Chapter 29: Tax Collection Only Within Machine Gun Range! Chapter 28: Getting to Work

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Milton

Mins

Milton took a deep breath to calm himself, then asked again: "Let me sort this out... you said, why would a new medicine that hasn't even hit the market or been mass-produced be sold cheaper than old medicine?"

This question was really too simple, and Brandon could still answer it: "Because... the pharmaceutical company's ultimate goal is to collect various data on the new medicine, so they gave subsidies to the 'charitable institutions' that do their dirty work?"

With subsidies, the price could naturally be cheaper.

Experiments like this, which are obviously illegal and violate humanitarian spirit, pharmaceutical companies generally wouldn't conduct themselves; instead, they would outsource the data collection task to several different subcontractors.

For example, the Qingteng Foundation is one of them.

That way, even if exposed, the pharmaceutical company could shift the responsibility away, and it wouldn't affect experiments elsewhere.

The pharmaceutical company only needs the experimental data and is willing to provide a batch of medicine and a sum of money for it; as for how the Qingteng Foundation, which received the task, obtains the experimental data, that's their own business.

To maximize profit, the Qingteng Foundation would naturally find a way to monetize the value of this batch of medicine they received—regardless of high or low, slapping a price tag on it to sell and make money is very normal.

Milton nodded: "Yes, so they actually wouldn't do much cost accounting for the medicine itself; they'd just arbitrarily lower the price to increase competitiveness, sell as much as they can, and give away what doesn't sell for free, or sponsor it to hospitals... because the extra money is their profit."

Brandon suddenly realized: "Yeah... their main purpose is actually to trick people into taking the medicine, and then get the data after they take it! Keeping this process safe is the most important thing."

He's not too stupid.

He grasped the most critical point of "safety."

Through this clue, Milton could be sure that getting involved in this matter would only pit him against the Qingteng Foundation, this dirty glove, and wouldn't lead to directly provoking the American medical-industrial complex, nor would it temporarily bring him enemies he couldn't resist at this stage.

Milton sorted out his thoughts in his mind and continued: "Now let's move to the second clue chain. I ask you again, if they don't use the checkpoint smuggling route, how would they smuggle?"

"It must be air transport," Brandon said without thinking, "sea smuggling takes a long time, has high risk, requires bribing many people, and the chance of exposure is great... if they don't go through customs and use speedboats, the risk of cargo loss would be extremely high."

However, Milton shook his index finger left and right, rejecting his statement: "No, I think no matter which route they choose, there won't be legal problems on the American side; they don't need to be sneaky, so the transportation method doesn't matter—any way is legal."

Milton's voice was calm as he continued: "American border inspection is relatively strict, with high penalties and great risk, so the Qingteng Foundation probably wouldn't risk swapping medicine bottles within the United States."

"Within the United States, as long as the paperwork is done, they can completely legally export a batch of experimental medicines, openly transport them on planes or cargo ships, and send the goods abroad."

"Of course, the longer this dirty job drags on and the more people handle it, the greater the risk, so I also lean toward them using air transport, but that's not important."

After the medicine is transported to this side, since they can't directly sell unlisted medicines legally, and deceptive drug trials targeting society are also illegal, they need to repackage the medicine bottles and bribe relevant personnel to cover it up.

From a risk perspective, the foundation couldn't possibly complete the medicine repackaging on the American side, taking the risk of being investigated in the United States, and then taking the same risk again abroad.

In other words, the medicine bottle repackaging location must be in Guatemala!

At this time, even if Brandon was slow-witted, he knew what Milton wanted to say.

"So you mean, the medicine bottle repackaging is done right here?! As long as we can find this repackaging place, we can directly lock onto the evidence without conducting chemical composition inspections on the medicine, catching both person and stolen goods?!"

This... all the clues have been connected!

Milton nodded slightly: "That's right."

Brandon clenched his fist tightly and leaned forward: "The nearest airport from here is Kesaertnan G International Airport, a four-hour drive away. But that's a big city, and not in our province; how are we supposed to find their medicine bottle repackaging place?"

"What if they chose sea transport? How do we check the port side? The distance span is too great!"

Brandon's speech became hurried; he didn't expect that the "Hell Tax Collector" before him had actually found useful intelligence from the messy clues of the investigation on Green Leaf Street and the ledger!

But this investigation difficulty looks very high!

Having finally caught a clue, Brandon certainly didn't want to let this opportunity slip away.

"You also said it's a big city, which means more people, more police, relatively peaceful, and higher income," Milton said. "Wanting to buy people there, buying the big hospitals there—the cost is too high."

"And not everyone can be bought. You know, even in a place like Mexico, there are still police who persist in fighting drugs... the more abundant the police force, the higher the chance of encountering such police officers or even high-ranking officials."

"Out of safety and cost considerations, they would most likely keep the goods in a legal state within the big city, swagger out, come to their controlled turf, and then disassemble, repackage, and put them on the market."

"And facts can verify my statement—an Inspector went missing right here... what do you think she discovered that made the Foundation pay a huge price and take huge risks to make her vanish?"

"It must be evidence enough to completely destroy them!"

After Milton finished speaking, he gave his judgment: "Based on reasonable inference and current clues, this medicine repackaging point is on Maracan Town! Perhaps, right under our noses!"

Awe flashed in Brandon's eyes again; he stood up, as if truly treating Milton as a superior, as a leader, and no longer as a gang "boss."

The thinking ability, calmness, and even combat power he displayed made people unable to help but look up to him.

"Where should we go? Is it still in time? This Qingteng Foundation here seems to have been operating for quite a while."

"Since that female Inspector went missing recently, it means the evidence is still there, and it's still in time," Milton answered calmly, "but... they might have discovered someone is investigating them, and perhaps have already started destroying evidence at this time."

Brandon immediately panicked: "Then, then what to do? They won't really succeed, will they? If this batch of evidence is destroyed, we won't be able to get our hands in anymore."

Just as Milton said, they could only catch someone red-handed on the spot... if they reached the stage of chemical inspection of the medicine ingredients, they would be completely finished!

High-ranking officials at the police station, hospital, and checkpoint with internal spies would definitely collude to doctor the chemical inspection report.

By then, the illegal ones would become Milton and them!

Now they all relied on the title of "heroes who took down the gang" to maintain their official status, retain certain law enforcement power, and prevent the checkpoint and police station from making small moves.

But once they found an excuse to remove them from office and they lost their "legal" status, they would be easily crushed cleanly and neatly!

Milton stood up, seriously wiping his M29, his tone indifferent: "No... the dirtier the job, the fewer people must participate, otherwise it's too easy to expose, especially in a small place like Maracan Town. And with not many people, repackaging so much medicine and handling so many medicine bottles inevitably requires a certain amount of time."

"We still have a little time... but not much time, perhaps another two days, at most three days."

"Call Luz, grab your gear, prepare to collect taxes."

At this moment, Milton seemed to change from a detective back into that cold-blooded tax collector who had taken down 11 assassins!