Darkstone Code
Chapter 172 - 0170 Nowhere to Escape

Chapter 172: 0170 Nowhere to Escape

"Wood..."

Wood, who was dining with friends, heard someone calling him. He was taken aback for a moment and turned his head to see a former "schoolmate."

Not many people know that Wood joined the FBI’s secret police after attending police school, including his parents, who were not very aware.

In many people’s eyes, Wood is not much different from ordinary people. Given the current social background in Bail Federal, police schools are even considered inferior to some specialized technical schools that train workers.

Being a police officer is inherently a dangerous but low-paying job. In the eyes of ordinary people, police are not considered as promising as a plumber, although only the police themselves might feel good about their profession.

Wood wasn’t recruited by the Sabin City Police Station to become a Sabin City police officer. His parents even opened a bottle of wine to celebrate this.

Compared to being a police officer, which is a dangerous job, being a security guard might be better.

So, no one knows that Wood has actually already become an FBI investigator, not even the people closest to him.

Even the salary the FBI pays him is allocated to his superior through special funds, and then his superior transfers it to a secret account.

Before Wood’s undercover mission succeeds or completely fails, this money won’t be activated. Tracing the origins through spending records is not solely a capability of the police system; some criminal organizations also possess this ability.

An account can expose too much information, and Wood can only rely on the money he earns during his undercover period to live.

In the eyes of most people, Wood shares a similar life with most people, wasting his most beautiful youth without learning anything and then stepping into society to work.

But he got lucky and accidentally became an outstanding businessman, at least that’s how he explained it to his family when he placed a passbook with tens of thousands of dollars before them, stunning them.

Their first thought wasn’t how amazing Wood was to earn so much money, but rather whether they should turn themselves in and hire a lawyer to plead for leniency from the judge during sentencing.

This situation often occurs in lower-class families, where some kids suddenly return home with a bag of money, embark on a different path, and eventually fade into the dark night during their most brilliant years.

Fortunately, he explained things clearly and even introduced his family to his "followers," which finally made Wood’s family raise their heads in pride.

At this moment in a barbecue restaurant, they had just finished an auction two days ago, and due to Richard’s departure, the lucky Wood won first place in this auction smoothly.

Possibly because the local second-hand goods consumption desire gradually diminished under the enthusiasm of societal consumerism (referring to public opinion), the auction from two days ago quickly dropped to a total of a little over 370,000.

Even as the first-place winner, Wood’s profit was only around 3,000 dollars.

However, even just 3,000 dollars, his income still made many feel desperately high. Perhaps Lynch temporarily forgot about the celebration or had other arrangements, and the young men did not get the same chances as before.

Today was the following Monday, and everyone had the time, so Wood gathered the young men and found a barbecue shop to "splurge" a little.

He is not as wealthy as Lynch, able to let everyone find happiness; he can only fill people’s bellies, but they are very grateful to him for that.

Before becoming Wood’s followers, many of these people were on the brink of hunger.

When a more authentic smile appeared on Wood’s face, a somewhat unfamiliar, almost forgotten voice reached his ears.

He turned to glance, recognizing his high school classmate, Terry, who was "doing quite well" at the time.

In schools, there are always students who seem to have no affinity with book knowledge but instead thrive in society.

Most normal students look down on these students. They believe these students don’t study properly, will surely end up in the lowest jobs, a viewpoint instilled in students by society and teachers as the correct universal value.

But, in reality, when everyone enters society, they discover that some things are entirely different from what they understood during their school years.

Of course, this does not include those who have attended university because these individuals are considered "students" in the understanding of teachers and societal cognition; they graduate as the elite socio-economic class, unlike those below university level.

Those who looked down on Terry mostly end up serving him, as evidenced by the summer outfit not less than a hundred bucks he’s wearing now.

Wood stood up, and two young men noticed something unusual and wanted to join him, but he stopped them.

In many people’s eyes, he is just a regular salesperson or perhaps Lynch’s partner, young and not particularly remarkable, but only he knows the kind of training he received and the identity he currently holds.

He is not at all afraid of Terry, who mingles with gangs, but instead harbors a very special, intense feeling inside.

"Terry!"

Terry wore a decent summer outfit and had two gold rings on his fingers, and Wood noticed that the gold rings featured seven-point star shapes.

Moreover, Terry also had a fingernail-sized seven-point star tattooed on the left side of his neck.

This is the local gang in Sabin City, called Seven Stars, which specializes in flesh trade, and has some men under its command.

It’s said that both the Police Station and the Investigation Bureau have investigated this gang but haven’t found much illegal evidence, coupled with some special societal factors, they ultimately didn’t take action against them.

Many girls working transactions within this gang are from very poor families and need money, and these girls are not brought by Seven Star Gang using illegal or unethical methods.

They only provide a platform, and in the eyes of some, the Seven Star Gang protects these girls engaged in personal charitable assistance transactions, helping them avoid harm from certain individuals.

Officially, the existence of this gang is temporarily tolerated. After all, with them around, some poor innocent girls are at least safe from accident.

The reality, though ridiculous and unable to elicit laughter, contradicts common sense and carries satirical meaning.

Terry nodded, looked Wood up and down, smiled, and punched his shoulder lightly, but all of Wood’s followers stood up instantly.

This surprised Terry, and he looked at Wood, who gestured for his followers to sit back down.

"Who are you with now?" Terry assumed Wood also walked down this path, feeling sentimental.

For people like Terry, memories of school and classmates are more profound than for ordinary people, to the extent that even after not meeting for years, he recognized Wood at first glance and called his name.

"I’m a salesperson now. How about you, how’s it going?" Wood took out a pack of cigarettes, handed Terry one, and the two walked outside the barbecue shop to chat.

Terry was doing quite well, mixing as a team leader in the Seven Star Gang, which is basically mid to high-level personnel in the gang, and is also one of those with real power.

Yet, Terry wasn’t particularly proud of his achievements. "Life is tough nowadays, not much money but lots of trouble..."

He muttered a few sentiments, initially not wanting to delve deeply but decided to give his former classmate Wood a reminder upon recalling the unforgettable school and class memories despite little interaction.

"You know, life is tough on everyone these days. Some people are on the verge of madness; better not go to secluded places after dark..." he inhaled a puff, "No, do not go out after dark!"

This was strange to Wood, but he nodded, agreeing to it nonetheless.

Soon, a car stopped by the roadside. Terry discarded his cigarette butt, bid farewell to Wood, and quickly drove off.

Watching the receding rear window of the car, Wood returned to the barbecue restaurant deep in thought.

Later on, Wood took the initiative to call his superior and discussed some topics that arose during his meeting with Terry.

As an undercover agent, he must promptly report any intelligence to his superiors, a rule for undercover work unless he has defected or is inconvenient to do so in the short term. Otherwise, he has to contact his superior or liaison every few days.

His superior showed no significant emotional reaction upon hearing this news, simultaneously informing him of the answer.

"The economy is bad, and these gangs are struggling too. They can’t get money, but there are so many gang members to feed."

"Actually, this situation occurs every few to ten years. Soon, these gangs will start large-scale fights; don’t bother with them; someone will clean up the mess."

In a way, Fox and Sons should thank the FBI and the Federal Tax Bureau as these two authoritative bureaus helped them deal with many peers, leaving them with fewer competitors. Otherwise, they would verge on entering a fighting stage too.

However, fewer peers this year, and Lynch also developed a "Lynch Method" teaching Sabin City’s only remaining financial companies how to legalize their illegal business, leading to a very stable year in this industry.

Nevertheless, gangs involved in different operations aren’t doing as well. The larger their previous reach, the deeper their suffering now, with little resort other than fighting for more territories and businesses to garner wealth.

Moreover, many emerging gangs are continually surfacing, ready to stir up a game-changing storm in Sabin City and the entire Federation’s underground world.

Economics not only dictates building on the surface but also under the surface!

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.