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At a construction contracting company located in the heart of Lampang Province, nearly 150 employees worked in the building. This morning was yet another day when Tonnam was called into his department head's office. Tonnam Kanathip was one of the employees responsible for maintaining the company's systems and operations. After graduating from university, he had been approached by someone from the company and invited to join the team. He had now been working there for nearly six years. Tonnam was exceptionally intelligent. His work was always highly appreciated, and the company had repeatedly wanted him to take the position of IT department manager. However, he was the one who kept turning the offer down. His reason was simple. "Even as an ordinary employee, I already have more work than I can handle. If you make me a manager too, I might as well forget about sleeping." On top of that, he was still attending university. This was his final year of pursuing his PhD. "Ton, the company's internal system has been hacked twice this month already. Do you have any explanation for this?" Somjet, the head of the IT department, asked him in an even, calm voice. "I don't have any explanation. I'll leave it up to you to decide what you think is appropriate, sir." Tonnam answered his department head with an expressionless face. "I just want to know how the bidding information was leaked. And regarding the hacking, I know how much effort you've put into protecting the system. But why has our competitor been able to break into our data so easily this month?" Somjet tried to question him as calmly as possible. "I think you probably know the answer better than I do, sir." That was all Tonnam said, but it was enough to make his meaning clear. "In that case, take about two weeks of vacation and come back to work afterward. I'll announce that you've resigned, and I'll find whoever is responsible for this as quickly as possible." Somjet spoke to Tonnam, who stood quietly listening to him. The previous night, in the middle of the night, Phong had called him to report that the system had been hacked and that the information stolen by their competitor was related to an upcoming construction bidding project scheduled to take place in just two days. Somjet knew for certain that Tonnam would never do something like that, but he had no idea what the real cause was. That was why he had called Tonnam into his office that morning to talk. However, Tonnam hadn't said much, leaving Somjet with no choice but to have him submit a resignation letter himself rather than firing him. Deep down, Somjet knew that Tonnam had been exceptionally capable ever since he graduated. He had never once shown any intention of harming anyone in the company. Tonnam had a close friend named Phong, who had joined the company later. As far as Somjet knew, Phong had graduated from the same university as Tonnam. Tonnam had always been an outstanding student. He graduated with first-class honors and an impressive GPA of 3.98. He was now pursuing a PhD, specializing in Graphic, Multimedia, and Data, and had only one more year left before graduation. Lately, however, the relationship between Tonnam and Phong had become increasingly strained. Somjet didn't know why Phong had started scrutinizing Tonnam so intensely. But as the department head responsible for both of them, he couldn't interfere in their personal matters. Tonnam opened the door and walked straight to his desk at the very back of the department. It was a quiet corner, away from most of the activity during working hours. He quickly fixed the system and reset everything before opening a bug-tracking program designed to monitor the opposing side. He then sent the link to his department head. Whenever someone attempted to hack into the system, the monitoring program would immediately send an alert to the department head's phone. Once everything was taken care of, Tonnam began packing all of his belongings into a box. When he heard the notification indicating that his message had received a reply, he opened it and checked the response before shutting down his computer. Carrying the box, he walked toward the front of the company. The employees began whispering about him from the moment he left the IT department until he reached the ground floor. Tonnam paid no attention to them. He stood outside, waiting for the car he had called earlier, and eventually sat down on a bench in front of the company. After a while, a black van pulled up in front of him. "Are you Mr. Tonnam?" The driver rolled down the window and asked him. "Yes?" Tonnam tilted his head and looked at the driver suspiciously. The car he had called was supposed to be his regular taxi, but this vehicle wasn't it. He didn't know these people at all. "Someone would like to meet you, Mr. Tonnam. Please come with us." The driver told him. "I'm sorry, but I have an important appointment. I really can't go with you. The person I'm meeting should be arriving soon." Tonnam answered as he stood up, preparing to walk away toward the security guard's post. But at that moment, the security guard wasn't at his desk. Tonnam had no choice but to change direction and hurry back toward the company's entrance. Seeing that things were not going according to plan, the driver immediately signaled the people inside the van to proceed. A tall man wearing a dark blue suit pretended to follow Tonnam, making it look as though he were chasing after a girlfriend who was upset with him. But once he got close enough, he suddenly pulled out a handkerchief soaked with anesthetic and pressed it over Tonnam's nose. The things in Tonnam's hands fell to the ground. He immediately struggled, desperately trying to escape. As he began to have difficulty breathing, he instinctively took a deep breath—and inhaled the anesthetic. It took less than twenty seconds. Tonnam looked at the tall man supporting his body with a strong arm before his consciousness suddenly faded away. The man in the suit quickly carried him into the van. The driver was already waiting. He stepped on the accelerator and sped away immediately. "Ahhhhh!" A female employee screamed. She had been on her way to pick up an order from a shop when she reached the front entrance and witnessed the entire incident. She had seen a tall, broad-shouldered man wearing a black mask and sunglasses carry Tonnam into the black van before speeding away. The security guard, who had been inside getting a drink of water, heard her scream and immediately ran toward her. "Ms. Liu, what happened?" The security guard asked as soon as he reached her. "Uncle Theep! Call the police! Someone kidn*pped Ton! They took him away!" Liu stammered as she spoke to the security guard. "All right. Ms. Liu, you should hurry and report this to Mr. Somjet first." Uncle Theep quickly reminded her before rushing to his desk and dialing the police station's emergency number to report the incident. Click, click, click. The sound of Liu's high heels echoed against the floor as she ran into the department. "Where's Mr. Somjet?" Liu shouted as soon as she reached the IT department, immediately asking everyone. "The boss went to see the president in his office." An employee sitting near the entrance to Somjet's office answered her. Liu turned around and immediately ran toward the elevator. As soon as the elevator doors opened, she headed straight for the president's office. She knocked on the door two or three times before opening it without waiting for permission. "What is it, Ms. Liu? Why didn't you wait for the president to give you permission to enter?" Somjet immediately scolded her when he saw his subordinate barging into the room without manners. "Brother Jes! Someone we don't know kidn*pped Ton! They put him in a black van! Hah... hah..." She ignored the scolding and rushed to tell them what had happened before stopping to catch her breath. "What?! When was Tonnam kidn*pped?" The owner of the office asked her in a tense voice. "Just a little while ago. Uncle Theep has already called the police. I came running here to tell you immediately." Liu had finally caught her breath and was able to speak more clearly. "Jes, go to the police station immediately and ask for access to the traffic surveillance footage. Find out which direction they took Tonnam. You come with me and check the company's CCTV." The president immediately assigned them their tasks before hurrying toward the surveillance control room. Once they arrived, they began going through the footage from the time Tonnam had been kidn*pped. Liu searched for the kidnappers until she spotted the familiar-looking van pulling up. She pointed at the exact moment when Tonnam had been forced into the vehicle. Then she looked closely at the license plate. It was registered in Loei Province. She quickly found a piece of paper and wrote down the license plate number. Meanwhile, Somjet hurried downstairs and drove to the nearest police station. He reported the incident and requested access to the traffic surveillance cameras, but the procedures were rather complicated. When one of the police officers received the report about a k********g that had occurred nearby, Somjet immediately approached him and asked for permission to access the traffic control room. He followed the surveillance footage from the front of the company all the way to a deserted road. The van drove into that isolated route and never came back out. However, four or five other cars—sedans and pickup trucks—emerged from the area and went in different directions. This caused him to lose a great deal of time, and he couldn't obtain any additional useful information. In the end, Somjet excused himself and returned to the company. The police told him they would continue investigating the case. Somjet thanked them before walking back to his car and heading to the company. When he arrived, Somjet shut himself away in his office, trying to figure out where he had gone wrong. "What are you doing, Boss?" Phong walked into Somjet's office. Seeing that the door was open, he simply entered without asking permission. "Tonnam was kidnapped." Somjet answered in a tense voice. The moment he saw Phong's face, he immediately stood up and walked out of his own office. Phong stood motionless for a while. Then he picked up his bag and prepared to leave. Before going outside, he told the coworker sitting beside him that he was going to the hospital for a doctor's appointment. He also said that he had submitted a leave request the day before and that the boss had already approved it. His coworker nodded in acknowledgment. Phong slung his bag over his shoulder, walked out of the company, and immediately hailed a taxi.