A few minutes later, the factory was quiet again. In the end, only the gunman who had been knocked unconscious by Lao San survived.
"Man is selfish; heaven and earth will punish the wicked... Human nature, huh? Chu Zhiqing really understands it well!" Chu Yuxuan sighed, looking at the gunman with a smile, "I had a good feeling about you, and you didn't disappoint me!"
The gunman was gasping for air, his eyes shut as he pleaded, "I know, I... I'm still going to die, but I hope you... you give me a quick death!"
It was hard to imagine the psychological trauma inflicted by Lao Si's methods. Chu Yuxuan walked up to him and then holstered his gun. Hearing the approaching footsteps, the gunman kept his eyes tightly closed, trembling all over, even his breathing was shaky. However, Chu Yuxuan patted his shoulder and said with a smile, "I'm not a man who breaks his word... What's your name, brother?"
The gunman opened his eyes in shock, staring blankly for a moment before stammering, "Yao... Yao Liang!"
"Brother Yao! Have you ever been a mercenary?" Chu Yuxuan asked.
"Yes..."
"What are your plans for the future?"
The gunman was a bit confused and stared at Chu Yuxuan blankly. Chu Yuxuan helped him up and asked, "How much do you make a month?"
"Twenty thousand," Yao Liang paused and said, "If there are missions, there will be extra."
"Twenty thousand?" Chu Yuxuan was greatly surprised. "You're selling your life for twenty thousand bucks?"
Pointing to his three brothers, he asked, "Do you know how much I pay them?"
Yao Liang swallowed hard, "F-five thousand?... Eight thousand?"
Chu Yuxuan sneered, "At the very least, add a zero... Your Tianji Club is really stingy, haha..."
In fact, Chu Yuxuan had never paid his brothers a salary. All his bank accounts and passwords were known to them; if anyone needed money, they just had to ask Lao San for a card, spend it as they wished, without even informing him.
Yao Liang didn't understand Chu Yuxuan's intentions but had a faint feeling that he might not have to die. "You can't go back to Tianji Club now," Chu Yuxuan said. "I wonder if you're interested in working for me?"
"Ah? I... I..." Yao Liang was extremely surprised and didn't know how to respond.
Chu Yuxuan put his arm around his shoulder and said with a smile, "You're ruthless and have some skills, and you're a mercenary; that's to my liking. You've seen that my brothers are all elite soldiers, but there are only three of them. If we hadn't used grenades to ambush you tonight, the outcome might still be uncertain. So, I really need more people. Just join me. It's just for money; I won't pursue what happened tonight, and in the future, you won't be treated unfairly."
"Surviving a great disaster must bring future blessings?" Yao Liang didn't believe this line but suspected Chu Yuxuan had other motives for wanting him around. But if he refused directly, he might end up with a worse fate.
Seeing Yao Liang's hesitation, Chu Yuxuan continued, "From your accent, you're not a local, right? You can refuse, and I'll let you go. But do you really have the confidence to leave Jiangcheng unscathed? Hehe... You know better than I do how capable Tianji Club members are. Even if you manage to leave Jiangcheng and return to your hometown, they won't let you go, and your family will be in danger."
Yao Liang gritted his teeth and after a moment of contemplation, said awkwardly, "Can... Can I really join you? You guys are so powerful; compared to you, I feel like a defective product..."
Chu Yuxuan smiled, "Don't underestimate yourself! Brother Yao, from now on, you're one of us. I'm Chu Yuxuan; if you want to give face, call me Big Brother. If you're not used to it, you can call me Chu Zong."
Yao Liang still looked uneasy, "Chu... Big Brother!"
Chu Yuxuan patted his arm, "That's better! I'll give you a hundred thousand for the first month. When you fit in with us, the salary will multiply. I only have one good quality: I have plenty of money! Work hard for me, and I guarantee you'll earn more than you could ever spend in a lifetime! From now on, we have one more brother! Hahaha..."
Lao San scratched his head, looking confused. Was Yao Liang even useful now? What exactly did his big brother want to do?
Lao Si blinked calmly and politely greeted, "Hello, Brother Yao." Yao Liang looked at Lao Si's bloody hand, trembling as he shook it.
Lao Wu smiled faintly, glancing at Lao San, whose CPU was overheating, and joked, "Sabi, big Sabi."
Lao San: "I'll f*ck*ng kill you, you blabbermouth!"
Forty minutes later, two bodyguards arrived at the factory in a Hummer. Chu Yuxuan called his brothers to get in the car. Since the Audi that the bodyguards had arrived in was destroyed, Lao San and Xiao Qing squeezed into one car, while the others took another.
On the way, Chu Yuxuan asked Lao Wu, "In your backup computer, are the high-tech tools ready to use? Is there any problem with hacking into the surveillance?"
"Absolutely no problem," Lao Wu said. "Are we going to Vulture's house? I'm afraid we won't find any useful clues."
Chu Yuxuan replied, "Let's take a look. We'll pass by the Emerald Lake on the way to the Yashan Villa area; it's on the way. We'll stop by the house to get the computer first."
"Okay."
Yao Liang hesitated for a moment, perhaps wanting to show his loyalty, and said, "I have the access card for the villa area; otherwise, the security won't let us in."
Chu Yuxuan nodded with a smile but didn't respond.
Upon arriving at Emerald Lake, Chu Yuxuan told Lao San to rest and instructed Xiao Qing to re-bandage Lao San's wounds. Once Lao Wu retrieved the computer, the group hurried to the Yashan Villa.
Along the way, Lao Wu used his skills to temporarily disable the surveillance cameras. When the car moved out of the camera range, he restored the feed. In the surveillance footage, there were only brief freezes; there were no black screens, making the anomalies hard to detect without close inspection. Yao Liang was astonished and said, "You're much better than Pika! That guy only damages the cameras..."
When they arrived at the Yashan Villa, the license plate couldn't be recognized. Yao Liang used the access card, and the security guard opened the gate, saving some trouble.
Under Yao Liang's guidance, the car quickly arrived at the gate of A08. Lao Wu quickly typed on his keyboard, and soon, the surveillance signals from inside the villa appeared on the computer screen.
"There are seven cameras."
Yao Liang frowned at this number and muttered, "They're guarding us like we're thieves... It must be Pika who installed them; he's the closest to Vulture! We even took him as a brother..."
Chu Yuxuan smiled, "Don't worry, I won't treat you like that, hehe. Lao Wu, turn off all the cameras. Xiao Yao, Lao Si, come with me!"
"Hey!" Lao Wu replied, glancing at Chu Yuxuan, typing rapidly, and managed to turn off five of the cameras. The remaining two with complex passwords were still on.
In his view, most passwords were practically useless, and these two cameras were no exception.