Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 211: Drawing a Clear Line

Chapter 211: Chapter 211: Drawing a Clear Line

The nightclub boss was enthusiastic, shaking hands with Gu Fan and Su Hui one by one in a welcoming manner, while also keenly observing the reactions of Du Jun and Lin Xi.

Du Jun nodded, indicating no problem: "Alright, we won’t be disturbed here, Gu Fan, feel free to ask anything."

"Alright!" Gu Fan cleared his throat, then started to ask: "Boss, my question is simple, your nightclub staff must have had people come to work and then leave, right?"

"Of course, that’s perfectly normal here." The nightclub boss was a little puzzled, not understanding why Gu Fan would ask this question, and Du Jun and Lin Xi were also equally puzzled.

Gu Fan then asked another question: "So, under this normal circumstance of staff coming and going, have there been any slightly abnormal occurrences?"

Hearing this, the nightclub boss frowned and asked back: "What kind of abnormality are you referring to?"

Gu Fan thought carefully before continuing: "You should have had police come for inspections here, which is also normal. So, have there been any cases where the police come for inspections, and the staff leave, and these two normal circumstances together become abnormal?"

"This..." The nightclub boss pondered carefully, trying to recall.

Lin Xi also sensed something unusual, knowing that Gu Fan’s question was not simple, and was even more interested in hearing more.

Du Jun was slightly confused: "It’s pretty normal for nightclub staff to leave for other jobs, and for the police to conduct surprise inspections. Why would these two situations be abnormal together?"

Gu Fan did not directly answer Du Jun’s question, focusing all his attention on the nightclub boss, causing Du Jun some discomfort. It was Qin Jia who pulled Du Jun aside and secretly informed him about the findings.

Lin Xi seemed to understand: "Gu Fan, are you suspecting that some nightclub staff left because the police had been here?"

Being reminded like this, the nightclub boss was startled: "Yes, that happened once, an employee had only been working here for a month. I thought he was going to stay, but after a surprise inspection by the police, he asked to leave the next day, which surprised me."

Gu Fan quickly asked: "When did this happen? Do you still have information about this person?"

At this, the nightclub boss shook his head: "It was a long time ago. He only worked for a month and I didn’t retain his information. But I remember him mentioning that he was new to the city, had no friends here, and that this was his first job in the city."

"Just arrived in the city, no friends, fits the criteria set by this mysterious force for selecting people. Did he ever mention anything about his family?" Gu Fan thought for a while before asking.

"No, I only had limited contact with him. You can ask others." After saying this, the nightclub boss made a call and summoned another employee, Xiaojia.

The nightclub provided room and board, with two people sharing a room. Xiaojia happened to room with this person and they had chatted occasionally. However, Xiaojia never heard him mention family. The man left after a month, which surprised Xiaojia as well.

Before the man moved out, Xiaojia purposely had a drink with him. However, as they drank too happily, Xiaojia asked him if he had found a new job. The man nodded but didn’t mention any company – only that he had to go abroad for work.

"I see, thank you." After finishing, Gu Fan fell into silence, and the others remained quiet, each lost in their thoughts.

After a while, Su Hui was the first to speak: "It seems that this force specifically recruits people who have not yet made any friends in the city and are on bad terms with their family. Then they send them abroad for training to evade local informants."

"Correct, this mysterious force must have opened an international company to legally recruit employees and send them overseas. I wonder if there are many such cross-national companies in our city." Finishing this sentence, Gu Fan looked at Du Jun, who could be of great help in this respect.

"I know what to do." Du Jun made a call and told his subordinates what information they needed. Half an hour later, a list of all companies in the city doing business overseas was sent to Du Jun’s phone.

One wouldn’t know without checking, but once checked, they were shocked to find many such companies. Without more valuable clues, they could not narrow down the scope, leaving them completely at a loss.

Just when everyone was about to give up while looking at the long list of names, one company’s name caught Su Hui’s attention - "Lengbingyang Shipping Co., Ltd."

Su Hui’s brow was furrowed, seeming to have discovered something, which immediately made Gu Fan anxious: "Sister Su, what’s wrong? Did you find any valuable clues?"

"The last time I escorted three suspects, I was attacked, and just before the last suspect was silenced, he mentioned something about ’cold’, ’ice’. I was always puzzled, thinking these words held no value, but looking at it now..." Su Hui, having been staring at the name of Lengbingyang Shipping Company, suspected there might be a connection. The others also thought her guess could very well be true.

If Gu Fan’s speculation was not wrong, and Su Hui’s as well, then they most likely have found a clue about that mysterious force, and could potentially turn the table from defense to offense.

Gu Fan immediately went online to look up news about Lengbingyang Shipping Co., Ltd. To his surprise, he found that the shipping company had experienced a major accident last August, which resulted in a freighter sinking with all forty-plus people on board perishing. No bodies were found; all had perished in the sea.

"Wait a moment, wasn’t it last August that we went on that expedition? Can it really be such a coincidence in terms of timing?" Gu Fan found it questionable.

Su Hui proposed a new hypothesis: "In that conflict last time, the enemy suffered many casualties, and these people couldn’t just disappear without a reason. To give the public an explanation, they might have staged the shipwreck, so there’s no evidence of their deaths."

"That’s right, in this way everyone would only think that these people were lost at sea, and never imagine that they were actually buried in the foreign desert." The more Gu Fan thought about it, the more frightened he became. Their enemies’ planning was meticulous.

Suddenly, Su Hui, looking very interested, turned to Du Jun, and asked, "With so many dead and injured in the ancient town, how did you cover it up?"

Du Jun responded indifferently, "Quite simply, we have contacts within local authorities, so we can erase the records of the dead and injured, as though they never existed."

Gu Fan was puzzled, "Isn’t it suspicious if a few hundred people suddenly disappear from the census?"

At this, Du Jun smiled knowingly, "Don’t worry, first off, those who go out to work all do so at the companies we set up, and the majority of our employees are our own people, so even if they were to go missing, no one would be suspicious. Secondly, we didn’t erase the information of several hundred people all at once, we do it bit by bit, so that no one would notice a huge fluctuation in the population. We can also hire someone to provide proof that the person had an accident, so as to legitimately erase the person’s residence record."

"It seems your arrangements are also very careful." Gu Fan realized they were dealing with a force of great strength that had meticulous planning and swift execution, making it very difficult to find a weakness.

"Alright, we have a lead to follow now, let’s hope we didn’t choose the wrong direction." Having said this, Gu Fan expressed his thanks and prepared to leave, as they still had many more things to do.

At that moment, Du Jun stopped Gu Fan, "Don’t you think there’s a possibility that we could cooperate? The ones that you and us are dealing with are from the same group."

Before Gu Fan could answer, Su Hui refused, "Sorry, but I don’t think there’s any difference between you and them. If I’m first to deal with them, it’s because of orders from my superiors, not because I approve of what you’re doing."

Du Jun didn’t like hearing this and was about to retort, but was stopped by Lin Xi. Lin Xi asked with a heavier tone, "Sister Su, are you suggesting that one day in the future you will be our enemy?"

Su Hui replied indifferently, "Let’s not talk about what you did to those twelve classmates before. Just now, you’ve kept us in the dark about how many sneaky misdeeds you’ve committed. I don’t have double standards. If someone breaks the law, I catch them - regardless of whether that person is from a major power or from among you."

Gu Fan added, "The reason why things have evolved to this point is because Su Hui was ordered to investigate that mysterious force. At the same time, due to our relationship with Su Hui, along with Du Jun stumbling upon them, we ended up clashing with that mysterious force. If our stances change, we could end up clashing with you, and that’s highly probable."

Lin Xi looked indifferent and said coolly, "Agreed! The likelihood of our becoming enemies is greater than that of us cooperating. However, before we become enemies, we have to take down a common and greater enemy. I hope we can come to a consensus on this."

Su Hui and Gu Fan exchanged a glance, establishing a common understanding through their eyes, and then Gu Fan responded, "Alright, we will not be enemies until we have dealt with that mysterious force. Everything else, we will decide later."

After saying that, both parties who had clearly drawn their lines parted ways. Qin Jia, who watched Gu Fan and Su Hui leave and then looked back at Lin Xi and Du Jun, felt greatly conflicted.

Gu Fan turned back, raised his tone, "Qin Jia, what are you thinking? We’re the ones investigating; we are the righteous side here. They, on the other hand, we have no idea what they’re planning to do behind-the-scenes. Are you sure you want to join them? Although it’s your freedom to choose, you must think it through clearly."

"Alright..." In the end, Qin Jia chose to stay with Gu Fan’s side, and left with him, which greatly annoyed Du Jun. After Gu Fan left, Du Jun nearly blurted out, "What’s with him? We helped him, and he actually wants to distance himself from us."

Lin Xi didn’t really react to it, "Gu Fan is quite cautious. He knows we definitely have something to hide, so he dares not get too close to us. It’s not a bad thing. We can provide him with clues for his investigation, let’s see how he deals with those people."