Chapter 673

Jia Da opened his eyes wide, staring in shock at the cramped bathroom, and said in disbelief: "Although I am your defeated subordinate, I at least led the way for you... Is this the only treatment I get?"

Ning Chen said nothing, looking down at him from above.

Jia Da had been with Ning Chen for quite some time and understood Ning Chen's temperament; feeling somewhat unwilling, Jia Da turned around and showed Ning Chen his hands, which were bound hand and foot.

"I'm just a bit better with a gun; how could I possibly break free from this rope? You'd be better off throwing me under your bed than letting me sleep here!" Jia Da, seeming very dissatisfied, shouted for Ning Chen to change his sleeping place.

Ning Chen glanced at him: "Why can't you sleep here? It's at least a place to shelter from wind and rain."

After saying this, Ning Chen hesitated not a moment, decisively shut the door, and even locked it.

With this, for the person inside to get out without waking Ning Chen would be almost impossible.

Ning Chen fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow; in the final instant before drifting off, he was still thinking in his mind about how to proceed with the first step tomorrow.

At dawn the next day, Ning Chen opened the bathroom door, glanced at Jia Da lying on the floor, and felt a hint of disgust in his eyes.

This bathroom was far from clean; sleeping in it for a night would inevitably leave some smell. Ning Chen, who already did not want to carry Jia Da as dead weight, shut the door decisively upon smelling it.

At worst, he could pay for an extra day downstairs and lock Jia Da up for a day; after all, this person couldn't stay anyway, and missing one day of food wouldn't kill him.

While thinking this, Ning Chen explained the situation to the shop owner. The owner nodded and said, "Alright, I understand."

Only then did Ning Chen walk out of the hotel door.

It must be said that without dead weight by his side, he felt incredibly light.

Walking on the street, even though he faced a group that ranked among the top worldwide, Ning Chen felt no disturbance in his heart.

The Bay Family had been fought, and the mercenary band had been wiped out; for the current Ning Chen, no group capable of matching his strength should appear in the short term.

At this time, the sky was still early; Ning Chen wandered the streets but saw hardly anyone, and the group's main gate had not yet opened, requiring him to wait some time.

Ning Chen's patience was decent; standing at the entrance of the Gujituan Sect, he waited a full half hour before there was a slight Ding Xiangdong inside, though the door was not opened.

People gradually streamed onto the street, becoming increasingly lively, with small vendors selling goods; this place was much livelier than the city Ning Chen had visited before.

Finally, the door opened.

Staff of the Gujituan Sect entered through the Congzheng Sect; several armed guards stood at the entrance. Ning Chen leaned against a tree, using his excellent vision to scan the features on the staff entering and exiting.

He noticed they wore uniform clothing and had a work badge hanging around their necks as proof of entry and exit.

If he wanted to sneak in, he would need to obtain a work badge.

Ning Chen immediately felt this was tricky.

Each employee should have only one work badge, and those inside the group wore formal attire; to get in, he would need an entire set of clothes.

Ning Chen found himself in a dilemma; on one hand, he truly could not obtain identical clothing and a work badge, and on the other, the streets had become lively, so snatching someone in public would be far too conspicuous.

Ning Chen's gaze swept around, suddenly landing on someone not far away.

There, a person wore the group's exclusive uniform and had a work badge on his body; most crucially, this person was about the same height as him, although his face was unclear.

To get inside, Ning Chen had to obtain a work badge.

In an instant, Ning Chen made up his mind; seeing no one around paying attention to him, he actively walked toward the target.

There were not many people on this road; Ning Chen looked straight ahead and walked forward directly.

He collided exactly with that person.

That person's steps were somewhat hurried, as if rushing against time; seeing Ning Chen stop before him, he frowned and tried to walk past him to the side.

Ning Chen took another step to the right, blocking him.

Such an action would be unbearable even for someone with the best temper; that person's expression indeed changed, and he spoke: "We don't know each other, do we?"

Ning Chen smiled and said: "Of course you don't know me; I am the property manager for your household. This morning you left in a hurry and dropped something."

That person looked at Ning Chen with some suspicion: "Property manager? But how have I never seen you?"

Ning Chen's smile on his face did not change: "New arrival."

"Oh," that person looked down at the time, seeming to be in a hurry, so he said, "Then give it to me, thank you."

Ning Chen said: "... I left it at the duty room."

That person's eyebrows immediately furrowed: "What did I drop?"

"It seems to be a set of keys," Ning Chen fiddled with the keychain in his trouser pocket, "and there seems to be a yellow bear hanging on it; is it yours?"

That person's expression instantly stiffened: "It is mine."

Ning Chen apologized: "Sorry, I originally came here to buy breakfast, saw you looked somewhat familiar, so I came over actively; I didn't expect to meet you here, so I didn't bring the keys."

Although that person was somewhat unhappy, he said nothing, his expression somewhat anxious.

He repeatedly looked down at the time, then at the Congzheng Sect of the group, whose main gate was now open: "There is a document in my drawer that must be submitted; without the keys, it simply cannot be opened!"

Ning Chen felt a Jiang Yixi in his heart, knowing the other had taken the bait, so he said: "Then will you come with me to get it?"

That person closed his eyes for a moment, as if considering.

That person knew that if he went to the company without submitting the document, he would surely get scolded, so it was better to go get the keys.

So he nodded.

549. Enter the group, search the laboratory.

The smile on Ning Chen's face never changed from start to finish; knowing how to disguise himself, he nodded, acting like a staff member truly concerned for the homeowner: "Then come with me."

That person was easy to talk to; he nodded and followed behind Ning Chen.

Ning Chen thought for a moment; he must take this person to a place with few people, otherwise it would be hard to act.

Halfway there, Ning Chen deliberately lagged half a step behind. The two were merely strangers; Ning Chen knew neither the other's surname nor family address. If he were exposed then, let alone stealing the other's clothes and work badge, he probably wouldn't be able to keep up the act halfway through.

However, that person was indeed in a hurry; his pace was fast, and he didn't even turn his head to look at Ning Chen following behind, just striding toward home.

Fortunately, it was still early; ordinary people in Cangbei generally disliked going out early and returning late, so even now, there were not many pedestrians on the road.

Although it was the capital, this place had many small roads; that person, seemingly to save time, led Ning Chen easily through this area, winding back and forth.

Ning Chen saw him turn into a small road, suddenly increased his pace, and surveyed the surroundings; seeing indeed no one around, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He decisively walked to the person's side, suddenly reached out, and struck the back of that person's neck with his arm, but deliberately held back his force, ensuring the person only fainted and would suffer no serious harm.

Ning Chen only intended to borrow the man's clothes and work badge; after a moment's thought, he placed the man in a concealed and safe spot, covered him with his own clothes, and then departed.

Ning Chen estimated the man would regain consciousness in the evening; after all, although he had controlled the force of his strike, his strength was naturally greater than that of ordinary people, so the man would likely need some time to recover after waking.

Ning Chen sighed, changed into the clothes, and put the work badge around his neck; he had specifically noted earlier that his height was similar to that of the clothes' owner, so unless someone familiar met him, seeing only his back should not cause any issues.

Thinking this, Ning Chen walked toward the Fugu Group.

With this attire, the guards at the entrance did not stop him, merely glancing at the ID card on his neck.

They did not examine it closely; perhaps they assumed no one foolish enough would deliberately cause trouble on their own company's premises, so they did not pursue the matter further.

Ning Chen, taking the hint, walked through the main gate of the Fugu Group.

Inside lay a spacious hall; the furnishings and layout were quite new, with a reception desk where a receptionist with exquisite makeup stood.

After exchanging a glance with the receptionist, Ning Chen deliberately averted his gaze, walked to the elevator entrance, and began waiting for the elevator.

That receptionist seemed not to notice Ning Chen; watching him walk to the elevator entrance and wait, she simply returned to her work.

While waiting for the elevator, Ning Chen's eyes darted about.

He tried to find a floor directory nearby; at the very least, he needed to know where the so-called laboratory of the Fugu Group was located, otherwise, running around like a headless fly would easily lead to trouble.

Moreover, he was impersonating someone else with their work badge and clothes; if discovered, forget about rescuing Hearing Hearing Hearing Chu Muyu, he would likely get himself into serious trouble.

As the elevator descended continuously, Ning Chen's peripheral vision caught that the elevator was only three floors away from him; he then glanced at the staircase on his right and made a choice in his mind.

Ultimately, Ning Chen decided to head to the stairwell for now; at least fewer people would be encountered there, greatly reducing the risk of exposure.

Ning Chen strode to the stairwell entrance but did not choose to go straight up the stairs; instead, he leaned against the snow-white wall, exposed one eye, and stared at the display screen outside the elevator.

When the number stopped at "1", the elevator doors slowly opened; several people in suits walked out, though there were more wearing employee uniforms.

Ning Chen knew his current position was not safe, so after watching for a while, he pulled his head back, hiding his entire body in the shadows, and mentally recalled which floor those people had likely boarded the elevator from.

Ning Chen fixed his target between the tenth and twelfth floors; since none of those people wore laboratory attire, he could first rule out the idea of looking for Hearing Hearing Hearing Chu Muyu on floors ten to twelve.

But the others were still hard to calculate; after much deliberation, Ning Chen decided to observe for a while longer; after all, it was just the start of the workday, and if his guess was correct, the person whose clothes and work badge Ning Chen had just hijacked should already be late, making this the first peak hour.

Many people were waiting for the elevator, and many others who couldn't wait chose the stairs; Ning Chen moved along the wall, and the employees using the stairs simply did not notice someone hiding behind the door, stepping up the stairs and climbing toward their workstations completely unaware.

Ning Chen watched batch after batch of people use the stairs and elevators, thus completely missing a peak hour, but he did not want to go to work; he worried that if he went up and met acquaintances of the original owner, and they checked the work badge closely, he would surely be exposed.

So Ning Chen forced himself to wait until lunchtime; only when those people had mostly left for their lunch break did he start climbing the stairs.

After watching for so long, Ning Chen had basically ruled out some floors where a laboratory could not possibly exist; he suspected floors three, nine, sixteen, nineteen, and the top floor might all have laboratories, so Ning Chen planned to climb step by step, at least to get a clear picture of the situation on those floors.

There were not few people using the stairs; with people coming and going, no one paid attention to Ning Chen.

Ning Chen went to the third floor and found it was all normal office areas; the entire floor consisted of offices and the like, with no other areas established besides that.

Ning Chen climbed higher, reaching the ninth floor.

He discovered that this floor actually had a dining hall; the space on the ninth floor was not occupied on a large scale by offices like the other floors, so after arranging a restaurant for the entire floor, there was hardly any space left.

The ninth floor had none either.