Solving Middle Age Crisis by Intelligence System Chapter 421 - 272: The Boot Clan Takes the Field (Double-Len

After listening, Chen Wei quickly made arrangents, "An Zai and I will support them and clear the cabin as fast as possible. Lao Bai, take the pirate leader to the cockpit!"

"Roger that!"

"Roger that!"

After assigning the tasks, Chen Wei hurried to the cabin.

Twenty minutes later, they finished checking the rooms in the cabin and arrived directly beneath the bridge.

Here, the massive engine occupies most of the space, its roar numbing the eardrums, while the scorching exhaust pipes emit heat waves mixed with the pungent sll of engine oil and diesel.

Moreover, this engine room has many nooks where people can hide, making it difficult to search.

Chen Wei picked up the walkie-talkie and explained the situation outside to the captain hiding on the lower deck, asking them to co out and assist in the search.

Initially, the captain was skeptical, suspecting that Chen Wei and his team were held hostage by pirates trying to deceive them into coming out until Chen Wei personally reached the lower deck, after which the captain opened the fire door and stepped out.

"Oh! My God! You guys must be superheroes!" The captain excitedly moved in to give Chen Wei a bear hug.

Chen Wei, slightly put off by the sll from the captain’s armpit, quickly raised his hand to stop him.

"I need you to send a few people to the engine room to assist my team in the search; we need to wipe out the pirates on board completely."

"The rest will follow to the deck to handle the pirates outside."

The captain hurriedly nodded, "No problem, I’ll arrange it right now!"

More than half an hour later, the deck was piled up with pirate bodies, roughly four or fifty at a glance.

There were also a dozen or so wounded captives, all kneeling on the deck with their heads bowed.

Pointing his gun at the mountain of corpses, Chen Wei directed his words at the pirate leader, "I will ask you so questions next. If you don’t cooperate, you’ll join them."

The leader shuddered, clutching his bleeding ear as cold sweat continuously dripped down his cheeks.

He glanced at the pile of corpses, fully aware that this was no re threat.

With dozens of corpses, these people had proven their ruthlessness, and the excruciating pain in his ear reminded him that the outco of non-compliance would be even worse.

"What’s the purpose of hijacking the ship?" Chen Wei took a step closer, the barrel nearly pressing against the leader’s forehead.

The leader trembled as he replied, "Don’t... know... Soone hired us to hijack this ship and take it to our territory."

"Who hired you?" Chen Wei continued to press.

The leader’s Adam’s apple swayed violently, evading Chen Wei’s gaze, "Don’t... know exactly... only contacted through an interdiary!"

Concerned Chen Wei would be dissatisfied with his answer, the leader quickly added, "They offered a total of twenty million USD! They’ve already paid five million upfront! I can wire the five million to your account right now!"

Chen Wei pushed the gun forward, causing the leader’s head to slam against the deck with a "thud," making him wince in pain without daring to make a sound.

"Call the interdiary. Use whatever ans necessary; I need to know who the employer is." With that said, he handed over a satellite phone.

The leader shivered uncontrollably, clumsily taking the phone, dialing a number quickly.

Upon connection, an exchange with the interdiary ensued, who, unsurprisingly, refused to disclose any employer information.

Only after explaining the situation and threatening the interdiary’s family did the interdiary finally yield.

"It’s soone from China, na unknown, the money was transferred through a company in London."

Seeing no more information could be obtained, Chen Wei grudgingly gave up temporarily, calling for a speedboat and sending them all off the ship, including the bodies.

After dealing with the pirates, Chen Wei asked the captain to have people clean the bloodstains on the deck and in the cabin.

He also disabled the ship’s Starlink network to prevent any premature disclosure of the incidents onboard, avoiding unnecessary trouble.

After care of these matters, he took the satellite phone into a room and called Qi Yun to brief him on the situation.

Upon hearing, Qi Yun was also sowhat surprised; the adversary’s actions clearly targeted that batch of artifacts.

If the pirates aid for other cargo or weaponry onboard, deploying so many forces wouldn’t be necessary; a regular heist involved four or five speedboats at most.

Deploying so many forces indicates they are aware of Chen Wei’s team’s presence on the ship.

Knowing Chen Wei’s team seized that batch of artifacts and could track their whereabouts accurately, who would that be?

Ji Liyang?

Does he possess such capabilities?

Considering Chen Wei’s team had been out of London for nearly three days, it’s remarkable the adversary pinpointed them on the cargo ship in the Red Sea - an extraordinary feat.

Besides Ji Liyang, who else could it be?

After pondering for a few seconds, Qi Yun checked his watch for ti, then took out his phone to ring Brother Chen in Shanghai.

"Brother Chen, I’m sorry for disturbing your rest so late."

"Haha, not at all, not at all. I’m just finishing so work myself." Brother Chen’s tone was polite, showing no slightest trace of annoyance.

"Good." Late at night, Qi Yun offered little small talk and curtly asked, "Brother Chen, have you heard anything about Ji Liyang lately?"

"Ji Liyang, huh? He was temporarily detained by the municipal bureau recently and might spend so ti in the detention center. As for how he’s sentenced later, it depends on the evidence from the prosecution." Brother Chen assud Qi Yun’s dissatisfaction lingered, hence elaborated thoroughly.

Qi Yun paused upon hearing this; Ji Liyang already detained?

Then who hired the pirates?

"Alright, got it. I won’t intrude on you, Brother Chen. I didn’t an to ask much, just checking in."

"Haha, sure, I’ll update you if anything new surfaces."

"Good, thanks, Brother Chen. I’ll treat you to a al next ti I visit Shanghai."

...

Elsewhere, in a London apartnt.

A middle-aged man furiously threw his phone to the ground, not satisfied even after stomping it several tis.

"Worthless! All damned worthless!"

The man’s na was Lu Zhijie, Ji Liyang’s trusted ally in the shadows, executing most of Ji Liyang’s illicit business.

Despite Ji Liyang’s downfall, why does he remain steadfastly loyal instead of taking the money and fleeing?

Their love story must be ntioned...

It was a late autumn in Chengdu...

After venting his rage, Lu Zhijie lit a slender cigarette, forcing himself to calm down and consider other ways to reclaim the batch.

Even the infamous Somali pirates had failed, leaving him with no alternatives.

The sea is unlike land, with fewer capable factions for such an endeavor, aside from rogue pirates, official militaries won’t assist in such matters.

After chain-smoking five or six cigarettes, Lu Zhijie leaned back in his chair, letting out a long sigh.

He was out of options and could only try to win the Boot Clan’s forgiveness and request their direct intervention.

Yet, agreeing to this ans the batch and any further dealings with Ji Liyang will be severed, with no share of the remaining paynt.

And this was still considered the best outco!

Furthermore, the best outco hinges on the Boot Clan retrieving the batch.

If the Boot Clan fails to acquire the batch eventually, their fury might very well end up on Lu Zhijie and Ji Liyang instead.

Lu Zhijie extinguished the cigarette butt, picked up another phone from the desk, and dialed Jas’s number...

Elsewhere, in a Kensington Palace Gardens estate.

Jas, expressionless, hung up the phone, took a mont to ponder, then dialed a number for a family councilor.

"Alina, the agreed artifacts have been snatched. You know the significance of these artifacts pertaining to our family’s roots in Wales..."

"The artifacts are currently on a cargo ship in the Red Sea. I need you to contact soone in the naval staff headquarters and request to send a warship..."