Chapter 201: Rendezvous

Everyone in the war room looked at the spot Mr. Cao pointed.

It was North Ornament Highlands.

What?

Puzzled expressions instantly showed up on most of their faces. Why would they run to the mountains? That place was a dead end. There was only an endless wilderness behind North Ornament Highlands.

But they soon came to a realization. Based on the possible places Black Orchid Co. could retreat to, the wilderness would actually give them the highest chance of escaping from their enemies.

“But how are they going to pass through the wilderness? Where will they replenish their resources?” another government official asked.

North Ornament Highlands covered practically the entire northern region of Yangzhi City. It had no good roads, since no construction projects had ever existed there. Hence, it was practically impassable via cars.

It wasn’t as if only one or two Black Orchid Co. employees were running away. Most of them were retreating, such as the Blood Ink Guards the company had heavily invested upon, the logistics team, the R&D team, the management team, and the other key departments. They were the heart of Black Orchid Co. and had the finest people and most resources invested into them. They were their capital to rise from the ashes, so they couldn’t afford to lose them.

If such a large group of people went into the wilderness, logistics would become a nightmare.

Someone made a logical guess. “Black Orchid has been developing their branch company in Yangzhi City for years. I’m sure they prepared an escape route a long time ago. It wouldn’t be surprising if they had set up supply stations and underground bases ahead of time.”

The speaker was making sense, but many people didn’t agree with it. While the possibility of Black Orchid Co. setting up supply stations in the wilderness was high, building underground bases in the wilderness was out of the question. It would be an overestimation of Black Orchid Co. to think that they could do that.

If they set the bases too close to the city, they would be useless, but if they were too far away, transporting resources to those bases would become a big problem. They would also end up causing a huge commotion. It would have been impossible for such a project to have gone unnoticed.

A few officials from the Department of Administrative Affairs whispered to each other before one of them asked a question that had been bothering them, “Do you intend to attack the retreating group outside or inside the city, Mr. Cao?”

The difference between launching an attack in the city and launching one outside was as large as night and day.

The government officials didn’t want to see the attack being launched in the city not because they were worried about the citizens’ assets or safety, but because the city was their political arena. If the losses were too great, they wouldn’t give their brownie points.

Mr. Cao stared at them, then gave a firm answer. “The attack will be outside the city.”

The officials from Yangzhi City’s Department of Administrative Affairs relaxed. Over the past few days, they had been trying to convince Mr. Cao not to launch his attack in the city and to try his best to force the Black Orchid Co. employees to leave. They had even implied that they would give him all sorts of benefits and support to do that.

Now that they obtained confirmation, they believed that their hard work had borne fruit. They would support Mr. Cao during the operation and provide him with the rewards he deserved.

Some were against the plan, but no one stepped forward to voice their objections, because attacking within the city and ignoring the citizens’ safety would lead to a bad reputation. Those who wanted to climb up the career ladder wouldn’t do that, and those who didn’t care about getting promoted had already spoken to each other before the meeting even started.

When no one had any further questions, Mr. Cao started making calls to send a team to intercept the motorcade heading down the public road to the harbor. In order to make Black Orchid Co. retreat without worry, he even added good martial artists to the intercepting team. He wanted to create an illusion that he had put most of their fighting power into that team.

Once he was done making the arrangements, he returned to the war room.

Next came waiting. He believed that once Black Orchid Co. received news that the motorcade was attacked, they would verify whether it was true. The moment they were sure, they would begin their real retreat.

But over the next few hours, they saw no movement from within Black Orchid Co. All of them just sat and waited in the war room.

Some people began to doubt Mr. Cao’s judgment, but most of them still believed in him.

Based on the news that they received, the motorcade Black Orchid Co. sent to the harbor was relatively strong and consisted mostly of elites from the External Operations Department, but it didn’t contain their main fighting force. They didn’t have a single Blood Ink Guard.

Black Orchid Co. was definitely planning something big. They just hadn’t revealed it yet.

A person ran into the war room to deliver a fully interpreted telegram. “An urgent telegram for you, Mr. Cao!”

Mr. Cao read it before looking at the rest. “The officers at the checkpoint noticed a large group of Black Orchid employees in the downstream section of Black River. They’re near the old town’s Li Family Trading House.”

“What?”

Everyone was shocked, but someone quickly registered the information. “They’re escaping via the river?”

“Yes. Retreating via land is too risky, and Black Orchid can enter the river via the underground waterway. Based on their location, they’re headed toward North Ornament Highlands,” Mr. Cao explained.

Everyone looked at the map on the wall. Black Orchid Co.’s members were already close to North Ornament Highlands, which meant that Mr. Cao’s judgment was correct.

Judging from the distance, they would soon enter the wilderness.

“Since you’ve predicted they would go to North Ornament Highlands, you’ve stationed some of your teams there, right?” someone asked.

“There’s a gang that has set up permanent residence in North Ornament Highlands. I’ve given them weapons. They will use the forts left behind during the Great Expansion to help us stop Black Orchid in their tracks. All we need to do is chase after them. I hope that you will cooperate with us to the best of your abilities,” Mr. Cao said slowly as he stared at the men in the war room.

The Chain Links Gang?

They quickly realized which gang Mr. Cao was referring to and frowned. The Chain Links Gang was just a gang, not the army. Even if they had support, they couldn’t stop Black Orchid Co. If Mr. Cao had predicted that Black Orchid Co. would retreat through the underground waterway, arranging some of his men there to stop them would have been much more reliable than relying on the Chain Links Gang.

But since those were his arrangements, they could only follow the plan they had discussed before.

The members of the various departments stood up to make calls or send telegrams. Shrill whistles rose within the Constabulary’s headquarters. As the stomping of military boots and armored personnel carriers roared to life, a large number of constables gathered.

***

The five board directors got out of the river at a certain part of Black River’s downstream area. With the help of other employees who had gotten out earlier, they removed the outer membrane designed specifically for diving.

More than two hundred Blood Ink Guards stood around them. There were more of them than the reported ninety. They wore thick, dark red protective uniforms and eye shields. They were also armed head to toe. Aside from carrying firearms, most of them also had a black saber strapped on their backs.

They had a luminescent black orchid implanted deep in their faces, covering them entirely. They showed no expression, and even their stances were the same, as if they had been cast from the same mold.

The five board directors trusted them completely, because every Blood Ink Guard went through a brainwashing program after joining and would die for them without hesitation.

A member of the Intelligence Department came over with a report. “Sirs, North Ornament Highlands is just ahead of us, but the Chain Links Gang seems to be ready to fight us.”

The five board directors exchanged looks.

“I knew it. They really did station men here. They let us out on purpose with the belief that the old forts would slow us while they catch up. Then, they will be able to surround and kill us.”

“It’s simple and effective, but they overlooked the disparity in tech between us.”

“Perhaps they’ve provided tech and firearms to the Chain Links Gang.”

“That’s to be expected. Send a telegram and alert our moles in the Chain Links Gang. The Blood Ink Guards should work with the bio-weapons to take them down. They have an hour to kill everyone up there.”

Once the orders were given, the boxes containing the bioweapons flipped open, and the employees injected the combat praying mantises with the calorie and nutrient dense injections. 250 combat praying mantises jumped out of the boxes. Their compound eyes shone coldly and mercilessly.

As a technician commanded them with a few gestures, the combat praying mantises spread their wings and flew up the mountain.

***

Luo Qi stood in the empty war room of Black Orchid Co. Next to him was a telegraph set. A telegraph clerk sat waiting beside it with headphones.

He checked his watch. When the hour and minute hands showed that it was two o’clock, the telegraph clerk heard something and quickly interpreted a series of numbers.

Luo Qi strode over and picked them up. Then, he dragged out a safe. Once he keyed in the numbers, the thick door of the safe opened with a click. He reached in, grabbed a needle from it, and quickly jabbed it above his heart.

His expression eased.

Aside from brainwashing its employees, Black Orchid Co. also used all sorts of medicine to control them. The five board directors had ordered Luo Qi to defend the company building and hold back any possible attacks against the place, but they couldn’t just leave him without any hope, so they put a Lucidity Serum into the safe right before his eyes.

At this point, even if he went out to tell the truth about the escape or chose to leave as well, it wouldn’t matter, because the board directors had already arrived at their destination.

From that moment, he had to think about his own future.

Luo Qi immediately asked the telegraph clerk to send a telegram to a certain frequency band.

“I’m leaving through the company’s underground waterway, and I’ll be bringing along the information I’ve gathered over the years. I’ve prepared the gold certificates too. Now’s the time for you to follow through with your promise.”

Soon, an answer came.

“My men will pick you up and give you a new identity. Once you’re here, I’ll give you a position in a local department. After a year or two, I’ll get you transferred to my side.”

“That’s a deal.”

“Where do you want to meet?”

“4 p.m. at Dock 2 of Wu Neighborhood’s old factory cargo terminal.”

“Wait there when you’ve arrived. My men will be there shortly.”

***

The leaders of the operation gave out orders one after another in the war room of the Constabulary’s headquarters. Everything was going in an orderly, albeit busy fashion when a member of the operation walked in and whispered into Mr. Cao’s ear before handing him a note.

A cold look flashed in his eyes before he put the note away. He had his assistant take over his work for the time being while he went to the lounge next to the war room and gave an order to the personnel on duty there. “Bring Chen Chuan to me.”

A few minutes later, Chen Chuan walked in with the Frost King Saber. Without even waiting for Chen Chuan to greet him, Mr. Cao said sternly, “Chen Chuan, I need you to do something right now. Head to the old factory’s cargo terminal in Wu Neighborhood and kill Luo Qi, the director of Black Orchid Co.’s External Operations Department. Then, bring back everything he took with him.”