Super Soldier in the City

Chapter 2445 - 2509: Who Did It?

Li Yifei also arrived at that intersection, looked up at the streetlights above, then closed his eyes to sense the surroundings. His imposing manner spread out, and his perception quickly expanded, capturing everything within dozens, even hundreds of meters around him, including the sewer beneath his feet... and the subway?No doubt, there’s indeed a subway line beneath, and right beside the subway, a mental map formed in Li Yifei’s mind, showing a maintenance passage that connects the subway and the sewer.

Opening his eyes, Li Yifei stepped forward a few paces and squatted down. There was a manhole cover in front of him. Although it had been stepped on by countless people and crushed by vehicles, Li Yifei could still discern from subtle details that this manhole cover had been opened recently. The marks on the lock and around the cover proved it.

The sewer’s smell was naturally unpleasant, but this discovery made Li Yifei take a deep breath. It was considered a new clue, which was good news. Li Yifei swiftly called in the head of the bodyguards, instructed him to send people to trace within the sewer, while also collecting videos from nearby subway stations to examine the flow of people during that time.

Of course, the premise was to first confirm that there was indeed a passage connecting the sewer to the subway.

However, speaking of ninjutsu, even without a passage, the opponent might still manage to pass through. At least, Li Yifei noticed some new traces in the sewer, very shallow footprints, almost undetectable unless closely inspected, perhaps because the opponent was carrying someone, traces were left. Otherwise, there might not even be footprints.

Sorting through the video is not a small workload, but fortunately, it’s not Tokyo here; otherwise, with hundreds of millions of daily throughput, it would be even harder to trace.

Li Yifei’s command was transmitted, and leveraging the influence of the Aoki Group and the power of the Yamaguchi Group, they quickly gathered surveillance from nearby subway stations. Li Yifei carefully reviewed these surveillance videos.

Even though the chances were slim because the opponent might use a disguise, or simply change their appearance quickly once inside the subway, making it impossible for Li Yifei to spot them from afar.

Hopefully, the opponent isn’t that cautious... although already quite cautious, Li Yifei thought.

Regrettably, upon the first pass of reviewing the videos, even though Li Yifei was very meticulous, he couldn’t find any clues, not even a trace of the woman. Li Yifei’s eyes became dry, he shook his head, closed his eyes to rest, with the bodyguard beside him not daring to disturb.

Have the clues stopped? Up until now, the purpose of the kidnappers remained unknown, whether it’s simply to kill or extort something, or, as Li Yifei previously speculated, the act of Noah’s Ark. Anyway, such elaborate efforts must have a purpose.

It cannot be laborious and unrewarding. Kidnapping a billionaire of this status, even one of the top few in the country, is an extremely sensational event; it’s impossible to have no demands.

Of course, since the adversary could send such a ninja, the matter cannot be trivial... thinking of this, Li Yifei’s gaze shifted back to the surveillance video. The video wasn’t clear, some even blurry, and when focused on individuals, it was even more indistinct.

Wait, Li Yifei pressed a button to pause the footage, soon noticing something unusual.

A man was supporting a woman walking off the subway, ten stations away from here. The woman was unclear, but the man’s figure... somewhat resembled Aoki Ryota. Li Yifei quickly called over several bodyguards responsible for protecting Aoki Ryota today, and asked, "What did Mr. Aoki wear today?"

"...A suit, a dark blue suit." the bodyguard replied.

"Dark blue, huh?" Li Yifei zoomed in on the video a bit, discovering a clue. This man was also in a suit, and asked, "Does he look like Mr. Aoki?"

"He does look somewhat similar... but it’s hard to tell from this!"

"You all go here, gather the footage and distinguish further!" Li Yifei ordered.

Over ten minutes later, the video clearly showed Aoki Ryota and the dazed woman, but confusingly, this time Aoki Ryota was supporting the woman out, and the woman seemed very weak.

This was puzzling; Aoki Ryota was supposedly held hostage, so why support the opponent to leave? If the woman was weak, he could have fled. All the bodyguards were quite perplexed.

Clicking his tongue, Li Yifei continuously switched the surveillance footage, repeatedly examining Aoki Ryota’s expression, and in the few limited frames, Aoki Ryota’s eyes appeared abnormal.

It’s not that his gaze was abnormal, but... the direction his eyes were looking at was abnormal, was this implying something? Li Yifei kept these images in mind, went to the scene, followed Aoki Ryota’s line of sight, the first frame was an advertisement, a real estate ad, and Li Yifei asked the bodyguards behind him: "Is it nearby?"

"Yes... about two to three kilometers away, not far." the bodyguard responded.

Li Yifei nodded, went to the second place, followed Aoki Ryota’s line of sight, this time Li Yifei found nothing, just a facing surveillance camera, checking several in the row, Li Yifei found nothing, the last suspicious place, Li Yifei looked on-site, surprisingly it was an Aoki Group billboard.

What’s the meaning? Even at such a time, look at your own billboard? Li Yifei stood under the billboard, his brows furrowed.

The phone rang, Aoki Reiko on the other end said there hadn’t been any news, Li Yifei reported the situation here, Aoki Reiko continuously thanked Li Yifei.

"Hmm, know this matter well but don’t broadcast it to the board yet!" Li Yifei said.

"Yes, yes, I will, thank you, Feijun, I... otherwise, I really wouldn’t know what to do."

"No need for courtesy between us, oh, your cousin came to see me!" Li Yifei simply remarked, Aoki Reiko frowned and said: "Cousin usually isn’t like this, I don’t understand why he’s doing this."

"Maybe he’s trying to prove his existence." Li Yifei said flatly.

Of course, there could be other reasons, Li Yifei thought inwardly.

After hanging up, Li Yifei led the bodyguards out of the subway station.

"Mr. Li, should we investigate nearby?"

Li Yifei glanced around, the surroundings were expansive, he shook his head and said: "Perhaps Mr. Aoki was hinting at something, so... go to the real estate location in the first advertisement."

"Okay!" The bodyguards immediately responded, by now they were quite receptive to Li Yifei’s leadership, especially since he truly managed to identify some clues from mere traces, keeping the investigation going.

Meanwhile, in a house several kilometers away, Aoki Ryota sat dejectedly. Across him sat a peculiar woman. She was described as peculiar because not only was she terrifying, but bizarrely odd. There was a chilling aura about her, one that struck a sense of fear inducing shudders in one’s heart. Aoki Ryota, though well-experienced, still dared not resist when facing this woman. Even when, towards the end, the woman showed obvious fatigue, he failed to resist. He had a feeling that if he dared resist, he would be slain by her the next second.

Life is precious, Aoki Ryota didn’t want his life to end prematurely, so he was coerced here. Upon entering, the woman locked the door, uttered a sentence, and maintained a bizarre stance, totally still, even her breathing slowed significantly. Following her breathing pace, Aoki Ryota felt he might suffocate.

What was her purpose in holding him? Aoki Ryota had attempted to ask along the way, stating he would try to meet her demands if it was money she wanted, but the woman remained silent. Upon probing further, she directly threatened him with death, and silenced him.

Hu, Aoki Ryota discreetly exhaled, crouching slightly for more comfort. Facing such a fearsome woman, Aoki Ryota could only avoid provoking her as much as possible. Feeling the grip on his life was unpleasant, yet he felt helpless.

After some time, footsteps sounded outside, Aoki Ryota’s eyes lit up, staring at the door. Meanwhile, the woman still maintained that posture, completely unmoving, seemingly unaware.

Who was approaching? A resident, or... hope sparked within Aoki Ryota’s heart, roughly after one or two minutes, keys jingled at the door, it was opened, and a figure entered. Upon seeing who it was, Aoki Ryota’s eyelid twitched, then widened, as he pointed towards the person, stammering: "You... how could it be you?"

"Surprised, aren’t you, my dearest uncle." A somewhat cold voice sounded; the words were full of provocation. The person who entered was none other than Aoki Ryota’s nephew, also a director on the board of the group, and raised personally by Aoki Ryota, Aoki Takeshi.

Aoki Takeshi spun the keys in his hand, swinging them back and forth, taking measured steps forward, sporting a wicked smile showing somewhat uneven teeth, looking down at Aoki Ryota.

Aoki Ryota forced himself to calm down a bit. With Aoki Takeshi’s appearance, he already deduced some things, struggling to say: "Aoki Takeshi, hasn’t Uncle treated you well?"

"Well! Of course well, hehe!" Aoki Takeshi stepped closer, glanced a few times at the woman in the bizarre stance, then turned his head toward Aoki Ryota, saying: "Uncle, your kindness towards me is built on the guilt you felt towards my parents, rather than recognition of my abilities. Don’t deny it, I already saw those in your eyes, hehe."