novelsite Chapter 49 Li Ming's Arrival
Chapter 49 Li Ming's Arrival
At 1:50 p.m., the communicator at the perimeter sentry post reported: "Engineer Wang, visitor Li Ming has arrived."
"Take him to the command center."
Five minutes later, Li Ming entered the second carriage. This middle-aged man had changed his attire today: a dark gray waterproof windbreaker, jeans, a pair of seemingly ordinary hiking boots with deep treads, and a slightly bulky mountaineering backpack, making him look more like a hiker or a geological surveyor.
But Wang Zhengyang's mechanical affinity allowed him to capture more details the moment he stepped into the carriage: the barely perceptible hard outline of the hem of his trench coat could be a hidden holster or dagger; his pace was steady, and his center of gravity was always in a state where he could exert force at any time; his eyes scanned the environment, and the first places they landed on were the two entrances and exits of the carriage and possible hiding places on the ceiling, which is a typical tactical assessment habit.
"Mr. Wang." Li Ming nodded in greeting, his gaze quickly taking in the layout and equipment of the command center. On the three circular control consoles, more than half of the screens were lit up, the monitoring images divided in an orderly fashion. His pupils contracted slightly—these were not civilian monitoring interfaces, but rather resembled the prototype of some kind of integrated command system.
"Detective Li, please have a seat." Wang Zhengyang gestured to the swivel chair in front of the control panel. "Coffee? Tea? Or water?"
"Warm water is fine, thank you." Li Ming took off his backpack and placed it at his feet, then took the stainless steel thermos Wang Zhengyang handed him, but didn't drink immediately. He sat down, his hands folded on his knees, relaxed yet alert. "The recent activities and related intelligence about Zhang Yiqiang that you requested."
He took a tablet from the side pocket of his backpack, unlocked it, and pushed it over. The screen didn't display a simple document, but a clearly structured dynamic intelligence map. In the center was a photo of Zhang Yiqiang, and around it radiated multiple lines of different colors, pointing to modules such as "Personnel," "Industry," "Transactions," "Conflict," and "Protective Umbrella."
"A very professional presentation." Wang Zhengyang took the tablet and swiped his fingers to browse.
"In the information age, intelligence also needs to be visualized." Li Ming took a sip of water. "The fee will be the same as always. But Mr. Wang, after seeing this, you may need to reassess the risk level."
Wang Zhengyang clicked on the "Personnel" module. Besides the known core subordinates, mistresses, and family members, a line marked in red stood out. It pointed to a node named "Mr. Zhou," with only four words in the description: "Huaqing Gang, Western Europe."
"Mr. Zhou?" Wang Zhengyang looked up.
Li Ming leaned forward slightly, his voice lowered, carrying an unusual seriousness: "Zhang Yiqiang has been able to operate in Berlin for so many years not just because he is cautious and cunning. He has a powerful backer—one of the key figures in the Huaqing Gang in Western Europe, whom everyone respectfully calls 'Mr. Zhou.' This man has extremely deep roots, with businesses and connections in Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Hamburg, and Frankfurt. He acts discreetly and rarely appears in person, but his skills and influence... far surpass those of someone like Zhang Yiqiang."
He paused, then added, "Zhang Yiqiang is essentially Mr. Zhou's 'purchasing agent' and 'warehouse manager' in the Berlin area. A large portion of the goods he resells ultimately end up connected to Mr. Zhou's network, or in terms of funding. Taking action against Zhang Yiqiang could very well infringe upon Mr. Zhou's interests. You have to consider the owner before you beat a dog."
Wang Zhengyang's expression remained unchanged, but his mind raced. The Huaqing Gang… In the early stages of the apocalypse in his previous life, these overseas Chinese communities did indeed manage to hold their ground in the initial stages of the collapse of order, thanks to their resilience and the resources they had stockpiled. However, this relative "organization" and "wealth" became the most conspicuous targets after the utter failure of civilized law. When a larger group of survivors descended into madness in despair, these united and resource-rich Chinese groups became the most lucrative "treasure trove" in the eyes of wolves. The scenes in his memory were cold and bloody: painstakingly built strongholds were violently breached by united outsiders, accumulated resources were looted, and community members were either slaughtered in resistance or enslaved or driven as "cannon fodder" to explore dangerous areas. So-called roots and kinship were incredibly fragile in the face of absolute barbaric force and naked racial plunder.
If Zhang Yiqiang is indeed backed by a force of this caliber, then handling the situation requires a more sophisticated approach. Not only must they avoid prematurely attracting the direct attention of figures like Mr. Zhou, but they must also consider whether the power vacuum and resource depots left behind by Zhang Yiqiang's sudden downfall could, as in their previous life, become the trigger for even greater chaos and conflict, thus drawing themselves into the vortex. Ideally, they should divert the blame elsewhere, or create the illusion of an "accident" or "outsider's involvement," directing potential retaliation elsewhere, such as... the Iron Hand Gang, which is currently seeking conflict.
"Has Mr. Zhou been following Berlin recently?"
"There are no direct signs at the moment." Li Ming shook his head. "This important figure usually only cares about large transactions and channel security. As long as Zhang Yiqiang can make payments on time and keep the channels open, and no major trouble arises, Mr. Zhou will not interfere with specific matters. But the premise is—no major trouble arises."
Wang Zhengyang understood the subtext: Mr. Zhou might not bother with small-scale double-crosses and conflicts in the underworld. But if Zhang Yiqiang suddenly died, especially if the warehouses and distribution channels he controlled suffered significant losses, affecting Mr. Zhou's business, then the situation would be different.
He continued browsing the intelligence map and clicked on the "Transaction" module. Several recent transaction records were highlighted, one of which caught Wang Zhengyang's attention: "This weekend (expected), old warehouse in the eastern section of Pier 17, goods type: heavy 'industrial equipment' (suspected munitions), source note: 'waste material' processing flow from an Eastern European country."
"Can this information be confirmed?" Wang Zhengyang pointed to the record.
"I'm about 70% sure," Li Ming explained. "One of my informants works at the port management company. He noticed that Zhang Yiqiang's people have been frequently contacting a freight forwarder from Eastern Europe recently, inquiring about the port arrival and customs clearance times of a batch of containers declared as 'scrap steel and machinery parts.' The departure port and documents of the containers... are a bit too 'clean,' which is suspicious. Considering Zhang Yiqiang's 'main business,' there's a very high possibility that there are smuggled goods hidden in that batch of 'scrap machinery,' and it's very likely to be a large one."
"Specific time?"
"The port's operations schedule is packed. The exact unloading time for that batch of containers won't be confirmed through the internal system for at least two days," Li Ming said, glancing at Wang Zhengyang. "I'll let you know as soon as I have accurate information. What, interested in this 'scrap metal'?"
"We just need to assess the potential risks." Wang Zhengyang closed the trading module and seemingly casually opened the "Conflict" branch. "Besides the warehouse fire, has there been any other friction between Zhang Yiqiang and the Iron Hand Gang recently? I think I heard that the Iron Hand Gang is offering a bounty for someone?"