Chapter 470 - THE MAN BEHIND IT ALL

The Chairman woke up in fear when he heard someone riffling through his nightstand. He sat up and looked at the two people in his dimly lit bedroom. Overwhelming fear shook him to his very core. He thought of grabbing his gun from his nightstand. 

However, all he saw were pieces of his firearm on the nightstand. Someone had dismantled his gun while he was sleeping. And he had not heard a thing. Lately, he had been sleeping a little earlier and a little deeper. 

Perhaps, he was a little lethargic because he did not have anything to do. 

Or maybe, his health had deteriorated due to the constant drinking he did throughout the day. His wife had long left him, and he had no children. Without a job, he could only fill the emptiness with alcohol. It kept him relaxed while he plotted an escape from the mire of his life.

Either way, his former routine had changed. He no longer woke up at the crack of dawn or slept late reviewing documents or meeting with major donors and government officials. His current regime was drinking and falling asleep before nine o'clock and waking at ten o'clock the following morning to drink some more. 

"Oh, you are awake." A female voice spoke.

"Who are you? And do you know who I am?" He asked the two people with false bravado. 

The woman walked up to him and switched on the bedside lamp. She looked down at the old man with a chilling smile as she allowed the light to illuminate her face. 

"We have not met. But I did not think that I needed an introduction." Hu Lei spoke gently and calmly. 

Her voice was like a gentle brook, but it hid jagged rocks. The Chairman looked at the face of the woman who had brought an end to his glorious days. Her unnatural eyes glowed in the light from the lamp, making her seem like a demon. 

The Chairman scrambled away from her and got down from his bed. He did not think that she was there for a friendly chat. He had heard stories about her, especially after she escaped from the grasp of the International Health Alliance. 

"You cannot do anything to me, demon. You should know that I am being watched by Interpol. Even though they think I am a criminal, they will not let you do this." The Chairman shouted. 

The other person in the room walked to the Chairman and kicked him. Finally, the old man had a clear look at the person hiding in the shadows. He gasped both in pain and surprise. He could not believe the law-abiding Zhong Feng was in his house at night. 

"Think before you speak, or your death may come to you sooner than you expect." Zhong Feng Said coldly. 

Without waiting for a response, Zhong Feng pulled the Chairman to a chair in the room and placed him on it. The Chairman wanted to resist, but he did not have the strength to resist. He wondered if they had drugged him before he woke up. 

"What have you done to me?" He shouted. 

Hu Lei walked up to him and looked at him coldly. She had always wanted to meet the Chairman to find out what kind of person he was, capable of leading the organisation for countless years. However, as she looked at him, she felt he was a coward. 

She was disappointed.

"Keep shouting like a crazed beast, and I will make sure the numbness will spread to the rest of your body." She bent a little to look at his horrified face. "Do you know what will happen if this drug hits your vital organs? Your heart will tire, your lungs will fail, and one by one, all the little things keeping a useless thing like you alive will fade." 

The Chairman wanted to back away from the demonic girl, but he could not muster the courage to look into her eyes. All he could think was that he should have killed her. Instead of letting Harriet hunt her for her experiments, they should have killed her. 

"What do you want from me?" The Chairman asked with a trembling voice. "I have already lost everything. There is no hope for rebuilding the organisation or my life. Is it not enough?" he asked. 

Hu Lei laughed. "If you know about the grotesque creatures created in your labs, people robbed of the last speck of their humanity, you should understand that it will never be enough. Your sins will follow you to your death." 

The Chairman wanted to plead his case again, but Hu Lei lifted a hand to stop him. 

"But I do not care about your mortal soul. What I want to know is everything about the person behind you. I want to know who supported and protected the International Health Alliance." She said. 

The Chairman froze for a moment. "I don't know what you are talking about. We had many supporters, such as powerful people in the business world and politicians in various places in the government. We did not have a single supporter." 

While he feared this woman and man before him, he was more afraid of that person. He had only met him a few times, but he had known how cold-blooded he was. A single word would end up in his death. He did not dare to be careless. 

"I was afraid you would say that." Hu Lei said. 

She took out a tiny spray bottle from her glove and looked at it. She was careful to get the right item before use. She did not want to end up like a certain comical spy in a movie who kept confusing their special tools. It was funny on TV, but it would not work out so well in real life. 

She sprayed a small puff near the Chairman's nose. This drug was a concoction she had ordered from one of her cousins a few weeks back. Her father had taught her how to make a lot of poisons and drugs to help her deal with any trouble. She still remembered everything.

This drug was a formula she had modified a little to extract information from stubborn people. 

When the drug hit the Chairman's brain, he felt a little woozy. It was not like an alcohol high. Rather, his mind did not feel like it belonged to him. He tried to shake the feeling of detachment, but he could not free himself. 

Hu Lei smiled as she looked at the foolish and lost look on the old man's face. She looked at Zhong Feng with smugness on her face. He was a little amused and reached to pat her head. She turned back to the captured prey. 

"Tell me, who was supporting the International Health Alliance from behind?" She asked. 

The Chairman seemed to fight something for a few seconds before speaking. "I don't know his name. He came to me five or six years ago and offered me a deal. He has never said his name." 

Hu Lei frowned. "Can you describe him?" 

The Chairman hesitated again, but he still answered. "He is a young man, probably in his early twenties. He has white hair and red eyes." 

"What did he want?" She asked. 

"He said he knew about our secret labs. He wanted to use the resources to find a solution to a medical problem. We presented the problems to our research scientists and sent him regular reports about the progress of the issue." He explained.