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墨書 Inktalez
“Zijing!” Sheryl sat on the ground, watching Chen Rui wail. A man approached and helped her up. “He’s not Chen Zijing, he just looks like him.” After saying that, he shot a glare at Chen Rui.
“My friend, I really am not that person, nor do I know him. I think there might be some misunderstanding,” Chen Rui intended to explain but was stopped by Higashizaki. “Their identities are still unclear; caution is paramount.”
“But he really looks like him—no, he’s practically a twin,” the girl holding Sheryl said as she scrutinized Chen Rui's face.
“Ma'am, there may be very few people in the world who look extremely similar, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. I believe you’ve mistaken me for someone else,” Chen Rui explained with a smile. “I apologize for any distress caused to you, but I won’t take responsibility. If you’re looking for trouble, take it up with him.” Chen Rui pointed at Higashizaki.
“Should we continue watching?” Higashizaki asked. “I think it’s best not to proceed further to avoid any incidents.”
“Yeah, let’s head back,” Chen Rui replied.
“Um, could you give me your business card?” This question caught Chen Rui off guard. He did have business cards since he had some dealings with clients, but he usually kept them in his office. He hadn’t thought about needing one during this trip abroad and hadn’t brought any, which made him feel a bit awkward. “Sorry, I don’t have a business card.”
The man paused for a moment, a slight smile appearing on his lips. “Then please accept my card. After you return home, do contact me.” Higashizaki handed his business card to Chen Rui, who stuffed it into his pants pocket without even looking at it. “Got it.”
As Chen Rui and his companion walked out of sight, the man remarked lightly, “He really does look like him.”
“Exactly! I’m starting to wonder if they’re twins,” the girl supporting Sheryl agreed.
The slightly older woman known as Sister Wang looked at Sheryl. “Are they twins? Don’t you all know in your hearts? You’ve been playing with Zijing for quite some time now.”
“Don’t distance yourself from this; aren’t you one of our seven-member group?” another man mocked.
“Alright, alright, enough arguing. I believe he is Zijing. He really isn’t dead,” Sheryl said as she broke free from the girl supporting her and gazed at the path where Chen Rui had disappeared, smiling lightly. “It must be so.”
"What's the big deal?" Chen Rui remarked as he looked at the business card. "You’re fine, but I’ll be in trouble when I get back home."
The card displayed a few simple black characters in Song font, boldly announcing the identity of its owner:
Li Li
Chairman of Dawn Heavy Industries
Contact Number:
These few black characters understatedly flaunted a prestigious status.
"What big deal? In front of the national machinery, even the rich have to kneel," Higashizaki said nonchalantly.
"You don’t understand. Dawn Heavy Industries is different; it’s the only private enterprise that has forced our government to resort to cooperative measures. They claim to have already ventured into our country’s most cutting-edge strategic weapon development," Chen Rui exclaimed in frustration. "He! Is! The! Chairman! Of! Dawn!"
"Alright, alright, it seems you don’t pay much attention to politics. I know more than you do," Higashizaki said helplessly as he looked at Chen Rui. "Do you really think your government would allow such a company to grow unchecked? No way! Long before the cooperation was established, the government started acquiring shares in Dawn and buying off its executives. As it stands now, Dawn is a large heavy industry enterprise secretly controlled by your precious government, which also uses its advantages to develop some heavy technological weapons."
"As for the people on the board, aside from your Dawn, most shareholders have become 'agents' of the government. The government’s stake in Dawn has already reached sixty-two percent."
"Keeping Li Li as chairman is just because they still need him to do some things on stage; in reality, Dawn's operations no longer require him. Do you understand now? Just a puppet without power, insignificant."
"Is that so? But it feels a bit sad; such a big enterprise, and it's being controlled," Chen Rui couldn't help but chuckle at Higashizaki's words.
"There's nothing we can do; it’s still the same saying: in front of the national machinery, everything is trivial."
"Indeed."
By the time they returned to the airport, it was nearly dark. Upon entering the lounge, everyone smiled at Chen Rui awkwardly. "Oh, you guys are back so soon! I'm a bit tired; if there's nothing else, I'm going to sleep."
Silence…
Chen Rui helplessly sat down on an empty sofa. “What’s going on?”
“I’ve been waiting for you! I didn’t even have dinner! You think it’s okay to come back now? Did you have fun?” Qin Xionglin threw a cushion right at Chen Rui's face.
“Hey! You little brat, what do you mean by that?” Chen Rui retorted, grabbing a cushion from behind him and throwing it back at Qin Xionglin.
“Enough,” Zhang Jun finally spoke up.
“Now that everyone is here, Xiang Xiao, please turn on the video. Mr. Higashizaki…”
Higashizaki, understanding the cue, stepped out of the lounge and joked, “You only call me back when you need me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t bother coming.”
Zhang Jun nodded. “Everyone here is on our side, so we can start.”
Xiang Xiao connected his phone to the projector, and Wang Bolin’s figure appeared in front of everyone.
“I’ll keep it brief. The result of the inspection is: there are no issues,” Wang Bolin said after taking a deep breath.
“No issues? What do you mean?” Yu Shiming frowned.
“This is a recorded video, not a live call. Please don’t interrupt,” Zhang Jun said to Yu Shiming, then suddenly turned to Chen Rui and Qin Xionglin. “No comments!!!”
“No issues means that the plane hasn’t been tampered with. The incident was due to the local Ground Crew. However, the Ground Crew responsible for our plane has died today.”
Upon hearing this, everyone’s expression darkened. It was clearly a murder, but it seemed that the mastermind had done a thorough job of covering their tracks.
"The most troublesome part is what comes next. That Ground Crew member was shot for accidentally trespassing into a military restricted area, but the forensic examination revealed that he had been injected with a hallucinogen before being shot. Moreover, after the delegations from various countries returned, the civil administration system of Kiribati and the local airport database were hacked. The only information about that Ground Crew member is a labor contract."
"So far, this is all we have found. It seems we can't uncover much more from this lead. However, everyone must understand that this is definitely a long-planned murder case, and there may be other schemes in play. The higher-ups want you to ensure your safe arrival in Beijing. To avoid exposing too much information, you will still travel by commercial flight as planned. I will fly to Tokyo immediately and arrange for some people to change into uniforms to disguise themselves as you flying to Beijing first."
"Secondly, the enemy's objectives have basically been identified, but due to certain reasons, I cannot disclose them to you. Lastly, see you in Beijing."
A silence fell over the room...
"Where are they flying now?" Chen Rui asked Zhang Jun.
"I just checked; they are about to arrive at Duguo International Airport. They should be fine now," Zhang Jun sighed in relief.
"Based on the current conditions, we can deduce that there are three possible situations regarding those 'enemies,'" Chen Rui began to analyze.
"The first scenario, which would be the best for us, is that they retreated after failing to cause an aviation accident or could not proceed with their backup plan. In this case, we wouldn't be in any danger."
"The likelihood of that is very low," Cui Hongming murmured.
"It is low, but it is still a possibility. The second scenario, which is also the most likely one and unfavorable for us, is that they have learned through some channels or their own observations that Wang Bolin's plane does not contain us; they still know we are in Tokyo. In this situation, they might take further action, so we must leave as soon as possible."
"The third point is the worst-case scenario for us! They know our itinerary inside out; if that's the case, they can just wait for us to fall into their trap."
"You talk too much; it's all nonsense," Xiang Xiao pointed out Chen Rui's flaws in reasoning. Although his deductions were not wrong, they were futile. "Instead of thinking about these things, why not focus on how to shake off our pursuers?"
"But the key issue is that we don't even know why they want to kill us; how can we escape? If they are targeting a specific person, they could easily separate everyone and minimize risk. But do you know their objective?" Chen Rui fixed his gaze on Xiang Xiao.
Earlier, when he saw the projection stating 'the enemy's objectives have basically been identified but cannot be disclosed for certain reasons,' Chen Rui had clearly noticed some changes in Xiang Xiao's and Zhang Jun's expressions. It was likely that these two knew the enemy's objectives, but perhaps it was something they couldn't let Chen Rui and the others know. As for why that was the case, Chen Rui had no idea.
The lack of usable intelligence would render any analysis utterly worthless.
Zhang Jun spoke up, "So let's assume they are targeting someone among us. If we all split up, it would only reduce the danger for others while significantly increasing the risk for that individual. Is this our style?"
"The impromptu meeting ends here. Everyone go rest. Tomorrow morning's flight—no matter how bold they are, they shouldn't directly kill hundreds of people," Zhang Jun issued the order to disperse.
"Do you know them well?" Chen Rui countered.
"I've had some contact with them. They're not anything special—just a bunch of stubborn old fools and a group of angry youths," Zhang Jun replied vaguely, but Chen Rui found a wealth of information in those words.
First, they are not extremists; their motives are unlikely to be anti-human or anti-social in nature.
Second, their team consists of both old conservatives and young radicals, which means they could infiltrate many areas.
Third, their objective is fairly clear: to prevent the trial implementation of that plan.
However, what Chen Rui couldn't understand was whether eliminating their group would actually stop the plan from being executed. Based on Chen Rui's estimates, it seemed impossible.
At this point, the implementation of the plan was practically a done deal, essentially confirmed as part of an inevitable future. So who could change it? Win over the world and alter the future.
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