Only two hours after the blazing inferno on the roof of the Four Continents Hotel was put out, the police officers completed the investigation on all the survivors. While the fire burned, the Four Continents Hotel was surrounded by police officers. There was no second exit, so by subtracting the survivors from the people who entered the hotel, the police would get the number of fire casualties.
In the end, the authorities determined that the four special operations team members and the four emergency response team members, Zhang Heng included, were killed in the fire. Other than that, all residents on the twelfth floor had been killed, and some on the thirteenth and fourteenth floors.
The authorities were still counting the number of casualties in the fire, and during the preliminary investigation, they found that at least sixty people had been killed. Some bodies were lost forever, while others were difficult to identify. The authorities could only identify them through a DNA test.
The newspapers sent their reporters to the scene as soon as they got the news. This was probably the biggest fire in New Shanghai 0297 since its completion. Generally, after an accident of such a magnitude, the public hoped to find the quarters responsible for the fire. The authorities, however, still hadn’t identified the arsonist, and the party that they could blame right now was the poor fire-suppression system on the second level. For some unknown reason, the always efficient fire brigade was almost an hour late to the scene.
Therefore, many media had already thought about the following headline for the next few days: the fire protection system. After another hour, the lockdown at the station was finally lifted, and the central shuttle began to resume its operations as well.
Zhang Heng then bought two tickets with a fake citizen ID and traveled back to the first level with Feng Zi.
Before arriving at the first level, Zhang Heng sent an encrypted email to Mr. G to inform him of their location in advance.
As a result, as soon as the two left the arrival hall, a black MPV was parked in front of them.
When the car door opened, a group of heavily armed men in black came out of the car and surrounded the two of them. Immediately, everyone else at the station stopped what they were doing and moved towards Zhang Heng and Feng Zi. At least one hundred people were estimated to be watching.
Feng Zi looked around and raised her eyebrows, “Don’t you have the thing with you? I thought the people here would welcome you.”
“They do welcome us. However, their way of welcoming us is special,” Zhang Heng said. Unlike Feng Zi, he did not look at other people. He had his eyes set on the man who came down from the co-pilot seat.
The latter was one of Mr. G’s most trusted bodyguards. Besides protecting Mr. G, he was also responsible for managing other bodyguards and helping Mr. G complete essential tasks. The people around Mr. G called him Director Zheng.
Director Zheng gave a slight bow at Zhang Heng and Feng Zi. “Mr. Zhang, Miss Xia.”
“How do you know my name?” Feng Zi looked a little surprised.
“You are our guest. When you came to our level as a guest, we, of course, had to investigate you in advance. Moreover, your name has spread throughout the second level tonight. So it is difficult for anyone not to know about you,” Director Zheng replied.
“Really? Is that a good or a bad thing?”
“It depends on how you look at this,” Zheng Zheng said.
“How should I put it. I am now wanted by the entire city, and I can never return to the second level. I don’t think there are any positive aspects.”
“You may have been abandoned by the old world, but because of what you’ve done, you can board the ship that sails to the new world.”
“And where is this new world?” Feng Zi rolled her eyes.
Director Zheng then pointed at the black MPV behind him. “We have been working hard to build it. If you want, we can show it to you later.”
Feng Zi looked at Zhang Heng. After getting the latter’s permission, the two got into the black MPV together. After that, all the armed men were dismissed after Zhang Heng and Feng Zi entered the car.
“I’ve heard people talk about Mr. G before, and I heard that he is very powerful on the first level. He is so powerful that even the Shengtang Morgan Group can’t do anything about him. I thought he was some kind of hero. To my surprise, his way of doing things is no different from a gang leader. He relies on the many men he has to drive fear into others,” Feng Zi said directly.
Director Zheng was not angry when he heard what Feng Zi said. Instead, he explained patiently, “From the ancient time to the present, every deed we do is inseparable from people. The most important thing for someone who has a grand plan is to unite and organize his people first. With more people being gathered, it will prove that the person is extremely capable.”
Feng Zi was rendered speechless. Zhang Heng, beside her, answered, “If gathering more people makes Mr. G more powerful, he doesn’t have to see me again tonight. He could have just waited for his people to bring the memory encoder back to him.”
This time, it was Director Zheng’s turn to become silent. After a while, he said candidly, “This time, we did something wrong. Whether you believe Mr. Zhang or not, I did try to persuade Mr. G to let you become the person in charge of this express delivery. However, it was hard for Mr. G too… A man in his position has to be cautious in everything. There are only a few people who he can trust because betrayal is so common now.”
Zhang Heng was too lazy to argue with Director Zheng on this. So, he said directly, “Let Mr. G come and talk to me.”
“Of course. We are here to pick you and Ms. Feng from the station tonight. After that, we will bring you to meet Mr. G. But before that, I don’t know if you two mind if I take a little detour and pick up another person?”
“Feel free to do so,” Zhang Heng said lightly.
Fifteen minutes later, the black MPV stopped in front of a residential complex’s gate. Director Zheng bowed at Zhang Heng and Feng Zi to excuse himself. After that, they got out of the car with the driver drawing his guns from his waist.
After a while, Zhang Heng heard two gunshots, followed by a woman’s hysterical scream. Another gunshot later, the screams died, and the place regained its previous tranquility.
Five minutes later, Director Zheng and the driver dragged a man with tied hands and feet out of the darkness. Together, they tossed the man at Zhang Heng’s and Feng Zi’s feet. They then clapped their hands and said, “Everyone is here now.”
Zhang Heng then looked down and found that the hapless guy lying on the ground turned out to be another bodyguard who used to work for Mr. G. It looked like he was sleeping in his house when they grabbed him. He had never expected his ex-colleagues to break into this house, kill his family members, and tie him up.
