Book 4, Chapter 92: Ambitious
Book 4, Chapter 92: Ambitious
Lead Investigator Wen was sitting in his limousine, which was parked on the seawall in Oceanway District. He stared at White Bird District and the airships flying above it.
He had been keeping an eye on the place over the past few days without sleep.
The big companies and branch companies of mega corporations in Central City had mature active biosentient entities, which could open a tunnel to the merged space.
Of course, they needed permission from Central City to do that. Hence, theoretically speaking, no matter which path they took, they were still under Central City’s control.
The problem was within Central City’s government. Aside from the Department of Administrative Affairs, the municipal government also had a certain degree of power to approve entry to the merged space. This was a problem from the early days of the Great Shun Republic.
Jibei Road was pushing for new laws in regard to that. Once they passed, a portion of the municipal government’s power would be taken away. However, the municipal government wasn’t going to just watch their power slip from their grasp. They were fighting back, so there were battles between the two government organizations all over the place.
Lead Investigator Wen knew that the Union would enter the merged space through a tunnel under the municipal government’s control. If they truly joined with the Linacrox Union, they would have access to the same tunnel.
Even though the municipal government wouldn’t be able to grant them blatant freedom to go through a tunnel due to the laws, they could absolutely let some people slip through from time to time.
Lead Investigator Wen was sure that if he relaxed his guard for even a bit, regardless of whether both parties were working together or not, a large number of people would “accidentally” slip through the unmonitored tunnel.
That was why he launched surprise inspections on the Linacrox Union every day and tracked the movements of all the main members. He even paid attention to the airships flying over the ocean.
Of course, they fought back. They kept reporting him and complaining about him to his superiors. They also often refused to cooperate or delayed inspections and occasionally sued him.
But he was an experienced lead investigator. Everything he did was according to procedure, and he had proper records for everything, so they hadn’t been able to catch him off guard.
Due to him acting according to procedure while going up against the Linacrox Union, the Resolution Department and the Department of Administrative Affairs helped him stave off the pressure. This allowed him to move more freely.
Hence, as long as he was willing to stay in the area, the Linacrox Union would have a hard time doing anything to him.
Wu Quan was being interrogated, though. If things continued as they were, their enemies would smear his name or do something else. This was only a matter of time. He would even say that it had already begun.
“Sir.” A younger teammate knocked on his window while holding a briefcase.
Lead Investigator Wen took a look at him before motioning for him to get in so that they could talk. The young officer opened the door and got inside. Then, he took out a decoded telegram and handed it to him. “It’s their reply.”
Lead Investigator Wen’s expression turned stern. He took the reply. It was from the Covert Division.
Checked. There are signs that the Linacrox Union and the Union will collaborate.
While things appeared to be as usual over the past few days, he could feel the pressure getting heavier. Even his subordinates had been rotated through several batches.
While Lead Investigator Wen was confident that he could stop the Linacrox Union if they did anything, some of them might still slip by. This wouldn’t send all his efforts down the drain, but a lot of them would end up in vain. Besides, it wasn’t a good plan to keep waiting for the Linacrox Union to attack him.
“I have a task for you, Xiao Shao,” he said.
Xiao Shao squared his shoulders and sat up straight. “What is it?”
Lead Investigator Wen tapped his Realm Pass and handed him a document. “Get things ready according to what is stated here. But remember: Don’t act on your own. No matter what you hear, stay calm. Don’t panic.”
“Understood,” Xiao Shao replied seriously.
“Good. Go.”
Xiao Shao saluted him and said, “Please excuse me.”
Then, he opened the door and left with the briefcase.
Lead Investigator Wen sat with his thoughts for a long time in the car before coming out to stand on the seawall. He stared at the tumbling waves for a little over half an hour before touching his Realm Pass and contacting Lead Investigator Han.
The call went through after a while.
“Han Fu speaking.”
“Hello, Lead Investigator Han. I’ve been thinking over the past few days and decided that I can totally get in on your plan. I was just wondering when you intend to do it,” Lead Investigator Wen said with a smile.
Han Fu didn’t answer immediately. After a while, Lead Investigator Wen received a diagram of a tunnel leading to the merged space.
“This is the tunnel that I believe the Linacrox Union is most likely to use to go to the merged space.”
Lead Investigator Wen took one look at it and nodded. “The underground tunnel in White Bird District? That’s highly likely, yes. But if I loosen the monitoring over that area, they’re definitely going to get wary. Do you have any ideas?”
“We need to make things look natural. You don’t need to loosen your monitoring. Just wait for their counterattack. I think it’s going to happen soon, then just go along with the flow and give them a chance. We’ll focus our forces to attack them and aim to take the Linacrox Union down in one shot.”
Lead Investigator Wen found himself fired up. “Your plan is somewhat doable, but we need the Linacrox Union to fall willingly into our trap. If only a few of them come into the tunnel, we’ll end up putting out a juicy bait to lure in a handful of prey.”
“That’s why we can’t give them too much time to think and prepare. Once they target you, pretend that you’re going to need a long time to get out of whatever trouble they get you in. Then, they’ll be forced to come up with a decision on the spot.”
“That works. In such a situation, they will try to go into the tunnel even if it’s risky.” Lead Investigator Wen nodded.
“Yes. Because the longer they stall, the lower their chances of getting the artifact,” Han Fu pointed out.
“How many men can you mobilize?” Lead Investigator Wen asked.
“More than half of my subordinates. Any more, and they will notice. I’ve been dispatching my subordinates repeatedly over the past few days as a front.”
Lead Investigator Wen nodded at that. “If we want to succeed, we need reliable information. I believe I don’t have to tell you why that is.”
“I can tell you with full confidence that I have inside information. Honestly, even if they don’t come, it won’t cause any delays. I don’t think you’d mind it too much.”
“If a chance comes, of course we have to take it. That’s settled, then,” Lead Investigator Wen said firmly.
He cast a glance at the surging waves. Once he made up his mind, he would work toward his goal. Hence, after making some calculations in his mind, he returned to his car and started wondering how he could set things up without drawing attention.
He couldn’t mobilize too many of his subordinates. If the scale got too big, it would be difficult for him to hide word about it. Besides, it might not be effective. What they needed were elites. Talented people played a crucial role at critical moments, and it would be better if they were people who had never shown up in either of their teams before.
The reinforcements from other Central Cities were perfect for this. Some of them had caught him by surprise. They were actually rare talents.
Lead Investigator Wen turned his attention outward. He was going to hunker down and monitor this place for a few more days until the Linacrox Union did something.
***
The attack came sooner than expected. After just half a day, photos and documents of him having secret trades with the Linacrox Union circulated in the Department of Administrative Affairs and the Resolution Department. They even provided voice recordings and witnesses. One of Lead Investigator Wen’s subordinates also came forward to testify against him.
The news caused a major ruckus. Even though everyone knew that this might be a scheme to take down Lead Investigator Wen, there was just too much evidence, so the Resolution Department couldn’t just ignore it. They immediately called him back for questioning.
Naturally, he also had to hand over his tasks to someone else. However, anyone with a functioning brain knew that his replacement wouldn’t be able to do much, since they wouldn’t have Lead Investigator Wen’s strength and prestige.
Half a day later, new information appeared. A lot of the evidence was falsified, so he might be able to return to his position soon.
In that half day he was gone, many events were kicked into motion in the shadows.
***
It was 7:20 p.m. on the fifth of October.
Lead Investigator Wen sat in his office with his eyes shut, as if he was waiting for something. He had gotten out of hot water at noon and could return to his position, but he didn’t do anything and just remained idle in his office.
At 7:30 p.m., he heard a chime on his Realm Pass. Once he answered, Han Fu said, “According to my insider, at 11:30 p.m. and 2:00 a.m., Linacrox Union’s teams will go through the tunnel.”
Lead Investigator Wen didn’t ask any further questions nor where Han Fu got his information from. He just said decisively, “Okay, I’ll set out right now.”
He stood up, grabbed his weapon, and walked out of his office to take the officer-exclusive elevator. After tapping a button, the elevator started going down.
He knew that there were plenty of people watching him, so he took the tunnel within the Resolution Department. Once he was in the merged space, he could take the train to the exit of the tunnel the Linacrox Union teams were going to take. Over there, he would meet up with Han Fu. Then, they would work together to surround the Linacrox Union teams once they came out.
Soon, the elevator reached the bottom, and the doors opened. Lead Investigator Wen walked out. There were two rows of Resolution Department officers waiting for him. They saluted him upon seeing him.
Lead Investigator Wen stood still and saluted them back. After lowering his arm, he strode forward. With each step he took, the officers beside him would turn around and follow him. Neat and orderly footsteps filled the tunnel.
There was already a train waiting for them.
Lead Investigator Wen brought his team into the train. Upon sitting down, he tapped on his Realm Pass and scrolled to Chen Chuan’s signal as if he wanted to contact him, but after some thinking, he decided not to. Instead, he set up a timed voice message. It would be sent out later unless he deleted it himself.
The train whistled and rushed into the dark tunnel.