novelsite Chapter 60 Choice
Chapter 60 Choice
Li Ruijun continued, his voice hoarse: "Last month, two Chinese female students went missing on their way home one night in the Neukölln district. They were found three days later in a ditch... covered in injuries. The police said it was a 'random violent incident,' but the neighborhood knew it was done by Indian thugs. There were two similar incidents last year, and both were left unresolved."
He looked up, a fatherly despair in his eyes: "Rajish's men... in their hometown, rape is as commonplace as eating and drinking. Xiaowei, she..."
Wang Zhengyang didn't speak. Instead, he first pulled up a map showing the distribution of surveillance cameras in the Neukölln district and around Chinatown, and then pulled up an encrypted intelligence file—the latest briefing sent by Li Ming.
"It's no coincidence that Rajish was on that street today." Wang Zhengyang's voice was eerily calm. "The Iron Hand has offered a 50,000 euro reward for information on a Ukrainian named Andriy. It's said that he might be hiding in a community with Eastern European connections. A small fry like Rajish is trying his luck searching everywhere to earn that money."
He zoomed in on the map of Chinatown: "But he didn't know two things: First, the Iron Hand was looking for Andre, who was not an ordinary immigrant at all, but a ruthless former special forces member. Second, someone like Rajish was less than a dog in the eyes of the Iron Hand and Zhang Yiqiang—when the Iron Hand really needed someone, they had plenty of professional informants and would never use a low-level thug like him."
Li Ruijun clenched his fist: "Engineer Wang, I was thinking... once the train's modifications are complete and it's undergoing operational testing, could Xiaowei travel back to China with the train? Testing always requires someone to accompany the train and record the data; she can handle the logistical record-keeping..."
Wang Zhengyang turned around and looked at him: "And what about you?"
"I..." Li Ruijun was speechless.
"Stay in Berlin? Wait for the next group of Indian thugs to come looking for trouble? Or what if Rajish can't find Xiaowei and takes his anger out on you?" Wang Zhengyang's questions grew increasingly pointed. "Endure it once, endure it twice, keep enduring it? Until one day you end up like those people in the news, dying in some ditch?"
Li Ruijun was speechless.
Wang Zhengyang walked to the window and looked at Li Xiaowei, who was organizing ingredients in the planting pod outside. The girl's eyes were still a little red, but she had already mustered her spirits to work.
"What exactly did Rajish say?" Wang Zhengyang asked in a very soft voice.
Li Ruijun painstakingly repeated those words, and with each sentence he spoke, the temperature in the carriage seemed to drop by one degree.
After listening, Wang Zhengyang nodded. His expression remained unchanged, but Li Ruijun could sense that something cold and deadly was awakening within this young man.
"Engineer Wang," Li Ruijun took a deep breath, "I just want to protect my sister. Sending her back to China is the safest way. I'll stay... I can handle it myself."
"You can't handle it." Wang Zhengyang's words were merciless. "Today you're armed with a stick, but what about next time? What if Rajish comes with a knife and a gun? How many lives do you have to fight back?"
He walked back to the control panel and pulled up another intelligence report: "Rajish has been very active lately, but he doesn't dare mess with the Iron Hand Gang, much less Zhang Yiqiang. He can only bully those weaker than him—like small shops on the street, or Chinese people like you without gang affiliations. But he's forgotten that bullying comes at a price."
"The price?" Li Ruijun smiled wryly, "The price that even the police won't do anything about?"
"The police have their rules, and I have mine." Wang Zhengyang pulled up a floor plan of Pier 17. "Rajish's eagerness to find 'Andrei' has given me an opportunity—an opportunity to permanently resolve the problem."
He zoomed in on a corner of the dock: "At nine o'clock the night after tomorrow, Zhang Yiqiang will receive a batch of goods at the East Zone of Pier 17. At the same time, I will arrange for someone to spread the word that Andrei will appear at the dock. If Rajish hears this news, he will definitely rush over like a hyena smelling blood, trying to curry favor."
Li Ruijun understood something: "But for a nobody like him to barge in like this..."
"He's asking for death," Wang Zhengyang continued. "In a place like the docks, it's perfectly normal for a small-time hoodlum who doesn't know the rules to die."
He spoke casually, but a chill ran down Li Ruijun's spine. This wasn't a simple gang fight; it was a precise attempt to kill someone using another's knife.
"Rajish shouldn't have said those things." Wang Zhengyang looked out the window one last time, his gaze landing on Li Xiaowei. "There are some bottom lines; crossing them comes at a price. He crossed them, and deliberately, maliciously, and with a boastful attitude."
Li Ruijun suddenly understood. Wang Zhengyang wasn't angry; he was judging.
"Three days." Wang Zhengyang withdrew his gaze and looked at Li Ruijun. "Within three days, the name Rajesh will disappear from Berlin. You don't need to send Xiaowei back to China—if you wish, you can take her with you when this train departs. This train's destination was never the test site; it will continue eastward until it returns to China."
Li Ruijun was stunned: "You mean...?"
"I'm saying, you and Xiaowei can both stay and become part of this project," Wang Zhengyang said firmly. "No visas, no permits, just loyalty and ability. As for the Indians' trouble—I'll handle it. All the trouble."
He sat back at the control panel and began retrieving detailed information about the dock area: "But you need to think this through. Once you're on this train, there's no turning back. The outside world might become... worse than you imagine. And on the train, you must follow my rules."
Li Ruijun stood in the command center, his mind buzzing. Wang Zhengyang's words were loaded with information—the train wasn't a test platform? Would it keep returning to China? Would the outside world get worse?
But the last sentence is the clearest: He will solve all the problems.
"Don't tell Xiaowei about today's events," Wang Zhengyang's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Continue construction as usual. Also, tell all the Chinese brothers on the construction site to try to avoid going to the New Kern district and Chinatown these next few days, especially at night."
When Li Ruijun left the command center, his steps were a little unsteady, but for the first time, the stone that had been weighing on his heart for many years loosened.
He glanced back—Wang Zhengyang was intently looking at the information on his phone.
The young man said he would resolve Rajish within three days.
The young man said he could take him and his sister back to China.
The young man said that the outside world might become very bad.
Li Ruijun suddenly recalled Rajish's drunken, lustful face from that afternoon, the fates of those Chinese girls in the news, and his own years of forbearance and grievances in this foreign land.
He clenched his fist.
Perhaps, we don't need to endure it anymore.
Perhaps, we can really trust this mysterious young man just this once.
Rajish crossed a line he should never have crossed in his most habitual way.
Wang Zhengyang's response was simple and direct: three days, and he would be eliminated.
Li Ruijun took a deep breath and walked towards the implantation pod. He was going to tell his sister that from today onwards, they had a new choice—a potentially dangerous, but never a humiliating one.