Dude, something's really wrong with your abilities.

Chapter 68 The Person Has Disappeared

The program continued one after another, and after waiting for another ten minutes or so, it was finally Xu Man from the archives room's turn to go on stage.

She performed a simple mind-reading magic trick, the kind anyone could learn in half an hour online. The performance was decent, without any highlights or mistakes.

But it was obvious to everyone that Xu Man was tense throughout. Standing under the spotlight, her hands and feet were visibly stiff, her movements were restrained, and even her speaking speed was much faster than usual. She also avoided looking directly at the audience.

After observing for a moment, Chen Shi turned to Sun Tiemei and gently shook his head.

Xu Man's nervousness was the kind of stage fright that ordinary people experience when they go on stage. Her emotional fluctuations were very real and obvious, so she can be ruled out as a suspect for the time being.

Following closely behind was Zhang Yue from the intelligence department. His performance had nothing to do with his special ability. After going on stage, he didn't say a word, but immediately did twenty backflips in a row, and then performed a set of unknown boxing techniques.

The clean and crisp martial arts moves instantly ignited the entire audience, eliciting continuous applause and cheers.

Previously, Sun Du, the head of the intelligence department, had a disastrous singing performance on stage. His off-key and quirky voice became the laughing stock of the entire audience, leaving him embarrassed for most of the evening.

Seeing Zhang Yue from his department make a brilliant appearance and win applause, Section Chief Sun's embarrassment vanished, and he sat in his seat, grinning from ear to ear.

Zhang Yue's stage performance was much better than Xu Man's, but Chen Shi still didn't notice anything unusual.

At this moment, he felt a pang of insecurity. He had been the one to propose and request that Director Liu approve the arrangements for tonight's event, confident that the pressure of public exposure would force the mole to reveal his weaknesses. But now, the two key suspects had taken the stage one after the other, and both appeared perfectly fine.

If Zhao Lei, who was the last to go on stage, also couldn't be found to have any abnormalities, then all his deductions and plans would have been nothing but nonsense.

Thinking back to his previous confident assertions, Chen Shi even mentally planned how to make amends to Director Liu and how to argue his way out so as not to embarrass himself too much.

After enduring two more unremarkable performances, it was finally Zhao Lei's turn to take the stage. After the host introduced the program, the stage lights came on, and the music started.

But after more than ten seconds, no one came on stage, and the audience looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Something's happened." Sun Tiemei looked up and met Liu Ju's eyes in the first row. The next second, Sun Tiemei stood up and called for all the members of Group Five to follow her, and they walked quickly backstage.

There was only one makeup artist in the makeshift dressing room backstage, and Zhao Lei's writing tools and other props were neatly arranged on the table.

"Where are the others?"

The makeup artist, who had been hired from outside, looked bewildered: "I was almost finished with his makeup when he suddenly said he had to go out to answer a phone call, and then he never came back."

Fatty: "Can you answer the phone if no one's there?"

Sun Tiemei shook her head: "There are guards at all the entrances and exits of the bureau tonight, he should still be inside."

Despite saying that, the group quickly scanned all the backstage corridors, rest rooms, and storage rooms, but found no one there.

At this moment, Director Liu also arrived backstage. After quickly understanding the situation, Director Liu directly ordered: "The second and fourth field teams will cooperate with the fifth team to search, expanding the search area to the entire Supernatural Abilities Bureau."

Half an hour passed, and they searched every office in the entire Superpower Bureau, including the corridors, basements, and even the ventilation ducts, but they still couldn't find anything.

A perfectly healthy person vanished into thin air, despite the presence of guards at all exits of the Bureau of Supernatural Abilities.

The evening party was still going on as usual. Only Sun Tiemei and Chen Shi stood beside Director Liu. His face was grim: "Fleeing to escape punishment?"

Sun Tiemei shook her head: "It's too early to make a definitive judgment. Based on Xu Man and Zhang Yue's previous condition, Chen Shi judged that they were fine."

Not only Sun Tiemei, but also Director Liu himself, when they first learned of Zhao Lei's disappearance, subconsciously assumed that Zhao Lei was the mole.

Of the three key suspects, two obediently went on stage and performed normally, but the last one, Zhao Lei, disappeared just before going on stage. The timing was so coincidental that anyone who saw it would think he had escaped.

Only Chen Shi sensed something was amiss. If the General Administration's investigation team's speculation was correct, then this mole's core ability was to minimize his presence, and his greatest skill was to remain low-key and invisible. Therefore, what he feared most was being exposed in public and being constantly watched.

If Zhao Lei were truly the mole, he would never have disappeared in such a public setting as a gala, under the watchful eyes of everyone.

His disappearance was too conspicuous and deliberate, completely contradicting the logic of his supernatural abilities.

This is something a mole who has been lying in wait for years would never do, because it would be tantamount to self-destruction, which is too stupid.

The tangled mess in Chen Shi's mind gradually became clearer. This didn't seem like someone fleeing to escape punishment; it seemed more like someone had suspiciously orchestrated a flaw.

He leaned closer to Director Liu and Sun Tiemei and whispered, "Director Liu, Team Leader, I suspect Zhao Lei is being controlled by someone."

Director Liu's eyes flickered: "What's the reason?"

Chen Shi repeated his analysis from earlier and continued.

"Our plan tonight seems secretive, but the real mole in the bureau may have already figured it out." Chen Shi's speech became faster and faster. "He is an extremely intelligent person, otherwise he could not have infiltrated the bureau for so many years without revealing the slightest flaw."

"He knew we were watching Zhao Lei and the other two, and he also knew we wanted to expose them in public to force them to reveal their weaknesses. So he simply played along and acted out our plan."

"Moreover, taking advantage of the crowd and chaos at the party, he quietly controlled and hid Zhao Lei, deliberately making him disappear at the exact time he was about to go on stage, creating the illusion that he was running away out of guilt."

"To frame someone."

"Yes." Chen Shi nodded. "His purpose was very clear: to deliberately create irrefutable evidence, to make us all fixate on Zhao Lei, to pin all suspicion on him, and to hastily close the case."

"Once we've confirmed that Zhao Lei is the mole and ended all the investigations, the real mastermind can rest easy and continue to hide safely in the bureau, and for the time being, no one will continue to investigate."

Director Liu's face was grim: "You mean, from the very beginning of our investigation, we've been led by the nose?"

"There's a high probability," Chen Shi frankly admitted that he had oversimplified the problem. "As it stands, the three suspects screened out by the General Administration's Inspection Section are probably all innocent. They're not the leakers, but rather pawns carefully chosen in advance by the mole to take the blame."

This conclusion is extremely bold, directly overturning all the investigation directions and work results of the Supervision Section over the past few months.

All investigations are reset to zero.

At this moment, Director Liu did not dwell on right or wrong. As a high-ranking official, his judgment was extremely decisive, and he quickly issued the latest instructions.

"The party is immediately stopped. Everyone stay where you are and do not move. The bureau's security team will review all the surveillance footage and verify everyone's movements. In addition, everything that happened tonight must not be leaked."

Upon receiving the order, the three field teams on site immediately sprang into action and began operating at high speed.

Director Liu, Sun Tiemei, and Chen Shi stood still.

Their carefully laid trap tonight failed to lure out the hidden mole.

On the contrary, the person hidden in the shadows calmly and decisively outmaneuvered everyone.