Free Web NovelChapter 1011: Chapter 393: Purging the 9th District
"I don’t want to keep muddling along in the Ninth District like this. There’s no future in it, and getting swallowed up is only a matter of Time."
After everyone else left, Pike pulled out a cigar, wanting to hand it to Zhang Beixing, but Zhang Beixing just shook his head and refused.
Zhang Beixing did smoke, but not often; usually only when he needed to think. And he didn’t feel that the problem Pike was facing right now was worth lighting a cigarette over.
Pike didn’t insist and just lit up for himself, and Zhang Beixing wasn’t in any hurry either. He knew perfectly well that Pike was going through a fierce inner struggle.
"There are three major forces in the Ninth District..."
"I know."
Before Pike could finish, Zhang Beixing cut him off directly.
The first squad might be disbanded now, but that was only in name. Zhang Beixing’s real arrangement was to break the first squad up and scatter them.
There was a reason for doing this, of course—his own careful calculations. You could only say that Zhang Beixing was setting up a very big game! Back when Leng Bing picked Lijian Country, Zhang Beixing had already arranged for the intel people from the first squad to report all the information from here to him.
Never fighting a battle he wasn’t sure of had always been Zhang Beixing’s style, so the moment Pike mentioned the three forces, he knew exactly who Pike meant.
Yet that simple sentence from Zhang Beixing made Pike’s face show disbelief. When Zhang Beixing livestreamed his choice of location, Pike hadn’t watched it, but once he learned that Zhang Beixing had arrived at the boxing arena, he immediately had his men compile intel.
So he naturally learned about Zhang Beixing’s choice of location as well. But it hadn’t even been that long, and Zhang Beixing already had the Ninth District figured out this clearly.
If he’d known all this beforehand, it would still be barely understandable. But if this was all from a quick investigation after arrival, then it meant Zhang Beixing’s intel capabilities were terrifyingly strong—so strong it almost didn’t make sense.
But either way, it was enough to prove how frightening Zhang Bei’s strength was—not just his own strength, but also the strength of the people under Zhang Beixing.
Thinking back to what had happened in Europe, and then to the first squad that had been "disbanded" and vanished without a trace, Pike couldn’t help feeling his scalp go numb.
Seeing Pike’s reaction, Zhang Beixing was a bit surprised. He hadn’t expected that just speaking one simple truth would provoke such a big response.
But in the next instant, Zhang Beixing understood what was going through Pike’s mind, and couldn’t help praising him inwardly.
"His mind really is pretty delicate. Looks like you really can’t judge a book by its cover. The Pike standing here now is indeed a decent acting agent."
Of course, Zhang Beixing kept those thoughts to himself. Not knowing what Zhang Beixing was thinking, Pike stood there like a grade-schooler who’d done something wrong and was waiting for the teacher’s punishment, not daring to say a word.
"The three major forces are the Sniper Organization, the Ross Clan, and the Rose Organization. I’m not wrong, am I?"
At Zhang Beixing’s words, Pike nodded like a pecking chick.
The Sniper Organization ran the casinos, the Ross Clan trafficked "flour," and as for the Rose Organization, they controlled the entire Ninth District’s red‑light area and all the sex industry.
At this point, Zhang Beixing couldn’t hold back a snort of laughter.
He had to admit, the division of labor among these three was pretty impressive—they’d split up the three big pillars of the underground gray economy nice and clean.
"Minister Zhang is right, that’s exactly how it is."
Here, Pike let out a helpless sigh.
"Even though they’re already sitting on the most lucrative businesses, it seems they’re still not satisfied. According to the intel from my informant, the three of them plan to reorganize the Ninth District."
At this, anger made Pike clench his fists. Even the relatively firm cigar snapped in his grip.
"So Minister Zhang, I don’t care what anyone else chooses, but I absolutely can’t just sit here and wait to die. If this keeps going, not just me, but none of the other organizations will survive!"
The anger in Pike’s heart was not an act, and the intel Zhang Beixing had received confirmed that the three major forces were indeed planning to join up and purge the Ninth District.
If the three really joined forces, then there wouldn’t be any Power in the entire Ninth District that could stand against them. There was only one outcome waiting for the other forces in the Ninth District: death.
"You’re right. That’s what my intel says too."
Zhang Beixing wore a faint smile on his face; no one could read his thoughts from his expression. But what truly shocked Pike was that Zhang Beixing even knew about this piece of intel.
If it were some other intel, you might say it could be investigated in advance, but he himself had only learned about this yesterday. How had Zhang Beixing found out so quickly?
Obviously, the expression on Pike’s face betrayed his thoughts, while Zhang Beixing deliberately put on a profound, inscrutable look. Yes, profound and inscrutable—and completely put on.
Because even Zhang Beixing didn’t know who had dug up this intel. When he first formed the first squad, there hadn’t been any real intel experts at all.
And at that time, Zhang Beixing hadn’t even planned on setting up an intel department; everyone he brought in was being trained with a focus on intelligence work.
Obviously this person was someone that girl had found herself after going Solo Flight. Zhang Beixing had already decided in his heart that once this operation was over, he had to sit down with that girl and have a proper chat, and figure out this intel genius’s identity.
