339— Warning The Monkeys By Killing The Chickens

*****

"Big Boss, something has happened."

Li Chuanmo asked calmly, "What?"

He had been in a discussion with Jiang Philip about the new software they had been planning to work on when Charlie's call came in.

"The men I brought over have all been murdered." Charlie wasted no time in stating the news.

Li Chuanmo frowned, "How?" They had returned to Country F for less than a week. Who could have planned such a job and how did he do it?

"Seems like it was the handiwork of the boss of the Black Shadows. He is so callous, killing off all five men at once." Charlie said in an angry tone, but his anger was not at the loss of young lives. It was at the fact that someone had circumvented his original plans.

Li Chuanmo excused himself by signalling to Jiang Philip.

Looking at his serious expression, Jiang Philip nodded. Anyway he had to pet David to sleep as well, so their conversation was better off postponed.

Leaving Jiang Philip's study, Li Chuanmo headed outside. He couldn't see Pei Yueran in the living room, so he assumed that she was still talking with her friend.

"If he was able to infiltrate your hold, why didn't he just rescue them?" He asked again after getting to the balcony. In the gentle glare of the afternoon sun, City A was mostly quiet, save for a few children playing on the community playground nearby.

On the phone, Charlie thought for a moment before saying carefully, "I think it may be one of two reasons. The first is that the location of the dungeon is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Sneaking in is relatively easy, but it would be very difficult to leave. Trying to rescue people to leave together would be practically impossible.

"The second is that he might have done that to prevent them from revealing any secrets they know about the organization. The leader of the men in particular had been tortured so much by your brother-in-law that he looked ready to croak."

Li Chuanmo did not speak, but he imagined it in his mind. It made sense for Gao Tinghua to have done that, because he would have also tortured that man within an inch of his life if he handled him. He was the one that abducted Pei Yueran and dragged her around, causing her to get injured and scared.

"Of course, it also possible that he is just plain old crazy." Charlie added the third option that had just occurred to him.

"Or he was probably trying to warn the monkey by killing the chickens." Li Chuanmo interjected thoughtfully.

"Who is he calling a monkey? He is a monkey. His whole family are monkeys," Charlie cursed angrily.

Li Chuanmo: "...."

It was not a common occurrence to see him rendered speechless. Charlie wasn't getting the point at all!

"It's a figure of speech. It means he's trying to send a message to us that he doesn't care about lives— not even that of his people, and that we had better tread carefully," Li Chuanmo explained as patiently as he could, which was saying a lot.

"Oh. That makes sense. It definitely sounds like what Androgynous Pest can do." Charlie said in realization.

Now that they were on the same page, Li Chuanmo asked, "Did the perpetrator leave any note? or do anything peculiar perhaps?"

Charlie thought for a moment, "Not exactly. The only odd thing we noticed was that there were no signs of struggle at all. It was either that the men were too weak to fight, or that they couldn't fight him."

"Or even that they didn't think there was a need to fight. Have you investigated the sentry guards? How about the CCTV?"

"None of the guards admitted to seeing anyone strange, neither did the CCTV capture anything out of the ordinary."

Li Chuanmo nodded. They were definitely dealing with someone more formidable.

Sensing his perturbed mood, Charlie said, "Don't worry, I've informed Second Boss about this. He's a good kid, so I'm sure he'll take action."

Lancaster was none too happy to hear that his dungeon had been infiltrated, and that was the reason he gave for his sudden interest in Li Chuanmo's case after swearing that he would not care.

Li Chuanmo thought for a moment before saying, "I'll fly out to Country F in a couple of days. Help me arrange a meeting." He felt that talking to Lancaster face-to-face would be much better to plead his cause.

It was also about time that they mended their relationship, even if it was just a little bit.

Charlie grinned from ear to ear, "Fantastic. I'm on it Big Boss."

"Also, send me a report on the Black Shadows, especially on their leader. And inform me should any new situations arise."

"Alright Big Boss."

The call ended there, but Li Chuanmo stood outside for longer, with a calm, almost serene look in his eyes.

Then he dialed a number on his phone. It rang twice before it was picked up.

"How's the job going?"

"Very well sir."

"Good," Li Chuanmo said before ending the call. He smiled, causing his features to open up like the leaves of a freshly blooming rose, before he abruptly sneered.

To no one in particular, he said, "Since you lot are so jobless, you need to be kept occupied."

*****

It was another long day, and even though it was Saturday, Han Leifeng was still in the office, a tight frown on his face.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

The first few day after he returned from City M, he had almost drowned in a mix of anger, hurt and frustration. It suddenly occurred to him that he had been building castles in the air all these while, and that nothing was going to go the way he wanted it.

He resorted to drinking again, but it was no longer as fun since Gao Tinghua was still giving him the cold shouder.

Worse still, he kept getting an unwelcome guest. So, when he woke up for the third time in three days with Bai Meixiang beside him in bed, he decisively gave up on alcohol.

More than hating her in particular —not that he didn't hate her at all, but— he hated the feeling of losing control more, and it had been happening too often for his comfort.

That was why he gave himself a pep talk and decided to take action. If he continued wasting time this way, he would only waste away, and his dream of having his family together would never materialize.

So he determinedly threw himself into work, snatching up contracts like crazy and making efficient but at times ruthless decisions.

Not only Han Jianfeng and Han Likang, even the shareholders were alarmed this time. What was going on?