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 some traces behind. Zhao Qian graduated from the main campus, so I was wondering whether I could find you to aid me with locating him. I didn’t expect to run into you the day I decided to come 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 me you’re just going to march up to him and ask,” Chen Chuan said.

“I might have come to the city alone, but I have friends here. I got in touch with a few seniors, and they helped me 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 something.”

“You might not know this, but Zhao Qian is part of a big company’s middle management,” Chen Chuan pointed out. “He has a security team and a resonator protecting him at all times. If you show up repeatedly near his company, his men 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 something else horrible, no one will give you another look. You could also just get killed in secret without Zhao Qian even knowing that you came here.”

After hearing all that, Lu Fang said seriously and sincerely, “Thank you for telling me 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 me 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 times and never asked for anything in return, and he always remembered kindness.

“If you really want to know the truth, don’t do anything for now. You will get your answer after some time,” 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 moment. He got an inkling of what Chen Chuan was trying to say, and he looked at him worriedly. “Doesn’t that mean 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 men in their twenties were teaching twenty or so teenagers martial arts. They were strict, and whenever someone’s movements weren’t right, they immediately 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 movements that the two young men moved onto the next person.

A long time passed before the clock chimed. 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 moment, 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 came 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 something. 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 become part of any company’s management, 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 immersed in his training, someone suddenly contacted him on his Realm Pass. When he saw that it was Gao Ming, some emotion stirred in his heart, and he put down the saber before walking out of the training room and connecting the call.

“I got some clues on my side, cuz. Are you free now? Let’s meet up and talk,” Gao Ming said.

“Yeah, I’m free. I’ll come 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 apartment.

Once they met 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 someone 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 some 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 government.

“I’ve read up on the specific duties and authority each government department in Central City holds, and the Resolution Department 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 Department shoulders that responsibility.

“Practically every company here employs martial artists since security guards are an absolute necessity. Some of the outstanding martial artists even become company executives. Due to the Resolution Department’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 Department has shown them special ‘attention’ four times. The last two times 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 some unknown means.

“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 government departments and the Resolution Department used that as an excuse to interrogate him a few times, but they never cornered him.

“I believe that it’s because these departments want him to continue being in United Might.”

Chen Chuan understood what the government 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 Department 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 management, 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. Someone 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 time, and I didn’t factor in certain circumstances, such as Zhao Qian having some 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, some of the higher-ups in the Resolution Department 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?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep