Chapter 136: Escape from Gambling City

At the same time, Du Qiu had already run a significant distance.

Following Star Ocean’s directions, he arrived at a parking lot.

Star Ocean had already unlocked one of the high-end Mercedes off-road vehicles.

This type of Mercedes is equipped with smart driving assistance and internet connectivity, which provided Star Ocean the convenience of controlling it.

Of course, for Star Ocean to completely control the vehicle was difficult; thus, Du Qiu himself was the driver.

Du Qiu drove out of the parking lot and swiftly proceeded along the escape route planned by Star Ocean, heading away from Las Vegas.

However, having only driven a short distance, his phone unexpectedly rang.

Du Qiu slapped his forehead in annoyance; how could he forget to handle his phone and make it easy for GIA to locate him?

He glanced at the screen and saw an unknown number.

After a moment of consideration, he decided to answer the call.

“Du Qiu, get away from the hotel quickly, GIA is out to catch you!” Imanka’s voice came through on the other end.

This took Du Qiu by surprise; ever since the woman had escaped the last time, he had lost contact with her again.

Recalling that Imanka was a GIA informant, his alertness spiked.

Could she be using this phone call to track his location?

With a snort of derision, Du Qiu replied, “Don’t bother, GIA is already here. Too bad they didn’t catch me. Goodbye.”

After hanging up, just as he was about to turn off the phone and throw it away, he noticed a gas station nearby and had an idea.

“Star Ocean, clear the data on my phone. I’m going to throw it into that truck over there.”

As Du Qiu drove toward the nearby gas station, a truck was fueling up.

“The phone has been taken care of, sir.”

Du Qiu parked the car next to a gas pump to refuel, but instead of sitting idle, he got out of the car, pretending to stroll around, and subtly slipped the phone into the back of the truck.

After Du Qiu drove away to continue his escape from the city, Star Ocean emitted an alert.

“Sir, I’ve just intercepted the vehicle fleet’s communication channel. The commander has just issued an order to blockade all roads exiting Las Vegas and to inspect the vehicles passing through,” Star Ocean reported.

Du Qiu was startled and asked, “Can we make it out of the city before they set up the blockade?”

“We’re currently in the north of the city. If we follow the original route, we might not make it in time, unless we leave the city through the nearest road from here,” Star Ocean explained.

“Then change the route and get out of the city immediately,” Du Qiu commanded.

“Understood, sir. The new route has been planned. Please follow the new route.”

With a roar, the Mercedes off-road vehicle sped towards the north.

United States, GIA Headquarters.

Imanka hung up the phone with a dark expression. She had not anticipated that despite the risk of being discovered while tipping off Du Qiu, she would be too late.

Lagia did not trust her much, which is why she wasn’t involved in the plan against Du Qiu.

She only connected the dots when she saw the sanction news and knew that Lagia and the operation team weren’t present, prompting her to urgently phone Du Qiu.

Regrettably, Du Qiu did not trust her; he might have thought she was trying to locate his phone.

What should she do now? Du Qiu was in unfamiliar territory in the United States, trapped in a chase; escaping the U.S. would be as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Now that she had lost contact with him again, how could she help him?

While Imanka was conflicted, Lagia was in an office looking at a map of the Las Vegas area with Sorge standing by his side.

“Sorge, where could Du Qiu flee to, given he’s not familiar with Las Vegas?” Lagia queried.

“Director, it’s possible he might escape Las Vegas,” Sorge replied.

“I know, it’s my oversight. I should’ve had someone watch him earlier. But this is the United States. If he thinks he can escape from the palm of my hand, that’s impossible,” Lagia confidently stated.

“Director, how do you propose we catch him?” Sorge asked.

“Sorge, check Du Qiu’s phone for any contact history.”

“Okay, give me a moment.”

Sorge left and quickly returned.

“Director, the phone is now off. But just before that, the last call received was from Langley.”

A chill flickered in Lagia’s eyes as he said, “Imanka, that woman, is indeed connected to Du Qiu. She must’ve been trying to tip him off, too bad it’s too late.”

“I found another call before that one, from Tang Country. It was about ten minutes before we moved,” Sorge reported.

“I see; it must have been Tang Country warning Du Qiu to flee. What about the hotel surveillance footage? Why haven’t there been any results?”

Sorge replied heavily, “I just inquired. The hotel surveillance footage shows that during that time, nobody left Du Qiu’s room and no one was seen in the corridor.

The lobby surveillance was the same, but Hunter saw several individuals entering and leaving the hotel during that period. Clearly, someone tampered with the footage.”

“Find out who did this,” Lagia demanded and then added, “Mhm, if it was Tang Country that notified him, it might be our colleagues. Then Du Qiu has two ways of fleeing our country.

One is to seek refuge in the nearest consul’s office in Lore City but he could then be trapped there unless the two countries reach some agreement for his departure.

The other is to be picked up by Tang Country’s intelligence officers and smuggled out.

If it’s the latter, we might be able to trace it back to an intelligence network and uncover a big operation.”

“Director, if that’s the case, our bureau could finally breathe easy and achieve a great feat.”

“Yes,” Lagia snapped his fingers and commanded, “Locate Du Qiu’s phone immediately. Let’s see which direction he’s headed.”

Before long, Sorge returned and reported, “Director, Du Qiu’s phone signal is on the move, having left the city. It’s heading towards Lore City.”

Lagia immediately ordered, “Notify Stark, lift the lockdown around Las Vegas and have him and his men follow but do not alarm Du Qiu.

We’ll follow Du Qiu to Lore City to see who the Tang Countrysiders are meeting him.

Just as a precaution, deploy another team to keep watch outside Lore City’s Tang Country’s consulate. The moment they spot Du Qiu trying to seek refuge, they must arrest him at once.

We can’t let him escape this time!”

“Don’t worry, Director. He won’t get away,” Sorge assured him.

North of Las Vegas, Du Qiu was about to take the planned route toward the highway leading to Lore City, when Star Ocean’s voice suddenly rang out.

“Sir, we can’t go to Lore City anymore.”

Du Qiu was startled, he slowed the car and stopped by the roadside.

“What happened?”

“There are two pieces of intelligence. One from the GIA side: they have identified the leader of the capture team as GIA Director of Tang Country affairs, Lagia.

Lagia has speculated that your destination might be Lore City’s consulate and has deployed personnel around the consulate.

By coincidence, the truck you threw your phone onto is now heading towards Lore City.

Therefore, Lagia’s men are following it, planning to track them to Lore City in hopes of catching the Tang Country intelligence officers meeting you.”

“What’s the second piece of news?” Du Qiu wasn’t surprised that GIA could deduce his movement; he was more curious about the second piece of intelligence.

“Well, there’s an accusation from Magic City against you for misappropriating public funds, resulting in a loss of state-owned assets. The Tianhong district sub-bureau has filed a case.”

“Again, Tianhong sub-bureau, do they have jurisdiction?” Du Qiu snorted disdainfully.

“The location of Xingguang Precision’s plant is under the jurisdiction of Tianhong sub-bureau, so they have the authority,” Star Ocean replied.

“Is that all?” Du Qiu did not think this was a big deal. Charging him with misappropriation of public funds was absurd; as a billionaire, did he need to misappropriate public funds?

“Sir, immediately following that matter, the recognition of you being selected as one of Magic City’s top ten youths of the year has also been revoked.”

“Hmm?” Du Qiu was taken aback. That honor was mentioned by a top leader in Magic City when he inspected the company. He was supposed to attend the award ceremony upon his return from the exhibition.

The sanctions from the United States seem to have a considerable impact domestically.

Today, it felt even more desolate…