Chapter 426: Hidden Undercurrent
Hidden Undercurrent
Chapter 2/15
It's my birthday tomorrow. Just in time for the 3-chapter release. ;)
Can we get 100 comments TOMORROW (c429)?
The bone-piercing wind of the night blew violently into the car, causing the three ladies to shiver in their seats.
Remaining quiet, Yang Chen calmly and forcefully stepped on the brake before changing the transmission to the parking gear and pulled the handbrake!
Screech!
The enormous tractive force generated by the Lexus caused it to slide down the road quite a bit before finally coming to a halt. White smoke then covered the entire car.
The oncoming truck was only 50 meters away. Under the cover of the night, it looked like a monster coming to devour the four of them.
At this moment, Yang Chen left his driver’s seat. He flashed before appearing 5 meters in front of the Lexus.
He stretched his arms out as he raised his head to look at the sky, as if he was enjoying the moment, just like the classic scene from Titanic. However, the person who did this in the movie was a woman, while the one currently posing this way was a man.
“Yang Chen!!!”
“Brother Yang!!!”
The three ladies in the car shouted in unison. Lin Ruoxi tried to stretch her arm out to stop Yang Chen, but she failed to even get a hold of his shirt.
They stared at Yang Chen who was standing in front of a truck like a suicidal martyr as he planned to block the steel monster with only his body.
Shocked and petrified, they tried but failed to understand the situation that was before them!
Is this man crazy?!
Hui Lin understood Yang Chen the best. But even she didn’t think a person could stop a truck with only their body. It was something only made possible by using cinematic special effects. She clasped her hands so tight that her fingers had turned pale!
Whether or not they would be crushed by the truck after Yang Chen was run over was no longer their concern.
Vroom!
Following the roar of the diesel engine, deafening sounds of explosions echoed in the sky!
Bang! Bang! Clunk! Boom!
Dust was kicked up from the ground. At the moment the truck collided with Yang Chen’s body, it appeared to have crashed into an invisible wall. Following closely, it received an enormous blow back, which crushed the entire truck like a tin can!
The thick and heavy metal plates got violently distorted while various parts of the truck’s body were bent and broken. The gear-grinding-like sound could damage one’s eardrums, while the noise that followed was the blast of the engine and the rupturing of the magnetic belts!
Due to the overwhelming impact, the rear of the truck was thrown up, flipping in the sky together with its front before falling into the green belt by the road!
[TL note: Green belt: an area of open land around a city, on which building is restricted.]
The metal plates and the part fragments together with shattered glass and the truck body gave rise to a huge crack on the ground.
The soil and plants were smashed beyond repair, as if an excavator had gone berserk, making it a sight for sore eyes.
Having noticed that nothing dangerous had taken place, the three women carefully poked their heads out to take a look at the aftermath. The truck somehow ended up by the road and appeared crushed.
On the other hand, the man who had frightened them was walking toward the crushed truck as if he was walking in the park. Dust and smoke filled the place, while the charred smell of the soil was sharp.
Expressionlessly, Yang Chen stretched his arm out to remove the heavily bent door before throwing the half-dead driver out whose head was full of blood.
He was a rather well-built man. As he was being pulled out of the car by Yang Chen, his breath was coincidentally cut off.
“How unlucky,” Yang Chen murmured. He was too lazy to take care of the aftermath, so he walked back to his car.
An Xin and Hui Lin were fine. They didn’t find it hard to accept what they had observed, since they had witnessed Yang Chen’s extraordinary background before. Lin Ruoxi however, was different. Although she had seen him kill before, she would never expect a human being to be able to block a truck with just their body.
Thus, when Yang Chen boarded the car, Lin Ruoxi subconsciously shrank away her body a little.
Yang Chen noticed her reaction, and felt a hint of bitterness in his heart.
After reaching Full Cycle of Endless Resolve Restoration Scripture, he was able to restrain his post-killing headache, so he didn’t have to take the medication provided by Jane to prevent himself from going insane.
However, this didn’t mean his killing aura was going to disperse that easily. Every time he took action, he wasn’t able to control the cruel soul in his body, which resulted in him exuding the horrifying aura of his killing intent.
Yang Chen was aware that his chronic illness hadn’t fully recovered yet. In other words, his body was no different than that of an atom bomb. He didn’t know if he would turn into a bloodthirsty monster one day.
He tried his best to retract his killing aura before forcing a smile. “Did I frighten you?”
Lin Ruoxi was rather regretful. She had seen the sorrow revealed on Yang Chen’s face earlier. Shaking her said, she answered, “I… I was just not used to it then. I’m fine now.”
Yang Chen nodded. He then started the car engine before remaining in silence for a while. “I hope that you’ll never have a chance to get used to it, even if… it isn’t very possible.”
Lin Ruoxi stayed quiet, while Hui Lin and An Xin had felt something unusual as well, so they decided not to speak.
They didn’t face anything else on their journey home. Lin Ruoxi’s phone kept ringing and each and every one of them was about news regarding the fires. The police had also gotten involved in the investigation. This case had costed the lives of more than ten people after all.
Lin Ruoxi contemplated over an issue before making a call to Mo Qianni. “Qianni, where are you now?”
“I’ve been in the company for quite a while already. I was going to call you soon if you didn’t call me first. The situation is terrible now.” Mo Qianni sounded busy. Shouts and other noises could be heard repeatedly. Orders were being thrown left right centre.
Lin Ruoxi took a deep breath. “Wu Yue told me about what had happened in the factories. Leave them aside for now. I suspect our enemy this time is just trying to distract us on the factories’ side. They sent killers after me. I believe they might send someone after you and the other core members as well. Take care of your safety. Gather the security team immediately…”
“Killers?!” Mo Qianni exclaimed. Hurriedly, she asked, “Then… then are you guys fine?”
“Yeah…” Lin Ruoxi glanced at Yang Chen who was quietly driving. “We’re fine, don’t worry. Look into finding out the responsible party first.”
Mo Qianni answered, “I believe… I can’t get away now.”
“Why?” Lin Ruoxi frowned.
“Five minutes ago, there was suddenly an influx of overseas buyers purchasing our stocks like crazy. Our branch in the USA is occupied now. I’m trying to remotely give orders for us to cooperate as well as we can. If this continues, we have to move funds from other sources. They’re deliberately suppressing us economically and physically, to cause a crash in the stock market and make our stocks suffer…”
Lin Ruoxi shut her eyes. Coldly, she asked, “Are we still holding up now?”
“It’s really dangerous…” Mo Qianni talked to her subordinates for a while, before coming back to the phone call. “Ruoxi… I think… we should ask for help from Athena Team. I believe we’re faced with top-notch traders. They may even turn out to be well known traders. We’re now having troubles internally and externally, I don’t think we can afford anymore losses. If Athena Team takes action, we can focus on moving funds to fight back.”
The Athena Team mentioned by Mo Qianni was the group which had defeated Changlin Media and the Xu clan back then. They were a team directly controlled by Lin Ruoxi. All of them were world-class actuaries and traders, so the cost to hire them was incredibly high, as a result, they were only used in very significant business battles. Since the team would only listen to Lin Ruoxi’s command, Mo Qianni had to ask her first.
Lin Ruoxi pondered for a while. “I’ll be heading to the Athena Team’s base at the resort. Qianni, take over my position for now and deal with the recent, important tasks. Let Mingyu work with you, and bring the other department heads together to stabilize our situation. We must not panic in situations like this. I’ll also pass problems regarding finance to Wu Yue. She’s closer with the banks. Oh yeah, don’t delay the bidding for the new material taking place tomorrow and the day after. Based on our estimations, we should have enough funds to buy over those factories. Don’t lose this opportunity just because we’re in a bad position.”
“Understood. I won’t back down on the bidding and negotiations,” Mo Qianni answered before ending the call. She had had enough headaches just by dealing with the troubles in the company, so she felt rather stressed out.
Soon, Lin Ruoxi immediately made a phone call to gather the members of Athena Team to their base at the resort before asking Yang Chen to drive there, so the others weren’t able to go home for now.
Judging by the current situation, the person who was behind this was most likely Ning Guodong. But he didn’t appear to have such a large influence. Even if the Ning clan had enough power and funds, they wouldn’t give everything to him just to go against Yu Lei International. Who else would it be then?
Lin Ruoxi had more candidates in her heart, but she failed to identify any of them who would actually do something so drastic, so she decided not to voice them out for now.
Hui Lin and An Xin listened to Lin Ruoxi pass down a bunch of orders, and understood how and the situation was. An Xin was in contemplation, while Hui Lin had no clue about business operations. Worried, she asked, “Elder Sister, did something bad happen? Can… can I be of your help?”
Lin Ruoxi turned her head around to look at Hui Lin’s naive and kind face. She immediately felt warmth as she looked at her eyes. Smiling, she answered, “Everything is under control, trust me.”
Hui Lin nodded her head obediently. She knew that she actually couldn’t help Lin Ruoxi much, but she couldn’t help but feel anxious.
“If you’re having trouble gathering finance, the An clan can help,” An Xin suddenly said.
Lin Ruoxi was slightly surprised. She gave An Xin a complex gaze before saying, “Thank you.”
An Xin smiled. “What are you thanking me for? You’re my elder sister, not to mention I’m one of Yu Lei now.”
Lin Ruoxi subconsciously shut her lips together as her gaze met with An Xin’s. She looked like she had something to say, but certain things didn’t have to be stated to be understood.
As the car approached the base of the Athena Team, Wu Yue called over again. However, the news that she had brought over had caused further distress to Lin Ruoxi...