Chapter 672

After saying this, Ning Chen fell silent; because Gada talked too much, he tore a scrap of cloth from the roadside, rolled it into a ball, and stuffed it into Gada's mouth.

When had Gada ever suffered such humiliation? Though furious, he remained utterly alone and helpless; those so-called rescuers were likely a bunch of incompetents who didn't even know from whose hands they were trying to snatch him, yet dared to come with so few people—either they underestimated Ning Chen or deemed Gada too lowly to warrant a grand rescue operation.

With Gada silenced, Ning Chen could finally think for himself.

His next objective and plan remained clear: the system had issued him a mission two weeks ago, and so far he had only uncovered clues about the target; much progress remained before the mission could truly be completed.

Ning Chen, feeling a bit of a headache as he calculated the time, said to the system, "If nothing unexpected happens, I should find Chu Muyu and bring him over within a month."

The system responded quickly: "If it takes a month, that's enough time; the mission deadline is three months. The sooner the mission ends, the richer the reward."

Ning Chen sighed: "I feel I've already become detached and indifferent; if only I could retrieve Si sooner..."

He stopped abruptly halfway through, shifting the topic somewhat stiffly: "I hope the mission reward will be a new skill."

The system said, "You'll get the reward you want."

Hearing this response, Ning Chen felt no particular joy; he merely nodded and said nothing more.

The system was considerate enough to arrange a vehicle not far from the factory; since the system handled things, Ning Chen naturally felt at ease. When he arrived at the car with Gada, he saw the driver in the driver's seat was unfamiliar, but judging by his appearance, he was likely also from the Cangbei region.

After stating the destination, Ning Chen first tossed Gada, whose hands and feet were bound, into the car, then took the back seat himself, propping his chin and gazing outside.

The driver had never encountered such an eccentric passenger; he kept glancing at the rearview mirror above, his expression shifting uneasily, until he finally couldn't help asking, "... Sirs, what grudge do you have?"

Upon hearing this, Ning Chen turned toward the driver's seat and, for some reason, felt the driver was unusually talkative: "He killed quite a few people; I'm executing heavenly justice."

The driver immediately changed his attitude: "I see why you tied him up; that's brilliant. People like him deserve to be bound."

A faint smile appeared on Ning Chen's face upon hearing this; in truth, he understood the driver's meaning. As a fellow Cangbei native, the driver naturally knew the situation in the Cangbei region, where arson, murder, and plunder were not uncommon; seeing someone acting as an agent of justice, he couldn't help wanting to learn more.

But Ning Chen had no intention of continuing the conversation; he sat calmly in the back seat, saying nothing.

The driver then thought: This is how masters are; this young master resembles the great figures he once met, equally disinclined to engage with others.

The more masterful the person, the more the driver wanted to converse; while driving, he watched Ning Chen through the rearview mirror and said, "Mr., the journey from here to the capital takes quite a while—about two and a half days, even if I drive nonstop."

Ning Chen frowned and said, "I'm in a hurry; you can switch driving with me to shorten the time as much as possible. I have urgent matters to attend to."

A few smiles appeared on the driver's face: "Ah, I don't know what urgent matter you have, but expedited service costs extra."

Ning Chen shrugged: "No problem; if it costs extra, so be it. When you get tired, I'll take over."

Perhaps surprised that Ning Chen was so accommodating, the driver's smile became more genuine; nodding, he said, "Great, no problem; you could even buy this car of mine."

Ning Chen said, "I'm not interested in your car; getting me to the destination is enough."

After speaking, Ning Chen leaned his head back against the car seat, closed his eyes, and appeared to be dozing.

Although the driver wanted to converse with Ning Chen, the latter's aura was consistently off-putting to strangers, so he dared not speak again.

The car drove straight for a full day, and the driver finally couldn't hold on; driving twenty-four hours without sleep made Ning Chen wonder if a traffic accident would occur.

So Ning Chen volunteered: "Let me drive."

The driver had been waiting for this; he was barely able to suppress his drowsiness, constantly glancing back through the rearview mirror. Ning Chen seemed fully alert, while Gada slept in a disheveled heap.

Ning Chen appeared to have shifted Gada's position; there was even a distinct footprint on Gada's clothes, as if Ning Chen had kicked him over.

The driver obediently pulled over to the side. When he walked to the back seat, he saw Ning Chen pull Gada off the rear seat and toss him into the front passenger seat; the driver's mouth twitched involuntarily.

Ning Chen and the driver swapped positions; Ning Chen was quite confident in his driving skills, except for Gada in the front passenger seat, who remained incessantly noisy.

In the end, the two-and-a-half-day journey was forcibly shortened by Ning Chen to exactly two days.

Upon arrival, the sky had not yet fully darkened. After paying the driver, Ning Chen bid him farewell and dragged the now listless Gada out of the car.

Gada seemed to have an instinctive fear of this place, shuffling slowly behind Ning Chen.

547. Settling Gada, Investigating the Bugu Group

Ning Chen frowned, turned his head, and said to the dragging Gada behind him: "If you don't want to die, walk faster."

Upon hearing this, Gada suddenly stopped; the restraints on his feet had already been removed by Ning Chen, but his hands remained bound.

Gada stared directly at Ning Chen: "If you kill me, who will guide you? Is there anyone who knows this place better than I do?"

Ning Chen said nothing.

As if possessing something that could threaten Ning Chen, Gada slowly raised his head and said, "That group is no simple matter; if you don't have me guide you, others may not be able to lead you accurately to that place."

Ning Chen considered this.

He found that the facts indeed matched what Gada had said.

If what Gada said was true, that group must be enormous and extremely dangerous; truly, if one simply asked random people on the street for directions, one might not even find the correct location.

Moreover, keeping Gada alive served other purposes.

Ning Chen said to Gada: "Lead the way."

Gada then laughed.

How could he not understand that his current state was merely lingering on borrowed time? If Ning Chen wanted his life, it would take only moments; since escape was impossible, he might as well make Ning Chen uncomfortable during this remaining time.

Ning Chen looked at Gada, as if understanding his intent, and laughed: "How amusing; trying to make me uncomfortable? Better worry about how long you yourself will live."

Gada's face stiffened.

But finally, looking at Ning Chen's face, Gada seemed to realize he couldn't provoke the other; he lowered his head, unwilling yet furious: "... Fine, fine, fine, I'll take you there."

Gada seemed very familiar with this region, moving with ease as if on a well-trodden path.

The capital of Cangbei differed from other parts of Cangbei; at least the capital was far more bustling, unlike the small cities beneath Cangbei.

The capital of Cangbei also had skyscrapers, but these stood in the city center; beyond that, many low-rise houses lined the capital's outskirts. The overall economic landscape of Cangbei was not optimistic, and Ning Chen found it easy to understand why Cangbei was so chaotic.

Gada led Ning Chen from the capital's outskirts inward; since the driver had not entered the capital, the two now had to walk themselves upon arrival. Fortunately, the city was small enough that walking to the city center took little time.

As Gada walked, he glanced around and said, "Thinking carefully, it's only been half a month since I last came here; I just met with people from the Bugu Group, and now you've come knocking," he laughed ambiguously, "Those people truly met with misfortune to be targeted by you."

Upon hearing this, Ning Chen turned his head to glance at him and said, "Say less nonsense; compared to your personal experiences, I care more about where Chu Muyu is now and what he's doing."

Knowing Ning Chen cared about Chu Muyu, Gada said no more, merely nodding: "In short, I can only tell you that Chu Muyu is not doing well; although he works in a laboratory, you know the style around here."

Of course, Ning Chen knew: Cangbei was a chaotic place where people without power were arbitrarily treated unfairly; lawbreaking and disorder seemed extremely common here, because no one dared to voice complaints.

This vicious cycle led to a situation where no one dared to govern Cangbei, making it increasingly chaotic, with more and more vicious criminals coming here to try their luck, all in hopes of striking it rich.

Did Ning Chen asked, "Is Chu Muyu sitting in the laboratory? What project has he been working on recently?"

"How would I know that?" Gada fiddled with the rope on his wrist. "Untie me, and I might remember."

Did Ning Chen frowned, knowing that if he released Gada, he would be inviting trouble, and he was someone who disliked trouble.

So he said coldly, "Dream on."

Gada felt foolish for asking, but he dared not slow his pace, fearing that Did Ning Chen behind him might, in a fit of displeasure, shoot him dead with a single bullet.

Did Ning Chen's face betrayed no expression, but in his mind he communicated with the system: "Is the intelligence Gada provided true?"

He asked the system this, yet the system did not respond immediately. Did Ning Chen was accustomed to the system taking a long time to reply, but since the system generally answered every question, he was not in a rush for this one, walking while waiting for the system's response.

Five minutes later, the system finally spoke slowly: "Although I cannot give you a hint, this task is indeed too difficult. I can give you a hint at my discretion: Everything Gada said is correct. You can find the person based on the clues he gave you; you won't be wrong."

Hearing this, Did Ning Chen breathed a sigh of relief. Finding clues was no easy matter; he had expended much effort and experience just to find Gada.

If he were told at this moment that the clues he sought were wrong, it would prove that all his efforts over such a long time had been in vain. Did Ning Chen felt he could not accept such a result.

Fortunately, the clues were correct, which meant Did Ning Chen could use these clues to find Chu Muyu directly, saving a great deal of time.

They arrived at the capital in the evening. By then, the sky had grown completely dark, meaning they had to find a place to rest at this hour; they could not stay on the streets as before.

Although Did Ning Chen was in a hurry, moving at night was absolutely not a good idea. He could not choose to forcibly raid the Bugu Group at night. Compared to confronting the entire group directly, Did Ning Chen felt it would be more trouble-free to infiltrate the group and bring the person out.

Late at night, Did Ning Chen found a car that looked safe and had it drive him to the side of the Bugu Group. The driver was an honest man; since no one was out late at night, he pushed the car's speed to the maximum, so they arrived beside the group in just half an hour.

When Did Ning Chen stood in front of this group himself, he realized he had seen this building before. The building where the Bugu Group was located was the tallest and most imposing building in all of Cangbei; even standing at the city's edge, one could see that entire high-rise clearly and accurately through a row of low houses.

Although this city had very poor security management, there were plenty of places to rest. There was no lack of things like inns and hotels beside the Bugu Group.

Did Ning Chen did not have a Cangbei resident identity card, which meant he could not stay at a hotel; he could only make do with an inn for one night. Did Ning Chen felt he had at least slept on the streets before, so his mental resilience was quite strong; he was not too picky and planned to make do for one night.

But Gada hinted at him from the side.

"I have identification," Gada said. "If it really comes to it, I can lend you my identification... Our lodging always requires proof of identity."

"Oh?" Did Ning Chen countered. "Isn't a gun more useful than your identification?"

548. Using a Scheme to Enter the Bugu Group

Hearing Did Ning Chen ask this, Gada was truly stunned for a moment.

Other places might be strictly controlled, but Cangbei was different. There were many illegal and disorderly acts in Cangbei; forcing people at gunpoint was actually not uncommon.

However, if someone was bold enough, they could take the opportunity to seize some Qian Cai. Although such acts were not uncommon, for the sake of survival, roadside lodging spots were still numerous.

Did Ning Chen did not worry about lodging; places with few people were not checked very strictly. So Did Ning Chen, dragging Gada whose hands were bound, walked into an inn that looked rather dilapidated. Upon entering, he saw only one person sitting inside.

After paying the money, no identity registration was required; they could go straight up to sleep. That innkeeper did not seem interested in Did Ning Chen or the person Did Ning Chen was holding; he glanced at them once and then let them leave.

Things went surprisingly smoothly. Did Ning Chen brought Gada upstairs.

This was a single room with only one bed. To save time and effort, Did Ning Chen threw Gada into the bathroom and, before locking the door, said, "You'll just have to make do here for tonight... It's not like you can't sleep."