Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 811: The Maze

Faint sounds of painful moans could be heard.

Caroline slowly opened her eyes and found herself sitting on the ground in a dimly lit, stuffy environment that resembled a workshop—a makeshift factory converted from a residential house.

Around her were several beakers, test tubes, and alcohol lamps, and a foul smell assaulted her senses, a mix of hospital disinfectant and gasoline.

Suddenly, Caroline became fully alert. She clearly saw that her ankles were bound with plastic straps, and her hands were also restrained—her wrists were tied behind her back.

Caroline struggled rapidly, but soon stopped because her gaze fell upon something terrifying.

Without a doubt, she saw Arnold—he was being suspended in the air.

His toes barely grazed the ground. He hung his head, his hair disheveled, drenched in sweat, with multiple clear bruises visible on his arms.

Next to Arnold stood two men in flashy shirts, each holding a long iron pipe.

Caroline’s breathing quickened; she realized that before she had woken up, Arnold had probably endured a long period of severe beating; otherwise, he wouldn’t look so weak and helpless.

“I… I really… don’t know… I… I’m not Hailey…”Caroline could only vaguely hear Arnold’s voice, weak like someone trapped under a collapsed building for days.

One of the men grabbed Arnold by the hair and sneered, “Twins? You’re the younger brother? What a joke! When you took the money from us before, why didn’t you mention you had a brother so we could send him a share too? You thought you could fool us with a fake ID? Hailey, are you an idiot? If you want to impersonate someone else, at least get a makeover, okay? I’ve known you were a dumbass for a long time, but I never thought you’d be this stupid!”

As he spoke, the man spat on Arnold and then suddenly slammed his elbow into Arnold’s chest. Caroline clearly saw Arnold spit out a mouthful of blood from the impact.

Arnold became completely still, his head hanging down, and it was unclear whether he had lost consciousness.

“Boss Boston, the woman has woken up.”

Everyone turned their gaze toward Caroline, who instinctively shrank back. The man who appeared to be the boss, Boston, approached her holding a small knife.

He squatted in front of Caroline, gently tapping the knife against her cheek, which made her feel even worse.

But she didn’t dare to speak, fearing she would provoke these vicious guys.

Boston sniffed slightly.

Caroline understood what this gesture meant—Boston might be a drug addict.

Considering the tools and equipment in this place, Caroline, who had lived in chaotic environments, began to suspect that this was likely a small-scale drug production lab.

“What is your relationship with him?” the boss suddenly asked.

“I… I don’t have any relationship with him; I’ve known him for less than three days,” Caroline replied nervously.

Boston nodded, and suddenly pulled back his arm holding the knife. Caroline instinctively let out a sigh of relief, but unexpectedly, Boston lunged forward with the knife!

The tip of the blade brushed right past Caroline’s cheek and lodged into the wall behind her, startling her into wide-eyed silence, frozen in place from fear.

“I'll ask you one more time: what is your relationship with Hailey, and where is the stuff hidden?” Boston glared at her.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! I really don’t have any relationship with him…” Fear compelled Caroline to reveal everything, recounting the events as clearly as she could.

Boston frowned as he listened, eventually sneering, “You two should really consider writing scripts; it’s a waste not to. But to still be so stubborn with death at your doorstep? I have to say, I admire your guts.”

“I’m telling the truth! If you don’t believe me, you can check or ask around, and you’ll see!” Caroline insisted hastily.

Boston grabbed Caroline by the hair, pulling it painfully enough to make her frown in agony. He seemed to be in a frenzied state, his gaze growing more vicious.

He pressed the knife against Caroline's neck, the sharp blade cutting into her skin. Caroline’s breathing became rapid.

“Listen, I don’t have time to play games with you!” Boston sneered, “You have two options! Either spit out everything about my goods, or I’ll chop you up and feed you to the dogs!”

“I really don’t know… I really don’t know Hailey… I don’t know anything!” Caroline cried out in terror.

Why was she encountering so many troubles?

Ever since that night when she followed Livia to Neymar’s villa, her life had spiraled into chaos—having escaped danger once, why was it coming back again?

“Don’t know… don’t know?!” Boston yelled angrily, grabbing Caroline's arm and dragging her across the floor. “I’ll make you know how you die!”

He tossed her aside and coldly commanded, “Chop her up! This woman knows about our stuff, and she’s useless to keep alive! I don’t believe Hailey will stay stubborn till the end! Hmph! If you dare to swallow my goods, I’ll make sure you have your life to take them but no life to spend them!”

The two men picked up machetes and approached Caroline.

Terrified, Caroline curled up, her mind in chaos. She just wanted to survive. Facing the two fierce men with their knives, she pleaded, “Don’t kill me… I’m not lying! I didn’t even know Hailey before this! I was even implicated in a murder case because of him, and the police want to arrest me! You can ask around…”

The two men dragged Caroline toward the door, ignoring her cries.

Caroline screamed desperately, “Don’t kill me… don’t kill… I can give you money! I can give you money!”

The men had already dragged Caroline to the doorway and showed no sign of stopping.

But Caroline still refused to give up: “You’re just after money! Killing me won’t get you anything, and you’ll have a murder on your hands! If you don’t kill me, I can still give you money… do you really want to leave empty-handed?”

“Wait.” Boston suddenly called out, walking back to Caroline, looking down at her with a cold smile. “How much can you pay to buy your own life?”

Caroline thought about the large sum on her bank card, but that money had already vanished. She opened her mouth, “Three… three hundred thousand.”

“Three hundred thousand? That’s a lot?” The boss scoffed, waving his hand dismissively.

“Wait! Hold on! Five hundred thousand… five hundred thousand!! Eight hundred… one million! One million!” Caroline nearly shouted to her limit!

Her savings, the value of her slum house, along with various high-interest loans… perhaps one million was possible, but that was the absolute maximum she could muster!

“Two million, and you can buy your life,” the boss immediately doubled the price. “Consider it interest for the stuff you stole from me; I can let you go for now!”

“Two million… that’s impossible!” Caroline protested.

“Miss, are you trying to bargain with me at this time?” the boss suddenly chuckled.

“I…” Caroline ultimately gave up on haggling; she just wanted to extricate herself from this danger as quickly as possible. “But, but I need some time.”

Boston warned her, “You better not try any tricks.”

As he spoke, he waved his hand. “You two, go with her to get the money. Come back as soon as you have it.”

“Get up, girl. If you want to live, be quick about it and don’t keep us waiting too long.” The man with the machete directly pulled Caroline up.

“Wait… what do you plan to do with him?” Caroline nervously glanced at Arnold.

She saw Arnold struggling to lift his head, looking at her with pleading eyes.

His lips moved slightly… as if to say: Save him.

Caroline quickly averted her gaze, unable to meet Arnold's eyes, reminding herself that Arnold had nothing to do with her.

He has nothing to do with me, nothing at all.

No… relationship.

Boston coldly provided the answer: “I don’t care if he’s Hailey or Hailey’s brother; Hailey swallowed my goods, and I don’t believe in this twin nonsense! As long as he doesn’t give me my stuff back, he can’t leave! Of course, if you want to redeem him, you can pay up! My goods are worth at least eight hundred thousand!”

“I… I don’t have that much,” Caroline finally lowered her head, glancing furtively at Arnold.

Arnold had already bowed his head, his face ashen.

…

Caroline didn’t know how she managed to leave that place. When she got outside, someone had covered her eyes with a black cloth… When the cloth was removed, she found herself on the street.

But now, there were two men with her, one on each side, pinning her in the middle. One of the men even had handcuffs locking her directly to him. Their arms were cuffed together, hidden under a piece of clothing—it looked like a couple.

Caroline knew she couldn’t escape.

In fact, if she screamed on the street, the other man could eliminate her in an instant…

Soon after, under the two men’s coercion, Caroline was taken back to the slum where she lived.

Caroline once took these two men on different routes back to her home—the staircase where the grocery store was located.

However, she didn’t see that magical shop; only the old lady from the original grocery store waved at her, acknowledging her presence.

They made their way back to Caroline's home.

One of the men was surveying Caroline's house when he suddenly whistled, saying, “So you're a whore… No wonder you can afford to buy your life. Looks like you’ve made quite a bit of money.”

As he spoke, he approached Caroline and pinched her cheek, “We still have some time, how about you help me out a bit?”

Caroline… of course, wouldn’t be afraid of letting this man have his way with her. Or rather, if a quick fix could solve the problem, it wouldn’t be a problem at all!

If one fix wouldn’t do the trick, then two would!

The key point was—that wasn’t something that could be resolved with just a few fixes!

“Stop wasting time! Hurry up and get the money!” the other man shook his head, but he didn’t unlock Caroline’s handcuffs. “Alright, where’s the money?”

Caroline had no choice but to lead the two men into her room, then removed a painting from the wall. Behind it, she had carved out a hidden compartment.

She retrieved a bag from the hidden compartment and opened it. Looking inside at the various old and new bills, she gritted her teeth and tremblingly handed it over.

“How much is here?”

“Three hundred eighty-seven thousand three hundred…” Caroline timidly recited the exact amount.

“Three hundred eighty thousand?” The man sneered. “Are you planning to pay in installments?”

“I… I can sell this house! I… I can borrow money! I know quite a few lenders… I can… just give me a little more time, please, give me some time…” Caroline pleaded.

The man suddenly walked outside to make a phone call, and soon returned, saying casually, “The boss said to take the money and kill this woman; three hundred eighty thousand will be considered a hardship fee.”

“Understood.”

“Wait! I can get more money! I really can! Just give me some time!”

Caroline exclaimed in terror, “If you kill me now, there will only be three hundred eighty thousand… but give me some time, I can come up with a sufficient amount! Really! Believe me! I don’t want to die, so I will find a way, right?”

The man made another phone call and quickly got a response.

“Alright, I’ll give you one more chance. But it can only be under our watch.”

Caroline nodded, then swallowed hard, taking her phone from the man’s hand.

After unlocking it, she took out a card and had the man dial the number on the card until the call connected, then handed it back to her.

“Hello… is this Lawyer Carol? It’s me, Caroline…”

Caroline nervously glanced at the two men in front of her, then lowered her voice, continuing on the phone, “About the house of Nia… I, I promised you. But I hope to sell it quickly! And I want, I want two million!”

Not long after, Caroline ended the call.

“How did it go?” the man asked coldly.

Caroline nervously replied, “He said it’s fine… but we need to meet and discuss it.”

“What are we waiting for?” The two men shrugged, then took Caroline out the door, laughing, “Miss, from now on, we are your agents.”

Caroline had no choice but to let them take charge.

As they went downstairs, the three unexpectedly saw two police officers approaching. The two men quickly hid with Caroline, watching as the officers went straight upstairs.

“It seems you really have gotten yourself into trouble,” one of them said, frowning at Caroline.

Caroline bitterly responded, “I didn’t kill anyone.”

“How could you not?” The other man had a wicked smile, pinching Caroline’s face and saying, “You’ve probably killed more people than the population of Earth!”

It was a joke.

But Caroline couldn’t laugh at all.

…

…

The train arrived at the station.

Song Haoran was the first to step off the train, turning around with his arms open and smiling at Luo Qiu, “Welcome to São Paulo.”

“Is the welcome just for now, and then we leave in a few hours?” Luo Qiu casually replied—according to the itinerary, they were about to head to the airport and wouldn’t be staying long.

“That’s why I say you really have no sense of humor,” Song Haoran shook his head. “Later, O'Neil and the others will take you around for a few hours before heading to the airport, and we’ll meet up there.”

Luo Qiu curiously asked, “Do you have something else to do?”

Song Haoran gave a mysterious smile and turned to walk into the crowd, “Don’t think about me too much.”

He left in a carefree manner.

“Mr. Luo, the car is ready,” Lluvia came from the back of the carriage and approached Luo Qiu, speaking softly.

O'Neil was a bit further back, looking around; although he seemed carefree, he was observing the surroundings.

Not far away, a woman with her head down, wearing a hat to conceal her face, quickly left O'Neil’s side—if seen from the front, one would recognize her as the flight attendant, Gan Hong, who had been there not long ago.

Boss Luo pretended not to see her and nodded to Lluvia, “You can arrange the route, and I’ll leave the rest to you, Miss Lluvia.”

“Please follow me.” Lluvia said no more and walked ahead, while O'Neil followed from behind.

The two men positioned themselves one in front and one behind, effectively guarding Luo Qiu, giving off a bit of a bodyguard vibe.

Suddenly, the crowd began to stir. On the left side, a group of recently disembarked passengers ran in panic, and the crowd surged towards Luo Qiu and the two men.

Lluvia and O'Neil reacted quickly; one stepped back while the other moved forward, protecting Luo Qiu, their expressions growing tense.

“What’s happening?” Luo Qiu asked.

Lluvia shook her head, saying, “I don’t know, but don’t worry, it shouldn’t be directed at us. It might just be a sudden situation over there.”

The crowd soon thinned out, clearing many spaces, allowing Boss Luo, Lluvia, and O'Neil to see what had caused the commotion.

Not far away, about twenty meters off, a man was holding onto another man, biting into his neck.

Blood splattered from the bitten man’s neck.

The bitten man suddenly pushed the other away and collapsed onto the ground in terror.

As for the biter, he began to tremble oddly, even letting out a shriek. His body suddenly stiffened, and his facial expression turned grotesque.

In a flash, he charged at the train’s door, bouncing off it and falling to the ground. But as if unscathed, he quickly got back up, looking even more frantic, and charged at the door again.

His mouth was full of blood, his eyes rolled back, his movements stiff… he was screaming.

He looked like a zombie.

At this moment, Lluvia furrowed her brow, as if she understood what was happening, and quickly said, “Tsk, another one who’s taken ‘zombie bath salts’!”

“‘Zombie bath salts’?” Boss Luo was taken a back.

O'Neil shrugged and replied, “It’s a new type of central nervous system stimulant that has just emerged. People who take it become extremely agitated, and their actions resemble those of zombies in movies… see, that man over there looks just like that.”

“We need to get on the train.” Lluvia grabbed Luo Qiu’s arm. “The cops will be here soon to handle this; let’s go.”