Volume One, Chapter 17: The Dangerous Return Visit

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The hall reeked of stale sweat, cheap cigarettes, and a faint, moldy odor. More than a hundred “piglets” sat with their heads bowed before battered wooden desks, facing yellowed keyboards and sluggish secondhand computers. Their expressions were utterly lifeless, as though they were machines waiting to be switched on.

Li Yang sat in the corner. His old injuries kept him from relaxing even for a moment. He knew that if he botched things again today, his name might be the next one written on the blackboard.

Li Yang stared at the words on the screen: “Liang Zhenghua—missed call.” Irritation churned in his chest. He had already called three times in succession. The other party had either hung up or brushed him off, clearly growing suspicious.

“What the hell?” he muttered, unease mounting within him.

Outside the door, Scorpion’s silhouette passed by. He jerked his chin toward the surveillance camera, his cold, sinister gaze an unmistakable warning. Li Yang knew that if he failed to land this five-million-yuan score today, his fate would be no better than A-Qiang’s.

His heartbeat quickened uneasily. He tried to steady his emotions and keep his voice composed. Drawing a deep breath, he pressed the call button.

“Beep… beep…”

The phone rang twice before suddenly being answered.

“Officer Li, what’s your badge number?” Liang Zhenghua’s voice carried a deliberately suppressed chill.

Li Yang’s heart clenched. The man had begun checking his credentials.

Forcing himself to remain calm, Li Yang followed the scam script and reported a string of numbers in an even tone. “Badge number 1506387. Please verify it.”

“Heh. Your Public Security Bureau is certainly efficient.” Liang Zhenghua’s cold laugh came through the phone. “I just contacted the overseas police liaison office, and they have no record of your number.”

A loud buzz seemed to erupt inside Li Yang’s head. His fingers tightened around the mouse, and his heartbeat accelerated sharply. The other man had obviously conducted a background check. This call was already a dead end.

But he could not hang up.

“Mr. Liang, this is the Economic Crimes Special Investigation Unit. Our information is classified and cannot be accessed through the ordinary police system—” Li Yang struggled to maintain his composure, though his voice had grown slightly strained.

“Is that so?” Liang Zhenghua’s tone turned even colder. “Then can you send me an official letter? And this so-called ‘bail account’ of yours—I had my lawyer look into it. The account is in Southeast Asia. Explain that to me.”

He was exposed!

Li Yang’s stomach seized, and cold sweat instantly soaked his back. His tongue felt stuck, his throat went dry, and his breathing grew rapid.

“Mr. Liang, this matter—”

“Stop wasting my time.” Liang Zhenghua suddenly lowered his voice, the threat unmistakable. “Tell the people behind you that I’m not someone to be trifled with. Call me again, and you can figure out the consequences yourselves!”

Beep—

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The call ended.

The air instantly grew oppressively heavy. All Li Yang could hear was the frantic pounding of his own heart. His hand clenched into a fist, fingernails digging deep into his palm, his face deathly pale.

It was over…

Suddenly, the door was kicked open.

Bang!

Scorpion stormed in, his face dark as an approaching tempest. Two tall security guards followed behind him, each gripping an electric baton.

An eerie silence descended over the entire hall.

Every piglet lowered their head, afraid to look up. They did not even dare continue their calls.

They knew that someone was about to be “disciplined” again.

Scorpion glanced at the screen on Li Yang’s desk. The moment he saw “missed call,” his eyes turned icy.

“You screwed it up?” His voice was low, like that of a beast on the verge of tearing apart its prey.

Li Yang’s heart leaped into his throat. Before he could explain, Scorpion seized him by the collar, hauled him from his seat, and slammed him down onto the desk.

“Damn you! Are you trying to get every one of us killed?” Scorpion’s strength was astonishing. Li Yang’s neck was clamped tight, and his back struck the edge of the desk, sending cold sweat streaming from the pain.

“He… he’s already investigating us… He has… he has special channels…” Li Yang gasped desperately, his voice hoarse as he tried to explain.

“Save your damn excuses!” Scorpion snatched up the electric baton from the desk and pressed the switch. Electricity crackled, producing a shrill, grating sound.

“You know the rules. When a mission fails, there has to be punishment.”

Several “team leaders” had already gathered around them. There was no sympathy on their faces, only indifference and gleeful anticipation.

Li Yang’s heart pounded wildly. Sweat slid down his temples. From the corner of his eye, he saw bloodstained clothes floating in a nearby bucket. In the corner, a man was bound to a chair, a strip of cloth stuffed into his mouth, his body covered in wounds.

He was the last person whose mission had failed. He was barely recognizable as human now.

“Either you take the punishment, or everyone in our team dies with you.” Scorpion’s voice was like an awl, stabbing viciously into Li Yang’s nerves.

Li Yang shut his eyes and clenched his teeth.

“I have a way!”

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The electric baton halted in midair. Scorpion narrowed his eyes. “What way?”

“He’s too wary. Direct threats won’t work anymore.” Li Yang drew a deep breath. His heart was racing so hard it seemed ready to burst from his chest, but he had to stay calm. “We can use the people around him to create a kidnapping threat.”

“His children, for instance. His mistress. Even his driver… As long as we make him afraid, we’ll be able to bring him down.”

Scorpion stared at him, his gaze dark and unreadable. After several seconds of silence, he suddenly smiled.

“Fine. But you’ll arrange it yourself.” He placed a hand on Li Yang’s shoulder, his tone cold enough to send a shiver through anyone who heard it. “You know that if you screw up again, there’ll soon be one more corpse in the water prison.”

Meanwhile—

The iron door of the water prison was pushed open. Moldy scraps of food floated across the filthy water, while rotting strips of cloth lay piled in the corner. The air was thick with a pungent stench.

A-Qiang knelt on the floor. His legs had swollen and turned pale from prolonged immersion, and his wounds were beginning to fester. His face was slick with cold sweat born of dampness, despair, and sheer physical agony.

Wang Meng entered with a cigar clenched between his teeth. Looking down at him, he studied him as though he were livestock about to be slaughtered.

“Still alive?”

A-Qiang raised his head. His lips trembled, and his eyes were filled with humiliation and terror.

“Boss Wang… please… let me go… I won’t do it again…” His voice was already hoarse, his throat cracked from dehydration.

Wang Meng exhaled a cloud of smoke, his smile cruel.

“You want to live? Eat this first.”

He raised a hand. A guard ladled out a scoop of maggot-infested slop from a bucket and splashed it in front of A-Qiang…

A-Qiang’s stomach convulsed, but he knew that if he refused to eat, he would become the next person buried in the disposal grounds.

Trembling, he opened his mouth. Tears mixed with blood and slid from the corners of his lips.

That was the rule of the compound.

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