My Wife is Actually a top-tier Soldier King?!
Chapter 990 - 990 961 Astonishing Thief!

990: Chapter 961: Astonishing Thief!

The Tag-Along!

990: Chapter 961: Astonishing Thief!

The Tag-Along!

The dedicated car sped all the way.

And on the way,

Du complained a lot to Wu Jie.

Zheng now enjoyed unlimited glory, having brilliantly handled the Kong Family case in Liuli City.

He played a game of catching by letting go, seemingly allowing the tiger to return to the mountains, but actually it was a long-line strategy for catching a big fish.

He not only lured out a good number of the Kong Family remnants but also caught Kong Heng red-handed, leaving him no room for denial.

He truly made a great contribution and received heavy praise from Elder Tan.

On top of that, he managed to set up the Skynet System, which greatly benefited various departments and industries in integrating information networks for anti-corruption efforts, crime prevention, and public sentiment monitoring, earning him yet another commendation.

Comparing oneself to another could be maddening.

Du was truly envious at heart, almost drooling with desire.

And now,

Hearing that Wu Jie was coming to Liuli City and looking for help in procuring some sort of special industrial materials,

Du showed up uninvited, volunteering to pick him up at the airport.

Taking advantage of unstable international circumstances, he had been letting people fish in troubled waters and obtained quite a few goodies.

For instance, many advanced aeronautical and aerospace engines, high-performance electronic components, advanced machining equipment…

And it wasn’t just equipment – there were all sorts of detailed technical data on design, manufacturing, maintenance, and upgrading.

Some factories that had obtained the data had already manufactured products that were not inferior to the originals.

Of course,

If one volunteers too eagerly without cause, it’s either conspiracy or theft.

Du’s enthusiastic help, of course, had ulterior motives.

He knew that Wu Jie moved in and out of the cyber world with ease, like an invincible King, with no defense system capable of stopping him.

Du, eager to make a name for himself and to redeem his reputation, was determined to find that nuclear warhead early.

If he couldn’t do it himself, then he would pull in external assistance.

Du was so eager to pick up Wu Jie because he had prepared himself to be persistently annoying until he obtained Wu Jie’s assistance.

And of course, Wu Jie was not pretentious.

Du was proactive and especially enthusiastic; with all the materials and intelligence they had gathered, Wu Jie was free to look and choose as he pleased.

As the saying goes,

Never hit a smiling face.

With Du making such overtures, could Wu Jie put on airs and act like a prima donna?

They were so familiar; he couldn’t just stand by and watch Du drown, could he?

Moreover, since the nuclear warhead was still missing, it posed a significant threat to his and his family’s safety and well-being.

But the case was truly not ordinary.

It was not complex, just that a certain country’s intercontinental missile had been illicitly dismantled, and the three nuclear warheads it was carrying had disappeared.

The method was professional – there were no excessive signs of forced entry at the scene, it was definitely the work of experts, familiar and professionally swift.

But here was the problem…

That nuclear weapons base had gone through wars and conflicts, riddled with casualties.

Dead men tell no tales, so who would know if it had an inside job?

Who collaborated with outside forces to dismantle and take away the nuclear warheads?

Or could it have been former soldiers who once served at the base that had come back?

As a result,

The international crime seemed simple, but there were literally zero clues.

It was impossible to discover anything at that nuclear base anymore; too many days had passed, the crime scene was already compromised, and the personnel composition and movement were too complex, a web of thousands of threads, with no starting point to unravel it.

Moreover, since it was an international case across countries, Du could not simply send people to investigate onsite, nor did he have the authority to detain and isolate them for interrogation.

This case had to take a different approach.

Du’s method was “casting a wide net to catch more fish.”

The base for the nuclear weapons was remote and heavily guarded; the fact that the criminal gang could pinpoint its location and silently dismantle and remove the nuclear warheads indicated that, well before the incident, there had already been a mole within the base’s personnel, waiting prepared.

The mole, having made ready for the act, must have held a not-so-low rank and served a long time; otherwise, they would not have known the base’s security regulations and patrol deployments well enough to commit the crime so smoothly and undetected.

With more than 3,000 personnel, that meant there were 3,000 suspects – investigate each thoroughly, and some clues should emerge.

Moreover, the gang that stole the nuclear warhead must have had someone knowledgeable about nuclear weapons; otherwise, they wouldn’t know how to use it or modify it further and wouldn’t have managed to professionally and swiftly dismantle and take it so competently.

It’s like car thieves must know how to drive, right?

If they don’t, how would they steal the car?

And, conceivably, they certainly must know about picking locks, hotwiring, etc., or else they couldn’t steal at all.

Then there’s the motive of the criminal gang, expending great effort to take away a massive weapon – it couldn’t just be for fun.

As the saying goes, all hustle and bustle is for profit.

Big actions must have big conspiracies, and a weapon of such destruction must carry huge benefits.

Their failure to trigger an explosion or create a dirty bomb thus far suggests that they weren’t any radical terrorist organization.

In fact, those radical terrorist groups that are prone to suicide bombs and kidnappings for ransom are typically a disorganized lot, without the capacity to steal nuclear warheads.

Just like low-end thugs who are good at brawling and swearing, but understand high-intelligence crime?

Such a competent criminal gang, having obtained a nuclear warhead and not using it right away, must surely have profit in mind.

Could it be that they secretly installed it in some city, threatening and extorting something?

For instance, aiming for political gains?

Or perhaps they were negotiating with certain powers, wanting to sell it off?

But such a ferocious weapon would not come cheap.

It was not something the average person could afford.

There used to be rumors that nuclear warheads were for sale on the International Black Market Network, with a price tag of up to a billion Gold Coins.

Not only did no one buy them, but it was eventually confirmed as bluster on the seller’s part.

Those warheads would not actually explode; they were just made to look like warheads using nuclear waste, which would only result in localized radioactive dust contamination if detonated.

Of course, before long, that seller had the authorities ‘checking the water meter’ at his door.

But today, there are indeed nuclear warheads missing, with no rumors at all.

It’s estimated that the criminal gangs would not be foolish enough to peddle them openly on the black market.

Rather, they’d communicate privately, looking for the right buyer.

Therefore, it’s essential to closely monitor wealthy and motivated extremist groups; they’re the most likely purchasers.

After all, what would ordinary people do with a nuclear warhead?

Set it off as fireworks during the holidays?

In short.

Du’s approach was simple and crude.

More screening, more surveillance, more eavesdropping, more analysis…

Summed up in four words: Finding a needle in a haystack!

Such extreme demands meant that the War Statistics Institute’s manpower was insufficient.

They couldn’t complete the task even if they worked to death.

So, Du thought of the Security Bureau’s Skynet System, and of Wu Jie, the genius who developed it.

Hoping Wu Jie could help develop an intelligence collection and analysis system.

That could help integrate various intelligence reports of the War Statistics Institute.

Utilizing spy satellites, electronic surveillance satellites, ocean reconnaissance ships, and electronic reconnaissance aircraft, among other sophisticated equipment.

And the spies lurking around the world, risking their lives to send back various pieces of intelligence.

That could efficiently and quickly analyze and extract useful information from a deluge of data.

And the complexity Du spoke of, in Wu Jie’s eyes, was just four words: “Monitor the globe.”

This is an age of high information technology.

Almost everyone has a mobile phone for communication, entertainment, and cannot do without the convenient Internet.

A mastermind criminal capable of stealing a nuclear warhead would certainly not be a ‘primitive person’ who doesn’t use mobile phones and computers.

Quite the contrary, they would be an expert and definitely know various anti-surveillance and anti-eavesdropping techniques.

To quietly perform massive data analysis and processing on financial transactions, text messages, phone communications, online chats, etc., it’s not impossible to catch these thieves.

After all, they wouldn’t go through all the trouble of acquiring a warhead to just hide it away as an art piece, never to use or sell it.

These thieves are hard to find, but keeping an eye on potential buyers might lead to tracing the source and finding the warhead.

If they plan to use it themselves, to threaten or extort, rapid tracking and positioning of communications could be possible.

Anyway.

Du’s eagerness to achieve was more than evident.

And such a system was urgently desired.

Although global monitoring seems unethical, without anyone’s permission, in reality, the top nations have always kept surveillance on suspicious targets.

Otherwise, why would they have so many types of spy satellites, listening stations, and reconnaissance ships?

Occasionally sending out electronic reconnaissance aircraft to loiter around other countries’ airspace – is that merely tourism?

Monitor but do not leak, eavesdrop but do not interfere.

As long as this principle is followed, how would the average person know?

After all, Zheng always muttered about doing everything for world peace, for humanity’s safety.

What more could Wu Jie say?

…

Chit-chatting along the way.

Du had great hopes for Wu Jie.

Seemingly afraid that Wu Jie would change his mind or get busy with other matters.

He kept following Wu Jie everywhere, to meals, the restroom, to conferences.

Wu Jie interacted with many material field experts and academicians, and Du sat by, listening in.

After the meetings, when Wu Jie met with Elder Tan alone, he stood guard outside like a watchman.

With such inseparability, how could he trade intelligence with Xu Feng?

Out of necessity, Wu Jie had to bring along the ‘clingy’ Du to meet Xu Feng.

Fortunately, the information purchasing fees could go on Du’s account – whose eagerness to merit was to blame?

Besides, didn’t the War Statistics Institute have plenty of money?

Owning several spy satellites costing billions each, did it look like a cash-strapped, austere government office?

To avoid frightening Xu Feng, Du even made himself up, pretending to be Wu Jie’s driver, and went to the underground parking lot of a large shopping mall where they had agreed to meet.

Xu Feng, desperate to make quick money, naturally kept his promise and came alone, running over enthusiastically with his laptop.

But his counter-surveillance awareness was too weak; he didn’t even notice he was being followed.

An open attack can be evaded, but a hidden one is hard to guard against.

Would a minor intelligence transaction between him and Xu Feng actually trigger a bloody battle?

Who would be so ruthless?

To not even give face to me?

Silently, Wu Jie ordered Phantom to act, the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind…