Chapter 146 Reappearance

At high noon in summer, beneath the blazing sun, a short walk would leave anyone drenched in sweat, and a little more exposure brought a burning pain to the skin.

On the streets, not a single rich person was to be seen. There were only the people from the lowest strata—the cannon fodder of troubled times and the beasts of burden in prosperous eras—toiling away in the scorching heat for their next three meals.

At noon, inside the Star Newspaper office, it was an ocean of joy.

The Lone Ranger had transmitted messages twice, causing newspaper sales to skyrocket.

High sales meant the newspaper made money, and the employees would receive generous bonuses.

The owner of the Star Newspaper was quite generous. Just past eleven o'clock, word came from the printing plant that circulation had tripled compared to usual, with all twenty thousand copies sold out. He immediately distributed handsome bonuses to everyone on the staff.

"Amy, how much did you get?"

"One hundred fabi. And you?"

"Same here. Looks like everyone's bonus is the same."

"No, the editor-in-chief's must be different."

"If you compare yourself to the editor-in-chief, of course you won't match up. By the way, Berry, you were the only one in charge of the letter the Lone Ranger sent last time. How much bonus did you get back then?"

"One thousand fabi!" Berry, an Englishman devoid of Chinese modesty, replied with a smile.

<div>"A thousand? Shit!"</div>

"James, you were the closest to that little beggar back then. If you had gone to ask, that thousand could have been yours."

"Shit, how was I supposed to know that little beggar was delivering a message for the Lone Ranger?"

"Haha, James, what Berry got is what they call good deeds bringing good rewards."

"Look over there, everyone!"

Suddenly, a loud cry of astonishment made everyone stop talking.

Following the sound, a young Chinese woman was facing the window, staring intently outside.

"Sunny, what's wrong?" someone called out, using the Chinese woman's foreign name and asking curiously.

"The Lone Ranger is outside!"

The woman named Sunny turned around and ran toward the door, shouting excitedly.

The crowd stood frozen in astonishment for a moment, then bolted outside like mad.

Outside the Star Newspaper office, Li Wensheng, clad in a raincoat, wearing a mask and gloves, and wrapped up tightly, was dragging a tightly bound but still struggling Heins, walking unhurriedly down the street.

Passersby stared dumbly at Li Wensheng, not making a single sound.

In this area, apart from the sound of Li Wensheng's footsteps and the muffled groans coming from Heins, there was no other sound at all, as if everyone else had been frozen in time, leaving only Li Wensheng and Heins able to move.

Suddenly, patter, patter, patter...

The hurried footsteps of the people emerging from the Star Newspaper office shattered the frozen scene.

The people from the Star Newspaper office stopped once they reached the front doors.

They gazed at Li Wensheng with a mixture of anticipation and fear.

"Sunny, you were the first to spot him. This news belongs to you; go on and interview him quickly. Don't worry, you're Chinese; he won't lay a hand on you," Berry whispered to Sunny, who was at the front.

"That's right, Sunny, go interview him. As long as he answers one question, you'll be set for life."

"Sunny, if you don't go, I'm going."

...

Berry's suggestion made the others snap out of their daze as well, and they began urging Sunny to go forward.

Sunny was deeply tempted, yet terribly terrified. Even though the Lone Ranger was Chinese, who knew if he might turn on her?

"Sunny, I'll go with you."

The voice coming from behind made everyone turn around. Seeing it was the editor-in-chief, the crowd cleared a path.

"Sunny, let's go. I'll go with you," the editor-in-chief said again after stepping forward.

With someone accompanying her, Sunny summoned her courage. She took a deep breath, nodded at the editor-in-chief, and the two of them ran toward Li Wensheng.

Li Wensheng was walking at an unhurried pace, and in the blink of an eye, the two reached his rear.

Now only a few meters away, the editor-in-chief grew frightened too. Their running slowed to a walk, and the editor-in-chief reached out and gave Sunny a nudge.

Gathering all her courage, Sunny produced a voice barely louder than a mosquito's buzz, "Hello, Lone Ranger."

Hearing the voice from behind, Li Wensheng stopped, turned his head to glance at the two of them, and then continued forward.

Seeing Sunny standing there completely paralyzed by Li Wensheng's backward glance, the editor-in-chief frowned and nudged her again. "Go on and interview him!"

Recovering her senses with a start, Sunny followed after him with her heart in her throat.

"Hello, I'm a reporter for the Star Newspaper. My name is Sunny, and my Chinese name is Wu Yanchun. May I ask why you kidnapped Heins?"

Her voice was still barely louder than a mosquito's, which annoyed the editor-in-chief following behind. Had he known, he would have chosen someone else; there were several Chinese people at the Star Newspaper, so why pick someone as timid as Sunny?

The very next instant, the editor-in-chief's annoyance turned into sheer delight.

"Because he defected to the Japanese."

The hoarse, deep voice that Li Wensheng deliberately put on left Sunny paralyzed with disbelief once more. She never imagined the Lone Ranger would actually answer her question.

Li Wensheng answered, but his pace didn't slow down as he continued forward. Seeing this, the editor-in-chief hurriedly gave Sunny another push.

This time, Sunny didn't need the editor-in-chief to urge her. Recovering her wits, she quickly hurried to keep up.

"Is Malone in the International Settlement one of them too?"

"Yes. They both defected to the Japanese. The Japanese have drawn up a plan to steal twenty million taels of silver from the Four-Alliance Bank, and they are the executors of that plan."

"Executors? Aside from Malone and Heins, who else is involved, please?"

Li Wensheng answered no further. He pulled an envelope from his pocket, dropped it on the ground, and quickened his pace.

The reason had been stated, giving the newspaper a gimmick for its headline, and the envelope had been handed over; there was no need to say any more.

Sunny picked up the letter from the ground, then instinctively wanted to chase after Li Wensheng.

Before she could take a step, however, the editor-in-chief grabbed her arm.

"Don't chase him anymore. He doesn't want to say anything else; chasing him will only irritate him. Give me the letter in your hand."

Sunny promptly handed over the envelope.

The editor-in-chief opened it, a look of excitement spreading across his face.

"Tomorrow at noon, I will kidnap Feng Jingyun.

Signed, The Lone Ranger."

"Sunny, you and I will be in charge of this story. Absolutely do not reveal the Lone Ranger's interview to anyone else, understand?"

"Yes, editor-in-chief," Sunny replied with a radiant smile, thinking of the one-thousand-fabi bonus Berry had received.

By the time the editor-in-chief and Sunny rushed back to the Star Newspaper office, Li Wensheng had already stepped into a small alley.

He had observed this alley for several hours earlier; not a single person passed through here.

Arriving inside the alley, Li Wensheng knocked Heins unconscious once more, pulled a burlap sack out from beneath a pile of discarded furniture in the corner of the wall, and stuffed Heins inside.

Next, he swiftly removed his raincoat, rain boots, mask, and gloves, stowing them away in the system space. Slinging the sack containing Heins over his shoulder, he strode away quickly.

Soon, Li Wensheng arrived on another street.

The news that the Lone Ranger had appeared on the street outside the Star Newspaper office instantly spread to the surrounding blocks.

Pedestrians on nearby streets were engaged in heated discussions while casting suspicious glances in all directions.

When Li Wensheng emerged from the alley, many people had seen him.

However, his current appearance and attire were those of an ordinary laborer. With the burlap sack on his back, and looking thoroughly drenched in sweat from being trapped in his raincoat and mask earlier, he looked precisely like a hardworking member of the lowest class, and absolutely no one suspected him.

Safely back home, Li Wensheng tossed the burlap sack under the bed.

He poured himself a glass of water, pulled out the map of the French Concession he had bought the previous afternoon from the bedside table, and began to ponder where he should choose to execute Malone and the other five.