Chapter 171: The Red Sparrow

“In the face of absolute power, such underhanded tactics can only succeed for a time. If they can’t defeat Amo in the ring, then aside from temporarily tarnishing his image, they can’t change anything.”

Carl Halton also looked out the window: “Obviously, they’ve pinned their hopes on your next opponent, Cadio Rhodes. They don’t necessarily need to defeat you outright; if they can just match you, they can salvage the image of Arcadis Sporting Goods.”

Li Mochen was distracted, paying no attention to Carl’s discussion or the protesters outside the window. He only occasionally glanced toward the back of the bus.

His vehicle, the ‘Otto I’, was following behind the school bus. Chu Siguo and the four outlaws were waiting in that car, ready for orders, and keeping an eye on his mobile phone.

When he left the Baxley City Police Station, he had told Li Mei to call him immediately if there was any news. But so far, there had been no movement from behind.

It wasn’t until he entered the stadium that Li Mochen sensed the unusual heat. At the venue entrance, the reporters surrounding him were two or three times more numerous than before.

Then, as he walked in and reported to the event committee, boos erupted from several sections of the stands, with shouts of “Fix!” and “Scandal!” echoing everywhere.

Li Mochen remained unfazed, his expression calm as he walked out again. In his past life as Wenjian Taoran, he had faced thousands of enemies alone; scenes like today’s were nothing in his eyes.

Next, he headed to the Red Sparrow Club. Dwight Payton had already secured a membership for him.

Just as Li Mochen boarded his ‘Otto I’, his mobile phone finally rang.

The call was from Li Mei, but the voice that came through was that of Chief Caddiren: “Mr. Wiltonstein? We’ve looked into the matter concerning Miss Hazel. But I’m sorry, it’s beyond our capabilities. You’ll have to find another way.”

Li Mochen’s eyes turned cold: “Can you tell me who it is?”

“It’s a small gang called ‘Bayonet’.”

Caddiren’s voice was full of apology: “You probably haven’t heard of them, but you must know the name ‘Blood Hand’ in Atlanta. The Bayonet gang is one of Blood Hand’s subsidiaries. We’ve pressured them to release her, but they have no intention of doing so. They’ve even pulled all their people out of Baxley City. We’re helpless for now.”

“I see. Blood Hand, is it? Thank you, Chief Caddiren! If I have time, I’ll buy you a drink!”

Li Mochen hung up and looked at Carl Halton. The latter was also on the phone; after a few minutes, he smiled at Li Mochen with relief: “Wait for news. Caddiren had already reported to Mr. Payton before this. And the Sky Eye Detective Agency—after we learned of this, we gave them an investigation commission. It’s basically confirmed that Bayonet’s people did it. Mr. Payton is already communicating with Blood Hand’s boss, Antonio. It might take a while for results. I think Antonio won’t have the nerve to refuse Mr. Payton.”

They waited for twenty minutes. It wasn’t until their convoy entered a farm on the northern outskirts that Carl Halton’s phone rang.

After answering, his face turned grim in moments: “That Antonio says we’ve got the wrong people, and his men have never heard of any ‘Hazel’. Boss says don’t worry, he’s handling it. Antonio is stalling him. I don’t know where that guy gets the nerve. A Mafia offshoot daring to offend the Nathan Military-Industrial Complex.”

Li Mochen took a deep breath, suppressing the anxiety and rage in his heart.

In the past, Wenjian Taoran would never have lost his composure, but after the soul fusion, his patience had completely vanished.

Still, Li Mochen had to endure. He knew Dwight Payton would do his utmost.

“Let’s go in first!”

Carl Halton said bitterly, “This might take three to five hours. We can’t just wait in the car. The Red Sparrow Club is only open on Fridays; if we miss it, we’ll have to wait until next week.”

Li Mochen was now extremely worried and angry, unable to focus on anything else. But he knew Carl was right; waiting here would do no good.

Li Mochen now felt more acutely the pain of lacking manpower and influence. If he already had some power at his disposal, he wouldn’t have to rely so heavily on the Nathan Group.

The magical tools and materials at the Red Sparrow Club, along with the outlaws, were exactly what Li Mochen craved. They would allow him to quickly convert the gold shields sitting in his bank into real strength.

This time, Li Mochen had brought ample funds. Besides the six hundred thousand gold shields from the dark world, he had also drawn an advance of three hundred fifty thousand from Nathan Sports Group.

This substantial capital would allow his wings to grow rapidly.

The store expansion plan for Rising Sun Company had reached its limit; the current company structure was already running at full capacity to maintain eleven stores.

So until he trained more usable personnel, Li Mochen didn’t plan to increase the number of stores.

As for security, Li Tailai and the Colinson brothers’ team had originally been sufficient. But today’s incident had completely changed his conservative thinking.

…

Without a guide, outsiders would hardly imagine that Atlanta’s famous Red Sparrow Club was located inside such an unremarkable farm.

Its exterior was no different from an ordinary farm: potholed roads, pigsties and cowsheds emitting pungent odors.

But when Li Mochen, led by Carl, stepped into an elevator hidden in a warehouse and descended ten meters underground, his view suddenly opened up. A space like a hotel lobby appeared before him.

“This is one of the Red Sparrow Club’s four entrances. The other three are behind the hill we saw. There are said to be three secret exits for emergency evacuation, but the club has never revealed their locations. This place is actually inside the hill. Originally a Cold War military base, after the Soviet Union collapsed, the Red Sparrow Club bought it as one of four regular activity venues.”

Carl spoke as he led Li Mochen to the front desk to help him with membership registration.

But Li Mochen stopped in his tracks, his eyes sharp as an eagle’s, staring ahead.