Dark Light Chaser.

Chapter 550 Biting the Hook
Leaving Qiushui Manor, Chen Shaodong's mood did not improve much; on the contrary, he felt even more depressed.

If the hermit really did plant a bomb and couldn't seek help from the police, it would mean he would have to bear all the pressure alone.

Once the bomb is detonated, it will result in hundreds or thousands of casualties.

When Chen Shaodong was a sniper, he did carry out missions to kill kidnappers and rescue hostages.

But that was already done, and there was no other choice.

Now he has the opportunity to nip the crisis in the bud.

"I advise you to obediently follow the hermit's instructions. Generally, he won't harm the innocent, and you'd better not even think about capturing or killing him, otherwise you won't even have a chance to regret it."

In Chen Shaodong's mind, Yue Chongshan's parting words of advice kept replaying.

It was as if they were convinced that no one, no matter who they were, could gain any advantage over the hermit.

There is only one outcome for going against him—death.

Yes, at the beginning, Chen Shaodong had considered taking this opportunity to ambush Ai Liang halfway and force her to reveal the location of the bomb.

This would solve the bomb problem and enhance his prestige in the black market, killing two birds with one stone.

But Ai Liang disappeared without a trace as soon as he stepped out the door, forcing him to give up the idea.

Chen Shaodong is not a native of Nevada; he only came to Nevada in the last two years.

Just like a newborn calf that is not afraid of a tiger.

Those who have not experienced the darkest times cannot possibly understand the pressure that comes with being a hermit.

It is impossible to truly understand the fear of standing on the opposite side of a hermit simply by looking at the deeds.

Have you contacted those private investigators yet?

Sitting in the back seat of the car, Chen Shaodong suddenly asked.

"We've already sent people to contact them, and the specific results will depend on how their preliminary investigation goes," the subordinate replied.

These two subordinates were part of Chen Shaodong's team, essentially bounty hunters who had been recruited by the authorities.

Back then, it was quite well-known in Nevada.

Chen Shaodong nodded and added, "Tell them not to waste time. Tell that group of people that the more information they find and the faster they do so, the higher their commission will be."

If you're trying to deliberately slow down the investigation to extract more money, don't blame me for being ruthless.

Chen Shaodong is now racing against time.

His plan was this: the sooner he obtained the information the hermit wanted, the sooner the bomb could be defused.

Only then can we free up our hands to properly deal with the hermit.

The subordinate in charge of liaising with the detective agency carefully noted it down: "Understood."

Chen Shaodong nodded in satisfaction, closed his eyes, and leaned back in the back seat for a short rest.

In recent months, Chen Shaodong has been busy taking over the network of contacts left by Mu Si. However, the more he takes over, the more wary he becomes of the underworld in Nevada.

The dark side of other cities is nothing more than some corporate disputes, at most arranging car accidents or staging trace element poisoning murders.

But Nevada is different.

The black area here can no longer be called the underworld. Judging from the list of special business he has taken on, it is not much different from the terrorist organizations he knows.

Even though most of the ruthless ones are dead, those who remain are still terrifying.

Chen Shaodong hasn't had a good night's sleep for a long time because of this.

........................

Two days passed in a blink of an eye.

Lured by the huge reward, the detective agency did indeed deliver.

They used their connections in various circles, and apart from not knowing anything about the Hai Xin Society and the strange things, all the other secrets of the deceased were thoroughly uncovered.

Chen Shaodong held a memory card containing all the information about the deceased and dialed the contact number left by Ai Liang.

"Found it?" A completely indifferent voice came from the phone.

Chen Shaodong coldly replied, "I don't know what information you want to get from that person, but I have listed all the people that person has met recently."

"Will the item be left somewhere for you to pick up yourself, or should I deliver it to you?"

"To be honest, you guys are a bit slow."

Ai Liang was drinking herbal tea at a breakfast shop near the deceased's home, waiting for the fish to bite.

Slow?

Hearing this, Chen Shaodong's expression turned grim: "Do you know how much manpower and resources it takes to investigate a person from beginning to end?"

Even if the government were to intervene directly, they might not be able to get there as quickly as we are.

As a former special forces member, Chen Shaodong was well aware of the difficulty of obtaining intelligence.

In movies, there are often scenes where someone has to obtain all of a person's information within ten minutes.

Or, shortly after a big shot finishes speaking, one of his subordinates walks in with a file folder containing records of how many times the target wet the bed as a child.

One explanation is that the speed at which the state apparatus exerts its full power is terrifying.

That's complete nonsense.

In ten minutes, you can only obtain information such as identity information, social security records, criminal records, and online misconduct records that are entered into the database.

Just retrieving these things from the database to the computer, then summarizing, categorizing, and annotating them, and finally printing them out and delivering them to the office takes more than ten minutes.

To find out a person's lifestyle habits, personality traits when interacting with others, and specific whereabouts over a certain period of time, it is simply impossible without spending a day or two personally visiting and retrieving surveillance footage.

A routine criminal or civil investigation isn't necessarily faster than a private investigator's.

In order to introduce the results, Chen Shaodong took the initiative to reveal part of the intelligence: "Because of your previous reminder, we specifically investigated his identity."

His citizenship card was forged at great expense. Among the people who had contact with him, we also found another person whose identity document was also forged; she should be the one you're looking for…”

"That person's name is Lydia, right?"

Ai Liang immediately named the person.

Chen Shaodong's pupils contracted sharply.

They spent a huge amount of time and resources, and after extensive verification, they finally determined that Lydia's identity was a fake.

But now Ai Liang has seen through it all.

"You knew about her existence all along?"

Chen Shaodong instinctively suspected Ai Liang, and that he already knew about the man's false identity.

Ai Liang denied the accusation: "No, I don't know, otherwise I wouldn't have paid you to investigate."

Ai Liang gazed out the window, casually stirring her tofu pudding, and quoted a line from the Old Testament of the Bible: "The wicked flee even when no one pursues them, but the righteous are as bold as lions."

"...Are you spying on us?"

"Don't I have the right to stay and observe the renovation process when I hire someone to renovate my house?"

Ai Liang told the truth: "I never expected you to investigate the matter thoroughly. I just wanted some people to know that she is under investigation, and that's enough."

Ai Liang stopped what she was doing.

Outside the restaurant, the fish took the bait.

(End of this chapter)