Yangcheng.
Inside a rented room, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP... Seven homemade IP converters continuously emitted sounds of rerouting and switching. On the sofa lay a middle-aged man holding a mobile phone. His name was Shen Fei, and he had been in this line of work for seven years. He had successfully scammed over a hundred people, amassing a wealth of experience. Moreover, whenever he scammed someone, he used seven homemade IP converters, constantly rerouting and hopping between them to avoid police tracking and prevent being traced.
However, at that moment, hearing the voice on the phone, he shot up from the sofa. A chill ran from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.
Wasn't it agreed… we'd just trick a lonely, widowed old man?
He swallowed hard and hastily picked up the expensive dossier he had bought, starting to review it. As a veteran in this line of work, he was professional and had thoroughly prepared, gathering all sorts of information in advance. This dossier contained all of Zhang Qingyuan's relevant information: date of birth, marital status, details about his children, home address, hobbies, and so on, all clearly listed. After careful consideration, he had decided to make a move on Zhang Qingyuan.
To this end, he impersonated someone from the Municipal Criminal Investigation Task Force, first intimidating Zhang Qingyuan to break through his psychological defenses. Everything had been going smoothly. Zhang Qingyuan's voice had even trembled slightly, ready to make the transfer.
But all of a sudden… Zhang Qingyuan's tone changed, becoming cold and defiant. He even revealed that Zhang Tianmin was responsible for thirteen homicides, and it sounded like he'd even killed someone during the call! The sound of gunfire from before and the voices of more than a dozen young men sounded incredibly real.
I… I couldn't have really tried to scam a gang boss, could I?
For a moment, Shen Fei's scalp tingled. But, drawing on his years of experience in the business, he took a deep breath. He didn't readily believe what he heard over the phone. Instead, trying to sound composed, he spoke into the phone.
He barked sternly, "This is the Municipal Criminal Investigation Task Force!"
"I don't care what you're doing, but if you want to see your son again, transfer one hundred thousand yuan immediately into bank account xxxxxxxx!"
"You have two hours!"
His voice regained the composed tone of a middle-aged police officer, but his earlier confidence was lacking.
"You still want money? I could transfer the money to you, but I'm afraid you might have the life to take the money, but not the life… to spend it!"
Zhang Qingyuan's aged voice came through the phone again, deep and filled with murderous intent. That single sentence made Shen Fei's skin crawl.
"You… you you… you dare to threaten me?"
Shen Fei clenched his teeth and warned sternly, "This is the Municipal Criminal Investigation Task Force! Threatening an officer on duty means you're already suspected of committing a crime!"
Before he could finish, that aged voice came again from the phone.
"A crime?" The voice carried a hint of contempt and arrogance.
"Never mind threatening you. Just a moment ago, I shot Mr. Li. What can you do about it?"
"Do you have evidence? You have neither witness nor physical evidence! A recording doesn't prove anything!"
"I'm not that piece of trash you caught. Even if I killed someone, you couldn't catch me! And even if you did, I wouldn't be convicted!"
The aged, defiant voice echoed in the rented room once more—incredibly arrogant, extremely insolent!
After hearing this, Shen Fei couldn't help but shiver, barely able to keep hold of his phone. At this point, he was certain that there was something wrong with his information; the other party was definitely not an ordinary old man! An ordinary old man wouldn't be so crazed, let alone be so brazen in the face of a special task force! This was an out-and-out lawless thug!
Considering everything he had just heard over the phone, he was beginning to believe the other party might be a gang boss. This particular gang boss… it seemed he was hiding in a nursing home for some special reason, using the alias Zhang Qingyuan and disguising himself as an ordinary old man. Thinking of this, the stark contrast in Zhang Qingyuan's behavior suddenly made sense. At first, Zhang Qingyuan deliberately feigned worry and fear, but then he just dropped the act. He gave up on Zhang Tianmin. And right over the phone, he killed someone called 'Mr. Li.'
An image of a godfather-like figure, aged but with a commanding presence, gradually emerged in his mind.
I… did I really try to scam a gang boss?
At this thought, Shen Fei's expression turned extremely grim. This Zhang Qingyuan's son was already responsible for thirteen lives this year. Yet, in Zhang Qingyuan's words, his son was merely 'trash'! If Zhang Qingyuan really was a gang boss, things were about to get very complicated.
Just then, an unfamiliar young man's voice came over the phone.
"Boss, we've had the telecom company trace the phone's IP address."
"But this person is very cunning. We could only roughly deduce his city, not his specific address."
Shen Fei was taken aback when he heard this. A bad premonition arose in his heart.
And the next second, "Zhang Qingyuan's" cold voice rang out again.
"Since we've found the city, it'll be easy." The aged voice was devoid of any emotion. "Send thirty men over. I don't care if he's from the task force or not. In 24 hours, he must vanish from the face of the earth!"
"Yes!"
Hearing this, Shen Fei felt a chill shoot straight to the crown of his head, his expression growing even more grim. Without giving it another thought, he quickly hung up the call.
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP—
Listening to the busy tone, he slumped onto the sofa, his expression dazed.
This person… could he really be a gang boss?
He muttered to himself, the more he thought about it, the more it felt wrong. The man could casually kill 'Mr. Li' in the nursing home, could even track IP addresses—he had connections everywhere! And now he said he was sending thirty men to Yangcheng to hunt me down…