Ning Zhiheng's words stunned Ji Hongyi. He hesitated for a moment before asking softly, "Do you want to save people, or do you just want money?"

Ning Zhiheng glared at him and said irritably, "Don't worry, I'm not so greedy as to be greedy for money. The premise is to rescue the person. But if this money benefits the kidnappers, it's better to let us have it. Three hundred thousand US dollars is enough to buy two of our convoys."

Ji Hongyi felt relieved. Of course, everyone loves money, but he still has his bottom line. He was ordered by his master to run around to rescue Wei Hongde. If he couldn't rescue the man in the end, he wouldn't feel at ease keeping the money.

Ning Zhiheng was the same. Although he wanted the money, he planned to take it from the kidnappers. These kidnappers were not good people. Killing them would be doing a good deed for the people and would also earn him $300,000 for free. Why not?

Ning Zhiheng then asked, "What have you found out?"

Ji Hongyi has also been busy these past two days, using his resources to secretly search for the kidnappers' whereabouts, and with his abilities, he has naturally made some progress.

"According to the Wei family's description, the kidnappers forced Wei Hongde's car to stop in two cars, then got out and hijacked Wei Hongde at gunpoint. There were eight people in total, each armed with a pistol. The leader of the kidnappers spoke with a local Shanghai accent. My initial judgment is that these people should be local Green Gang members."

"Hmm!" Ning Zhiheng nodded in agreement, indicating that this technique was indeed done by an expert.

Although cars are common in Shanghai, it is because of the city's developed economy and the large number of wealthy merchants that ordinary people cannot afford them. It is difficult for out-of-town gangsters to acquire two cars at once, especially when they are fully armed and speak with a Shanghai accent. Such people are mostly local members of the Green Gang.

In particular, the Shanghai Green Gang has a long-standing tradition of kidnapping and extorting wealthy businessmen, a fact that is common knowledge. Even Yue Sheng, the former head of the Green Gang, was one of their backers. Later, when Yue Sheng opened a bank, he lacked sufficient funds, so he took matters into his own hands and used these methods to target the celebrities and elites of Shanghai. Left with no other choice, these people invested in the bank and deposited their savings in Yue Sheng's bank. From then on, Yue Sheng officially entered the financial world, broke free from the shackles of his previous role as a Green Gang leader, and rapidly expanded his power by leveraging the power of capital, eventually becoming the underground emperor of Shanghai.

It can be said that every branch of the Green Gang was involved in this industry. Even Gu Xuan of the Northern Jiangsu Gang had done similar things back then, but he has stopped now.

"Which branch do you think it is? The French Concession? Or the city center?"

"I think it was done by people from the city center! The French Concession has developed rapidly in recent years, and the gang members in each branch have been able to make a living and have always been relatively well-behaved. Moreover, the two concessions are connected, and Wei Hongde has the British consul backing him. No one in the concessions dares to offend him, so I think it is more likely that it was done by people from the city center."

I later interviewed some nearby residents, and some of them saw Wei Hongde's car heading towards Suzhou Bridge after the incident. Later, I found a guard who was on duty at the Suzhou Bridge checkpoint at the time, and he also saw Wei Hongde's car enter the city.

Ning Zhiheng had initially suspected the Green Gang members in the city, but he was still somewhat surprised that Ji Hongyi could find the kidnappers' whereabouts so easily. He couldn't help but ask, "The kidnappers didn't abandon Wei Hongde's car? They just openly drove their hostage's car across the Suzhou Bridge?"

Ji Hongyi nodded and said, "At first I was also very suspicious, but after thinking about it, it makes sense. Wei Hongde is not an ordinary wealthy businessman. Anyone who dares to make a move against him is definitely not an ordinary person. They either have a powerful background or are blinded by money, or even both."

Moreover, Wei Hongde's car was notoriously luxurious; it was a brand-new, pure white Buick from the United States, costing a full eight thousand US dollars. He had it purchased through diplomatic channels by the British consul, a rare luxury car even in the concession. It's understandable that the guard at the checkpoint recognized Wei Hongde's car, and that's why the kidnappers were reluctant to abandon it.

Eight thousand US dollars! That's no small sum; it's a fortune that an ordinary person couldn't accumulate in several lifetimes.

Ning Zhiheng pondered for a moment and slowly said, "These kidnappers' methods are too crude. The fact that they dared to do this shows that they might not be willing to give up this valuable luxury car. On the other hand, it also shows that they did not care much about Wei Hongde's identity and acted with impunity."

“You’re right, that’s what I think too. There aren’t many people in the city with the power and the guts to do this. The most likely perpetrators are probably No. 76. They’re backed by the Japanese and don’t care about the power of Britain and the United States, especially the British, who are being suppressed by Japan.”

Moreover, since its inception, No. 76 has been ruthless in its pursuit of wealth, extorting money from the rich and powerful. I'm not surprised at all that they kidnapped Wei Hongde.”

“That makes sense!” Ning Zhiheng agreed with Ji Hongyi’s assessment. The agents of the No. 76 Special Agent Headquarters were bullying and committing crimes in the city, acting recklessly and without any bottom line. They dared not provoke the Japanese, and they didn’t care about anyone else.

"It must be Wu Shicai's doing. He's the one who does most of the kidnapping and extortion. This guy is ruthless and audacious. He'll do anything for money. Only someone like him would target Wei Hongde. I'll have someone investigate his recent activities to see if Wei Hongde is really in his hands."

Ning Zhiheng decided to let Muyu do this. Muyu's team was doing very well within the No. 76 Special Agent Headquarters and had informants around Wu Shicai, so investigating these matters should not be difficult.

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!