The Beauty CEO's Personal Expert

On the way back, Ling Chen asked Tong Zhentian and the others to return to the Dragon Tiger Hall first, then he and porridge girl drove directly to the base.

At this moment, in the base’s main control room, Hu Fei sat in front of the computer desk, devouring a hamburger. Judging by his ravenous manner, it seemed he was really starving. Seeing Ling Chen approach, Hu Fei rubbed his dark circles, saying, "Let me finish eating first."

Ling Chen glanced at the trash can beside the computer desk, which was filled with various takeout boxes. These days had indeed been hard on Hu Fei; ever since the level five alert was activated, all the technical personnel in the main control room had hardly rested, constantly monitoring the entire East Sea City’s situation from their computers.

Because of their efforts, Ling Chen could promptly grasp the intelligence of the Heavenly Dragon Sect and the Dangyang Sect. From the moment they entered East Sea City, they’ve been under Hu Fei’s surveillance. Therefore, this battle’s outcome was already determined before it even started.

Having finished the hamburger, Hu Fei wiped his mouth and took a sip of cola, saying, "You’re here to inquire about Zhu Hong’s whereabouts."

Ling Chen nodded, asking, "Are you sure you saw Zhu Hong in that Mercedes business car at the time?"

"Absolutely sure, I saw him get into the car outside the hostel with my own eyes." Saying this, Hu Fei tapped the keyboard and pulled up the previous surveillance footage, "After Zhu Hong boarded the car, I kept an eye on that Mercedes business car. Later, you told me Zhu Hong wasn’t in that car, so I rechecked the surveillance footage."

As he spoke, Hu Fei paused the surveillance video on the screen, then pointed at the fixed image of the Mercedes business car, saying, "This car stopped for a minute in the downtown area; the driver bought something from the nearby 24-hour convenience store. Other than that, the car kept driving to the highway toll station without stopping. So, if Zhu Hong wasn’t in the car, he must have left during that minute."

Ling Chen had Hu Fei replay the surveillance footage, but from parking to hitting the road again, only the driver got out of the car during that minute; everyone else stayed inside. Porridge girl asked puzzledly, "Zhu Hong didn’t get out, how did he leave?"

Hu Fei chuckled, saying, "That’s a good question. I couldn’t figure it out at first until just now when I noticed the problem. Did you notice that the car stopped in a rather special place?"

"Special?" Ling Chen leaned closer to the computer screen, carefully checking but unable to find the peculiarity Hu Fei referred to, "Alright, stop keeping us in suspense, tell us what’s going on."

"Look, there’s a manhole under that car. I compared carefully; the position of the manhole changed slightly before the car arrived and after it left. So I can conclude that Zhu Hong should have escaped through the underground pipes."

"This guy is really cunning." Ling Chen frowned, asking, "Is there any way to track his whereabouts now?"

"Very difficult." Hu Fei shook his head, saying, "I’ve mobilized all the surveillance, but since he’s on guard, he definitely won’t show up easily." Pausing momentarily, he then shifted the topic, "Besides Zhu Hong, there’s another strange thing."

"What is it?"

"Qiu Yong from the Dangyang Sect is also missing. Previously, he was under our surveillance, preparing to leave East Sea City by car. I intended to contact your brother to intercept. But they didn’t emerge from the tunnel exit after passing through the underground tunnel, and we’ve not located them until now."

"Underground tunnel?" Ling Chen asked, "Where does it lead?"

"I checked the tunnel’s construction blueprint; it leads to a subway tunnel below, connected by stairs. There’s no surveillance in the subway tunnel. If they escaped in there, we can’t track them."

Porridge girl glanced at Ling Chen, saying, "Their support troops have been completely captured by us. Qiu Yong must know his whereabouts are exposed. Likely, he’ll hide where surveillance can’t reach, just like Zhu Hong."

"Exactly." Hu Fei agreed, "The surveillance system in East Sea City is quite advanced, but there are plenty of blind spots, it can’t cover everything. As long as Zhu Hong and his team are a bit cautious, they can evade our search."

"You’re saying he’s gone?"

"Pretty much. But I’ll keep watching; if there’s any clue, I’ll notify you immediately."

"Alright then." Given Hu Fei’s words, Ling Chen didn’t push further; all he could do now was wait.

"Fatty, take good care of yourself, don’t wear yourself out." Ling Chen patted Hu Fei’s shoulder, saying, "After this operation, take a long vacation, I’ll find an island for you, arrange a yacht, and throw in some beauties; how’s that sound?"

Hu Fei’s eyes brightened, grinning, "At last, you’re showing some humanity, thinking of rewarding your meritorious officers."

The truth in those words; without his timely tracking of the adversaries, Ling Chen’s plan would’ve been impossible to succeed.

...

The next day.

After the Dragon Tiger Hall disciples cleaned overnight, the entire hall looked like usual, as if nothing had happened.

Ling Chen didn’t come out of his room until nine in the morning. Returning late last night, he hadn’t met with Qiu Yong and the others to discuss their situation.

Upon entering the dining hall, everyone was there. Since they rested late last night, everyone got up a bit later.

Discussing the operation, although they didn’t catch Zhu Hong and Qiu Yong, they gained quite a bit; at least they captured all the elite disciples of the Heavenly Dragon Sect and Dangyang Sect in one swoop. Fortunately, they anticipated the enemy’s movements in advance to plan accordingly.

Of course, plan aside, the real credit goes to everyone involved, especially Golden Dragon, Wang Teng, and Ren Donglin, the three veterans, whose assistance led to the plan’s success.

According to Ling Chen’s original plan, all experts would gather at Dragon Tiger Hall, laying in ambush around it, waiting for the three forces to enter, then attacking all at once, capturing them in one fell swoop. However, upon learning the Heavenly Dragon Sect and Dangyang Sect had temporarily replaced their elite disciples acting as main attackers, he immediately discerned the intentions of these factions.

Whether it’s Qiu Yong or Zhu Hong, both are very calculating; they likely converged on not wanting to destroy Dragon Tiger Hall swiftly, allowing Dark Pavilion to grow strong. So, they opted for passive engagement, casually sending people on an errand.

Since he foresaw their thoughts, Ling Chen had to alter the plan. He temporarily assigned Golden Dragon and Wang Teng, the veterans, to lead the teams. As the opposition attacked Dragon Tiger Hall, they secretly encircled their support troops, eliminating both factions’ elite disciples entirely.