Chapter 50

As much as it sounds a bit edgy, Leon thought about it over and over again, and he felt that this phrase perfectly described the current situation of Chal Department Store.

When Chal Department Store first started causing trouble, someone might have been able to stop it. After all, when a train hasn’t started moving yet, stopping it just requires placing a small wooden block on the tracks.

But now, with such a big commotion, more and more people are benefiting, and even more are eagerly waiting for compensation—it’s like the train has already started running. At this point, not even a solid steel wall could stop it; anyone who dares to stand in its way would get crushed!

Amidst his curiosity about Lao Chaer and chatting idly with the carriage driver, the steam carriage roared forward at full speed, arriving near the headquarters of Chal Department Store.

Looking out through the sparkling clean glass, Leon saw the frenzied crowd outside and the money chest that was about to be filled, and couldn’t help but silently whistle. He marveled at the grand moves of Lao Chaer while reluctantly pulling out two silver coins to hand over to the carriage driver.

“Change!”

“…”

Seeing Leon coolly reaching out after giving the money, the carriage driver couldn’t help but mutter under his breath.

Good grief, from the starting point to here—twenty-two kilometers. Twenty-two minus five plus two means you should owe me nineteen copper coins. I’ve answered all your questions along the way, yelled my throat hoarse chatting with you for so long, and you can’t even spare a single copper coin tip? Forget it! Honestly, tipping is a bad habit of the rich. In both my lifetimes, I’ve always been dirt poor and haven’t fully escaped poverty yet. I don’t deserve such extravagant expenses.

Under the carriage driver’s disapproving gaze, Leon took back one copper coin as change, holding the blood-dried folder close to him, feeling both happy and annoyed as he got off the carriage.

The motivation that had driven him to steal data from the Water Power Corporation and find people at the newsroom to expose everything was to help those patients groaning miserably in the hospital corridors. He felt that only by blowing the whistle and making a big fuss could these people receive sufficient compensation for treatment.

But before he could successfully expose the issue, the patients were already receiving compensation. With the burden lifted, Leon sighed in relief but couldn’t help but feel a sense of disappointment akin to throwing a punch into thin air.

Hmm… Might as well go meet this “Lao Chaer”!

Recalling the situation he overheard outside the meeting room at the Water Power Corporation, Leon pondered for a moment while standing on the street before walking towards the building of Chal Department Store.

Judging from the arguments heard in the meeting room, the three noble families led by Lionheart Lane seemed to have deliberately reduced the filtration process and dumped unprocessed sewage into the public water pool to seize control of Chal Department Store.

Although the patients are now being compensated, those three bastards haven’t been punished yet. I happen to have the operation records of the Water Power Corporation and several documents of approvals and communications.

While the priority of “punishing evil” is far less important than “helping the needy,” since tons of nasty things happen every day in the kingdom and I can’t possibly handle them all…

I’ve come all this way, and I spent twenty copper coins; they can’t go to waste!

“You mean those most crucial documents are missing?”

After hearing the report from the detective agency, the dark-skinned elder frowned, curling his thick knuckles worn out from years of labor, and slammed them heavily onto the sturdy ash wood desk in front of him, looking displeased.

“Don’t tell me you couldn’t just bribe some security guards and archivists. The fees I’ve paid you these past few days would be enough to bribe an entire county councilor. Have you actually been working hard for me?”

“Well… Mr. Chaer, the situation this time is slightly unusual…”

Seeing their biggest benefactor getting angry, the person from the detective agency quickly changed expression and hastily explained:

“We really did our best. We bribed two teams of security personnel, bought off a few attendants of the Tower Shield family, and even kidnapped the families of many employees in the archive room of the Water Power Corporation.

But just as our men gathered some materials and followed the archivists into the inner room to search for the remaining files, that damn security manager happened to walk into the outer room.

Who knows what kind of luck he had, there were nearly thirty files piled up on the table, and he randomly picked up the two most important ones, Mr. Chaer, we really…”

“Enough, I’m not interested in your stories!”

Glancing at the gloomy look on the face of the detective agency representative, Lao Chaer couldn’t help but frown deeply, looking quite unfriendly.

“Whatever mistakes you made are your own problem. What I need is evidence proving that those three old noble families, especially the Lane family, deliberately violated regulations! Since the stuff is in the hands of the security manager, go fetch it for me!”

“This…”

The person from the detective agency wiped the sweat off his head with a handkerchief, bowing low and said:

“As soon as our people realized something was missing, they followed immediately, but shortly after the security manager obtained the archives, they were snatched by someone who infiltrated the meeting room—an officer who saved your lady.

That young police officer then proceeded to run around chaotically inside the Water Power Corporation, probably having set trip wires in advance in some hidden places, causing our people to fall headfirst and injure themselves, knocking out a few of them unconscious…”

Noticing a pause, the man gestured for someone nearby with bandages on his head to step forward, opened his mouth to reveal the missing teeth, and continued explaining with a bitter smile: “Mr. Chaer, I know it’s hard to believe, but our people really chased after him with all their might, but they truly couldn’t catch up.

Mainly because this guy’s physical strength is astonishingly strong, and it seems he has undergone some special training. After thoroughly fooling around with our people and confirming no one could interfere, he reached the sixth floor in less than ten seconds.

Then he kicked open the window, directly jumped out from the sixth floor, seemingly escaping via a pre-arranged slide track. Our people chased him all the way but didn’t even see what he looked like…”

“Then find the people who met him!”

After pressing his throbbing head, Lao Chaer coldly knocked the table twice.

“I’ve kept you guys for so many years, spending so much money each year, hiring so many people, all for moments like this! Whether by money or other means, find out who he is no matter what, and bring those documents back to me!”

“Yes, Mr. Chaer, we’re already on it!”

Seeing that the elder seemed unwilling to further pursue their responsibility, the detective agency representative was overjoyed and repeatedly nodded in assurance:

“That person kept his face covered with the brim of his hat, so the only ones who saw his full face are your daughter and that lucky security manager.

And because of your lady’s sudden illness, your daughter was crying rather… emotionally, so she couldn’t clearly describe the person’s appearance. So we focused our investigation on the security manager and have found some clues already!

Mr. Chaer, rest assured. As long as those documents haven’t been destroyed, we ‘Silver Hooks’ guarantee to retrieve them for you!”

(End of Chapter)