Two hours later, Wubei’s truck returned. This ti, he had gone to Old Qi’s ho first and brought him along.
The two n entered the house, exchanged a few words, and then moved all the remaining useful items to the truck in one go. The Raccoon Cat statue was particularly heavy and absolutely required Wubei’s truck to move.
Chen Chuan planned to drive the rugged Gard Car himself, letting Old Qi drive the Silver Lightning. Old Qi settled into the comfortable seat, clucking his tongue. "I’ve never driven such a high-end car before. Thanks to you, Brother Chen, I get to drive it this once."
He said emotionally, "If I were a dozen or so years younger, I’d have to take this car for a couple of laps around Central City."
Chen Chuan smiled and said, "I’ve already spoken with Brother Wu. The car will be parked in his garage, and the keys will be there too. Old Qi, if you want to drive it, feel free."
Old Qi quickly shook his head. "No, I’d better not. A fine cage is wasted on a common bird. It’s not appropriate for to be driving this car now."
Chen Chuan chuckled, walked back to the Gard Car, opened the door, and got in. He had learned the basics of driving out on the wasteland, so it wasn’t hard for him to get the car started. Besides, with his reaction speed, he wasn’t worried about any problems.
At that mont, he thought of the Raccoon Cat Stone Carving and asked through his Realm Token, "Old Qi, can you still get your hands on those Esoteric Materials from last ti?"
Old Qi thought for a mont and replied, "I think so."
Chen Chuan transferred him a sum of money and reminded him, "Old Qi, if there’s any trouble, it’s better to go through a commission. Don’t take any personal risks."
"I know." Old Qi explained, "Before, it was mainly because of money, and I was afraid of getting into trouble down the line. But with you backing , Brother Chen, I’m not afraid anymore."
Chen Chuan said, "Good. If there’s any trouble, tell imdiately."
"I will."
The headlights of the three vehicles switched on one by one in the rain-swept darkness. They drove slowly down the road from the hill, and once they reached the main road, they sped up and drove off.
Forty-five minutes later, the three vehicles arrived back at Wubei’s place, and they moved everything from the vehicles into a temporary storage room.
Chen Chuan looked at the packed-to-the-brim warehouse, which now also included the dicine he had brought back from Teacher Wu’s place. He couldn’t help but wonder, ’Should I find another, more suitable base of operations?’
But it seed the conditions weren’t right yet. Finding a house was easy; ensuring its security was the real problem. If he couldn’t guarantee its safety, he’d just be stockpiling supplies for soone else.
’I’ll have to put it off for a while.’
He took a few steps and stopped in front of the Raccoon Cat statue. The paranormal entity had been fed a sacrifice for now, so there wouldn’t be any issues in the short term. But it was hard to say what would happen over a longer period. As soon as Old Qi acquired the Esoteric Materials, he would have to find a way to bind it, or perhaps break the stone carving and transfer the entity elsewhere.
’Then again, maybe I could do this...’
An idea occurred to him, but he would have to wait for the materials to arrive before he could act on it.
After saying goodbye to Wubei and Old Qi, he walked out of the apartnt complex, got into his Gard Car, and drove straight back to the academy.
Upon entering the Profound Palace Building’s premises, he used his Realm Token to register his information on the platform. Following the Realm Token’s guidance, he parked the car in the building’s underground garage, then took an elevator back to his dorm on the forty-ninth floor.
After entering his dorm, he first went to the washroom to freshen up. Once he was clean and had changed his clothes, he ca out, picked up the Realm Token he had tossed on the sofa, and put it on. This ti, he successfully received the ssage. It contained just a few short words:
"Go find ’Huan Pang’."
’What does that an? Is ’Huan Pang’ a person? Or so kind of code na?’
Chen Chuan pondered for a mont. Since You Xing had left him this clue, it must be a significant one—at least, it seed so to You Xing.
He felt it was pointless to guess and decided it would be better to ask soone in the know. He first tried contacting Wubei but couldn’t get through. He guessed Wubei was probably tinkering with the Resonance Nest; he seed to recall him saying that he couldn’t receive external communications while adjusting it.
After thinking it over, he contacted Ni Qianqian. He told her the matter was settled and that he had found so clues. Then he posed his question: "Sister Ni, I don’t understand what ’Huan Pang’ ans. It might be a codena, and I thought you might know."
Ni Qianqian humd in affirmation. "Well, you’ve co to the right person. In the underworld, ’Huan Pang’ refers to the Lianwei Zhongyu Company."
"Lianwei Zhongyu?"
Chen Chuan imdiately searched for the company and found that it was a famous rcenary corporation that also dealt in escort and related insurance services. He asked, "Did he use a codena instead of the company’s full na to avoid sothing?"
"Because using specific keywords too frequently can be detected and flagged by these companies, unofficial personnel avoid ntioning a company’s na directly. They usually use codenas instead.
But even that doesn’t guarantee complete avoidance, as so companies even enter the codenas into their monitoring systems. That’s why so people use more private, unlisted codenas. Compared to those, ’Huan Pang’ is actually quite well-known. Even so Lianwei Zhongyu executives are happy to use it privately."
Chen Chuan nodded and asked, "Sister Ni, are you familiar with this company?" Although he could find so information on the platform, it was all superficial. The Processing Bureau would definitely have a more detailed picture.
"Lianwei Zhongyu? The company actually has a fair bit of influence in Central City. They’re rivals with the famous Antan Company. Although they can’t compete on the international stage, within Dashun Country, they’re strong enough to squeeze Antan’s market share."
Chen Chuan then said, "Doesn’t Antan sell intelligence?"
Ni Qianqian froze for a second, then burst into giggles. Even through the Realm Token, he could imagine her shoulders shaking with laughter.
’I almost forgot,’ Chen Chuan thought to himself, ’Sister Ni is easily amused.’
Ni Qianqian laughed for quite a while before stopping. She said, "Ahem, back to business."
Her tone grew more serious. "A company as big as Lianwei Zhongyu wouldn’t target you individually, especially since they can probably find out that you have an investnt from our Processing Bureau. So, since that person pointed you to this company, Brother Chen, you need to think about who there might have a problem with you."
Chen Chuan thought carefully, running through a ntal list of people in Central City who might have a conflict with him and would target him. Suddenly, a na ca to mind. He asked, "Sister Ni, help look soone up."
"Is it a Fighter?"
Chen Chuan said, "Yes, and likely a Third Limit Fighter."
"Then it’s no problem. Unless they’re vouched for by a company or organization, every Third Limit Fighter who wants to move about openly and purchase dicine in Central City has to register with the Processing Bureau. In theory, the Bureau has records on all of them. Just give the na."
Chen Chuan said, "Zhao Qian."
"Zhao Qian?"
Ni Qianqian looked him up. After a mont, she raised an eyebrow and said, "Your intuition is sharp, Brother Chen. Zhao Qian, a mber of Lianwei Zhongyu Company’s managent, currently serving as the resident director of the company’s external agency departnt. Hmm, since he’s a suspect, the personnel defense protocol has been triggered. I’ll send you his internal file directly.
But, Brother Chen, I won’t stop you from doing what you need to do. Just rember, whatever you’re planning, think it all through beforehand. It’s best to have so solid evidence. Otherwise, if you draw the Lianwei Zhongyu Company into this, it will be very difficult for the Bureau to speak up for you."
Chen Chuan said seriously, "I know, Sister Ni."
"Good that you know. By the way, your new evaluation has been submitted. Your evaluation for reaching the Third Limit now surpasses that of the other two students. The Bureau will likely invest more in you, but they’ll definitely assign you more work."
Chen Chuan expressed his understanding. He said, "Thanks for your help, Sister Ni. I’ll treat you to dinner so other day."
Ni Qianqian said, "I’ll hold you to that."
Chen Chuan ended the call and fell into deep thought.
Zhao Qian.
Before coming to Central City, he had discussed this man with Gao Ming. They had considered the possibility that he might seek revenge. Now, this very person was at Lianwei Zhongyu. There was no such thing as that much of a coincidence.
He was almost certain that this was the person who had commissioned the hit.
You Xing must have used his skills or so other channel to find out the client’s location, but he didn’t know Zhao Qian’s specific identity, which is why he only left a keyword.
Considering the date of the commission was March 20th, the very day of the second evaluation, he had reason to suspect that Zhao Qian had learned of his evaluation results through so channel at the academy. Believing Chen Chuan might be a threat, he had made a quick decision to hire an assassin to target him.
Since You Xing failed, the man would not give up. He would likely continue to hire more people. The next opponent he faced would probably be even more troubleso and difficult to deal with. They might even go after his family and friends.
His gaze deepened. ’I have to find a way to take care of this person as soon as possible.’
He paced a few steps in the living room, lost in thought. Setting aside Zhao Qian’s personal strength, as a high-level executive at Lianwei Zhongyu Company, he was certainly surrounded by a security detail. At critical monts, he could also mobilize company resources.
Dealing with soone like that wouldn’t be easy. It wasn’t like facing You Xing, where he could just fight directly. There were many factors to consider.
Just as he was thinking, the phone in the living room rang. He walked over, picked up the receiver, and said, "This is Chen Chuan."
Gao Ming’s voice ca from the other end: "Cousin? I’m already at the Central City checkpoint. I’ll be in Central City in about an hour."
Chen Chuan’s spirits lifted. He glanced at his watch and said, "Great. I’ll co pick you up in a bit."
「anwhile, inside the Lianwei Zhongyu Company Building.」
Zhao Qian was handling business affairs when he suddenly received a platform ssage on his Realm Token: "We have confird that the Cleaner ’You Xing’ has lost Domain interaction for six hours. Death is confird.
As the Cleaner ’You Xing’ was not assigned by the platform, per regulations, twenty percent of your prepaid deposit will be refunded. If you require further services, please submit a new commission. Would you like the platform to recomnd a candidate for you?"
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