Naming Technique of the Night

Chapter 353: 274. Su Xingzhi and the Young Boss (Requesting Guaranteed Monthly Votes)

Fourth District, beneath the Xing Ge Building.

The building had a peculiar shape, resembling a handkerchief floating in mid-air, curled up on its edges.

At 4 a.m., all the passages that led into the building were closed, with more than six fully armed society members guarding each entrance.

Before Qing Chen could get close, someone already aimed a gun at him, “Halt, Xing Ge Building isn’t doing business tonight.”

After thinking for a moment, Qing Chen fished out a business card from his pocket that Jiang Xiaotang had given him, “The brother of Begonia Boxing Gym’s Jiang Xiaotang has come for a visit.”

As his right hand slipped into his pocket, all the security guards on site cocked their guns, becoming alert.

Not until Qing Chen took out the business card did everyone relax.

Qing Chen pondered secretly, the overall quality of the security was much more formidable than the average societies, at least they were well-trained.

A wary security guard approached Qing Chen, took the business card in his hand, and after confirming it belonged to Jiang Xiaotang of Begonia Boxing Gym, calmly said, “Please wait a moment.”

After speaking, he pressed a metal button next to the elevator, “Tell the boss, someone from Begonia Boxing Gym has come to visit. Should they be seen, or not?”

Two minutes later, a woman’s voice came out of the metal button, “The boss says no, we’ve closed after 2 a.m.”

Qing Chen furrowed his brow.

Zhang Chengze’s situation was not looking optimistic; this was easy to discern.

Meeting with the likes of Gu Huozi at least yielded something: Zhang Chengze had not made a call to Gu Huozi’s group either.

After crossing into the Inner World, the other party was completely out of contact, which was extremely abnormal.

So, let’s comb through the clues one by one then: First, the other party was certainly still alive at midnight, or else the countdown would not have appeared on the arm, and now only four hours had passed, so the likelihood of death was fifty-fifty.

Secondly, according to Yi’s deduction, the other party was likely cornered in some part of the lower third district, restrained by someone, and that someone might very well be the Kidney Cutter.

Finally, if it was Kidney Cutter, their work efficiency was actually quite high. Yi said those people had a very complete industrial chain; under normal circumstances, once they got their hands on a pig, it wouldn’t last more than 8 hours before being dismembered, refrigerated, and shipped to various parts of the Federation.

Therefore, what Qing Chen had to do now was to find Su Xingzhi before dawn, purchase intelligence, and rescue Zhang Chengze.

He pondered for a moment and then said to the security guard, “Please tell boss Su, Qing Xiaotu is here to see him, and ask if he would be willing to meet me, thank you.”

The security guard hesitated for a moment, but seeing how polite Qing Chen was, he ultimately reported, “Qing Xiaotu wants to see the boss. Will the boss meet him?”

Surprisingly, not even a minute had passed before the response came from a young male’s voice, “Please have him come up via the main elevator.”

“Alright, boss.”

The security guard was stunned on the spot, staring at Qing Chen in amazement.

They all recognized the boss’s voice, and the person who had just replied, was indeed the boss!

Xing Ge Building hadn’t done business in the middle of the night for years, except for the last time when Li Dongze himself came—because they were truly no match for him!

Qing Xiaotu… some security guards remembered the name, wasn’t he the newly-minted Tiger Grade Boxing King from Begonia Boxing Gym?

The one who killed a Land Cruise Grade fighter while still being Tiger Grade?

But why did Boss Su give him special treatment?

Even Begonia Boxing Gym’s owner was turned away, yet he wanted to see this Qing Xiaotu?

Knowing Jiang Xiaotang, that woman was famously treacherous in the Fourth District, and the boss had even shut the door on her…

For a moment, all the security became polite, quietly lowering their gun barrels and explaining, “Sorry about before, we were just following procedures.”

“It’s fine, I understand,” Qing Chen responded.

The security guard thought to himself, this was the Tiger Grade Boxing King, who, it was rumored, had killed the previous king during his promotion. How come he seemed to have no temper at all, so amiable and easygoing?

Qing Chen entered the elevator and noticed that the entire elevator had buttons for only the 1st and 49th floors.

The security guard explained, “This main elevator is a direct line to where the boss is, other floors are accessible by different elevators.”

“I see, thank you,” Qing Chen pressed for the 49th floor, waiting as the elevator rose straight up.

In the elevator, the walls were made of transparent glass, but the elevator shaft itself was dazzling with myriad colors, like a starry sky.

As the elevator car ascended swiftly, Qing Chen felt as if he were traveling through a starry tunnel, heading towards the other side of the universe.

With a ding, the elevator doors opened.

The exterior was an open dwelling with minimalist décor, black walls, white marble floors, and each piece of woodcarving exceptionally elegant.

From here one could look straight through the 49th floor’s floor-to-ceiling glass and see the city outside.

“Little boss!” A voice came from outside the elevator, and a young man dressed in a white suit came striding over: “You finally came to see me!”

Qing Chen could tell that the voice, just like the one that had agreed to let him up, undoubtedly belonged to Su Xingzhi.

However, Su Xingzhi’s attitude was entirely different from what he had expected…

And it was more direct than he had imagined…

It was obvious that the other party already knew Qing Chen’s identity and really was quite close to Uncle Li Dong.

The young man gripped Qing Chen’s hand tightly and lamented, “Little boss, I’ve sent everyone else away, there’s no surveillance or recording here, so I’ll just say it, I want to file a complaint against Li Dongze, he took away all the Genetic Potions from my stock without paying! Does no one care about this anymore?”

Qing Chen was taken aback and calmly withdrew his hand: “This… might be out of my jurisdiction.”

“Of course you can manage! You were entrusted with this when the boss left City 18, even though you can’t lend a hand, but your identity as the little boss still stands. If the boss someday passes away, we would all have to listen to you, and he would definitely listen to you, little boss you have to stand up for me,” Su Xingzhi was on the verge of tears.

Qing Chen watched the young man in silence.

So much for the agreement not to do business after 2 a.m., so much for never making exceptions, he was acting like a henpecked husband.

The cool image he had just built up for Su Xingzhi in his head crumbled instantly.

Qing Chen sighed and said, “I’m not familiar with the details of what’s happened between you and Li Dongze, so I can’t make a decision at the moment, I suggest you talk to my master directly…”

“I can’t talk to the boss about this,” Su Xingzhi lamented: “Neither of us can get in touch with the boss now, after all, inter-city communication relies on satellites, and us Knights don’t have access to such things… Satellites are in other people’s hands, and everything would be monitored.”

Qing Chen thought that if a civilian organization in this era could control satellites, they’d be jumping to the sky.

He thought for a moment and suggested, “Why don’t you wait until I understand the situation a bit better…? I’ve come here tonight for another matter.”

“Ah,” Su Xingzhi immediately dropped his complaining demeanor: “Little boss, you’ve got something else to ask for, I thought you came to uphold justice for me… Tell me, what is it?”

“It’s like this, I’m looking for a person who’s being hunted by the Heng Society, named Zhang Chengze,” Qing Chen said: “According to my guess, he should have been hidden by one of the black market traffickers, so I’m hoping you can help me find him. Of course, if this information comes at a cost, I’m willing to pay.”

Su Xingzhi, with a tug at Qing Chen’s arm, walked inside: “Little boss, talking about payment is being too formal, a word from you and this Xing Ge Building is yours, I, Su Xingzhi, am also at your disposal!”

When Qing Chen heard this, he again inconspicuously withdrew his arm, feeling that this guy wasn’t entirely serious…

Just then, Su Xingzhi said, “Huh, the name Zhang Chengze sounds kind of familiar. Little boss, give me a second to check…”

With that, he took out a small Black Box from the drawer and pressed it gently, and the box projected a holographic screen right on the desk.

And a keyboard was projected onto the opposite side of the screen.

Su Xingzhi rapidly typed in the three characters “Zhang Chengze” and then froze: “Little boss, what do you want with him? If I’m not mistaken… he’s the one I’ve hidden. Of course, I didn’t know you were looking for him, I just didn’t want Li Dongze that old kid to get what he wants too easily. It’s not just Zhang Chengze I’ve hidden, there are many others.”

After a moment of speechlessness, Qing Chen asked, “Do you have a grudge against Li Dongze?”

“Of course!” Su Xingzhi exclaimed: “He broke into my Xing Ge Building and stole my Genetic Potion stock, an utter disgrace, it’s so disrespectful!”

“Hmm… But I’m curious, why did he rob you?” Qing Chen asked.

“Because he’s overbearing, he’s making trouble without reason!” Su Xingzhi declared.

Qing Chen felt that there was more to the story and decided it was necessary to hear what Li Dongze had to say… it could very well be that Su Xingzhi was the one who had attacked first.

However, this visit to the Xing Ge Building was definitely fruitful; Qing Chen inquired, “Where is Zhang Chengze now? Is he in a safe situation?”

“Ah,” Su Xingzhi replied: “Last night around 10 p.m., I wrapped him up and sold him to ‘Human Butcher’ Chang Ping, if he’s unlucky, he might have already been taken apart by now, if he’s lucky, he’s just waiting for a buyer… Little boss, shall I intercept this matter for you first?”

Qing Chen asked, “Would that son of a gun Chang Ping listen to you?”

“Yes, of course, he’ll listen,” Su Xingzhi affirmed: “Otherwise, I’ll twist his head off! That old wretch is very cunning, he knows he can’t afford to mess with me, and besides, Zhang Chengze is just a product to him, there’s no need for him to offend me over a single product.”

Qing Chen found that Su Xingzhi wasn’t just quirky, but also quite the chatterbox.

Honestly, he was a bit excited about the prospect of Ye Wan, Li Dongze, Lin Xiaoxiao, and Su Xingzhi all getting together; it would be quite the scene.

After a few seconds of thought, Qing Chen said, “Could you give Chang Ping a call now? But let’s not release Zhang Chengze just yet, I hope to stage a little drama.”

…

Here’s a bonus chapter for the Golden League taxi driver, again thanks to the boss. This update won’t affect the normal daily posts.

Seeking base votes for August, there will be a single chapter later, optional reading.