Chapter 15

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Early morning, George was sitting on the couch and would turn his head to look at the clock every few minutes.

He had only slept for about three hours since midnight.

In the message Buck sent him last night, he had found out who the owner of the phone number was.

The number was registered under the name Eliza, but Buck found out that the real owner of the number was a guy named Brooke.

Brooke had no criminal record in the police force and ran a furniture factory. On the surface, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with him.

However, Buck told George that the guy’s actions in hiding his identity as the owner of the number showed that Brooke was not the law-abiding citizen he appeared to be.

It was a given George chose to believe Buck’s investigation. This was because Anna was the one who had given him the number. He believed that there was a secret behind why she had chosen to give him an unfamiliar number.

Originally, after George received Buck’s message on the discovery of his investigation, he planned to go to the address mentioned in the message that night. However, because the entire city had entered a curfew, idlers were prohibited from appearing in the streets from midnight to 6 am.

George could get a curfew travel pass through his mentor, Professor Eugene, but if he did this, his actions would be known by his mentor.

Thus, he had no choice but to sit on the sofa and wait until the curfew was lifted at 6 am.

At this time, there were still more than ten minutes till it was 6 am. The television opposite George was broadcasting the morning news.

One of the news items caused George’s suspicions.

“Good morning, everyone. We have an urgent message to be broadcast on the morning news! Yesterday at around 2 am, a 12-man team of the XXX army division, who was patrolling District 5, was attacked. Currently, the military has not provided any information on casualties. As for exactly who had attacked the military, please pay attention to the news at 6 am!”

George retracted his gaze and looked at the clock on the wall. Then, he softly voiced out the doubts in his heart, “The news didn’t say who the unit was attacked by… The time was around 2 am, I should have been asleep on the sofa at that time… The attack happened in District 5… Buck found out that Brooke has another factory, and it seems to be in District 5 as well.”

George picked up the phone and opened the message Buck had sent him. It clearly stated that Brooke’s factory was in District 5.

“It can’t be such a coincidence, right?”

At this moment, the clock on the wall sounded, indicating it was 6.

After 6 am, the curfew in the city would be lifted. George put on his coat and left the apartment with some necessary items.

There was a chill in the early morning neighborhood. After the curfew was lifted, a lot of people who lived in the area came out of their homes at the first minute as well.

George did not drive. Instead, he planned to walk to the subway station and then take the subway to District 5.

The subway station closest to his apartment was about 10 minutes walk, and he would have to pass through two intersections along the way.

He could see the traces left by the roadblocks set up last night. The roadblocks were most probably made of metal, the kind that was used to block tanks in war.

“This is definitely not what the TV news had reported. The army is not stationed in the city just because of the rioting crowds.”

George had seen such roadblocks once in a documentary. If the army were here to suppress the rioting crowds, they would have used soft roadblocks that were more portable.

Something very serious must have happened in the city that would make the army use the kind of roadblock that could stop tanks after they arrived.

What George found strange was, if something terrible had happened in the city, why did the army only control the city at night? From 6 am to 10 pm, people were allowed to move freely in the city.

This was very strange behavior.

After George entered the subway, he contacted Professor Eugene by phone.

He voiced his doubts about the curfew naturally because there was no need to hide such things from his professor.

However, Professor Eugene’s reaction was unexpected.

Professor Eugene used a warning tone to tell George not to care too much about anything outside the research group. He even told George to come to the research center ahead of time.

When the call with the professor was about to end, to Geroge’s surprise, Professor Eugene told him to leave the city as soon as possible.

Although he didn’t explain his words, George could roughly guess that it had something to do with the military being stationed in the city. It was very likely that they had discovered something terrible in the city.

“Why on earth does the military only enforce curfews on the city at night?”

Even until the subway arrived at his destination, George still couldn’t figure out the reason.

He walked out of the subway station and came to the streets, then followed the address Buck had sent him and headed to Brooke’s factory in District 5.

The area was mostly filled with all kinds of small private factories. It was not difficult to find Brooke’s factory.

George turned on the map function on his phone and quickly located his destination.

“Hmm, it will take about 20 minutes to walk there!”

He quickened his pace and headed to his destination following the map.

More than 20 minutes later, a small factory with a neat appearance appeared in front of George. Above the door, there was a sign that indicated it was a wood furniture processing factory.

The two metal doors were closed, and only a small door that could accommodate an adult was open. George was not in a hurry to enter. He first walked around the factory and found that this private small processing factory did not have a back door.

The processing factory was only a one-story building which took up most of the grounds. Looking from the outside, it looked like a super-large private residence.

“Is Anna in here?”

While George was pondering, he had arrived at the factory gates again.

He pushed open the small unlocked door and asked loudly, “Hello, is anyone there?”

He had already thought about an excuse before he came. If the other party asked, he would say that he was here to customize a set of solid wood furniture.

“Hey, who are you looking for?”

A voice suddenly appeared behind him, giving George a fright.

He turned around and saw a middle-aged man not far behind him. When he saw the man’s face clearly, his pupils shrank and he almost cried out.

The man in front of George was no other than the driver of the taxi when he was attacked, the taxi driver who had abandoned his car and ran away.

Why was he here?

Did he own the factory?