Chapter 292 - 253: In the Previous Life, We Were Partners

Chapter 292: Chapter 253: In the Previous Life, We Were Partners

Sunday, 7:00 AM.

Having rested well, Yu Dong arrived at Yanhai City’s tallest landmark: the Shuangyang Building.

At 180 meters tall with 46 floors, the Twin Towers were a massive commercial complex that integrated a shopping center, office buildings, apartments, and a hotel.

The Twin Towers consisted of two interconnected high-rises: one for commercial use and one for offices.

Shuangyang Group was located in the office tower.

The Twin Towers were only one stop away from Yanhai University.

Spatially speaking, for the past three years, Yu Dong had actually been quite close to Yanhai City’s wealthiest man.

Yu Dong reached the ground floor of the Shuangyang Group building. Seeing the keycard-access entrance and several burly security guards at the door, he felt a sense of helplessness.

The first obstacle to meeting Yin Shuangyang was... actually getting to see Yin Shuangyang.

A man of his stature wasn’t someone you could meet just because you wanted to.

Yin Shuangyang’s private number couldn’t be found online, only his office line. Yu Dong had tried calling it last night. The line was answered 24/7, but his attempt to book an appointment with Yin Shuangyang... had failed.

He’d tried mentioning the ledger, but the operator on the other end had dismissed him as a troublemaker... and hung up on him.

Yu Dong glanced at the setup by the main entrance. Six burly security guards... ’They might look like security guards, but they’re really Yin Shuangyang’s enforcers.’ Forcing his way through was out of the question.

’And I didn’t even bring a weapon.’

’This is the problem with not having a key. Even creating the opportunity for a meeting is a hassle.’

Right now, the gap between his status and Yin Shuangyang’s was as wide as the sky and the earth. Nothing he said carried any weight; even a receptionist could hang up on him.

’There’s no way I can talk my way past these guards,’ Yu Dong guessed.

Yu Dong narrowed his eyes, surveying the layout as he began to strategize.

’If I were Xufeng... what would I do?’

’I have to break the rules.’

’You don’t have to enter a building through the front door...’

’The underground garage!’

Yu Dong turned and headed for the parking lot behind the Twin Towers. He found the entrance to the underground garage, hopped the barrier, and walked down the ramp amidst the flow of traffic.

In the garage, he found the elevator lobby. Taking the elevator from here would let him bypass the ground-floor security checkpoint.

A slight smile touched the corners of Yu Dong’s lips. ’Using your head is the way to go.’

Yu Dong pushed the door open and saw two burly security guards and a keycard reader standing watch by the elevators.

The two men saw him and chuckled. "Lost, kid? This isn’t the shopping mall."

The smile vanished from Yu Dong’s face. He froze for a moment, then silently walked back out...

「A moment later.」

Yu Dong pushed the door open and walked back in. This time, he was holding a long metal pipe he’d pried off from somewhere.

"Sigh... Don’t blame me. If you have to blame someone, blame your boss for being too security-conscious."

Seeing the pipe, the guards’ expressions hardened. They drew rubber batons, their faces twisting into malicious grins.

"Kid, looking for a morning workout with us? You’ve got guts."

"Like we don’t have clubs of our own. You’re really asking for—"

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

CLANG~

Yu Dong tossed the pipe to the ground, stepped over the two deeply ’sleeping’ guards, vaulted over the keycard reader turnstile, and entered the elevator.

’Sometimes, a little classical mechanics is the most effective solution.’

Yu Dong took the elevator all the way to the 44th floor, which was as high as it would go.

He stepped out onto a huge reception floor. Just past the entrance was a luxurious secretarial pool, with a row of polished, professional secretaries seated behind a circular, natural wood desk.

"Hello, sir. How may I help you?"

"I need to see Yin Shuangyang. I have something to discuss with him."

"Do you have an appointment with President Yin?"

"I have something he needs..."

"And what might that be? I’ll need to make a note of it."

Yu Dong looked at the tedious protocol and sighed again.

’I should have brought the pipe with me...’

But here... Yu Dong didn’t dare act rashly. He spotted several of Yin Shuangyang’s personal bodyguards on this floor, and their caliber was clearly a cut above the security goons downstairs.

’They might even be carrying real hardware.’ His accomplice who’d fled overseas, Zou Long, had plenty of guns.

At that thought, an idea struck him. He walked straight to the head secretary, leaned in, and whispered:

"Brother Long sent me to find President Yin... There’s trouble outside. It’s urgent."

He then gave the head secretary a cryptic nod, signaling her to pass on the message.

The head secretary did, in fact, know of Zou Long. She shot Yu Dong a look of surprise and suspicion before going to report to Yin Shuangyang.

"President Yin says you can go up."

The moment Yu Dong stepped onto the 45th floor, four burly men seized him and quickly frisked him.

"Don’t move, or this will get very painful for you."

Yu Dong nodded and didn’t struggle.

Yu Dong wasn’t helpless when it came to a fight. His decent physical condition and extensive combat experience meant he could handle a few ordinary people, but taking on four professional bodyguards at once was a stretch...

’It would be a different story if I had a pipe.’

But Yu Dong hadn’t come here to fight. He just needed to get a private audience with Yin Shuangyang.

He didn’t want anyone else involved in this.

Yu Dong was led into Yin Shuangyang’s personal office. It was an enormous room, equipped not only with various amenities but also a patch of turf with golf balls scattered on it—the height of luxury.

Yin Shuangyang was seated in a brown leather chair behind a large desk on the north side of the room, reading a document.

His face was lean with prominent cheekbones, sharp eyes, and strong brows. He radiated energy. At forty-four, he showed no signs of a middle-aged paunch; he was lean and fit, clearly in his prime.

This imposing figure was a far cry from the post-apocalyptic Yin Shuangyang, the one who would be blown to pieces. Right now, he was truly a man of authority.

"You don’t seem like one of Zou’s men. You came here, beat up two of my guards, and insisted on seeing me... You’d better have a good explanation. Otherwise, I’m afraid I’ll have to hand the security footage over to the police."

Yu Dong almost lost his composure at Yin Shuangyang’s words.

"President Yin... the police? Are you really that straight-laced?"

"Heh... We live in a civilized society. One must act accordingly. The era where might makes right is over. You have to obey the law, young man..."

Yu Dong narrowed his eyes at Yin Shuangyang.

"President Yin, you really do act the part of a businessman... You’d be more convincing with a beer belly and a softer physique. You still train every day, don’t you? I see the calluses on your hands... Boxing? You have a strong sense of impending crisis. No wonder you were able to seize the one and only opportunity..."

Yu Dong’s words seemed to confuse Yin Shuangyang. He set down the document in his hands.

"Just show your cards. Tell me what you want from me. I can see you know a few things about me..."

Yu Dong glanced at the four bodyguards and gave a slight shrug.

"You four, out."

Yin Shuangyang was self-assured. Even having seen what Yu Dong was capable of, he wasn’t concerned.

Yu Dong flexed his wrists, which were numb from being held down.

"President Yin, I’ll play my first card, then. It’s about that little ledger you keep for insurance, the one in the safe deposit box at Yanhai Bank Headquarters. The first page is... the second page... the third page..."

And just like that, Yu Dong began to recite the contents of the ledger, page by page.

Yin Shuangyang’s expression remained unchanged, but inside, his mind was reeling.

’That ledger contains my network of legitimate connections in Yanhai City, built up since I went straight. Those people are my safety net, the key to how I’ve managed to hold onto my position.’

’For him to recite the contents page by page, he must have seen the original. The ledger might be in his hands right now!’

’If it fell into the hands of one of my enemies... I’d be in serious danger!’

"How did you get it? Who told you?"

’Only I know where that book is kept. Unless the president of Yanhai Bank went behind my back and peeked inside my safe deposit box... But I don’t think that coward would dare look at my things.’

"The future you."

Yin Shuangyang looked startled, then stared at Yu Dong in astonishment before finally shaking his head.

"Impossible. That book... I’ll take it to my grave. If something were to happen to me, it would go to the person I trust most. I’d never just give it to you... Who the hell are you? Don’t tell me you’re some psychic who can see the future."

"Not prophecy. Rebirth. In five and a half days, the zombie virus will break out, and the apocalypse will begin. In my past life... we were both survivors. We made it out together and eventually became partners who relied on each other. You told me about the ledger yourself. It’s just a shame we ran into some trouble later on. You died too soon."

As Yu Dong told this astonishing story, Yin Shuangyang listened intently. Then, he suddenly cut in.

"Wait. There’s a problem with your story. Let’s assume... let’s assume this rebirth story is true. Even if we teamed up to survive in a past life, I still wouldn’t have told you about the ledger. I’m not one for idle chatter. So, your story... is poorly constructed. You have one last chance to save yourself. Otherwise, I’m afraid you won’t be leaving this room."

"What if this isn’t my first rebirth? My ability is... infinite rebirth."

Yin Shuangyang’s mind raced, and he suddenly understood what Yu Dong was implying.

"You’re saying... I told you this on purpose? So that you could come back from the future and win my trust in this timeline?"

"You’ve got a sharp mind, President Yin. You figured out your own plan just like that. This is exactly what you sent me to do. You said you had tons of money and people. You said if I could bring a message back to you, we could be like brothers and rule the apocalypse together!"