The Army Hospital.

“Miss Tang, may I know how long your menstrual cycle is?” A nurse questioned politely in a certain ward.

Tang Yuyan welcomed the odd question with a scowl. “Why do you need to know?”

“Miss Tang, I’m merely asking this on doctor’s instruction. We need to understand more details for your sake to avoid possible side effects,” replied the nurse.

“What side effects are we talking about?”

“Well, the doctor deduced that the poisoning may or may not affect your fertility. We need to conduct a test on your ovum. I hope you can lend us your cooperation.” The nurse was patient.

The weight of the situation riddled Tang Yuyan with a sudden surge of anxiety. “Will it really impede my fertility?”

The nurse shook her head. “We’re not certain. We’re just hoping to extract samples for the test. If any problem is detected, we’ll be able to subject you to relevant treatment right away.”

“Uh... My period just ended the day before. The duration was for five days,” answered Tang Yuyan sheepishly.

The nurse hummed. “Oh, that would mean that you’re ovulating now. I need to extract an ovum. The process is going to be a tad bit uncomfortable, please bear with it.”

Tang Yuyan gave her a stiff nod...

Meanwhile, a middle-aged man visited Xia Lei’s office.

His face was not a stranger to Xia Lei. The man was Sun Wen, the person in charge of the ‘Gentle Operation’. Sun Wen had paid him a visit right after Folsom’s revelation of the AE capsule during the Boao Forum. This time he had appeared with the same thing. A chiller box.

“Mister Xia, I’m terribly sorry.” Before anything, Sun Wen’s apology was already profuse. “I know my appearance offends you but I hope you can understand that I’m merely doing my job. Please bear with me. Yeah, I promise it won’t take up too much of your time.”

Xia Lei studied him. “What samples are you looking to extract this time?”

“A few blood tests and...” Sun Wen shifted his gaze onto Liang Siyao, who was in the same room.

Liang Siyao was not having any of this suspense. She sneered, “And what else? Come on, speak. Am I not allowed to know?”

Sun Wen returned her an awkward smile. “Alright then, I’ll just tell you straight. This time, I’ll need a sample of Mister Xia’s semen.”

That earned a large frown from Xia Lei.

Liang Siyao’s question was completely warranted. “Why?”

“Sorry, the details of my task are confidential. I cannot reveal it to you,” said Sun Wen.

Liang Siyao huffed. “So you’re allowed to do whatever you want? Who’s giving you such authority?”

“Mister Xia...” Sun Wen was not eager to argue with Xia Lei’s wife, opting to cast pleading glances at Xia Lei.

Xia Lei cleared his throat. “Siyao, it’s alright.” He paused briefly. “Mister Sun, come with me to the relaxation room. I’ll spare you five minutes.”

“Absolutely. Thank you, Mister Xia.” Sun Wen sighed in relief, immediately following Xia Lei into the mentioned room.

After the two men disappeared out of sight, Liang Siyao slid her phone out. She dialled a number and skillfully placed a palm over her lips and spoke in a hushed tone, “Sister Fan Fan, a man named Sun Wen has paid us a visit and is demanding a sample of our man’s semen. Can you run a background check on this person?”

Fan Fan’s voice came ringing over the device. “Sun Wen... Sure, I’ll take a look. Oh right, I bought a few abalones. Let’s have them for dinner, yes?”

“Abalone? Sure. That reminds me! Can you buy me a few facial masks on your way home...”

The two women continued to chat, moving their topic from official affairs to mundane things.

Before long, the door of the relaxation room was opened to allow Sun Wen’s exit. The man lowered his head and closed the door behind his back.

Liang Siyao watched him curiously and thought, “So soon?”

At this moment, Xia Lei’s face peeked out from behind the door. “Siyao, could you come in and do me a favour.”

Liang Siyao was at a total loss for words.

Four in the afternoon.

Li Youdun had finally appeared in the Thunder Horse’s material laboratory. He did not grace anyone with greetings, heading straight for his office in a beeline.

The scientist’s sudden presence triggered a round of heated discussion among the laboratory technicians.

“What is going on with Leader Li?”

“Yeah, he’s been so weird recently.”

“Hey, quit gossiping and do your work. The new material workshop is about to be done with construction. We still have much to do.”

“Jeez, this is prime time for Leader Li to boost our morale. He’s blatantly ignoring us.”

“Well, he’s the leader of our department after all.”

Xia Lei ended his X-ray vision in Li Youdun’s office. The sounds of the discussions were only natural with the given circumstances. Plus, he wasn’t here in the material laboratory to lead the technicians as Li Youdun. Xia Lei was merely here in preparation for his operation tonight.

One thing was certain. When Xia Lei was away in Israel and the Mediterranean, Yang Shan and Sperry had attempted to make contact with Li Youdun. Now that his death was debunked, the CIA must’ve had its panties in a twist to figure out if Li Youdun’s identity was exposed. With that, it was safe to assume that the CIA informant base would definitely try to establish contact with Li Youdun.

In the process of waiting, Xia Lei utilized the time to work on some official matters. Now that the new material and drone workshops were about to be completed, Xia Lei’s workload was immense. He did not have the time to lounge around and wait idly by.

One hour later, a white messenger pigeon landed on the branch outside the window. It noticed Li Youdun’s presence and allowed itself into the office.

From the responses of the pigeon, it was obvious that the training it received was extraordinary.

Xia Lei retrieved the note from the bird. Same as before, its content was numbers. At this point, there was no need for him to even flip through L’Île mystérieuse in his mind to decipher it. Tonight, eight p.m., meet at the safehouse.

Xia Lei tossed the note into the bin and stuffed another note into the pigeon’s anklet. I will be there on time.

The pigeon took flight out of the window and disappeared into the sky within a blink of the eye.

Xia Lei left the office, making a call as he exited the laboratory.

“Yuyan, it’s me.” Xia Lei continued, “I received their message. They want me to meet them at the safe house at eight tonight.”

“What was your reply?” Tang Yuyan asked over the line.

“I told them that I would be there at eight sharp,” answered Xia Lei.

“Do not go. All we need is a confirmation of their location. Move with me. Do not operate alone.”

“We’ll discuss this over when we meet. I’ll be there right away.” Xia Lei ended the call hastily.

One hour later, a Cavalier XV arrived at Bureau 101’s compound. Xia Lei left the vehicle, immediately greeted by Tang Yuyan who was already waiting in the parking lot earlier.

“I’m done with preparations. Field agents are already on standby in the area. The operation will begin with our presence,” said Tang Yuyan.

Xia Lei matched her pace, speaking as they walked. “It’s best to capture them alive. That way we’ll be able to lure them out.”

Tang Yuyan rejected. “No, that’s way too risky. The area is under our control. There’s no way they’d escape us. Suicide requires courage and I’m sure they wouldn’t opt for that path.”

Xia Lei followed Tang Yuyan into Bureau 101’s central control centre. On the wall was a gigantic screen that displayed surveillance feedback from around Freedom EDM Music Bar. The bar was situated on a bustling street with lots of traffic. From the screen, it seems that the area was rather peaceful. There was nothing out of the ordinary. However, all it took was a careful look for Xia Lei to pinpoint a few suspicious figures. Evidently, those were field agents under Bureau 101.

There were tens of well-equipped armed combatants in the central control centre. Tang Bochuan was in the middle of a sand table brief, not forgetting to explain their respective tactical arrangements. Shi Boren supervised the man from the side, interjecting occasionally to offer an opinion or two.

Tang Yuyan led Xia Lei over. “Godfather, brother, Xia Lei is here.”

Tang Bochuan greeted him with a nod before resuming his sand table exercise.

Shi Boren approached them and graced Xia Lei with a straightforward remark. “You sure are capable, kid. You managed to locate the CIA’s Jingdu informant base and even found their safehouse. The Bureau 101 has been working on this for years.”

Xia Lei replied, “That’s not too weird. The CIA too does not know that Bureau 101 has informant bases and safehouses in New York and Washington. Fate has its ways.”

“Hahaha...” Shi Boren laughed. “Damn, you really are using fate to explain this. But I have to admit that you do make sense. Other than fate, you really have nothing to offer as an explanation?”

Xia Lei shook his head. “Nope.”

Shi Boren furrowed his brows. “You’re lying again.”

Xia Lei merely smiled and offered nothing else.

Tang Bochuan’s sand table exercise ended in a jiffy. Under his instruction, the combatants had left the central control centre to board their vehicle and await further command.

“Alright, I’m done here.” Tang Bochuan grinned at them. “Leader Tang, your instructions please.”

Tang Yuyan rolled her eyes at her sibling. “Lead the combatants discreetly into the targeted area. Me and Xia Lei will be there not long after.”

“Got it, I’ll be off then.” Tang Bochuan left, stopping briefly as his shoulder brushed against Xia Lei. He inclined over and whispered, “She recovers faster when she’s with you. Look at her, she doesn’t even remotely look like a patient anymore. I’m going to hand her over to you, please take good care of her.”

Xia Lei did not know of an appropriate reply, only able to return a small polite smile.

Tang Yuyan spoke again, “Xia Lei, let’s use my car instead of your Cavalier XV. Your car is too attention-grabbing. It’s not great for an operation.”

“Sure.”

“Godfather, sit back and relax here and await our reports, yeah?” Tang Yuyan turned to look at Shi Boren.

The older man reminded, “Be careful. If they resist, just kill them off.”

“I understand.” Tang Yuyan turned and left.

“Goodbye, Boss Shi.” Xia Lei excused himself.

Shi Boren watched their retreating backs in silence. It was only then when they were out of sight that he sighed audibly. “They make such a great pair. Why is there no future there?”

Minutes later, three vans that carried combatants began moving out of the Bureau 101 headquarters. Following that, Tang Yuyan ignited the engine of her unassuming Hongqi car and exited the premise for the targeted area.

“Are you... feeling better?” Xia Lei tried to diffuse the stifling silence.

“I’m alright. What about the wound on your wrist?” Tang Yuyan spared Xia Lei’s arm a quick look. There was no dressing around his wrist but his sleeves were obstructing further inspection. Tang Yuyan could not see the wound.

“Oh, it’s alright. It has already formed a scar,” answered Xia Lei.

That concluded their conversation. The car ride was nothing but awkward.

Footnote: Author’s menstrual cycle/ovulation calculation is completely wrong.