Chapter 147 The Test Drug

Four nights and three days later, around eight in the morning, inside a lodging house outside Dragon City that catered to traveling merchants, Fei Pingsheng sat near the window, phone wedged between his ear and shoulder, tearing at a roasted chicken with both hands, grease dripping down his mouth.

"Fei, you bald bastard, you want more money again?!" A man's disgruntled voice barked from the phone's receiver.

Fei Pingsheng swallowed the meat in his mouth, his voice hoarse as he replied, "Eighth Brother, the boys have suffered a lot lately. First, it was kidnapping Lao Pang, and now this Tianlan Company thing. We’ve done so many jobs, but the higher-ups haven't allocated any funds. I've been paying out of my own pocket. Honestly, if my men hadn't gotten hurt this time, I really wouldn't have bothered you. But now that several are gone, you gotta understand…!"

"Shut up! You sound like a telecom scammer! Every time you call, it's the same thing, wanting money." The other party replied unkindly, "Since you started working, I've given you at least five hundred thousand, right? I gave you the money, but what have you accomplished?"

"I kidnapped Lao Pang, didn't I?!"

"What good is he? Have you gotten any leads from him?"

"They're too careful, Eighth Brother! It's not that easy to handle."

"Stop talking nonsense. Let me tell you, Fei, people like you, teams of your size, Boss Shen has at least eighty, if not a hundred. There are too many people taking money. If you can't produce results, then don't even think about anything else." The other party said decisively, "If you want money, trade it for results. Otherwise, don't call me."

With that, the other party hung up the phone.

"Hello? Hello? Eighth Brother, damn you, I hope you get cancer soon." Fei Pingsheng cursed after hearing the dial tone, then tossed the greasy phone aside.

"Boss, how many are you? Having breakfast?" A waiter's voice came from the doorway.

"I'm looking for someone." Su Tianyu walked in, dressed in plain clothes.

Fei Pingsheng recognized Su Tianyu's voice without even looking up, "Over here, brother!"

Su Tianyu walked over and sat down, looking at the chicken bones and meat buns on the table, and said, "You have a good appetite. You ate a whole chicken early in the morning?"

"I have a habit of eating chicken in the morning."

"Enjoy it yourself." Su Tianyu replied, then turned and called out, "Two buns and a bowl of porridge."

"Coming right up." The waiter replied.

"How's my wife doing?" Fei Pingsheng asked while eating.

"She's having fun with my brothers." Su Tianyu didn't mince words either.

"?" Fei Pingsheng frowned, "Hey, brother, did I offend you? Why do you talk like you're full of shit whenever you talk to me?"

"Get to the point. I don't have time to mess around with you." Su Tianyu frowned.

"Sigh."

Fei Pingsheng stopped eating, sighed, wiped his mouth, and softly said, "The spot I found is near the border between Casaro and Silden. There's a small labor company there. They've been receiving goods these past two days, probably preparing to ship them out."

Su Tianyu thought for a moment, "Goods or people?"

"Yes." Fei Pingsheng nodded.

Su Tianyu looked at the bald man and asked, puzzled, "What are they planning to do with so many people?"

"No, they're not actually taking that many people." Fei Pingsheng waved his hand and replied, "They're very selective about who they abduct. They take people of all ages and do physical exams. As far as I know, after these goods are shipped out, they're taken to a specific location to be used as test subjects for some well-known pharmaceutical companies in District One."

"Test subjects?"

"From the information I've gathered, that's what it looks like." Fei Pingsheng replied with certainty, "It's a gray industry chain that looks shallow on the surface but is actually very deep."

"You can recruit test subjects from the general population. People will do it for money, so why do they need to abduct them?" Su Tianyu said, puzzled, "Whether it was before the Age of Epoch or in present-day Dragon City, there are companies that specialize in recruiting test subjects, right?"

"That's regulated testing, big brother!" Fei Pingsheng replied softly, "The kind you can see, the kind they actually dare to use, has already gone through countless clinical trials and has a very low risk. But this is different. For drugs that need to be developed quickly, they skip the clinical trial costs of multiple stages and give people the initial formulation. How much money does that save? How much does it increase the speed of development? Have you thought about how much money they save by doing this? Just think about it. If you want to develop a cold medicine, is it faster to test it directly on people or on mice?"

Hearing this, Su Tianyu frowned, feeling an unspeakable aversion in his heart.

"This dog-eat-dog world is what has spawned this kind of industry." Fei Pingsheng also sighed, "There are wars and turmoil everywhere. Human lives are cheap! That's why they dare to do it."

"How long have you been following this lead?" Su Tianyu asked.

"Several of the brothers I led have also disappeared. I suspect it has something to do with these people." Fei Pingsheng replied softly, "I've been chasing this for more than two years."

"Stop talking bullshit. Besides finding your brothers, is there another reason?" Su Tianyu stared at Fei Pingsheng and asked.

"Nothing can escape your wise eyes." Fei Pingsheng said helplessly, "Some boss asked me to investigate this matter, too. If I can pull it off, I can earn some money."

"Who's the boss?" Su Tianyu asked.

"To be honest, I don't know who the boss is. I just get the money through an intermediary." Fei Pingsheng frowned and replied, "And look at how we've ended up. Do we look like we're working for any organization?"

Su Tianyu was silent.

"I've got a lead on this spot I'm watching. What do you say? Want to hit them together? We can both get what we need." Fei Pingsheng asked.

"Are you sure the hostages Wang Zhen took are also at the final destination where they're sending people?" Su Tianyu asked.

"Not sure, but it won't affect our plan." Fei Pingsheng turned to look around, lowered his voice, and said, "If we really raid their lair, wouldn't it be easy to get those two people back?"

Su Tianyu licked his lips and fell into thought.

Fei Pingsheng didn't press him. He sat across from him and started smoking.

Su Tianyu sat quietly in his chair, finished his breakfast, wiped his mouth, and asked, "How many people are at that stronghold?"

"All in all, there should be about thirty people." Fei Pingsheng replied, "But there's a difficult point to this job."

"What difficult point?" Su Tianyu asked.

"Our goal is to dig out the final destination where they're sending people from their mouths. So, if we're going to do it, we have to wipe them out completely and not let anyone escape alive. Otherwise, if they're prepared, we're done for." Fei Pingsheng stated his plan.

"How many people can you provide?" Su Tianyu asked again.

"About fifteen."

"…So I have to find at least forty people?!" Su Tianyu was speechless. "Is that all the power you have?!"

"Many of my brothers aren't here. You'll have to work hard." Fei Pingsheng replied.

"Alright, I'll take a step back. I'll just sentence your wife to life imprisonment. You add ten more people for me."

"Damn it, brother, if you're going to talk like that, I'll just turn myself in now. I'm out!" Fei Pingsheng replied, glaring.

A few minutes later, Su Tianyu picked up his phone, and several skilled people instantly came to mind.

Tianhong Port – Wei Zuotang!

The Number One Blade of Zhan Nan – Master Lu!

The Rising Star of the Marine Police – Hou Guoyu!

The Elder he got for free from the Tongji Association – Lao Hei!

And… the nameless one who was assigned outside the district…