Book 3, Chapter 285: Internal Chaos

The guards of the Elephant Gang exchanged looks and stepped aside.

Chen Chuan walked onto the smooth, clean floor covered in colorful paintings. Since he had reached the Third Limit and learned some techniques, he was no longer as aggressive as he had been when he was in the First Limit. When he met up with Deng Xin, he even restrained his mind.

But while on his way here, he intentionally released his mind and biofield. Normal people weren’t able to withstand the mental energy blast and fainted.

He did this to tell the people inside that he had arrived. Otherwise, they would not have even realized that he had made his way inside.

Chen Chuan looked around and saw four elderly men dressed in Sheni clothes, along with a middle-aged man.

The Elephant Gang was held together by members of the same family, so the old men were elders of the gang and the family. The middle-aged man was strong and had a jade earring in one ear. He held a whip, and a strong, fierce aura oozed out of him.

More than twenty guards stood in the room and were staring at him nervously while training their guns on him.

At the center of the hall was a young man. His hands were bound behind his back while he knelt on the floor. His muscles bulged. Despite kneeling, he was more imposing than most of the people, causing Chen Chuan to immediately notice him upon entering.

He had to be Tonai.

A tall old man stepped forward and said politely but cautiously, “I wasn’t expecting you to visit us, Captain Chen. Do you have any business with us?”

Chen Chuan wasn’t surprised that the man knew him. If the gangs in Central City couldn’t recognize Resolution Department-affiliated martial artists like him, they wouldn’t have survived to this date.

The man spoke the national language fluently, and Chen Chuan couldn’t detect a hint of an accent. That was impressive. While Shenians might be living in Central City, they kept to themselves and were rather isolated, so many of them retained their language. Because of this, the other people in Central City looked down on them and ostracized them.

In comparison, the islanders were mostly able to converse in the national language. They could even use the idioms and recite the classic stories with ease. If not for their clothes and habits, they were no different from Great Shun Republic citizens. This gave them a great advantage in Central City.

“What’s your name?” Chen Chuan asked.

“Toman,” the old man replied.

Chen Chuan checked the information he downloaded. He was Toge’s brother in charge of the gang’s daily operations.

“Mr. Toman, I was tasked by the department to chase after an important clue, which is why I’m here. I suspect that the Swordfish Gang and Ferris Wheel are behind your boss’ death, so I need to speak to the next decision-maker after your boss.”

The people in the room burst into a ruckus. Wasn’t it Tonai’s negligence in getting the wrong medicine that killed Toge?

It was actually the Swordfish Gang and Ferris Wheel’s doing?

This was a much more acceptable reason.

Even Tonai lurched up and turned around to stare at Chen Chuan, but the middle-aged man whipped his head back and snapped, “Kneel!”

Tonai knelt down again.

“Captain Chen, are you saying that the Swordfish Gang and Ferris Wheel did it?” Toman asked grimly.

“I’m currently investigating it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here today. The Resolution Department got a tip. I was trying to figure it out just now when I heard about your boss’ death,” Chen Chuan stated.

The middle-aged man walked over and asked, “Do you have concrete proof of this, Captain Chen?”

Chen Chuan gave him an unimpressed look and said nothing.

“Tohan!” Toman snapped. “Captain Chen is a squad captain at the Resolution Department. He wouldn’t run his mouth off without evidence.”

They were not a powerful gang full of martial artists, like the Heavenly Gang, nor were they a gang with the support of a company, like the Swordfish Gang. They didn’t have anyone supporting them, and they began as a group of foreign workers trying to support each other.

Even though the youngsters in the gang scoffed at the government, the older generation feared it.

Toman also had a feeling that Chen Chuan wouldn’t have come without some kind of lead. His words were pretty believable.

Chen Chuan turned to Tonai and asked, “You were thinking that he’s the reason behind Toge’s death?”

“The brat was in charge of getting the medicine that the old man died from, so of course we need to interrogate him,” Tohan said loudly.

“You’re absolutely right. I’ll need to take him with me to figure out the truth,” Chen Chuan declared.

This was the simplest way to deal with the situation. Chen Chuan had never even considered defending Tonai. That was useless. All he needed to do was bring Tonai out and look into the situation.

Toman hesitated for a moment while Tohan whipped his head to him and reminded him, “Uncle Toman, this is an internal matter.”

Chen Chuan could investigate leads if he wanted, but they didn’t want the Resolution Department sticking their noses into this. It was only going to lead to future problems.

“Sir, it sounds like you’re confused about something. I just told you that I’m taking Tonai with me. I wasn’t asking,” Chen Chuan said coolly.

“You...” Tohan seethed, but Toman extended an arm to stop him.

Then, he turned to Chen Chuan. “Captain Chen, we don’t mind showing you respect. You can take Tonai with you, but we hope that you can give us the truth.”

It wasn’t as if they could refuse to show him respect. Chen Chuan was intimidating just standing there. When he came, no one outside had been able to stop him. Toman was also a man with discerning eyes. He had no doubt that Chen Chuan could defeat them all and bring Tonai with him.

Besides, if Chen Chuan could barge in once, he could do it again. Toman didn’t want to fight against someone like this, especially since he was working with the Resolution Department.

“You’ll have it,” Chen Chuan promised.

Toman cast a glance at the kneeling Tonai. “Didn’t you hear him? You’re going with Captain Chen so that he can figure out the truth. If you can’t find out who’s really behind this, we won’t welcome you back.”

Tonai had been paying attention to their conversation and stood up. With a lateral swing of his arms, he broke the shackles binding his wrists. After taking a deep breath, he said, “I’ll go with you, Captain Chen. I want to know who really killed my grand-uncle.”

“Let’s go, then,” Chen Chuan said.

“One moment,” Toman called out to them and walked over. “Captain Chen, if I can have a word with you in private?”

Chen Chuan cast him a look before saying, “Sure.”

Toman then motioned Chen Chuan to an empty spot. When they were standing further away from the group, he said, “Honestly, I don’t believe that Tonai is capable of it.

“Toge has been sickly for a while and was getting ready to hand over his position to Tonai. Why else would he ask Tonai to be in charge of getting the medicine for him every day? Tonai also had no reason to hurt him.

“But Tonai is stubborn, and after some prodding, he became convinced that he’s responsible for Toge’s death.

“Tonai has great prestige among the youngsters, so punishing him and not punishing him are both difficult for us. I believe that this is what the Swordfish Gang and Ferris Wheel want. So, it’s a good thing for you to take him away. I also hope that the Resolution Department will find the truth.

“The department doesn’t want the Swordfish Gang to monopolize Glowing Dew District, so we’re still useful to you.”

This old man has a clear head on his shoulders

, Chen Chuan thought. His meaning was not hard to understand. He wanted the Resolution Department to find Tonai innocent so that he could come back and take over as the gang’s new boss. That was the only way for the gang to remain stable. He was also implying that he was willing to cooperate with the Resolution Department.

“We’ll get to the bottom of this,” Chen Chuan declared.

“Thank you, Captain Chen.”

Just then, they heard a commotion outside, as if there were multiple people arguing with each other. One of the guards contacted another guard outside, and his expression changed.

“Toliu said that rumors are going around outside that Tonai joined hands with the Swordfish Gang to poison the boss. He said that he wants to lead a group to take revenge on the Swordfish Gang, and many of them have been roused by his speech,” he said.

“Toliu, that idiot!” The elderly men were furious.

Chen Chuan looked outside. It seemed like the situation had changed.

While he had acted fast, someone else was faster.

This might be part of the plan too. The masterminds would first kill Toge, then incite the gang to take revenge for their boss.

They had picked the right timing. It was easy for Toliu to stir up the gang members when they were sad and angry over the boss’ death and lead them to the Swordfish Gang.

Chen Chuan was sure that the Swordfish Gang was ready and waiting for them. This way, they wouldn’t even be held accountable for being the first to cause trouble.

“Mr. Toman, things are happening too quickly. It looks like there’s something wrong with Toliu. You need to decide what to do with him, and fast. If you’re any later, you won’t be able to save the Elephant Gang. If you’re stuck, I can make the decision for you,” Chen Chuan said.

Toman’s expression changed, and he exchanged a few glances with the elderly men behind him. He knew that once the gang members were stirred up, they would act like out-of-control cars that would go on a wild rampage until they crashed.

The other elderly men weren’t as far-sighted, but they knew that this was dangerous and couldn’t let the gang members do whatever they wanted. Hence, they became wary of Toliu.

They were the most conservative in the gang and didn’t want to be swept along by their subordinates. It would mean that their influence had decreased, and it was time for them to hand over their power.

They quickly came to a decision.

“Can you do it, Captain Chen?” Toman asked.

“Tell me where he is.” Chen Chuan went straight to the point.

Toman immediately had his men locate Toliu on the Realm Pass and sent a connection request to Chen Chuan. “I’ll let you deal with Toliu, Captain Chen. We’ll calm down the gang members afterward.”

Tonai came over and said, “Captain Chen, Toliu is strong, and he has a lot of people with him. I’ll go with you.”

“You can’t show your face right now, Tonai. Stay here!” Toman snapped at him.

“Mr. Toman is right. If you show your face right now, it’ll complicate things. I can do this myself,” Chen Chuan said.