Chapter 137: Snacks to Placate Him

“What kind of organization is this? I’ve never even heard of it.”

“I’ve only been here a month, and I’ve never heard of any such organization.”

“They couldn’t even make up a more impressive one. What is this third-rate little group? How many people does your organization even have?”

A flash of anger appeared in Qian Ning’s eyes. “We have nearly fifty people, spread across the world, all of them elites of society!”

Before he was caught, he had been a renowned munitions expert in X Country.

“This is our organization’s emblem.” He opened his collar, revealing a black tattoo on his left chest over his heart.

It was a beautiful yet elegant, ferocious and domineering half-body image of a serpent eagle, its body dripping with blood from a sword impaled in it, with a dying, struggling snake in its beak.

“The snake is the incarnation of Satan. It tempts us to fall, and even to this day, many people are still bewitched by it. We exist to eliminate those who commit evil acts under Satan’s temptation.”

“I have no interest in learning about your organization or this Satan. That’s just an excuse you use to satisfy your own evil desires.” Xiao Fen looked at him again, his fists itching to move. “I only want to know, you don’t have anyone on the outside, right? What if you send a bomb to my family…”

“Hasn’t there been a bomber in M Country lately?” Ou Yu reminded him.

“That guy’s far away in M Country. He can’t touch anyone in H Country.”

Just as the fist was about to swing down, Qian Ning said, “A huge country like H Country definitely has them. Don’t touch me, and I won’t let them touch your family.”

“This is the first time I’ve heard someone brag so hugely.” Xiao Fen pinched his chin and cheeks, laughing twice at the people around him before his gaze suddenly turned vicious. “How are you going to prove it?”

Qian Ning glanced at the camera.

“It’s just filming a documentary, bro. What are you afraid of? If what you say is true, you’ll go down in history and become famous overnight.” A nearby prisoner chimed in with a laugh.

“Yeah, grab the opportunity.” The others echoed.

“March 27th, a certain merchant in R City, H Country, will receive a delivery.”

“That’s too vague. I could say an old lady will trip while crossing the street outside the prison tomorrow, and that was done by my family too.”

“The guy surnamed Lin, the one who did that department store construction project that collapsed in the end, killing over fifty people—hey, what are you doing…”

Xiao Fen grabbed his collar and dragged him into the bathroom.

The clamor inside suddenly went quiet.

“Get out. All of you. Now.”

The group of naked bodies, too unsightly to behold, hurriedly grabbed their toiletries and left. Those who were slow didn’t even have time to take theirs and just dropped them on the spot.

Thirty seconds later, only the few of them remained in the bathroom.

Matthew and Ou Yu watched the door. The people outside also knew what was happening.

“That’s too far in the past. Give me something recent.” Xiao Fen beckoned Yevgeny over. “There have been explosions in M Country lately. If you can predict this one correctly, I’ll let you off from now on. If you’re lying to me, this place will be your graveyard today.”

“Tomorrow, tomorrow there will be one. We usually send one to a target every half month to a month.” Qian Ning said, “Sent to the home of a man named Vasily in X City, M Country.”

“How do you know this from inside prison?” Yevgeny asked doubtfully.

“I call people on the outside every month, and they report to me.”

“You really are a boss. Even after being locked up, you can still remote control things.”

“I’m the only one who understands bombs. Depending on the situation, what kind of bomb to use, what materials—they always ask me first.”

He had learned pretty much everything worth knowing. Asking further wouldn’t yield anything, like their organization’s member list—it would be useless.

So Xiao Fen generously beat him up.

“Why are you still hitting me?!” Qian Ning was small and didn’t have much strength. After a few weak swings, he was yelling even louder from the beating.

“If what happens tomorrow is real, I won’t mess with you anymore. But yesterday, you didn’t give Yevgeny a good look, so I have to collect some interest from you.”

“When did I do that?” Qian Ning asked in despair.

“This morning, you looked at me mockingly and suspected I was a cop.” Yevgeny said. “You actually slandered me like that.”

“Misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding.” Qian Ning hurriedly clarified. He had never seen such unprincipled cops.

“Anyway, it all depends on whether what you said is true or not.”

After warning him, Xiao Fen left with the others.

As they neared the dorm, Yevgeny parted ways with them, seemingly preparing to meet Mikhail privately.

Soon after, he was dragged out of the cell in full view of everyone on the pretext of causing trouble.

Half an hour later, he returned looking utterly drained, as if he had been worked over badly.

The next day, Yevgeny received word that people back home had indeed found a bomb package, exactly as Qian Ning had described. Thanks to the advance warning, it didn’t explode.

Next up was rooting out this number two bomber lurking in M Country.

Yevgeny and Xiao Fen went to find him again, cornering him at his room door.

“There was no explosion yesterday.”

“How is that possible? We even avoided the cameras.”

“Your intel is wrong, or rather, you were just bullshitting to scare us.” Xiao Fen’s gaze turned fierce. “Looks like you don’t know the consequences of messing with us.”

“Calm down. There must be a misunderstanding here.”

Xiao Fen closed in step by step. “Now I know you’re just putting on airs by borrowing someone else’s power. Tomorrow, everyone in this prison will be your enemy. Want to test it?”

A chill ran down Qian Ning’s back. He had been here for so long without incident because he knew the survival rules: don’t provoke big shots, keep your head down, but also show your teeth moderately.

Unfortunately, his teeth weren’t sharp enough, and he had already provoked this big shot.

After another beating, he hurriedly asked the vice squad officers for permission to make a call.

The vice squad officers naturally agreed readily.

Prison surveillance could capture footage of prisoners making calls, but the angle was poor. Professionals would subconsciously block the phone with their body, and there was no audio due to privacy rights.

This matter involved the safety of many innocents, so the prison couldn’t intervene directly. After negotiations between M Country authorities and the program crew, they secretly installed a micro-camera under the guise of filming a documentary, specifically monitoring Qian Ning’s calls.

Half an hour later, he angrily hung up the phone and glared venomously at Xiao Fen from afar.

He made call after call, but no one picked up until finally one connected. From his accomplice, he learned the true identities of Xiao Fen and Yevgeny.

There were no TVs or internet in the prison, so they didn’t know about the show. But his accomplices watched it religiously, especially after Yevgeny openly stated their purpose for entering prison.

His accomplices had initially been relieved at Qian Ning’s anti-scam skills for spotting something off about Yevgeny, so they confidently sent out that bomb package. But unexpectedly, he caved under Xiao Fen’s intimidation and revealed the location, preventing a murder.

After seeing the video of the friendly chat in the bathroom yesterday, they abandoned him. Only his closest associate finally told him the truth at the end and cut off contact from then on.

What he and his accomplices didn’t know was that the micro-camera had already been lurking by the phone, recording every number he dialed.

“You’re on your own now.” He didn’t know when it happened, but both ends of the hallway were blocked.

Xiao Fen and Yevgeny slowly closed in.

“They are…” As Qian Ning started to shout, Yevgeny covered his mouth and dragged him into the darkness.

Xiao Fen stood at the door, leaning casually against the wall.

Two minutes later, Yevgeny came out while wiping the blood from the back of his hand.

Ten minutes after that, an ambulance pulled up at the dorm entrance. The medical staff loaded Qian Ning onto a stretcher and carted him away.

In reality, they had just knocked him out. Having him yell and expose the undercover operation wouldn’t help the show’s progress, so he just needed to be isolated elsewhere for a while.

In the prisoners’ eyes, though, they had taken care of another one, reinforcing their reputation as people not to mess with.

Yevgeny felt relieved and thanked Xiao Fen profusely.

“Why don’t you go find Inspector Fang? He took on this explosion case originally. What if he knows something about this Serpent Eagle Organization?”

At the mention of the man, Xiao Fen paused.

He had just warned yesterday not to look for him until the show ended.

Wouldn’t this be slapping his own face?

But the case involved innocent lives and potential public panic, so against his nature, he still met with Fang Si Ting.

This time, they met in the library again.

Xiao Fen recounted the events in M Country over the past couple of days.

“I suspected they were committing organized crimes before and mentioned it several times, but the International Inspectorate Organization still wouldn’t believe it.” Fang Si Ting said. “This organization is very secretive. I still haven’t found any substantial evidence to this day.”

“Alright then.”

A wasted trip.

As Xiao Fen turned to leave, his arm was grabbed.

“Anything else?”

In the dimly lit corner of the library, Fang Si Ting saw how listless he looked and sensed something was wrong.

“It’s been a week and a half already. Haven’t you figured out how to get out yet?”

“Why do you care so much? I’m happy here.” Xiao Fen said with a straight face. “No electronic gadgets to distract me, early to bed and early to rise with a great routine, cafeteria feeds me, no work, and the inmates talk nicely, full of talents. You don’t know how great I’m having it here.”

“Lost a few pounds?”

Xiao Fen bristled. “No one’s around saying things I don’t like to piss me off every day.”

Fang Si Ting was helpless. He pulled out a bunch of snacks from his pocket.

All of them were the kinds Xiao Fen loved.

Xiao Fen’s eyes lit up for a moment before he turned his face away. “Why are you bringing stuff to butter me up again? No good intentions.”

“No good intentions? Good intentions treated like a donkey’s liver and lungs.” Fang Si Ting indifferently stuffed the snacks into Xiao Fen’s clothes and pants pockets, then turned his body straight. “Last time, I didn’t want you to worry, so I said the injury didn’t hurt, and you got mad at me.”

“What about the time before that? Who were you giving the cold shoulder to?”

“Anything else? Rushed off, and in your mouth, it becomes giving the cold shoulder?”

“Who knows.” Xiao Fen faced him but kept his head down, refusing to look.

【Why do I feel like there’s something weird between them again.】

【A few words and Brother Fen is placated. Gotta say, Fang Yama has his ways.】

Fang Si Ting explained, “That day I was investigating Bram’s stabbing. All day reviewing people—way harder than someone else’s early bed early rise, clothes served on a platter, meals ready to eat luxurious days.”

Xiao Fen retorted unconvinced, “How are you adding fuel and slander to my words? Don’t you know what kind of days I’m having? Look at me—the clothes that fit when I came in are loose on me now.”

“Finally willing to look at me?” A hint of a smile leaked from Fang Si Ting’s lips.

Xiao Fen’s eyes darted left and right. His pounding heart turned his ears red.

The scent at the tip of his nose was the musty, fermented smell of old books. In the center of the table sat a rusty desk lamp illuminating a worn book with peeling spine, like a lonely lighthouse in the vast darkness, barely holding up a patch of civilized yellow light.

In this silent, earnest warmth, he heard the restless echo of his heart.

He mumbled for a moment, then seriously asked the question that had puzzled him since their fight.

“Fang Si Ting, do you think what we are now is just ordinary frien…”

“Ah!”

Before he could finish, a scream interrupted him.

Without thinking, he followed Fang Si Ting through the stacks of bookshelves to another corner of the library.

The vice squad officer managing the library stood dazedly by the side, already scared senseless.

Elijah lay there covered in blood, a dagger plunged into his abdomen—the same style as the one used in Bram’s attack.