Book 4, Chapter 87: Plan
Book 4, Chapter 87: Plan
Lead Investigator Han looked over, and when he spoke, his voice was as calm as ever.
“I was waiting for you.”
That took Lead Investigator Wen by surprise. He chuckled and said, “If you wanted to see me, you could have just called. I would have come to meet you. You didn’t have to wait for me all the way here.”
“I had something that I needed to say to you in private,” Lead Investigator Han said.
“Is that so?” Lead Investigator Wen checked his watch. Lead Investigator Han said nothing and only watched him.
Lead Investigator Wen chuckled again and lowered his arm. “Since you came all the way here to see me, how could I say no? Should we go to a private place? But don’t make it too far away, please. We have duties and can’t leave our stations.”
“We can go somewhere nearby,” Lead Investigator Han agreed.
They got out of their limousines, took a look around them, and went to the embankment. Their security teams were told not to follow them.
The two investigators were outstanding martial artists. It might have been a long time since they fought at the front lines, but they were not to be underestimated. In terms of fighting power, their security teams wouldn’t be able to defeat them even if they worked together, so they let the two lead investigators leave without the slightest bit of worry.
At the edge of the embankment, they were welcomed by the sound of the waves. The ocean breeze made their overcoats flutter behind them, while white foam formed at their feet when waves crashed against the embankment.
It was a little past 5 p.m. at this point, and it was likely to rain soon. Gray and white clouds in the distance mingled together above the ocean. They looked like they were really close to the water, and blocked off the sunlight.
The two stared at the clouds and waves for a while before Lead Investigator Han said, “I asked you to come here because I got information that the Union might work together with the Linacrox Union.”
“Is it accurate?” Lead Investigator Wen asked. The smile fell from his face.
“I got the information from a secret channel. I can’t verify it yet, but the confirmation will take a long time. It’s not as if I can verify everything, anyway.
“I was thinking that if it’s true and we end up waiting for verification, it would be too late for us to do anything. We need to do something now and stop what is about to come.”
“But would the Linacrox Union really work with the Union? Their representatives can’t call the shots about the distribution of benefits.” Lead Investigator Wen was skeptical.
While the Linacrox Union was known to be more of a company than a government, it was still a unified entity and was different from the Union. The latter was an organization formed of independent companies. Even if both sides worked together, they would be wary of each other.
“They have a mutual enemy right now, so I think that working together is a logical move,” Lead Investigator Han countered.
Lead Investigator Wen considered it. “Have you reported this to Director Wu?”
“I’ve only just received the news. I tried to contact Director Wu, but he’s currently being interrogated due to letting the criminal who killed the Linacrox Union’s diplomat escape. I don’t think he has the time to receive my report. He told me that before his interrogation ends, we are to handle everything ourselves.”
Lead Investigator Wen had heard about it and commented, “Director Wu didn’t mishandle the situation, though.”
“That’s not our business. We just need to deal with our tasks, especially the missions Director Wu assigned to us,” Lead Investigator Han said.
Lead Investigator Wen watched him for a while before walking to the side to use his Realm Pass to ask the department about the situation. Once he got confirmation that Wu Quan was indeed getting interrogated, he asked when the interrogation would end, but he was told that they had to go through procedure, and they didn’t have a specific time for it.
After asking his questions, Lead Investigator Wen sank into contemplation.
Lead Investigator Han simply waited. His face betrayed no emotion. After a while, Lead Investigator Wen turned around and said, “Sorry for making you wait, Lead Investigator Han. You know how it is. We need to go through procedures for this. I’d just like to ask, what are you planning to do?”
“Let’s say this information is true. Then, just like I mentioned before, we need to sabotage their plan. But if the enemies have already joined hands, it wouldn’t be right for us to act by ourselves. We need to concentrate our forces. I have a plan for that,” Lead Investigator Han said and tapped his Realm Pass to form a one-way channel between them. Then, he sent a plan to Lead Investigator Wen.
He took a look. The plan required him to loosen the monitoring over one of the tunnels leading to the merged space and let their targets enter. Then, they would encircle them and attack them. Of course, a lot of thought had gone into who they were supposed to attack.
“We’re going to be focusing on the Linacrox Union?” he asked in surprise.
“Due to the tension between the Linacrox Union and the Great Shun Republic, only a few of them were invited into the merged space. Most of them are going in illegally, so we have a good enough excuse to attack them.
“Besides, if we strike the Linacrox Union and don’t touch the Union, it would be beneficial for our operation.
“Once we get rid of one of them, the other one will be easy.”
Lead Investigator Wen put on an exaggerated expression of shock. In a puzzled and joking manner, he said, “Targeting the Linacrox Union is supposed to be my job. Aren’t you worried that this will benefit me more than you?”
In a flat tone, Lead Investigator Han replied, “I’m not doing this for you. If they work together, neither of us will be able to complete our missions. We can only take down our targets by dealing a heavy blow to one party first. I’m helping you first because I want you to help me later. This is a win-win situation, don’t you think?”
Lead Investigator Wen considered it before shaking his head. “It’s a good plan, but we don’t have enough manpower.”
The toughest problem Jibei Road was currently facing was the gap in the World Ring, which required lots of manpower to keep watch over it. The Resolution Department and World Ring Defense System had done their best and sent most of their fighting men to the World Ring.
They estimated that they would only be able to seal the gap at the end of the year, and the people stationed there couldn’t be brought back until then.
In order to prevent the municipal government from sabotaging them and dragging them down, they also needed to keep some officers on guard against them. Central City also required a lot of security to keep the city safe. They needed backup as well, so they were shorthanded everywhere.
Considering Lead Investigator Han and Lead Investigator Wen’s strength, they might be able to succeed in carrying out the plan, but they couldn’t guarantee a 100% success rate.
“The other Central Cities have sent us reinforcements. Some have already arrived, while others are still on their way. Since Director Wu isn’t around, we can apply for emergency mobilization. I’m sure that the department will approve it,” Lead Investigator Han said.
Lead Investigator Wen ran some calculations in his head. “It’s still going to be a struggle. We might have a lot of reinforcements, but we only have a limited number of high-end fighting power. Captain Xu left in the afternoon, and he took with him some of the department’s best fighters. We don’t have much left, while our targets are different. Even if we fill the holes, it’ll be a tough battle for us.”
As a martial artist, he knew that when it came to brute force, a single person with extreme power could change the tide of the battle. Because of it, it was difficult to determine who was stronger or weaker based on numbers.
Without a doubt, the Union and the Linacrox Union had brought with them plenty of elite martial artists.
While the other Central Cities had sent reinforcements, they had their own difficulties and needed to maintain their security. Few of them could send their best martial artists, and they should already be thanking their lucky stars if they sent some of their mid-tier martial artists.
“If you’re not strong enough, we can ask Lead Investigator Chen to join us. Don’t forget, he’s strong,” Lead Investigator Han proposed.
Lead Investigator Wen immediately shot it down with a shake of his head. “I can understand us working together. After all, Director Wu asked us to deal with the Union and the Linacrox Union, but Lead Investigator Chen is supposed to maintain the security of the city.
“I think that’s a perfect distribution of power. We need someone to take care of the troubles in the city. If Lead Investigator Chen joins us, we’ll be going against Director Wu’s wishes. We’ll also be going against orders and procedure in terms of mission allocation. That’s not right.”
“But we can never be a 100% sure of anything. I hope that you will think about what I said. If necessary, we can step forward and fight too,” Lead Investigator Han said while staring at Lead Investigator Wen.
“Things are different now. If we keep acting according to procedure, we won’t be able to accomplish anything. When we were young, we were filled with passion. We might be older now, but we can’t let that passion die.”
While his tone remained calm, Lead Investigator Wen’s expression changed.
“Also, I know that you don’t trust the reinforcements from the other Central Cities, which is why you never paid attention to them, but I hope that you will have a good read about them. Perhaps you will discover something. That’s all. I’ll be waiting for your reply.”
With that said, Lead Investigator Han gave a nod and left.
Lead Investigator Wen stood still and looked at the ocean. After a while, he removed his hat, smoothed out his rather messy hair, patted his hat, and put it on again.
A few cold drops of water hit his face, so he returned to his limousine. The moment he sat down, he heard the pitter-pattering sound of rain hitting his window.
He turned to his telegraph clerk. “Use my secret frequency to send a telegram to the other side. Ask them whether the Union and the Linacrox Union are going to join hands.”
He wasn’t going to act impulsively because of a baseless rumor. Even though Lead Investigator Han’s plan could sabotage them if executed well, all of that was built upon him having accurate information. If the information was false, things would go horribly wrong for them.
Lead Investigator Wen needed the Covert Division to verify whether this was real. If there were signs of it, he would give the plan a try. If not, he was going to give up on it.
In any case, he had time. He could drag it out for at least a few days.
Just then, he recalled Lead Investigator Han’s final words and retrieved the reinforcements’ information. When he saw a certain group, he stilled and reconsidered things. “If they’re here, Lao Han’s plan might just work...”