Chapter 263: Chapter 263

"Hmm? Why do you say it leads directly to Qian Duoduo’s house? Isn’t this Qian Duoduo’s estate we’re in?" Su Malie was confused.

Jing Shu shook her head. "I doubt Qian Duoduo knows anything about this. I think the man pretending to be your Uncle Gou, Lin Yi, did it on purpose. He took advantage of the road closure at West Mountain to make a long detour, entering from behind West Mountain and deliberately passing through Qian Duoduo’s estate."

"And then?" Su Malie blinked, trying to see the connection.

"To ensure your tracking data last registered at Qian Duoduo’s house. What do you think your father would do after you disappeared, with your last known location being on Qian Duoduo’s territory?" Jing Shu rolled her eyes.

Su Malie’s mouth fell open. "My father might desperately fight Qian Duoduo. But if Qian Duoduo doesn’t know about this, he’ll think my father is causing trouble for no reason, and they might end up fighting."

"People in their positions shouldn’t be so impulsive, right?" Jing Shu touched her nose. People with great power and high status should be more composed, shouldn’t they?

Touching her head in distress, Su Malie explained, "You don’t know. Every time I’m kidnapped, my father goes insane and loses all reason! This is terrible! We absolutely have to take the route above ground and quickly let my father know we’re safe. Otherwise, he really might turn West Mountain upside down!"

Jing Shu frowned. So, Lin Yi must have known all these key points, all these mind games he played, right? Did he do all this just to drive a wedge between Wu City’s top two tycoons and make them fight? It’s not that simple.

"That’s why we have to take the underground passage. It’s called taking the unexpected route; no one would think we’d go underground. Do you know how many of their accomplices are waiting for you up there? And are you sure you want to be devoured by red earthworms during a torrential downpour?"

Su Malie shook her head vigorously.

"Alright then, let’s hurry. There won’t be any issues this time, trust me." Jing Shu grabbed Su Malie, and they ran towards the underground passage.

They returned to the entrance from which they had made their thrilling escape from the elevator earlier. It was the same way they had come in.

The pebbles on the ground were still there. The pusher mechanism that had crushed Wang Chuan had been repaired by Fatty and his men. As for the body, who knew where Fatty had disposed of it.

Jing Shu searched for a long time for an ’elevator button’ to activate the new pusher mechanism, but unfortunately, she couldn’t find it. She realized the switch for this enormous passage was likely controlled only by Lin Yi; no one else would have the authority.

"Let’s go." Jing Shu climbed in, pulling Su Malie up after her. Su Malie reluctantly agreed. She really didn’t want to take the underground passage, but Jing Shu was just so assertive. Whenever she was with Jing Shu, she couldn’t help but meekly obey. How pathetic of me... *whimper*... Fresh chapters posted on novel~fire~net

Jing Shu moved quickly, constantly marking their location and the distance covered on the map on her phone, which she accessed within her dimensional space. She didn’t know how deep the passage ran, as there was no signal and GPS was unavailable.

"I’m hungry," Su Malie’s stomach growled. She bit her lower lip, her voice pitiful. She was also very cold; the temperature in the underground passage was low.

Jing Shu had been hungry ever since she woke up. After a moment’s thought, she took a compressed biscuit from a pocket in her close-fitting pants and gave it to Su Malie. "Chew it twenty-eight times before swallowing."

Su Malie nodded and gently bit off a piece, starting to chew. My goodness, what is this? It’s so delicious! Like a contented little hamster, Su Malie munched on the compressed biscuit.

With something to eat, Su Malie indeed quickened her pace. Jing Shu, however, wasn’t just eating compressed biscuits; she was enjoying chocolates, pistachios, nuts, and other snacks. Since the food materialized directly in her mouth thanks to her ability, she didn’t even need to visibly eat, so Su Malie had no idea what she was consuming.

Three kilometers covered.

At first, there were some side tunnels, and they even passed the point where they had entered. Gradually, however, the forks disappeared, leaving only a straight underground passage. The tunnel was crudely dug, clearly not Qian Duoduo’s handiwork; it looked more like a cargo transport route.

Those poor rich people, having their estate undermined by a tunnel without even knowing! Someone’s clearly plotting something big.

Were all those side passages we just passed sealed off? Is Lin Yi trying to lead us to the end point?

It was now 3:00 p.m., four to five hours since Su Malie had disappeared. Who knows what the situation outside is like now?

Jing Shu felt a headache coming on and couldn’t help but quicken her pace.

Lin Yi stood before a large screen, watching the activity on a nine-panel display. "So, they took the underground passage?" he mused, a slight smile playing on his lips. "In that case, let’s proceed with Plan B."

"Ling Qi, you can start now."

The daughter of the Wu City natural gas CEO had been placed under house arrest by Wu City’s wealthiest man, Qian Duoduo, due to his peculiar tastes!

This news spread like wildfire, quickly causing an uproar. Even more alarmingly, Su Xiangnan, the natural gas CEO, had reportedly arrived at West Mountain with thousands of gas canisters, vowing to take that old scoundrel Qian Duoduo down with him!

The origin of the news was unknown, but it reached the upper echelons of Wu City within moments. Recognizing the gravity of the situation, the government immediately dispatched Wu City’s First Detachment—a special forces unit—along with the fire department to provide support. The Second Team, led by Li Yuetian, was also assembled and placed on standby, ready to deploy at a moment’s notice.

In just a few hours, thousands of people had swarmed West Mountain. It was the largest gathering of people there since the period a few months ago when many sought refuge from the torrential rains.

Upon hearing the news, Qian Duoduo’s first reaction was to wonder, What game is that Old Ghost playing this time? Hasn’t he had enough of his tricks from last time? Su Xiangnan had indeed played a nasty trick on him before.

This recalled the existing conflict of interest between them. Su Xiangnan, head of a local, multi-generational natural gas dynasty, had seen his family’s resources requisitioned by the government at low prices. Qian Duoduo, on the other hand, was an outsider, a nouveau riche who, with backing from Imperial Capital, had gained control of Wu City’s oil extraction and become the city’s wealthiest man in just two decades.

Su Xiangnan accused Qian Duoduo of enriching himself under the guise of state-owned enterprises. Qian Duoduo, in turn, accused Su Xiangnan of monopolizing national resources.

The two could not stand the sight of each other.

However, with the government backing Qian Duoduo, Su Xiangnan had ultimately suffered considerable disadvantages.

"Let’s discuss this calmly, Brother Su. Disagreements shouldn’t involve family; these aren’t matters to joke about. I genuinely haven’t seen your daughter. Could there be some misunderstanding?" Qian Duoduo, dressed in a Tang suit and leisurely twirling walnuts in his hand, said with composure. He thought, His daughter is missing? What does that have to do with me?

Su Xiangnan’s already grim expression darkened further. He stood with his hands on his hips, pointing at Qian Duoduo. "Do you think I’m joking? Do you believe I won’t blow up your entire West Mountain? You think I can’t make one call and have an explosion go off out there right now?"