Chapter 18. Gu Sheng returned to the hotel and fell asleep immediately...

Gu Sheng returned to the hotel and fell asleep immediately. Once asleep, those worries no longer mattered.

Gu Sheng was awakened by the sound of his phone receiving a message in the early morning. He opened his phone and immediately became fully awake.

A person with the nickname "Knight11" sent him a lot of files. Could this "Knight11" be the bartender?

Furthermore, if there's "Knight 11," then there should also be "Knight 1," "Knight 2," and so on.

Gu Sheng scrolled through his contacts and found 13 people whose nicknames were "Knight + Number" from 0 to 13.

Gu Sheng was very dissatisfied with the way "himself" was labeled. Although he would have labeled himself the same way, he would not be able to tell who was who if he labeled himself that way.

Who knows who these 13 suddenly appeared are?

Gu Sheng opened the file sent by "Knight11".

Looking at the contents, Gu Sheng was surprised that the bartender had actually investigated Ouroboros thoroughly in just one night, including Gu Sheng himself.

It took Gu Sheng about an hour and a half to finish reading all the documents.

The content is comprehensive, but there is no information about the BOSS. It seems that the person who collected the information was unaware of the BOSS's existence.

Regarding Ouroboros, Gu Sheng learned the members' names, their identities within the organization, what they did before joining, why they joined, and what they did after joining—all clearly written down.

Li Qingyue's guess was correct; those fakes were indeed made by this organization. The leader of this organization was named Jin Yan, which was his alias. His real name was Yan Yujin, and he was a well-known figure in the art world.

Gu Sheng didn't know much about the art world, so he hadn't investigated it before and missed a lot of crucial information.

Who would have thought that someone who appears so glamorous on the surface is secretly involved in forgery?

Everything before this point is normal.

However, the style changed when it came to Gu Sheng's document. Despite having the most words in all the documents, it actually contained the least amount of content.

The entire piece was full of praise for Gu Sheng in various ways. The flowery language made Gu Sheng feel that the person who wrote this could not be the bartender. After all, Gu Sheng had talked to the bartender. Although the bartender's words were also strange, they were not to this extent.

Even at the end of the document, the author thoughtfully listed how to take over the organization, how to destroy it, and how to make it a laughingstock.

In the very end, the author writes: Your eternally faithful knight is willing to give his life for you; may the grace of the Holy Lord shine upon us.

Gu Sheng frowned as he finished reading the last sentence. He was now very curious about what kind of organization this "Blue Moon Council" was, and why it had such an unscientific feel to it.

Moreover, the person who wrote the document had no doubt whatsoever about Gu Sheng being involved with Ouroboros yet still wanting to investigate the Ouroboros.

That's so unscientific.

However, the author's suggestions are still worth considering. Regarding how to destroy this organization, the author gave two suggestions: one is to gather everyone in City A and then kill them all, which is simple and efficient.

Secondly, if you want to take a more formal approach, you can choose to start from three directions: theft, counterfeiting and fraud, and financial crimes.

First, they need to be led to another city, because in City A, paying a small amount of money is not considered a crime.

The author then states that he does not recommend using the first two charges because theft is not a serious crime, especially since they will return the stolen items. If they are charged with theft, they will not be sentenced to more than two years.

Forgery and fraud are also not recommended, because they are forging works of art, which is difficult to prosecute, and they are trading under the guise of imitations, which at most result in them being ordered to return the proceeds.

The best charge is financial crime, because their process of laundering the money they swindled involves many financial offenses.

Given that the Ouroboros prefer to trade in cities A and C, and that laws in city A are practically nonexistent, the best course of action is to lure them to city C and try to capture and prosecute them there.

Gu Sheng agreed with the author's suggestion, but how to deal with these people was not Gu Sheng's business, but Li Qingyue's.

The information he had was enough for him to confess to Li Qingyue.

However, since we're in City A, we still need to do something, like tricking the Ouroboros boss into coming to City S.

Gu Sheng arrived at the agreed location on time. Before that, he sent a message to all Ouroboros members in Jiang Yong's name: "Seven days later, S City, prepare one billion. Give me the money, and you can have the stuff. Remember, the money must be delivered by the boss personally. I don't trust anyone else."

The agreed-upon location was a villa in a villa district. Gu Sheng rang the doorbell, and soon the door opened, revealing the house's butler.

Upon seeing Gu Sheng, he said neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Mr. Gu, please come in. The master is already waiting for you."

The butler led Gu Sheng to a projection room. On the way, Gu Sheng observed the house's decor. This shouldn't be the house where the Ouroboros boss was, as he had seen on the surveillance footage.

Just as Gu Sheng had expected, there was no one else in the projection room. The butler turned on the projector and connected it to the internet. A masked figure appeared in front of Gu Sheng.

He's really being cautious, but Gu Sheng is already fully aware of his identity, so seeing him being so careful is somewhat comical.

However, Gu Sheng still maintained a serious expression.

Yan Yujin seemed to be in a bad mood. He started by scolding Gu Sheng: "How could you be fooled by an amateur? When it comes to stealing, ten Jiang Yongs are no match for one of you, and yet you let him steal things from you."

Yan Yujin squinted at Gu Sheng: "Are you doing this on purpose? Don't think that just because someone's protecting you, I won't dare to touch you." He was probably referring to the BOSS, but unfortunately, he didn't know that the BOSS was Gu Sheng.

Gu Sheng said, "I'm just following orders, you should know that, right?" With a BOSS around, there's no harm in not using him, so he directly pushed everything onto the BOSS.

He continued, "And when I realized something was wrong, I rushed back, but by then the area was already surrounded by the police. It was already a miracle that I was able to escape."

Yan Yujin sneered: "Not easy? You managed to break into the Art Bank, which was surrounded like an iron barrel, so how could the mere Public Security Bureau possibly make things difficult for you? You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

An art bank surrounded by iron barrels? That must be the place "Gu Sheng" stole from before. Gu Sheng once again marveled at how amazing "he" was.

However, Gu Sheng would never admit it. He said, "Can the Art Bank compare to the sheriff of S City?"

The reason for saying this is that Gu Sheng had previously seen a ranking of the strength of police officers in various cities by chance. Although it was made by netizens and went through many rounds of voting, S City ranked at the top.

This can be seen from the fact that Ouroboros chose S City to commit the fewest crimes. As for the Art Bank, Gu Sheng doesn't know exactly where it is, but it's definitely not in S City.

However, these words did not convince Yan Yujin. He said, "Do you think you can convince me like this?"

Gu Sheng thought so, but since he didn't believe it: "If you don't believe me, I have nothing to say. I can only say that I am definitely more loyal to the organization than you are."

Yan Yujin fell silent. This statement was more convincing than the previous one. After all, in his eyes, Gu Sheng was the BOSS's most trusted confidant, and Gu Sheng really had no reason to betray him.

Yan Yujin was silent for a moment, then changed the subject: "Did you receive the text message?" He wasn't really asking Gu Sheng if he had received the text message Gu Sheng sent in Jiang Yong's name, but rather if Gu Sheng had found Jiang Yong's location.

Gu Sheng said, "It's difficult to pinpoint the exact location when the location is in the mountains, and he will definitely keep moving to avoid being found."

Yan Yujin snorted coldly: "They're just like rats in the sewers."

Gu Sheng asked, "Are you going?"

Yan Yujin said, "He invited me, how could I not go?"

Gu Sheng said, "This is clearly a trap."

Yan Yujin didn't speak. After a moment of silence, he looked at Gu Sheng and asked, "Do you have any good ideas?"

Gu Sheng chose to remain silent.

Gu Sheng knew that Yan Yujin would definitely go, because if Jiang Yong stole the gemstone for money, and if Jiang Yong sold the gemstone, then Ouroboros would be confirmed as guilty of theft, which was something Yan Yujin did not want to see.

Yan Yujin said coldly, "Since we're going to S City, that's your territory. You know what to do."

Gu Sheng understood that Yan Yujin intended to use him to lure out Jiang Yong, and then have Gu Sheng deal with him.

Yan Yujin looked at Gu Sheng and said, "Don't let me down."

Gu Sheng said, "As long as we can pinpoint his location, everything will be easy to handle."

However, Gu Sheng knew that Yan Yujin would have other preparations and would not really entrust his safety to Gu Sheng.

However, this was enough for Gu Sheng. Once Yan Yujin arrived in S City, it would no longer be up to him to decide things.

After speaking, Yan Yujin glanced at the butler and told him to see the guest out. Just then, Gu Sheng asked the question that had been on his mind: "What was put in the storage cabinet?"

Yan Yujin glanced at Gu Sheng, her eyes seeming to say, "It's just a little toy. If you like it, I'll give it to you."

A small toy? Gu Sheng had a rough idea. Whether his guess was right or wrong, he would know when he got back.

Then Gu Sheng seemed to remember something and asked, "The security procedures, are they fixed?"

Yan Yujin's gaze swept over Gu Sheng several times before he said, "Throw it away and get a new one." It seemed he had completely lost faith in Gu Sheng.

Gu Sheng returned to the hotel, and just as he was about to enter, he suddenly felt something dazzle his eyes.

He glanced around discreetly and spotted a familiar figure in a corner where even the surveillance cameras couldn't reach.

He turned and walked towards the figure.

When Shen An saw Gu Sheng approaching, she put away the mirror in her hand, turned around, and walked into the alley behind her.

Gu Sheng followed him inside.

After confirming that no one was around, Shen An looked at Gu Sheng and said, "I didn't expect to meet you here."

Given that Shen An had saved him and that he was also an undercover agent verified by Li Qingyue, Gu Sheng had a very good impression of him.

Gu Sheng nodded: "Just came to take a stroll when I had nothing to do."

Shen An didn't think Gu Sheng came to City A because he was bored, but since Gu Sheng didn't want to talk about it, he wouldn't press him.

Shen An patted Gu Sheng on the shoulder: "Let's not talk about this anymore. It's been a long time. Let me treat you to a drink."

Gu Sheng had nothing else to do at the moment, so he agreed.

Shen An led Gu Sheng through the alleyways, and after a while, they stopped at an inconspicuous little tavern.

Gu Sheng walked into the tavern and found it to be surprisingly clean compared to the mess in the alley.

Shen An seemed to be a regular at the tavern. When the tavern owner saw Shen An come in, he started preparing food without saying a word.

There were only two tables in the tavern, and Gu Sheng casually found a seat and sat down. There were no other customers in the tavern at the moment.

There was a small TV on the bar counter playing the news.

The tavern owner quickly came over with two plates of side dishes and a bottle of wine.

The tavern owner and Shen An exchanged a glance, their eyes glancing at Gu Sheng out of the corner of their eyes.

Shen An said to the boss, "Friend."

The boss didn't say anything, put down his things, and left.

Watching the interaction between the two, Gu Sheng looked at Shen An with some confusion. Shen An smiled and said to Gu Sheng, "Friend."

Upon hearing this, Gu Sheng said, "You seem to have a lot of friends."

Shen An said, "Yes, I grew up here, so I know quite a few people here."

Growing up in City A? Based on Gu Sheng's understanding of Shen An, he was most likely not born into a wealthy family. In City A, if you're not rich, you're poor, and poor people can only live in slums.

So, did Shen An grow up in a slum?

Gu Sheng didn't voice his guess, and Shen An didn't say anything more. The only sound in the tavern was the gentle breeze.

After a moment of silence, Gu Sheng brought up Shen An's work: "You work at an art gallery?"

Shen An said, "Yes, I'm investigating something."

Gu Sheng asked, "What did you find out?"

Shen An didn't hide anything. He said, "There's been no progress so far. We've only found out that the person who contacted the gallery owner was a woman."

Gu Sheng recalled the information he had read. The only woman in Ouroboros was named Su Qingling. She was Yan Yujin's secretary and bodyguard, responsible for finding buyers and negotiating with them.

However, the woman who went to put things in the locker earlier was not her; she was one of her subordinates. Su Qingling had a group of female assassins under her command who were specifically there to do her dirty work.

Gu Sheng didn't plan to tell Shen An about these things for the time being. He simply said, "Don't worry, you should be able to leave here soon."

Shen An raised an eyebrow: "Did you discover something?"

Gu Sheng looked at the cup in his hand and said, "I have made some discoveries. Once I return to S City, we will soon know the results."

Shen An said softly, "Soon?" Then a look of disappointment flashed in his eyes, "I still can't compare to you. If I had half your strength, maybe my life wouldn't be such a mess."

Shen An was born in the slums. He was willing to do anything to survive. However, he knew very well that even if he tried his best to climb up the social ladder, in the eyes of those in power, he was no different from a dog in the slums.

To change his situation, he joined an arms trafficking organization. To avoid harming innocent people, he chose to go undercover, even though it was very dangerous.

However, this is still not the life he wants. He wants to live with dignity as a person, as a good person. No one is born liking to be a bad person, and Shen An dislikes it even more.