CHAPTER 426: CHAPTER 426: SHOCKINGLY SAT UP

"Captain, we’ve found the bus," Xu Ting reported, hurrying to Wang Lan.

"Where?"

"At a shallow sandbar on the Bund," Xu Ting explained. "A fishing boat ran aground on a reef. When the incident was being investigated, they discovered a bus and immediately alerted the police. After a thorough check, it was confirmed to be the bus used to hijack the prisoners from Prison No. 8 last night."

"Have we found out whom the vehicle is registered to?"

"It belongs to the Eastern Long-distance Bus Operation Department in Modu City."

"Let’s go!"

The group drove to the bus operation department and, after showing their credentials, were promptly led to the general manager’s office. After they stated their purpose, the manager immediately ordered an investigation.

"Manager, we’ve found it. That bus was phased out and sold five years ago."

"Sold to whom?"

"A man named Chen Feiyu. He’s the head of Feiyu Driving School. Nine buses were phased out in that batch, and Feiyu Driving School purchased all of them as training vehicles."

"Understood. Thank you for your cooperation. You have the address of Feiyu Driving School, right?"

"Yes!"

After getting the driving school’s address from the bus station, Wang Lan and his team drove another sixty kilometers to the location of Feiyu Driving School, only to find that it had been turned into a farm.

Although it had changed beyond recognition, traces of the former driving school were still faintly visible.

"May I ask... whom are you looking for?"

As Wang Lan and his team got out of the car and surveyed the farm from outside, the farm’s security guard approached them curiously. He looked somewhat fearfully at the military uniforms Wang Lan’s group wore. In this era, ordinary people still harbored a natural fear of guards, and even more formidable than guards were military personnel.

"We’re looking for Feiyu Driving School... but looking at this place... it seems something isn’t quite right."

"Feiyu Driving School? That’s ancient history," the security guard said quickly with a smile. "The school shut down many years ago."

"Many years? Exactly how many?"

"At least five years. This farm has been operating here for five years."

"Five years?"

"Old Chen, who are these people?"

A voice called out from a distance. The security guard hurriedly turned and said to Wang Lan, "My boss is here. He owns this farm, and I heard he knows Chen Feiyu."

The boss approached. Upon seeing Wang Lan and his team dressed in black military uniforms, he too became noticeably tense. Wang Lan presented his Tianjian Bureau credentials. "Hello, we are from the Modu City Tianjian Bureau. We’re here to find Chen Feiyu of Feiyu Driving School. Do you know him?"

"Chen Feiyu? How could I not know him? I’d recognize him even if he were turned to ash!" The moment Chen Feiyu was mentioned, the boss’s teeth itched with anger. "That rotten gambler, drowned in debt, just vanished. Many people have scoured the world for him, but he’s neither been seen alive nor found dead. He still owes me three million!"

"When did his Feiyu Driving School close down?"

"Around May 2014, I suppose. Anyway, in May 2014, he discussed selling the driving school to me. I don’t run driving schools, but this piece of land was indeed good. I took over the driving school in July and started this farm."

"May?" Wang Lan suddenly noted a discrepancy. According to the contract from the bus station, Chen Feiyu had purchased the nine buses in June 2014. If he planned to sell the driving school in May, would he have needed to spend a million to buy buses?

Now that the bus had become a tool for the Demon Clan’s activities, it was clear they had been preparing back then. Although not necessarily for yesterday’s operation, they were definitely stockpiling supplies.

"Could you show me the sales contract you signed with Chen Feiyu? Also, we need to inspect your farm."

"Of course, of course." Could the boss say no? With such an imposing group before him, naturally, it was ’of course, of course.’

Upon reviewing the sales contract, it was indeed signed in June 2014, and the handwriting matched the signature on the documents from the bus station. Wang Lan immediately suspected Chen Feiyu.

"Captain, this farm is actually just a pig farm," Li Yang reported, approaching Wang Lan.

"Yes," the owner interjected. "Our primary business is live pigs, especially with pork prices so high now. But we do have other agricultural products. Our farm’s milk is quite good, for instance."

"But I noticed that about eighty percent of your pigs aren’t raised by you. They’re bought from other farms; the live pigs are stamped with the marks of different farms."

"That’s true. Due to the recent boom in the live pig business, we buy pigs cheaply from other farms and resell them. The profit margin is much higher than raising them ourselves. However, not all our pigs are bought; we still raise quite a few of our own..."

"So that’s why meat prices in Modu City have soared in recent years! You’re the ones who’ve been secretly controlling the source of pork production, creating artificial scarcity!" Yang Yang interjected sharply, unable to contain himself.

"Yang Yang! Their business practices are not our concern," Wang Lan immediately chided.

"Yes, sir!"

"If there’s nothing else, we’ll be on our way. By the way, if you get any information on Chen Feiyu, please call the police. Thank you for your cooperation."

"Certainly, certainly!"

They got into the car, started the engine, and slowly drove off. Yang Yang hesitated for a long time before suddenly speaking to the rearview mirror, "Captain, I’m sorry."

Wang Lan, who was lost in thought, looked up blankly. "What’s wrong? Why the sudden apology?"

"I shouldn’t have poked my nose into things that aren’t our business. I’m just infuriated. The price of pork has risen by half over the years. It used to be very stable in Modu City, but recently it has skyrocketed. There hasn’t been any news of swine fever outbreaks or anything; the prices just inexplicably shot up. It turns out these guys have been controlling the live pig supply from the source, creating a false impression of shortage."

"Is that all? What are you apologizing for? While it’s true it’s not our jurisdiction, since we’ve seen it, we can’t pretend we don’t know. Just report it directly to the Ministry of Agriculture and the Bureau of Industry and Commerce, right?"

"I saw you looking down and looking dejected, so I thought you were angry about this."

"Nonsense! Angry over this? Am I that petty?" Wang Lan rolled his eyes, then looked back at the car following them.

"Where’s that bus?"

"At the police station."

"Let’s go to the police station and check out the bus. Hopefully, we can find some clues. Also, send a message back to the bureau: we must find Chen Feiyu, the head of Feiyu Driving School."

"Understood!"

The two cars arrived at the police station. After stating their purpose, they were immediately taken to the bus. It had been pulled out of the water and was still dripping.

The bus was riddled with bullet holes and had several areas of deformation, but its overall structure was not significantly damaged. According to police speculation, the vehicle had plunged off a cliff and landed in the shallows at the river mouth.

Falling from such a height, even with the water’s cushioning... but the water in that shallow area was only a little over a meter deep, and the bottom was all gravel. How could it not have wrecked the bus? The deformation wasn’t even that severe. After Wang Lan inspected it, his expression turned grave.

Jiang Xinyu curiously approached Wang Lan. "What is it? Did you find something?"

"I’ve seen this kind of reinforcement before." Wang Lan pointed at the bus’s internal framework. "Remember that dangerous situation I encountered soon after my Star Martial talents first awakened? The Demon Clan used a disguised bus to transport the parents of fifty students into a Different Dimensional Space they had created. The bus that fell off the cliff then was reinforced in this same way. At that time, the bus was damaged, allowing us to be rescued. Ultimately, the bus collapsed along with the space itself. Although I’m not certain if that bus and this one are from the same batch, the reinforcement method is identical."

"So, based on this bus, can we confirm that the Demon Clan was responsible for abducting those fifty Star Martial Warrior criminals?"

"It seems likely. This could truly link them to the current upheaval. The Demon Clan opened the Different Dimensional Space, and they also abducted the prisoners. But the question is: was their main objective to cause chaos in Modu City, with the prison break being incidental? Or was the prison break the primary goal, and the chaos in Modu City merely a diversion?"

"Considering the cost, would a group of prisoners be valuable enough for the Demon Clan to go to such lengths?"

"That’s still undetermined. But such extensive modifications... a small repair shop couldn’t handle that, could it?" Wang Lan asked.

"Handle it? Far from it!" A voice rang out. Everyone turned to see Li Yan, now a senior police captain, striding over. "Captain, I’ve had professionals evaluate it. This bus... well, apart from the outer shell—no, that’s not quite right—apart from the outer skin and the seats, almost everything else has been replaced. It has a brand-new gasoline engine and a completely new shock absorption and balancing system. This setup alone would cost at least 1,200,000. Don’t be fooled by its appearance as a bus; it’s essentially a four-wheel-drive off-road vehicle. It can traverse mountains, cross bridges, and ford rivers."

"Then we’ll follow this lead and investigate auto repair companies capable of modifying these buses."

"The police department has already begun investigating this angle. I have a list here; in all of Modu City, there are 1,200 after-sales service companies with this capability."

"That many?" Wang Lan was surprised.

"Captain, think about where we are. This is Modu City! Not everyone living in Modu City can afford a house, but who can’t afford a car? There are also tens of thousands of car enthusiasts here. Small auto repair shops can barely survive. Which of the chain auto service shops wouldn’t have some serious capabilities?"

This world lacks the ’4S’ dealership model. Car after-sales service is outsourced. While the outcome might be similar, the nature of the business is completely different. Visiting over a thousand shops, even with the help of the Modu City police, would be an incredibly demanding task.

But this bit of hardship was nothing compared to battling Exotic Beasts in a Different Dimensional Space.

「 」

In the evening, Wang Lan, nestled in Jiang Xinyu’s embrace, enjoyed her finger massage.

Wang Lan let out contented moans. Although Jiang Xinyu’s technique wasn’t top-notch, the profound mental and emotional satisfaction more than compensated for any lack of physical skill. Would I have been able to enjoy this before? The fact that Jiang Xinyu was willing to do these things for me only proved one thing—she had been completely conquered. Thinking this, Wang Lan couldn’t help but snort with laughter internally.

RING RING—

Whenever he tried to enjoy some leisure time, some troublemaker always seemed to want to disrupt it. Looking at the caller ID, Wang Lan reluctantly picked up his phone and put it on speaker.

"Yu Ruoyun, my dear student..."

At that moment, Yu Ruoyun was inwardly roaring. Before Jiang Xinyu returned, you called me Ruoyun. After Jiang Xinyu came back, I suddenly became ’Yu Ruoyun, my dear student’? Men! They’re all heartless beasts!

But right now, Yu Ruoyun was in no mood to quibble over such things. "I just received news. In Jiading District, a Different Dimensional Space opened at an automobile repair shop, causing over five hundred deaths."

WHOOSH— Wang Lan immediately sat bolt upright, as if jolted from a deathbed.