23: Mangu Fengyun

Hearing this, Zhou Kang gritted his teeth and decided to tell the whole story.

The situation is this: Zhou Kang has a younger female cousin who was traveling in Southeast Asia and was kidnapped by local bandits. They demanded a ransom from the family, threatening to kill the hostage if the money wasn't delivered within the specified time.

For a family like the Zhou Family, money is naturally not an issue. The problem is that the Zhou Family cannot accept the possibility that the kidnappers might still harm the hostage even after receiving the money. Of course, the Zhou Family also contacted the police, but the police over there are different from those in China. Since the Zhou Family has no influence there, they couldn't sway the other side.

Therefore, the Zhou Family had to find a way to rescue the hostage themselves.

Zhou Kang was acting out of desperation. He had a very close relationship with his cousin, so he had been actively looking for solutions. Today, seeing his own Death Warriors bodyguards, he remembered Qin Yang and thought that since Qin Yang ran a Security Company, he might want to ask if Qin Yang had any ideas.

For Zhou Kang, Qin Yang certainly wanted to build a good relationship. Through Wei Liang, Qin Yang knew that the Zhou Family was not only wealthy but also had significant influence in official circles. Zhou Kang's second uncle was at the same rank as the High Official Hu that Qin Yang had hosted the other day.

Therefore, after giving it a little thought, Qin Yang prepared to help Zhou Kang. Of course, Qin Yang also had the confidence to do so.

Among the Second-level Death Soldiers that refreshed daily, there were truly talented individuals capable of handling real warfare. These few people were now Qin Yang's bodyguards.

Second-level Death Soldier: Wang Chao. Skill: Special Warfare (Mastery level), combat ability increased by 30%.

Second-level Death Soldier: Zhang Long. Skill: Special Warfare (Mastery level), combat ability increased by 30%.

Qin Yang had six such talented individuals. However, he hadn't taken it seriously at the time. After all, it is an ironclad rule in China that civilians are not allowed to possess weapons. While Wang Chao and the others were highly capable, their combat effectiveness would be significantly reduced without firearms. Fortunately, they were much stronger than First-level Death Warriors, so Qin Yang appointed them as his bodyguards.

Well, Wang Chao and the others were essentially special forces soldiers, and the Special Warfare skill could also be understood as proficiency in battlefield special operations.

"Mr. Zhou, I understand what you mean. I do have a few people here experienced in dealing with this, but you should know that they earn their living based on their skills..."

Before Qin Yang could finish his sentence, Zhou Kang understood and quickly replied, "Mr. Qin, I understand. Money is absolutely not an issue. How about this: as long as your people can bring my cousin back to the country safely, I will pay ten million! Of course, if something unfortunate really happens, I hope to at least see the body, and the price will remain the same. In the worst-case scenario, I will still pay five million for this mission!"

Qin Yang nodded. Zhou Kang was quite smart and not stingy. Ten million—it is no exaggeration to say that in a chaotic place like Southeast Asia, that would be enough to buy dozens of lives.

Qin Yang immediately replied, "Very well, Mr. Zhou. I will accept this task on their behalf. Even if we cannot bring her back, we will still give you an explanation. However, if we are to send people over, we will need some assistance from your family. First, we need a reliable translator. Second, we need a place to stay. Third, we need all the intelligence regarding your cousin before she went missing."

"Thank you, Mr. Qin. Rest assured, I will handle everything you mentioned properly." Seeing that Qin Yang had agreed, Zhou Kang thanked him profusely.

After hanging up the phone, Qin Yang called for Wang Chao, Zhang Long, and the others to explain the situation. Wang Chao and the others naturally had no objections.

Since lives were at stake, Qin Yang notified Zhou Kang that his people could leave that very night and asked him to handle the visas and passports.

Zhou Kang said there was no problem.

It's easier to get things done when you have connections. Qin Yang only had to send the basic information of Wang Chao and the others to Zhou Kang. Within half an hour, their passports were delivered to the door, along with tickets for that night's flight.

That same night, Wang Chao and the others headed to Mangu, the place where Zhou Kang's cousin, Zhou Fei, had gone missing.

After ten o'clock at night, Wang Chao and the others arrived in Mangu, where they were picked up by people arranged by the Zhou Family and taken to their accommodation.

Upon arriving at their accommodation, Wang Chao and the others met the translator and the local guide arranged by the Zhou Family.

Next, the guide arranged by the Zhou Family gave Wang Chao a file, which the Zhou Family had obtained by bribing a staff member at the local police station.

The file showed that Zhou Fei had come to Mangu for tourism. She went missing outside a large bar in Mangu called GOGO, which was quite famous locally. It also included information on the local police's suspicions: the kidnappers were a group of veterans. From the surveillance footage outside the bar at the time, it could be seen that the kidnappers had a very clear division of labor and a very specific target. From getting out of the car to the kidnapping, the entire process took less than two minutes.

Unfortunately, the file only contained text information; there was no surveillance video. Otherwise, they could have obtained more information.

After reviewing the file, Wang Chao asked the guide, "Do people often go missing here in Mangu?"

The translator glanced at Wang Chao and then translated the question for the guide.

After hesitating for a few seconds, the guide replied, "It's alright, but I have encountered this situation a few times."

"And did the police announce the final results?" Wang Chao continued to ask.

"Well... when many of the kidnapped victims were found, they were already corpses..."

Wang Chao nodded silently upon hearing this. Immediately, his brain began to work at high speed, trying to find a clue within the available information.

At this moment, Zhang Long, who was on the side, suddenly said, "Which is the largest underworld force in the area?"

Wang Chao's eyes lit up upon hearing this. Zhang Long's breakthrough point was excellent. As the saying goes, cats have cat paths and dogs have dog paths. Generally, for a gang that frequently commits crimes in one place, it would be a lie to say that the local underworld forces don't know about them. Do not underestimate the intelligence-gathering capabilities of these underworld figures.

The guide answered this question quickly. The largest underworld force in the area was called the Wild Dog Gang. Coincidentally, the GOGO bar was also within the Wild Dog Gang's territory, and the bouncers there were members of the Wild Dog Gang.

Having received the answer, Wang Chao and Zhang Long exchanged a glance, both seeing a look of pleasant surprise in each other's eyes.

Immediately, Wang Chao said to the guide, "Take us to the bar where the incident occurred."

The guide had taken the money, so naturally, he was very obedient.

They immediately brought Wang Chao and the others to the GOGO bar. It was past eleven at night, which was the liveliest time for the bar. After Wang Chao and his group entered, the place was crowded. Various colored spotlights shone on people's faces, making the entire bar hall look like a dance of demons.

The group didn't stay in the main hall for long and quickly went up to the second floor, which had booth seating. As soon as they arrived, a promoter enthusiastically came up to greet them.

"Sawasdee krub, welcome to GOGO bar, gentlemen!"

The accompanying translator translated in real-time.

Wang Chao nodded at the promoter and said, "Open a booth for us and bring a minimum consumption package!"

Hearing this, the promoter's enthusiasm remained undiminished, and he quickly ushered Wang Chao and the others into a booth.

After sitting down, Wang Chao and the others began to observe their surroundings casually.

Then, while drinking, they began to synchronize information with each other.

"I just saw four people with tattoos go up to the third floor."

"There are six or seven people on the dance floor who look suspicious."

"I noticed that too. Among those people, three of them have been staring at the beauty in the center below."

After the information exchange was finished, Wang Chao began to assign tasks.

"Based on the information, those three shifty-looking people downstairs are highly suspicious. However, we cannot cut off the Wild Dog Gang lead. Next, we will split into two groups. One group will be led by me, and the other by Zhang Long. My group will be responsible for going to the third floor to scout for information. Zhang Long's group needs to capture those three people downstairs and find out if they are keeping watch or just being lecherous. Action will start in five minutes. Note: Guns are not prohibited in Mangu. Be careful during the operation. If necessary, you may kill the target. Also, collect as many weapons as possible."

"Understood!" the Second-level Death Soldiers responded in low voices.

Five minutes later, Wang Chao and Zhang Long began to lead their respective teams into action.

Wang Chao's group totaled five people; the guide and the translator were also brought along. At first, the two were reluctant, but after being put in headlocks by Wang Chao, they had no choice but to cooperate.

Wang Chao did this out of helplessness. First, there was a language barrier, making it impossible to communicate with the others. Second, the translator and the guide were locals; who knew if they would betray them for profit? When away from home, one must keep their vigilance at the highest level to avoid losing big due to small mistakes.