Chapter 2943: Rare Opportunity

Because I knew the Broken Clear Society had become much more low-key lately, Ye Chen didn't expect to encounter them again when he came to New York this time.

But as soon as he arrived at the seventeenth floor of Manhattan Hospital, a wounded member of the Broken Clear Society was immediately brought in—this could not possibly be a coincidence.

Ye Chen's intuition told him that the Broken Clear Society had come for Zhou Liangyun.

Their purpose in approaching Zhou Liangyun was undoubtedly the Four Directions Treasure Pagoda—no need to say it.

Ye Chen thought to himself: "When I called Wan'er earlier, she told me that Meng Changsheng had mentioned the Four Directions Treasure Pagoda to her father, Lin Zhulu. Wu Feiyan naturally knows of the Four Directions Treasure Pagoda's existence, and she might even be the only one in the Broken Clear Society who knows its true background. Now that the Broken Clear Society is targeting this place, it must be Wu Feiyan's order."

Thinking this, Ye Chen felt a bit more cautious.

He knew that besides Wu Feiyan, the Broken Clear Society had three Grand Elders and a Marquis. If Wu Feiyan sent the Marquis, he might have a chance, but if she sent any of the three Grand Elders, he might not be able to withstand them.

After all, they are three masters on the verge of opening the Mud Pill Palace, each with formidable strength.

Ye Chen roughly analyzed the situation and felt it best to quickly take Zhou Liangyun to a safe place to avoid complications.

Earlier, only the Rothschild family wanted to capture him; now, even the Broken Clear Society is involved. If he doesn't soon find a way to move Zhou Liangyun, both he and Zhou might face danger.

At such a time, it's unwise to linger in battle—safety is paramount.

Seeing the person being pushed into Room 1707, Ye Chen walked to the door of Room 1708.

After knocking twice, he didn't wait for Hank's reply and pushed open the hospital room door directly.

Hank's single room was more like a one-bedroom apartment: entering led to a small lounge for resting, and beyond that was the actual hospital room.

At that moment, Hank lay bored on the bed, waiting for the doctor's follow-up examination.

Seeing Ye Chen enter, Hank quickly stood up and respectfully said: "Mr. Ye, you've come!"

Ye Chen nodded, placed the flowers he brought aside, and asked: "Did Howard give you any new instructions?"

Hank blurted: "Replying to Mr. Ye, not yet. He told me to first figure out the situation here and wait for his instructions!"

Ye Chen asked again: "Based on your understanding of him, what do you think he'll do next? Could he have you take the person away?"

Hank thought, then shook his head: "Probably not. When he sent me here, I already stated I'd spare no expense to seize the person and interrogate them strictly, but he refused. I think he absolutely wouldn't act recklessly now."

Ye Chen nodded, thinking: "If Howard can't find a breakthrough here, he'll surely change tactics, release Uncle Zhou, and Uncle Zhong will still need seven or eight hours to land in Jin Ling. Adding the time for him to hand over to Grandfather Sun, Grandfather Sun's departure for Yanjing, and the time to hand over the Four Directions Treasure Pagoda to the authorities, at least another six or seven hours will be needed. That leaves about thirteen or fourteen hours before the news of the Four Directions Treasure Pagoda returning to Huaxia is released."

So he asked Hank: "If I were to forcibly take the person away, do you have any good suggestions?"

Hank replied: "Replying to Mr. Ye, the FBI has at least ten people here. If we force our way in, the FBI will quickly summon New York's entire SWAT team—special police—and dozens of police helicopters will surround this place within ten minutes. If you take him, this will likely become a world headline, with very bad impact. Mr. Zhou might then only be able to hide forever."

"Makes sense." Ye Chen nodded, while releasing his spiritual sense to check the conditions in the nearby rooms.

This check revealed not only that there were far more than the ten people Hank mentioned, but nearly twenty.

In rooms 02, 03, and 04, each had about four people on duty, while Room 1701, besides Zhou Liangyun, had six people guarding him closely.

Moreover, all these FBI agents were armed with live ammunition, and if anyone rushed in, they would surely open fire without hesitation.

Once they fired, the situation would inevitably escalate.

Ye Chen had no grudge against the FBI, and it was impossible for him to massacre these agents protecting Zhou Liangyun, so if this came to a hard confrontation, it would basically be unsolvable.

But a soft approach also had no good breakthrough.

Could he really go room by room to brainwash nearly twenty people?

Even if he succeeded in taking the person out, wouldn't Zhou Liangyun become a fugitive? According to his own wishes, he'd rather rot in prison than bear the stigma of being a wanted criminal.

Just as Ye Chen was torn between advancing and retreating, his phone suddenly received a WeChat message.

It was from Lin Wan'er: "Young Master, Wu Feiyan has gone to New York! Please leave quickly!"

Seeing this, Ye Chen frowned slightly and quickly replied: "When did this happen?"

Lin Wan'er soon replied: "Just now—her private jet took off from Buenos Aires. I checked the flight application; this plane is flying straight to New York."

Ye Chen hadn't expected Wu Feiyan to come personally for the Four Directions Treasure Pagoda, and he couldn't help feeling a bit nervous.

Given that the Broken Clear Society had already planted people in Manhattan Hospital, Ye Chen guessed that once Wu Feiyan arrived in New York, she would certainly come to the hospital to see Zhou Liangyun.

Zhou Liangyun might still save his life in the Rothschilds' hands, but in Wu Feiyan's hands, he would absolutely have no chance of survival.

Moreover, Wu Feiyan would certainly have the ability to make him reveal everything he knew.

So Ye Chen asked Lin Wan'er: "How long does it take to fly from Buenos Aires to New York?"

Lin Wan'er replied: "Young Master, judging by Wu Feiyan's aircraft model, the fastest is ten hours."

Ye Chen said: "Ten hours of flight, plus at least half an hour for customs, then getting here—it would be exactly eleven hours."

Lin Wan'er said: "About that, but I suggest you, Young Master, hurry and leave New York—staying here is truly too dangerous."

Ye Chen said: "I can't leave for now, unless I can take Uncle Zhou away."

Lin Wan'er said: "Then you, Young Master, must act swiftly and decisively—settle everything within eight hours, and you can withdraw calmly."

Ye Chen felt somewhat troubled.

Eight hours—could he think of a suitable way to get Zhou Liangyun out within that time?

Just as he felt at a loss, Steven Rothschild suddenly called Ye Chen.

After the call connected, Steven said: "Mr. Ye, my father has already negotiated with the New York police and court, withdrawing all charges against Zhou Peter. He claims their previous testing equipment was faulty, and the Four Directions Treasure Pagoda Zhou Peter handed over is genuine, not a counterfeit, so Zhou Peter will soon be acquitted and released."

Ye Chen asked: "Acquitted? How soon could this be fully resolved at the earliest?"

Steven said: "Acquittal requires a court trial by procedure, and the normal process would be slow, but given the severe impact, judicial authorities also want a swift resolution. My father is also urging them to handle this specially, so the New York court will send a judge team to the hospital to conduct an on-site trial and judgment. They estimate departure in a few hours, and with all time counted, from now, five hours later—around seven o'clock tonight—it will be completed."

Upon hearing this, Ye Chen immediately felt relieved.

Wu Feiyan will need at least ten hours; if Zhou Peter can be acquitted in just three hours, he can leave the U. S. directly, arrange his return to Huaxia, and Wu Feiyan surely wouldn't dare follow.

Even if Wu Feiyan dared to chase, he'd only need to wait another two or three hours, and the news of the Four Directions Treasure Pagoda returning home would be released—by then, Wu Feiyan would have no need to pursue Zhou Liangyun.

Ye Chen felt a sense of relief, as if finding a village after dark willows and bright flowers.

At this moment, Ye Chen heard knocking from the opposite room.

The door opening sound came, followed immediately by a man's voice at the door: "Doctor, hello, I'm Frank's friend, came to visit him—don't know how he's doing?"

Hearing this, Ye Chen knew the Broken Clear Society had sent someone again.

Meanwhile, the doctor said: "He's not seriously injured; just a few days of hospital rest and he'll be discharged. But to fully recover to his pre-accident condition, it will likely take more than half a year."

That person then said, "I don't know if we can go in to visit?"

The doctor casually replied, "Sure, I'm almost done here, you can go in to see the patient, just keep it short, the patient still needs plenty of rest."

"Okay, we'll be done in ten to twenty minutes at most, thank you, doctor."

The speaker was none other than Ye Chen's aunt's husband, Chen Zhimin.

Ye Chen had never met Chen Zhimin, nor could he recognize his voice; at this moment, he was focusing his attention on listening to the movements next door, and after hearing two people enter the ward and close the door, Ye Chen then heard a third person say: "Subordinate pays respects to Earl Zhongyong, pays respects to Mr. Chen!"

Earl Zhongyong said lightly: "Do not call me by this title outside; if you leak the core secrets within, I will take your life!"

That third person hastily replied: "Subordinate was presumptuous, please punish me!"

Earl Zhongyong coldly snorted: "Hmph, considering you are also dutiful and responsible, today I will not pursue this matter with you."

Ye Chen heard this, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

He still had at least ten hours of time window, but these ten hours needed to be split into two parts.

The first part, he had to wait for the court to come and declare him not guilty; besides preventing the Broken Pure Society from approaching Zhou Yunyun, there was nothing else he could do;

The second part, since Zhou Yunyun had already been released, he then needed to send him out of the United States within this second time segment.

This also meant that, from now until the verdict, he had nothing to do.

Since he had ample time, Ye Chen couldn't help but start scheming: "Of the Four Earls of the Broken Pure Society, two are dead, one has surrendered, and the only one still wandering outside is this Earl Zhongyong; this opportunity is rare! Should I take advantage of this good timing, during the first time segment, to eliminate him as well?"