Chapter 420: Vigilance

Yangcheng Station.

Jiang Miao’s high-speed train arrived at the station, but since there were no direct routes to Shanmei, he had to transfer to another train.

“Boss, the high-speed train we booked is at Yangcheng East Station. It’s scheduled to depart in about two hours,” Li Zixuan explained softly from the side.

“Let’s head over there first.”

“Alright.”

They exited Yangcheng Station and walked just over two hundred meters to Yangcheng Railway Station, where they boarded the subway’s Line 5. They rode five stops toward Huangpu New Port, getting off at Yangji Station. From there, they transferred to Line 1 and traveled three more stops in the direction of Yangcheng East Station. They left the subway via the G exit at PO PARK, and a hundred-meter walk brought them to Yangcheng East Station.

The entire trip took about half an hour.

And just as Jiang Miao and his group were walking discreetly out of the PO PARK exit, Jiang Miao’s brow suddenly furrowed slightly.

However, he was wearing large sunglasses, so no one noticed anything unusual. His pace didn’t falter, and he continued toward the station entrance.

Nearing the station entrance, Jiang Miao glanced at the time and then said, “Let’s wait outside for a bit.”

“Alright, Boss,” Li Zixuan said with a nod.

Ke Yong and the others discreetly formed a protective circle around Jiang Miao, while several plainclothes security guards remained hidden nearby.

Jiang Miao sat on a bench.

From behind his sunglasses, his gaze discreetly swept over the side of PO PARK that faced Yangcheng East Station.

‘The Starbucks on the ground floor?’

That particular Starbucks was near the edge of the shopping plaza, and some of its window seats had a view of a few of the entrances and exits to Yangcheng East Station.

「At the same time.」

On the ground floor of PO PARK, a young man sitting by a window in the Starbucks also spotted Jiang Miao and his group emerging from the subway exit.

He accessed one of the cameras he had secretly hacked into and saw Jiang Miao’s group. Jiang Miao was now sitting on a nearby bench, surrounded by security personnel.

‘The target’s security is too tight, and getting a handgun around here is a pain. Dammit! None of the people with him are using Fruit phones. Otherwise, I could have detonated a phone battery at a critical moment to stage an accident…’

The young man watched Jiang Miao through the glass, his mind racing through various plans, but he rejected each one himself.

‘What about using a coil car? As long as he’s nearby, I could use a traffic accident to silently inflict heavy damage on the target. But his car is probably modified. Even with a sudden impact, it’d be hard to make it fatal in one go…’

‘Other than that, there really aren’t many ways to assassinate this guy quietly. What a pain. I’m not about to get caught…’

Jiang Miao focused his mind. They were only about two hundred meters apart, and although a glass window separated them, the man clearly hadn’t realized he’d been exposed.

‘Such blatant malice…’

If the other party had only glanced at him, Jiang Miao likely wouldn’t have noticed anything. But unfortunately, the guy was too confident. He thought that with a glass window and over two hundred meters between them, there was no way he’d be discovered.

However, this person had run into a player using cheats.

In unfamiliar places like this, Jiang Miao tended to observe his surroundings, including objects and people. For him, the brainwave signals of someone with such intense malice were like a firefly in the dead of night.

Through his appraisal panel, he saw the man’s laptop and phone, and immediately recorded his genetic sequence, IP address, phone number, and ID number.

With this information, no matter how well the man hid, he was doomed to be found.

「Over an hour later.」

Jiang Miao and his group boarded the high-speed train to Shanmei.

When he got back home, he saw his mom pushing a baby stroller.

“Ah Miao, you’re back,” his mom said, continuing to gently push the stroller.

“Yeah. Where’s Dad?”

“He’s over at the Salt Town Farm.”

Jiang Miao put away his shoes, changed into slippers, and washed his face before turning to his daughter in the stroller. He gently poked her little cheek with his finger.

“GIGGLE…” His daughter waved her little hands and let out a cheerful laugh.

His mom asked with concern, “Have you eaten?”

Jiang Miao beamed at his lively daughter. “Not yet. I’ll just have the kitchen make some lunch for me later.”

After playing with his daughter for a few minutes, Jiang Miao yawned and rubbed his eyes. “Mom, I’m going to the study to catch up on some sleep. Wake me up for lunch around noon.”

“Go on, go on!” his mom said, waving him off.

The sleepy-eyed Jiang Miao entered the study on the second floor. The moment he was inside, his expression changed instantly, his gaze turning exceptionally sharp.

He opened his laptop.

One by one, he entered the man’s phone number, ID number, IP address, and genetic sequence.

Following the trail through the internet, all sorts of hidden information was unearthed.

As more and more information on the guy named Li Wujiang populated his secret database, the expression on Jiang Miao’s face grew colder.

He spent over an hour following the leads.

Soon, the force behind Li Wujiang—the Ferryman—also appeared on Jiang Miao’s list. Although this group was extremely secretive and used several layers of ciphers for their online communications, it was of little use.

As long as someone used the internet and electronic devices, they were bound to leave a trace on them.

Only a very traditional type of assassin—one who completely avoided the internet and all electronic devices—could possibly avoid leaving a digital footprint.

But that was obviously unrealistic.