Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 812: Chapter 56: The Labyrinth

A faint groan could be heard.

Caroline slowly opened her eyes and found herself sitting on the ground, surrounded by darkness and a stifling heat, like a workshop – the kind that’s a rudimentary factory converted from a residential house.

Nearby were many beakers, test tubes, alcohol lamps, and other things, an unbearable smell wafting into her nose, like a mixture of hospital disinfectant and gasoline.

Caroline suddenly came back to her senses, clearly seeing her ankles bound with plastic ties, her hands were treated similarly: they were tied behind her back.

Caroline struggled vigorously – but her struggling body quickly stopped because her sight caught something terrifying once again.

No doubt, she saw Arno – Arno was hanging at that moment.

His feet had to tiptoe, barely touching the ground. He hung his head down, with hair disheveled, sweat covered his body, and several bruises were distinctly visible on his arms.

Beside Arno were two men in flamboyant shirts, each holding a slender iron pipe.

Caroline’s breath suddenly quickened. She understood that Arno must have suffered a long time of beating before she woke up, or Arno wouldn’t be in this exhausted state.

“I… I really… really don’t know… I’m not Harry…”

Caroline could only faintly hear Arno’s voice, like a weak person crushed beneath a collapsed building for days and nights.

One man directly grabbed Arno’s hair at this time and sneered: “Twin brother? You’re the younger brother? What kind of joke are you playing? Earlier, when you shared money from us, why didn’t you say you have a brother, letting us give him a share too? Do you think a fake certificate can fool us? Harry, are you an idiot? Even if you want to impersonate another person, can you not get some plastic surgery first? I’ve known you’re a brain-dead fool for a while, but never thought you’d be… be this stupid!”

Saying this, the man spat at Arno, then turned around and suddenly struck Arno’s chest with an elbow. Caroline clearly saw that due to this impact, Arno spat out a mouthful of bloody residue.

Arno stayed still, head drooped naturally, not knowing whether he fainted.

“Boss of Boston, that woman woke up.”

Everyone’s gaze simultaneously turned towards Caroline, who instinctively shrank back. The man resembling a boss, Boss of Boston, directly walked towards Caroline, with a small knife in his hand.

The man squatted in front of Caroline, gently tapping Caroline’s cheek with the knife, which made Caroline even more uncomfortable.

But she dared not speak, fearing to anger these vicious men.

This boss’s nostrils slightly twitched.

Caroline knew well what this gesture meant – this boss, the Boss of Boston, was possibly an addict.

Recalling the tools and equipment here, Caroline, who has always lived in chaotic places, had some guesses in her heart: this may, perhaps… be a small workshop-style drug lab.

“What is your relationship with him?” The boss suddenly asked.

“I… I have no relationship with him, I’ve known him for less than three days.” Caroline said nervously.

Boston nodded, his arm with the knife suddenly retracted, and Caroline instinctively breathed a sigh of relief, but unexpectedly Boston suddenly thrust the knife!

The tip of the knife scraped by Caroline’s cheek and then stuck into the wall she leaned against, scaring Caroline to widen her eyes, too tense to move.

“I’m asking you again, what is your relationship with Harry, where are the things hidden?” Boston stared with wide eyes.

“I don’t know anything about it, I really have no relationship with him…” Terror made Caroline confess everything, almost recounting the entire sequence of events directly.

Boston frowned tightly listening, finally sneering: “You two not going to become screenwriters is indeed a waste. But facing death, still so stubborn, I do admire you guys.”

“I’m telling the truth! If you don’t believe it, you can check, ask, and you’ll know!” Caroline hurriedly said.

The boss directly grabbed Caroline’s hair, the pull of hair and scalp made Caroline frown painfully. This Boston seemed to be in a very manic state, his gaze growing more vicious.

He directly held the knife to Caroline’s neck, its sharp edge slicing her skin there. Caroline’s breath suddenly speeded up.

“Listen, I don’t have time to play games with you here!” Boston grinned savagely: “You two only have two options! Spit out all my goods, or let me chop you up to feed the dogs!”

“I really don’t know… I really don’t know Harry… I know nothing!” Caroline screamed with fear.

Why did so many things happen?

Ever since that night she followed Livia to Big Boss Neymar’s villa, her life had turned into a chaotic mess—escaping danger once, why had danger come again?

“Don’t know… don’t know?!” The boss roared, grabbing Caroline by the arm and dragging her across the floor, “I’ll make sure you have no idea how you died!”

He threw her aside, then violently said, “Chop her up! This woman knows our stuff, keeping her is useless! I don’t believe Harry will keep his mouth shut in the end! Hmph! Dare to swallow my stuff, I’ll let you have it, but won’t let you spend it alive!”

Two men picked up machetes and walked up to Caroline.

Caroline curled up in fear, her mind a tangled mess, just hoping to survive. Facing the machetes of the two men, Caroline began to beg, “Don’t kill me… I’m really not lying! I didn’t know Harry beforehand! I even got involved in a murder case because of him, and the police want to arrest me! You can ask…”

The two men dragged Caroline outside, ignoring her words.

Caroline screamed frantically, “Don’t kill me… don’t kill… me… I can give you money! Give you money!”

The two men had already dragged Caroline to the door, seemingly with no intention of stopping.

But Caroline still didn’t want to give up: “You just want money! Killing me gets you nothing, plus a murder! If you don’t kill me, I can still give you money… Do you want to end up with nothing?”

“Wait a sec.” Boston suddenly called out, he walked back over to Caroline, looking down with a sneer, “How much can you pay to buy your own life?”

Caroline thought of the huge amount in her bank card, but that money had disappeared. She opened her mouth, “Th… three hundred thousand.”

“Three hundred thousand, a lot?” The boss sneered, waving his hand dismissively.

“Wait! Hold on! Five hundred thousand… Five hundred thousand!! Eight… one million! One million!” Caroline nearly screamed out her limit!

Her savings, the house in the slums, and various high-interest loans… a million might be possible, but that was already her absolute limit!

“Two million and you can buy your own life.” The boss directly doubled the amount, “This is the interest for you stealing my stuff, I can spare you for now!”

“Two million… impossible!” Caroline protested.

“Miss, are you trying to haggle with me at this point?” The boss suddenly smiled.

“I…” Caroline ultimately gave up bargaining, just thinking of getting out of this danger as soon as possible, “But, but I need some time.”

Boston warned, “You’d better not try any tricks.”

Saying this, he waved his hand, “You two, go with her to get the money, and come back immediately after getting it.”

“Get up, girl, if you want to live, move quickly, don’t make us wait too long.” One of the men with a machete yanked Caroline up.

“Wait… what are you planning to do to him?” Caroline nervously looked over at Arno.

She saw Arno raise his head with difficulty, looking at her pleadingly.

His lips moved slightly… as if saying: Save him.

Caroline quickly averted her gaze, not daring to look Arno in the eyes, reminding herself that Arno had nothing to do with her.

He has nothing to do with me, nothing to do.

Nothing… to do.

Boston gave a sneering answer: “I don’t care if he’s Harry or Harry’s brother, anyway, Harry swallowed my stuff, I don’t believe in twin stories! As long as he doesn’t give me back my stuff, he can’t leave! Of course, if you want to ransom him, you can, pay up! My goods are worth at least eight million!”

“I… I don’t have that much.” Caroline finally lowered her head, sneaking a glance at Arno.

Arno had already lowered his head, his face ashen.

…

Caroline didn’t know how she walked out of that place. When she came out, her eyes were covered with a black cloth… when the cloth was removed, she found herself already on the street.

Two men flanked her. They positioned her between them, one on each side. One man even handcuffed his arm to hers, covering it with a coat—appearing like a couple.

Caroline knew she couldn’t cut it off.

If she shouted on the street, the other man could finish her off in an instant…

Shortly after, under the coercion of the two men, Caroline returned to the slum where she lived.

Caroline had led the two men on a different route to her home—the staircase by the grocery store.

But she didn’t see that magical shop, only the old lady from the original grocery store waved at her, as a greeting.

All the way back to Caroline’s home.

One of the men looked around Caroline’s house, then suddenly whistled and said, “So a whore… No wonder she can pay to save her life, she must have made quite a lot.”

Saying this, he walked up to Caroline and pinched her face, “Still have a bit of time, why don’t you make daddy happy for a while?”

Caroline… naturally wasn’t afraid of letting this man have her. Or rather, if a quickie could solve the problem, then it’s not really a problem!

If one quickie doesn’t solve it, then two will!

The key is—this is not a problem that can be solved by however many quickies!

“Stop wasting time! Hurry and bring the money!” The other man shook his head but didn’t unlock Caroline’s handcuffs: “Alright, where’s the money?”

Caroline had no choice but to lead the two men into her room, then moved a hanging picture off the wall. Behind it, a secret compartment had been chiseled out.

Caroline took out a bag from the compartment and opened it. She looked at the cash inside, some new, some old, gritted her teeth, and handed it over with trembling hands.

“How much is this?”

“Three hundred and eighty-seven thousand…” Caroline timidly reported the exact number.

“Three hundred eighty thousand?” The man sneered, “You planning to pay in installments?”

“I… I can sell this house! I… I can borrow money! I know quite a few lenders… I can also… Give, give me some time, please, give me some time…” Caroline pleaded.

The man suddenly went out to make a phone call, came back soon afterward, and said indifferently: “The boss said take the money and get rid of the woman, consider thirty-eight thousand as a service fee.”

“Understood.”

“Wait a minute! I can get more money! I really can! Give me some time!”

Caroline said in panic: “If you kill me now, it’ll only be a little over thirty-eight thousand… But if you give me some time, I can get the full amount! Really! Believe me! I don’t want to die, so I’ll definitely figure something out, right?”

The man made another phone call, and also got an answer quickly.

“Alright, we’ll give you another chance. But only right under our noses.”

Caroline nodded then swallowed, taking her phone back from the man’s hand.

After unlocking it, she took out a card and had the man dial the number on it until it got through, then took it back to her hand.

“Hello… Lawyer Carlo? It’s me, Caroline…”

Caroline nervously glanced at the two men in front of her, then lowered her voice to continue speaking to the phone, “About Nia’s property… I, I agree to your terms. But, I hope to close the deal quickly! And, I want, I want two million!”

Soon after, Caroline ended the call.

“How is it?” The man looked at her coldly.

Caroline said nervously, “He said it’s not a problem… But, but wants to meet up to discuss.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” The two men shrugged, then led Caroline out the door, laughing, “Miss, from now on, we’re your agents.”

Caroline had no choice but to let them lead her as they pleased.

After going downstairs, the trio unexpectedly saw two policemen walking over. The two men hid away with Caroline, watching the two cops go straight upstairs.

“Seems like you’ve really caused trouble.” He glanced at Caroline, frowning.

Caroline said bitterly, “I really didn’t kill anyone.”

“How could you not?” The other man said with a wicked smile, pinching Caroline’s face, “The people you’ve killed probably outnumber Earth’s population!”

It was a joke.

But Caroline couldn’t bring herself to smile at all.

…

…

The train arrived at the station.

Song Haoran exited the train door ahead of Luo Qiu, then turned around, opened his arms, and smiled at Luo Qiu, “Welcome to Sao Paulo.”

“Next you’ll welcome me to leave again, in a few hours.” Luo Qiu casually replied—according to the schedule, they would soon rush to the airport and wouldn’t stay for long.

“That’s why I say, you really have no sense of humor at all.” Song Haoran shook his head, “Later, Oni and the others will take you to explore here for a few hours before going to the airport, we’ll meet there.”

Luo Qiu curiously asked, “Do you have something else to do?”

Song Haoran flashed a mysterious smile, turned, and walked into the crowd, “Don’t miss me too much.”

He left quite gracefully.

“Mr. Luo, the car is ready.” Livia came directly to Luo Qiu’s side after exiting from the rear carriage and whispered.

Oni was slightly behind, but observing the surroundings. Though casual, he was checking out the environment.

Not far away, a woman lowered her head, wearing her hat to cover her face, quickly leaving from behind Oni—if seen from the front, she would be recognized as that stewardess from not long ago: Gan Hong.

Boss Luo pretended not to see, nodded to Livia, “You go ahead and arrange the route, I’ll leave it to you next, Ms. Livia.”

“Please follow me.” Livia no longer spoke and walked forward directly, while Oni followed from behind.

The two one in front and one behind, keeping Luo Qiu protected in the middle, now somewhat resembling a bodyguard duo.

Suddenly, the crowd started to stir. On the left, a group of passengers who had just disembarked ran in fright, rushing towards the trio of Luo Qiu instantly.

Livia and Oni moved swiftly, one retreating, one advancing, tightly protecting Luo Qiu, their expressions turned tense.

“What’s going on?” Luo Qiu asked.

Livia shook her head, “Not sure, but don’t worry, it probably isn’t directed at us, perhaps something happened there.”

The crowd that collided quickly dispersed, leaving open spaces, and Boss Luo along with Livia and Oni saw the cause of the commotion clearly.

Not far away… approximately twenty meters away, a man was holding another man, biting the other’s neck.

Blood spattered from the bitten neck.

The newly bitten man pushed his assailant away, terrified, collapsing on the ground.

As for the man biting, his body started to shake strangely, even roaring. His body abruptly stiffened, facial expression extremely ferocious.

Suddenly, he flung himself at the train door, then bounced off, falling onto the ground. But as if unharmed, he quickly got up, looking even crazier, once more hurling himself at the train door.

His mouth full of blood, eyes rolling back, movements rigid… roaring.

Like a zombie.

Livia frowned, seemingly knowing something, quickly said a line, “Tsk, another guy who has used ‘Zombie Bath Salts’!”

“Zombie Bath Salts?” Boss Luo paused.

Oni shrugged, “A new type of central nervous system stimulant, recently emerged. People who use it become exceptionally excited, then their behavior just mimics zombies in movies… Look at this guy for example.”

“Let’s get in the car first.” Livia grabbed Luo Qiu’s arm, “Cops will be here to handle it soon, let’s go.”