Chapter 307: Thailand Strategy Early in the morning, Chen Nuo had mentioned to Ou Xiuhua that he might need to go on a business trip for a few days. Ou Xiuhua didn’t suspect a thing, simply reminding him to be careful, drink less, and so on. In her eyes, her son’s business was so substantial that business trips seemed quite normal. After arranging with Ou Xiuhua for Brother Lei to help take Xiao Yezi to kindergarten during his trip, and after getting things in order at home, Chen Nuo left. In the morning, Lucky Seven came looking for Chen Nuo. After obtaining the passport and other documents Chen Nuo provided, Li Qingshan had already arranged the plane ticket by the afternoon. When it concerned his own son’s life, Li Qingshan operated with extreme efficiency. That very evening, at Lukou Airport, Li Qingshan personally saw Chen Nuo off. "Mr. Chen Nuo, please..." Before Li Qingshan could finish, Chen Nuo waved him off. "There’s no need for polite words. As long as your son is still alive, I will definitely bring him back. Since I’ve promised you, I will see it through." Relief washed over Li Qingshan. Wasn’t his eager association and even flattery towards Chen Nuo and Zhang Linsheng all to prevent exactly this type of incident? Li Qingshan was getting on in years, wealthy and influential, wanting for nothing. If not for preparing for such emergencies, why would he go out of his way to butter up two young men younger than his own son? "About that, are you sure you don’t need Lucky Seven to go with you?" It wasn’t that Li Qingshan didn’t trust Chen Nuo’s abilities, but Lucky Seven was the person he trusted most—and the only person besides him who knew about his son’s situation. Chen Nuo was indeed capable, but he was still young. Li Qingshan meant that having Lucky Seven accompany him, being reliable and much better at dealing with people, might provide some help. "No need," Chen Nuo flatly refused, merely glancing at Li Qingshan and frowning. "It’s best if you also lay low for the next few days. Find somewhere to hide where people won’t find you." "While it’s likely the kidnappers grabbed your son to threaten you and make some demands—it’s also possible they might target you directly. Be cautious about your own safety. Don’t get your home raided." "Yes, yes, yes, I’ll make sure to keep plenty of bodyguards around me. I won’t go out; I’ll just stay at the hot springs resort and await your good news!" Chen Nuo thought for a moment and nodded. "If they contact you, let me know immediately." "What if... they never contact me?" Li Qingshan couldn’t help asking. Chen Nuo sighed, lightly patted Li Qingshan’s shoulder, said nothing more, and turned towards the security checkpoint. There were things I shouldn’t say explicitly to Li Qingshan, Chen Nuo thought. If there was no contact, then it would mean that the other party wasn’t using the kidnapping to make any demands from him, but rather was seeking direct and simple revenge: taking the life of Li Qingshan’s son as retribution for Li Qingshan’s past actions. For more chapters visıt 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡~𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢~𝙣𝙚𝙩 Chen Nuo didn’t voice these thoughts, but he believed that Li Qingshan would understand. Thus, before setting off on this journey, Chen Nuo had made preparations. What if the other party simply killed Li Qingshan’s son as a form of revenge? To prevent Li Qingshan from reacting impulsively with retaliatory acts, like harming Fang Lin and her daughter... Regardless, I must adhere to one principle: no harm must come to innocent family members. This is my bottom line. So, even though he was leaving Jinling, he had secretly instructed the Captain to discreetly follow Fang Lin’s family and protect them in the shadows until his return. It was a red-eye flight that evening. By the time he arrived in Bangkok, Thailand, it was well after midnight. Chen Nuo deplaned, cleared immigration, and after collecting his checked items and luggage, exited Bangkok’s airport into the dead of night. Though it was October, Bangkok, situated in the tropics, was still swelteringly hot. Chen Nuo had already changed into a short-sleeved shirt on the plane. After hailing a taxi, he settled into the back seat, holding a checked case. In the back seat of the car, Chen Nuo opened the checked case in his lap, and from inside, the Gray Cat poked its head out. Chen Nuo smiled, detecting the Gray Cat’s discontent. "What, was the pet transport process uncomfortable?" "Did a dog next to you keep you from sleeping?" "Take a private jet on the way back? Are you paying for it?" "See? If you’ve got no money, then stop your mewling." As a tourist city, Bangkok had a plethora of hotels, both large and small. Li Qingshan’s son, Lv Shaojie, had come with his medical school supervisor to attend a conference and was naturally staying at the hotel provided by the conference organizers. It was a five-star hotel, a bit old, with somewhat dated facilities, but overall, it was still passable. Chen Nuo went directly to the hotel, checked into a room, and soon after, ran out carrying the Gray Cat. The room Lv Shaojie had stayed in before his disappearance had already been examined by the police and was temporarily sealed off. However, for this type of case, the police wouldn’t station anyone there in the middle of the night. Chen Nuo effortlessly entered Lv Shaojie’s room. It was a standard hotel room, left untouched and uncleaned, clearly at the police’s request. However, all of Lv Shaojie’s personal belongings had already been taken by the police. Without turning on the lights, Chen Nuo used only a flashlight to carefully inspect every corner of the room. The toiletries in the bathroom had all been used: the rinsing cup, toothbrush, and towels. Chen Nuo looked at the bathrobe hanging on the wall, thought for a moment, pointed at it, and set down the Gray Cat he was holding. The Gray Cat directly rolled its eyes. "I’m a cat, not a dog." "Just give it a try; there’s no harm," Chen Nuo said with a smile. The Gray Cat gently walked around the room, then jumped onto the sofa, curled up, and began licking its paws. Chen Nuo thoroughly checked the bathroom again but found nothing unusual. He even unscrewed the showerhead to inspect it. Then he walked out of the bathroom and checked the air conditioning vent—nothing unusual there either. "I didn’t find any valuable clues in the room," Chen Nuo said. "No signs of surveillance, nor any signs of assassination or an attempt." He sighed. "Actually, I didn’t have much hope inspecting this place. Lv Shaojie is just an ordinary person; dealing with him wouldn’t require such complex methods." "So, you came to check this place with that same thought?" the Gray Cat said lazily. "Give it a try, nothing to lose?" "Yeah, since I’m here anyway. Instead of just resting in my room until dawn, I figured I might as well come take a look." The case of Lv Shaojie’s disappearance was, in terms of its basic facts, very simple. A person went out to have fun, didn’t come back, and vanished. After it was reported, the Thai police were handling it according to standard procedure. They questioned Lv Shaojie’s classmates and took their statements, inspected his room, and inquired about his itinerary for the past few days, the places he had visited, and whether he had met anyone suspicious. (The inquiry revealed no contact with suspicious individuals—at least, his classmates said he hadn’t.) They also asked if Lv Shaojie knew anyone in Bangkok. (He didn’t), and so on. "There are a few questions that have never been clear," Chen Nuo mused. "The ’Second Brother’ whom Li Qingshan betrayed was supposedly lost in Myanmar back then. How could a guy lost in Myanmar years ago suddenly show up in Thailand to kidnap someone? By my calculations, this Second Brother should be around sixty by now. Kidnapping isn’t something a sixty-year-old man could likely do alone, especially abducting a young man in his twenties. Physically overpowering and restraining him would be risky. Moreover, the fact that they could accurately find Lv Shaojie’s identity, residence, and movements implies this ’Second Brother’ definitely has his own resources; he’s certainly not working alone. He might have underlings, accomplices, or even an organization. "That brings up the second question. Building up such a force isn’t done overnight. What I’m curious about is... it’s been over ten years since that incident. Why choose this moment for retribution? If he escaped and didn’t die in the mountains of Myanmar back then, what has he been doing all these years? Not returning home to see his family? Not taking care of his wife and children? Alright, even if this person is naturally cold-hearted and indifferent to his family’s fate, why seek revenge only now? Hasn’t he waited a bit too long to retaliate?" "No, no, no, Li Qingshan didn’t lie to me; he told me the truth. So I didn’t press him on these issues. He genuinely doesn’t know. I could tell from the fluctuations in his spiritual power when he explained these matters to me." Chen Nuo shook his head. "But these questions... once we find the person, everything should become clear." The Gray Cat gracefully jumped down from the sofa, walked over, and leaped onto Chen Nuo’s shoulder, squatting there, "MEOW?" "Now?" Chen Nuo smiled. "Now, of course, we find people. Not Lv Shaojie, but rather... the people behind this. Tracking someone’s itinerary and residence, kidnapping them, and then finding a place to hide them... these tasks can’t be accomplished by a single person. Plus, activities like these always leave traces. "Two possibilities. First, if this Second Brother and his crew are outsiders, they would definitely need help from local fixers. Especially for finding Lv Shaojie’s residence, tracking his itinerary, movements, and so on... these things would certainly require local fixers. Second, if Second Brother’s gang developed here in Bangkok, then we start by investigating the local Underground World." Anyone else would probably have a major headache over this for a long time, he thought. But fortunately, I have my ways. After all, in my past life, I was Yama. Cha Wang swaggered through the main entrance, just like any other day. Flanked by seven or eight burly men in colorful floral shirts, the one in the lead forcefully shoved aside a young man chatting up a girl at the doorway, shooting him a fierce glare. The young man immediately cowered, lowering his head and making way. This was a nightclub. It wasn’t high-class, the air thick and foul, with typical Southeast Asian decor. Inside, a singer on stage was energetically belting out a song with a strong rhythm, her body twisting wildly, a group of scantily clad backup dancers behind her. Below the stage, a crowd of people thrashed about under the dim, flashing lights. The air was heavy with the swirling fumes of smoke and alcohol. In the surrounding booths, a group of patrons who clearly looked like trouble sat with arrogant postures. Curtains hung before the booths, and inside sat more scantily clad dancers. Well... they were probably women. Like a lion patrolling his territory, Cha Wang let his henchmen roughly push aside anyone in their path as he made his way to the southeast corner of the establishment. He stood in an area his men had cleared, surveying the club with a satisfied smile. Cha Wang owned six such nightclubs in Bangkok. Additionally, he had over a dozen massage parlors and more than ten small gambling dens. Furthermore, he controlled two channels for smuggling foreign liquor. In Bangkok, the men under his direct command who depended on him for their livelihood numbered over five hundred. Through these five hundred, he could remotely control and influence the various riff-raff at the very bottom of the street hierarchy. If he mobilized everyone, a single word from Cha Wang could rally thousands upon thousands of people. It could be said that in Bangkok, Cha Wang was the top figure in the Underground World. This particular club was the smallest and shabbiest of the six Cha Wang owned. But Cha Wang had a particular fondness for this place. It was the very first nightclub he had opened when he was starting out. Though it was now old and dilapidated, with outdated facilities, and even the dancers were far less beautiful than those in the newer clubs in other districts, Cha Wang still preferred it here. In this regard, he was a rather nostalgic person. To rise so suddenly in just five years, creating such a vast enterprise in Bangkok, to emerge from a slum family that survived by scavenging vegetable scraps from the market and hauling trash, and ultimately become the most famous and well-staffed leading figure in Bangkok’s Underground World... Cha Wang was certainly no ordinary man! He also had a little-known identity—the proof of which was hidden in the safe in his office, located on the basement level of this nightclub. Inside it was a black USB drive—one bearing an octopus logo. Yes, Cha Wang was an Underground World Ability User. The old-fashioned elevator descended to the basement level—the kind with iron grilles that had to be manually pushed open. It always creaked and groaned during operation. More than once, his subordinates had advised Cha Wang to move his office to the largest, newly built nightclub in Bangkok’s new city district. But Cha Wang always refused. As a Thai, Cha Wang believed in the gods. Many years ago, when he started his business here, he had someone read his fortune, and they told him this place was auspicious for him. Therefore, he had been unwilling to move for many years. In the corridor on the basement level, a damp smell always lingered. Although it was cleaned carefully every day, the odor seemed to have permeated the very walls. After stepping out of the elevator, two of his men immediately took up positions at the elevator entrance, standing guard as per protocol. Rounding a corner in the corridor, two beautiful dancers emerged from a room with an open door. One, with a particularly stunning figure, wore a revealing bandeau, her slender waist twisting like a snake as she quickly sidled up to Cha Wang. Cha Wang impatiently pushed the woman away. After he muttered a few words, the woman walked off with a look of chagrin, retreating back into the room. At the end of the corridor, before an iron door, two guards immediately stood up and respectfully opened it. Inside the iron door was Cha Wang’s private office—by rule, no one but him was ever allowed to enter. Absolutely no one! A year ago, a woman who was highly favored by Cha Wang at the time, presuming herself the mistress of the place, had arrogantly entered through that iron door. She had no ulterior motive; she simply wanted to surprise Cha Wang and further cultivate her relationship with the boss who held her fate, and everyone else’s, in his hands. That woman was never seen in the nightclub again. Neither were the two guards on duty at the iron door that day. After that incident, everyone understood one thing: that iron door was absolutely forbidden. Once through the iron door, Cha Wang was alone. His men remained outside, guarding it after it closed. Cha Wang walked alone down the corridor and, at its end, stood before the door to his own office. He easily pushed open the wooden panel door and stepped into the space that truly belonged only to him. After entering, he lightly pressed a switch on the wall, and the lights flickered on. It was a suite. The outer room contained a circle of sofas and an old-looking desk, upon which sat a telephone and a computer. An inner door led to a bedroom, furnished with a single bed and a safe. Cha Wang casually took off his shirt, tossed it onto the sofa, then went over and pressed the computer’s power button. As the computer’s fan whirred to life, Cha Wang retrieved a beer from the refrigerator, opened it, and took a swig. Wiping his mouth, Cha Wang strode into the inner bedroom. Pushing open the door, Cha Wang suddenly froze, rooted to the spot! In the bedroom, beside the bed, a figure was squatting. To be precise, squatting next to the safe by the bed. The person’s back was to him, and the safe was open. They seemed to be rummaging through its contents. Within a second, Cha Wang’s body tensed, his blood boiled, and then came intense waves of nervousness, rage, and... panic! He immediately clenched the beer bottle in his hand and snatched a Burmese knife hanging on the wall. With his customary weapon in hand, Cha Wang felt a sliver of confidence return. He took a deep breath and cautiously stepped back, just as he was about to speak. From in front of the safe, Chen Nuo turned around, a hint of disappointment on his face. "For an Ability User with an Octopus Monster Black Iron account... your safe is rather paltry, Mr. Cha Wang." Chen Nuo stood up, shaking his wrist. In his hand, he pinched Cha Wang’s black USB drive. "Not much cash, only a few tens of thousands of US dollars, and a few Gold Bars... Are you short on cash lately?"