Chapter 129: Gather

Lei Guangcheng was quick. The next afternoon, he called Chen Chuan and told him that he had settled things with the Foreign Affairs Department; Liu Zhan had agreed to let Chen Chuan handle it.

The mission to retrieve the oak leaf would soon be officially issued and assigned to him. There was even a good reason for it: He had been among the first to chase down the escaped convicts and had risked getting shot to kill Douma.

Considering the difficulty of the mission, Lei Guangcheng had argued long and hard for the Foreign Affairs Department to go all out with the reward, so it was a really handsome one.

The Foreign Affairs Department would also provide support in terms of intel, but Chen Chuan and his group were going to be the ones deciding how to carry out the mission.

In the end, Lei Guangcheng told him that the Cult Investigation Bureau would contact the exchange group using the Flying Head Cult as an excuse to try and delay their itinerary as much as possible so that Chen Chuan would have more time to get ready.

Chen Chuan had some ideas and felt fairly confident. After asking for a few more details, he hung up.

The most important task now was to gather his team. Even with the Cult Investigation Bureau holding the exchange group back, they would not stay for long after they got the oak leaf back. They had to be already thinking of any way to send it back to their country, so Chen Chuan did not have a lot of time to waste.

After some thinking, he told Luo Kaiyuan, Feng Xiaoqi, and Wei Dong during lunch that he had something to discuss with them.

They knew that this had to be something serious and went to his room after eating.

Chen Chuan waited for the three of them to sit down before telling them that he took up the mission to retrieve the oak leaf. He asked them whether they would like to join him.

Feng Xiaoqi was really enthusiastic about it. He had never gone on a mission before, while Chen Chuan had been doing missions all this while, so he was pretty envious about it.

Due to their inexperience and lack of fighting skills, most students could only get that chance when they were sophomores or seniors. Now, though, he got a chance to join a major mission, so he was definitely willing to participate in it.

“I didn’t get to go to the goodwill exchange with the two of you, so you have to bring me along for this!” he cried out.

“Retrieving what they stole from us is only right. Since you trust me, I’ll join and cooperate with you to the best of my abilities,” Luo Kaiyuan said seriously.

Wei Dong’s eyes were sparkling. “We’re going to fight, aren’t we? Count me in!”

With the three of them agreeing to join, the foundation of the team was basically set. Chen Chuan said, “Okay, once I get the specifics, I’ll call you over again. Also, heads up. We are not strong enough to fight against the Merkarian exchange group, so I’m going to get a few more people to join us.”

They were fine with it. After all, they did not have experience with this, while Chen Chuan was the leader and the person who invited them to join his major mission. They were not going to interfere with the way he formed his team and strategy.

Chen Chuan waited until his dormmates left before he called Wei Changan. Once the call went through, they exchanged some pleasantries and Chen Chuan mentioned the mission.

“Not bad, Chen Chuan. To think that you’d be able to get such a mission! You’re much better than I am now!”

Wei Changan was shocked. As an agent, he knew just how hard it was to get missions from governmental departments. They needed powerful connections, and usually, the agent companies snatched such missions up first because they always caught wind of them before independent agents. It almost never fell into the hands of those beneath them.

If Wei Changan were to participate in such a mission, he would have hope of getting promoted to a high-ranking agent. Even if he did not get any money from it, he would be fully on board with it. Chen Chuan was not asking him for help here. It was the other way round.

He sighed with emotion and said, “You’re helping me out yet again, Chen Chuan. I won’t give you empty promises. I’ll cancel all of my existing missions and reject the rest while waiting for news from you. The moment you call me, I’ll be there!”

“Alright, Changan. That’s a promise,” Chen Chuan said with a laugh.

When afternoon arrived, Cheng Zitong called him and said that he had spoken to Ren Xiaotian. He would drop by over the next few days.

Chen Chuan felt relieved upon hearing that. Ren Xiaotian was an experienced and reliable agent. With him agreeing to help, their chances of success had just increased exponentially.

Now, all that was left was Wu Han. He should be in the training hall, so Chen Chuan left his room and went straight there. He managed to find Wu Han with no trouble at all, but he was not in a hurry to talk about the mission. They sparred for a little over an hour before they sat down by the side with a bottle of water each. As they chatted with each other, Chen Chuan invited him to join the mission.

After hearing the gist of it, Wu Han became excited. “I have to join this, no matter what! I’ll do whatever you tell me to, just like last time!”

He had listened to Chen Chuan last time and managed to kill Seventh, so he was considered to be part of the duo who killed Fang Dawei and his gang. He got his weapons permit from it, so he trusted Chen Chuan wholeheartedly.

Chen Chuan nodded. Wu Han had a weapons permit and was licensed to carry weapons in public. With a person like him in the team, things would become much easier.

He had not received any specifics yet, and even the date for the mission was not set, so he asked Wu Han to not take up missions over the next few days. Wu Han promised it with a pat to his chest.

Chen Chuan started considering other problems when he returned to his room. He had a large team, and they might need to leave Yangzhi City. He had to get a few cars ready and prepare other resources. If he told Ren Shu about it, he was sure that he could easily get those things ready for him.

But this was his personal mission and had nothing to do with Ren Shu and his company. So, he intended to borrow from the company and pay back later or have it deducted from his future mission rewards.

While getting cars and resources was easy, weapons were a different matter. Still, Chen Chuan believed that Cheng Zitong would have a way to help with it. If not, Chen Chuan could get proof from the Foreign Affairs Department that he was going on the mission and go to the Constabulary to get a permit.

Even though the Constabulary had no need to show the Foreign Affairs Department such respect, as long as the Foreign Affairs Department gave their guarantee for Chen Chuan’s participation in the mission, the Constabulary could blatantly give him weapons. After all, he was related to Nian Fuli and even had a weapons permit, so it was no big deal.

Over the next two days, Chen Chuan was busy dealing with these things. On the third day, Lei Guangcheng called him again and told him that the exchange group was going to depart in five days.

The Cult Investigation Bureau wanted to delay their itinerary, but the exchange group was adamant about departing, even though it was completely okay for them to stay for another day or two. This made it clear that they had set a deadline beforehand and could no longer wait.

After updating Chen Chuan about the situation, Lei Guangcheng gave him a suggestion: Observe the situation near the harbor checkpoint.

Chen Chuan took note of that and thanked him.

In the end, Lei Guangcheng said, “Liu Zhan asked me to send you a message, and I think this is important too. No matter what, they’re the real exchange group, and our countries have not fallen out yet, so don’t make this ugly.

“But if you get pressed or if your life is in danger, don’t hold back. It won’t be hard for us to link the exchange group with the Flying Head Cult.”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Lei. I’ll be mindful about how I retrieve the oak leaf,” Chen Chuan said.

“Go all out and do it right. If you need any help, call me. I’ll think of something for you,” Mr. Lei said.

Chen Chuan thanked him again and hung up.

In the afternoon, he received a thick package from the Foreign Affairs Department. It had all the information about the Merkarian exchange group, along with their schedule. There was also a phone number, so Chen Chuan could contact the Foreign Affairs Department whenever he wanted to confirm the specifics of their schedule.

Chen Chuan read through the information carefully before picking up his phone to call all his teammates to meet in his room in the evening.

At 6:10 p.m., Luo Kaiyuan, Feng Xiaoqi, Wei Dong, Wu Han, and Wei Changan all came over.

When Chen Chuan called his teammates, he knew that Ren Xiaotian was unlikely to arrive just yet. He did not wait for him and spread out a map in front of the others before telling them the situation.

“If the Merkarian exchange group wants to go back, they need to catch a ship at Farsight Harbor. Due to the landslide at Spill Hill, the railway is still not working. The only route they have left is the road east of Yangzhi City.” Chen Chuan pointed at a long line on the map. “The public road.

“I thought about this. After the fake exchange group gets the oak leaf, they have two possible options. First, to send the oak leaf straight to the harbor. It’s considered an independent entity from Yangzhi City, so it doesn’t perform inspections all that carefully.

“But that’s unlikely. There are checkpoints along the public road, and checks have grown in scale and intensity over the past two days. They can’t possibly get through them. Meanwhile, the wilderness is a complicated place. It has quite a lot of smuggling teams and vagabonds.

“I don’t think they would take such a risk, not when they might lose the oak leaf for it. Besides, they’re foreigners. Even if they make it to the harbor ahead of schedule, they won’t be able to go back. The ferry back to Merka is not yet ready to leave, and without proper documentation, a prolonged stay would expose them, despite the lax inspections at the harbor.

“So, this is what is most likely happening: The fake exchange group is hiding somewhere outside Yangzhi City and waiting to meet up with the real exchange group after they leave the city. Then, they’ll head to the harbor together.”

“Is it possible that the oak leaf is already with the real exchange group?” Luo Kaiyuan asked.

“I thought of that possibility, but based on the information from the Foreign Affairs Department, it’s unlikely.

“The Department of Administrative Affairs is suspecting the real exchange group to be in cahoots with the fake exchange group and has sent a security team to ‘protect’ them with the excuse that they might get ambushed again.

“They’re keeping an eye on the real exchange group at all times. Their movements are watched, and their personal items inspected. I don’t think the fake exchange group will hand the oak leaf over, at least not until they leave Yangzhi City. Everything will happen after they leave the city and are on their way to the harbor.”

Wei Changan observed the map and pondered over it. “Our best plan is to find the Merkarian students in hiding.”

“Yes. The real exchange group is made up of forty-eight people, twenty of whom are in charge of protecting them. Not only are they all capable fighters, but they also possess weapons and armored vehicles. If we don’t have heavy weaponry, it’s practically impossible to stop them.

“Even if we could get such weapons, out of consideration for everyone’s safety and the impact on the political situation between the two countries, it’d be best for us to avoid getting into a head-on clash with them. This means that we only have a few cards to play. I might even say that we only have one card to play, and that is to capture the group with the oak leaf before they meet up.”

Feng Xiaoqi pondered over this. Suddenly, he had a spark of inspiration and said, “Guys, I have an idea.”

Chen Chuan motioned for him to speak. “What is it, Feng Xiaoqi?”

“How about we spread the word that we’ve found the oak leaf and ensure that the real exchange group hears about this? If they have ways to contact those Merkarian students in hiding, they’ll try to get confirmation right away. As long as we keep a close eye on them, they’ll point us right to the people we’re looking for,” Feng Xiaoqi suggested with fists clenched in excitement.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep