Chapter 133 Heading to the First District

On the way to the First District, Su Tianyu leaned against Hou Guoyu's shoulder, drifting off to sleep.

A pleasant ringtone broke the silence, and Hou Guoyu nudged Su Tianyu with his shoulder, "Wake up, you're getting a call."

Su Tianyu forced his eyes open, wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth, and smeared it on Hou Guoyu's body in a fluid motion. He answered the phone, "Hey, Da Bai!"

Da Bai spoke rapidly for over ten seconds on the phone, and Su Tianyu instantly sobered up. He raised his head and shouted, "Turn around, back to Dragon City!"

"Huh?!" The driver was dumbfounded, "Go... go back?"

"Yes, go back, hurry!" Su Tianyu ordered without any room for argument, then turned to Hou Guoyu and instructed, "Get on the radio and tell the other cars to turn around too, quickly!"

At this point, the convoy was already more than two hundred kilometers away from Dragon City. It would take at least three hours to go back, and everyone was exhausted. Even the squad leader, Fang Zheng, had some complaints. But since Su Tianyu had connections, everyone could only listen to him.

...

In the early hours of the morning, the convoy returned to Dragon City and parked in the parking lot outside the Tongji Association.

"You guys wait here, I'll go in for a bit." Su Tianyu hastily told Fang Zheng before pushing the door open, getting out of the car, and running into the association.

It was already late, but the main hall of the Tongji Association building was still brightly lit. Yu Mingyuan, Zhou Tonghui, Su Tianbei, Da Bai, and others were inside when Su Tianyu rushed in.

"Where's the person?!" Su Tianyu asked everyone.

"Here!" A-Hua, Fei Pingsheng's wife, walked over from the direction of the restroom.

Su Tianyu immediately went to meet her, "Did anyone contact you?!"

"Yes!" A-Hua nodded with a serious expression, "A spoofed number called. It was a man, I couldn't make out any accent."

"What did he say?" Su Tianyu pressed.

"He just said to have the money ready in the First District before six o'clock tomorrow morning, then he'll contact me again." A-Hua didn't rashly mention Lao Shen's name, only frowning as she recounted, "He also said that Lao Fei was in a bit of trouble."

"That's all he said?"

"Yes, just that one sentence. He hung up before I could reply," A-Hua nodded.

Su Tianyu licked his lips and paced around the hall with his hands on his hips.

Zhou Tonghui, sitting in a chair, was the first to speak, "Could it be that Wang Zhen caught Lao Fei and is deliberately setting a trap to lure us in?"

"It shouldn't be." Su Tianyu replied quickly, "If Wang Zhen was setting a trap, he should contact me directly, not A-Hua."

"Right, Lao Fei wouldn't sell out his wife if he was caught." Yu Mingyuan agreed, "Because the other side doesn't even know A-Hua exists. There's no point in him doing that."

Zhou Tonghui immediately extended the thought, "What if that Zhang Chao guy ratted? Is he cooperating with Wang Zhen's operation?"

"Unlikely." Su Tianyu shook his head again, "Look, the only way Wang Zhen can save his brother is to go after me or the police department, because the power is in our hands. Sending A-Hua over is completely useless. From their perspective, there's no connection or emotional bond between us and A-Hua, so he can't threaten us at all. Plus, Zhang Chao was arrested first, so he wouldn't even know A-Hua is here."

Zhou Tonghui carefully considered Su Tianyu's words, "Okay, I agree with your assessment."

Su Tianyu walked around the room with his head down, his brow furrowed, and said, "No matter what situation Lao Fei is in now, we have to pursue this lead first."

"Won't that be a bit of a waste of time?" Da Bai retorted with his hands on his hips, "What if Lao Fei's lead has nothing to do with human traffickers? What if he was just kidnapped by some criminal gang while on the run and they're extorting half a million? Then we'd be chasing the wrong lead...!"

"Are you saying we should just ignore Lao Fei?" A-Hua turned to Da Bai, raising her eyebrows as she questioned, "Da Bai, you weren't this way when we were chatting privately."

"Don't bring up private chats...!" Da Bai winked at A-Hua, "We're just analyzing and deducing, aren't we?"

Su Tianyu pondered for a moment, then immediately waved his hand, "No more discussion, we're pursuing this lead! If Lao Fei was just kidnapped by some criminal gang, then I don't think they'd need to be so mysterious when extorting money. That's outside the district, you catch someone, demand the money, and that's it. Why say something so vague?"

Yu Mingyuan looked up at Su Tianyu, "Right, I think Six is thinking straight. We don't have many leads anyway, so if there's a message, we should pursue it."

"He said to have the money ready in the First District before six o'clock tomorrow morning, right?" Su Tianyu asked A-Hua.

"Yes!" A-Hua nodded.

Su Tianyu glanced at his watch, then immediately told Zhou Tonghui, "Find a reliable friend and have them prepare five hundred thousand in cash in the First District. I'm going to find Director Liu now and have him arrange a helicopter for me. We'll fly directly to the First District, because driving won't make it in time."

"Then not many people can go, can they?" Da Bai asked.

"Pick the elites, the combat soldiers will come with me," Su Tianyu replied.

"I'll go too... take me with you, I won't be a burden." A-Hua immediately said to Su Tianyu, "The other side talked to me on the phone, they must have remembered my voice. It'll be easier if I go."

Su Tianyu looked at A-Hua, feeling somewhat hesitant.

...

On the sea in the early morning.

An old freighter slowly docked at the shore, and the leader of the human traffickers led a team into the small pier.

On the ship.

Taking advantage of the few people around, Hu Zi immediately brought Fei Pingsheng out again.

"What's up, boss?!" Fei Pingsheng asked as he stood in the restroom.

Hu Zi glanced around the corridor, cautiously closed the restroom door, took out his phone, and turned on the recording function, "Say a few words to your wife! She's going to get the money for me, and I'll take care of you. At least I won't let you suffer too much inside, and I'll find a chance to get you out in the future."

Fei Pingsheng was overjoyed upon hearing this and nodded repeatedly, "Brother, thank you! You saved my life...!!"

"Don't say useless things, just record," Hu Zi frowned.

Hearing this, Fei Pingsheng picked up the phone and said into the microphone in a low voice, "A-Hua, it's Pingsheng. Hurry up and get the money to this Brother Hu Zi, not a penny less than five hundred thousand, or my life will be gone! This Brother Hu Zi can save me, he's a good person... Tell our Brother Shen that if he takes the money, I'll definitely repay him like a slave when I get back. Also, have Brother Shen look for Little Su, who hustles in Huadu Fangyuan, he wanted to buy our house before. If you can't raise enough money, then sell it quickly...!"

"Alright, don't say so much." Hu Zi snatched the phone, looked up at Fei Pingsheng, and said, "Come on, let me record a video of you too, so your wife doesn't think I'm fooling her."

...

Dragon City, Su Tianyu contacted Director Liu in the city and confirmed that the helicopter was arranged. He immediately took Hou Guoyu, the Lao Hei team, Su Tianbei, and the coast guard officers to the boarding location.