"Move in!"
At Qiu Yuanjie's command, the undercover officers positioned outside the hall rushed in. There was even a detachment of fully-armed special forces participating in this operation with the Chief of Bureau, Tian Zhenxing, overseeing the entire process personally.
It was a joint operation by several government departments, including the bureau of public security and trade and commerce bureau. The MLM agents who were busy collecting the payments did not even have any time to react before they were all arrested within seconds, and all they heard the next moment was the clang of cold steel as they were restrained with handcuffs.
A smile of satisfaction formed on Qiu Yuanjie's face as, one by one, the key personnel in the MLM companies were arrested.
However, something didn't seem right, and thoughts started to form in Xiao Luo's mind for Guan Tong's performance was simply too perfect. Although he was an undercover officer, he was also a core member of the MLM company. Therefore, his role as a lecturer was indispensable to the proliferation of MLM activities. On top of that, he had quit school eight years ago to involve himself directly in the war against MLM.
One could say that it was legendary but also highly questionable at the same time. Eight years were undoubtedly more than enough for anyone to learn about an industry thoroughly. What if Guan Tong was involved in MLM activities under the guise of an undercover police officer?
A sinister thought occurred to Xiao Luo—could he be the mastermind behind the scene known as the "Fog?"
Xiao Luo was deeply troubled by his suspicion of Guan Tong being the Fog, but the facts were all there. He was always in contact with MLM personnel, and the police would never be suspect him even if he was plotting against them. With his undercover identity, he also had access to police plans, and that would undoubtedly give him an advantage when he needed to plan his MLM activities.
Suddenly, there was news of another shocking development—four hundred million that had been collected from the three thousand investors had already been transferred to an overseas account! The police tried to track the transfer of funds, but after a few rounds of laundering the money, they lost the money trail. The chances of tracking them down and retrieving the funds were bleak.
"What?"
Qiu Yuanjie was shocked, and the smile on his face vanished in a flash. A large sum of funds, some four hundred million, had just been swiped under his watch, and that was unacceptable.
Xiao Luo suddenly stood up and roared, "Where's the informant?"
"To ensure his safety, I assigned someone to escort him when he left," Qiu Yuanjie answered.
"He should be equipped with recording equipment and detectaphone as your informant, right? Where's the tape of him after the lecture ended, and when he went backstage?" Xiao Luo asked.
"In the car outside," a police officer beside Qiu Yuanjie said.
Xiao Luo immediately started to head outside. "Show me now!"
Several of the three thousand victims went into hysteria and started crying and screaming when they realized their investments had been transferred to an unknown place.
The police were handling them, and Xiao Luo avoided talking to them. He was only interested in getting the Fog, and this MLM event finally gave him a lead on who the Fog was—his old pal, Guan Tong, was the prime suspect.
It did not take long for them to reach the minivan, where the police had their surveillance equipment.
The video footage of Guan Tong returning backstage was crystal clear. His footsteps were audible, and Guan tong seemed to have entered a location that looked like a financial office of some kind.
Then, he started talking, and he appeared to be giving a brief to the people there.
"All of you sit up straight! You can't face our customers with such a lousy attitude!"
"Why did you guys throw your belongings around? Do you know that every action and detail of how you act and conduct yourselves reflect on our company?"
"I want all of you to go and clean up your surrounding and then splash your faces with cold water in the washroom. You must keep your heads clear and spirits high at all times—these are the keys to success."
The severe pep-talk resulted in a dozen of the MLM personnel cleaning up all the rubbish in the bins and washing their faces with cold water without any objection. They then took out the POS machine and started to organize all the signed bills while Guan Tong supervised them calmly, as they began transferring the money through their computers. Of particular to Xiao Luo, he noted that the MLM personnel who returned all addressed him respectfully as Mr. Guan.
Xiao Luo was very concerned as Guan Tong acted more like an MLM company's mastermind than an undercover police officer!
He turned around and asked the policeman beside him, "Don't you think there's something wrong here?"
The police shook his head, "That's nothing wrong. The informant was merely doing this to keep his cover. It's just a show."
"A show?"
Xiao Luo smiled mirthlessly and said, "Yes, he had certainly put a show—and just made four hundred million vanish!"
Huh...?
His words seemed to have removed the clutter in their minds, and they gasped in horror. The policemen suddenly looked horrified as they looked at each other.
Qiu Yuanjie rushed over urgently, and he looked worried. "Mr. Xiao, did you find out anything?" he asked.
Xiao Luo could not be bothered to respond to him and grabbed him by his collar. "Where is Guan Tong's location now?" he scowled.
Qiu Yuanjie was shocked and said, "Mr. Xiao, you...what happened?"
"That's none of your business! Just tell me, where is he now?" Xiao Luo bellowed.
"He is on his way to Wild Wolf Mountain," Qiu Yuanjie replied.
"Wild Wolf Mountain? Why is he going to Wild Wolf Mountain?"
"I... I don't know; he said he was going for a ride."
"What car did he take? What's the car plate?"
"It's a black Volkswagon, and the car plate is Shanghai N0926."
After getting that information, Xiao Luo jumped into his Trumpchi and sped towards Wild Wolf Mountain.
Guan Tong was undoubtedly the prime suspect now, but there were still gaps in the overall picture that could not be explained.
"Are you truly the Fog?"
Xiao Luo couldn't believe that Guan Tong had deceived him so easily. Had he not witnessed Guan Tong's brainwashing ability today and his familiarity with moving large sums of money, he would never have suspected Guan Tong.
Was that guy hiding so much?
Xiao Luo frowned as the black Trumpchi overtook yet another car as he rushed toward Wild Wolf Mountain.
The forest around Wild Wolf Mountain was lush and dense, and there was only one meandering road that ran through it. One side of the road was the sheer cliff, while the other the rock face of the mountain wall. This road had terrified countless drivers and prevented them from using Wild Wolf Mountain.
THUD!
As Xiao Luo drove the Trumpchi and climbed the peak through the meandering road, a human-shaped object dropped in front of him. Indeed, it was human, and it fell from the elevated road about a dozen meters above him and landed right on the road ahead.
Xiao Luo slammed on the emergency brakes and had a good look. It was a man, moaning and badly injured.
He was in a smart suit, and he had a large body with an almost non-existent neck...
He opened the car door and ran toward the man, kneeling to help him up and was shocked. "Guan Tong?" he cried.
"Xiao Luo, you jerk, how...how could it be you...?"
Blood was oozing out from Guan Tong's mouth and nose, his limbs were broken—especially his right leg, as his bone had snapped and protruded through skin and flesh. It was a terrifying sight, and a pool of blood had soaked the ground around him.
"Why did you fall from above?" Xiao Luo asked.
"... someone pushed me...cough, cough...you jerk, I am actually an undercover cop. I started eight years ago and have been involved in anti-MLM operations ever since..." Guan Tong spoke as he coughed out mouthfuls of blood.
Xiao Luo's head went blank—how could this be? How could he have misjudged the situation? Was Guan Tong not the Fog?
He soon regained composure and said, "Stop talking. I am sending you to the hospital!"
"No, my friend...it's fine, I fell from such a great height, not even Jesus can save me now..." Guan Tong smiled, showing his blood-stained teeth.
*****
Guan Tong had suffered comminuted fractures, injuries to every internal organ and was bleeding severely internally. Although Xiao Luo was a gifted doctor, he could do nothing to heal Guan Tong. He forced himself to calm down and asked, "Who pushed you down?"
"It's Qiu...Qiu Yuanjie's people. They brought me here and claimed that there's a good view. These bastards ended up pushing me from above, cough, cough..." Although Guan Tong was coughing copious amounts of blood and looking pale, he was still smiling at Xiao Luo and seemed fearless as he stood at death's door.
"Qiu Yuanjie?"
Xiao Luo was utterly shocked when he heard that name.
Tears streamed down from Guan Tong's cheek, and he forced a wry smile. "F*ck, I finally got it now, he... he is the Fog. He had always used his identity as the police to cover himself as he planned all the MLM activities behind the scene. I h-have fallen into his trap. He told me to transfer all the money to the police account... I doubt that account belongs to the police. Damn it, that goddamn son of a b*tch..."
As he finished speaking, the smile disappeared from his face and was replaced by a twisted grimace as he clenched his teeth in anger and agony.
He grabbed Xiao Luo's arm and said, "Xiao Luo, do me a... no, you must get him! Expose him to the police; they must find out Qiu Yuanjie's true identity. He is the Fog, the mastermind behind all these MLM activities...!"
His last words were hissed out in spite before another massive gush of blood streamed from his mouth and nose. He had finally lost consciousness and died in Xiao Luo's arms. However, his hands were still grabbing onto Xiao Luo's arm, and his fingers were dug deeply into Xiao Luo's flesh.
"Guan Tong, Guan Tong!"
Xiao Luo called out, but the body lying in his arms could no longer respond to him. He stared at Guan Tong's lifeless face and felt an emptiness. He felt that familiar wetness in his nostrils, and his eyes turned red.
An old friend who was very close to him died in his arms, and it hurt that Xiao Luo had suspected him of being the mastermind behind the MLM scams. Xiao Luo was engulfed in an indescribable vortex of emotions—he felt sadness, remorse, anger. No words could accurately sum up Xiao Luo's feelings at that moment.
Suddenly, his phone rang.
He took his pocket out, and it was none other than Qiu Yuanjie.
Qiu Yuanjie's voice came through in a clear voice. It was not the usual righteous and manly voice, but a cynical voice with mocking laughter. "Mr. Xiao, have you met your old friend, Guan Tong? Or, let me make a bold guess, he's turned into a cold corpse, right?" he sneered.
Xiao Luo's eyes were cold with fury. "Qiu Yuanjie, I promise that you would not make it past midnight!" he cried.
Xiao Luo uttered every word with murderous rage and vengeance. He looked forward to the moment that he could skin Qiu Yuanjie alive.
"Haha, haha..."
Qiu Yuanjie started laughing out loud as if he had heard a funny joke, then he snapped, "Do you think you can come back alive from Wild Wolf Mountain?"
As he spoke, Xiao Luo heard the roar of an engine and saw a car screeching down the road from above. Within moments, a black Volkswagen stopped before Xiao Luo at a distance of a dozen meters. Its car plate was Shanghai N0926. When the door opened, two middle-aged men with grim faces emerged from it. They emanated strong signals of killing intent, and each of them was armed with a black samurai sword.
"Do you remember Asou Yanagi from the Star Cloud Kendo Gym? You've already had a taste of his God Slaying Sword Techniques—they aren't too bad, right? I am telling you that Asou Yanagi is not even one of the top thirty swordsmen in the Asou family. As for the guys before you, they are amongst the top ten. Now, you can taste the fear of death. Haha, haha..."
Qiu Yuanjie laughed insanely. "After today, Guan Tong will become my scapegoat and will have to honor of being identified as 'Fog,' the mastermind of the MLM activities. As for you, you will be recognized as a brave NSA warrior who risked his life, stopping Fog as he was about to escape from Wild Wolf Mountain. To guarantee the success of the mission, you sacrificed yourself and perished together with Fog. You will become a martyr, leaving your good name in the NSA memorial forever, haha, haha..."
Xiao Luo hung up.
He pried Guan tong's hand from his arm and stood up slowly. A breeze blew, and his fringe tussled lightly, then an overwhelming killing intent started to radiate outward from his body like a wildfire. His clear eyes turned into the eyes of a beast, bloodshot with madness, and he did not resemble a human anymore.
All human emotions had left him—he had become blood-thirsty and murderous!
The two middle-aged men were slightly stunned, and a shiver ran down their spines. They looked at each other and saw fear and confusion in the other's eyes. They braced themselves to go up against Xiao Luo.
Xiao Luo strode out toward them slowly, and with every step, his killing intent became heightened and more overwhelming, like a hungry beast that had just awoken from a long slumber.
One of the men tried to regain his composure and moved forward as he unsheathed his samurai sword, slashing at Xiao Luo fiercely.
SLASH~
A fifteen-meter long slash cut through the sky like a rainbow of light, directed at Xiao Luo like the sword of Damocles. The slashing of his sword blew a massive blast of energy on the road surface, and an invisible force raged toward Xiao Luo like a tsunami.
It was the most potent manifestation of the God-Slaying technique – Raigeki!
By channeling their inner power through the samurai sword, the slash took the form of an invincible blade of light, and its strength could only be compared to divine punishment. A bus would be cleanly cut in half by this slash, let alone mortal flesh.
However, as the slash was about to hit Xiao Luo, he activated his inner power, and a black and red barrier immediately formed to shield his entire body.
BOOM!
The slash had met with the barrier, and a tremendous explosion resulted, sending shockwaves across the surrounding. The ground started to crumble, and even the tall mountain shook as countless rocks rolled off its side, causing a huge cloud of dust and sand to form.
After the dust settled, Xiao Luo saw a visible rift gouged on the road with cracks extending like a spider's web.
But Xiao Luo was unharmed and still walking toward them steadily.
The middle-aged man who slashed at him was shocked and spoke in Japanese, "Impossible!"
His compatriot was equally stunned. That was the invincible God-slaying Sword technique that had never once disappoint them. But this enemy did not even make an effort to retaliate and was only taking the body blows, yet he seemed unaffected. It was unbelievable.
They looked at each other in their eyes and then shouted, "Kill!" Then, together they charged at Xiao Luo. They became one with their swords and struck at Xiao Luo like two bolts of lightning.
WHOOSH~ WHOOSH~
They were as swift as the wind, and their swords were howling like a gale. The cold ray that flashed from their swords traveled the distance and stabbed at Xiao Luo's chest.
BOOM!
The red barrier re-appeared like an invisible force field around Xiao Luo and instantly stopped the samurai swords. The cold rays were neutralized by the force field and dissipated into thin air.
Crack, crack, crack, crack!
The two middle-aged men were horrified as their swords cracked right before their eyes. Their samurai swords, made of hardened forged steel, shattered bit by bit, starting from their tips until it reached the hilt of their swords.