CH 169

The rest stop was busiest between eight to nine in the morning.

Some who had been on the road would make a quick stop and have their breakfasts, whereas some had stayed there overnight and were getting ready to set off. 

The store was so noisy that there was hardly a quiet corner to be found.

Amy Borro stood behind a locker, watching Jack White leave through the glass window.

“Why does he always look so disinterested. It’s like he isn’t doing this willingly.” A voice spoke up from behind her, sneering at Jack White, who was walking off.

Amy Borro glanced at the middle-aged man dressed as a transport driver behind her, then turned her gaze back to Jack White, replying, “Is this the first day that you’ve known him?” 

“Of course not, but I haven’t known him that long either.” the middle-aged man took a bite of the bread in his hand; his voice was muffled. “I know that that’s just the way he is, but isn’t anyone worried?”

“Worried about what?” Amy Borro laughed, but it sounded derisive, as only her lips moved and the smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Worried that he’ll sell everyone out one day?”

“Don’t laugh! Is it that difficult to wrap your head around?” The middle-aged man cracked his fingers, whispering his thoughts, “He has so many red flags on him. Isn’t his foster father that Mervyn White guy? I heard that he had worked at the institute before and had access to the core research. He saw many documents yet ended up brushing off his behind and leaving. And now he’s even gone to stand with the enemy—”

Amy Borro interrupted him, “Who told you that he’s gone over?”

“Hasn’t he?”

“Maybe before, but it’s hard to say now.” Amy Borro said, “Do you know what people like that get?”

The middle-aged man swallowed his mouthful of bread, saying drily, “I don’t really want to know.”

Amy Borro said, “I dare say that he’s currently tormented with regret.” 

“Alright,” the middle-aged man crooked his finger. “Then let’s not talk about his foster father for now. He’s also on good terms with that Spring Ivy young master. Consider that young master’s character; everyone knows that he’s even chums with those from Maze University’s law school.”

“Spring Ivy?” Amy Borro said, “The Yves are a shrewd, and that boy’s the only oddball. Devore Yves is a classic businessman. Would he renege on a potential deal over something that isn’t profitable for him?”

The middle-aged man thought about it, and found that it did seem to make a lot of sense. But he still tried to debate, “What if, for example, the oddball young master manages to convince Devore Yves?”

“Are you kidding me?” Amy Borro quickly swiped through her smart device and opened a page. “It was published just this morning. Someone photographed this at Springfield Villa Hotel.” 

The middle-aged man flipped to the next page, and the subject of the photograph was incidentally the young master of Spring Ivy.

“What’s he doing here? Beating up his car?” The middle-aged man looked at the time that the article was posted. “Early this morning?”

The web page was teeming with the spirit of gossip, concocting a seamless chain of events from the sneak shots the reporter took.

With the rise of infection treatment centres and Spring Ivy Hospitals setbacks, the group suffered heavy losses. Devore Yves was so physically and mentally exhausted that he took refuge in the Villa Hotel under the pretext of recuperation. His son, Joe Yves, who had always been at odds with him, showed seldom-seen concern, taking the initiative to visit his father at the Villa Hotel. 

However, it was clear that the feud between father and son couldn’t be cleared up overnight. This encounter ended up in another disastrous confrontation, and Joe Yves was so upset that he barrelled out of the hotel before daybreak, beating up the car in anger.

And never returned since the departure this morning.

The middle-aged man, “…”

From the looks of it, this father-son relationship could never be mended in this lifetime. 

He finished the rest of the bread in a few big bites, chewing for a moment, then saying slowly, “Anyway, I think that Jack White is a hidden danger, a ticking time bomb. I can’t figure out why the bosses trust him so much. Every time I hand over stuff to him, I get the chills, like in the next second, an uncountable number of cops will be pointing their vaporisers at me and telling me to put my hands in the air.”

“That’s impossible, unless he also wants to put his hands up as well.”

Jack White didn’t drive over. He boarded a hover bus back to Fa Wang District.

His figure finally disappeared from view. Amy Borro averted her gaze. “Spare the unnecessary worry. The trust that the higher-ups have placed in him is simple. He’s a genius. He showed even more promise for genetic studies than his foster father; there’s no one better than him. What’s more, he’s also a passive ‘junkie’.” 

The middle-aged man was genuinely surprised at this; his eyes were wide with disbelief. “What did you say he is?”

“He has a genetic addiction, don’t you know that?” Amy Borro’s gaze drooped. “Oh, that’s right. Not many people know that.”

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“The earlier batches?” The man said doubtfully, “I heard that the earlier batches are very inert; it takes two or three decades for the symptoms to kick in.”

“Which is why I say that he’s unlucky. His kicked in almost immediately, and he ended up addicted to some… rather special drugs.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is, when his cravings hit, the only thing that can satiate it is a relatively difficult drug to procure; its mine is in the hands of the boss. Just imagine it. If he really jumps sides and cuts off his supply, how much suffering will he be in? Have you entered the lab? Have you seen the animals used in testing? It’s a hundred times worse than a regular drug addiction.” 

As Amy Borro went on, her voice dropped.

“Stop! Don’t use that kind of tone, it’s giving me the creeps.” Though the middle-aged man hadn’t experienced it, the description elicited shivers from him. “I haven’t seen it, and I hope I never will.”

“Are you for real?” Amy Borro sneered.

She narrowed her eyes, her thoughts drifting off for a beat. “This shady business is exactly what we’re involved in, but you actually have the nerve to get the creeps?” 

“You make it sound as though…”

The middle-aged man rubbed his stomach, contemplating it for a moment before shaking his head, saying, “Sheesh, now I get why everyone trusts him so much. I wouldn’t have doubted him if I’d known. After all… can anyone bear that damn thing? They’re better off dead. Anyway, I don’t have grand ambitions and am not really interested in climbing the ranks. I’m fine with whatever pennies I get; I’m short on money.”

Amy Borro drew up a wad of cash on the spot for him. It was quite unwise for them to openly transfer this money; it always had to be done so secretly to avoid leaving a trail.

Then, she took a small package from the middle-aged man, stuffing it inside her own handbag. 

“Is that much refrigerant enough? How much longer are you going to stay at Spring Ivy Hospital?” The middle-aged man said, “Is it so troublesome this time? It’s already been half a month, right? Hurry up and chase him to the treatment centre, then you’ll be out of Spring Ivy. The more you draw it out, the more trouble will come.”

Amy Borro unconsciously recalled Jack White’s silhouette earlier. She fell silent for a moment, then tightened her hold on her handbag, saying, “It’s getting there.”

She wasn’t in a hurry to leave; she found a clean booth to sit instead, ordering a pastry.

The middle-aged man wasn’t too particular about these, casually buying a bottle of water and guzzling it down. 

With their transaction done, there was no need to delay at this place.

Before he left, he shot a glance at lane 3 not far up the mountain, saying to Amy Borro, “Watch out when you set off. I’ve almost been followed before. There are a few spots on that road where it’s really easy to hide a car.”

With that, he tossed the empty bottle into the trash disposal, smacked his lips, and left the shop, getting into an inconspicuous truck and leaving.

Amy Borro took two bites of her pastry. 

Her gaze landed on the driveway that he pointed out to her. She licked the cream off the corners of her lips and made a call.

The call was swiftly connected. “Shoot.”

Amy Borro said, “I’m at the seventh rest stop on Kyle, the eastern outskirts of Fa Wang District. Do you have anyone in the area? Help me clear the road.”

“I do.” The other end replied, “Why, got yourself a tail?” 

“I haven’t noticed any yet, but now that Old Gore reminded me, I think it’s better to be vigilant,” Amy Borro said.

“Right, gotcha.” It was apparent that the other was acquainted with the middle-aged man from earlier as well. “There’s lane 3 over there; if someone smart is following you, that’s actually the best spot to do so. Okay, I’ll dispatch some men. They’ll be there soon to help you check if there are any ‘roadblocks’.”

Amy Borro, “Thanks.”

“It’s what I’m paid to do anyway, what are you thanking me for.” 

Two minutes later, several honks could be heard from a large auto repair shop near the eastern outskirts.

The head honcho sat in the driver’s seat, wearing his earpiece, saying concisely, “Black 1, Black 2, Black 3, take a trip down lane 2. White 1 to 5, split up into two groups and enter lane 3 from opposite ends. Keep an eye out for anyone that needs to be straightened out.”

Those in other cars replied on the internal comms, “Copy.”

“You got your boys?” He touched his waist where a gun-shaped vaporiser, identical to the police standard-issue, hung. 

A question rang out over the comms, “For intimidation? Or do we really shoot?”

“We’re in the outback and vaporisers won’t even leave bones behind. You tell me.”

“Sweet.”

“Move out!” 

At his command, a total of nine cars, including his, sped out of a car repair shop, whizzing in three different directions.

Three of them headed straight for lane 2. The head honcho led two cars to route around, entering from the southern end of lane 3, while three more scuttled over to the northern end of lane 3.

On lane 3’s emergency pullover area, Gu Yan received a call from Young Master Joe.

“Just letting you know that I’ve gotten on the space shuttle and have safely departed from the port,” Joe said. “I’ll let you know if anything crops up when I get to Tian Qin. I hope… that Zhao Zemu won’t let me down. By the way, didn’t you say that Horace Lee’s nurse had messed around a bit? I got someone to look up everything that he has touched in the last 24 hours, including what he ate and drank, as well as the injections and oral medications he took.” 

Gu Yan briefly considered it, adding, “His infusion pump, too.”

Joe said, “Ah, right, there’s that too. Alrighty, I’ll make a note to him to check that. Anyway, don’t worry about it; we’ll be careful not to spook the nurse. We should be able to trace the source in the next couple of days; I really want to know what she pulled.”

“Who did you find?” Gu Yan asked. “Dr Lin? Isn’t he too busy?”

“Of course not, I’m not that inhumane!” Joe said. “I got another friend, you probably haven’t seen much of him. He shares an office with Lin Yuan and is also in charge of several research projects. Called Jack White.” 

Gu Yan, “…”

Joe was perceptive enough to sense that the atmosphere was off from the other end. “What about it?”

“Have you sent the message out?”

“Yeah.” 

“Did you say what you needed to be looked into?”

“Am I that pea-brained to you? I didn’t give any specifics, only that Horace Lee is delusional that someone’s out to poison him. You can’t just ignore that as his lawyer, so you’ve got me to lend a hand.”

Gu Yan pinched the bridge of his nose. “The excuse barely checks out.”

Joe processed his tone, inhaling sharply. “Is… Jack White problematic?” 

“It’s hard to say for sure right now, but there’s a strong possibility,” Gu Yan said. “We followed Amy Borro to a highway rest stop and Jack White happened to be there too. The timing is quite odd.”

Young Master Joe felt asphyxiated.

While on the call, Gu Yan’s gaze remained on the rest stop in the distance.

Amy Borro had yet to appear since going in. 

In the mountain tunnel on lane 3, the light on the internal communicator in three white cars flashed.

“How far have you gotten?”

“We’ve entered the tunnel,” one of them answered, “no more than 2 kilometres from the rest stop.” 

“Okay. Have you sighted any cars stopped by the road?”

“None at the moment, just two cars from the outer suburbs passing through.”

“Good.” The head honcho’s voice came through again. “Our side is only 3 kilometres from the rest stop.”

Yan Suizhi suddenly took two steps towards the railing on the road, peering past the overgrown thicket by the road towards the coiling mountain road in the distance.

The tunnel was divided into two sections there, and three white cars raced out of the first section one after the other.

He stared over that side for three seconds, then suddenly patted Gu Yan on the shoulder. “Get in.”

With his reaction, it was obvious to Gu Yan that something was going down. He didn’t say a word, immediately getting into the front passenger seat, his fingers swiftly pressing the ignition and adjusting the settings and the map, even opening the door at the driver’s seat for Yan Suizhi. 

However, Yan Suizhi didn’t immediately get into the car.

When Gu Yan turned his head, he saw the esteemed Professor Yan carrying the reflective warning sign and using it as a rudimentary shovel, hastily scooping up a large slab of mountain mud on the roadside.

It had rained recently in this area in the past few days, and the mud was wet and soft, so it was dug up as a large sticky clump.

Yan Suizhi directly plastered it to each of the car wheels, tossed the sign back into the trunk, then scooted into the driver’s seat. 

The space hovercar started up in less than a second, and the moment the wheels revved, this professor smacked the wheel cleaning button, but only set it on the lowest gear.

A stream of water instantly spurted from the four wheels.

As the wheels spun, these rivulets of water churned with the mud, instantly slinging splotches of mud all over the body of the car.

Gu Yan, “…” 

Yan Suizhi adjusted the speed, switching from manual to automatic, glanced at the white cars a short distance away whistling towards them, and hooked the collar of Gu Yan’s shirt, pulling him over.

“I’ll reimburse you for the car wash later.”

And with that, Yan Suizhi kissed him.

Ten seconds later… 

Three white cars whizzed past them, the wind whistling sharply in their wake.

The head honcho’s voice echoed in the hull of the cars again. “How’s it going? Any ‘roadblocks’?”

“Nope,” someone said, “there’s a car that might have just come back from a self-drive tour. There’s mud caked all over the wheels.”

“Right! I saw that, too.” One of them was highly offended. “They’re a damn pair of sweethearts, kissing the whole way, fucking hell!” 

The head honcho, “…”

Sensing the deep resentment of his men, he grunted and didn’t ask further.

The next second, the nine cars passed through the intersection of lanes 2 and 3, made a U-turn, then drove back to the auto repair shop.

Amy Borro had sat in the store for a while and was idly enjoying her pastry when she finally received a call back. 

“We’ve checked it. You don’t have anyone tailing you; rest easy and leave.”