Chapter 178: Vulture
Chapter 178: Vulture
The Secret Case Division acted quickly. Once they decided to investigate, they immediately formed teams. Some were assigned to keep watch, while others were responsible for gathering information. While the investigation was underway in Jingdu, some members had already taken a plane to Donghai.
Lin Mu naturally knew nothing about these events. He and Yao Xianxian were still busy filming. After Fu Feng visited once, he never came to see them again.
Fu Feng understood very clearly in his heart that directly approaching Lin Mu and the others would definitely yield no answers. To solve the mystery, he had to rely on his own investigation.
Just as all sides were busy with their own intense actions, something major was also being prepared in Guangdong.
The previous joint operation with the Hong Kong Police had led to the bust of a massive drug smuggling case at sea, involving an astronomical amount of fourteen billion yuan. It was one of the most significant cases of the year, and the higher-ups attached great importance to it, even sending personnel to personally oversee the operation.
Unexpectedly, shortly after the arrests, the other side sent people to hijack a plane, attempting to force the police to return their goods and members. Fortunately, no major disaster occurred in the end.
After learning about this incident, a resolution was finally reached through extensive discussions. All the criminals involved were to be transferred to Jingdu for detention, rather than being held in local detention centers, to prevent the other side from becoming desperate and doing something extreme.
After meticulous planning, the dozen or so drug dealers who had been arrested at that time and their accomplices in the hijacking were secretly escorted to the Heavy Prisoners Penitentiary in Jingdu. The level of security there was extremely tight, far surpassing that of local detention centers.
In Chiang Rai, Thailand, inside a manor that looked ordinary on the outside but was luxuriously decorated inside, many armed black men were constantly patrolling back and forth.
“Bastard! Where is my cargo?!”
A big man with an extremely gloomy expression suddenly smashed a wine glass and roared at the person in front of him.
“Boss, I’m sorry. Youda and his team failed this mission too. During the hijacking, there happened to be an expert on board the plane. They were overpowered before reaching their destination, and the batch of cargo couldn’t be recovered.”
The subordinate shrank back nervously and reported with fear.
“These pig-headed fools! How did they handle things? With so many flights, why did they have to hijack one that just happened to have an expert on board? Are Huaxia’s experts so numerous that they’re everywhere?! They had so many guns! And they couldn’t even deal with one ordinary expert?”
The big man roared again, extremely disappointed with these useless underlings. He wished he could shoot them dead on the spot.
The batch of cargo confiscated by the Huaxia police earlier did not belong to him alone. It was the shared cargo of thirteen factions in the Golden Triangle region. Otherwise, how could he alone manage to produce two tons of drugs at once?
The reason the drugs were transported to Huaxia this time was because he had strongly persuaded everyone, saying that the market in Huaxia was huge and that as long as they could get the goods in, they would surely make a lot of money. For this reason, those people agreed to let him take full charge.
Unexpectedly, before the cargo could even enter, it was intercepted at sea during a joint operation by the two police forces. Not only did they lose a huge amount of goods, but even the elite subordinates sent to handle the operation failed to escape. How could he not be anxious?
“What’s the current situation over there? Are they still being held in the original detention location?”
After roaring to vent his anger, the big man finally calmed down a little.
“During this time, we have been trying to bribe informants through various means. Just yesterday, we finally managed to bribe someone with significant influence. He is also a member of the police system. According to him, Youda and the others were transferred together to the Heavy Prisoners Penitentiary in Jingdu.”
The boss asked, and the subordinate quickly replied.
“Transferred? That’s troublesome. Jingdu is very different from Guangdong. Huaxia’s forces there are extremely strong. If we want to rescue them, it will be much more difficult. Most importantly, where is that batch of cargo being kept?”
The big man frowned deeply and continued to ask.
“That batch of cargo was also sent to Jingdu. Guangdong is no longer in charge of this case. It has now been directly taken over by Jingdu.”
It seemed the person they bribed held quite a high position, as even such information could be obtained.
“No, it seems we need to come up with a plan. If we can’t get that cargo back, none of us will have a good life. The anger of those bosses alone is enough to tear us apart. Go contact Vulture. We need them to step in and help.”
The big man thought for a while with a dark expression and finally made a decision.
“Boss, Vulture’s fees are not low!”
The subordinate quickly reminded him.
“At a time like this, why care about the price? If we don’t act quickly, those goods and people will probably never come back. Huaxia’s anti-drug efforts are extremely strong. Youda and the others are in great danger there. We can’t repatriate them through diplomatic strategies either. We have no choice but to turn to Vulture.”
The big man snorted angrily. “If it weren’t for you useless fools, why would we have come to this? Hurry and go contact them!”
The subordinate quickly agreed and then scurried away in a panic, afraid that if he stayed even a second longer, the boss might not be able to resist shooting him.
Three hours later, a small plane appeared above the manor. It circled for a while and then landed on a makeshift runway according to instructions from below. Two European men in camouflage uniforms, both looking to be in their thirties, got off the plane.
Led by several armed drug dealers, the two entered the house and met the big man from earlier. One of the men immediately walked over with a smile on his face and gave the big man a bear hug.
“Sicelle! It’s been a long time. What made you think of me today?”
“Solana, I’ve run into some trouble and need an old friend’s help.”
The big man Solana laughed heartily and patted the man on the shoulder, then said with some helplessness. While the two greeted each other, the other man had already made himself comfortable on the sofa, casually picking up a piece of fruit to eat.
This man appeared to be of mixed race, likely a mix of Asian and European ancestry. The contours of his face were much deeper than those of an Asian, but his black pupils revealed his Asian traits. However, his physique was much more robust than that of an Asian, and his camouflage uniform was stretched tight by his muscles.
“What’s wrong, Solana? I heard you were doing very well here. How did you run into trouble?”
Sicelle pulled the big man to sit down, took two glasses, and poured a little vodka into each.
“Ah, don’t even mention it. It’s precisely because I was doing so well that the other bosses believed me. As a result, we took a huge fall this time. We had two tons of goods, worth over ten billion, intercepted by the Huaxia police at sea. A group of our brothers were also captured. I truly had no other choice, so I reached out to you for help!”
Solana sighed and downed the drink in his glass.
“It seems the trouble this time is quite tricky!”
Sicelle took a sip of his drink and frowned slightly. “That batch of goods is huge. Moving it alone is a troublesome matter, especially on Huaxia’s turf. If things go wrong, even their military might get involved. It’s very inconvenient to act.”
“Precisely because of that, I asked you to come take a look. We can’t handle this kind of trouble. We need professionals like you to step in.”
Solana smiled and picked up the bottle to pour Sicelle a little more drink.
“Where are the people and the goods?”
Sicelle’s lips curled slightly. Their Vulture mercenary group made a living by doing this kind of work, specifically solving problems that these big bosses couldn’t handle themselves. Of course, their fees were extremely high as well.
“They were originally in Guangdong, but after I sent people to rescue them and the mission failed, it alerted the Huaxia police. They have now been secretly transferred to Jingdu.”
Solana replied immediately.
Sicelle gave the big man a knowing smile. It seemed he had been reluctant to spend money earlier. If the goods were in Guangdong, hiring them would have made it easy to retrieve everything. But he insisted on sending his own people, and now he had lost both the goods and the people, sinking them deeper into trouble.
“Jingdu is not an easy place to handle! You need to know that it’s the capital of Huaxia. The defensive forces there are not comparable to those of a large province. Even for us, going there involves huge risks. Generally speaking, we don’t take on missions in major cities of countries like Huaxia, the United States, or Russia.”
Sicelle held his glass and said unhurriedly, “Our rules, old friend, you should know very well.”
“Of course I understand. It’s just that this situation is special. I had no other options, which is why I reached out to you!”
Solana laughed somewhat awkwardly. He also knew that his previous two actions had been too reckless. “Right now, more than a dozen bosses are pressuring me for the goods. I’m under a lot of pressure and really can’t delay any longer. Please, brother, help me out! We can discuss the price!”
“Just having that sentence is enough. Since both the people and the goods are stuck in Jingdu, our asking price will naturally be a bit higher. Tu Fei, what do you think we should charge?”
Sicelle smiled slightly and suddenly asked the mixed-race man sitting on the other sofa.
“The waters in Jingdu run too deep. Even if we go in, we might not be able to come out unscathed. The risk of this mission is too high. If it were up to me, I’d rather not take it. But since he’s your friend, there’s no other choice. Let’s go with this number!”
Tu Fei took a bite of an apple, smiled slightly, and raised his right hand, holding up two fingers.
“Deal! Twenty million dollars it is!”
Solana felt a pang of pain, but to ensure he could continue to operate here in the future, he had to bite the bullet and pay the sum. “Same as the old rules. I’ll pay half upfront as a deposit, and the other half after the job is done.”
“Haha, of course, we’re old friends after all!”
Sicelle laughed heartily, clinked glasses with Solana, and then downed his drink in one go. “Wait for our good news! The goods and the people will be back soon. Tu Fei, let’s go!”
The small plane soon took off from the manor and disappeared into the sky. The big man stood by the window, watching the plane gradually vanish. His expression was complex, filled with both the pain of the cost and a sense of relief. The mixed feelings were something only the big man himself could understand.