Chapter 713

Ning Chen said, "I don't want to get involved either, but do I have a choice? Alright, alright, tell me the address. I'll go there and head back immediately; otherwise, I'll lose all my leave."

The system said, "This is not something you should concern yourself with. Just leave."

Ning Chen sighed, "How could it be that simple?"

626(2) Joseph's Arrival

The prison break was indeed a serious matter. Hu Di had only stayed at the police station for half a day before being taken away by someone who appeared out of nowhere halfway through.

This incident shook the entire country. Even though it was in a foreign land, Ning Chen could still hear whispers.

Some said the country's police were a bunch of good-for-nothings; others said the police didn't take their work seriously at all; and some claimed the organization was too powerful, so even if they were breaking someone out of prison, a mere police station was powerless to resist.

In short, people said all sorts of things, but hearing them, Ning Chen merely laughed. It was as if the words went in one ear and out the other.

Meanwhile, at the police station, Hu Di's situation was finally investigated.

The system displayed this person's age as twenty-eight, still extremely young. The photo shown by the system was of someone with white hair and a very pale face, exactly like the hooded Hu Di Ning Chen had seen.

After just one glance, Ning Chen was certain this person was definitely Hu Di.

"It's him," Ning Chen said. "Keep searching; we should be able to find more clues."

This system contained population data from all over the world. Although screening was not easy, as long as there was key information, it wasn't actually that difficult. After finding Hu Di's file, they investigated further and discovered that Hu Di's life experience had been somewhat rocky.

Ning Chen glanced at his biography and said, "It's all useless information. To catch him, we must investigate the organization behind him."

The police officer said, "You make it sound far too simple. If it were really that easy to find him, would we have had to stay up all night for two nights?"

Ning Chen let out an ambiguous laugh, "... If I were doing it, perhaps it wouldn't be like this."

So no one said anything. In the end, this matter had little to do with Ning Chen. Even if the higher-ups pursued it, they would be troubling those police officers.

After searching the files and records, they still hadn't obtained any useful clues. So Ning Chen asked the system again, "Are you really not giving me the address? Hu Di was rescued, the mission is essentially incomplete, and I still want a few more days of leave."

The system hesitated for a moment, as if finally unable to withstand Ning Chen, and gave in, "I will only give one address."

A hint of a smile appeared on Ning Chen's lips, and he nodded, "I know."

So the system told Ning Chen the location of the Shanzhuang. Ning Chen memorized the location after hearing it once, then his gaze fell on the several police officers sitting together.

After thinking it over, Ning Chen decided not to tell the police yet. After all, this address came out of nowhere; saying it might invite suspicion.

Ning Chen stood up, "You guys continue investigating. I'm going out for a bit."

After speaking, Ning Chen walked out while taking out his phone, searched for how long it would take to drive from the police station to the Shanzhuang, then decisively got into his car and headed straight for the Shanzhuang.

The estimated arrival time was six in the evening; it would take nearly five hours of driving.

Fortunately, this road was straight and wide, and there were no other vehicles on it. Even if he sped, no one would care. So Ning Chen increased his speed, compressing the driving time.

Inside the Shanzhuang villa.

Li Yu stood behind an old man with white hair. He held a gun in his hand, casually fiddling with the pistol left and right. Occasionally, he raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the old man, and said, "Have you brought all your equipment?"

The old man nodded.

Both parties spoke in English. The old man's wrinkled hands rested on the medicine box, while his gaze moved to Hu Di's hands.

"Let me see your injury." After saying this, Joseph stood next to Hu Di. Li Yu walked over in a few steps and helped Hu Di roll up his sleeve.

Yesterday, a private doctor had already given Hu Di some basic treatment for his wound. At this moment, it didn't look quite so terrifying, but the bloodstains winding along his arm were still startling at first glance.

Joseph frowned immediately and said, "... This is very difficult to handle."

Hu Di's face darkened. He glanced at Joseph, the threat in his tone obvious, "Cure me, or wait to bury your granddaughter. You choose."

Cold sweat instantly slid down Joseph's forehead. He looked at Hu Di with almost fear and terror, "The wound is too deep, the location is too tricky, and the prognosis will be poor. But I will use every means possible... as long as you don't touch my family."

A slight smile curved Hu Di's lips, "Whether we touch them or not is not up to me; naturally, it depends on your performance."

Joseph bent over, using this moment to wipe the sweat from his forehead, trembling, "Mm."

Joseph spent half an hour evaluating the characteristics of the wound on Hu Di's hand and finally concluded, "I can perform surgery to restore the basic functions of your limb, but I cannot perform delicate work."

Hu Di looked down at his own hand, then at the now pale-faced Joseph. He knew Joseph was doing his best, but the fact that this hand would be unusable would bring many inconveniences and impacts to his actions.

Seeing Hu Di's expression was not good, Li Yu walked over and patted his shoulder, "Alright, your hand can probably only be treated this way. It's already good enough that they can cure you. After we catch Ning Chen, you can do whatever you want."

Hearing this, Hu Di's expression rarely showed a trace of anger, "Very well. Once he falls into my hands, I will definitely make him taste a feeling worse than death."

Li Yu just smiled and didn't continue speaking.

Joseph took several photos of Hu Di's arm with a camera and said, "I need to discuss with my team how to proceed with the next step of treatment... The speed won't be that fast; surgery is expected to begin within a week."

"The sooner the better," Hu Di nodded and said.

Joseph nodded, wiping a handful of cold sweat from his forehead, "That goes without saying."

Ning Chen had obtained the address on his end and immediately drove there. He estimated the Shanzhuang villa was just their temporary foothold; the real headquarters should not be there.

But that was enough. Ning Chen was almost one hundred percent certain that someone was hiding inside that Shanzhuang villa, and Hu Di was definitely inside.

Arriving right beside the Shanzhuang villa at five-thirty in the evening, Ning Chen dared not get too close. Because from a distance, it looked like a massive building, and there were surely guards inside. If he got close and was detected, it would be difficult to follow them later.

So Ning Chen planned to park his car at the foot of the mountain and walk up from the foot of the mountain alone to slowly scout the enemy situation.

At this moment, Dr. Joseph had just finished examining Hu Di and was preparing to leave the villa with his things. Ning Chen sensed someone walking at the foot of the mountain from far away and immediately slowed his pace to avoid being detected by them.

Ning Chen hid behind a tree. At this time, the sky was already dark. Unless someone had extremely strong night vision, they couldn't detect him. Ning Chen hid behind the tree, listening to their conversation.

"I am going back this time to prepare the tools. Once everything is fully prepared, I will return."

It was the voice of an old man. After stopping, Ning Chen couldn't help but frown, turning sideways to look at the old man.

With the cover of night, the three people outside did not discover Ning Chen. Walking beside Joseph was Li Yu; he had come specifically to see Joseph off. The third person beside him was his capable assistant.

"Anyway, no matter what, at least the basic functions of his hands must be restored. Otherwise, what the outcome will be, I don't need to repeat."

Joseph lightly responded on his end, and then there was silence.

Hearing these two sentences, Ning Chen couldn't help but frown. Actually, it wasn't hard for him to piece together anything from these two sentences; he could roughly guess the meaning of these two sentences.

He vaguely guessed that the old man might be a doctor, someone those people had specially invited to treat Hu Di. From this, it could be seen that Hu Di played an important role in this organization, or he might be one of the leaders of this organization.

Ning Chen felt those voices getting farther and farther away from him. He looked up at the sky above his head. At this time, the sky had completely darkened, and nothing could be seen clearly.

Lights came on inside the Shanzhuang, and Did Ning Chen slowly approached the villa.

After drawing closer, he saw several people in black clothing standing guard at the window.

Those men in black were holding guns in their hands, their expressions quite stern, staring straight ahead, occasionally shaking their heads, as if monitoring whether anything was amiss nearby.

The result was of course nothing — Did Ning Chen was hidden well enough, and moreover it was too dark at this time, the light too dim, making it impossible to tell who was who.

So Did Ning Chen's movements grew swifter and bolder; he rushed toward the villa of the Shanzhuang, determined to infiltrate the Shanzhuang within ten minutes.

Only that was easier said than done — there were still people guarding outside the Shanzhuang, and the first hurdle was getting past them; no matter how careful Did Ning Chen was, he would give himself away to some degree.

But fortunately Did Ning Chen was fast enough; he did not choose to clear out the guards posted up above at this moment, but instead, borrowing the moonlight, quietly walked to the side of the Shanzhuang, lowered his head to look at the building, and found its door.

Did Ning Chen drew a deep breath, summoned all the spirit and strength within his body, and fixed his eyes on that door.

Then he tensed his muscles and burst into a sprint toward it.

Did Ning Chen was very fast — when he ran he was like a swift cheetah. Before the others had even reacted, Did Ning Chen had already reached the door; at this moment he was pushing the door open and, with a nimble sidestep, slipping inside, his figure vanishing from everyone's sight in an instant.

All of this was done without a sound, so even the people standing watch and keeping lookout here did not see it. After Did Ning Chen entered the Shanzhuang and closed the door, he dodged several patrollers by weaving left and right, and only then had time to take a good look around the Shanzhuang.

One could only say this Shanzhuang was indeed luxurious and no small matter; it covered a very large area, and the section Did Ning Chen had slipped into didn't even have its lights on — though this also made things easier for him.

After going inside, Did Ning Chen's figure darted back and forth through the rooms, and to avoid detection, he kept his back against the wall as he moved forward slowly.

Because his night vision was very strong, Did Ning Chen didn't need to turn on the lights to see the situation ahead; but because there were too many corners inside the Shanzhuang, if someone suddenly came around one, and Did Ning Chen failed to notice, the consequences would be dire.

Fortunately he had experience with reconnaissance and infiltration, and after dodging a batch of people by turning left and right, he kept moving forward.

Did Ning Chen felt like a headless fly wandering aimlessly through the whole Shanzhuang — he had no map, and had no idea which way to go to find his destination, so he could only keep wandering around inside the Shanzhuang for now.

After wandering for roughly ten-odd minutes, Did Ning Chen had already dodged three patrols; the patrols inside the Shanzhuang were almost high-density, with a team coming through to patrol every few minutes — their security work was well done.

Only, every time they came on patrol they would flip a switch, which lit up the path ahead; Did Ning Chen saw the light and naturally was able to avoid them.

Sometimes those patrollers came without anyone noticing — although Did Ning Chen's night vision was decent, he couldn't make out those who were far away.

The corridor was full of lights, all controlled by a single switch; once the lights came on, an entire corridor could be seen clearly — if Did Ning Chen had hidden any slower, he would have been spotted.

After narrowly dodging detection several times, Did Ning Chen leaned his back against a door and slowly let out a breath.

When he passed a corner, Did Ning Chen saw that inside the corner there was a room with its lights on; the glow leaked out through the crack of the door — very clear and very conspicuous.

Did Ning Chen immediately straightened up — after walking through so many paths he hadn't seen a single room with its lights on, so there was only one possibility.

And that was that someone was in this room.

Thinking of this, Did Ning Chen quietly approached that room; the room's door was large and heavy, and if he pushed it open rashly, it would inevitably arouse the suspicion of the people inside.

Did Ning Chen pressed his back against the wall and put his ear close to the door, carefully listening for any movement inside.

Only there wasn't much sound inside — it must be that this door had soundproofing, so even though Did Ning Chen pressed his ear right up against it, he still couldn't hear anything from within.

Did Ning Chen sighed, slowly shifted his body over, placed his hand on the door handle, and prepared to press it down gently to open a crack in the door.

Only such a movement had to be extremely careful on his part — if the slightest noise alerted the people inside, all his previous efforts could be wasted.

He pressed the handle once and found it wasn't locked, then gently pressed it down; the handle went down silently, making no sound at all.