Chapter 629: Trouble Brewing
Chapter 629: Trouble Brewing
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Hey you insolent brat, were you checking out my girlfriend?”
The young man belted while shoving Chen Chen in the chest.
However, Chen Chen barely budged an inch despite the young man throwing his weight into the shove attempt. Instead, it was the young man who was flung several steps backward.
The young man looked at Chen Chen quizzingly and met his eyes.
“Hey, what’s going on Bobby?”
A large crowd followed after, each one of them seemed to size up Chen Chen while they formed a circle around him.
“Zhenan, this kid here was staring at us just now. I think he’s checking out our girlfriends.”
The young man was named Bobby. He turned to a tall, muscular companion and muttered.
Chen Chen seemed intrigued by this and turned to Bobby. “Didn’t your girlfriends dress up like this so other people like us can get an eyeful as well?”
“Oh my God!”
“Pervert!”
“You b*stard...”
This remark seemed to have provoked them. Several girls in the crowd looked at him with clear disgust in their eyes. The giant that Bobby was talking to approached Chen Chen. He had to be at least two meters tall and towered over everyone nearby. He looked down at Chen Chen. “Do you have any idea who I am?”
“There’s no way that he knows!”
Bobby scoffed and pointed at Chen Chen rudely. “Look at him, he’s probably just arrived in this city today and doesn’t know anything about who’s in charge! Already running his mouth like this, I say we take him to the alley and beat him up. I’ll take care of the rest!”
“Yes, let’s!”
Fueled by alcohol, the others could not wait any more. They stormed at Chen Chen and tried to grab him.
When they touched Chen Chen’s collar, they suddenly felt the weight of an invisible hand on them. With a vicious throw, all of them were flung a distance away!
“Bang!”
They scattered and tumbled onto the ground around Chen Chen!
“Ow!”
“Ah! Who was that!”
Nearly all of them were pulled away by an invisible strength behind them. It was only the tall giant who sensed an invisible presence behind himself. He glowered and turned behind him. A surge of power rose inside him while he threw a punch at the invisible entity!
“Bang!”
Two fists collided!
“Sneak attack?”
The tall giant bellowed. He unleashed a burst of strength that threw his invisible opponent backward. He sensed faint traces of electricity running across the air as a figure appeared out of nowhere!
The invisible figure was revealed. The person who attacked him was a soldier wearing a black combat suit and a dark helmet!
“Wait, aren’t you...”
When he recognized the sigil on the soldier’s face, his face changed. Before he could utter anything else, something slammed into his sides. He put up his arms to shield himself from the attack and that resulted in the bones in his arms being snapped in half!
“Ah!”
The tall giant howled in pain. It was then when the surrounding crowd saw two more figures materializing out of thin air. They broke his arm mercilessly and proceeded to press him to the ground!
“Buzz...”
Then, the buzz of electricity began to appear in the surroundings while emitting faint blue lights. More soldiers decked in black combat suits began to appear. There were dozens of drones hovering overhead as well.
The people who witnessed this scene were dumbfounded. They did not understand what was happening.
“Ah... You, why is it the B.S.S. department with you... Who are you?”
With his arms pinned behind him and a B.S.S. soldier’s weight on top of him, the young man on the ground whimpered, “My father is Li Jiangang... He’s a Beta-level psionicist, a psionicist consultant of Eco Science City!”
Chen Chen remained in the same spot the entire time, looked around him, and saw a crowd beginning to form. He made a gesture at several nearby Black Knights, who proceeded to disperse the crowd.
“Article 51, Item 12 of Namibia Law on Public Safety: Psionics who threaten citizens with psionic powers without authorization shall be sentenced to seven to fifteen days of public security detention.”
“Article 21, Item 52 of Namibian Criminal Law: Violent resistance to the arrest of law enforcement officers, which constitutes an assault on the police is punishable by a sentence of three to five years in prison.”
“Article 15, Item 13 of Namibian Criminal Law: Unlawful acts of violence and/or an attempted crime is punished by imprisonment of five months to one year, depending on the severity of offense”
“Article 8, Item 16 of Namibian Criminal Law: Use of intimidation or other outlets to create public discourse may be subjected to three months to a year of imprisonment depending on the severity of offense...”
With a crowd of confused onlookers nearby, Chen Chen recited the laws, “These are the charges you’re accused of. You have the right to remain silent. Every word you say may be used against you in court.”
“Who are you?”
The friends of the man pinned to the ground began to panic and cry. Then, a limousine swerved around the corner just in time.It accelerated to the gathered crowd and screeched to a sudden halt.
Chen Chen glanced inside the limousine. Immediately after its arrival, a middle-aged Chinese man wielding an intense, harsh expression stepped out of the vehicle. He was not impressed with the sight he saw of the young man pinned to the ground by the B.S.S. soldiers.
“Took you long enough.”
Chen Chen mentioned candidly.
The middle-aged man who had just arrived at the scene eyed Chen Chen cautiously but could not recognize who Chen Chen was. He stated, “I’m Li Jiangang, I’m a psionic consultant of Eco Science City. Seeing as we’re fellow countrymen, I hope that you’d forgive my son for his foolish behavior.
“Also, I’m close with President Qian himself.”
The middle-aged man made a point of stressing his connections with the president.
“I don’t think my forgiveness can change anything.”
Chen Chen remarked, “I’m only acting according to the law. Your son led his group and tried to assault me. The central court system will review this and hand out whatever sentence it deems appropriate.”
“My friend, you’re going overboard.”
The middle-aged man said with a thick frown, “Fortunately, you’re not injured. What do you say we forgive these young people? They’ll wisen up eventually. The central court system is reserved for the commoners. Upperclassmen like you and I can handle things our way.”
“Reserved for the commoners?”
Chen Chen snapped, his eyes bright with sudden anger. “In this case, let’s do it your way! I’m sure you and your friend Qian Wenhuan don’t have anything to hide anyway so why don’t you tell him to bring you along and come meet me in my office?”
Chen Chen left immediately after that.
“You...”
Li Jiangang gritted his teeth and looked at the group with the “B.S.S.” sigil taking his son away and promptly leaving the scene. He wanted to stop them but decided it would be unwise to oppose the terrifying B.S.S.
As a Beta-level psionicist, he wielded power that greatly surpassed any commoner. He might even be able to wipe out the city if given enough time. Now, he could not muster the courage to oppose the B.S.S.
It did not matter how powerful he was. If he openly opposed Blacklight Biotechnology senselessly, he would be mercilessly squashed like a bug...
“Who is that guy anyway? What makes him think he can act so arrogant like he runs the place?”
Li Jiangang murmured, then picked up the phone, and got in touch with Qian Wenhuan...
...
The group of misbehaving young men were merely an afterthought at this point. Chen Chen was more concerned with the laws he had enacted in the city. In the past, he would have wanted to punish them further but now that they were living in the city with laws established by himself, he had to act accordingly to the law as well.
If even the founder of the city would act like a hypocrite and overturn laws senselessly, then the others in the organization would follow suit. In this way, the sanctity of the law would no longer hold any meaning in the management level of Eco Science City.
Chen Chen returned to his office with this in mind. As soon as he reached his office, Little X contacted him, “Qian Wenhuan called, are you going to answer?”
“No, he can come and meet me in person if he wants to.”
Chen Chen answered without hesitation. Although it was at the peak of midnight, Qian Wenhuan who enjoyed the position of CEO of the African branch and the unparalleled benefits that came along with it should know that it meant that certain things were expected of him. One of those things was that he should be at his employer’s beck and call day and night.
After about half an hour, the elevator door opened to reveal Qian Wenhuan standing with the previous Li Jiangang. Qian Wenhuan was the first to step through the elevator doors.
“Bo, Boss!”
Qian Wenhuan approached Chen Chen immediately. He still looked the same as he did more than a decade ago as if the past ten years and more hardly wrinkled his appearance. However, one thing to note was that he was sweating profusely. “Boss, this is the first I’ve heard of something like this. I’ve never tried to abuse my position as a CEO. Don’t you trust me?”
“Then, how do you explain what Li Jiangang told me earlier?”
Chen Chen remained seated, refusing to offer so much as a handshake. “Li Jiangang, why don’t you repeat what you told me?”
“I...”
Li Jiangang looked like he wanted to bury himself into a hole to escape this situation. The audacious attitude he had during their confrontation in the city earlier seemed like a dream. “Mr. Chen, I just got caught up in the moment and...”
“Go ahead!”
Chen Chen’s tone grew heavier.
Left without a choice, Li Jiangang stumbled through his words, “I was saying that... That we don’t have to worry about the central court system... That we can settle the matter personally...”
“You!”
Based on the color of Qian Wenhuan’s face, he would probably execute Li Jiangang right at that moment if he could. He quickly formed an explanation, “Boss, Li Jiangang is only a long-time acquaintance of mine, but I’ve never done anything like that with him! We’re not even that close and I can’t remember the last time we spoke. You can go through our conversation logs if you don’t believe me. Let the B.S.S. department do their thing!”
“I’ll be looking into it.”
Chen Chen remarked coldly, “As for Li Jiangang, do you have anything against me sending your son to the central court to be processed?”
“Mr. Chen...”
Li Jiangang turned pale and hastily replied, “A child like him doesn’t know any better. Why would someone of your position pick on him for his foolish behavior?”
“Hm?”
A sharp look came upon Chen Chen’s face. When he squinted sharply, Li Jiangang felt an invisible hand placed on his neck and pulled him up from the ground!
Li Jiangang’s helpless hands reached for his neck but he could not feel anything.
“Hnghh...”
Li Jiangang opened his mouth and tried to breathe. The pair of invisible hands continued lifting him higher in the air and soon, suffocating dizziness rushed into his head. He tried to resist with his psionic energy but found that his psionic powers were somehow restricted. He could not channel them within his body!
All he could do was kick his feet and fumble meekly in the air, his eyes full of horror.
Just as Li Jiangang thought this was the end for him, he felt the pressure on his throat loosening and he was dropped to the ground. He checked his throat for damage and gasped hoarsely in between coughs.
‘How is this possible? My psionic powers have reached Beta level a long time ago and most psionicists can barely oppose me. How could this founder of Blacklight Biotechnology completely suppress my psionic abilities?’
The horror was evident on Li Jiangang’s face that was blank as a sheet.
“Li Jiangang, the only reason I didn’t kill you is because you’re protected by the law.”
Chen Chen stated, “The same law your son is subjected to. The B.S.S. did not arrest him because he offended me but because he broke the law.”
“Yes, Sir...”
Li Jiangang nodded sheepishly and wiped away the look of arrogance in his eyes.
“Old Qian.”
Chen Chen glared sharply at Qian Wenhuan. “There’s a task I’d like to assign you today. I want you to thoroughly investigate the upper management of Eco Science City and find out if there are any bad seeds among us who abuse their power.”
In truth, there was no need for any further investigation. All this time, Little X’s watchful eyes had been keeping everything in check and had accumulated a list of all those who abused their positions of power and were involved in corruption. This was Chen Chen’s indirect method of punishing Qian Wenhuan, forcing him to play the role of a villain and purge the corrupted officials from Eco Science City himself.
This was a form of tough love. Over the last two decades, while Chen Chen slowly stepped away from the management role, Qian Wenhuan’s authority had been rising gradually. In time, power started to get to his head and he became overconfident, sometimes even dabbling his hand in certain gray areas.
Chen Chen had been observing these behaviors since it began. He only decided it was not the time to get involved yet since Qian Wenhuan was quite reserved for what it was worth and had not committed grave sins yet.
Today’s incident served as a golden opportunity to hammer in a well-needed lesson. It should be more than enough to keep Qian Wenhuan in check for another decade or more until he eventually forces Chen Chen’s hands.
“I’ll be sure to look into it.”
Qian Wenhuan brushed the sweat pooling on his forehead and promised sincerely. When he saw that Chen Chen did not have any more to say, he quickly dragged the shellshocked Li Jiangang out of the office with him.
After the two left, Chen Chen turned his attention back to the computer. He saw the central court system’s decisions regarding the recent case presented to it.
The central court system was known for its extreme efficiency. Li Zhenan, an individual who possessed psionic abilities, was guilty of all four charges. The final sentence handed by the central court system was four years and three months in prison.
The other young man named Bobby who was the first to provoke Chen Chen was guilty of two separate charges in Item 13 of Article 15, and Item 16 of Article 8. The final verdict was a year and two months in prison.
Meanwhile, the other members involved were similarly sentenced to ranges of three months to half a year of imprisonment.