Release that Man

Edward had no intention of cooperating with Cedrick but did intend to do so with Ye Shuang. Other than the personal value of the man aside, there was naturally also the element of it being more interesting.

Ye Shuang obviously knew about the danger of Madam Grace, but even so, she still wandered calmly within her observation range. She did not evade or go into hiding, and that was a clear sign of Ye Shuang’s plan.

After leaving Ye Shuang and Han Chu, Edward calmly got on the elevator to another floor. He expertly avoided the cameras to head into the toilet, and when he came out later, the sleazy and fat Edward suddenly changed into the muscular and tall African American Tess.

He walked slowly to one of the doors, and ‘Tess’ pulled out the universal room card that he had gotten from the cleaner and pushed the door open expressionlessly.

“House-keeping,” he announced plainly as he entered the room, and as he expected, a panicky voice shrieked from within. “Can’t you see the ‘do not disturb’ sign hanging on the door? I’ll call room service when I need house-keeping. Please leave!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, but this service is mandatory.” ‘Tess’ gave a smile, but perhaps he was not used to that expression. Instead of a smile, it was only a twitch of his lips. As he walked over to the newbie, he pulled out his hand from his pocket.

Like magic, a small bottle of spray appeared in his palm. Without giving the man a chance to react, there was a mist, and it landed squarely on the newbie’s face. As the man toppled sideways, the African American put the spray away, and his other hand was ready to catch the unconscious man.

“I’m sorry, but for the sake of love and justice, I’m sure you won’t mind a small sacrifice, right‽” He apologized insincerely to the unlucky man who was already unconscious. ‘Tess’ did not stop moving as he spoke. As he dropped the man on the bed, he pulled out the phone and nodded. “If there’s no rejection, then I shall take it as a yes. I thank you on behalf of the entire world.”

When the call connected, ‘Tess’ turned back to his usual unexpressive self, and even his tone changed back to a low and gravelly groan. “Come here.”

…

“I keep having this feeling that he has done many things recently.” After the meeting ended, Han Chu did not hurry to leave but frowned as he thought about Edward’s words before he left. “He seems to be closer to Madam Grace than we realized but didn’t want to share information with us.”

“Is that so?” Ye Shuang also thought about it, and perhaps it was Han Chu planting that idea in her mind, but the more she thought about it, the greater the suspicion she had about Edward. “Alright, perhaps you’re right.”

And then she was reminded of the last sentence Edward said before he left. “But based on Edward’s intention and his previous stance, even if he won’t actively do anything for us, he will try his best to cooperate when we come to him with request, right?”

“If that is the case, then it’s still too passive.” Han Chu shook his head. “What can he currently do? What kind of identity does he possess? What kind of resources can he lend us? If we know too little about each other, these are all unanswerable questions. In other words, we currently have no idea how to make use of the resources in his hands. Instead, we can only go to him with the last piece of hope when we’re cornered…”

For Han Chu, Edward was like the trump card that he would use at the last moment, and when the game was ongoing, he actually had no idea when to play this card. Even at the last moment, due to the element of uncertainty that this card represented, Han Chu would still have his reservations. Was he a pair of threes or a pair of Jokers?

He turned to Ye Shuang and asked, “Are you willing to allow yourself to reach that state and place yourself in his favor?”

“Hmm…” Ye Shuang frowned. Han Chu looked at her, and he realized that she was not just considering the answer but had sunk into a deep contemplation, so he asked out of curiosity, “What’s on your mind?”

Ye Shuang raised her eyes to look at Han Chu and shared her uncertainty. “When I heard you doubt Edward earlier, I was suddenly reminded of something… I think I’ve seen Edward’s cranial features somewhere before.”

What‽ Han Chu was silent for a while. “I don’t think I heard you correctly. Do you mind repeating it?”

Ye Shuang coughed. “I have a good memory and great eyes, you should know that… When I heard you suspecting that fatty, I couldn’t help but start to analyze his physical data, and then I realized that his cranial features… I seemed to have seen them somewhere else before.”

As good as your eyes are, it shouldn’t be to this stage. Han Chu closed his eyes and rubbed the space between his eyes. He sighed as he opened his eyes. “You sure?”

“Ninety percent sure, but I haven’t been paying it special attention, so I can’t remember where I’ve seen it before.” Ye Shuang pouted. “Even though I have no idea how much this fatty is hiding, I am sure that he is hiding something from us… Previously, the man has been curving his back and carrying a large tummy; the way he presented himself was easy for people to ignore. However, now that I think about it, if he straightened his spine, he should be quite tall.”

Of course, the body of fat would need to go, or else it was merely a tall fatty.

Han Chu was speechless. If not for his faith in Ye Shuang’s ability and the fact that he did not want to rain on her parade, he really would have mocked the words that he had just heard. Yet, after the feeling passed, the information that he had on Edward flashed through his mind, and Han Chu became silent again.

Other than the speculation, the affirmable information that he had on the man could be counted on his fingers. Other than the expertise in setting up plots, the known knowledge about his talent was a blank page.

What kind of weapon was this fatty good with? Other than a brilliant mind and a talkative mouth, what kind of talent did he possess? What had he done before joining the organization and while he was inside the organization? What about close-quarter combat? Did he have a trustworthy partner or channel that he constantly cooperated with?

Other than the brilliant director that he had once cooperated with, everything else that he knew about Edward was a blank. Then again, it was not that they had not been able to investigate his life, but the part that they had come up with was much too common. The man had nothing special going for him, so one really had to question how he managed to get into the organization.

If the fatty was really hiding something from them…

After confirming that suspicion, Han Chu also could not help but sigh. He looked toward the laptop that he had placed on the coffee table. “Looks like we’ve been placing too much trust in the data.”

Due to the fact they had the cheat in Anthony, it had been a long time since Han Chu doubted the data that he had been given. Of course, as long as it was within the field of internet and computer files, the people that could escape Anthony’s investigation were very few… but very few did not mean no one.

Ye Shuang blinked and smiled. “Right? Brother Han, do you also think that fatty is hiding something?”

“I never thought that he was an open book, but now I realize that he’s hiding even deeper than I thought.” Han Chu thought about it and took out his phone. He sent a message to Anthony. Ye Shuang could not see the actual content from her angle, but she could make an educated guess. It was mostly to mock Anthony’s miscalculation and to urge him to come up with another solution…

Cedrick looked left and right. After he realized that the discussion in the room had reached a certain stage, he raised his hand to request to speak. “By the way, when do you plan to arrange for me to meet Madam Grace?”

“You want us to arrange that?” Ye Shuang was baffled. “You’ve already confirmed her identity, and you know where she is. Why can’t you just go to her place to meet her?”

It was already her limit to force herself to be patient toward the pursuit of a woman—Ye Shuang did not want to give off the idea that she was ready to be someone’s stepfather. If this mother and son duo wants to tear at each other, fine, but why do you want to drag me into it?

Cedrick was silent for half a minute, and then this ‘gentleman’ who was often so cautious of how he presented himself revealed a wicked grin expand on his face. “So, you don’t intend to intervene in my business and don’t have a plan to help me?”

“Hmm…” Ye Shuang saw the darkening smile on the man’s face, and she wondered if she should pile on the provocation.

Before she could come up with the answer, Cedrick stood up with a smile. “If there’s no cooperation between us, that means I am allowed to use any reason or incident to get close to Madam Grace, right? Even if it might bring you trouble in the future… like telling her about that fatty’s presence and the things that you’ve been doing behind her back.”

Seeing the grim looks of the two people whom he had just threatened, Cedrick’s lips curled into a grin, which looked suspiciously like Han Chu’s condescending smile. “…For the sake of a touching reunion between a son and his mother, I’m sure you won’t mind making a little sacrifice, right?”

“…” Ye Shuang was stunned into the silence. Then she nudged several steps toward Han Chu and used her elbow to poke at him. “Brother Han, have you been silently teaching him stuff? After all, he has been spending a lot of time with you…”

He was such a good boy. Even though his hands were touchy, he had never been this wicked. From the smile that was not one hundred percent but at least eighty percent similar to Han Chu’s, Ye Shuang would not believe that Han Chu’s influence had not rubbed off on Cedrick somehow.

Han Chu was also speechless. He looked at Ye Shuang patiently. “Other than yourself, I haven’t taught or given pointers to any other pig.”

Hey! If you do another personal offense, I’m going to be angry!