Chapter 432: Unexpectedly

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Lu Zhiyuan was startled awake by a sudden palpitation and knew that something had happened to Gu Ci. Every time Gu Ci was in a critical situation, he had a premonition, but his teleportation had limitations. Gu Ci was on Paradise Island, thousands of kilometers away from him. No matter what, he couldn’t get to her side. There was no news from the Black Hawk Information Office, so Lu Zhiyuan changed into a different set of clothes and rushed out, and Li Jiang hurried over.

“Third Master, som-something… happened!” Li Jiang stammered, an unusual sight.

“Take your time,” Lu Zhiyuan remained calm.

Li Jiang said, “Miss Gu Ci intercepted the ship of Ji Chi and Rong Li in the Inner Sea. Tang Mingzhou was also on the ship. When they were still in a standoff, the ship exploded, and everyone disappeared. Local communication was lost for twenty minutes. During these twenty minutes, the agents couldn’t notify us. Ji Chi and Rong Li are missing, and the tracker lost its signal. I’ve already dispatched nearby agents to the scene.”

“They were all on the ship when it exploded?” Lu Zhiyuan grabbed the nearby handrail abruptly, his hands trembling with fear.

Li Jiang also saw Lu Zhiyuan so panicked for the first time. “Yes, they were all on the ship when it exploded. The ship was blown to pieces, and the local police salvaged… eleven bodies.”

These bodies were pieced together, and the scene was too gruesome, especially being at sea, many body parts were impossible to locate. The marine police patrol team was still searching. Lu Zhiyuan had a moment without any response, and Li Jiang worriedly called out to him, “Third Master?”

“Go to the airport!”

“Yes!” Li Jiang had already arranged for a helicopter to be waiting on the rooftop. “Third Master, Miss Gu Ci and Qin Wan are also missing. Dr. North is critically injured and in a coma, and the Jidao suffered heavy losses. We’ve been played by Tang Mingzhou.”

Lu Zhiyuan took a deep breath, suppressing the fear in his heart. “Send the biological information of Ji Chi, Rong Li, Gu Ci, and Qin Wan to the local police. Let them compare with the bodies to see if it’s them.”

“It’s already been sent!” Li Jiang had taken care of these matters without needing Lu Zhiyuan’s reminder. “Third Master, Mr. Jiang is waiting at the airport. He sent a message, hoping you can take a flight with him.”

“Okay.”

Lu Zhiyuan and Jiang Junlin arrived at the airport one after the other. Jiang Junlin had received the news while he was in a financial meeting with President Gu. It had been another sleepless night, and the meeting had not even concluded when the tragic news from Paradise Island arrived. The Triad Dark Web had never witnessed such a catastrophic accident. Jiang Junlin had immediately sent people to Paradise Island, and he was also heading to the scene in person.

The plane had been granted clearance and was ready to take off. Jiang Junlin waited for Lu Zhiyuan at the boarding gate, his expression extremely grim. Lu Zhiyuan led Li Jiang and three information officers onto Jiang Junlin’s plane, while a portion of Jiang Junlin’s team boarded Lu Zhiyuan’s plane.

Once the personnel arrangements were settled, they each boarded their respective planes. As soon as Lu Zhiyuan and Jiang Junlin were on the plane, they entered the meeting room with Zhang Qiang, Li Jiang, and several information officers to review the footage of the incident.

Both the Triad Dark Web and Black Hawk had stored footage of the incident. Less than two minutes after Gu Ci and Qin Wan boarded the ship, it exploded, cutting off the video feed. All that remained was audio, including a burst of intense gunfire. It was impossible to discern who had fired first, and alongside the gunshots, there were sounds of speedboats.

Jiang Junlin nearly crushed the cup in his hand. The footage was clear: when the explosion occurred, Ji Chi, Gu Ci, Qin Wan, and Rong Li were all thrown into the sea by the blast’s shockwave. The only relief was that the explosion had occurred in the center of the ship, and they had been standing on the deck.

Ji Chi had the quickest reaction and immediately pulled Rong Li into the sea. However, their figures were still engulfed by the flames, and their fates were uncertain. Both Jiang Junlin and Lu Zhiyuan couldn’t accurately judge their condition based on the footage.

Jiang Junlin stared at the flames in the footage and wondered, would they be burned?

Ji Chi was so concerned about his appearance; having a scar would surely upset him.

If they suffered burns and fell into the sea, it would be painful, wouldn’t it?

He forced himself not to think about the bodies. He didn’t even dare to look at the comparison data sent by the police.

Despite the magnitude of the incident, Lu Zhiyuan and Jiang Junlin didn’t blame each other. Lu Zhiyuan asked, “When you sent Tang Mingzhou to Paradise Island, the entire island was under your control. How many people did you deploy?”

“Paradise Island is a small tourist destination with a small population. We handle natural gas, coal, and electricity transportation, and we monopolized the energy sources on the island. Therefore, the local police have always cooperated with us and have been helping keep an eye on Tang Mingzhou. When we first sent him there three years ago, we left thirty people. After evaluating the situation over these three years, we reduced it to ten. Even though we reduced the manpower, the police presence remained the same. Could it be that Tang Mingzhou intentionally leaked information to lure you here?” Jiang Junlin also came to this realization after the incident. He had always believed that Lu Zhiyuan was actively searching for Tang Mingzhou and had proactively discovered information about him.

“This intel came from a secure Black Hawk channel. I’ve had people constantly searching for information about Tang Mingzhou. About a month ago, one of our information officers saw him while vacationing on Paradise Island.” Lu Zhiyuan said, “That information officer suffered a heart attack and died just an hour ago.”

“Died while on duty.”

Jiang Junlin felt a malicious fire burning within him, but he couldn’t let it out. “How do you have so many turncoats?”

Lu Zhiyuan replied, “Jiang Junlin, in the Triad Dark Web, you’re the absolute authority. Your personal guard team would collectively betray you, not to mention the difference in the Black Hawk’s system compared to yours. The nine major families in our organization balance each other, and I’ve had to deal with one family after another. It was difficult enough to consolidate power, and 1 couldn’t completely overhaul the system in a short time. Having turncoats is quite common. When the news came, 1 was afraid it might be orchestrated by Tang Mingzhou himself. That’s why 1 sent Ji Chi and Rong Li, both of whom are skilled in strategy and courage. No one wanted them to be in danger. Why did Gu Ci go to Paradise Island?”

“Once Ji Chi took Tang Mingzhou away, Cici was afraid they would leave the port on Unsealing Day, so she decided to make a trip since she had a vacation.” Jiang Junlin learned this news only after Gu Ci had boarded the plane.

During the past two years, Gu Ci had made many decisions without the need to inform him about everything. Besides, he didn’t consider this mission to be particularly dangerous.

The Black Hawk team sent on this mission consisted of Ji Chi and Rong Li. Even if they encountered someone, they wouldn’t engage in combat.

Who could have anticipated this kind of outcome?

Lu Zhiyuan hadn’t expected it either. The worst-case scenario he had envisioned was that both sides would meet, perhaps leading to some friction. They had collaborated on numerous projects, and there was no reason for a major confrontation. The established pattern of cooperation in recent years had caused them to overlook the variable that was Tang Mingzhou.

“Let’s synchronize our information,” Jiang Junlin took out his tablet to continue when Zhang Qiang said, “Master, the police have sent the body comparison data.”

The entire conference room fell silent for several seconds.

Both Jiang Junlin and Lu Zhiyuan fell into silence. Out of fear, neither of them had the courage to immediately examine the data Zhang Qiang held.. Zhang Qiang hesitated and then asked, “Shall I open and check it?”