Chapter 363: Confronting Shi Hongyi

Chapter 363: Confronting Shi Hongyi

The phone rang in the spacious and elegant bedroom, echoing for over ten seconds before a fair, delicate hand emerged from under the covers.

Zhao Manying glanced at the screen and sat up, revealing her exquisite figure.

"Who is it?"

Ji Xinghuo, who was lying behind her, woke up as well, his eyes half-closed.

Having attended the championship celebration party at the Emperor Star Club the previous night and continued the revelry with Zhao Manying until dawn, he grumbled, "Who's calling so early in the morning, disturbing our sleep?" As he spoke, his hand reached under the covers, caressing the supple elasticity beneath.

"It's my mom," Zhao Manying replied.

Ji Xinghuo's hand froze, and he felt a twinge of embarrassment. It had been over a year since he and Manying had confirmed their relationship, yet he hadn't met her mother.

Zhao Manying let out a soft laugh, casually slipping into one of Ji Xinghuo's shirts before answering the call.

"Hello, Mom."

The phone projected the image of an extremely beautiful woman. Her features bore a strong resemblance to Zhao Manying, though she appeared much older, likely in her forties. It was clear at a glance that they were mother and daughter.

Ji Xinghuo had often seen photos of her and her family on Zhao Manying's phone.

The entire Zhao family was blessed with good looks.

Her late father had been a super handsome man, and her mother, Zhuo Yannv, was a top beauty in her own right. Zhao Manying, however, was the perfect combination of her parents' excellent genes. From the moment she rose to fame, her ethereal beauty captivated fans worldwide.

In the past, whenever Zhao Manying spoke to her mother on the phone, Ji Xinghuo would step out of the frame, and as a result, he didn't know much about Zhuo Yannv.

Zhuo Yannv worked in the fashion industry and owned a clothing design company.

She embodied the quintessential independent woman. After losing her husband, she quickly emerged from her grief and, once her children were grown, threw herself into her work. Her company thrived and expanded under her leadership.

Zhuo Yannv herself also gained a modest reputation as a fashion designer.

But at this moment.

Zhuo Yannv's face wore a look of urgency. "Manying, is Zangan with you?"

"No," Zhao Manying replied, taken aback. "After the party last night, he went home and isn't with me. Why?"

Zhuo Yannv quickly explained, "I had plans to go shopping with him this morning, but his phone isn't reachable, and he's not at his house either."

Zhao Manying's expression immediately turned serious.

Zhao Zangan wasn't the type to stand people up, especially not his own mother. He was always very filial. In this day and age, with the minimum battery life of phones being 60 days, the chances of him being out of contact due to a dead battery were slim.

"Mom, don't worry. Let me ask Zangan's friends," Zhao Manying reassured her. "Maybe his phone is broken."

Zhuo Yannv nodded and ended the call.

Zhao Manying turned to Ji Xinghuo, who was already out of bed. The two exchanged a glance, their eyes reflecting the gravity of the situation.

"Zangan seemed fine at the championship party last night," Ji Xinghuo recalled, trying to remember if he had noticed anything unusual.

"I'll confirm his whereabouts," Zhao Manying said, and immediately called several of Zhao Zangan's close friends, only to be told that he wasn't with any of them.

By then, Ji Xinghuo had already dressed. "Let's go to Zangan's house."

"Okay."

Zhao Manying quickly got ready, and Ji Xinghuo wrapped an arm around her waist. Together, they stepped out onto the balcony and took off, soon reaching supersonic speeds as they swiftly navigated through the towering skyscrapers. In less than a minute, they arrived at Zhao Zangan's apartment building.

The two landed on the balcony and entered the living room, where they saw Zhuo Yannv.

"Manying!"

Zhuo Yannv exclaimed in surprise, then noticed the young man beside her daughter. Ji Xinghuo quickly introduced himself, "Auntie, I'm Ji Xinghuo. Nice to meet you."

Zhuo Yannv gave him a brief nod, her eyes assessing.

Normally, she would have exchanged a few pleasantries with Ji Xinghuo, but now was not the time.

Zhao Manying's gaze swept across the apartment, searching for any clues, while Ji Xinghuo's electromagnetic sensing, which had already scanned the area, detected no signs of anyone else in the apartment or any traces of a struggle. Everything appeared normal.

"I've asked all of Zangan's friends, and none of them know where he is," Zhao Manying said.

"I'm going to call the police right now," Zhuo Yannv said anxiously.

But Ji Xinghuo stopped her. "Auntie, wait. Let me check something first."

Zhuo Yannv looked at him, puzzled. What did he mean by "check"? Zhao Manying, understanding Ji Xinghuo's position at the core of the power circle and his high level of authorization, shook her head at her mother. "Mom, let's listen to Xinghuo first."

Ji Xinghuo quickly operated his phone.

He directly logged into the Public Security Bureau's tracking system.

This was an investigative network that spanned the entire Asia-Pacific community, utilizing hundreds of billions of cameras installed in streets, public places, vehicles, mobile facilities, and buildings across the country, as well as orbital satellites, to track the movements of citizens in real-time. Combined with mobile phone signals and the data generated, it formed an inescapable surveillance net.

Ji Xinghuo entered Zhao Zangan's name, locked onto the target, and immediately, the tracking data and results were displayed.

Zhao Manying and Zhuo Yannv moved closer to view the screen.

"This is..."

Zhuo Yannv was shocked by what she saw.

Glancing at the system interface, she instantly understood the level of authorization required to access a citizen's movement data so freely.

However, her primary concern at the moment was her son's whereabouts.

"Based on Zangan's phone signal trajectory, he didn't go home after the party last night. Instead, he boarded a flight to South America," Ji Xinghuo explained.

He also pulled up the flight information, showing that the plane had landed in Asuncion three hours ago.

"Asuncion!" Zhao Manying frowned. "What's Zangan doing in Asuncion? Even if he's abroad, he can still use his phone as usual."

But Ji Xinghuo had a bad feeling about this.

There were two stargates in South America, one in the Immortal City and the other in Asuncion. This stargate city was equally chaotic and served as the base for the Latin Revolutionary Army, the center of South American resistance against the US Federation's rule.

Historically, the Latin Revolutionary Army had fought a war in Asuncion for control of the stargate, sacrificing millions of lives.

The stargate had changed hands several times.

In the last decade or so, the Asuncion stargate had been under the control of the Latin Revolutionary Army.

After entering the core circle, Ji Xinghuo received a top-secret briefing every week, and it was then that he learned that the Latin Revolutionary Army had been secretly supported by the Asia-Pacific community, allowing them to rival the US Federation. Despite suffering repeated defeats, they survived each crackdown, not only avoiding annihilation but also growing stronger.

As a result, the Asia-Pacific community also indirectly controlled the Asuncion stargate.

The Public Security Bureau's tracking system covered Asuncion, but Zhao Zangan's phone signal had disappeared after the plane landed.

Airport cameras captured footage of him leaving alone.

After that, the trail went cold.

Asuncion was known for its complex security and power dynamics, and the tracking system's coverage was not comprehensive enough. It seemed Zhao Zangan had disguised himself, and his current location was unknown.

"Could Zangan have entered the Star Realm from Asuncion?" Zhuo Yannv asked.

"It's possible," Ji Xinghuo acknowledged.

Zhao Manying shared the same suspicion but was puzzled. "If he wanted to enter the Star Realm, why would he go through the Asuncion stargate instead of the Chaka stargate, which is just a few hundred kilometers away from Chang'an? Why fly halfway around the world to South America?"

She turned to her mother, "Mom, did Zangan ever tell you that he wanted to go to the Star Realm?"

"He mentioned it a few times, but I didn't agree," Zhuo Yannv replied. "The Star Realm is so dangerous. With you, his sister, supporting him, and with ample resources, he doesn't need to take such risks. His father died in the Star Realm, and I don't want to see him follow in his father's footsteps."

Zhao Manying didn't know what to say, so she remained silent.

Ji Xinghuo also kept quiet.

As far as he knew, after graduating from college, Zhao Zangan hadn't worked and had focused on cultivation instead. However, his talent paled in comparison to his sister's. Zhao Manying had invested a lot of resources into her brother, providing him with rare spiritual beasts and cultivation artifacts, yet he was still only a mid-level Cultivator.

In fact, his progress was already quite impressive; at 22 years old, he was far superior to most of his peers, and his strength was considerable.

However, Zhao Zangan had expressed impatience on several occasions.

"Even if Zangan wanted to go to the Star Realm, he could have just entered through the Chaka stargate. You couldn't have stopped him, and there would be no need to go to Asuncion," Ji Xinghuo pointed out.

"Exactly!" Zhao Manying agreed, giving Ji Xinghuo a meaningful glance.

Ji Xinghuo immediately understood her implication—could this have something to do with the Shi family? A few months ago, she had sensed something amiss from Shi Renzhong's behavior.

With Zhuo Yannv present, they couldn't discuss their suspicions openly, as she was unaware of the true cause of her husband's death.

"Let me look into it further," Ji Xinghuo said, unable to provide a definite answer.

He pulled up the records and surveillance footage from the Asuncion stargate and its surroundings from the past three hours.

However, Zhao Zangan's name was not in the records, and his figure was not spotted in the footage.

"He didn't enter the stargate?" Ji Xinghuo furrowed his brows, wondering if Zhao Zangan had disguised himself.

Zhao Manying also watched the surveillance footage carefully, but even with her real eye, she couldn't identify which person was Zhao Zangan in disguise, if he was indeed there.

"Either Zangan has entered the Star Realm, or he's still in Asuncion," Zhao Manying concluded. "Reporting this to the police won't help. We'll have to go to Asuncion ourselves to look for him..."

As she spoke, her gaze at Ji Xinghuo paused momentarily.

The biggest flaw was that Zhao Zangan didn't need to take a detour through Asuncion to enter the Star Realm; it was completely unnecessary.

"Why would Zangan do this?" Zhao Manying asked, confused. "Did he go voluntarily, or was he coerced?"

Ji Xinghuo couldn't figure it out either.

However, his intuition told him that coercion was more likely.

Zhao Zangan was only a mid-level anomaly; it would be too easy to control him. Any super mental hacker could do it without a trace.

"Let me check who he's been in contact with recently; maybe there's a clue." Ji Xinghuo expanded the search range in the tracking system, pulling up Zhao Zangan's call records and online traces. After glancing through a few pages, his expression became somewhat embarrassed.

The browsing history contained a lot of content unsuitable for minors, including videos and virtual partners, with varied tastes.

Zhao Manying and Zhuo Yannv both turned their heads away.

"Cough..."

Ji Xinghuo mourned for Zhao Zangan for a second. It was a good thing he wasn't present; otherwise, he would have been socially shamed to death.

He quickly skimmed through the content and performed a conditional filter.

Soon, he found a clue.

Starting from the previous year, Zhao Zangan had been frequently contacting one particular person. From the context of their conversations, the two were very close and seemed to be a couple.

"Is Zangan dating someone again?" Zhao Manying asked, puzzled.

"He didn't tell me about it." Zhuo Yannv shook her head.

Ji Xinghuo immediately pulled up the woman's information, and his eyes widened as he recognized the name.

"Shi Bukeke!"

Zhao Manying was also surprised.

Ji Xinghuo remembered this person. During his spar with Shi Renzhong last year, Shi Bukeke had also been present. She was Shi Daoyuan's daughter and Shi Hongyi's granddaughter. Ever since Shi Daoyuan was executed, Shi Bukeke rarely visited the Emperor Star Club.

Zhao Zangan had gotten involved with the granddaughter of their enemy.

Ji Xinghuo also pulled up their hotel records, and the page was filled with their check-ins. In the past year alone, there were hundreds of instances.

Zhao Manying's face was filled with bewilderment.

She felt helpless because her younger brother didn't know that the Shi family was their enemy.

"That's not right!"

Ji Xinghuo suddenly said, "It's normal for them to be dating, but why would Zangan hide it from his family and not let anyone know?"

Zhao Manying immediately guessed that it was Shi Bukeke's request.

But why would she do that?

A name flashed through both their minds - Shi Hongyi!

Ji Xinghuo pulled up the flight records and indeed found Shi Bukeke's name on the passenger list. She was on the same flight as Zhao Zangan, heading to Asuncion, and then they both disappeared in this Stargate city.

"The Shi family!"

Zhao Manying clenched her fists and took a deep breath to suppress her anger.

"What about the Shi family?" Zhuo Yannv was confused. She could tell that her daughter was very angry, but she couldn't understand their conversation. "Did the Shi family take Zangan into the Star Realm?"

"Mom, I can't explain it clearly right now." Zhao Manying didn't want her mother to worry too much. "We'll handle it."

Then she looked at Ji Xinghuo.

"Should we go to Asuncion to look for him, or..."

"It's not that troublesome." Ji Xinghuo interrupted Zhao Manying. "Finding him would take too long. We should just ask Shi Hongyi directly."

He searched for Shi Hongyi in the tracking system, and the results showed that Shi Hongyi had arrived at the headquarters of the Shi Ying Group 15 minutes ago and hadn't left yet.

"Auntie, please go home and wait for our news."

Ji Xinghuo said to Zhuo Yannv, hugging Zhao Manying's waist and flying away. With a boom, they disappeared into the horizon.

Zhuo Yannv stood there, staring at the sky, looking lost.

Soon.

A skyscraper towering over the Central Business District appeared before them, standing at a height of over 1500 meters. The words "Shi Ying Group" flashed on the outside of the building, making it very eye-catching even during the day.

As Ji Xinghuo flew at high speed, he activated his electromagnetic sensing and immediately located Shi Hongyi in his top-floor office.

"He's there."

Instead of slowing down, Ji Xinghuo accelerated to 2 Mach. With Zhao Manying, they dove toward the top of the building like a fighter jet.

Boom!

The glass curtain wall shattered, and Ji Xinghuo crashed through the wall, flying into the office. He abruptly stopped in front of Shi Hongyi, less than three meters away. The powerful airflow turned the office into a mess, resembling a ruin.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end