture for those who are alive?
Jiang Nian remained silent and did not speak.
Wu Ming spoke too softly to Jiang Nian earlier, and Jiang Nian had to lean close to his mouth to hear him clearly, so no one else knew what Wu Ming had said to Jiang Nian.
Wang Dahu was, after all, Wu Ming's superior, and now that Wu Ming had passed away, it was natural for him to arrange the funeral.
Under Wang Dahu's arrangement, doctors and nurses soon came in to help Wu Ming tidy up his clothes.
"Wait a moment--"
Just as the nurse brought a new sheet to cover Wu Ming's body, Jiang Nian finally spoke.
"System task issued! System task issued!"
Jiang Nian's body froze on the spot.
"What's wrong?" Wang Dahu turned around, looked at Jiang Nian with a puzzled expression, and something seemed to flash in his eyes.
"It's nothing. I just felt that Wu Ming's true identity is, after all, one of ours. Let's use green sheets for his final farewell. White looks... a bit unlucky."
Jiang Nian casually made up an excuse and said this.
He saw that when he finished speaking, Wang Dahu's body seemed to relax a little, and his tightly clenched fists loosened slightly.
Jiang Nian frowned slightly—could there be something wrong with this Wang Dahu?
He didn't have time to think about what was going on with Wang Dahu for the time being; his thoughts returned to the moment when the system issued the task.
Jiang Nian felt that the system seemed to be acting strangely lately, and the tasks it issued were all odd.
"What mission?"
After the system appeared, Jiang Nian asked curiously.
There are no bombs here for him to practice on, and it's impossible for him to repair equipment. Surely we can't send Jiang Nian to repair medical equipment?
If that were the case, Jiang Nian would have good reason to suspect that his system had been switched out midway.
Before Jiang Nian could think for long, the system had already finished explaining the task requirements.
"System task issued: The host must identify the undercover agent lurking in the armed criminal police brigade within forty-eight hours!"
"Mission Reward: Unknown".
"From this moment on, host, keep up the good work! This system has high hopes for you!"
Because the system suddenly gave him this task, Jiang Nian swallowed back the words he was about to say—that he intended to have the doctor dissect Wu Ming's body to retrieve the data—and instead made up a random excuse to appease Wang Dahu.
However, Wang Dahu's unusual reaction still made Jiang Nian's expression serious.
Could it be that the undercover agent is Wang Dahu?
No, if it were Wang Dahu, why would Wu Ming ask Wang Dahu to bury him next to his father?
But if it wasn't Wang Dahu, then why did he react just now?
Since Jiang Nian didn't speak again, Wu Ming's body was first taken to the hospital morgue.
Jiang Nian and his four companions were temporarily housed in the dormitory of the Armed Criminal Police Brigade by Wang Dahu.
"That's strange. Our mission was just to rescue people. Now that the mission is complete, why are we still staying here?"
Li Erniu lay on the bed, crossed his legs and gently swayed them, asking in confusion.
This wasn't their first mission, and they should have returned directly to the military region afterward. Although Wu Ming tragically sacrificed his life in this mission, it was now the responsibility of the Armed Police Criminal Investigation Brigade, and by all accounts, it had nothing to do with Jiang Nian and his team.
"Who knows? Maybe there are other tasks later. Anyway, we'll just wait here for the orders to come out. We'll know what's going on once the tasks are assigned."
Wang Yanbing appeared the calmest, almost asleep in bed.
More than forty hours have passed since the mission began. He is completely exhausted, and witnessing Wu Ming's death at the hospital has left him with nothing but a good night's sleep. He can worry about everything else after he wakes up.
The others remained silent, already fast asleep.
At this moment, nothing is more important than sleeping.
Although Jiang Nian had her eyes closed, she was not asleep.
Li Erniu is usually carefree, but he's right about that.
This mission is indeed a bit strange.
Puzzled, Jiang Nian opened his communicator and sent Fan Tianlei a string of encrypted messages.
The information uses the Red Blood Cell Group's proprietary code, which no one but them can understand, and they are not afraid of being spied on.
Soon, Fan Tianlei replied.
After reading the reply, Jiang Nian closed her eyes again.
It turns out that there was indeed a problem with Wu Ming's identity being exposed this time.
During the firefight, Wu Ming encountered Wang Dahu, which is when he was exposed.
The higher-ups suspected Wang Dahu of having problems, but without evidence, they couldn't alert him. Furthermore, the Criminal Investigation Brigade couldn't complete the rescue mission on its own, so the Red Cell Team was specially brought in to take over. Similarly, after rescuing Wu Ming, Jiang Nian and his team's other task was to find the undercover agent within the Criminal Investigation Brigade.
Wang Dahu is currently the captain of the criminal investigation team. He has been keeping an eye on the Wang Ba case, and it was Wang Dahu who finally approved Wu Ming's decision to go undercover.
If such a person were truly an undercover agent, Wu Ming would have no way of infiltrating Wang Ba's organization.
However, it was clearly stated above that Wang Dahu did indeed have problems.
What's going on? Considering that the system only gave him forty-eight hours, Jiang Nian felt even more troubled.
Sending He Chenguang and his team on missions, no matter how difficult, is no problem. But now, the mission is to catch an undercover agent in the Criminal Investigation Brigade. Jiang Nian feels that this mission is much more difficult than real-life combat.
The data inside Wu Ming's body has not yet been removed, and tomorrow is the day of Wu Ming's cremation.
Since it wasn't their own territory, even Li Erniu and his group, who were extremely tired, only slept for four hours before waking up.
Everyone was stunned to see Jiang Nian sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Hey Jiang, you haven't been sleeping at all, have you?"
Wang Yanbing asked. "They've been up for so long, and Jiang Nian himself is injured. How could he not be tired?"
No, speaking of injuries—could it be that the anesthesia wore off and Jiang Nian was in so much pain that he couldn't sleep?
"The golden eagle has already given the next instructions. Take a look."
Jiang Nian didn't respond to Wang Yanbing's words, but instead seriously brought up the important matter.
Hearing that there was another mission, the group didn't dare to delay and quickly opened their communicators to check.
"Wu Ming's body will be cremated today. Since we were the ones who saved him, we'll go to the funeral home to see him off for the last time. Falcon and I are going to the hospital to change the dressing on my arm. You guys can go to the funeral home and wait for me."
Wu Ming's body is still in the hospital morgue and will not be sent to the funeral home until dawn. Jiang Nian must obtain the data inside Wu Ming's body before then.
“Brother Jiang, it’s not even dawn yet. Even if you’re going to the hospital to change your dressing, you’ll have to wait until it’s light, right?” Li Erniu couldn’t help but say when he saw Jiang Nian get dressed and prepare to leave right after giving his instructions.
He pointed out the window—it was only a little past three in the morning. They were used to getting up early, but this wasn't their own property, and going out at this time seemed strange no matter how you looked at it.
"I'm in so much pain, I can't take it anymore. I need to go to the hospital to get my dressing changed and ask the doctor to prescribe some painkillers, otherwise I'm really going to die from the pain."
Jiang Nian calmly explained.
Although I felt it was a bit embarrassing to cry out in pain over such a small injury, I figured I could be embarrassed if it meant going to the hospital.
After giving Li Erniu a few instructions, Jiang Nian and He Chenguang left the Criminal Investigation Brigade.
The guards at the gate naturally asked them why they were going out at this time. Jiang Nian repeated the excuse he had given Li Erniu earlier and got away with it.
Upon arriving at the hospital, Jiang Nian did not take the elevator upstairs, but instead led He Chenguang quietly around to the morgue at the back.
Fortunately, there was only Wu Ming's body in the morgue today, which made it easier for Jiang Nian and his group to move around.
"Brother Jiang, what are we doing at the morgue? Wu Ming's body will be taken to the funeral home by a special person later. It's a bit strange that you came to see it at this time."
He Chenguang was genuinely curious because Jiang Nian hadn't explained why she was at the hospital. Even if it was a mission, shouldn't she at least let him know?
"Besides rescuing people, we have another mission: to find the information Wu Ming obtained. And that information is inside Wu Ming's body."
Jiang Nian lowered his voice and said.
He Chenguang's eyes widened—he finally understood what Wu Ming had told Jiang Nian in the end.
Carefully lifting the sheet covering Wu Ming's body, Jiang Nian first whispered "I'm sorry," then took out a scalpel and without hesitation cut open Wu Ming's abdomen.
He Chenguang stood aside, his heart pounding with horror. No matter how you looked at it, the scene of cutting open Wu Ming's body to take something out was undeniably eerie.
The morgue is especially chilly, which inevitably makes people's minds wander and conjure up some unpleasant images.
Jiang Nian acted extremely quickly, giving He Chenguang almost no time to reflect before he had already removed a small USB drive from Wu Ming's stomach.
"Found them, prepare to retreat!"
Jiang Nian carefully put the USB drive into his pocket, then used a large medical bandage to cover Wu Ming's cut abdomen before whispering to He Chenguang.
Before He Chenguang could even ask Jiang Nian where he got the scalpel and large bandage, he was dragged away from the morgue.
After coming out, Jiang Nian did not go upstairs to treat his wounds, but instead directly signaled He Chenguang to drive, and navigated to another hospital that was farther away.
"What exactly are you up to?"
While driving, He Chenguang pressed Jiang Nian for answers with a serious expression.
He saw that the wound on Jiang Nian's arm had indeed reopened, and the blood had soaked through the gauze and stuck to his clothes.
"Didn't you see the mission description? There's an undercover agent here, that's why we need to help find him!"
Jiang Nian gave a brief explanation while issuing instructions to Li Erniu and the others.
By the time Jiang Nian finished treating his wounds, it was already broad daylight.
The two did not return to the criminal investigation team, but went directly to the funeral home.
Wu Ming's body was laid out in a wreath, covered with a military green blanket. His pale face was made up so that he looked as if he were sleeping peacefully.
Just a few hours ago, the USB drive was removed from his abdomen, and now he had to send him off on his final journey. Jiang Nian felt very uncomfortable, but she couldn't show it.
No one except He Chenguang knew that he had cut open Wu Ming's abdomen. Of course, the wound has not yet been discovered.
Through the bustling crowd, Jiang Nian's gaze met that of Wang Yanbing, who was standing on the other side.
Wang Yanbing nodded slightly to him.
Relieved to receive a response, Jiang Nian relaxed and began to talk to He Chenguang in a low voice.
Wu Ming's family members have all passed away, so no relatives came to see him off on his final journey. The Criminal Investigation Brigade is very busy, and time waits for no one. After everyone bids farewell today, Wu Ming's body will be sent directly to the crematorium.
Jiang Nian walked around Wu Ming's body, placed the white chrysanthemums in her hand beside him, and stepped aside.
As Wu Ming's closest colleague, Wang Dahu pushed Wu Ming's body to the room where the crematorium was located.
Just then, a crematorium worker came out and whispered something in Wang Dahu's ear.
Wang Dahu's expression changed drastically, and his knuckles turned white from gripping the cart.
He stopped and said in a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry, thank you all for your hard work. There was a sudden accident at the crematorium, so Wu Ming's body cannot be cremated today and will be temporarily stored at the funeral home."
Wang Dahu's tone was filled with sorrow, and tears streamed down his face.
That sorrowful expression didn't seem fake.
Jiang Nian's gaze remained fixed on Wang Dahu. As the man in the crematorium uniform turned to leave, he whispered a message to Wang Yanbing.
"Follow that person at the crematorium, verify his identity, and at the same time find out if there really is a problem at the crematorium."
Wang Yanbing was already standing in the corner, and no one at the scene recognized him, so he easily slipped away and followed.
After confirming that Wang Yanbing had caught up, Jiang Nian breathed a sigh of relief and turned his gaze back to Wang Dahu.
After Wang Dahu announced the unexpected news, everyone sighed, but also expressed their understanding. Everyone had official duties to attend to, and since Wu Ming's body would not be cremated immediately, there was no need to stay any longer, so they left one after another. (End of Chapter)