Chapter 14: Exposure Crisis

After the life-and-death struggle with Xiao Kong, Yan Fei acutely felt his own strength was insufficient, so he started to look for martial arts gyms to learn kung fu, but he also knew that he couldn't learn real kung fu in these kinds of gyms. So he both studied the routine of kung fu and made other plans on the side.

Yan Fei planned to practice a unique skill, which was the use of hidden weapons. As for which hidden weapon to use, there really was no need to think about it; he would use the steel ball bullets fired by drones.

Therefore, every day, after practicing kung fu and returning home, Yan Fei would go to a nearby hill slope in the evening, where in the forest, he erected a target to practice his steel ball hidden weapon. As for the steel balls used for practice, they were from the drone's weapon.

During this time, the Drone Avatar hadn't launched another attack, and the quantity of steel ball bullets would automatically refresh back to 100% every midnight, which was somewhat wasteful. Moreover, Yan Fei could feel the steel ball bullets inside the drone, but he was unable to remove them manually. Thus, every night, approaching midnight, Yan Fei would fire all of the drone's steel ball bullets. Fortunately, he could control the force of the bullets' launch by adjusting the air pressure, or else there wouldn't be any items that could withstand the attack of the steel ball bullets and keep the balls intact.

Yan Fei collected these steel balls in a large barrel and kept them in Universal Space. Within a few days, he had collected more than two thousand steel balls. Then, avoiding pedestrians, he began to practice firing the steel balls in the forest.

At the beginning, Yan Fei couldn't find the knack for hidden weapons at all. He simply couldn't hit the target, and his fingertips ended up in extreme pain. Later, after learning the force application techniques taught by Wang Yong, he slowly grasped the rudimentary method of hidden weapons and started to make some progress. But he had only just begun practicing hidden weapons, and their power was still very modest. He was far from being able to use them effectively.

After killing Xiao Kong, the Drone Avatar gained one Merit Point, but in the following days, this Merit Point didn't increase any further. Since Yan Fei hadn't launched the drone again during these days, after all, Zhang Baocheng had already seen what the drone looked like. Should the drone become active again, it might be discovered by Zhang Baocheng's people, so he stayed low for the time being, waiting for an opportunity for the Drone Upgrade.

Time swiftly passed by during Yan Fei's martial arts training, and soon, the Demolition conference was held, announcing the compensation standards. Yan Fei chose the option of a replacement property plus cash compensation. In total, he acquired a 30-square-meter fully furnished small house in the city area of Shanghai and 100 million in cash. Yan Fei had no objections to this and readily signed the agreement; once the agreement was signed, he immediately received the 20 million in pre-paid demolition compensation and the ownership of the city area property.

To be honest, when Yan Fei saw the extra 20 million cash in his bank account, he felt dizzy and could hardly believe that he had become a multimillionaire overnight. Once the demolition was completed, he would immediately receive the remaining 80 million in balance, becoming a true billionaire. Others might not earn so much money in their entire lives, but he had obtained it effortlessly, and aside from thanking his parents, he had no other thoughts.

After the demolition agreement was signed, Yan Fei's tenants began to move out slowly. He started returning their rent and security deposits, and since it wasn't a full month, he waived their rent for the month and gave them ample time to find new housing.

Lü Yangyang and Su Yan were very reluctant to leave, but they had no choice but to part ways. Yan Fei kindly helped them move their luggage, treated them to a meal, and then left under the girls' reluctant gazes.

After bidding farewell to the girls, it was already evening by the time Yan Fei drove the minivan home, where he discovered two sneaky men under a large tree near his doorstep, peering through a telescope at his home's windows. His heart stirred, and he quietly parked the car on a street far away without alarming the two men.

Having previously broken into Zhang Baocheng's villa and killed Xiao Kong, Yan Fei was being extra cautious. Suddenly discovering these two peeping men, he immediately grew wary. His home was less than 200 meters away, so he instantly started the Drone Avatar that was parked at home. The Drone Avatar came to life and flew out from another window.

Whenever Yan Fei went out, he always left the house windows open, so that in an emergency, the drone could take off to ensure his safety. With someone as formidable as Xiao Kong behind him, there were surely other experts. And now, Yan Fei's most powerful weapon was the drone's steel ball bullets, which he naturally made use of. So even when he was out, he would leave the windows open, and his travel range would not exceed 10 kilometers from his home.

It was nine o'clock in the evening, and even though there was moonlight, no one in the shadowy sky noticed the existence of the drone. The drone ascended to an altitude of 200 meters, circled around, and approached the two men from behind, then hovered over the large tree they were hidden in. The HD Camera began rotating to capture footage, and the audio recording equipment also started recording.

A skinny man put down the telescope, threw his cigarette butt on the ground in discontent, and said, "It's already nine o'clock. Why hasn't that Yan kid come back yet? How much longer do we have to stay here?"

The other short, chubby man replied, "Huang San, don't complain. This task was personally assigned by the Marquis. If you try to slack off, you're done for."

The man named Huang San hurriedly said, "Brother Liang, you misunderstood; I was just complaining about why that kid hasn't come back yet, nothing else." It seemed he was very wary of this so-called Marquis.

The man called Brother Liang took over the telescope, glanced at Yan Fei's house windows, and said, "Generally speaking, we must carry out the tasks personally ordered by the Marquis with all our heart; even the slightest mistake, and we can expect death!"

Huang San was very curious and asked, "Brother Liang, why do we have to watch that Yan guy? Did he offend the Marquis?"

Brother Liang said proudly, "If you ask anyone else, they probably wouldn't know what's going on. But you asked me, and I just happen to know the whole story."

Huang San quickly handed over a cigarette and lit it for Brother Liang, saying, "Then tell me about it, Brother Liang!"

Brother Liang took a drag of the cigarette, blew a smoke ring, and said, "You know Brother Cheng, that is, Zhang Baocheng, is the Marquis' brother, right?"

Huang San nodded and said, "Brother Cheng used to hang out with the Marquis, then he quit and started doing legitimate business, but he still often comes to see the Marquis. I've seen Brother Cheng a few times at the Marquis' house."

Brother Liang said, "Although Brother Cheng doesn't hang around the underworld anymore, he's still like brothers with Marquis, very close. When Brother Cheng has trouble, Marquis would help him too. A few days ago, something big happened at Brother Cheng's."

Huang San nodded repeatedly, saying, "I know, I know, a VIP guest of Brother Cheng went missing and hasn't been found yet. I heard Brother Cheng was furious."

Brother Liang said, "That VIP is quite significant; even Brother Cheng can't afford to offend him. It's no wonder Brother Cheng is anxious about his disappearance at his place."

Huang San asked curiously, "Who is that VIP? Even Brother Cheng can't afford to offend?"

Brother Liang shook his head, "I don't know that!"

Huang San asked again, "How did that VIP disappear?"

Brother Liang said, "I heard that on that night, there was an invasion by outsiders at Brother Cheng's villa. The VIP went out to chase after them and then went missing. But according to the investigation of the scene afterward, that VIP must've had a fierce fight on the hill behind Brother Cheng's place because a lot of traces from the fight were left there. They even found an eyeball at the scene."

Hearing this, Huang San was terrified and asked, "Could it be that the eyeball belonged to that VIP?"

Brother Liang said, "We don't know yet, but besides the eyeball, blood and pieces of clothing were also left at the scene, and a large number of steel balls were found. Brother Cheng has taken all these items back to his villa and is getting experts to analyze them."

Huang San asked, "What does this have to do with what we're doing tonight?"

Brother Liang said, "With Brother Cheng's man missing, Marquis will naturally help him out. So here we are, assigned to this task tonight."

Huang San curiously asked, "Are you saying that the disappearance of that VIP is related to this Yan Fei guy?"

Brother Liang exhaled a ring of smoke, "It seems there's no relation between the two, but someone from Brother Cheng's side recognized that the pieces of clothing found at the site of the fight closely resemble an outfit this kid wore before. Plus, Brother Cheng was targeting this kid a few days ago, and they have a feud. Furthermore, surveillance cameras at a nearby intersection to their villa caught his minivan around there at that time, so Brother Cheng suspects this might be related to this kid."

Huang San said, "If that's the case, why don't we just go in, grab the kid, and question him directly? Why are we still here watching?"

Brother Liang sighed, "That's why you're just a foot soldier on the streets; you can't see the big picture. Didn't you see how the state is handling us now? If you actually took this kid away, it'd only be a few days before the police were knocking on our door. After all, this kid has already called the cops, claiming Brother Cheng's people were harassing him. If he disappears, Brother Cheng will be the one under police investigation."

Huang San scratched his head, "Then why are we still surveilling him?"

Brother Liang said, "We wait for the kid to come back, then quietly go in, knock him out and take some of his blood back to Brother Cheng to compare with the blood left at the fight scene. Once we confirm they're the same, we'll really take the kid for questioning. That way, even if Brother Cheng gets investigated by the police, it would still be worth it, otherwise, it would be too unjust."

Huang San scratched his head, "But what if it really was this kid, wouldn't he be really tough? Can we actually knock him out?"

Brother Liang looked at him with disdain, "That guest being Brother Cheng's VIP, how could he possibly have any combat power? This kid could easily capture him. Besides, who knows if this kid has backup? What if it was his helper who made that move? So, just in case, I did some investigation and found out this kid is practicing martial arts at Beyond Fitness Center, being taught by an unknown coach the most basic Kung Fu routines, and he's only been practicing for a few days. He looks green, with no real combat power. Do you think we can't handle a rookie like this?"

Huang San finally felt relieved, and they continued to watch Yan Fei's house.

Through his Drone Avatar, Yan Fei heard their conversation crystal clear and broke into a cold sweat. He thought he had minimized the risk of exposure, but had not considered how many holes he had left behind.

The blood samples from the fight scene, the clothing he wore on the day of the incident, and his minivan being caught on their surveillance camera were all his oversights. The people were just suspicious for now, but once they got his genes and ran a comparison, they would lock in on him completely.

Fortunately, Yan Fei had inadvertently discovered the two surveilling him and managed to glean so much information from them. He still had time to fix this oversight; otherwise, he would be in big trouble.