Ten minutes later, Mr. Charlemagne walked out of the villa.
He brushed his carefully gelled hair and winced slightly in pain.
His wife had gone wild just now, grabbing his hair and almost tearing his scalp off.
Only after confirming that the tranquilizers had taken effect did Mr. Charlemagne manage to maintain a polished appearance and walk out the door, presenting a respectable self to the hidden cameras aimed at him.
He adjusted his suit elegantly and asked with a neutral expression: “Did you remember what I said?”
The butler, hiding his anxiety behind his courtesy, responded: “Remembered.”
His son, whom he personally killed, had worn three faces and three identities.
Police Commissioner’s son, Jin Charlemagne.
The perverted mutilation killer, Basil.
The perverted mutilation killer’s successor, Raskin.
The immediate task was to quickly sever the connection between “Jin Charlemagne” and “Basil,” and destroy all upstream and downstream data, erasing his son’s facial model data completely from the world’s database.
Next, he needed to use money to silence a few mouths.
Matters of great significance should be dealt with decisively, such as making sure the cosmetic surgeon who changed his son’s face twice “depressed himself to death”—that would be the most fitting.
Once these major tasks are completed, the cleanup can begin.
As long as public opinion is guided to shift focus from the “resurrected perverted mutilation killer” to how the suspect undermined “White Shield” security by replacing the originally safe, painless lethal drug potassium chloride with the painful and lethal strychnine, causing public panic about security and personal safety, everything will be perfect.
If everything goes smoothly, he will end up with at most a reprimand for negligence.
Back in the car, Mr. Charlemagne’s gaze grew increasingly deep and sharp.
—To preserve himself, he could avenge his son.
The first thing to investigate and settle are the victims and their families.
They have the strongest motives.
Thinking of this, Mr. Charlemagne frowned.
Oh, it seems there was also a mercenary involved in this matter.
Unless something unexpected happened, his son, after getting off the injection table, would have been hidden in that “Iron Lady,” transported by an unsuspecting mercenary to an area not covered by surveillance, and then handed over to someone he trusted.
That mercenary did not directly participate in the incident and knew nothing about it, but according to reports, he should still have the key to that “Iron Lady.”
…How should this be handled?
Mr. Charlemagne pressed his knuckles against his temples.
If he remembered correctly, he had prepared a contingency plan.
After completing this job, the mercenary would immediately fall into a big trouble, leaving him no time to investigate what the “cargo” he transported was.
However, last night’s chaos meant the mercenary was just a minor part of the extensive rescue plan, so he hadn’t had the chance to grasp the effectiveness of that “contingency plan.”
Mr. Charlemagne wearily closed his eyes.
Forget it; take things one step at a time.
Push the less important matters to the back for now.
…
In the “Haina” emergency room, Ning Zhuo hastily donned a sterile suit and pulled up a chair next to Shan Feibai.
After Min Min fitted the spare arm onto Ning Zhuo, he took the data Xiao Wen had measured and went next door to work on Shan Feibai’s new spine.
The good news was that Shan Feibai had indeed woken up; the bad news was that he was not fully conscious.
It was hard for heavily injured people to stay awake.
Running around the base, Ning Zhuo’s remaining energy was nearly depleted.
In one corner of the emergency room was a freezer. Min Min liked to store packaged oral glucose there, frozen on sticks.
Although it was labeled as public use, it was actually Ning Zhuo’s personal ice cream cabinet for replenishing sugar.
Ning Zhuo unwrapped a glucose ice pop, lazily leaned back in his chair, with one foot resting beside Shan Feibai’s hospital bed, and spoke to him with little hope.
Ning Zhuo curiously asked: “Hey, who could have done this to you?”
Shan Feibai murmured unconsciously: “Ning…”
Ning Zhuo casually pulled out a gun and pointed it at Shan Feibai’s carotid artery: “Stop. Listen to the question and think carefully before you answer. If you dare to smear me in front of others, I might as well kill you right now.”
Perhaps startled by the coldness on his neck, Shan Feibai fell silent and obediently pursed his lips.
Rarely seeing him so well-behaved, Ning Zhuo lowered his eyelids and moved the cold, hard gun along his slightly rising and falling carotid artery.
After playing with it for a while, Ning Zhuo straightened up, making circles with the trigger on his index finger, and carefully observed Shan Feibai.
Even in a heavily injured state, he remained sharp and handsome.
…Only with his eyes closed, lacking the natural, carefree demeanor, which was rather irritating.
As he watched, Ning Zhuo began to have hallucinations.
Before him was no longer the twenty-three-year-old Shan Feibai, but a much younger child, staring at him with wide eyes.
With a head full of curly, slightly long hair and a small dimple at the corner of his mouth, the child cheerfully called him Ning-ge, his voice crisp and bright.
…Equally annoying.
Whether awake or asleep, whether past or present, Shan Feibai was always vexing and irritating.
Even on the brink of death, he did not forget to create trouble for him.
While Ning Zhuo was irritated, Shan Feibai stirred again.
He whispered: “Ning Zhuo, I haven’t shown you my qiao…”
What qiao?
His “Panqiao”?
Ning Zhuo didn’t have time to listen further as he heard a commotion from outside.
Among the clamor was a curse: “Bastard Ning, get out here,” which was clearly from Shan Feibai’s gang of “Panqiao” idiots.
Ning Zhuo slowly walked out, pulling open the heavy emergency room door, and came face to face with an enraged person.
A man in his late twenties or early thirties led the charge.
He sported a buzz cut and had a chain-like tattoo extending from his temple down his neck.
Ning Zhuo recognized him; his name was Kuang Hexuan, known for close combat, and he had once had his ribs broken by Ning Zhuo—he didn’t remember if it was two or three.
Kuang Hexuan’s eyes were bloodshot with rage. Seeing Ning Zhuo, he almost lunged to tear him apart: “Where is our boss?”
“Shout louder,” Ning Zhuo said coldly, “It’s good. He’s dying, and if you keep howling like this, you can just wait to bury him.”
Upon hearing this, Kuang Hexuan’s anger was still intense, but his tone obediently dropped an octave: “…What exactly happened?”
“His spine was shattered. I brought him back,” Ning Zhuo briefly summarized the situation, “I’m planning to replace it with a new one.”
Hearing Ning Zhuo’s nonchalant summary, Kuang Hexuan’s face turned livid.
Even in the age of prosthetics, replacing a spine is the most dangerous and critical procedure, a top test of the mechanic’s skill.
Regardless of their personal grudges, just seeing Ning Zhuo eating something and coming out of the ward under these conditions, they could hardly trust him!
Kuang Hexuan looked like he wanted to tear him apart: “Bastard Ning, do you want to kill our boss?”
Another young man following him, grinding his teeth: “Kuang-ge, do you believe him? He must have harmed our boss, pretending to be sympathetic—”
Ning Zhuo took an interest in the young guy, who was only about nineteen or twenty.
An unfamiliar face.
But that prosthetic eye was very beautiful and probably quite expensive.
Shan Feibai’s family was wealthy, and of course, he was willing to spend on his subordinates.
“Yes. I’m extremely vile.” Ning Zhuo continued to examine him while sneering, “I didn’t kill him on the spot; I didn’t casually throw his body somewhere, but instead dragged him back to painstakingly treat him, then called you over to bounce around in front of me. So it seems I can’t live through today unless I get a good scolding from you, right?”
The three of them: “…”
Ning Zhuo waved his hand and said directly, “If you’re unwilling to wait, then carry him away. Understand that he is alive only because I don’t want him to die on my premises.”
He bit off the ice pop stick with a snap: “If you want to send him to his death, feel free.”
As tensions rose, the woman who had been silent among the three, stepped forward.
She had a slightly tanned complexion, suggesting some Indian heritage.
Her left leg was slender and strong, wrapped in hot pants, while her right leg was completely severed and replaced with a beautiful, ornate prosthetic featuring a golden phoenix in relief.
—Phoenix, the poison expert from “Panqiao.”
She was the oldest and most composed among the three.
When Phoenix spoke, her tone was indeed calm and unhurried: “How is our boss’s condition?”
But Ning Zhuo had no intention of speaking politely: “He’s alive now. You can take this opportunity to transfer him and hurry back to your Chang’an District; maybe his body will still be warm when you get there.”
The young man with the prosthetic eye began to fidget, wanting to hit Ning Zhuo.
Phoenix didn’t care and waved her hand to signal the young man to be quiet.
“That’s good. We won’t move him. We owe you, Ning-ge.” Phoenix said, “As long as our boss survives, we can’t thank you enough.”
Her words were smooth, expressing gratitude while not promising any tangible reward.
After saying the pleasantries, her tone shifted cleverly: “However, since our boss was injured in Chang’an District, whoever did this must have a connection with ‘Haina.’ It’s either someone with ties to you or someone with enmity. To avoid misunderstandings, could you please tell us what happened today?”
Ning Zhuo looked into her light brown eyes and smiled gently: “Misunderstanding? It’s better if you don’t misunderstand.”
Phoenix was momentarily stunned.
“I invited you over, not to chat with you. You don’t deserve it.”
Ning Zhuo’s green eyes calmly swept over the three astonished individuals, “Shan Feibai is here. If his trusted subordinates are causing trouble where I can’t see, I won’t sleep well.”
He waved his hand lightly: “Someone, please take them to the VIP room to rest.”
In precaution against these outsiders, the corridor was surrounded by at least seven or eight mercenaries in a fan-shaped formation behind them.
Upon Ning Zhuo’s order, three or four of them stepped forward.
A dazed young man asked, “Ning-ge, where is the VIP room?”
Ning Zhuo leaned against the wall behind him and casually said, “Oh. Then just throw them into the isolation room for now.”
For a moment, Phoenix’s eyes showed a hint of hostility, and her fingers lifted as if to touch the button on her chest.
But before her hand could reach her waist, a scrutinizing gaze fell on her wrist.
Ning Zhuo’s hand had already been positioned behind him at some unknown point.
If she dared to lift her hand even an inch more, her hand would be cut off immediately.
Phoenix’s heart sank, and her mind quickly cleared.
This was Ning Zhuo’s territory.
Even if she could poison everyone in the corridor, she couldn’t escape “Haina,” nor could she take the heavily injured Shan Feibai with her.
Ning Zhuo had clearly made up his mind about them.
She lowered her arm and ceased any unnecessary struggle.
Amidst the curses of “I’ll kill you, you worthless scum who’s riding a thousand men and trampling ten thousand,” the three were forcibly taken away.
Ning Zhuo watched their departing figures with indifference, leaning against the wall.
The dim corridor lights cast faint shadows in his eyes.
Min Min, who had been eavesdropping in the modeling room next door, stuck her head out and sighed: “They’re quite loyal.”
“…‘Loyalty’?” Ning Zhuo repeated with sarcasm, “The entire ‘Panqiao’ can’t come up with three brains, and one and a half are in Shan Feibai’s head. The remaining brain’s only purpose is to make the head rounder.”
Min Min was curious: “How so?”
Ning Zhuo looked at her: “I clearly told them Shan Feibai isn’t dead. They came anyway.”
Min Min: “And then?”
Ning Zhuo: “If it were me, and ‘Panqiao’ called you, saying I was dying and now in their hands, would you go?”
Min Min laughed: “I’d go. I’ve never seen you run into such bad luck.”
Ning Zhuo stared at her with a hint of threat: “Think carefully before you speak.”
Min Min joked, but she had already figured it out.
Ning Zhuo was setting a trap for them.
Someone like Shan Feibai, if he’s to be trapped, would inevitably be betrayed by trusted people around him.
If Shan Feibai truly died, that would be the end of it.
But he was still alive, and Ning Zhuo had kept him alive.
Ning Zhuo intentionally threw this information to the entire “Panqiao,” and now it was up to those who harmed Shan Feibai to get anxious.
If Min Min were in their shoes, doing something as heinous as betraying the boss, learning that he was still alive would make it impossible to stay calm.
The only path left was to risk entering “Haina,” see Shan Feibai’s condition, and perhaps find an opportunity to take action.
If there’s no action, one can only leave it to fate and wait to die in place.
Ning Zhuo’s thoughts were indeed the same: “With only three people entering a place completely controlled by the enemy and not allowed to bring weapons, and Shan Feibai heavily injured, it’s impossible to forcibly take him away and leave. Such a one-way trap, and they still insist on diving in, is either foolish or has ulterior motives.”
Min Min said, “When ‘Panqiao’ captured Jin Xueshen, who charged in alone and swapped the person back with three knives and six wounds?”
Ning Zhuo simply denied, “Who?”
Ignoring Min Min’s barely suppressed smile, he looked towards Shan Feibai again: “The only ones who can harm him are those close to him, just like only you guys can harm me.”
Min Min was upset: “Hey, who are you cursing?”
Ning Zhuo raised his new arm, fiddling with the three buttons on his forearm, and the images of the three people, sitting and standing restlessly in the isolation room, popped up in mid-air.
He tilted his head slightly: “Even if these three are all loyal, it doesn’t matter. Loyalty means they can be managed. With them in our hands, ‘Panqiaowon’t dare to act recklessly.”
He focused on the monitors showing the three individuals and reminded Min Min, “Be careful when changing his spine; I still have use for him.”
Min Min was curious: “Ning, you seem to care about him a lot.”
“Of course, I care about him; caring about him is caring about myself.”
Ning Zhuo didn’t even lift his eyelids: “Shan Feibai’s status is significant. Not only is he the boss of ‘Panqiao,’ but also the second son of the Shan family, a favored one. If his father dies, he could inherit half of the fortune, which is enough for him to buy up the land in Chang’an District. Who would have a reason to harm him?”
Min Min guessed: “You mean, ‘Haina’ has offended someone, and they’re using him as a pawn to harm us?”
“Harm us? They’re giving us too much credit.” Ning Zhuo said, “It should be that both he and I have offended someone.”
Shan Feibai’s private transgressions were unknown.
As Ning Zhuo began to reflect on what he had done wrong recently, his communicator rang.
The caller ID read “Annoying, Don’t Want to Answer.”
Despite saying he wouldn’t answer, Ning Zhuo still picked up.
“Lin Qin.” The person on the other end introduced himself and got straight to the point, “Last night, a few hours ago, did you go to a burning factory on the east side of Chang’an District?”
