Chapter 122: Chapter 86: Gangs and Corporations
She playfully blinked and turned to leave the elevator.
John took out the item and scanned it.
[Bolago Club - Steel Hot Forest (Front-row Ticket)]
He returned to his apartment.
The corridor was in chaos, full of scratches and footprints.
The metal sliding door had been completely removed and taken away, temporarily patched with industrial materials, and had not yet been officially repaired.
The room was emptily echoing.
Damaged furniture and household items had all been cleared out, leaving only the debris from dismantling the equipment and remnants of a battle everywhere.
John recalled his encounter with Internet Surveillance.
Before the state police left, they mentioned they didn’t know how to address John, hinting at the tie clip holding the documents, indicating that Internet Surveillance had also reviewed Tiebang Logistics employee information.
The suspicion Internet Surveillance had about John was undoubtedly at its peak, but without conclusive evidence, and with Eden’s open protection, it was inconvenient to use forceful means to arrest him.
Speaking of evidence...
Why hadn’t Internet Surveillance detected Black Light in the room?
John stood in front of the room’s equipment box.
The hardware of the network system was pre-installed during the construction of the house, only the software needed to be reinstalled.
He powered on and started the Atlanta Virtual Network.
[Device Management Center: STOF [System Offline]]
John frowned.
No wonder Internet Surveillance couldn’t find any evidence; the system in the room brushed with Black Light had been completely reset.
He pulled out a data cable and directly plugged it into the equipment port.
Black Light flashed intensely and became restless, but due to limited functionality, it couldn’t break through the firewall and almost felt like its head was about to burst.
John looked around but couldn’t scan any surveillance devices.
A hypothesis emerged in his mind:
Someone had removed Black Light from the apartment before Internet Surveillance’s search, successfully erasing critical evidence for John in front of the agents and state police.
Who could take away Black Light?
And for what purpose?
The workshop still had an Internet Surveillance electronic seal posted.
John stepped over rubble and went in, seeing the expensive-to-build fully automated workbench brutally dismantled, and the pegboard for hanging weapons smashed to pieces.
[Mission Objective Updated]
John was startled by the suddenly flashing text.
[Scan workshop remnants. (Not accomplished)]
He quickly activated the scan filter, maneuvering in the narrow space until he saw a yellow marker in the corner.
John crouched down.
He lifted a collapsed panel, revealing a sudden flash of red light, glaring abruptly in the darkness.
A glass tube, clearly not belonging to the workshop, lay on the ground with a red bulb glowing steadily, like an eye buried in the ruins.
Bam—
The glass tube suddenly exploded, with an explosion as slight as a short-circuited light bulb.
[Collectible: Vacuum Tube (Scrapped)]
John picked up and examined the remnants:
The glass cover had broken, the inner wall scorched black, exposing a chip wrapped in heat-insulating paper.
Someone had left a message.
John wasn’t naive and wouldn’t foolishly plug it into his neck.
He had learned a trick at Harbor Company and Tinfoil.
He powered up the room, dismantled the smart coffee machine’s panel, switched to the system back-end, turning it into a portable reader, and then inserted the chip.
[Data Reading...]
The apartment room was incredibly dim.
The wall connecting the living room to the balcony had been blown open, with the dazzling city lights casting a grayish-green glow inside.
John stood in the shadows quietly waiting.
Text appeared on the LCD screen.
[Pacifica, is that you?]
John was now certain.
During the state police’s pursuit of him, a group associated with Serum had once infiltrated this apartment.
Ding—
The sound of the elevator doors opening and closing echoed from the hallway.
Jilead appeared at the door.
He wore his familiar OVERSIZE fluorescent trendy outfit, his chest muscles more robust than before, with both arms enhanced with breathing skin, combining aesthetic style with explosive heat dissipation.
"Good to see you, brother."
"You too."
John greeted him with the gang’s gesture.
"When they were messing with me in surveillance, who entered this room, where are my gun and personal belongings... Surveillance, right, I need to check the footage from that time..."
"Hey, buddy, calm down, are you high or something, you’re more anxious than those johns."
Jilead mentioned the follow-up situation that day:
Less than ten minutes after John escaped, all the surveillance videos from the Dan Street Apartment were burned, the surveillance room was actually smoking.
"As for your equipment... it’s a bit complicated. The Black Gold Gang has had internal issues these past couple of days."
Jilead looked troubled.
Mr. Vito, as the Speaker of the West District, isn’t an all-powerful figure within the Black Gold Gang.
There are several big shots of equal standing with him who manage different aspects of the gang’s business on a rotating tenure basis. It just so happened that Vito Russell was in charge of street business during this period.
"The guys from Jingke Heavy Industry, they kind of act like the gang’s financiers. They recently changed management, and the new boss doesn’t like Mr. Vito, wants Bone Shards to replace him."
"Bone Shards?"
"Bone Shards was the previous Speaker, he used to be in Mr. Vito’s position, managing everyone with corporate methods. The clock-in attendance, zoning responsibility system, protection fee commission, and drug distribution you see now... were all his doings during his tenure."
Jilead crossed his arms.
John immediately thought of Habitable Rental Company, recalling that black guy who had to clock in everywhere he went.
"Sounds like a genius."
"I don’t think so, back then we were constantly fighting the Owl Town gang tooth and nail, the casualty rate and shop rental prices were sky-high, suppressing the West District to a suicidal level."
"How did Mr. Vito take over?"
"Not sure, the Owl Town gang negotiated with us, then Jingke Heavy Industry and Raqi Industry started building a factory together. It wasn’t long before Mr. Vito began managing the streets, and Bone Shards was put in charge of contraband business."
Jilead paced in the living room, kicking the rubble off the high-rise windowsill.
"Now Bone Shards wants to come back, both gang members and shop tenants are uneasy... Honestly speaking, aside from the boss and Jingke Heavy Industry, nobody likes him."
He pointed towards John’s room.
"Bone Shards’ lackeys raided your place, they knew Mr. Vito wanted you, so they came here to provoke deliberately."
"Is my stuff with him?"
John’s eyes turned sharp.
He’s been running for his life and staying up late recently, looking like a dangerously sharp operator.
"Exactly."
Jilead pondered for a moment.
"Alright."
John still wasn’t sure about the connection between Bone Shards and the Serum, but he was definitely going to find a chance to approach him.
Before that, he needed to recuperate.
John handed the wet bio-plastic bag to Jilead, entrusting him to mail it to the address specified by Oulos.
He pulled out a gold-encrusted watch as a gift.
"Whew~"
Jilead whistled, his muscles shimmering.
He weighed it appreciatively in his palm, noting the logo and diamonds on it.
"F*ck, MAN~ this thing isn’t a fake!"
"Of course not, it’s a West District intermediary’s collection, wear it when you need to appear like a big shot, otherwise, don’t flaunt it, or you’ll easily get whacked."
"Alright, alright... Whew~ it’s really something!"
Jilead toyed with it earnestly for a moment, his expression gradually shifting from joy to calmness, and then he gritted his teeth and asked John.
"Can I decide to send it out?"
"Which girl is worth you spending so much?"
"No, f*ck it, it’s to save someone."
Jilead explained:
There’s a new kid in the Black Gold Gang who’s sticky-fingered and secretly stashed some goods while delivering.
What kind of character is Bone Shards?
That moron was discovered not long after.
Most of the stashed goods were recovered, but a package of the most expensive concentrated material is still missing to this day.
"The goods were lost at Dan Street Apartment."
"Where are they hidden?"
John asked.
Jilead spat towards the windowsill.
"Don’t know, that Shark Coin was already killed, but Bone Shards used it to challenge Mr. Vito, and along with the surveillance issue, he wants to seize control of Dan Street Apartment management."
Jilead had a small leader under him.
He’s the kind of naive guy who talks about loyalty, voluntarily taking the blame, willing to go into Owl Town gang’s territory to retrieve the goods.
"On the surface, it’s to compensate for the gang’s loss, but in reality, it’s just a death mission, a way to account to those above."
"You want to use the gold watch to negotiate with Bone Shards to get the brother back?"
"That’s right."
Jilead shrugged.
[Task: Easy Job]
[Reward: Payment (variable), Apartment Authorization Code]