Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 843 - 467 Familiar Paths

Chapter 843: Chapter 467 Familiar Paths

Qian Xiaoqiang entered the villa and emerged less than half an hour later with two briefcases, followed by two servants who were also carrying several bags. He loaded the two briefcases onto the van, took the bags from the servants and placed them properly, before slowly getting into the vehicle.

However, after getting in, he did not immediately instruct the younger brother in the driver’s seat to leave, but instead calmly sat in the passenger seat and ordered the driver, "Wait for another shipment to arrive, just wait a bit longer."

The younger brother nodded and continued to monitor the road below the mountain, watchful for any potential incidents.

The environment here had this advantage, from the mountain it was possible to observe various situations below. If a car tried to sneak up, it would be easily noticed. Moreover, it was night; even if a car came up without its lights, the sound of the engine would travel far in the quiet surroundings.

About half an hour passed, and a mini-van arrived at the villa’s entrance, then parked beside the larger van.

Without needing instructions from Qian Xiaoqiang, his underling had put on a mask and started the engine when the mini-van was ascending the hill. After the mini-van came to a stop and the driver opened the cargo area and saw that everything was normal, the two men with masks quietly joined the mini-van’s driver to move the ’goods’ from the mini-van to their own vehicle.

Once the ’goods’ were transferred and the mini-van left, Qian Xiaoqiang checked the goods. Everything looked just like a shipping company picking up and delivering goods, truly nonchalant.

Then the two got back into the vehicle and drove off into the night.

Only when they had reached the foot of the mountain and the van had seamlessly entered the traffic did Qian Xiaoqiang’s underling ask, "Brother Qiang, how much ’goods’ do we have this time?"

Qian Xiaoqiang spoke casually, "Not much since we were pressed for time, just under two billion. They’ve already promised to gather at least twice that amount by tomorrow noon."

The underling nodded, silently continuing to drive towards their destination.

Both were composed, as this amount of money wasn’t significant, having seen much more before.

As for the fact that the other party had managed to gather two billion so far, they were quite satisfied. They demanded the ransom in old bills, and the speed with which the money was gathered after that first phone call showed Qian Xiaoqiang that the other party was sincerely trying.

This matter was now unlikely to suffer setbacks.

Qian Xiaoqiang was no newcomer to such activities and possessed ample experience. As long as the first delivery of ’goods’ was successful and they safely returned to their hideout, and the people remained in their hands, there would be no issues with the second shipment of ’goods’.

Qian Xiaoqiang never considered himself a gangster; he saw himself as high-intelligence talent. He had a good grasp of the psychology of these tycoons. Some might consider wealth more important than life itself, but for these tycoons, money was an external matter. Lost wealth could be earned again, considered a disaster-averting expense lost, but a lost life could never be retrieved.

He even thought these tycoons were too complacent, simply sheep for the slaughter, waiting for someone like him to come along. Despite being billionaires, it was almost ridiculous that they still drove themselves, sometimes without even a driver or bodyguard. They were willing to hire bodyguards for their children, yet carelessly disregarded their own safety.

The last person he kidnapped at least had a driver, but this time, the victim didn’t even have that – he simply drove out on his own, handing Qian Xiaoqiang an opportunity to get rich.

If an ordinary person were to think about it, possessing ten billion could mean living luxuriously without lifting a finger for the rest of one’s life, earning interest from the bank, wining and dining, or casually investing to see money generate more money. Isn’t that a simple enough matter?

But that’s ordinary people. For crooks, they have a different way of thinking. After the last kidnapping, Qian Xiaoqiang gambled away tens of millions with his share of the loot within a few days, the rest was squandered on luxury houses and cars, leading a life of luxury.

No matter how much money one has, living like this means it comes quickly and goes even faster. As the leader the last time, he took several billion for himself, but in just over a year or so, he was broke again.

What to do when out of money? For someone accustomed to throwing cash around, being broke feels worse than death. Thus, he had no choice but to continue kidnapping and extorting.

Once there’s a first, there’s a second, and the self-proclaimed high-intelligence Qian Xiaoqiang now considered robbery a low-skill task beneath him. He even recalled his past as a robber and realized how foolish he was. Robbery was risky, and the returns were not as high as kidnapping and extortion. Why hadn’t he realized there was such an easy way to make money before?

How wonderful it is to simply grab someone and demand a ransom with just a drive.

However, looking back at his days of robbery with regret wouldn’t be accurate. Without those past deeds, he wouldn’t have established such a reputation in Hong Kong, and collecting ransom wouldn’t have been as smooth.

Experience is gained gradually, just like last time when this guy was driving a mini-van to transport money, and now he’s switched to a van.

After the van left the bustling metropolis and drove for God knows how long, it arrived at an abandoned chicken farm in the wilderness. The place was all too familiar, as Brother Qiang had previously held a kidnapping victim here, so this time they didn’t even bother to change the location—after all, there was no danger, no one knew about this place, and finding a new location meant having to reacquaint with the surroundings, which would’ve been a hassle!

Before the vehicle even entered the abandoned chicken farm, the people inside had already heard it approaching, and immediately, long guns and short cannons were aimed in the direction the van was coming from.

When Qian Xiaoqiang and the driver, a younger brother, got out of the car and called everyone over to move the goods, those people put away their weapons and gathered around, showing immense respect to Brother Qiang.

This respect was absolutely from the heart. In Hong Kong, there was no criminal with as big a reputation as Qian Xiaoqiang, and no one dared to do as he did, kidnapping people and personally negotiating the ransom.

Brother Qiang waved his hand for everyone to continue patrolling the area and ensure safety, then he entered a room by himself.

In this room was a person tied up in a box, battered and bruised all over, clearly having been tortured severely. A cloth covered the victim’s eyes, and it was only when he heard Qian Xiaoqiang’s minions, who were guarding him, respectfully calling out to Laoda that he stirred slightly.

Looking at the tortured kidnapping victim, Qian Xiaoqiang chuckled, "Mr. Guo, I’ve already settled things with your family. If I receive another sum of money tomorrow, I’ll let you go. You really didn’t need to make things hard on yourself. I’m a man of my word; as long as I get the money, I’ll definitely release you. Rest assured, by tomorrow night at the latest, you’ll be able to go home safely. It’s just one more day, so it’s in your best interest to cooperate, to avoid any further suffering."

After he finished speaking, he instructed the two minions watching Mr. Guo, "Keep a good eye on him, and be careful."

As far as Brother Qiang was concerned, he was somewhat dissatisfied with this kidnapping. The victim was too stubborn, only agreeing to call his family after suffering a lot. It was much better last time when the victim cooperated and made the call right away, then they smoothly received the money and released him.

What should have been a simple matter became complicated because the kidnapped individual’s attitude was too uncooperative, causing Brother Qiang extra trouble and wasting more time. It was for this reason that he lowered the ransom amount—last time, he had collected over ten billion, but even if he received the remaining ransom tomorrow, it still wouldn’t be as much as the last time.

This was Brother Qiang’s cleverness as a high IQ criminal. The current kidnapee was being too uncooperative, and he didn’t want any accidents. Moreover, Hong Kong had already been returned, and the situation was tense. So he just wanted to quickly get the money, release the person, and not invite any unforeseen complications.

Kidnapping was for the sake of extorting money. If an accident happened to the person, making an enemy of a wealthy family, that would not be something a smart person would do. And Brother Qiang, the high IQ criminal, was indeed quite reliable. For instance, because the last kidnapped family cooperated by giving him the money, he had already promised not to kidnap anyone from that family again, and so this time, he truly chose a different family to kidnap.

Actually, during the last kidnapping, Brother Qiang was quite cautious, with everyone divided and assigned different tasks. But after realizing that this business carried little risk, he was still careful this time, albeit slightly more relaxed than before.

After instructing his brothers to keep a good lookout, Brother Qiang prepared to rest for a while—he’d have a large sum coming in tomorrow, and he needed to be well-rested to stay alert and ensure everything went smoothly.

Deep in the night, in the stillness of the wilderness, apart from the sounds of insects, no other noise could be heard. However, on a small hill near the abandoned chicken farm, two men were crouching in the grass.

One was carefully applying an anti-insect repellent, while the other, with a cigarette in one hand and a pair of binoculars in the other, occasionally peered into the distance through the binoculars.

After applying the repellent, the first man glanced in the distance and whispered, "Be careful with your cigarette, don’t let it show."

The other responded nonchalantly, "Relax, there’s no one around in these wilds."

Even though that’s what he said, he took a hard drag on his cigarette right after speaking and then put it out.

These men were not novices when it came to wrongdoing; the lit cigarette was hidden in the palm, smoked stealthily with their heads ducked down. After smoking, they extinguished the butts and pocketed them. Aside from some scattered ashes on the ground, they left no trace.

The one who sprayed the repellent, seeing the other stash the cigarette butt, still cautiously reminded him, "Laoda already said, just endure this for tonight, and we’ll be free of trouble tomorrow. Just hang in there."

The one who put away the butt perked up instantly, "How much do you think we’ll get from this..."

As he spoke, his eyes gleamed, evidently already planning where to go wining and dining after getting the money.

The one who had sprayed the repellent didn’t immediately answer, looking up at the star-filled sky, where only a small black bird circled above. He gripped his long gun tightly, "Don’t worry, Laoda won’t shortchange us..."