Chapter 679: The Calm Before the Storm |
However, let's get back to the story. Since Gralki's followers dared to come to the police station to retrieve Jorma's body, it's likely that Gralki's followers have officially entered London to make their move.
This means London is about to get lively again.
But for now, these events have nothing to do with Liu Xing and his group, as they still need to stay in Leicester City for a while.
It's worth noting that Ithaqua is really good at hiding. Despite the England police, the Cult of the Cadaver, and Miss Wang's people searching for them in Leicester City for many days, they still haven't found Ithaqua's whereabouts. Liu Xing is starting to suspect that Ithaqua might have already left Leicester City with his people.
Liu Xing went to bed with doubts.
The next morning, Liu Xing and his group were woken up by Tam because the Leicester City police had finally caught a big fish - a Chinatown mafia leader, who was also Modidas' boss.
Pierre, originally from China, had illegally entered England 20 years ago and quickly established the first Chinese mafia in Chinatown with his fellow villagers. Now, Pierre is a symbol of the Chinatown mafia.
After the attack, the London police's first suspect was Pierre, and they had arranged to capture him immediately. However, Pierre managed to escape.
As for how the Leicester City police caught Pierre, they had to thank Modidas.
One of Pierre's habits caught the Leicester City police's attention - he loved to eat fried chicken.
Because Pierre's family was very poor when he was a child, they could only afford to eat chicken on special occasions. As a result, Pierre developed an obsession with chicken and would buy chicken meat every day after settling in England. He became addicted to fried chicken, eating it every two to three days. If he didn't eat it, he would feel unwell. Liu Xing was amazed by Pierre's character design...
So, the Leicester City police set up a sting operation in all the fried chicken shops in the city and finally caught Pierre, who couldn't resist his cravings.
This time, the Leicester City police didn't wait for Liu Xing and his group and started interrogating Pierre directly.
By the time Liu Xing and his group arrived at the police station, Pierre had already been sent to a detention room.
Wesker, led by Tam, found a police officer in charge of interrogating Pierre and learned about the interrogation process.
At first, Pierre was stubborn and refused to reveal any information. However, when the interrogators brought out a bucket of fried chicken and started eating it in front of him, Pierre finally cracked... Liu Xing was speechless.
Pierre then spilled everything he knew, like a bamboo tube pouring out beans.
First, Pierre claimed he didn't know Ithaqua's real name, only that Ithaqua was a friend of another Chinatown mafia leader and a wealthy person. Pierre quickly became one of Ithaqua's loyal followers, along with other Chinatown mafia leaders.
Later, Pierre received many benefits from Ithaqua and learned that Ithaqua was involved in the drug trade.
When Ithaqua returned from France to England, he brought back a batch of new drugs, which Pierre and other Chinatown mafia leaders tried. As a result, they became addicted, and Ithaqua controlled them.
About half a month ago, Ithaqua gave Pierre and his followers a batch of automatic rifles and told them to get familiar with the weapons. Ithaqua also used the new drugs to control his followers and even killed one of them to set an example.
As a result, Pierre and his followers had to obey Ithaqua's orders and participated in the attack. They then escaped to Leicester City with Ithaqua.
However, the most important thing was that Ithaqua didn't live with Pierre and his followers. Instead, he lived elsewhere, and in the past two days, he hadn't contacted Pierre, which was why Pierre couldn't resist leaving his hideout to buy fried chicken.
Ithaqua also revealed the locations of other Chinatown mafia leaders, who were mostly hiding in farms on the outskirts of Leicester City. However, the farm owners were also under Ithaqua's control, which was why the Leicester City police hadn't discovered them.
Finally, Pierre begged the Leicester City police to bring back the new drugs they found during the arrest, as they couldn't live without them for a day.
After hearing the interrogation process, Liu Xing was still a bit disappointed, as they still hadn't found Ithaqua's whereabouts.
However, what Liu Xing found strange was why Ithaqua would "release" Pierre and his followers. Logically, Ithaqua should have kept a close eye on Pierre and his followers, and it was unlikely that Pierre would be caught by the Leicester City police.
Was this Ithaqua's intentional move?
It was possible.
From the current situation, Ithaqua no longer needed Pierre and his followers, as they would be useless in the upcoming Sacred Book projection contest. Moreover, Pierre's characteristics were too obvious, making it easy for passersby to notice them, which would cause unnecessary trouble. Now was the perfect time for Ithaqua to abandon Pierre and his followers.
Most importantly, finding replacements for Pierre was easy for Ithaqua, so letting them go was no pressure at all.
Liu Xing was clear that the Leicester City police wouldn't be able to catch Ithaqua.
However, there was one thing that Liu Xing didn't expect - Ithaqua didn't ask Pierre to reveal that he was actually following Miss Wang's instructions to launch the attack. In fact, Pierre's testimony had successfully cleared Miss Wang's name.
Had Ithaqua developed a conscience?
Liu Xing knew that Ithaqua was probably trying to balance the situation, so he decided to abandon framing Miss Wang. This way, Miss Wang could escape police surveillance and join the "battlefield".
This would allow Miss Wang to share some of Ithaqua's pressure.
Of course, it was still possible that Ithaqua was continuing to frame Miss Wang in a roundabout way. After all, the England police sometimes had a strange thought process, so they might ignore Pierre's testimony and continue to monitor Miss Wang.
Because Pierre was caught due to such an absurd reason, it gave people the illusion that Pierre was actually a scapegoat to clear Miss Wang's name.
After all, Pierre and his followers couldn't even reveal Ithaqua's name.
However, let's get back to the story. Since the target of this arrest was clear, the Leicester City police didn't require Liu Xing and his group to participate in the action. Instead, they were asked to stay at the police station to identify the captured Chinatown mafia leaders.
In other words, the police didn't want to share their credit with Liu Xing and his group.
Liu Xing and his group were quite laid-back, staying at the police station, drinking coffee, and reading newspapers, as if they had returned to London.
It wasn't long before all the fugitive Chinatown mafia leaders were caught and brought to justice, and many of their underlings were also arrested.
Of course, these Chinatown mafia leaders didn't provide any information related to Ithaqua.
After a busy day, Wesker contacted Allen and had him take the Chinatown mafia leaders from the Leicester City police, so Liu Xing and his team would have to return to London tomorrow.
This made Liu Xing a bit anxious, as there was no news about Dio's whereabouts.
However, Liu Xing also knew that if everything went smoothly, Miss Wang would send him a text message tonight.
As a result, Liu Xing had just returned to the hotel when he received a text message from Miss Wang.
The content of the message was exactly what Liu Xing had expected - Miss Wang's people had found out where Dio was being held, and were waiting for Liu Xing's decision on whether to rescue him.
Liu Xing sighed and ultimately decided not to participate in the rescue mission, as he was worried that he was still being monitored by Tam, and if he was discovered to be in contact with Miss Wang's people, it would cause trouble. Or, to put it another way, Liu Xing was sure to be used by Allen as an excuse to cause trouble and get him suspended.
Liu Xing shared his concerns with Miss Wang, who understood and directly instructed her people to rescue Dio.
At that moment, a dice-rolling sound was heard.
Half an hour later, Liu Xing received another text message from Miss Wang - Dio had been successfully rescued and was being protected by Miss Wang's people on his way to London. After all, Dio's current identity was a bit awkward, as he had made Locke "disappear into thin air," so the London police were now looking for him.
Therefore, to ensure Dio's safety, Miss Wang had her people escort him to a private property in London that the police hadn't discovered yet.
So, Liu Xing decided to find an opportunity to meet with Dio after returning to London.
However, Liu Xing suddenly felt that his trip to Leicester City had been very smooth, with almost no unexpected incidents, and he had easily completed his mission.
Was this the calm before the storm?
Liu Xing knew that after returning to London, the subway serial murder case would officially begin, which would be the first major challenge he would face in this module.
Because this time, Liu Xing would definitely have a direct confrontation with Ghoul.
The next morning, Liu Xing and his team, with the help of the Leicester City police, began transporting Pierre and others back to London.
At the same time, another vicious murder case occurred in the London subway - a young man who had entered a relatively remote subway station at around 9 pm lost contact with his family, and his uncle, a mid-level leader in the London police, arranged for nearby police officers to check the situation. They found the young man lying on the subway platform, with his body showing signs of being bitten and torn apart.
Because the surveillance cameras at the subway station had malfunctioned, the details of the case were unknown, but it was unclear who had leaked the information. Now, the entire city of London knew about the case, and it was linked to the previous murder case at Aldwich subway station.
Public opinion was once again in an uproar.
However, because the news of Pierre's arrest had already spread to London, the public's attention was drawn to it, and the attack case was more sensational than the subway murder case.
So, Allen had dodged a bullet.
When Liu Xing and his team returned to the London police station, they found that the station was surrounded by reporters and onlookers, as well as high-ranking police officials led by Allen.
Then, Liu Xing and his team were greeted by Allen and other leaders under the spotlight, and after some polite small talk, they finally escaped into the office.
"Ah, I'd rather go head-to-head with Ghoul than put on a show with Allen and his people here. I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it," Jill complained.
Wesker nodded in agreement, saying, "Jill, you're right. I almost couldn't resist giving Allen a punch because his smile was so disgusting..."
Liu Xing shrugged, and if he hadn't passed a difficult willpower test, he might have also given Allen a punch.
Of course, in reality, Liu Xing hadn't taken a willpower test.
However, it wasn't long before Wesker received a call from Allen.
In short, Allen was telling Liu Xing and his team to take a day off and rest, as they had been busy in Leicester City for several days and it was time to take a break.
Of course, Liu Xing and his team knew that Allen was worried that they would get involved in the subway murder case, so he was letting them take a day off.
Liu Xing and his team had no choice but to accept and went home to rest.
After returning home, Jill and Leon received phone calls from their parents, with surprisingly consistent content - they were in London and wanted Jill/Leon to join them for dinner.
Liu Xing knew that this was an opportunity given by the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall to find Dio.
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