novelraw Chapter 135 : The Drug Lord
Chapter 135 : The Drug Lord
Peace Palace, Command Center.
Dozens of special team members were busy at their posts, cross-referencing data and monitoring screens.
No one displayed any behavior unrelated to work.
However, deep down, everyone was filled with curiosity.
It was understandable that the Empress would personally oversee this operation.
After all, Captain Shen, who was undercover at the entertainment center, was her personal guard.
What people found strange was how the Empress could skillfully operate the communication headset after hearing the team leader's explanation just once.
And what song had she switched to at the end that directly knocked out that woman in the private room?
Of course, they only pondered these things briefly before setting them aside.
The operation was still ongoing; they needed to focus!
Among all the observers in the room, only Xu Zhao could understand all the key points.
She found it somewhat amusing. Since that New Year's Eve when Shen the dog 'entered the inner circle', the Empress seemed to have become increasingly possessive in certain aspects.
In the past, she wouldn't have cared about such things at all.
But now, not only did she personally deal with that 'female fly', but she did it in such a devious way.
Xu Zhao had secretly observed earlier that the sequence number 324 the Empress switched to corresponded to the kind of songs played on those coin-operated rocking horses often seen at pharmacy entrances.
While somewhat educational for children, using it in a nightclub setting was quite surreal.
At this point, the special team leader began discussing with Gu Junwan.
"It's truly unexpected that the Zhou K Group would employ such tactics. I also felt something was off earlier. How could such an unremarkable party gather so many wanted criminals together?"
He then added with some concern: "Your Majesty, could it be that they've discovered Captain Shen's identity?"
Gu Junwan's gaze didn't leave the monitoring screen: "They certainly have suspicions about Shen Han's identity, but the fish they want to catch tonight is someone else."
"Zhou Nuoman went to great lengths to get her family's approval to interfere with Jinxi Entertainment City's affairs. Her goal should be to uncover the underground illegal business networks of her opposition in this place. As for how she'll use this information, I can't say for certain yet."
"So, if Zhou Nuoman learns of tonight's party guest list, she'll definitely ask her father for ample bodyguards and come herself."
"Once friction occurs in the private room, if any accidents happen, the situation will become uncontrollable."
Having said this, Gu Junwan didn't need to elaborate further on subsequent arrangements.
The special team leader immediately began issuing orders to prevent Zhou Nuoman from rushing to the entertainment center upon hearing the news.
Even if she was already en route, they had to find ways to prevent her from reaching her destination.
Although Shen Han's original task of planting listening devices had been canceled, the information she was transmitting back from the private room remained crucial for the special team's intelligence gathering and storage.
The other faction of the Zhou K Group was involved in illegal and drug-related activities with extensive connections.
The special team's information database lacked key data on many details, requiring targeted supplementation.
Gu Junwan didn't leave the command center. She and Xu Zhao found a place to sit and continued monitoring the situation at the entertainment center along with the many special team members.
In the private room, Shen Han found a spot that allowed her to observe the entire scene without drawing much attention and sat down.
Obviously, it wasn't appropriate to keep wearing headphones here, so she took them off and hung them around her neck.
Many party attendees knew she was Zhou Nuoman's 'connection', so they largely ignored her.
The few who came to greet her were just trying to fish for information.
Time slowly passed.
As Shen Han was chatting idly with those around her, her eyes suddenly flickered. She spotted two familiar figures entering the room.
They were the two thugs she had dealt with when rescuing Zhou Nuoman.
She never expected to encounter them here again today.
The two thugs also noticed Shen Han shortly after entering and were stunned on the spot.
"Little Ma, doesn't that Alpha wearing glasses and a leather jacket look familiar?"
Hearing this, Little Ma immediately gritted his teeth and said: "It's that temp worker! I knew something was fishy about that night. So they knew each other all along! They played us for fools!"
Da Wei glanced at the other's arm that had just had its cast removed and said quietly: "I heard Zhou Nuoman brought someone in. It must be her. A few days ago, she beat up a manager who's still in the hospital."
"Maybe we should stay away from her. We know she works here now. We can bring our brothers to deal with her another day."
At first, Little Ma didn't respond, but when he spotted the drug lord sitting in another corner, his eyes suddenly lit up.
"I can deal with her today!"
Throwing out these words, Little Ma strode towards the corner.
Da Wei wanted to say more, but seeing the other had already walked several meters away, he could only fall silent and follow.
In a corner of the private room.
Drug lord Yan Bo sat on the soft sofa cushions smoking with a gloomy face.
On his left and right sat heavily made-up women. Knowing their boss wasn't in high spirits tonight, they quietly drank their drinks, not daring to make any noise.
It could be said that Yan Bo's corner was the place with the strangest atmosphere in the entire venue.
Even the two drug dealer subordinates he brought had quietly slipped away to other areas, not daring to approach their boss and risk his bad mood.
Yan Bo was holding back a ball of fury with nowhere to vent.
Since the Empress reunified the Federation's regime, all the business he handled had been severely impacted.
The drug trafficking route he had just established with foreign countries two years ago was on the verge of being abandoned.
To make matters worse, in this situation, he was still required to attend this damned party. How could he not be furious?
The order came directly from Vice Chairman Zhou Boxin, and the purpose was merely to set a trap for some Zhou family girl!
Yan Bo inwardly sneered: If they thought she was a threat, why not just have her killed? Why make things so complicated, being afraid of this and that? Might as well just give up power and admit defeat!
As he was feeling irritated, a fawning voice suddenly piped up from the side.
"Boss Yan, do you remember me? I'm Little Ma, I work for Brother Qiang."
"I paid my respects at your territory last year. I really admire you!"
Yan Bo blew out a puff of smoke, glanced at him, and actually had some impression.
He nodded, then said very concisely: "Drink."
After drinking together for a while, Little Ma saw the atmosphere was about right and began to stir things up.
"Boss Yan, look over there, the one taking off her leather jacket."
"You asked earlier how my hand got broken before? It was her who did it."
Yan Bo raised his eyelids and swept his gaze over Shen Han: "She has that ability?"
Then he sneered at Little Ma: "You're unexpectedly weak."
Little Ma sighed and said: "Boss Yan, you don't know. I was short on cash before and had some goods on me. I planned to sell them and have a good time for a few days. Unexpectedly, I took on a job, and before I could move the goods, she intercepted them!"
"Later during the fight, she scattered the goods I was carrying and broke my hand. Now the brothers who know about it all laugh at me, saying I'm like a little ghost meeting the King of Hell, deserving my bad luck."
Most of what Little Ma said was false.
But he knew this big brother before him wouldn't bother to verify the truth.
And, if things went as expected, this big brother was probably already feeling very uncomfortable.
As Little Ma had anticipated, Yan Bo wasn't just feeling uncomfortable; he had already waved over his two subordinates.
He hated 'intercepting goods' the most.
Of course, he could intercept others' goods, but if someone touched his things, he would have them killed.
Originally, what Little Ma said had nothing to do with him, but the timing was just right, giving him a reason to vent his anger.
Another reason he wanted to teach Shen Han a lesson was because of Little Ma's final complaint about being 'a little ghost meeting the King of Hell'.
Because of his recent constraints, people in the underworld had been using similar words to mock him.
For a drug lord like Yan Bo, who had already lost his humanity, he didn't need to consider much before deciding to harm someone.
The two subordinates he brought were drug dealers. Hearing their boss wanted to deal with someone, they both became very eager.
The two grabbed beer bottles and walked towards Shen Han.
The private room was crowded with people coming and going, smoky and noisy.
Shen Han couldn't possibly keep an eye on every corner, so she didn't notice two people pushing their way towards her.
She had just taken off her jacket and was thinking of finding a place to put it when she suddenly heard someone curse beside her.
The next second, a gray shadow swung towards her head.
Shen Han's entire body instantly tensed.
As she raised her arm to block, she also kicked out at the attacker's knee.
"Bang!"
The sound of the bottle shattering against her arm and the man's painful cry rang out simultaneously, breaking the original festive atmosphere in the private room.
"You're fucking asking for death!"
Seeing his brother fall to the ground howling, the other man immediately swung his bottle at Shen Han.
The previous hit had caught Shen Han completely unprepared.
Now that the second person was trying to attack, he naturally had no room to maneuver.
Shen Han had already stood up from the sofa, dodging the attacker's strike with a sidestep.
Then, twisting her waist to generate power, she kicked the attacker so hard he flew backwards spitting blood, crashing into a group of men and women who were drinking, before finally falling to the ground.
Shen Han shook her head, dislodging the large pieces of glass stuck to her temple.
She wiped away the blood splattered on the inside of her glasses before coldly turning her gaze towards the corner of the private room.
Peace Palace, Command Center.
Gu Junwan's heart was in her throat as she stared at the monitoring screen, her golden phoenix eyes unblinking.
Because the transmitted footage was from Shen Han's perspective, she didn't know the other's current condition.
But she knew clearly that Shen Han had been injured by that earlier bottle strike.
The blood on the lens had splattered there when the glass bottle shattered.
When she saw Shen Han's gaze fix on the drug lord, Gu Junwan immediately said to the special team leader: "Have the tactical squad lurking on 546th Street arm themselves and rush to the vicinity of Jinxi Entertainment City!"
The leader issued orders while asking: "Your Majesty, should we storm in immediately?"
Gu Junwan saw that Shen Han's gaze hadn't once looked towards the doors or windows, knowing she didn't intend to leave.
Steadying herself, she continued: "Wait for now. Have the soldiers conceal themselves at tactical positions, ready to act at any moment."