The news stunned everyone present.
"Turn that underground casino inside out. If we have to, rip it apart until we find any trace of the Miss," Su Xiangnan said coldly. He bared his teeth at Qian Duoduo, a dangerous smile on his face. "I never expected Mr. Qian's tastes to be so broad."
For some reason, he thought of Jing Shu again. "Anything from Banana Community? Any sign of Jing Shu?"
The old butler shook his head. "She should have gone with Miss."
Su Xiangnan fell silent. Maybe this incident could not be separated from Jing Shu. Maybe she was a victim too. After all, the chat logs showed the girl called out to someone, and the man Fei Zhuzai, who contacted her, was the prime suspect.
Qian Duoduo put on an embarrassed but polite smile. "That place I built years ago has fallen to ruin."
The atmosphere in the hall grew heavier. Qian Duoduo listened to reports from his men and felt his eyelids twitch. Things did not look good. He leaned toward Wufu and whispered, "Take Qian Shengqian, Qian Qianjin, and Madam to the fortress. Make sure they are safe. Activate the fortress air defense mode. These people really want to blow up my Xishan. See when government support will arrive and arrange it. Do not let these lunatics actually detonate the gas cylinders."
"All right, I'll go now."
"Master, Master, we found something belonging to Miss!"
Su Xiangnan sprang to his feet.
The messenger panted, "We found items that belonged to Miss. They were in a secret room under that ruined manor's underground casino. The secret room was locked from the outside. After we pried it open, we found signs that she had been in there."
"And the Miss herself? The others?"
"The tiles on the floor of the secret room were pried up. They connect to an underground passage. It looks like the Miss left with someone through that passage. From the scene, she was indeed once confined there. There was no signal inside. Our people are already searching the underground passage, but the passageway seems extensive."
A chair slammed onto the floor with a bang. Both sides quietly drew weapons, while Su Xiangnan's men lifted a gas cylinder above their heads.
Qian Duoduo shouted in anger, "Put the weapons down. Do you all want to die?"
"Mr. Qian, explain this. You claim you had nothing to do with my daughter being detained, yet here she was confined. Where is she?"
Qian Duoduo frowned. "Brother Su, the manor casino was built more than a decade ago. The underground passage was also constructed back then, but it was a whim. Nobody's gone in there for years. I had it sealed. Liu Fu, bring out the map of the underground passage so Brother Su's men can see it, so they won't get lost. Maybe his daughter is still inside."
He tapped the table. "Also, I'm curious how the young miss ended up locked in that underground casino. That place has been abandoned for years. Brother Su, something is fishy. Qi Fu, pull all inbound and outbound records and surveillance from Xishan for the past half month. Fei Zhuzai, did Su Mali ever go to that underground casino in the manor?"
"I don't know, boss. We completed the deal at your meeting place and left. This is today's route. I didn't have time to go to a distant ruined manor and detain Su Mali," Fei Zhuzai said, on the verge of collapse. A perfectly good deal had turned into a disaster.
Liu Fu unrolled the blueprints. "This is the underground passage Mr. Qian built years ago. It was never finished. Currently it only circles the casino for less than two kilometers and contains one control room and six underground warehouses. The passage has been sealed for a long time. Miss Su could easily get lost in there."
If Jing Shu had been there, she would have understood. At first there were many branch paths, then the passage narrowed into a single straight tunnel with very poor workmanship, clearly not Qian Duoduo's doing.
Su Xiangnan kept his face dark. He knew his daughter had ridiculous luck, but every time someone took her he still felt sick with worry. In previous kidnappings the bandits wanted money, and he had leverage. This time, he could not explain it.
He did not know whether Qian Duoduo intended to force concessions from his gas company, or whether someone was truly framing Qian Duoduo. He did not know who wanted harm to come to his daughter. That uncertainty was the deadliest part.
"Send all our people in. Search every corner without exception."
…
"Boss, Su Xiangnan's men have entered the underground passage. Request to close the main channel and open a secondary route."
"Request received."
"Boss, the plan is complete. Qian Duoduo's fortress air defense channel is activated."
Lin Yi's glasses flashed in the light. "Good. The shell is finally open. Fill it with explosives. Check the other charges again. Make sure the whole of Xishan is blown apart."
"Understood, my boss."
…
Time crawled on and both sides grew increasingly agitated. Qian Duoduo's team began checking all entry records and surveillance. Gou Shu's figure appeared on multiple cameras.
Qian Duoduo pointed at Gou Shu. "Brother Su, maybe you have a mole?"
Su Xiangnan's expression shifted. "Then who is the woman often seen with him? Is she one of your people?"
Qian Duoduo's face stiffened. So someone had been slipped in. Or were Su Xiangnan's people involved? What were they trying to do? Qian Duoduo eyed Su Xiangnan suspiciously. Was this whole play staged by Su Xiangnan himself?
Simple matters had been made complex by people who overthought them.
Both big players ran through dozens of scenarios in their heads.
"Sir, we searched everywhere. Still nothing. After Miss went down from the secret room into the passage, she vanished completely."
"Impossible!" Qian Duoduo frowned first. "The passage is dead end. If she entered the passage, how could she disappear?"
"Then we have to ask you, Mr. Qian. Where did you hide her? Do you think I don't dare to blow up your Xishan?" Su Xiangnan had lost patience.
No sooner had he finished speaking than the outside erupted, boom, boom, boom. The mountain shook and the ground trembled. Compared with the earlier blast, that was just a drizzle. The explosions roared so loud they made ears ring, and the entire villa shook violently.
Qian Duoduo peered out the window, listening to the blasts. How many places outside had been blown apart? His heart bled.
Dust filled the air, thundered and crashed. For a while Qian Duoduo ground his teeth and said through clenched jaws, "Su Xiangnan, I have tolerated you long enough, stop this now. Do you understand the consequences of what you are doing?"