Chapter 94: Acting

Chapter 94: Chapter 94: Acting

"You’re the one in charge?"

The manager raised his hands and spoke in a soft voice, "Young man, what’s this... We can talk about whatever’s on your mind. No need for this..."

"Did one of the team leaders short you on your cut? I’ve got some cash here. Why don’t you take it for now?"

As he spoke, he gestured to the nightstand, where a small stack of cash lay.

The manager’s plea was slick, but completely off the mark.

"Where is Guo Long?"

The manager realized this visitor had ill intentions and quickly said, "Boss Guo isn’t here. You’ve come to the wrong place to find him."

"Where is he?"

Xiang Yi repeated, his tone heavier.

The manager put on a troubled expression and said, "You’re asking me, but I don’t know either. The boss only tells us beforehand when he’s coming for an inspection. Otherwise, we have no idea where he is."

"Are you in charge of all of Guo Long’s business here?"

"Not all of it. I’m just in charge of this half of the street. The real manager is Boss Guo’s younger brother."

"If you’re looking for him, I can point you in the right direction. He just came by today and took one of the new girls with him."

’This feels familiar. It seems like all these gangsters are experts at throwing others under the bus.’

"Speak."

The manager hurriedly rattled off an address.

After Xiang Yi confirmed that such a place actually existed, he asked the manager about another matter. "Yesterday, a group of people went to the garbage dump in the suburbs."

The manager understood at once.

’The owner of the garbage dump must have been furious and sent someone to investigate. The boss’s life isn’t as important as my own.’

He betrayed Guo Long without hesitation. "That was Boss Guo’s idea. He said he was tired of the dirty rackets and wanted to do something legit, so he sent us to mess with that garbage dump."

"Do you know what happened after that?"

"After that? I know. Seven people died. They were all blown to bits. That scene..."

As the manager spoke, he didn’t seem to realize that Xiang Yi was referring to the orbital laser incident. It seemed he really didn’t know.

So Xiang Yi continued asking, "How many managers like you are there in total?"

"Six. Seven if you count Boss Guo’s younger brother, Guo Hu."

"Do you have their contact info and addresses?"

"I have their contact info. It’s on my terminal, I can pull it up for you. But their addresses..."

Just as he was about to reach for the terminal on the nightstand, Xiang Yi suddenly said, "No need. I know now. And thank you."

"’And?’" the manager began to ask.

But Xiang Yi had already pulled the trigger of the Laser Rifle.

Instantly, the manager’s entire head was encased in Blood Crystal. His body convulsed twice, then all signs of life vanished.

Xiang Yi took the manager’s terminal, unlocked it with the corpse’s fingerprint, and checked the recent contacts.

After getting a good idea of the situation, Xiang Yi casually tied up the unconscious woman on the bed, stuffed a gag in her mouth, and shoved her into the closet.

’I don’t know why, but even though I’ve been running around for a while and just tied up a whole person, I don’t feel tired at all. In fact, I feel like my body and mind are gradually recovering.’

’Is it because I’ve been eating this whole time?’

’Whatever. A fast recovery can’t be a bad thing.’

Xiang Yi left the room, casually closing the door behind him, and walked down the stairs.

The whole process went completely unnoticed.

He returned to the alley, grabbed a motorcycle from outside that likely belonged to some punk, and headed toward the more prosperous city districts with Shi Tie in tow.

A high-ranking gangster like Guo Hu would never live in a place like this with his underlings.

He lived in a hotel closer to the Central City District.

The hotel’s electrical room was in the basement. Xiang Yi casually booked a room as cover and easily made his way to the basement via the stairs.

Flip the breaker.

Power out.

Head upstairs.

The Laser Rifle silently took out the two bodyguards at the door before the power came back on.

On the large bed inside the hotel room, a corpulent man was sound asleep with his arms around a woman. This was Guo Hu.

Xiang Yi wasted no time, dragging the two bodyguards’ corpses into the room and locking the door.

Guo Hu was finally woken by the noise. He could vaguely make out a figure by the door.

He picked up his terminal and shone its light forward.

Xiang Yi and the bodyguards’ corpses appeared before his eyes.

He froze, then suddenly started shouting in a panic, "Help! Is anyone there! Someone broke in!"

However, the hotel suite was very well soundproofed. Unless people both inside and outside were standing right by the door, they would never hear each other.

Guo Hu scrambled from the bed to the floor, hiding behind it and looking at Xiang Yi in fear.

The action made Xiang Yi frown slightly.

’This is the second-in-command of a major gang? He’s this pathetic?’

The woman on the bed was also startled awake at this moment, but she was immediately knocked unconscious again by Xiang Yi.

Guo Hu, who had been about to use the woman as a shield, immediately scrambled back a few steps and asked Xiang Yi in terror, "Who are you?"

"That’s not important."

Right in front of him, Xiang Yi took out a pistol, removed the magazine to show him the bullets inside, and then reloaded it.

"I ask, you answer."

"Does your gang have any connection to a company called Iron Shell?"

Guo Hu looked completely bewildered. "I... I don’t know. My brother usually handles the gang’s business. I’m usually... usually just responsible for eating, drinking, and having fun."

BANG—

"AH!"

A gunshot, followed by a scream.

A bloody hole was punched through the palm of Guo Hu’s hand.

He howled and fell to the ground, writhing in pain, his fat flesh trembling.

Xiang Yi, looking completely indifferent, aimed the gun at Guo Hu’s other hand. "Same question as before. Does your gang have any connection to a company called Iron Shell?"

"I don’t know... I really don’t know! I seriously don’t do anything, my brother takes care of everything for me..."

Tears were already streaming from the corners of Guo Hu’s eyes.

’The second-in-command, and he just mooches off his brother?’

Xiang Yi didn’t believe it.

’The threat of the pistol doesn’t seem to be working.’

He simply took out his Laser Rifle and switched it to the Blood-colored Laser beam mode.

As Guo Hu stared in confusion, he aimed at his finger and pulled the trigger.

In just an instant, his pinky finger completely transformed into crystal.

The muscles and nerves in his finger twisted and intertwined between the crystal and flesh.

Guo Hu froze for a second, then his eyes rolled back in his head as he let out an inhuman, agonized howl.

Xiang Yi quickly stepped forward, stomped on the writhing Guo Hu’s arm, pulled out a dagger, and sliced off the crystallized pinky.

For a moment, the pain of his finger being severed actually seemed to bring Guo Hu some relief.

He panted for a long time, his face streaked with tears, and hugged Xiang Yi’s leg. "I don’t know... I don’t know anything, please don’t do this anymore..."

’Looking at him... maybe he really doesn’t know anything...’

Xiang Yi kicked Guo Hu away, picked up the personal terminal that Guo Hu had dropped in his agony, and made the trembling man unlock it himself.

He scrolled through it casually. It was clear that Guo Hu was a man who indulged in every vice: eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling.

His contact list was full of women he’d found from who-knows-where, and the photos in his gallery were too vile to look at.

It seemed he really was just a useless bum supported by his older brother.

"Where’s your brother?"

"My brother... I’m usually too scared to even talk to him. I don’t know where he is..."

"Tsk..."

Xiang Yi kept his eyes on the terminal, continuously swiping and tapping, trying to find something.

"Did you arrange for the men at the garbage dump?"

Guo Hu swallowed. "My brother told me to do it. He said he wanted to set up a legitimate business front."

"Do you know what happened afterward?"

He nodded repeatedly. "The news just reported an orbital weapon test."

"I thought, ’That’s not right, isn’t the test site the same place as the garbage dump?’ I thought my brother did it, so I even called him to ask. He just told me to keep my mouth shut."

Xiang Yi nodded slightly, his hands never stopping their work on the terminal.

Suddenly, a notification chimed from the terminal: "Password unlocked. Entering work mode."

Guo Hu, who had just been writhing on the floor, had his expression change in an instant. With a sudden burst of strength from nowhere, he lunged at Xiang Yi.

But Xiang Yi casually shot him in the knee, and he immediately collapsed to his knees on the ground.

"So the second-in-command of a major gang isn’t so simple after all. I’ve got to hand it to you, that was some performance."

’I was almost fooled by Guo Hu’s act.’

What Xiang Yi had just opened was the personal terminal’s secondary system.

After all, the personal terminal was one of the first electronic devices he had encountered since arriving in this world. He was quite familiar with it.

The dual-system setup was a very common terminal design, originally intended to have one system for gaming and the other for daily use.

But some people also used it for work.

And in the work system of Guo Hu’s personal terminal...

his communications with Guo Long were clearly much more frequent. They did a lot of the gang’s work together.

This included the plan for Master Chang’s garbage dump, which was something the two of them had devised together.

And there was only one reason they were willing to go and cause trouble for a veteran like Master Chang.

Xiang Yi looked at a conversation on the terminal.

"The company has the government scrambling. They don’t have the resources to deal with extra bullshit."

"Burn his house down, threaten him with his daughter. He’ll give in."