207: Chapter 207 Hidden Worms

The courtyard study.

Chen Fan leaned back in his Huanghuali wood chair. A blue light screen unfurled before his eyes.

The system's [Fund Tracing] program was running at full capacity.

Streams of data flashed across the screen like a waterfall.

Pangu Biotechnology's internal accounts were being thoroughly dismantled.

There were as many as one hundred and twenty-seven multinational shell companies. They were all registered in Caribbean tax havens, the Cayman Islands, and remote Swiss towns.

The massive amount of funds had been sliced into thousands of portions. Not a single transaction amount had triggered the risk control alarm thresholds.

The funds repeatedly jumped through layers of accounts, nested one within another, before finally being funneled into overseas trust funds.

The money laundering techniques were extremely professional, perfectly bypassing all of Pangu Biotechnology's financial audit nodes. Even Vice President Zhou Ming hadn't found a single trace.

The progress bar reached its end, and a red light flashed.

The final operator's IP address popped up in the center of the light screen, accompanied by usage records for the Huihuang Group's internal high-level authorization keys.

Operator Name: Li Weidong.

Position: CFO of Huihuang Group.

Chen Fan stared at the name on the screen.

Li Weidong. Everyone in the group called him Old Li.

Images from two years ago flashed through Chen Fan's mind. Back then, he was still a delivery man at the bottom of society, so poor he couldn't even afford to eat. Old Li was a dispatcher at the logistics station then. Knowing Chen Fan didn't have money for rent, he had insisted on taking out his own salary to lend to Chen Fan for his emergency.

Later, when Huihuang Group was established, Chen Fan did not forget the brother who had been with him through hard times.

Old Li had fought alongside him all the way, rising from a branch office financial supervisor to the person in charge of the billion-dollar empire's purse strings.

Chen Fan had given him company shares, a luxury mansion, and expensive cars. He considered the debt of gratitude from those years repaid and had always treated him as a most trusted veteran.

Now, the person stabbing him in the back was this very same Old Li.

Chen Fan placed both hands on the desk. His fingers tightened.

"Crack."

A long crack split the solid Huanghuali wood desktop. Wood splinters pierced his skin, and beads of blood seeped out from his knuckles.

His heart grew cold. The taste of betrayal was more painful than a knife cut.

The system screen flickered.

A prompt appeared, asking whether to call the police for an arrest.

Chen Fan clicked refuse.

Old Li was proficient in basic finance, but he didn't have the sophisticated hacking skills required for multinational money laundering.

Old Li couldn't have created a financial labyrinth of one hundred and twenty-seven shell companies on his own.

There was a master behind him. Someone was using Old Li as a pawn.

Chen Fan wanted to pull them out by the roots. Catching Old Li wouldn't solve the fundamental problem.

The study door pushed open.

Su Wanqing walked in carrying some calming tea. She was wearing silk pajamas, and her hair was draped casually over her shoulders.

She walked to the desk and saw the cracked surface and the blood on Chen Fan's hand. She didn't cry out in alarm.

Su Wanqing set the teacup down and opened a nearby drawer. She took out a handkerchief, wrapped it around Chen Fan's bleeding finger, and tied a firm knot after two turns. Her movements were very gentle.

She pulled over a chair and sat beside him.

"Have you run into a difficult matter?" Su Wanqing asked.

"There's a thief in the family," Chen Fan replied.

"Money can be earned back if it's lost." Su Wanqing looked into Chen Fan's eyes. "As long as you're okay."

"What was laundered away was Pangu Biology's core reserve funds." Chen Fan picked up the teacup.

"Root them out and make them spit it all back out." Su Wanqing's tone was steady.

"It's someone I know." Chen Fan finished the tea.

Su Wanqing didn't press further. She stood up to tidy the tea set.

"Go take care of your business. The Shadow Guard is protecting the house; nothing will happen," Su Wanqing said softly.

Chen Fan nodded and stood up to walk out of the study.

He took out his encrypted phone and dialed Chen Haoyu's number.

"Find out where Li Weidong is," Chen Fan commanded.

Thirty seconds later, Chen Haoyu replied.

"Li Weidong left the company ten minutes ago. He didn't go home. He drove to Area B of the Jianguo Road underground garage," Chen Haoyu said quickly.

"Prepare the car. Bring the Shadow Squad there." Chen Fan hung up the phone.

Late at night, Jianguo Road underground garage.

The concrete floor was damp, the air smelled of engine oil, and the exhaust fan overhead made a dull noise.

The lighting was dim, with several fluorescent tubes flickering intermittently.

Three bulletproof Range Rovers glided silently into Area C and stopped in a dark corner. Their engines were cut.

The captain of the Shadow Guard, wearing night vision goggles, led his team out of the cars and vanished behind the load-bearing pillars. They quickly set up miniature cameras and listening devices.

Chen Haoyu sat in the passenger seat and handed a tablet to Chen Fan in the back.

The screen displayed infrared surveillance footage from fifty meters ahead.

Li Weidong was standing behind a concrete pillar wearing a gray trench coat. His hands were constantly rubbing together, and he looked down at his watch from time to time.

He was waiting for someone.

Ten minutes passed.

A black car without license plates drove into the garage. It moved very slowly.

The car circled the pillars twice before stopping in front of Li Weidong.

The rear window rolled down halfway.

A man wearing sunglasses sat inside the car, dressed in a turtleneck sweater.

Clear voices came through the listening device.

"Manager Li, is the matter settled?" the man in sunglasses asked, his voice raspy.

"The funds have been laundered out in batches. They've all entered the overseas accounts you specified." Li Weidong's voice was trembling. "You promised to clear my eight billion gambling debt in Macau!"

"Eight billion is not a small sum. The organization needs to see your sincerity," the man in sunglasses sneered.

"Sincerity? I've betrayed Chen Fan! If he finds out, he'll have my life!" Li Weidong growled in a low voice.

"If he doesn't die, you'll lose your life sooner or later." The man in sunglasses handed over a small glass vial containing a transparent liquid.

"What is this?" Li Weidong didn't take it.

"Good stuff. Colorless and odorless. Add it to the Chen triplets' milk powder tomorrow. Once the children drink it, your debt will be cleared. We'll also transfer another two hundred million USD to you so you can flee. The plane tickets and passports are already prepared." The man in sunglasses tossed the bottle into Li Weidong's arms.

Li Weidong caught it with both hands, which were shaking so hard he could barely hold the bottle.

"Kill... killing?" Li Weidong took two steps back, his back slamming heavily against the concrete pillar.

"Don't worry, they won't die. It will only cause severe diarrhea and brain damage in the infants, turning them into idiots later on." The man in sunglasses closed the window. "Only when Chen Fan's attention is entirely on his children will Pangu Biology fall into complete chaos."

"I won't do it!" Li Weidong wanted to throw the vial back into the car.

The window had already rolled up completely.

"Have it done before noon tomorrow. Otherwise, your wife and child, who are held as collateral in Macau, can only be used for land reclamation. The choice is yours," the man in sunglasses dropped the final ultimatum through the glass.

The black car started up, its tires screeching against the ground as it quickly drove out of the garage.

Li Weidong slid down the concrete pillar and sat on the ground, his hands covering his face tightly. Suppressed sobbing echoed through the empty garage.

Inside the Range Rover, the temperature dropped to the freezing point.

Chen Haoyu pulled out a tactical knife from his waist and turned to look at Chen Fan, the murderous intent in his eyes impossible to hide.

As long as Chen Fan nodded, the Shadow Guard could pin Li Weidong to the ground within ten seconds.

"Boss, should we take him back for interrogation?" Chen Haoyu asked. "He won't even spare newborn babies; this old beast has gone mad."

Chen Fan watched Li Weidong slumped on the ground on the screen, his fingers tapping against the car window glass.

He was waiting for Li Weidong to make his final choice.

If Li Weidong smashed the vial, Chen Fan would leave his body intact.

On the surveillance screen:

Li Weidong cried for five minutes, then stood up and brushed the dust off his trench coat.

He stuffed the glass vial into an inner pocket, pulled his coat tight, and walked toward his car parked not far away.

Li Weidong had made his choice. To save his wife and child in Macau, he was going to trade the lives of the three Chen family infants.

Chen Haoyu gripped the handle of his knife. "Boss, he really dares to do it. I'll go cripple him."

Chen Fan raised his hand, stopping Chen Haoyu's movement.

"Let him go back," Chen Fan said.

"Boss! The children are at home!" Chen Haoyu grew anxious.

"If we don't let him act, how can we pull out the root behind him?" Chen Fan watched as Li Weidong's car drove away.

Chen Fan leaned against the seat back.

"Instruct Shadow One, who is in charge of security," Chen Fan's voice was steady, without any fluctuations. "Tonight, the kitchen door at Longwan No. 1 does not need to be locked."