We return to the greater world. Lanya began to rally her forces, drawing all security personnel from three nightclubs and two hot spring resorts to gather at the Grand World.
I watched Lanya deploy her troops, exhibiting the demeanor of a great general.
Brother Bao sat on the sofa, silent.
I admired him; on the surface, he appeared calm and collected, but in reality, he had a plan.
After about twenty minutes, Lanya said to Brother Bao, "Everyone is here. Let's go down."
Brother Bao stood up, and we followed him downstairs.
I checked the time; it was one-thirty in the morning.
The plaza in front of the building was filled with people, more than太子爷's group had mustered the previous night, a sea of dark figures.
They all carried clubs, dressed in black pants and black shirts, radiating a menacing aura!
Brother Bao stood on the steps, waved to his brothers below, and said, "Let's go, time to work!"
The team split into several groups, quickly boarding the minivans parked on the roadside, and rapidly heading towards Kang Gong's stronghold.
Kang Gong's residence was a detached villa behind the lumber company's office building.
To approach the villa, one had to first deal with the security at the main gate and in the office building.
Climbing over the wall was almost impossible, as the wall was equipped with security devices that would trigger an alarm upon contact, alerting the occupants.
The only way in was through the main gate.
The minivan convoy stopped five to six hundred meters away from the lumber company, and then all of us took cover on the left and right sides of the company.
The company gate was tightly shut; a direct assault was out of the question, so we had to devise a strategy.
At this moment, a transport truck approached from a distance. Its headlights were bright, and it slowly drove towards the company entrance. This was not a lumber truck; it was a container, likely carrying other goods.
Brother Bao exchanged a look with me and Da Kui. We quickly ran to stop the truck, one on each side, standing on the running boards.
The driver was greatly startled and asked, "Who are you? What do you want?"
I replied, "I'd like to ask you, who are you, and what are you delivering?"
Da Kui had already grabbed the driver's arm, his vise-like hands applying pressure.
The driver quickly said, "I'm delivering daily necessities, mainly food and meat."
I said, "When the gate opens, we'll follow the truck in. We'll get out once we're inside. Don't make a sound, or you'll lose your life!"
The driver, trembling, released the brake, shifted into gear, and drove forward.
We both sat in the passenger seats, pretending to be with the truck.
The driver reached the gate and honked. The large iron gate swung open with a whoosh.
The driver handed me a manifest, asking me to give it to the guard on duty. The guard glanced at the manifest, waved us through, and then the iron gate closed behind us with another whoosh.
I saw from the rearview mirror that about ten people had already mixed in.
The truck drove a few meters and slowed down. We got out and blended in with the group that had mixed in. We instructed them to stay behind and deal with the guards at the gate, while Da Kui and I led the rest of the men to the office building.
The office building housed the control room. We had to secure the control room first to disable the security system, allowing the large number of our men to enter.
I had them take positions on both sides of the entrance, while Da Kui and I entered the office building.
Once inside, we split up. He took the elevator to the top floor and searched floor by floor downwards, while I started from the first floor and worked my way up.
The building was deathly silent. No lights were on in any of the departments, so finding the control room wouldn't be difficult.
The challenge was not knowing which floor it was on.
The building had ten floors, with nearly twenty rooms on each floor.
I climbed to the third floor and thought I heard voices. I quickly pressed myself against the stairwell. After waiting a moment, the voices became intermittent. I peeked into the corridor. The corridor looked no different from the floors below; it was pitch black, giving no impression of anyone being there.
Could the voices be coming from above?
Perhaps someone was above, and the sounds were being carried by the stairwell.
I climbed another floor, and it was still the same, completely dark.
At this point, I saw Da Kui coming down from above, standing between the seventh and sixth floors, seemingly listening intently.
Perhaps he had also heard the voices.
The sixth floor?
He saw me too. We both pointed to the sixth floor simultaneously and tiptoed towards it.
Although the corridor on the sixth floor was also dark, the voices were indeed coming from here.
There were at least two or three voices.
Da Kui and I split up, one on each side.
I groped my way through the darkness. The voices grew louder as I moved, until I reached the end. I sensed someone inside the last room. The door to this room was special. All other rooms had wooden doors, but this one had a thick iron door.
The voices were coming from behind the iron door.
By then, Da Kui had reached my side. I pointed to the iron door, and he nodded. He gently knocked a few times with his hand.
A head poked out from behind the iron door, looked around, didn't see us, and tried to retreat, shrinking its neck.
Da Kui's giant clamp-like hand grabbed its neck and forcibly pulled it out.
Seizing the opportunity, I rushed into the room and saw two other people. They were stunned by the sudden turn of events, their eyes wide with bewilderment.
I quickly ran over and landed a punch on each of their foreheads. They instantly fell from their chairs to the floor. Da Kui also subdued the person he had grabbed, dragged him inside, and closed the door from the outside.
Da Kui gestured for them not to move. I went to examine the equipment in front of them. I grabbed the person I had just knocked down, held him by his collar, and made him stand. Then I asked him, "Turn off all the monitoring systems. Otherwise, I'll throw you from the sixth floor!"
The person grunted like a dead pig and refused to move.
I said to Da Kui, "Leave this one to me. I'll handle it myself. You're responsible for throwing these guys down."
Da Kui replied, "Don't worry, I'll make sure they're smashed to pieces!"
At this moment, another person got up and hurriedly said, "Spare us, noble sir! I know how to shut it down. If you show mercy, we'll be grateful."
After speaking, he rushed to the computer and made a series of operations. The images on the rows of screens on the wall suddenly went black as they shut down.
Watching the dozens of screens gradually go dark, he said to me with a fawning smile, "Done!"
I said, "Give me the key to this room."
He quickly found the key and handed it to me. I took out the pre-prepared rope and tied the three of them up. Then, the two of us went out, locked the door from the outside, and I quickly took out my phone to inform Brother Bao.
Brother Bao said that preparations outside were complete and they were waiting for word from inside.
We went downstairs to deal with the guards at the gate.
We sneaked into the guardhouse. There were two people inside; one was sound asleep in his chair, and the other was barely keeping his eyes open.
They didn't even know we had entered.
I pressed a dagger to his throat, and he immediately became alert, saying, "Good sir, spare my life! Spare my life!"
I said, "If you want to live, listen to me and open the door quickly!"
He tremblingly pressed a switch under his hand, and the iron gate slowly opened.