Chapter 451: Chapter 181: Channel
Chen Chuan heard the connection end on the other side. He mulled it over. ’I wonder where that person is from. Poison Ant Express? The Moss Gang? Or... Green Source Ecological Company?’
’That person’s words carried a veiled threat, but that just proves their strength is limited and they have reservations. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have bothered calling me; they would have just made their move.’
’Still, this proves that the situation with Lu Tong Logistics is probably not as simple as a surface-level business conflict. Something else must be involved.’
’Besides, they managed to find out who I am, so they know I won’t be staying here for long. There’s no need to be in such a hurry to tell me this. They could have easily waited until I left.’
’Or could it be that it’s precisely because they know my identity that they’re afraid the Processing Bureau will get involved?’
’Hm, now that’s interesting.’
’Maybe I can write a report on this later. After all, even though the Processing Bureau doesn’t usually meddle in the Lower City District’s affairs, it’s still part of Central City and therefore falls under the Bureau’s jurisdiction.’
As he was thinking, Lan Xinnan contacted him. "Brother Chen, is there anything else you need help with? If not, we’ll be heading back."
Chen Chuan said, "Go on back. One thing, though—you have Resonators here, right?"
Lan Xinnan replied, "Yes, we have a team. Is there something you need, Mr. Chen?"
Chen Chuan said, "It’s nothing major. When it’s convenient, please have them help me trace a signal."
The Domain signals here couldn’t connect directly to the Upper City District, so he couldn’t ask Wubei for help. But since there were Resonators here, he could have someone assist with the trace.
"Okay, I’ll arrange for someone as soon as I get back."
After ending the call, the entire convoy started moving, heading back to the encampment.
As they were leaving, someone from the Poison Ant Express crew who had recorded the fight just now slipped away to a corner and spoke into his Realm Token:
"Just like you asked, I used the thing you gave me to record the scene. But you never said it was going to be this dangerous. You’ll have to add a little extra."
"The boss is a straight shooter!"
"Great. Same place for the exchange. I’m on my way."
Elsewhere, Old Bian snapped out of the scene being transmitted through his Realm Token. He was immensely relieved that he hadn’t clashed with Chen Chuan earlier. Otherwise, the one whose head got stomped in today might have been him, not Gai Er.
However, the many Third Limit Fighters in the Lower City District had their own circles. As soon as Gai Er died, the news spread like wildfire. And because Gai Er had often dealt with him, someone contacted him right away.
"Old Bian, I hear the guy who killed Gai Er was hired by your Lu Tong Logistics. Weren’t you the one holding down that territory? Why the new face? Did you retire?"
Old Bian knew they weren’t really asking for information. They were just passive-aggressively mocking him. A Third Limit Fighter maintains his combat strength into old age. Besides, someone like him only needed to show up at critical moments and did nothing otherwise. How could there be any talk of retirement? It was obvious he’d been kicked out.
He was fuming inside, but he had to keep up appearances, so he fobbed the person off with a few noncommittal words.
But he had barely ended that call when another one came in. "Old Bian, that newcomer is pretty tough, huh? Is he your apprentice? How come we’ve never heard you mention him before?"
Old Bian said, bottling up his anger, "He’s not my apprentice."
"Not your apprentice?"
The person on the other end feigned surprise. "He’s not your apprentice and you just gave way like that? I guess that just goes to show what a man of high standing and moral character you are, Old Bian. Making way for the younger generation, that’s amazing. Someone like me is too worldly. I could never bear to give up my spot."
He had just finished with that person when, after a short while, another call came. It was obvious the news had spread. This person spoke in a seemingly consoling tone:
"Old Bian, I saw what happened with Gai Er. I understand why you did it. These young people are so hot-headed and have no respect for the code. We’re getting old. There’s no point in fighting with them. It’s good to step down when you know you can’t keep up. You’ve fought your whole life, aren’t you allowed to enjoy yourself a little?"
By the time he had dealt with a string of such calls, Old Bian’s face was as black as the bottom of a wok. Unfortunately, his apprentice couldn’t read the room and said excitedly, "Master, now that Gai Er is dead, it should be our turn to step up, right?"
"Step up? Step up to what!?" Old Bian roared. That final scene had terrified him. ’A guy like that is better left for Poison Ant Express and the Moss Gang to deal with.’
His apprentice flinched at the shout and mumbled, "So... we’re just going to let it go?"
Old Bian snorted. "You think Poison Ant Express will just back down because Gai Er is dead? That the Moss Gang will just let this go? It’s not that simple. Just wait. There’s still a good show to watch."
The apprentice’s face lit up with understanding. Just then, someone seemed to contact him. After taking the call and asking a few questions, he looked up and said, "Master, it’s someone from Poison Ant Express. They’re asking if we knew that guy’s background beforehand and why we didn’t tell them sooner."
Old Bian sneered. "Tell them he only arrived yesterday. We didn’t have time to look into him. Besides, they were the ones in the duel. Are you saying they didn’t do their own homework and needed us to provide them with intel?"
"Oh."
The apprentice then added, "Master, Poison Ant Express says this isn’t over."
Old Bian snorted, a flicker of annoyance in his heart. ’So they can’t handle him and they come to me to make threats? Does everyone think I’m some fucking pushover?’
After the Lu Tong Logistics convoy returned to the encampment, Chen Chuan stepped out of his vehicle. The Resonator Lan Xinnan found for him had also arrived. He was a serious-looking man in his thirties with the surname Chi.
After checking it, he said, "Mr. Chen, this should just be a Boundary Point signal. In the Lower City District, to avoid being traced, people often use a relay method. They have an unrelated person receive the signal and then forward it. Sometimes it might be relayed several times."
The intermediaries themselves don’t even know the final destination.
"It’s a simple but effective method. Even if we manage to find this Boundary Point, it’ll likely just be someone hired through a platform, not the principal party. Of course, if you insist on finding them, Mr. Chen, we can trace it."
Chen Chuan said, "Is that so? Thank you." In that case, even a more skilled technician would be useless, so there was no point in continuing the search.
He thought for a moment, then asked, "Do you have any way to connect to the Upper City District from here?"
Old Chi said, "The Upper City District shields its Domain from the Lower City District, but it’s possible to bypass it through certain technical means by exploiting some vulnerabilities. However, these vulnerabilities are currently controlled by various gangs and groups. We used to have a signal channel, but we lost it after Lu Tong Express ran into trouble."
"Now, if we want to establish a stable connection with the higher-ups, we have to buy signal access from other gangs and groups. Besides paying a hefty sum, we can’t even guarantee our conversations won’t be leaked."
"If you have an urgent or confidential matter to discuss with the higher-ups, Brother Chen, we can try to set up a strong signal. But since it would be a ’private’ signal, it might be targeted and jammed. So, the conversation can’t be too long. We can manage it if we keep it to under three minutes."
Chen Chuan nodded. "Thank you. In that case, I’ll trouble you to start the preparations, Mr. Chi. I might need it later."
Old Chi said, "No problem. Captain Lan said to give you our full cooperation. I’ll go prepare now."
After he left, Lan Xinnan came over and handed Chen Chuan a Golden Card. "Brother Chen, this is the payment we promised you."
Chen Chuan took it and saw that it was a Golden Card from Wansheng Finance. It seemed this financial institution also had service points in the Lower City District.
He asked and found out that this money was originally meant as a tribute for Old Bian. According to their agreement, Lu Tong Logistics was supposed to pay him monthly, but the team had been in a terrible state for the past few months and hadn’t made any payments. Now, it was all being transferred to him.
The total sum was 200,000, which was practically the team’s entire profit for a quarter after deducting necessary expenses.
’Looking at it this way, Old Bian really had it good, getting paid so much every month for doing almost nothing. But even so, it seems he still wasn’t satisfied.’
Chen Chuan thought for a moment, but then handed the card back.
Seeing this, Lan Xinnan was a little confused. Then, as if realizing something, she quickly said, "Brother Chen, I know this might be a little less than you deserve. It’s because we couldn’t take on big jobs before, so we can’t give you much. But now that we’ve taken back our territory, I’m sure we’ll be able to earn more. We’ll make it up to you then."
Chen Chuan shook his head. "That’s not what I mean, Captain Lan. I heard from Brother Lu that you’ve been using your own money to find Implants for Teacher Yu?"
"Teacher Yu was my first mentor. Since he’s in trouble, I feel I should help if I’m able. Take this money back and get Teacher Yu a good set of new Implants."
Lan Xinnan stared at him blankly. After a moment, she took the Golden Card back. "Brother Chen, Master really does need this." She held up the card and said with utmost seriousness, "I’m borrowing this from you, Brother Chen. I will pay it back."
Chen Chuan said, "There’s no rush for that. Captain Lan, where did you get the Implants from before?"
Lan Xinnan replied, "I asked a client in the Upper City District with whom we do business to order them for us. But they said they could only order from small companies; they don’t have contacts at the larger ones."
Chen Chuan grunted in acknowledgment. He could imagine it. ’Those clients would definitely take a cut for themselves, which means getting ripped off twice. It’s not just a waste of money; the main issue is that the Implants they get probably aren’t even that good.’
He asked, "So, do you have a suitable doctor for the Implants?"
Lan Xinnan said, "We do have one. Many of our security personnel use Implants. We originally had three Implant doctors, but now only one remains."
"But her skills are excellent, and she’s trustworthy. She was the one who performed the surgery for our teacher’s previous Implants. We also have a medical bay; it was left behind by the original Lu Tong Logistics. It’s one of the few things we managed to get from the old team."
Chen Chuan nodded slightly. "In that case, I’ll take care of finding a channel."
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