Chapter 751: Desolation
Xin Feng's voice echoed solemnly in the microphone: "Yes, Atlantic City, one of New Jersey's famous gambling cities, is an island city on the Atlantic Ocean, not too far from Philadelphia and Harrisburg. The signal source of this number is currently stable in a mixed industrial and old residential area in the west of the city. And..."
"And what?" Wen Liang frowned. Green's number appeared in another state, which might be where the laboratory was located.
"I just found out that Artemis Laboratories is located in Atlantic City," Xin Feng said solemnly, "It's a mixed bag there. If you go there rashly, you might be in danger."
It is true.
Wen Liang said, "We will immediately contact Mr. Charlie and go directly to the small town of Michal in Harrisburg to confirm Green's situation. As for Artemis Laboratory, I will tell Fu Zheng and his people will go there to investigate."
"Alright." Xin Feng responded, "Be careful on the road."
"Um."
The car had turned into the street corner of Charlie's dilapidated apartment.
The old man, with his back hunched and wrapped in a thin coat, was looking around anxiously under the street light in the cold wind.
Lu Yao braked to a stop, and Wen Liang quickly opened the back door, "Hurry up and get in the car, Mr. Charlie!"
Old Charlie stumbled into the car: "What's wrong? Green..."
"Preliminary location tracking indicates Mr. Green's phone number is currently in Atlantic City, New Jersey. We need to immediately go to his home in Harrisburg's Michal Township to confirm," Wen Liang said concisely, glancing out the window warily. "Hold on tight, we're heading to Harrisburg now. Do you remember his exact address?"
"Remember! Remember! It's at...No. 17 Oak Street in the small town of Michal." Old Charlie gave the address, his voice very hoarse.
Lu Yao had already entered the Green family address sent by Xin Feng into the navigation, stepped on the accelerator, and the car rushed into the road again like an arrow.
The navigation showed that the drive would take about two hours.
There was a depressing silence in the carriage.
Wen Liang asked Xin Feng to continue monitoring the number while gently comforting old Charlie, who was almost on the verge of collapse: "Mr. Charlie, it's not time to give up yet. Let's go to the Green family. Any clues may be useful."
After two hours of agony, the car drove into the eerily quiet town of Michal.
It was late at night and the town seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep.
Oak Street was lined with older single-family houses, widely spaced apart and mostly shrouded in darkness.
Lu Yao followed the house number and slowly parked the car in front of No. 17 Oak Street.
The headlights pierced the darkness, illuminating the scene before us.
Number 17 Oak Street has long been abandoned.
The wooden fence was crooked and broken, the yard was overgrown with weeds, and the withered grass stems were knee-high.
The house was dark, without a trace of light. Most of the window glass was broken or covered with thick dirt. One window was even hastily nailed shut with a broken wooden board.
The air was filled with the damp smell of mold and decaying plants.
It looks like it has been abandoned for many years.
Seeing this scene, Old Charlie seemed to have lost all his strength and collapsed in the back seat. The glimmer of hope deep in his heart was completely shattered. "Impossible... Impossible... Last month, Green sent me a photo with this yard in the background..."
Wen Liang and Lu Yao looked at each other, their hearts sinking to freezing point.
It is very likely that Green had met with an accident a few years ago.
They could make Green disappear without a trace, and naturally they could also forge an identical courtyard in Atlantic City to appease old Charlie.
If we think about it more deeply, if the courtyard can be faked, then is the Jamie in the photo the real Jamie?
Wen Liang pushed the door and got out of the car, ready to go forward to check.
Just then, the dim porch light in the yard across the street suddenly flickered on.
An old lady with gray hair and wrapped in a nightgown carefully opened the crack of the door and looked in vigilantly.
"Excuse me, I'm sorry to bother you so late!" Wen Liang stopped a few steps outside the courtyard, trying to lower his voice and apologize, "We are friends from Philadelphia. We want to look for Mr. Green who lives at No. 17, but it seems... no one has lived there for a long time?"
The old lady looked at her, and seeing Wen Liang's sincere expression, she sighed, "Ah, Old Green...I haven't seen their family for a while."
"Do you know where they went? When did they leave?" Wen Liang asked, his tone filled with appropriate concern and confusion.
The old lady shook her head, her gray hair fluttering in the cold night wind. "I don't know, it just suddenly... he disappeared! It must have been... six or seven years?"
Wen Liang clenched his fists.
It seems that Green had been targeted by the KL Group six or seven years ago.
Old Charlie's method can indeed confuse people, but Jamie's blood type is special. Those people have finally found one, so they naturally won't give up. In the end, they still found Green.
The old lady raised her hand and pointed at the dilapidated house across the street. "The night before, the night before they disappeared, I heard some noise in his yard. It wasn't just one person, but they were arguing about something. Someone even cursed loudly. I was sitting by the window watching TV at the time, wondering how Old Green, who is usually a very quiet man, could have known so many people to come and make a scene so late at night?"
She paused. "The next morning, the snow hadn't melted yet. I got up to sweep the snow outside my door, and when I looked up, I saw his front door was wide open. It was freezing cold, and the door was just wide open. I waited for a long time, but no one came out to close it. I was really worried, so I went over and stood at the door to take a look inside... Oh, it was such a mess! It looked like... like it had been robbed, and I didn't know where anyone had gone..."
"Have you called the police?"
"I reported it, of course I did," the old lady said quickly. "The police came and investigated for a few days. But they didn't come up with anything. Then there was a rumor that maybe old Green had a gambling debt or offended someone, so he took the remaining valuables and ran away with the children overnight. Some people also said...that robbers from outside the area kidnapped him. After that, this house...has been abandoned here ever since. Are you...relatives of Green?"
"We are friends of Mr. Green. Thank you for telling us this. It's so important." Wen Liang explained vaguely, trying to maintain his composure. "It seems that we are really... late. Thank you again!"
She walked back to the car with a heavy heart and saw old Charlie's face, which was so pale and desperate that there was not a trace of blood in it.
"Six years... the liar has deceived me for so many years... my Green... my Jamie..."
Old Charlie was heartbroken and his body began to shake like a sieve.
He thought he had protected his child for eight years, but it turned out that his most trusted old friend and child might have been killed as early as six years ago.
Wen Liang simply comforted Old Charlie and said to Lu Yao, "It's too late. We've been running around all day. Let's find a hotel here first and go back tomorrow."
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