244: Chapter 244 The Mad Kidnapping Plan

Longwan No. 1 Villa, the secret room beneath the study.

The entire LCD screen on the wall glowed with a cold light. Chen Fan leaned back in his executive chair, watching the surveillance footage in the center.

It was the ecological park on the outskirts of the villa. Early winter sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting mottled shadows on the pebble-paved boulevard.

"Have you found out?" Chen Fan spoke, his voice very soft.

Chen Haoyu stood behind and to the side of the chair, holding an encrypted terminal.

"A bounty post appeared on the Dark Web last night. Thirty million US dollars for the young master's life," Chen Haoyu said. "The job was taken by three overseas mercenaries. Their smuggling route has been identified. They are in the park right now."

Chen Fan picked up the white porcelain teacup on the desk and took a sip of warm water.

On the surveillance screen, a young woman in a floral nanny uniform was pushing a custom stroller, leisurely strolling along the boulevard.

In the stroller, one-year-old Chen Xingchen bit on a silicone pacifier, happily clutching a plastic toy with both hands.

"Xiao Ye's capital chain is broken; he has lost completely in both assassinations and the business war," Chen Haoyu stared at the screen. "Now that he's cornered, he's planning to take the Chen family down with him. Should the Shadow Guard close the net early?"

"No rush." Chen Fan set down his teacup and tapped his fingers twice on the desk. "Since they spent thirty million dollars on these actors, we should at least give them a chance to perform. Little Xingchen should see the world a bit, too."

Chen Haoyu said no more. He knew that the woman pushing the stroller was Li Meng, the top female combat instructor in the Shadow Guard.

The scene on the screen cut to the other end of the boulevard.

A mud-splattered yellow municipal sprinkler truck rounded the corner. It moved slowly, its high-pressure water cannons spraying white mist to both sides.

The water hit the leaves and the road with a splashing sound.

The vehicle happened to block the two-way lane at the entrance of the boulevard, creating a massive blind spot in the narrow section.

"A cloned plate. The license number belongs to a muck truck that was scrapped last month," Chen Haoyu glanced at the comparison data on the terminal.

The mist from the high-pressure water cannons grew thicker. The air filled with vapor, covering the lenses of several main surveillance cameras along the road with a layer of white water droplets.

Chen Fan watched the blurred images on the screen.

The sprinkler truck stopped at the roadside. The driver leaned over the steering wheel, pretending to rest.

Just as the mist was thickest, there was movement in the holly bushes of the green belt.

Three men in old gray jackets emerged. They wore peaked caps and medical surgical masks, revealing only eyes shot through with red veins.

They wore soft-soled tactical boots, making no sound as they stepped on the fallen leaves.

The three men fanned out in a triangular formation, using the mist from the sprinkler truck as cover to rapidly approach the stroller.

Fifty meters away.

Thirty meters.

Inside the stroller, Chen Xingchen sensed something. He spat out the silicone pacifier and reached out his small hand to grab the sunshade above him.

Li Meng, disguised as a nanny, kept her head down. Her hands rested on the stroller's handle, her pace remaining steady.

The lead man in the jacket made a gesture.

The man on the left flanked to the side, preparing to cut off Li Meng's retreat. The man on the right reached into his pocket and pulled out a roll of black tape and a towel soaked in anesthetic.

They were only ten meters from the stroller.

The leader reached inside his jacket and pulled out a black handgun. A thick silencer was attached to the front of the barrel.

The muzzle rose, pointing directly at the back of Li Meng's head.

In the secret room, Chen Haoyu instinctively pressed his hand against the pistol holster at his waist.

"Boss..."

"Watch." Chen Fan leaned back against the chair.

On the boulevard, the lead man quickened his pace, his finger resting on the trigger.

Li Meng, who had been pushing the stroller with her head down, came to a halt.

She didn't look back.

The second the opponent's gun was aimed at her, Li Meng stepped back half a pace with her right leg, her toe tapping the edge of a nearby bluestone slab.

Power surged from her waist, her body becoming like a fully drawn bow.

She leaped into the air, her long leg swinging in a fierce semi-circle.

Her heel slammed squarely into the lead man's chin.

The dull thud of bone fracturing echoed.

The man didn't even grunt as his body flew backward, slamming hard against the metal water tank of the sprinkler truck. The handgun flew from his hand, landing in the nearby bushes.

The other two men in jackets were completely stunned.

In their eyes, this was supposed to be a defenseless domestic worker.

The man on the right dropped his towel and reached for the triangular bayonet at his waist.

Li Meng's feet hit the ground, and she reached into a hidden compartment at the bottom of the stroller, pulling out a black tactical folding knife.

She stepped forward, closing the distance to the man on the right.

Her hand rose and fell. The folding blade slashed across the man's wrist tendons. Before the blood could even spray, Li Meng's left elbow slammed solidly into his sternum.

The man collapsed to his knees.

The man in the jacket on the left turned to run.

The folding blade flew from Li Meng's hand, piercing precisely into his calf. The man screamed and fell onto the water-logged road.

From the moment Li Meng kicked out to all three men being down, less than five seconds had passed.

The mist was still spraying.

Li Meng walked over, pulled the knife from the man's leg, wiped the blood on his clothes, and tucked it back into her waistband.

She straightened her skirt and walked back to the stroller.

She leaned over to check on the situation inside the stroller.

In the secret room, Chen Haoyu zoomed in on the surveillance footage.

Inside the stroller, Little Xingchen sat on the cushion, clapping his small hands together and giggling as he looked at the men sprawled on the ground.

"When he grabbed that old vest during the first birthday ritual, I knew this kid took after you—a tough character who never backs down," Chen Haoyu said, watching the screen.

Chen Fan stood up and walked to the large surveillance screen.

"Bring them back," Chen Fan ordered.

In the footage, seven or eight Shadow Guard members in plain clothes emerged from all directions. With practiced movements, they bound the three outlaws with zip ties, hooded them in black, and shoved them into an approaching black van.

The driver who had been faking sleep in the sprinkler truck just pushed open his door to flee when he was pinned to the ground by two members, knocked unconscious, and dragged away.

The surveillance screen returned to calm. Only the sprinkler truck remained, still spraying mist.

Twenty minutes later.

Chen Haoyu answered a call from a short-code number.

"Boss, everyone has been taken to the underground interrogation room at Longwan No. 1," Chen Haoyu reported after hanging up. "The three outlaws are tough. They are all veterans who have undergone interrogation resistance training. They refuse to say anything."

Chen Fan picked up a dark coat from the rack and put it on.

"Has Xiao Ye's movement been clarified?" Chen Fan asked.

"Still checking. He cut off all electronic communication networks; now both the man and his car have vanished," Chen Haoyu said. "He probably knows the operation failed and is preparing to flee."

Chen Fan walked out along the stairs.

"Undergone interrogation resistance training?" Chen Fan walked ahead. "That's because they think they're hiding abroad and have no weaknesses."

Chen Haoyu followed and asked for instructions, "Do you need me to bring in people to use methods?"

"Too much of a waste of time." Chen Fan stopped in front of the iron door in the underground corridor.

He turned his head and looked at Chen Haoyu.

"Go get a tablet connected to the European overseas intelligence network." Chen Fan pushed open the heavy door of the interrogation room. "Since Xiao Ye dared to move against the Chen family, I will personally pry open their mouths and ensure he doesn't even have the right to leave this land."