Book 3, Chapter 68: Investigation
“What do you intend to do?”
Chen Chuan wanted to hear Lu Fang’s plans.
Lu Fang leaned forward and wrapped his hand around his drink. “I want to figure out where Zhao Qian is, then look into the people around him and the places he often goes to. Since he took Shen Zheng’s sister with him, he must have his reasons for it. It hasn’t been too long since then, so I’m sure that he left so traces behind. Zhao Qian graduated from the main campus, so I was wondering whether I could find you to aid
with locating him. I didn’t expect to run into you the day I decided to co here.”
“I know where he is,” Chen Chuan said with a nod.
Lu Fang whipped his head up.
“How do you expect to find clues about Shen Zheng’s sister? Please don’t tell
you’re just going to march up to him and ask,” Chen Chuan said.
“I might have co to the city alone, but I have friends here. I got in touch with a few seniors, and they helped
find a place to stay. I was thinking about conducting my investigation once I figured out where Zhao Qian is. As long as I try, I’m sure I’ll find sothing.”
“You might not know this, but Zhao Qian is part of a big company’s middle managent,” Chen Chuan pointed out. “He has a security team and a resonator protecting him at all tis. If you show up repeatedly near his company, his n will start keeping an eye on you.
“If I’m not wrong, you haven’t gotten your citizen status yet, have you? In that case, even if the security team uses violence on you or does sothing else horrible, no one will give you another look. You could also just get killed in secret without Zhao Qian even knowing that you ca here.”
After hearing all that, Lu Fang said seriously and sincerely, “Thank you for telling
about it. Even though it’s going to be difficult, I can’t just ignore Shen Zheng’s sister. He helped us so much in the past, so I have to repay him all the favors I owe him.
“Could you tell
where Zhao Qian is? I’ll be as careful as I can.”
Chen Chuan pondered over this. While Lu Fang was stubborn, he was a man of loyalty and honor. The Aspiration Club had also shown him support a few tis and never asked for anything in return, and he always rembered kindness.
“If you really want to know the truth, don’t do anything for now. You will get your answer after so ti,” Chen Chuan offered.
Lu Fang wasn’t quite sure what Chen Chuan was thinking, so he said hesitantly, “You don’t have to get involved...”
Chen Chuan shook his head. “Don’t read too much into this. What I’m implying has nothing to do with our conversation today. I know you care about what happened to Shen Zheng, and I promise you, Zhao Qian is equally bothered by the fact that the Zhao family was taken down.”
Lu Fang was taken aback for a mont. He got an inkling of what Chen Chuan was trying to say, and he looked at him worriedly. “Doesn’t that an that you’re—”
“Alright. Since we managed to run into each other, let’s not talk about stuff like that. You said that you have a few seniors in Central City helping you. What are they doing now?” Chen Chuan asked with a smile.
***
Deep End District had an underground martial arts school, where two n in their twenties were teaching twenty or so teenagers martial arts. They were strict, and whenever soone’s movents weren’t right, they imdiately yelled at them or kicked them. The teenagers who fell quickly got back on their feet and continued training without a single complaint.
It was only after they corrected their movents that the two young n moved onto the next person.
A long ti passed before the clock chid. The short-haired young man said, “Take a break.”
The teenagers gave them a bow before cheering and running off with bright grins on their faces. At this mont, they finally looked like teenagers.
The short-haired young man went to the side and took a sip from a bottle. “The Heavenly Pardon Gang ca again and made a few more offers. They said that if we join them, they’ll help us get proper citizen status.”
“It can’t be that easy. They just want to make use of us,” the larger young man said grimly. “They’re only going to use the citizen status to string us along and make us risk our necks for them. Ignore them. The life we have here is pretty good.”
The short-haired young man grunted. After a while, he said, “Lu Fang said that he’s going to look for a junior who got into the main campus this year.
“I wasn’t expecting a commoner from Yangzhi City to get into the main campus. He’s really sothing. But now that he’s there, his status is different from before. I wonder whether Lu Fang will be able to get any news.”
“It doesn’t really matter whether he gets any news. If the person he’s looking for has beco part of any company’s managent, he’s bound to not get any results. We can’t fight a company,” the other young man said.
“Yeah. But he’s too stubborn, and we can’t change his mind. I just hope that he decides to listen to our warnings.” The short-haired young man sighed.
***
Half an hour later, Chen Chuan and Lu Fang left Golden River Drinks.
Chen Chuan had wanted to pay for the drinks, but Lu Fang insisted they split the bill, so he didn’t reject the suggestion.
They parted ways at the entrance, and Chen Chuan watched Lu Fang leave before returning to his room. Then, he picked up the Frost King Saber to digest what he had learned from Mr. Zheng and strengthen his foundation.
While he was imrsed in his training, soone suddenly contacted him on his Realm Pass. When he saw that it was Gao Ming, so emotion stirred in his heart, and he put down the saber before walking out of the training room and connecting the call.
“I got so clues on my side, cuz. Are you free now? Let’s et up and talk,” Gao Ming said.
“Yeah, I’m free. I’ll co out right away,” Chen Chuan replied.
He cleaned up a bit before leaving his room and heading to the underground parking lot to grab his car. Then, he drove straight to Gao Ming’s apartnt.
Once they t up, Gao Ming removed his Realm Pass and said, “What we’re about to discuss is rather sensitive. It’s best to remove these for now.”
Chen Chuan nodded at that. The Realm Passes made communication easy, but they couldn’t overlook the possibility that soone may eavesdrop on their conversation. As a lawyer, Gao Ming paid great attention to such things, and Chen Chuan could understand it. He removed his Realm Pass as well.
Gao Ming put their Realm Passes into a box and locked it before turning around and handing Chen Chuan a glass of water. After sitting down, he said, “I’ve been going through quite a lot of information at the law firm over the past few days, both paper records and information recorded on the law firm’s platform.”
Due to the unique nature of the legal industry, law firms stored valuable information on paper and in an independent bio-storage belonging solely to the law firm in question. Only the lawyers within the firm could read them. As an associate invited to join the law firm, Gao Ming had the right to read so files that weren’t top secret.
Gao Ming then handed Chen Chuan a handwritten file. “If you want to take down Zhao Qian, I have two plans. The first is to make use of the governnt.
“I’ve read up on the specific duties and authority each governnt departnt in Central City holds, and the Resolution Departnt has the power to suppress and limit the expansion of various companies.
“It’s quite similar to Yangzhi City’s Constabulary in that regard. Back there, the Constabulary could take precautions against Black Orchid, but the City Patrol in Central City has no strength to fight the companies, so the Resolution Departnt shoulders that responsibility.
“Practically every company here employs martial artists since security guards are an absolute necessity. So of the outstanding martial artists even beco company executives. Due to the Resolution Departnt’s role of controlling and restricting martial artists’ actions, they can indirectly interfere with the companies’ actions.
“Let’s go back to United Might. Over the past year, the Resolution Departnt has shown them special ‘attention’ four tis. The last two tis were related to Zhao Qian.”
“Was it because of Black Orchid and the Zhao family’s businesses?” Chen Chuan asked.
“That’s exactly it. I checked Zhao Qian’s public information and found that he’s really smart. After coming to Central City, he noticed that Black Orchid was in decline and gradually stopped cooperating with them. He also removed himself from the family businesses linked to Black Orchid and got into United Might through so unknown ans.
“But since he once enjoyed the benefits brought by the Zhao family’s businesses, it’s impossible for him to completely remove himself from that situation. The related governnt departnts and the Resolution Departnt used that as an excuse to interrogate him a few tis, but they never cornered him.
“I believe that it’s because these departnts want him to continue being in United Might.”
Chen Chuan understood what the governnt was doing. If they continued attacking Zhao Qian, they would just be attacking him alone, but if they let him stay in United Might, they could extend their control over to the company.
Gao Ming nudged his glasses up a little and said, “That’s why I was thinking that perhaps we can make use of the Resolution Departnt instead of taking action ourselves. If we make the right moves, we might be able to force United Might to give up on Zhao Qian.
“Once he’s no longer part of the company’s middle managent, he’ll just be a normal martial artist, and it’ll be much easier to take him down.
“The companies in Central City are fierce rivals, and he has stepped on many people’s tails over the years he’s been here. Soone might just take him out for you, and you won’t even need to lift a finger.
“The problem with this plan is that it’ll take ti, and I didn’t factor in certain circumstances, such as Zhao Qian having so sort of special value.
“To account for that, we need to consider another possibility: Even if you manage to produce concrete proof that Zhao Qian hired an exterminator to kill you, so of the higher-ups in the Resolution Departnt might not agree to take him out. Instead, they might use that case to put Zhao Qian on an even tighter leash.
“That’s why, if we go with this plan, we won’t have to face him directly, but we also won’t be able to control how things will progress. We may need to step in at any point and do damage control.”
Chen Chuan nodded and asked, “What about the other plan?”
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