My heart pounded as I devoured all the materials in one go. I felt my blood pressure rising rapidly, and my ears seemed to be drumming.

I never imagined my father would be involved in such a dangerous project. Without the backing of government forces, the Z organization instead had more resources and channels for acquiring information. Its clandestine activities could all be carried out under the guise of "legitimate" projects.

I needed to know Zoe Mormon's purpose in coming here. If she was with the Z organization and wanted to use me, she wouldn't have shown me these core secret materials. Moreover, I had a vague feeling that she came to me because she had encountered something very troublesome that required my help.

Without delay, I handed over my work to Liu Wei, saying that I had to go out for a period of time and that he would be responsible for managing the company during my absence.

At a quarter past four in the afternoon, after finishing my work, I took a taxi home, intending to search through my father's belongings again, hoping to find some clues. In my memory, the letters my father sent back were carefully preserved by my mother. After her death, my father's belongings, along with my mother's, were placed in a shoebox and tucked away in an inconspicuous corner under the bed. My father's workplace had built a tube-shaped building, and our family used to live in the apartment allocated to my father. After my parents passed away, I didn't move. One reason was that the people here were my father's former colleagues and took good care of me. The other reason was that I was familiar with the people and things around me, which made life easier.

When I arrived at my door, I noticed something was amiss. The door seemed to be ajar, but I clearly remembered locking it when I left in the morning. I pushed the door slightly, and it opened.

The room was a mess, as if someone had come in and rummaged through it. I rushed inside and found that the cabinet by the bed had been pried open. A small iron box containing all my savings, hidden in the cabinet, had been opened. Passbooks and cash were scattered all over the floor, but unexpectedly, all the passbooks were there, and not a penny was missing.

A burglary, but not for money?

I suddenly thought of what Zoe Mormon had said, and thought, is trouble here already? I immediately lay on the floor and looked under the bed. It was pitch black under the bed. I picked up the feather duster that had been thrown on the floor and poked around under the bed for a long time before finally pulling out a dusty shoebox.

Everything inside the shoebox was still there, including my mother's few belongings and my father's letters. My father's letters were tucked into a notebook, which I hadn't opened before. As I recalled, it should be my father's work notebook.

Just as I was about to call the police, Zoe Mormon appeared at my door. She was wearing baggy sportswear, and instead of high heels, she was wearing a pair of snow-white sneakers. A baseball cap covered her blonde hair and obscured her face. Beside her was another woman, also dressed in the same way.

As I was about to speak, Zoe Mormon quickly made a gesture to silence me, then found paper and pen and wrote:

"Someone is listening. Don't talk."

After writing, she looked up at me, and after confirming that I had seen the words, she continued to write:

"You're being watched. Take your important belongings and leave quickly."

I didn't think too much and chose to trust Zoe's words directly. I quickly found the small suitcase I used for previous business trips, and dumped everything from the shoebox, as well as the passbooks and cash, into it. I looked around and stuffed the more important things in, just enough to fill the small suitcase.

I nodded to Zoe, and she put a baseball cap on me that was the same as hers. The brim was pulled down very low, and she led me away.

We came to a place about 100 meters away from my house. Zoe led me to a parking lot and got into a jeep. I carried the suitcase and sat directly in the back seat.

Zoe threw me a set of sportswear and a pair of sneakers from the passenger seat, asking me to change. I refused, because I had never changed clothes in front of strange women, let alone two strange women.

Zoe frowned and said to me with a slightly contemptuous look, "No one's looking at you. This is a matter of life and death. Don't be so shy."

The two of them were indeed not paying attention to me, but were instead focusing on the tube-shaped building where I lived. The woman in the driver's seat was even looking at it through professional binoculars. So, while their attention was not on me, I quickly changed my clothes and shoes.

Not long after I changed, the woman in the driver's seat threw the binoculars to me and said, "Take a look for yourself."

I raised the binoculars and looked towards the tube-shaped building. I saw two ordinary-looking men quietly opening my door and sneaking in. They came out a little while later, and one of them stomped his feet and punched the wall in frustration.

Seeing others entering and leaving my house at will, I subconsciously wanted to call the police, so I took out my phone and prepared to dial 110. At this time, Zoe stopped me, snatched the phone, removed the battery, and threw it aside.

"Can't I even call the police?"

Zoe shook her head and said to the woman next to her, "Let's go."

Then, looking at me, she said very seriously, "Mr. Zhao, I'll explain to you on the way."

The jeep's engine was very loud. After a burst of rumbling, the car drove onto the main road.

Zoe and the strange woman driving didn't tell me the destination. I sat anxiously in the back seat, looking around at the direction the car was heading.

The jeep drove out of the city and headed south along the national highway. After leaving the city, Zoe returned the phone to me and said, "Don't call the police. Your phone may be bugged. Take the battery out after you make the call."

As soon as the phone was turned on, I received a call from Liu Wei. As soon as I answered, Liu Wei's anxious voice came from the other end of the phone, "Chenguang, why did you turn off your phone just now? Oh dear, something happened, and I have to tell you about it."

"What's wrong?" I asked with concern.

"Half an hour ago, a group of masked people broke into the company. They kicked down the door of your office without saying a word, and then ransacked it. Zhang Meng and Liu Lin tried to stop them and were beaten... Before leaving, they also took two boxes of things from your office."

Liu Wei's voice was hoarse, and I could hear his anxiety.

"It's okay. There's nothing valuable in my office. The contracts and plans are all with you," I comforted him.

"Um... um... The police are here and are investigating the situation. I'll call you if there are any new developments."

"Uh... I have to go on a long trip recently, and my phone may not have a signal. You take care of these things."

"Oh, this? Okay."

I exchanged a few more pleasantries with Liu Wei and ended the call. I followed Zoe's instructions, turned off the phone, and removed the battery.

Seeing that I had finished the call, Zoe gave a wink to the woman next to her, and the woman pulled the car over to the side of the road. Zoe quickly switched from the front seat to the back seat and sat next to me.