Episode Summary
A multi-layered plot unfolds as protestors are used as a cover for a sophisticated scheme to manipulate the stock market by sabotaging a data center. The Financial Secretary, Wong Tung-hoi, narrowly avoids the trap but is later targeted in a violent attack. During the chaos, officer Chiu Siu-tong is critically injured, leaving his colleagues to protect his family while hiding the truth of his condition from his ailing wife.
Spoiler Alert
Homeland Guardian: Episode 9 Spoilers
The situation intensifies as a calculated plot to manipulate the stock market puts the Financial Secretary in the crosshairs, leading to a violent confrontation that leaves one of Car 3's own in critical condition.
The episode opens on a personal note for Ho Ho-fai, who, after buying a positioning phone with his son, has a chance encounter with Hung Je. Her husband, Chiu Siu-tong, has been secretly following her out of concern for her deteriorating health and awkwardly plays off the meeting as a coincidence. Witnessing his wife's condition, Chiu advises Ho to cherish the time he has with his family.
Later, Car 3 is dispatched to a heated family dispute where a man is assaulting his lazy younger brother. Ho Ho-fai, moved by the pleas of their elderly mother, decides to let the brothers go. This decision irks his subordinate, Shiu Tsz-chun, who believes it's more than a simple domestic issue. Ho calmly explains that arresting the brothers would only worsen the elderly mother's predicament, a sentiment echoed by Chiu Siu-tong, who tells Shiu to be less rigid. Showing his compassionate side, Ho later arranges a job for the mother at a restaurant owned by his old colleague, Boss Chin.
Meanwhile, a major crisis is brewing. Protestors surround the Financial Secretary's building, but the Secretary, Wong Tung-hoi, refuses to alter his long-planned schedule. As Car 3 stands guard outside, the city's stock market data center suddenly loses power. The team immediately suspects an inside job. Their suspicions prove correct when Ho Ho-fai and Shiu Tsz-chun apprehend a suspicious cleaner, but the backup power system still fails to engage.
The power outage is revealed to be a deliberate scheme orchestrated by a company called EMG. The goal, as explained by an employee named Anna, is to force Wong Tung-hoi to extend the stock market's trading hours. This extension would allow EMG to pour in more capital and make a massive profit, leaving Wong to take the fall for the market instability. However, Wong, fearing another potential blackout, makes the decisive call to close the market on time, thwarting the initial phase of the plan.
Ho's team investigates the sabotage and identifies Wong Tak-fat as the culprit who damaged the power supply; his motive was revenge after suffering heavy losses in the stock market. At the same time, journalist Lam Wai-yin begins reporting on the outage. Ho, sensing a deeper conspiracy, warns her to pause her reporting to avoid tipping off the masterminds. Elsewhere, the police nearly capture the fugitive Scarface, but he escapes and seeks help from Ah Ken, who arranges for him to flee the city.
The conspiracy takes a violent turn when Wong Tung-hoi's car is tampered with. As he and his wife emerge, gangsters incite the protestors to swarm them. Car 3 rushes to the scene to provide an escort. In the ensuing chaos, Chiu Siu-tong is struck in the head by an attacker and collapses, bleeding heavily.
Chiu is rushed to the hospital, and his team, led by Ho, steps up to care for his wife, Hung Je. They tell her that Chiu is away on a secret mission to hide the severity of his injury. From his hospital bed, a worried Chiu repeatedly begs Ho not to let his wife know the truth.
