Chapter 150: Kidnapping
Chapter 150: Kidnapping
In that same afternoon, Chen Chen and Cheng Cao both boarded a plane to New York.
After only five hours, when it was evening, two of them stepped into a narrow but busy street in Manhattan, New York City.
This street was only five hundred meters in length and a pitiful eleven meters in width. There were various sorts of towering buildings on both sides. Even on a sunny day, there was no sunlight here to speak of.
Nonetheless, this haphazardly planned street was well known throughout the entire Federation.
In one glance, Chen Chen could see the headquarters of Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, the New York Stock Exchange, and other buildings.
This location represented the financial hub of the entire North American Continent. It was Chen Chen’s current destination — the Blanc Company’s headquarters, owned by Paul Blanc, the president of the Als Mutual Aid Association.
Paul Blanc was the founder of the Blanc Financial Group. Compared to other long-established groups, they were a relatively young financial group first set up by Harlan Blanc in 1922.
The group started as the “National Bank”. In World War II, Harlan Blanc and several other consortia of the new generation took control of the oldest aluminum company in North America and joined the ranks of financial oligarchs.
Through these channels, the Blanc Financial Group controlled the banking and industrial capital of the Pittsburgh area. In the following decades, his son Paul Blanc gained control of Gulf Oil, and the family became a top consortium in one leap.
This company had also become the most important industrial pillar of the Blanc Financial Group.
Through these years of development, the Blanc Financial Group finally broke into Wall Street and became a major puppet master of North American finance and economy.
Chen Chen’s current opponent was a colossal figure like this.
“In other words, the one who tried to trap me this time was Paul Blanc, the president of the Als Mutual Aid Association and leader of the Blanc Financial Group...”
Chen Chen was in a black car. As he read the information sent by Little X, he displayed a pensive look.
He read on in the car, then looked out the window again. On a building by the street, a massive B-shaped logo was ostentatiously displayed, resonating with the logos of other financial groups.
This building was the headquarters of the Blanc Company.
“Cheng Cao, this is the man you’re looking for.”
Chen Chen took out his phone and sent Cheng Cao a photo of a middle-aged Caucasian man who had swept-back hair and a steely expression. “Sloane Blanc. He’s in the general manager’s office. Just knock him out and bring him out. Remember not to alert anyone else.”
“Got it.”
Cheng Cao glanced at the photo, nodded with a grimace, got off the car, and walked directly toward the main doors of the Blanc Financial Group headquarters.
Soon, Cheng Cao pushed past the heavy glass doors and said something to the front desk. Then, he moved out of Chen Chen’s field of vision.
At the same time, all surveillance devices in the building suddenly became ineffective as they fell into a mode of playing videos on loop. The security in the building did not notice this at all.
As remote surveillance was often needed, most foreign surveillance systems were connected to an external network. Due to this, Little X was able to interfere with the building’s surveillance.
With help from Little X, in addition to Cheng Cao’s GS protective suit and cloaking device, every defensive measure would be futile against Cheng Cao, unless the other party had already prepared and were lying in wait.
Indeed, in a little over ten minutes, the glass doors of the Blanc Financial Group headquarters suddenly swung open by themselves as if there was a strong wind. Those at the front desk merely glanced up in bafflement, then stopped paying attention.
However, if one looked closely, one would notice a mass of distortion in the air walking out from the doors and making a beeline for the car in which Chen Chen was waiting.
“Yawn!”
Chen Chen yawned and opened the trunk of the car which was facing the Blanc Financial Group headquarters. Instantly, the mass of distorted light moved into the back of the car.
At this point, the cloaking function was halted.
Chen Chen looked down. A middle-aged Caucasian man was lying in the back seat. It was the man in the photo sent by Little X.
This was Sloane Blanc, the son of the Blanc family’s leader, Paul Blanc. Paul Blanc was on the verge of retiring and Sloane Blanc had assumed control over ninety percent of the family business. He was long recognized as the heir of the Blanc family.
Chen Chen glanced at this important, famous heir of the Blanc family, then stopped paying further attention. Cheng Cao had turned around and got into the car, driving it toward the suburbs of New York.
It was not until Cheng Cao had driven past the suburbs of New York that the employees in the Blanc building gradually realized their own general manager had seemed to vanish...
The entire building descended into an instant state of panic.
A few hours later, with Cheng Cao driving, large private estates slowly loomed up on both sides of the road.
They had entered the northern suburbs of New York City, which was where the rich lived.
In New York City, the rich usually lived near Manhattan Island. There were all kinds of modern duplex mansions and high-rise buildings everywhere. It was a sharp departure from the lifestyles of ordinary people.
Nonetheless, to some of the wealthy older generation, this dense, bustling area was not suited to them. Therefore, suburbs for the wealthy came into existence.
These residences in the suburbs of New York were all manors. In truth, this was where the truly wealthy gathered and lived in New York. Only the richest could stay here.
Chen Chen felt that this location was about right, so he asked Cheng Cao to stop. After that, he looked back at Sloane Blanc who was still knocked out and took out a surgical box from the car’s refrigerator, from which he withdrew a large number of drugs.
Following that, Cheng Cao cloaked himself and picked up Sloane Blanc. Meanwhile, Chen Chen got out of the car, put on a duckbill cap and a mask, and walked toward the only five-star hotel nearby.
Chen Chen opened the doors to the hotel and walked straight to the counter. “My name is Stephen Chow. I’ve booked Presidential Suite No. 3.”
“Please hold on.”
The gorgeous female receptionist behind the counter shot Chen Chen a weird look before lowering her head to check. Then, she confirmed. “Yes, Mr. Chow, you’ve booked it this morning. Do you need someone to take you to the room?”
“It’s fine. Just tell me which floor.” Chen Chen turned down her suggestion.
When she heard this, the receptionist handed a gold-inlaid card to Chen Chen. “Your room is on the 7th floor.”
“Thank you.”
Chen Chen took the card and headed toward the elevator.
As she watched this guest, who had concealed his appearance, turn to leave, the female receptionist shook her head speechlessly. Although Chen Chen’s getup was not a common sight in hotels, it could still be explained.
He must be a certain celebrity or a wealthy man who was cheating on his wife or a celebrity who was cheating on his wife...
She had worked here for over three years and had seen many of these sorts of affairs.
However, when she was lowering her head absentmindedly, she suddenly felt that something was wrong. Why did there seem to be a distortion in the air behind the guy?
The receptionist quickly looked up, only to see that Chen Chen had gotten into the elevator. Noticing her gaze, he even nodded back at her.
She swiftly looked back down. When she glanced up again after a while, the doors of the elevator had closed.
Were her own eyes just playing tricks on her?
The female receptionist could not help but feel unsettled.