Old Fourth, dressed in a leather jacket, black baseball cap, and white gloves, searched through every room, checking places like under the bed and inside the wardrobe where someone could hide, but found no trace of the base director.
The phone on the coffee table kept buzzing. Old Fourth glanced at the screen displaying "Assistant to the President," picked it up, slipped it into his pocket, and exited the apartment.
Downstairs, in a cobalt blue GTR, Old Fifth sat in the front passenger seat, his face serious, holding a laptop in his arms, fingers flying across the keyboard. The screen periodically switched between the live broadcasts of several influencers accusing Chu Yuxuan. A red progress bar at the bottom quickly reached the end, automatically popping up a map with coordinates down to the building number.
After jotting down several locations, the 15-year-old genius hacker who once hacked into Citibank's headquarters just to steal a dollar closed his laptop. He was about to get out of the car when he saw Old Fourth stride over.
"Where is he?" Old Fifth lowered the window and asked.
Old Fourth tossed the still-buzzing phone into the car, calmly saying, "Not here, just a phone."
"Seems like he really is up to something..." Old Fifth muttered, pulling out a data cable. He connected the director's phone to his laptop, and after a few seconds, tossed the phone back to Old Fourth, "Put it back."
Old Fourth touched the cross hanging on his chest, his gaze darkening as he stared at the foreigner.
Old Fifth suddenly sensed a murderous intent and quipped, "God... Big Brother said to follow my lead. You... understand that, right, my dear... Fourth Brother?"
Old Fourth blinked indifferently and turned back into the building.
Old Fifth let out a long sigh, inexplicably feeling as though he had narrowly escaped death.
Just then, Second Brother called.
"There are police around Gao's people, so we can't get to him... Big Brother had me investigate someone with the last name Jin. He's been hanging out with Gao Ning a lot lately. Should I go pay him a visit?"Old Five pondered, "Big Brother hasn't mentioned this person yet. I think it's best not to alert the snake and first sort out the current situation before deciding what to do next. 'Then send me the addresses of some influencers you've found!'"
From Old Two's tone, it seemed like he wanted to randomly pick a few lucky ones to vent his anger.
"Calm down, now is not the time to act recklessly." Old Five advised, "What we need are pieces of evidence that can prove Big Brother's innocence, understand? If something happens to those influencers, it will only make things worse, you..."
Before he could finish, Old Two hung up the phone.
Old Five: ...
Is this team really that hard to lead?
After a while, Old Four returned to the car, glanced at Old Five who was furiously typing on the keyboard, and asked, "Did you find him?"
"Unless he's a robot, not made of flesh... He forgot his phone at home, I can't track him down... D*mn it, there's nothing on his phone."
"Cash payments are rarely used in China now, phones are very important. How could he possibly forget it when he goes out?"
"Maybe he has another phone. This one isn't important..."
Just as he was speaking, the legal department minister called.
"Minister Chu, when... when will you arrive at the company?"
Old Five glanced at the time and said, "Don't worry, I'm looking for that person now."
"Ah! No need to look for him, he's already at the criminal police station with a group of influencers, saying they're afraid of retaliation from Chu Men and seeking protection! Reporters have already covered it!... I'm saying, Minister Chu, can you come quickly? President Chu is..."
Old Five directly hung up the phone, searched the keywords online, and immediately found numerous videos of the person in charge being interviewed at the entrance of the criminal police station.
"I am Jin Tianliang, the head of Qingya Media's Influencer Incubation Base. I can responsibly tell everyone that the accusations against Chu Yuxuan online are all true! For more than a month, Chu Yuxuan has been molesting the influencers under his company almost every day. This kind of thing has been happening frequently! But these influencers are just young girls who have just entered society, with no experience or background. Coupled with the exorbitant breach of contract penalties, they simply dare not resist his harassment!"
Embarrassingly, although I've seen all their suffering, they were too afraid to speak up! Who in Jiangcheng dares to mess with people associated with Chu Men? I endured and endured, but it was my meekness that led these girls step by step into the abyss! They're all only in their twenties! When I saw the news about Qinglu being beaten this morning, it truly tore my heart apart. I want to ask him, how could he bear to do this? A big man, beating a woman—can he still be considered a person?!"
"At this point, I'm not even thinking about the consequences. I just want to seek justice for these girls! ... Police officers, we are seeking protection. You must help us! These girls are all on edge now, fearing that Chu Men's people will cause them trouble. Please, help us!"
The police maintaining order and the reporters blocking the entrance created chaos. After a while, the bureau chief arrived at the scene, personally bringing Jin Tianliang and his group, along with Xia's mother who was crying hysterically, into the police station building.
"We can't let this escalate any further... We need to do something!" Old Five looked serious. "Who exactly is Minister Jin colluding with? He alone wouldn't have the guts..."
Old Four, sharp-eyed, rewound the video by several seconds and pointed at the screen, "What he's holding is a phone."
Old Five sighed, "I understand what you mean, but... a hacker isn't omnipotent. I need to get hold of his phone first, or at least know his phone number to find a way to hack into it... time is running out."
Old Four held the cross hanging on his chest, his eyes cold, "Block him at the police station entrance."
"D*mn it. Who knows when he'll come out? Obviously, he's afraid his safety is threatened, which is why he's at the police station. That d*mn b*st*rd."
Saying that, Old Five's eyes suddenly lit up, "Perhaps I have a way to get his phone..."
Old Four looked puzzled, "You?"
"No, I have someone in mind... Hurry, drive to 227 Binhai Road! ... Uh, please don't look at me like that. I don't mean to take you as a driver, I swear... on heaven and earth, sun and moon... Wait, what?"
Old Four withdrew his gaze, started the car, and said mildly, "Your Chinese is really good."
"Thank you."
Old Five was likely very pleased with the killer machine's compliment. After saying thanks, he called the legal department, "Listen, inform me immediately of anything related to President Chu within the company. Keep your phone lines open; I'll contact you at any time."
The legal department responded with a yes, although he felt that this foreign guy was unreliable, he didn't dare say anything since he was Chu's chosen person.