Prologue to Danger

Somewhere deep within the forest was an abandoned warehouse.

If one will not look carefully, they would miss the fact that it was only a cover to an operational base where one force of the notorious North Wolf Syndicate was staying.

However, these was not enough to fool those that has been hunting them for now.

Slap! Slap! Slap!

"To shut up!"

"There are many mosquitoes, what can I do, my skin is delicate! Delicate!"

"Delicate my face! If I hadn't seen your dark and rough skin, with all your fingers wrapped in thickened callus you may have me believed"

"Tsk!"

"Now focus, we had yet to send the information regarding this base. We had to complete the mission by today"

"The Young Master should already know about this though"

"Not yet, this was discovered after the first files were sent"

"Okay, let's split up"

"Are you sure this is the base of their operation?" Yyan's face darkened when he read the recent report regarding the movements of North Wolf.

"Yes Young Master, we have surveyed the area multiple times. There had been enough evidence that at least this is one of their major bases"

"Salhura had been receiving minimal support from the government since the population is few and most of the land is rainforest. The terrain is treacherous and the place is yet to be explored. Besides the occasional tour from the tourists, the support coming from the syndicate is what placed the food on the table of locals"

"This would have remained the status quo had we not happen to investigate this particular case" Assistant Yi continued to supplement the information.

Seeing the expression of their Young Master, he probably has an idea for such behavior.

"I know, you can now take your leave" Yyan fist clenched hard enough to dig a hole on the files.

Right now, he actually let Yue go to such dangerous place without ample investigation.

Yyan dialed Yue's number.

It ranged for a long time and no one is picking up.

On their way back to the hotel, a checkpoint was being placed.

STOP-NO UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY

The car stopped.

"Good day sir, we are going to the hotel" the driver informed as soon as the person in charge of the checkpoint approached.

"Sorry, you cannot enter this place. Please turn back and use the other way" the person in charge gave no room to argue and pointed the opposite way.

"We have used this road earlier and there's no such thing as checkpoint. Is it really not possible to pass by here?" but the driver tried to insist since going back would take more time.

"That was earlier, this is now. Again, turn back or I won't be patient with you" the man was temperamental in the first place. If only he didn't recognize that he was talking to a not so ordinary person, and was afraid of getting into trouble, then he would have already pulled the trigger of his gun.

"It alright, no need to argue with this man. Please turn back" Yue advised the driver. At this point, it's not advantageous to argue with the man guarding the checkpoint. Although he's the only one that can be seen at this moment, but based on the noise Yue can perceive, there's more than twenty people roaming around the vicinity.

Their steps are disciplined and almost silent.

Obviously, they are experts.

If there's happen to be a fight, her brother's subordinates can probably win it but their reinforcement is just nearby. By that time, they will be placed at a great disadvantage.

"Young Miss, the route on the other side is longer and dangerous. This one cannot imagine risking the life of Young Miss" the driver is one of the few people who witnessed how their Young Master had gone berserk when their Young Miss was placed in danger. He wouldn't want to be the next victim and had his limbs torn.

"I understand that you mean well, but at this point these people are ready to fight in case we insisted on going this way" Yue advised the driver to just turn back even if they would have to encounter some hassle on the road.

A while ago, Yue was able to hear the use of heavy machinery.

The type that is used to excavate large amount of soil.

If it's just a simple construction, Yue doubt that they have to place this checkpoint in the middle of the road. However, if it happens to be an open pit mining, then that would make more sense.

Originally the empire allows open pit mining, but in the recent years, some environmentalists protested against it and the Emperor being an advocate of green environment himself had put a stop to it.

But based on the events as of this moment, it seems that these people are conducting an illegal mining in a large scale at that.

Salhura is located at the end of the country with few populations. Ninety percent of its land mass is covered with rainforest. The fund allocated to their local government is at bare minimum. Even if the local officials wanted to be corrupt, it can barely satisfy their luxury. If the syndicate offered to give support to the local officials, then it is really possible for them to continue this kind of operation since this place is rarely monitored.

If she remembered it correctly from the map she had seen before going here, the other way back to the hotel would span around the mountain which means they have to spend an extra hour or two just to get back.

In some places, these kind of roads are filled with outlaws who steals from travelers, and worse, if they happen to engage in human trafficking.

As far as Yue was concerned though, there's no such news is circulating in Salhura, and she's pretty confident that her brother's subordinates would be able to handle them.

If there's no accident along the way, they would reach the hotel hours before sundown.

Unfortunately, things don't always go the way one hopes for.