But this guy had absolutely no thoughts or intentions of serving the country or the people. He was a minor leader in S City’s largest gang, the Wild Wolf Gang. The reason David Carter chose such a person to act was, first, because this guy’s position was just right—he was a link between the upper and lower ranks, responsible for collecting profits every month from all the entertainment venues in the southern district of S City and then personally delivering them. He also managed many pimps, had access to big shots, and his subordinates were well-informed. Second, this guy was truly an insignificant nobody—if he disappeared for a few days, no one would care.

After all, information is just information; there were some things Brian Foster couldn’t get, so David Carter had to handle them himself.

George White had been stripped completely naked, his body covered in tattoos that looked rather jarring, as if he was afraid people wouldn’t know he was in the underworld—there was hardly any blank space left on his skin.

It was now just past midsummer, the students had already started school, and the weather was beginning to cool. Normally, that wouldn’t be a big deal, but the basement never saw sunlight, was always dark and damp, and on top of that, David Carter had turned on the air conditioning, blowing out a chilling cold wind. Before leaving, he even poured a bucket of cold water over the guy. Earlier, this punk had been full of energy, cursing non-stop, but after a day, he was already shivering all over, barely able to speak a complete sentence.

Dealing with a small-time thug like this shouldn’t have taken so much effort. As David Carter descended into the basement, he glanced at George White with some disgust. They were two kinds of people who would never have crossed paths under normal circumstances. In David Carter’s eyes now, the other was as insignificant as an ant, easily crushed. But perhaps the memories from those years were too vivid—when gangsters and hoodlums fell into his hands, he couldn’t help but make them suffer a bit first.

He pulled up a chair and sat in front of him. As soon as he did, the other’s hooded head immediately turned toward him, showing that he still had some strength left.

“You… you… who… are… you? Which… which… gang… are you from… do you… know who I am?” George White’s voice trembled as if he had Parkinson’s. In truth, his heart was filled with indescribable fear. These methods were usually used by police when interrogating criminals, but this wasn’t a police station—he was sure of that. But that only made him more worried. Dealing with the police was always easier than dealing with people from the underworld. After all, this was Wild Wolf Gang territory; surely the other party wouldn’t go too far, right? He still held onto a sliver of hope.

A cold voice came, “I just need to ask you a few questions. Answer them correctly and I’ll let you go. If you lie to me, you’ll regret it.

Don’t rush to answer. To spare yourself some pain, I’ll tell you something: I have a knife in my hand, very sharp. For every wrong answer, I’ll peel off a layer of your scalp. I’ve tested it—at my skill level, I can do it thirteen times. Thirteen is an unlucky number. After that, well, you’ll get to see your brain and your brains. Hmm, I’m not quite as skilled as the guy who could do it sixteen times, but he was a pervert, and I’m not. I just want to know what I want to know. Before you lie, think it over. Don’t worry, we have plenty of time to play. The police and your Wild Wolf Gang brothers won’t come to bother us. You’ve only been missing for a day, and you just turned in this month’s accounts, so no one should be looking for you right now…”

George White’s heart turned completely cold. Since the other party knew everything, and knew he was with the Wild Wolf Gang, and wasn’t a cop, things were bad.

……

David Carter came out of the bathroom, the smell of blood on him completely masked by the scent of body wash and shampoo. The first one—he hadn’t gotten his hands bloody in years, and now he felt a bit excited. Unfortunately, the other wasn’t a tough fighter; there was no challenge at all.

……

The second missing person was one of the people who had invited Richard Harris out for drinks. This guy was about to go on a business trip to G City, and very unfortunately became the second victim, because if he disappeared for three or four days, not many people would suspect anything.

……

Three months and fifteen days passed. On this day, which happened to be National Day, apart from the usual staff on duty, everyone else at the city bureau was off for the holiday.

October 1st—on this day, both the citizens and government officials of S City would remember it forever. That night, four police officers were attacked and killed. One of the bodies wasn’t discovered until the sixth day, but by then, murders had already begun to occur one after another.

First, the chairman of Jade Stone Group, Edward Reed, who was also the boss of the Wild Wolf Gang, was stabbed seven times at his mistress’s house. By the time he was found the next morning, the body was already stiff. The murder weapon was found to be an ordinary folding knife, the technique not very professional, but no fingerprints or other traces were left. The killer was very familiar with the place, broke in by prying the door, and the alarm only sounded a few times before stopping. The officer on duty was careless and didn’t notice; even if he had, he would have thought the owner had triggered it by accident—such things were common.

That same night, Henry Grant, the Wild Wolf Gang’s top boss, was stabbed multiple times in the restroom of the Minghai Entertainment Club and died on the spot. The method was still clumsy, the murder weapon was not found, and the scene was completely destroyed by the crowd that rushed in and the underlings he had brought with him.