Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Ning Ning, in private, had looked up information on Ye Wei despite Mo Jue threatening him that he would kill Ye Wei if Ning Ning tried to look up information on Ye Wei. Mo Jue planted misleading information on Ye Wei’s traces to deliberately mislead Ning Ning.
Mo Jue had hacked the mainframe of the terrorist organization’s satellite system, and it was still under repair. Since time and technical skills were needed, Ning Ning lost his best tool to track Ye Wei and Eleven and had to gather information about Ye Wei through other means. He preliminarily determined Ye Wei was in the Middle East based on Big Boss Mo’s recent activities. Since Big Boss Mo was recently active in Colombia, Ye Wei could not be far from there.
Silver Face, who was a dangerous one-on-one fighter, watched them hungrily from outside London. Those who were his match, Chu Li, Black J, and Bai Ye, remained within London for their own safety. Only Jason, who had left for Colombia earlier, was safe. Ning Ning, through Jason’s route in the Middle East, slowly tracked Ye Wei and Eleven down.
It was the clumsiest but the only way that worked. As he had no leverage against Second Boss Mo, he had to force the Mo brothers to surface through disrupting their smuggling, arms deals, drug trades, and casino gains.
The splitting of the casino spoils in the Middle East was orchestrated by Jason and Chu Li who acted from behind the scenes and operated through a proxy. They, in collaboration with the international underworld, canvassed the spoils from the casinos from the Mafia and resulted in huge economic losses for the Mafia.
Ning Ning’s preliminary guess was that any two of Wind, Cloud, Thunder, and Lightning would handle the dispute and also force Mo Jue out into the open. He did not expect Ye Wei to be present. When Jason sent him the information, Ning Ning already had somebody working on it. As Mo Jue and Ye Wei entered via private plane, there was naturally no information from official sources. When Ye Wei and Eleven retreated from Bogota some time back, the surveillance camera they installed in the Mafia’s Bogota headquarters was still present and gave Ning Ning an image of the central atrium of the Mafia’s headquarters. As they managed to implant the surveillance camera within the Mafia’s own surveillance camera in a secret location, nobody would take much notice of it even if it was discovered. The surveillance camera, thankfully, was still able to transmit images.
As they walked from the parking apron to the central atrium where the car was, he was certain beyond doubt that the person in question was Ye Wei. Although they could not hear a thing and were far, the video was extremely clear. Ning Ning adjusted the zoom of the video and clearly saw Ye Wei’s expressions.
Chu Li, Rong Yan, Bai Ye, and Black J were all present and saw how Ye Wei and Cloud had a lively conversation. They could not see the slightest hint of her being incarcerated and tortured. She seemed like the Ye Wei of before, in high spirits and pleased.
What was even more bizarre was how she held hands with Mo Jue and gave people the impression they were an item. Chu Li, Bai Ye and all looked at each other, speechless, having no idea what happened.
It was Rong Yan who was the most observant. “Wei Wei might be under duress,” she plainly said.
“She looks extremely free.” Bai Ye stroked his chin. From his perspective as a medical practitioner, he could not sense anything amiss. He observed the footage closely and said, “Hold on. Since Ye Wei and Eleven installed this surveillance camera, she would know that we can see her in the central atrium. That said, if you were Ye Wei, what would you do? Surely you would give a gesture or two, no?”
Chu Li realized this problem earlier than him but remained silent as he observed the footage. “Auntie is not sending us anything,” Ning Ning said.
“Yes, that is the problem,” Chu Li slowly said as he put his hands on the table and looked sharply. “It’s impossible that Ye Wei does not know that we are looking at her, and it’s also impossible for her not to send us any information under such circumstances. Unless…”
“She is not auntie!”
“There’s another possibility—she has forgotten,” the silent Black J slowly said. “Look at her eyes and hands. Did you notice that there isn’t the slightest problem with them as she clearly does not know there’s a surveillance camera right above her? Given Wei Wei’s character, if she is free, how could she be this intimate with Mo Jue yet remain unscathed? That damn man would have maimed her badly enough unless… Wei Wei is not a threat to him.”
Everybody nodded in unison and turned to Bai Ye. Bai Ye was surprised and raised his eyebrows. “What are you looking at me for?”
“You’re the doctor!” Everybody chimed in unison.
“Oh, please! Are you all treating me like some god who can remotely diagnose?” Bai Ye rolled his eyes a little impolitely and pointed at Ye Wei. “She does not look like she’s changed, and nothing about her seems amiss. One thing is for sure though. That damn lass is having a whale of a time. Didn’t you notice that she has gained weight?”
Everybody was stunned into silence.
Ye Wei followed Mo Jue and company into the great hall, and the image was cut as the surveillance camera was angled to capture only a portion of the central atrium. Not everything could be clearly seen.
Rong Yan pondered. “Could she have had her memory wiped?”
“Eighty percent chance I’d say.” Chu Li was on the same page as her. He looked to Bai Ye. “Bai Ye, try to see if you can get to Bogota and link up with her.”
“No. We can’t afford to leave London given the current circumstances.” Ning Ning vetoed Chu Li’s decision. “Silver Face is watching us tightly, and we will risk losing anyone who leaves London. Such casualties are not necessary.”
“How could I have forgotten about Silver Face?” Chu Li frowned and pondered. “Ning Ning, shall we lure Silver Face in and take him down on our turf?”
“Good idea!” Black J’s eyes glinted. “Lure him in, trap him, and rid him for good.”
Ning Ning remained silent as Rong Yan shook her head in disagreement. “The risk is too huge.”
“No risk no rewards, no?” Bai Ye raised his eyebrows and smiled as though he was not perturbed. “In comparison to Silver Face, Ye Wei is even more important. If Mo Jue has indeed controlled Ye Wei and turns her against us, it will be the joke of the century.”
Black J’s face paled. “Where’s Eleven?”
Everybody looked at Ning Ning, who shook his head. “I can only be certain that they are together. I cannot confirm their exact location until the satellite mainframe is fixed.”
“Let’s discuss how to handle Silver Face first,” Chu Li said. The few of them sat down, and Rong Yan was the only person who deeply pondered. She, from her perspective, did not want to see them take a risk.
What if Silver Face did not fall for their trap?
“Ning Ning, let Jason see how he can delay Mo Jue for a few more days so that he does not leave Bogota.”
“He’s already on that.”
When it came to strategy, Chu Li and Ning Ning were experts at them but had no idea as to how they could goad Silver Face into entering London without arousing his suspicions. Since London was the home turf of the terrorist organization, Chu Li was not afraid of Silver Face entering the town. What they were more worried about was Mo Ye and Mo Jue close behind Silver Face. As the Mo brothers were not to be trifled with, Silver Face entering town not only meant losing track of him but also sending all of them into harm’s way.
Once his tracks were certain, wasting him was child’s play.
The key was to seize the initiative.
Rong Yan suddenly asked, “Ning Ning, do you know that princess from the royal family?”
“Xu Xing?”
“Yup, that’s her,” Rong Yan said. “While we’ve eyes and ears everywhere, we can’t quite openly check ships that belong to the royal family, no?”
Everybody did not understand what Rong Yan was driving at. Ning Ning was smart enough to catch on quickly. “Are you suggesting that Xu Xing, as a member of the royal family, organize a banquet at the Port of London to give Silver Face a chance to slip in?”
“The ports are the only way for Silver Face to enter London, and we can’t interrogate the ships belonging to the royal family.” Rong Yan smiled. “How does that sound?”
“I’ll need to think about it.” Ning Ning secretly thought it was a good idea, but… how should he break it to Xu Xing?
Bai Ye, Black J, and Chu Li agreed with Rong Yan’s idea. Bai Ye suggested. “How about a fundraiser? Given how our darling princess is so adored in upper society, many people will patronize any fundraiser that she initiates. Any orphanage or cancer fund will do. That lass surely likes you, and if you suggest that to her, she will definitely agree to it.”
“I…” Ning Ning gritted his teeth. He did not want to have anything to do with the Xu family because of Xu Nuo. To have to exploit them was not something he wanted to do. He stared at them in frustration. “Are you people human to prostitute me at such a young age?”
Everybody was stunned into silence.
To prostitute oneself was not quite the way to describe one’s good looks. This seemed a little…
Everybody decided to be as jerk-ass as they could and nodded in unison. “This mission is yours and yours only.” Bai Ye added.
Ning Ning agreed unwillingly. Now was not the time to exploit them or not as they had to quickly take Silver Face down. They were not afraid of Silver Face. While they did not know Ye Wei’s whereabouts, they did not quite mind Silver Face. Now that they knew Ye Wei’s whereabouts and how she seemed clearly amiss, they had to take Silver Face out of the equation and then look for Ye Wei. Nobody hoped for anybody else to become collateral.
After Ning Ning agreed, Black J, Chu Li, and Bai Ye got down to taking Silver Face out impeccably. Chu Li suggested wasting Silver Face on the boat before he could come ashore. If Silver Face came ashore, losing track of him would mean that they would be stumbled by their plans.
As Chu Li and all got down to laying the trap, the young kid looked up the telephone number of the Xu residence and called Xu Xing to arrange for an afternoon meeting. As it was his first time calling Xu Xing, the young girl utterly rejoiced and welcomed him with open arms.
“You are quick!”
“We’d better settle this by tomorrow,” the young kid said. He wanted quick battles. Had it been Black J or Chu Li in Colombia, Bai Ye would have been slightly relaxed. Given how hot-tempered Jason was…
There was some risk.
Rong Yan chuckled. “Ning Ning, remember to put on your most charming side.”