Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 1456: A Cheap Bargain

Chapter 1456: Chapter 1456: A Cheap Bargain

When Organization X heard that Catherine had caught Gu Fan, even Xue Wang was agitated, so he hurriedly brought a large group of men and rushed to Catherine’s nightclub to see for himself.

On the way there, Xue Wang had his doubts. Could Catherine, with her limited manpower and capabilities, really have captured Gu Fan? And did Catherine even know what Gu Fan looked like?

As a dozen cars arrived in grand procession, Catherine stood by the entrance reverentially welcoming them, secretly hoping that this great achievement would bring her enormous rewards.

"Did you really capture Gu Fan, Catherine?" Xue Wang asked, his expression stern to make sure Catherine knew this was no joking matter.

"Yes, I have captured him," Catherine replied with conviction. After what happened with Ouyang Jin, Catherine had a unique feeling, one no other man could give her.

Xue Wang was still half-doubtful and motioned for Catherine to lead the way.

The group arrived at the room only to see the guards at the door knocked unconscious, with the door wide open, instantly sensing that something was amiss.

Catherine rushed inside, but the room was already empty.

"How could this be?" Catherine panicked and immediately called for the surveillance room only to receive no response.

Xue Wang’s expression darkened, sensing that the situation was complex, and ordered someone to check the surveillance room.

Soon after, someone reported that the people in the surveillance room had been knocked unconscious and hadn’t woken up yet, and all surveillance had been shut down, leaving them clueless about what had just happened.

"How could this happen, quickly wake them up," Catherine urged, distressed over the turn of events from a potential grand achievement to an embarrassing debacle.

Xue Wang believed Catherine was not foolish enough to stage such a play, but whether Catherine genuinely had the capability to capture Gu Fan was the question.

Seeing Xue Wang losing patience, Catherine quickly explained: "Lord Xue Wang, please believe me, I truly captured Gu Fan. I just don’t know what happened, who attacked us, or who took Gu Fan away."

In response, Xue Wang coldly retorted, "Do you know, I hate liars the most. According to the daily reports from our agents deployed for surveillance, Gu Fan was still in that small town. How could he suddenly appear in Dark City and be captured by you?"

"This..." Catherine was at a loss for words.

Xue Wang intended to leave when suddenly he received an urgent call from Mo Yun. He was informed that the people responsible for surveilling the town had been manipulated by Gu Fan; essentially, all the daily intelligence reports stating that Gu Fan was still in the town were false.

"What?" When Xue Wang heard this news, he felt as if he was thunderstruck, completely bewildered.

Xue Wang thought everything was under control, but it turned out he had been deceived by Gu Fan who had managed to escape. A panic arose in Xue Wang’s heart. If Gu Fan was not in the town, where could he be? Could he really have sneaked into Dark City?

Xue Wang stared intently at Catherine, now believing what she had said.

"Catherine, do you have a photograph of Gu Fan?" Xue Wang asked, his expression grave as though a serious matter had occurred, and the atmosphere grew tense. The situation seemed more severe. Catherine quickly took out a photograph.

Upon seeing it, Xue Wang immediately tore the photograph into pieces, "Who is this? I have never said this is Gu Fan."

"What? He’s not Gu Fan, but..." Catherine grew even more flustered. This was clearly a photo that Li and Tai had purposely taken in the town. Could these two have created a fake photo to deceive everyone in order to complete their mission?

Xue Wang saw that Catherine seemed unaware and deceived as well. Calming down, he said, "Tell me, where did this photo come from?"

Catherine did not dare to conceal any information and recounted everything she had ordered Li and Tai to do.

Xue Wang was furious: "I repeatedly instructed you to keep low and not provoke Gu Fan. Why wouldn’t you listen? Now you have ended up with a fake photo, which is utterly ridiculous."

Catherine bowed her head, silent. She felt wronged and annoyed as well.

At this point, there was nothing else that could be done. After Xue Wang had scolded her, he did not want to blame Catherine too much.

As Xue Wang was about to return to the Tower of Darkness, the guards that had been knocked unconscious came to and informed Catherine that it was all Tai’s doing.

"What, Tai? Why would he do this?" Catherine was puzzled. Tai had always been disciplined and loyal. It was baffling that he would choose this moment to betray, especially for someone unrelated like Gu Fan.

Xue Wang frowned, "Wait, the one who got the fake photo is Tai, and now the one who knocked out your guards and rescued the fake Gu Fan is also Tai. Who exactly is this Tai?"

With this reminder, Catherine also realized that there was something off with Tai.

Her subordinates immediately went to check Tai’s information, and soon brought his files. They were all stunned when they saw the information and immediately presented it to Xue Wang.

"What?" Xue Wang was overwhelmingly shocked, quickly passing the information to Catherine, pressing her urgently, "Catherine, are you sure this is the same Tai?"

"Yes, this Tai has been in Dark City for five years now. I’ve checked his background, there shouldn’t be any issue," Catherine replied, growing nervous, sensing that Tai’s background could greatly perturb Xue Wang.

Xue Wang struggled to control his emotions, "Catherine, tell me, when did you recruit this Tai as your subordinate?"

Catherine thought for a moment, then responded, "It’s been more than three months, I suppose."

"What? Three months? Could this guy have already been in Dark City?" Xue Wang exploded in anger, almost resorting to violence.

Catherine became even more frightened, "What exactly is going on? Is there something wrong with Tai’s information?"

Xue Wang was in a foul mood and did not wish to speak, so his assistant answered instead, "There’s nothing wrong with Tai’s information, but the photo of Tai is indeed Gu Fan himself. According to our investigation, the person you, Catherine, captured is just a friend of Gu Fan."

"What? How could this be?" Catherine could not believe that the person she had tried so hard to capture had been hiding right under her nose, all while she inadvertently let someone else benefit.

"Gu Fan, you really are capable, managing to hide right under my watch for more than three months." Xue Wang issued an order, stifling his rage – to dispatch ten times the number of people to seal and search the entire Dark City, believing that Gu Fan had not yet escaped.

At that moment, a subordinate hurriedly came to report that Lord Xiong and Zhuo Hang had returned, but they were in bad shape and Xue Wang needed to go see them immediately.