Chapter 193

Then he took off his shirt, exposing his upper body; on his left shoulder, blood was gushing steadily from the bullet wound.

He used strips of curtain fabric to bandage the wound, at least stopping the bleeding for now.

Then he went to the bathroom to wipe the bloodstains from his left arm.

He returned to the living room.

He sat opposite the sofa, saying nothing as he stared at Luo Lifeng.

Luo Lifeng was struggling to get up; after several failed attempts, he could only lean half-reclined against the side of the sofa.

He looked at Ning Chen, his eyes still somewhat dazed.

The heavy blow to his jaw just now had been enough to knock him out.

The chin connects to the human trigeminal nerve, which in turn connects to the cerebellum, and the cerebellum controls the body's balance.

A violent impact can cause a concussion.

In boxing, the core of a one-punch KO lies precisely in this.

Regardless of weight class, boxers must always be careful to protect their jaw and cheek area.

"You are Luo San?"

Ning Chen's voice was very soft as he asked the question.

Hearing the other person actually call him "Luo San."

Luo Lifeng was also stunned.

Only those in the know on the streets used that alias for him.

Instantly, Luo Lifeng assumed it was a revenge killing.

He had helped many people avert disasters and had long prepared himself for the possibility of someone seeking revenge.

But he never expected it to happen in such a manner.

At this moment, he was subdued like a dead dog, the entire struggle taking less than five seconds from start to finish.

And the root of everything was that he had never imagined there could be someone in the world so fearless as to face a gun's aim like that.

Luo Lifeng shrank backward a few times.

"Brother, brother... I knew this day would come," Luo Lifeng swallowed hard, looking at Ning Chen, "I understand the rules... but this isn't absolute. You and I, we are each serving our own masters, but if the conditions are right, since we were originally strangers, we can surely find some flexibility, right?"

He believed the man before him, like himself, was hired by someone.

So he intended to negotiate terms with the other party.

Ning Chen looked at him.

His face showed no expression.

He paid absolutely no attention to the words the other man had spoken.

"Twenty years, May, Donghai City, the incident at Donghai Grand Hotel—tell me about it."

Luo Lifeng never expected the other party to suddenly bring up such a thing.

He stared blankly at Ning Chen.

For a long while, he could not figure out why the other person was asking about that matter.

Ning Chen looked at him.

"Speak. I need to know about that incident. Once you tell me, I will leave."

Hearing the man say this, Luo Lifeng suddenly felt a spark of joy in his heart.

Since the other party had said such words.

It meant his purpose was clear.

And this was far better than coming directly to kill him.

"Brother, what do you want to know?"

Luo Lifeng looked at Ning Chen.

"About the gang that had a gunfight with the police—its mastermind, the current situation. Anything you know, you can say."

Luo Lifeng nodded.

As he lowered his head, his peripheral vision swept across the floor.

He wanted to confirm the location of the gun he had dropped just now.

But then he heard a crack.

Looking up, he saw that the person sitting directly opposite him was holding his very own gun.

That person raised his hand and, with deliberate slowness, removed the magazine.

There had originally been five bullets in the gun.

The bullet Luo Lifeng had fired just now was currently inside Ning Chen's left shoulder.

So now, only four bullets remained in the magazine.

That person ejected three of those bullets, leaving only one inside the gun.

Then he raised his eyes and looked at Luo Lifeng.

The man's gaze was utterly empty.

Meeting such a gaze.

Luo Lifeng's eyes involuntarily shrank; a chill ran through his heart.

In his line of work, one knows well how to observe details; his mind held countless people's gazes: angry, ferocious, fearful, uncertain, feigned, pretentious, venomous... too many.

Yet the emptiness in the gaze of the man before him.

Was something he had never seen before.

In that moment, he suddenly realized that at this time, he must absolutely not have any other thoughts.

Tell him everything he wants to know; only then will there be a chance to survive this calamity.

"I, I count as a semi-independent person."

Luo Lifeng finally began to speak.

"Because I am in an employment relationship with them."

"But because the cooperation has lasted so long, I am also considered a semi-internal member."

"In early 2020, the Third Group below prepared to take over the underground business in the East Sea, while also expanding the entire gang's territory across the whole Eastern Province."

"We planned for about half a year; the incident in May, you should know about it." Luo Lifeng looked at Ning Chen. "A firefight occurred with the police at the East Sea Grand Hotel. After that, the Third Group left only a few people to continue lying low in the East Sea, while all remaining forces withdrew to the branch in the Southern Region."

"The role I played inside was merely that of a hired gunman, because my shooting is very accurate; before you, I never missed."

Ning Chen nodded. "If you had not been accidentally discovered by the police, would you have established your territory in the East Sea at that time?"

Luo Lifeng looked at Ning Chen.

Then, he shook his head.

"No, it was not an accident," Luo Lifeng said.

"Not an accident?"

Luo Lifeng looked at Ning Chen. "Although I am merely a hired hand, the cooperation has lasted too long; I know one thing."

"Speak."

"Inside, to ensure they implicated each other as little as possible, they were divided into several layers; the lowest layer consists of gangs scattered in various places."

"The layer above that is the three branches in the Southern Region."

"And above the three branches, there should still be more, but I do not know the specifics."

"It is said that overseas—Chinese people in the Golden Triangle—are in control; as for whether there is anything above that, I do not know."

"Sixteen years ago, that is, in 2006, an undercover police officer was exposed within the upper ranks."

"An undercover police officer who had been lying low inside for many years and had already become a close confidant of the upper ranks."

"This matter made the upper ranks furious, their face utterly lost, to the point that everyone feared for their own safety, sparking waves of internal purges within fellow organizations in other parts of the world."

As Luo Lifeng spoke, he licked his dry lips and looked at Ning Chen.

"Sixteen years later, the daughter of that undercover police officer became a police officer in East Sea City, and surprisingly, she is also a drug-enforcement police officer."

"The upper ranks learned of this matter and regarded it as a provocation, an affront, and even an insult to them; but at the same time, they believed this was an excellent moment to demonstrate retribution and warning."

"So, they decided to have a direct confrontation with the police in East Sea City."

"Two and a half years ago, that is, in May 2020, the conflict at the East Sea Grand Hotel was not the police accidentally finding them."

"Rather, they deliberately leaked news, just to wait for the police to come knocking on their door."

"To kill the daughter of that undercover police officer from back then right there in front of everyone, as a warning and a declaration."