Chapter 243: Chapter 233: A Cunning Rabbit Has 3 Burrows
Poison Dragon did not expect his opponent to be so fast, so fast that he couldn’t react. Just as he opened the Soft Sword on his computer, he heard strong and powerful footsteps outside the storeroom. One listen and he knew that they weren’t friendly; he had underestimated the people coming tonight.
Poison Dragon was decisive, otherwise, he wouldn’t have received the Wang Family’s support to reach such heights. The moment the other party entered the kitchen, Poison Dragon decisively set the storeroom on fire, then walked to the right wall, pressed the switch in front of the wall, and a light above a large frame turned on.
Subsequently, Poison Dragon reached into the third frame, felt a switch, and with a flick, the large frame slowly moved, revealing a half-meter wide door just tall enough for a person as the wall shifted with the frame.
Inside the small door lay a corpse as tall and large as Poison Dragon. He quickly pulled out the body, lit a lighter, and with a swoosh, set it ablaze, tossing it onto the body that was as tall and large as himself.
Listening to the approaching footsteps, Poison Dragon looked at the growing flames, which were spreading fast to the other corners of the storeroom, intensifying the fire. He sneered and muttered to himself, "Catching me won’t be that easy!" As he approached the door, he casually pressed a switch, and the outside scenery remained unchanged, just as before, except the fire in the storeroom grew larger, emitting billowing thick smoke.
Outside, Xiao Lin had just arrived and saw wisps of black smoke mixed with a nasty smell seeping through the crack in the door. His gut told him something was wrong, so he decisively ordered a step forward, telling the soldiers beside him, "Move aside!"
The soldiers hesitated for a moment, but considering this young man could command their captain, and with their captain being so skilled yet so respectful towards this young man, they knew anyone their captain respected for their skill was not to be trifled with. Moreover, the aura Xiao Lin exuded was undeniably strong, compelling belief; the soldiers then retreated to the side.
Xiao Lin secretly exerted force with both hands, seemingly relaxed on the surface. He whispered the word "Open," as his right palm slowly pushed forward. When it was five inches from the door, he suddenly accelerated, his palm colliding with the door with a dull thud, and the door responded by opening. Instantly, thick smoke billowed out, revealing the storeroom had become a sea of flames.
"Ruthless!" Xiao Lin’s expression darkened. Even though he couldn’t see what was inside, his intuition told him this storeroom was not just any simple storeroom. It was likely a place where the Poison Dragon Gang stored important documents, which the fire had now destroyed completely.
Actually, Xiao Lin never intended to target Yanjing’s officialdom. He knew a group like the Poison Dragon Gang could not have risen to become Yanjing’s third-largest faction in just over a decade without countless interests involved in the background. If he were to really follow the trail to investigate, at least half of Yanjing’s officials would fall, possibly even ordinary civil servants. It would be reminiscent of the Mountain City tragedy more than a hundred years ago.
Of course, even though Xiao Lin had the power and influence to stir up such a storm, he didn’t want to involve too many innocents. Huaxia had been established for over two hundred years, and while its systems had gradually matured, no system could be perfect. You couldn’t generalize and take down everyone because of the imperfections in certain aspects.
"Put out the fire!" Xiao Lin didn’t have time to think too much, he directly ordered, then through communication, he shouted at Guo Liang, "There’s a fire in the storeroom, closely monitor the area around the basement. If you’re short on manpower, transfer some from the third floor!" By this time, all the high-ranking members of the Poison Dragon Gang on the first-class room on the sixth floor had been captured, only Poison Dragon had slipped away.
"Military Doctor, don’t worry, with me here, there’s no way Poison Dragon can escape!" Guo Liang said confidently, "As long as he tries to pass through the underground passage!"
Xiao Lin ended the communication, sinking into thought. Tianli Entertainment City was the Poison Dragon Gang’s lair. Could it be that Poison Dragon had no escape route? It seemed unlikely. It couldn’t be like Liang Feng last night, climbing through the ventilation shaft to the underground passage. But Xiao Lin had no understanding of the structure here, how could he judge where the other party might escape? Furthermore, the first, second, and third floors were extremely chaotic without thorough checks. It seemed he had been too impulsive.
Fortunately, this was a kitchen where water and pipes were not lacking. Two hoses were quickly set up to spray water into the storeroom, and the fire was soon brought under control.
Subsequently, Xiao Lin, along with several soldiers, entered the storeroom. The scene was a mess; despite claiming to be a kitchen storeroom, it didn’t look it. It didn’t store any food, rather, it was full of scattered documents and computer equipment, emitting a burnt, charred smell.
The soldiers accompanying Xiao Lin moved swiftly and soon secured the surroundings of the storeroom. The entire area was over a hundred square meters, and instead of a storeroom, it seemed more like an office, full of all things necessary for work, now burnt, broken, and incomplete.
"General, there’s a corpse here!" Suddenly, a soldier reported to Xiao Lin from not far away.
"Corpse?" Xiao Lin was stunned, quickly heading towards the soldier’s location. Soon, he found a corpse that had been burnt, leaving only bones and a bit of charred residue. The smell was extremely unpleasant, but for Xiao Lin and the Sharp Sword Special Forces soldiers, while it might be unbearable for ordinary people, they were accustomed to it. Worse smells than this could be easily listed.
Xiao Lin examined it, and from the skeleton’s height, it matched Poison Dragon’s. However, Xiao Lin found it hard to believe that this was Poison Dragon. Poison Dragon dying, or committing self-immolation, in his own data room? That was absolutely impossible.
At this moment, Xiao Lin’s communication suddenly rang, and Guo Liang’s voice came through: "Military Doctor, what’s the situation up there? We haven’t found anything here, not even a stir!"
"Poison Dragon is dead, self-immolated!" Although Xiao Lin knew this corpse wasn’t Poison Dragon’s, he thought for a moment, then told Guo Liang, and confidently said, "Tonight’s mission is accomplished, prepare to retreat!"
"The boss of the Poison Dragon Gang is dead? Self-immolated?" Guo Liang was equally astonished and then asked, "Do you believe it?"
"I believe it!" Xiao Lin replied indifferently, "Meet at the third floor. Someone will take over here soon!"
Hearing Xiao Lin’s certainty, although Guo Liang didn’t believe it, he ended the communication and began directing the soldiers in the basement to gather.
The attack was swift, and the retreat was even faster. The order was given, and in three minutes, soldiers began to pull back from the sixth floor, gathering in the third-floor hall.
By this time, most of the customers below the third floor of Tianli Entertainment City had left, and even the number of waiters was noticeably fewer. The few remaining waiters were mostly ordinary employees, with not many belonging to the Poison Dragon Gang.
This raid on the Poison Dragon Gang resulted in the capture of over half of its high-level members, a total of thirteen people. Xiao Lin didn’t intend to deal with the other members, except for a few who resisted fiercely; the rest were ignored.
When Guo Liang arrived on the third floor, Xiao Lin was already in the surveillance room. Most of the data in the storage room were burned, but a small part remained. However, Xiao Lin did not intend to make a fuss with it. There are rules within the system, and now was not the time to interfere with them. Poison Dragon Gang had just crossed Xiao Lin, and he didn’t plan to let it go. As for the officials connected with Poison Dragon Gang, Xiao Lin had no interest in knowing, nor did he want to know.
"Military Doctor, is Poison Dragon really dead?" Upon seeing Xiao Lin, Guo Liang’s first question was this. He couldn’t believe that Poison Dragon would self-immolate. Guo Liang had trained in the Yanjing Military Region for two or three months and had heard of Poison Dragon, Yanjing’s second-largest gang. He couldn’t possibly choose self-immolation.
At this moment, there wasn’t anyone around them, so Xiao Lin smiled and said, "No, but in the storage room, we found a corpse identical to him, already burned. Isn’t this exactly what he wanted?"
"Military Doctor, do you mean?" Guo Liang hesitated for a moment, "Poison Dragon isn’t dead?"
"Yes, I’m one hundred percent sure Poison Dragon is not dead!" Xiao Lin nodded.
"Then why did you announce to the outside world that he was dead?" Guo Liang asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Because I want to catch him soon. If we know he’s not dead, could he possibly show up quickly?" Xiao Lin said with a faint smile.
Hearing Xiao Lin’s explanation, Guo Liang, being a smart person, quickly understood Xiao Lin’s intention, though he still asked with a bit of doubt, "Even if that’s the case, would Poison Dragon dare to appear in front of the Military Doctor?"
"Why am I dealing with the Poison Dragon Gang tonight?" Xiao Lin didn’t answer but instead asked a question back.
Guo Liang glanced at Liang Feng and several women not far away. They were cooperating with other soldiers to identify those Poison Dragon Gang bigwigs. Regarding the Poison Dragon Gang, the Fei Feng Gang undoubtedly knew best, and he said to Xiao Lin, "Military Doctor means them?"
"The Poison Dragon Gang has poisoned Yanjing not insignificantly over the years. It’s time to dismantle it, and they are the fuse. However, with tens of thousands of members in the Poison Dragon Gang, it’s impossible to catch them all, so we must start with the high-level. The power distribution of the Poison Dragon Gang is mainly concentrated in Poison Dragon. Now that Poison Dragon is dead, the Poison Dragon Gang will inevitably split quickly, but the split of the Poison Dragon Gang isn’t good for Yanjing City, so they will replace the Poison Dragon Gang!" Xiao Lin spoke as if stating a trivial matter, his tone quite calm. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian () to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)