Chapter 606: 380, Young Inspector

Those who could gather in this room must have their place in the Federation’s entertainment industry.

So, it wasn’t just Song Niannian who was the fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered—the kidnappers had their eyes on everyone here.

But, these people probably hadn’t realized that the criminals didn’t just intend to extort and kidnap, they even wanted to sell them off as goods to make another profit.

The Outer World had a darknet for trading women, while the Inner World was even darker; the black market had always had a precedent for trafficking slaves, and had even formed a new industry chain.

These slaves with “identities” always fetched a high price in the black market.

Among all the people present, not a single one was undesirable; they were all very valuable in the black market.

At the same time, customers were required to pay a massive security deposit when purchasing, to ensure the slave wouldn’t escape. If the slave did escape, the deposit would be forfeited.

Logically speaking, the customers were all powerful elites with no reason to abide by the black market’s rules, but this rule just happened to have continued.

Simply because, while the black market organizations in this gray industry chain promised to confiscate the deposit, they also took responsibility for killing the escaped slaves.

However, under normal circumstances, the chance to kidnap a leading star was very rare. First of all, top stars usually lived in the Upper Three Districts, which were very strictly managed. No one from the black market dared to cause trouble there for no reason. Even paparazzi who wanted to enter the Upper Three Districts to take photos had to bribe detectives from the PCE Security Committee to get in, and they had to be searched and checked before entering, to ensure they had no criminal records.

Secondly, most elites were not willing to pay the exorbitant price for a top star—it was the kind of price that could set dozens of people financially free at once.

Lastly, once the incident was exposed, the consequences would be extremely severe.

Over twenty years ago, someone kidnapped a top star, resulting in a nationwide upheaval with protests, leaving even the corporate conglomerates in distress.

In the end, to appease the public outrage, the elite who had purchased the top female star was thrown into the Federation prison.

This time, someone offered a very high price, and it just so happened that people in the black market had noticed that Song Niannian did not live in the Upper Three Districts on a regular basis, but rather in District Five.

Later, someone provided intelligence that Song Niannian’s close friend would occasionally appear and disappear mysteriously in District Five.

Criminals paid close attention and discovered this might be a rare opportunity.

So, the criminals spent a big price to hire a hacker with a modified mechanical brain to hack into and monitor her friend Li Zhaoen’s phone.

Things went smoother than expected, and it didn’t take long before they seized this opportunity.

“Everyone says the entertainment industry is lucrative; I’m curious how much money you can come up with to ransom your lives,” said a middle-aged man with a smile.

After the stars had transferred their money one by one.

Two middle-aged men, one with a gun and the other with finger locks, locked up everyone in the room. It wasn’t just the thumbs on their hands; even the thumbs on their feet were locked up.

During this time, the seven stars in the room didn’t dare to resist.

The criminals had guns, and any resistance from them would be futile.

For some reason, Song Niannian suddenly thought of the young Inspector living next door, who had also seen the two middle-aged men entering the house. Did he notice something was wrong here?

But if he had already noticed, shouldn’t he have come to rescue her by now?

From the time the middle-aged men entered the house until now, nearly half an hour had passed. If he were coming, he would have come by now. If he hadn’t come by now, he probably wouldn’t come at all.

At this moment, after one middle-aged man made sure that everyone was locked up, he took out his phone without any hesitation and started taking photos of them one by one.

A young male star in the room felt something was amiss, “You’re not just after money, you’re planning to sell off Song Niannian too!”

The middle-aged man suddenly began to laugh, showing his black and yellow teeth, “You’re wrong. We’re not just selling Song Niannian; we’re going to sell all of you. This kind of business is once in a lifetime.”

The stars instantly despaired, knowing what would become of them if they were sold—it would be decades of darkness until each one grew old and weary, then buried in the wilderness unknown to anyone.

The middle-aged man smiled, “Don’t rush; our companions are still preparing in the parking lot, so you still have a little bit of freedom left. Enjoy it while you can.”

Li Zhaoen shouted in anger, “I’ve already called my dad, he will be here soon!”

The middle-aged man, seemingly amused, lifted Li Zhaoen’s chin, “What do you think my companions are lying in ambush at the parking lot for? Immigration officers and soldiers are only somewhat useful when standing inside that tunnel. Don’t worry, we will deal with them and then take you away.”

At this point, his companion, seeing him wanting to lay hands on Li Zhaoen, said coldly, “If you touch her, her value drops in the eyes of the customer, think carefully, after getting the money, what kind of women can’t you find? Don’t make a mistake, and if you do, the Boss won’t let you off.”

The stars felt even more hopeless realizing these criminals weren’t just two, but there seemed to be more hiding in the parking lot, waiting for Li Menglin.

This was the only downside to the criminals’ operation—they had overheard Li Zhaoen’s phone call with Li Menglin, which allowed them to pinpoint Song Niannian’s location, which meant facing Li Menglin’s rescue effort.

But Li Zhaoen had only mentioned on the phone that she was dealing with a pervert, so Li Menglin wouldn’t bring too many people, nor would he carry heavy firepower.

Song Niannian occasionally glanced toward the door, not knowing what she was waiting for.

The middle-aged man noticed her gaze, looked puzzled at the door, but saw nothing.

He thought for a moment and said, “What are you expecting?”

Just as he was speaking, the door behind them suddenly opened.

Song Niannian watched as the young Inspector who had harassed her multiple times appeared in the doorway.

“Excuse me, to interrupt!” the young man said.

In the next moment, Song Niannian saw the young man raise his hand and pull the trigger, firing four shots in less than two seconds, breaking both legs of the two middle-aged men.

The two middle-aged men lost their balance and fell to the ground, trying to retaliate, but before they could pull the trigger, they felt a numbness in their arms and a flow of blood on their wrists, leaving them without the strength to hold their pistols anymore.

Song Niannian, watching the young man, suddenly thought, so to “interrupt” really meant to break limbs.

It was her first time seeing someone stop another’s speech so literally.

At that moment, one of the middle-aged men lying on the ground silently reached into his pocket with his intact left hand and pressed a button.

Qing Chen smiled and looked at him, “Calling for your friends? Sorry, their fate is no different from yours right now. There’s no escaping.”

The middle-aged man despaired, “Who are you?”

Song Niannian, with her hands and feet bound and lying askew on the ground, thought to herself that he must have been off dealing with these thugs’ partners, which is why he arrived late.

She watched Qing Chen’s profile, his calm demeanor as he squatted in front of the criminals, and thought of his precise shooting skills and the confident control he seemed to have over the situation.

For a moment, she felt her heartbeat accelerate.

This was the famous “suspension bridge effect,” where people often misattribute their physiological reactions caused by fear in dangerous settings to being infatuated.

That’s why confessions on suspension bridges, ferris wheels, and roller coasters tend to be more successful.

The middle-aged man asked with a fierce face, “Who the hell are you?”

At that moment, Qing Chen thought for a moment and said, “If you’re from the black market, you should have heard of me. I am the newly appointed Inspector of Intelligence Department One, Team Seven.”

The middle-aged man was stunned, the new boss of Intelligence Department One, Team Seven? Of course, they knew!

He was the man who had recently caused a bloodbath in the intelligence circles on his own.

But what they couldn’t understand was how the new boss of Intelligence Department One, Team Seven, could be so young!

They had actually seen Qing Chen in the hallway just now, but because he was so young, they hadn’t taken him seriously at all.

Qing Chen said, “Actually, you can’t consider yourselves wronged. I have had my eye on you for a long time; you shouldn’t feel too aggrieved to fall into my hands now.”

At this time, Qing Chen didn’t forget to patch things up for himself, so that he could explain the misunderstanding to Song Niannian: he had been tracking these criminals, hence the mix-ups happened, but the mix-ups were for the sake of rescuing you all, so let’s turn the page on our matter.

Sure enough, upon hearing Qing Chen’s words, Song Niannian’s expression immediately showed relief and gratitude… though still mingled with some confusion.

Both middle-aged men were dumbfounded; they had no idea why they were worthy of such attention from the new boss of Intelligence Department One.

Song Niannian didn’t understand the inside story, nor the dynamics between the black market and Intelligence Department One, so she could not grasp why the two of them were so shocked.

But the middle-aged men themselves knew their insignificance in front of Intelligence Department One.

For the notorious head of Intelligence Department One to focus on just the two of them was the equivalent of using a cannon to kill mosquitoes, right? It was like employing wide-scale lethal weaponry!

Just then, people rushed into the room from outside; Li Menglin led two soldiers wielding pistols who burst in clamoring, “Let me see which pervert dares to bully my daughter?!”

Qing Chen faced the pistols and slowly stood up, “Captain Li, the fighting proficiency of the Entry-Exit Administration needs improvement. If there really were criminals here, wouldn’t you just be delivering yourselves to death? It seems you may have grown too comfortable in that position.”

Li Menglin looked at the young man turning around in the room, then his mouth hung open, unable to close again.

The celebrities in the room, initially drawn by Li Menglin’s shouting, looked over in surprise and witnessed the transformation of Li Menglin’s expression from ferocious to stunned silence.

The normally formidable Entry-Exit Administration official was petrified as though he were an eroded landform in the wilderness.

His gun, too, hung limply by his side.

“Inspector… how come you are here?!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on N𝘰vgo.co

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