Chapter 425: The Pursuit
Chapter 425: The Pursuit
The location provided by Lao Qi was in the Deep Uncharted Zone. As Chen Chuan approached, he spotted Lao Qi's vehicle parked in a parking lot, not far from a private tax station.
Lao Qi knew how to park properly.
While city patrol teams might sometimes be unreliable, one could always trust the armed forces at the tax station. If gang members came around here, regardless of whether you were a citizen or not, the lack of any tax payment records would prompt a thorough investigation from birth to the present.
Chen Chuan contacted Lao Qi through his Boundary Vessel, "Lao Qi, I've arrived."
Lao Qi immediately responded, "Chen, over here."
Chen Chuan saw the SUV's door open, and Lao Qi stepped out, waving at him.
Chen Chuan drove along the scanning lane of the parking lot and parked in an empty spot. With his Processing Bureau identity, he didn't need to pay for parking in this public lot, so the parking fee he had just paid was immediately refunded.
As he exited the vehicle, he approached Lao Qi, who, despite his unshaven appearance and dark circles under his eyes, seemed to have no other issues.
In the back seat of the car was a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl with big eyes and two small braids; she must be Lao Qi's daughter, Qi Qi. She greeted Chen Chuan with a "Hello, big brother."
Chen Chuan nodded and smiled, "Hello." Then, turning to Lao Qi, he asked, "Lao Qi, what's the situation now?"
Lao Qi sighed, "After I hid here, those people didn't come looking for me. But it's not a good situation; Qi Qi hasn't been to school for several days."
"Is it because of the whereabouts of those materials?" Chen Chuan asked.
"It seems so," Lao Qi replied.
Chen Chuan found it a bit strange. While these secret sect materials might be harder to obtain in the Upper City District, they weren't exactly rare. Was it worth all this trouble?
Lao Qi explained, "I was puzzled at first, but then I thought that maybe my friend got involved with something he shouldn't have touched, which is why it's affecting us now."
Chen Chuan thought this made sense. If that were the case, Lao Qi was just an innocent bystander. "Are they watching your home now?"
"Yes, so how dare I go back?"
"Which gang are they from?"
"The ones who came are from a small local gang. If it were just them, I could handle it myself. But since it involves the Secret Sect materials, these people are backed by a Lower City District gang and some other force. I don't want to get into trouble, so I decided to hide first."
Chen Chuan understood that Lao Qi didn't want to trouble him initially. He could imagine those people not finding him and leaving, so he said, "Let's go back now, and I'll handle this."
"Okay, then I'll trouble you, Chen." Lao Qi's spirits lifted slightly. Chen Chuan stepping in to handle this shouldn't be difficult, but he felt awkward, "Chen, I'm sorry for bothering you with this..."
"Lao Qi, don't say that," Chen Chuan replied. "I've said we're a team, and I asked you to buy the Secret Sect materials, so this matter concerns me as well. You shouldn't bear it alone."
Both men got into their vehicles and drove towards Lao Qi's residence in the Wuding District, a residential building where many middle to low-income citizens lived.
In reality, Lao Qi used his earnings from commissions to support his family and pay his daughter's school fees. Otherwise, renting a better place wouldn't be too difficult.
They parked outside the building, entered, and took the elevator up.
As they reached the corridor leading to Lao Qi's home, Chen Chuan's gaze swept past two men hiding in the corner, occasionally glancing their way. Upon seeing Lao Qi, they began to touch the Boundary Vessel on their faces.
Chen Chuan said, "Lao Qi, take Qi Qi back and stay inside for now."
"Okay!"
Lao Qi understood. He escorted his daughter to their room, unlocked the door, and went in, closing it behind them.
Chen Chuan didn't bother with the two men; instead, he immediately contacted Wu Bei, asking him to trace the communication signals of those men.
Wu Bei quickly tracked the signal's destination, finding it went to two places: a small gang's base and a bar in the Deep Uncharted Zone. The bar was near a tunnel on the map, suggesting it was a Lower City District gang's outpost. These gangs seemed to favor transforming such outposts into bars or inns.
Chen Chuan hadn't been clear about the distribution of power in the Lower City District. The Processing Bureau had some information, but it was mostly outdated, given the complex membership and rapid power shifts there.
However, he now had a channel. He used the company's platform to contact Road Connect Logistics, sending them the marked tunnel's location and asking which gang's territory it belonged to.
After more than ten minutes, they responded, saying that those active near the tunnel were likely from the Plague Gang, providing a description of the gang.
Chen Chuan took a look at the gang's scale, which was not large, but unique. The gang was primarily composed of technical personnel, many of whom were originally R&D staff from large companies, implant doctors, and biological engineers.
Most of the peripheral gang members were followers of a certain evil god. They would deliberately contract sexually transmitted diseases and then take experimental drugs for treatment, a process they called "filtering." They believed this brought them closer to their deity and often abducted people for human experimentation. In the Lower City, they were considered a hated and despised existence.
If the gang's structure wasn't relatively loose, and certain people didn't require their existence, they would have been annihilated long ago.
As he read this, Chen Chuan shook his head. Many gangs with clear structures and organizations could be reasoned with, and they would have some reservations. But these gangs with cult-like tendencies were not only acting crazily but also had members with mental issues. They couldn't be dealt with by conventional means.
As Chen Chuan browsed the information, Wu Bei sent a surveillance scene to him. A group of gang members rode in two vehicles from the gang's base, obviously targeting Lao Qi.
Facing these small gangs, Chen Chuan didn't take action himself. Instead, he contacted the city patrol, explained the situation, and the nearby patrol team immediately responded.
The Processing Bureau and the city patrol had a close cooperative relationship, although they were not in a superior-subordinate relationship.
After all, when the patrol team faced heavy implant users and fighter criminals, they relied on the Processing Bureau to resolve the situation. The faster the Processing Bureau responded, the fewer casualties they suffered. So, the patrol team generally gave face to the Bureau's staff, especially to a Second-Level Executive like Chen Chuan.
The two vehicles had barely been out for five minutes when they were stopped by the city patrol.
Less than half an hour later, the city patrol informed Chen Chuan that the gang members had been detained and those from the base had been taken back for interrogation.
Since these people had a lot to hide, the city patrol team could keep them detained for as long as they wanted.
After receiving the notification, Chen Chuan thanked them. At this moment, Wu Bei's voice sounded in his ear, "Chen, I checked the information from a few days ago. The people who took your friend, Lao Qi, are from that bar. They haven't been seen moving, so the person should still be in the bar."
Chen Chuan thanked him. Knowing the person's location made things easier. The key was to find out the cause of the incident, and then take action.
He hadn't visited in the past few days, so he didn't know if the person was still alive. He could only go and check first.
He asked Wu Bei to keep an eye on Lao Qi's home, and if there was any situation, to notify him immediately. Then, Chen Chuan got into the car and drove to the location, arriving in about twenty minutes.
This bar was converted from an old-style building. From the outside, it looked quite normal, with a prominent bar sign, flashy neon lights, and flickering light screens.
He parked and walked in. Inside, the lights flickered continuously, and the floor was made of glass panels, beneath which glass pipelines carried a liquid that flowed like blood.
There were no customers yet, but after Chen Chuan entered, the second I noticed a strong fading sign. Following the direction, the source seemed to be in the middle of a sealed decorative wall.
He withdrew his gaze and went to the bar. He said directly, "I have a friend. A few days ago, he was caught by you. Is he still here?"
The bartender, wearing a short-sleeved shirt, revealing his muscular arms covered in tattoos. When Chen Chuan entered, the bartender watched him with caution. Hearing these words, his expression changed, and he denied, "I don't know what you're talking about."
He signaled to two enforcers sitting in the distance, and they immediately started contacting others outside using a Boundary Vessel.
Chen Chuan seemed unaware and sat down in front, saying, "Then, I'll have a drink."
"We only have alcohol here, no drinks."
Chen Chuan said, "A glass of water will do."
The bartender, seeing that the person using the Boundary Vessel was still contacting someone, turned to pour a glass of clear water for Chen Chuan, adding two ice cubes. He pushed it towards Chen Chuan, "Sir, your water."
Chen Chuan slowly sipped the water.
After discovering the situation here, the few remaining customers felt something was wrong and checked out, even those who wanted to watch were persuaded to leave by the bar's enforcers.
Soon, a group of people walked in from outside, led by a well-dressed man in his thirties. Although the lighting wasn't very bright, he didn't remove the sunglasses from his face.
He turned and gave an order, and the bar's outer door was pulled down, the inner door locked, and then a few people with weapons and firearms slowly approached.
...
...
(End of Chapter)
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