Chapter 152 - 126: Kill! Cheng Yang Dies

Additionally.

There was the development of construction sites.

Urban development relies on infrastructure. Cheng Yang had seven construction subsidiaries under him. Including the parent company, they took on over a hundred projects a year!

A single project might require just one team, while larger ones could have over ten teams working simultaneously.

This was the livelihood of tens of thousands of people!

Between the malls and the construction sites alone, nearly a hundred thousand people relied on this group for their living, for their paychecks.

"Without me, could the highways even be built?"

"Without me, how would the land be developed?"

"Without me, would Zhaozhou’s future even develop?"

"Without me, where would these workers get their money!"

Cheng Yang stared at Xu Huo, spitting the words out one by one.

His eyes were dark and menacing, as if he was about to devour the other man in the next second.

"The entire Zhaozhou City—its future, its present, its past—over a million people depend on me to live, do you understand!?"

"It was just a few people who died!"

"People are dying all the time in this world. A few girls, a few men—if they die, they die. But why..."

"Why make such a big deal out of it!?"

Seeing him like this, Xu Huo laughed.

This time, it was a genuine laugh.

"Just... a few people?"

"In the thirty years of the Cheng Group’s development, the number of people who’ve died is at least ten times that, wouldn’t you say?"

"And besides you..."

As he spoke, Xu Huo paused and turned to look at the few men nearby who were tidying up their fishing nets.

"Relying on your fearsome reputation, how many more have these people killed?"

"They depend on you to live? They’d probably rather see you dead!"

"Were the resources from a few neighboring cities really enough for Zhaozhou City to develop so quickly while providing basic guarantees for its workers?"

"Do I need to tell you how much blood you’ve sucked from the workers?"

Hearing this, the surrounding men erupted in anger.

"What the fuck are you talking about!?"

The men flew into a rage and rushed forward, lowering their voices.

"The coastline is still very close. Don’t make a move!"

Cheng Yang suppressed his own fury.

He warily scanned his surroundings.

A few kilometers away, a lone fishing boat bobbed on the water.

They weren’t completely alone on the sea.

In fact, anyone who’s taken a cruise knows that as long as you’re in coastal waters, you’ll see a few fishing boats every few dozen minutes.

Especially near the coast.

This was why Cheng Yang and his men had disguised themselves as fishermen, even altering their appearances.

The people on that distant boat likely couldn’t make out what was happening here, but Cheng Yang didn’t want to take any risks.

"Aren’t you going to make your move tonight?"

Xu Huo said cheerfully, showing no fear of death whatsoever.

He glanced at the pistols on the five men’s waists, his gaze growing increasingly strange, a bizarre smile touching his lips.

Unfortunately, the deep darkness of the night concealed it.

"We’ll do it when we’re further out, to avoid being seen!"

Cheng Yang ignored him. He took out his phone and checked the time.

"Four and a half hours until dawn."

"In four hours, we’ll be out of the area..."

"Then we’ll make our move!"

...

...

"Have you found them!?"

「Three in the morning.」

In Zhaozhou City, every officer in every police station was on duty.

Those on vacation were called in, and those who had gotten off work were put on emergency overtime.

There were over a hundred criminal investigators alone!

Armed police patrolled the streets.

The police had eyes everywhere. The amount of activity in and out of the stations was almost equal to the entire previous month’s total.

"No, still nothing. We can’t find them. We just can’t find them."

Li Jianye looked at the person in front of him, utterly silent. He lowered his head and spoke in a low voice.

Who was in front of him?

An unexpected figure.

Chu Linhai!

The police chief of Jiangsan City and Chu Xi’s adoptive father.

When the news reached him at three o’clock yesterday afternoon, he had driven over immediately, without a moment’s hesitation.

"The surveillance system in Zhaozhou City is contracted out to the Cheng Group..."

The captain of the Criminal Investigation Division said quietly.

He was a little embarrassed and a little helpless.

"According to our investigation, the person in charge of the contract is among the five fugitives. They know the locations of most of the surveillance cameras in Zhaozhou City."

"Furthermore, we’ve impounded a luxury business vehicle and discovered they used more than one getaway car!"

"We haven’t found the second car yet. We suspect it’s already been destroyed."

All we have is one car and a few clips from surveillance cameras...

Besides that, we have no other information!

"Five guns, one person, eleven hours..."

"If they drove, they’re already out of the city."

"If they took a train, they’re already in the Capital City."

"If they took a plane, they could be in another country by now!"

Chu Linhai’s face was grim, his chest heaving violently.

"Calm down. Be calm. We need to stay calm right now."

Zhang Jian, who had just arrived, quickly tried to console him. He turned to Li Jianye and said helplessly:

"The power was cut to thirty-three floors. No signal, no elevators."

"They were already very fast to contact the police so quickly after the incident."

"The vehicle information at least proves they’re still in the city. As long as they haven’t left the city, it’s not a huge problem!"

The surveillance footage captured them changing vehicles. Although it couldn’t pinpoint their location, the timing of the changes could be used to judge their destination.

They switched cars three times in total, with long intervals in between. It didn’t look like they were trying to flee to another province.

They were driving in circles—driving in circles within the city.

The good news was they weren’t heading out of the city.

The bad news was... the police couldn’t figure out where they were going!

"What’s the status on the docks and harbors?"

"We can’t get through it all. There are too many people. It’s impossible to check all the boat and fisherman registrations!"

The captain sighed and said helplessly.

In places like this, anywhere near the sea, managing the fishing population is always a headache.

It’s not just in the Eastern Country.

It’s a worldwide problem!

Why?

Because the term ’fishermen’ covers a lot of ground; it’s not just people who fish for a living.

It includes the ’Tanka people’—people who live on the sea. Their boats are their homes. They normally don’t come ashore, and at most, will only trade their catch for some money and food at the water’s edge.