Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo' Chapter 1128 573: Old Man, Calm Down!

~4 minute read · 995 words
Previously on Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo'...
Shen Jingye assigns Li Banfeng to investigate the Ferry Gang for clues about Du Wenming, while he handles another organization. They identify Guan Zhengzhang as a key figure within the gang but decide to avoid him due to his powerful connections. Later, Guan Zhengzhang brutally assaults two women in his villa. Li Banfeng ambushes Guan Zhengzhang in the bathroom and interrogates him, forcing his cooperation. However, after their meeting, Guan Zhengzhang mysteriously vanishes from his villa, leading Li Banfeng and Shen Jingye to question if Du Wenming is still in the area.

Guan Zhengzhang, Zou Maoqing, Cao Dayong.

The three men are in three rooms, being questioned separately by Li Banfeng, Phonograph, and Hong Ying.

Li Banfeng in the main room: "What's your rank in the Ferry Gang?"

Guan Zhengzhang replied: "I am the Ferryman Captain, the oarsmen usually don't go in the water, which means they don't do business, but if something goes wrong, they must find a way to drag the ship out."

The Ferryman Captain, Guan Zhengzhang's position is not low.

"Whose status is higher, you or Du Wenming?"

Actually, the question is obvious; Guan Zhengzhang dares not mention Du Wenming's name, proving that Du Wenming's status is higher than Guan Zhengzhang's.

Li Banfeng's purpose in asking this question was to see how restrictive Du Wenming was on Ferry Gang members. At Guan Zhengzhang's level, he should be able to reveal some inside information.

Unexpectedly, Guan Zhengzhang dared not mention anything related to Du Wenming. In everything he said, there cannot be words like Director Du, Boss Du, Brother Du, someone with the surname Du, nor even words like absolute prohibition of those terms; Guan Zhengzhang dared not mention lightly.

Li Banfeng asked: "If these things are mentioned, will there be an explosion on the spot?"

Guan Zhengzhang nodded, not daring to say more.

Li Banfeng took out the information Shen Jingye gave him: "You just said the oarsmen don't involve in business, but I know that recently, someone from Puluo State sent a batch of Ghost Servants, which were sold through your hands."

Guan Zhengzhang bowed his head: "Those were his instructions; I had no choice."

"Whose instructions? Du Wenming's?"

Guan Zhengzhang nodded repeatedly: "The gang recently needed money, business on the black market is hard to do, good Ghost Servants don't sell for good prices; there are many deals, and I can only step forward to connect them."

"When did Ferry Gang start lacking money?"

"When there was no Ferry Gang, everything was fine; precisely because times were hard, Ferry Gang emerged."

"What do you mean by that? Did you know Du Wenming before Ferry Gang existed?"

Guan Zhengzhang bowed his head: "I'm still a Snowflake Beach person; Snowflake Beach lacked money, so we formed the Ferry Gang with that group of foreigners."

"Have you been to Puluo State?"

"I have, went together." He said half the sentence because there was a name he couldn't mention. The full meaning was that he went with Du Wenming.

"How many residences does the person who went with you have in Yuezhou?"

Guan Zhengzhang bowed his head in silence.

Li Banfeng asked again: "Just tell me the most crucial one; find a way to tell me."

After thinking for a long time, Guan Zhengzhang chose to remain silent for safety.

Li Banfeng took out the Blood-Thirsty Pendulum: "If you don't listen to advice, we'll have to change methods."

...

Phonograph in the second room asked: "Did you take medicine or fall victim to a technique? What method did Du Wenming use to curse you? Tell me the truth, maybe I can help you break the curse."

"We don't have a curse," Zou Maoqing looked at Phonograph, his tongue twisting as he spoke.

Phonograph used steam to burn a blister onto Zou Maoqing's body: "Just speak of the curse; don't mention Du Wenming. Leave yourself a way out, isn't it good?"

Zou Maoqing endured the severe pain, shaking his head repeatedly: "Really, no curse. We, don't have..."

Hong Ying in the third room, stabbed Cao Dayong's left shoulder with the Sword: "Either way, you die; wouldn't you want a quicker death?"

"Just say one truth, does Du Wenming have any footholds in Yuezhou? If he does, give the address; the more you say, the faster the explosion, the quicker you die."

Cao Dayong didn't want to die, gritting his teeth and saying nothing.

Hong Ying laughed: "I truly admire your resolve; I'll remove your bones and see how much resolve there is inside."

After questioning for two hours, a total of nine locations were obtained; Phonograph elicited five, Li Banfeng and Hong Ying each elicited two.

The reason is not that these three are stubborn and unwilling to speak, it's just that should they voluntarily disclose the locations, there will be an explosion.

Phonograph has interrogation skills, circling dozens of times, letting Zou Maoqing provide three more addresses, Li Banfeng compared the nine addresses together, finding four to be duplicates, leaving five unique addresses.

Capturing three was to cross-check their testimonies to avoid misleading conclusions; it's unexpected that this was the situation.

These five places, which one is valuable, Phonograph is unsure, and Hong Ying cannot say for certain; since sending Green Flower to Knife Ghost Ridge, Du Wenming became Li Banfeng's most challenging opponent.

No other choice, Li Banfeng decided to visit them all.

The first spot is in an apartment building, closest to the city center, a 50-square-meter residence.

The area clearly doesn't accommodate large equipment; Li Banfeng deduced it might hold some key documents.

The residence is one room and one living room, the layout very compact. Upon entering, Gloves found several hidden compartments.

Inside the wardrobe, beneath the floor, and in the walls.

The compartments are small, and empty inside.

Li Banfeng arrived late; Du Wenming most likely visited this place and moved everything.

The second spot is a warehouse in Baiyuan District.

In this warehouse, one warehouse room has been rented long-term by Du Wenming; upon entering, Li Banfeng found several boxes of radio equipment, mostly unopened as if Du Wenming just acquired them.

Having an interest in science is no crime, moreover these were obtained through legal channels, Gloves found nothing of value in them, meaning the equipment hasn't been modified, lacking items like Sky Heart Stone.