Chapter 49: The Conference Is About to Begin, Where Is the Protagonist

  "What do you mean?" Bai Liangfeng’s heart skipped a beat, half in disbelief. The news felt like someone suddenly calling to tell you that you’d won the grand prize — who knew if it was a scam.

  "Heh, maybe you don’t know yet. This evening, your Bai Group’s Security Department Chief He called the police, saying someone was causing trouble at your company entrance. Director Zhang Leitian and I went to the scene and found that Zhang Yang and a very beautiful girl had beaten up five of your security guards so miserably. So I..."

  "Wait." Before he could finish, Bai Liangfeng interrupted, "You said Zhang Yang went to our Dengyuan Building to cause trouble? And brought along a pretty girl?"

  A pretty girl — that must be Xu Danlu. When Bai Liangfeng thought of Xu Danlu’s graceful, fiery, snow-white body, which had probably become Zhang Yang’s pleasure by now, anger surged in his chest. Bastard. He hadn’t even touched her, yet that poor punk got the benefit? Why?

  "Yeah, but anyway, Brother Feng, your company’s security guards are really useless. A dozen of them fought one guy and still got five taken down, even with electric batons and machetes. It’s embarrassing to even mention. Time to swap out those drunken freeloaders."

  Bai Liangfeng twitched at that. That Zhang Yang’s skills were fierce — maybe Ah Gou wasn’t exaggerating after all. He knew a bit about the company’s security team. Most were from professional security schools, trained enough to handle ordinary people easily. But if what Liu Dong said was true — more than ten against Zhang Yang, and five still down — then… damn, Zhang Yang wasn’t even human anymore.

  "Officer Liu, tell me then — how should we handle this?"

  "Simple." Liu Dong’s low, sinister laugh came through the phone. "You just have your company people testify that Zhang Yang’s a triad member. I’ll coordinate with Director Zhang — we can make it a criminal case. Once it’s filed, that stain on his record will ruin him. No one will dare hire him again."

  Bai Liangfeng was silent for a moment after hearing that. What Liu Dong said wasn’t a bad plan — best if Zhang Yang could even end up in prison. But could Liu Dong really pull that off?

  He was doubtful. He’d brought up Zhang Yang to the old man before, but the old man didn’t seem interested. Instead, he’d told him to keep a low profile for now so as not to affect Bai Group’s cooperation with Meining University.

  So if he told him now, would the old man help? Bai Liangfeng wasn’t sure.

  But clearly, this was a rare chance.

  After weighing it over, Bai Liangfeng decisively replied to Liu Dong, "Alright, Officer Liu, if you pull this off, I won’t shortchange you. Whatever witnesses or evidence you need, I’ll have people get it ready."

  "Then I’ll be waiting for your good news."

  After hanging up, Bai Liangfeng immediately called Security Chief He to confirm Liu Dong’s story. Once he knew it was true, joy surged in his heart, and he ordered Chief He to fully cooperate with Qianshui Subdistrict Police Station.

  "Zhang Yang, you’re dead this time." He clenched his fist tightly, eyes gleaming like a starving wolf on the hunt.

  To be fair, Chief He was quite efficient. The moment Bai Liangfeng hung up, he gathered some men and rushed to Qianshui Subdistrict Police Station. Then he retrieved the surveillance footage from the company entrance, trimmed and edited it, and sent it to the station.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  And the Qianshui Subdistrict Police Station moved even faster. Once they had the evidence and witnesses, they began interrogating Zhang Yang alone.

  "With both witnesses and evidence, what else can you say?" Officer Liu Dong displayed the footage and witnesses one by one, but Zhang Yang didn’t even bother looking at him. Enraged, Liu sneered, "These alone prove your triad involvement and illegal possession of controlled weapons. If those security guards’ injuries are deemed serious, you’re looking at at least a year or two behind bars."

  "This is what you call justice?" Zhang Yang glanced at the heavily edited footage, his voice calm. "Tell me — what benefits did Bai Group offer you to make you go through all this trouble?"

  At that, Deputy Director Zhang Leitian, who’d been sitting on the side listening, stood up and stepped toward Zhang Yang, warning coldly, "Zhang Yang, don’t refuse a toast only to drink punishment wine. With this much evidence, even if you deny it, the prosecution can still indict you. And with your bad attitude, an extra year or two in prison wouldn’t be surprising."

  "Fine. Then let’s wait for the prosecution to convict me in court."

  "You!" Zhang Leitian raised his fist, then hesitated and put it down. "Zhang Yang, since we’re still family, I’ll give you one more chance. Confess honestly — it’s your only way out. Don’t think we can’t deal with you."

  He shot Liu Dong a look and walked out of the interrogation room.

  "This kid’s tough. What do we do?" Deputy Director Zhang stared at Liu Dong, whose face was as bitter as a gourd — his expression wasn’t any better.

  They couldn’t even get a statement. Even if they forced one out, without Zhang Yang’s signature, it was worthless. And if they did indict him, a courtroom denial would make things messy.

  Liu Dong glanced at Zhang Leitian, a cruel gleam flashing across his pale face. He lowered his voice, "Director Zhang, Chief Gao’s not around. How about we give the kid a little… stimulation?"

  "Stimulation?" Zhang Leitian hesitated, pretending to scold, "What kind of stimulation? You know torture’s strictly forbidden."

  "Heh, as long as we don’t talk, who’s gonna know?"

  "What are you planning?" Zhang Leitian’s eyes darted as he whispered.

  "There’s this hallucinogen going around in underground bars, called Nightmare. One shot of it, and I guarantee he’ll sign anything."

  "Where do we even get that? You plan to hit a bar right now?"

  Liu Dong shook his head, whispering, "Heh, Director Zhang, you forgot — we just confiscated a batch not long ago. Chief Gao’s not here. As long as you give the word, using a bit won’t be a problem."

  Hearing that, Zhang Leitian frowned. The risk was huge.

  "Director Zhang, there won’t be a problem," Liu Dong urged, seeing his hesitation. "Young Master Bai won’t forget our favor. Besides, President Bai’s close with Director Ou in the district and Deputy Mayor Ma who oversees health. Once Gao Yaocheng’s out, that Qianshui Subdistrict Director’s chair is yours."

  "You sly bastard, don’t play dumb with me. You took Bai family’s bribe, didn’t you?" Zhang Leitian cursed him jokingly, then glanced at the interrogation room door, hesitating. "Don’t forget, Han Nianqing’s around. That old fox is flawless — if he finds out, he won’t let it go."

  "That’s a hassle, sure, but I’ve got it covered. Just find some excuse to send him out — say there’s a fight in Qianshui Street or something."

  "Smart." Zhang Leitian gave him a thumbs up. "Alright, you handle giving Zhang Yang the Nightmare. I’ll deal with Han Nianqing."

  "Uh… this…"

  "Go! Stop dawdling."

  *****

  Meining University, Multi-Functional Conference Hall — the hall was packed. Besides Meining University’s leaders, experts, and the UICC expert team of over ten members, the major leaders of Meining City were also present — including Executive Vice Mayor Xia Guoqing and Deputy Mayor Ma Weitian — showing the nation’s attention toward the “Dragonborn” Project.

  Outside the hall, reporters from major national and international media pointed their long lenses at the entrance, ready to rush in for the biggest story once the conference ended.

  Inside, guests murmured in excitement and anticipation. In ten minutes, a historic moment might unfold — humanity could finally bid farewell to the scourge of cancer.

  Some guests were cheerful, some expectant. Yet, the Meining University “Dragonborn” Project research team — the stars of the conference — sat gloomily in the lounge behind the hall.

  They hadn’t expected the original seminar to be upgraded into a major scientific conference with a formal press event. That meant if they couldn’t present satisfying results, the “Dragonborn” Project would become a laughingstock for Meining University, Meining City, Huaxia, even the entire world.

  And the most important person of the meeting — Zhang Yang — was nowhere to be found. Professor Shangguan Hong’s face was as dark as coal.

  Two hours earlier, he had called Qiao Xier. She’d promised to head to the university from the train station right away. But two hours had passed — not only were they still missing, now her phone wasn’t answering either.

  Zhang Yang’s phone was straight-up turned off. That made Professor Shangguan anxious. Had something happened to them? A car accident?

  But they’d just checked with the traffic authorities — no major accidents had occurred on the route from the train station to Meining University.

  "Xiao Qiao’s not like that. She’s always glued to her phone. And Zhang Yang — I asked his classmates — sure, he’s a bit careless, but he wouldn’t ignore calls. Could they have been kidnapped?" Shangguan Hong anxiously checked his watch. As time slipped away, beads of sweat formed on his forehead — he was more nervous than he’d ever been for any major experiment.

  "Maybe we should ask for help." Professor Ding Pengshan muttered, tapping the table.

  Shangguan Hong shook his head. "Ask for help? They’ve been missing less than 24 hours. The police won’t open a case."

  "No, Old Ding doesn’t mean the police," Zheng Yuntai said, glancing at Shangguan Hong. "You forgot Deputy Mayor Xia is outside, didn’t you?"