MWC – Chapter 154 Catalyst

I AM DROPPING THIS NOVEL. IF ANYONE WANTS TO CONTINUE THEY CAN. IF POSSIBLE PLEASE SHARE THE LINK SO I CAN BINGE READ TOO.

Just after sending Han Annie back to Wind Bao Hotel, someone delivered a secret letter, which Uncle Sun handed over to Lu Ming.

Lu Ming smiled at it but then frowned, saying, “I need a catalyst! Otherwise, the campaign is doomed.”

As he stepped out of Room 408, he saw Wen Liangyu waiting outside.

“Fourth Brother, it’s better if we don’t meet for a while,” Lu Ming said with a slight smile.

“We’re brothers, no need for such talk…” Wen Liangyu smiled bitterly. Some things don’t need to be said; if you fall, can I fare any better?

Since you first dealt with Little Renault at the Wind Bao Hotel, this place has become inseparable from you.

“Shaquille Renault brought his wife and the trio ‘Dragon, Tiger, Leopard’ to have tea at the Dragon Phoenix Tea House across the street. Be careful when you leave,” Wen Liangyu said, shaking his head. Having ‘Dragon, Tiger, Leopard’ at his doorstep while he could only endure it was frustrating.

In the past, everyone stayed in their own lanes. He didn’t go near the Mingjia Hotel, and Liu Shouye’s people wouldn’t come to the Wind Bao Hotel area.

“Oh?” Lu Ming smiled. “These people gathered together? Are they here to watch the show or planning to take over Wind Bao Hotel?”

Shaquille Renault is Little Renault’s older brother, the eldest son of Old Renault. Many of Old Renault’s businesses have been handed over to him, confirming him as the heir of the Renault family.

‘Dragon, Tiger, Leopard’ are the top enforcers of Mingjia Entertainment’s boss, Liu Shouye, notorious figures in the underworld.

Mingjia Entertainment and Wind Bao Hotel are the two giants of the grey industry in the North Gate area, competing fiercely.

Although Liu Shouye became a council member in the North Gate through bribery, he still has a group of enforcers, led by ‘Dragon, Tiger, Leopard’ and their subordinates. After all, it’s impossible to be entirely clean in industries like gambling and prostitution.

“Did ‘Dragon, Tiger, Leopard’ come on their own, or did Liu Shouye permit it?” Lu Ming muttered to himself.

Liu Shouye’s relationship with him was complex. He once disciplined Liu Shouye’s son, Lui Hanliang, but his law firm’s partner was Liu Shouye’s favorite nephew, Liu Hanming. Of course, individuals like Liu Shouye and Liu Hanming have their own circles and perspectives, and they won’t necessarily share the same stance.

“I’ll go take a look!” Lu Ming smiled.

Wen Liangyu wanted to dissuade him but thought about it. The opponents were right in front of the Wind Bao Hotel, flaunting their power. It was hard to endure. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Alright, I’ll make some arrangements first!”

Lu Ming waved his hand and laughed, “No need. No one wants to gun me down now!” He added, “Isn’t Old Renault’s wife, Catherine, the former movie star?”

Wen Liangyu nodded.

Catherine was a movie queen of the previous generation but seemed only four or five years older than the current queen, Nicole. The film industry changes rapidly, especially for retired stars. Remembering Catherine’s name feels distant, but her classic scenes remain unforgettable.

Wen Liangyu smiled bitterly. He had once been a huge fan of hers. Unfortunately, she retired two years ago, married Shaquille Renault, who was over a decade older, and entered high society to raise children. He had once wished her well.

Lu Ming rubbed his chin. “I’ll go see her. Unlike my sister Nicole, Catherine had pure roles but still had nude scenes, whereas Nicole’s sexy roles never showed anything more than a bikini, right?”

Wen Liangyu smiled bitterly and nodded. “Yes.”

“Can you find her nude poster? I’ll get her autograph.”

Wen Liangyu was taken aback, coughed, and said, “She never released a fully nude poster, only one holding her chest, with the camera angle and waves covering the rest on a beach…”

Lu Ming nodded. Nowadays, even if there were nude scenes, they wouldn’t become widespread photos. Posters were officially released by Renault Films.

“That one sounds good, very artistic.” He looked at Wen Liangyu. “Fourth Brother, why do you seem reluctant?”

“No, no! I’ll get it for you…” Wen Liangyu turned, his heart bleeding for his prized collection, which he hardly looked at.

…

The Dragon Phoenix Tea House was a typical Central Continent-style teahouse, with wooden structures, upturned eaves, and red lanterns.

Lu Ming climbed to the second floor, surrounded by Wen Liangyu’s men, all in black, short attire, armed with concealed short guns.

Though it’s true no one wants to gun him down now, since he’s causing trouble, it might provoke them. But, since the opponents crossed the line first, they can deal with it. After all, it seems like the world is heading for chaos.

The private room where Shaquille Renault and ‘Dragon, Tiger, Leopard’ were having tea had windows facing the grand glass revolving doors of Wind Bao Hotel.

Lu Ming, with about thirty men in black, crossed the street, blocking all traffic. The imposing scene was naturally visible to them.

As Lu Ming walked, he couldn’t help but laugh at his gangster-like demeanor.

The burly men guarding the private room’s door turned pale at the sight of the approaching men in black.

They thought Wen Liangyu was in big trouble, so even if they made trouble at the Wind Bao Hotel, no one would care. But seeing the aggressive approach, they were worried. If a fight broke out, they were outnumbered.

These men tried to act fierce but were quickly subdued by the black-clad men pointing guns at them, forcing them to squat on the ground.

The door was pushed open with a bang. Lu Ming, holding a carefully wrapped poster, entered, followed by seven or eight armed men with guns pointed at the ground.

Uncle Sun, standing beside Lu Ming, looked unassuming, like an old servant.

In the private room, five people sat.

Shaquille Renault, a handsome man in his late thirties, wore a tuxedo with a black top hat beside him, looking like an old-fashioned gentleman. But his face turned pale, not expecting this turn of events, completely different from his plans.

Especially since Lu Ming entered smiling, “When cornered, even a rabbit bites back. Who wouldn’t dare to fight to the death?”

‘Dragon, Tiger, Leopard,’ two men and one woman, exuded a fierce aura. The three siblings had tattoos all over, even on their necks.

They remained calm, smirking at Lu Ming.

“Miss Catherine, I’m here for your autograph!” Lu Ming cheerfully addressed the pure-looking Western woman beside Shaquille Renault.

Indeed, Catherine, though married for two years, still looked beautiful, with short, wavy blonde hair, a hairstyle few could pull off, enhancing her noble, refined aura. She wore a black gauze dress, outlining her graceful curves. 

Though not as stunning as Nicole or Pamela, Catherine had superb acting skills and expressive blue eyes. Just sitting there, her presence stood out.

If Nicole were to appear on a variety show with her, the outcome would be uncertain. Nicole, though more beautiful and well-built, lacked Catherine’s certain charm, possibly a quality of maturity. Yet, most men would prefer Nicole.

Lu Ming mused while slowly unwrapping the poster and laying it on Catherine’s table.

Shaquille Renault’s face changed instantly, “Lu Qianxing, you…”

Before he could curse, Catherine gently patted his hand, glaring at Lu Ming with disdain, “You lowlife, Central Continent pig, get lost! You’ll soon be in jail, and I’ll bring you pig slop!”

Lu Ming was stunned, not expecting this.

The pure former actress was actually a fierce woman with severe racial prejudice.

Unlike Pamela, who had an aristocratic upbringing, Catherine’s public stance against racism was merely an act. To gain the Central Continent market, she pretended to abhor racism.

Looking at Catherine, Lu Ming smiled, “It seems smaller than on the poster. Was it edited?”

He reached out to touch Catherine’s chest.

Shaquille Renault stood up, blocking Lu Ming.

At that moment, ‘Dragon, Tiger, Leopard’ fell to the ground. They intended to seize Lu Ming, but who would have thought the old servant beside Lu Ming was a close combat expert, knocking them out instantly.

Seeing this, Shaquille Renault’s face turned pale.

Lu Ming smiled, “I’m a dead man anyway, a few more won’t matter. I’m just curious, what made you come here to die?”

“You, you dare do anything…” Shaquille Renault stood in front of his wife.

Seeing ‘Dragon, Tiger, Leopard’ down, Catherine showed surprise.

Lu Ming smiled, “Take them to my car!”

His plan was to let Uncle Sun approach ‘Dragon, Tiger, Leopard’ unnoticed.

But seeing Catherine and recalling her insult, he noticed his men hesitating to handle the Western nobility, failing to move them.

Lu Ming reached out, seemingly grabbing Catherine’s chest, “It is a bit small!”

Catherine screamed in pain, probably more from humiliation, cursing before being gagged.

The black-clad men laughed, realizing these two were just ordinary people, now at their mercy.

They roughly dragged the Renault couple downstairs.

Meanwhile, Lu Ming had them find a stretcher for him, causing more confusion for the Renault couple.

…

Mr. “G” might have kidnapped the eldest son and daughter-in-law of the Renault family and then disappeared without a trace. The news of this incident suddenly spread everywhere.

Although reporters constantly monitored Mr. “G”‘s mansion on Hepu Road, there was no sign of any police action.

It seemed that the Renault family had not reported the incident to the police.

There were also rumors that the Renault couple somehow shot Mr. “G.”

No one knew which rumors were true and which were false.

In any case, Mr. “G” was indeed missing. For two or three consecutive days, Mr. “G” did not appear on Hepu Road or Wind Bao, the two places he frequently visited. After all, Mr. “G”‘s outings were marked by his large convoy, especially the eye-catching luxurious Imperial Dream long car.

…

A 30-plus-story ultra-luxury apartment building in the western district.

In room 3 on the 27th floor, which had been converted from a bedroom into a long table setup with a black machine and a spinning disc.

Lu Ming sat quietly, next to Zhang Xianhe, who was wearing headphones, listening to the sounds inside.

Zhang Xianhe’s face looked extremely strange.

In the headphones, two men were conversing.

“Jeff is already dead by his hand. I can’t let Shaquille die with him, you understand? He’s gone mad, he’s a mad dog now! If Shaquille is gone too, then what meaning does what I’m doing now have?!”

The other voice replied, “But Mr. Bucklow won’t agree to abandon the plan halfway, and now all the evidence points to him. The evidence is subtle because it was arranged that way. Although there’s no clear evidence that he did it, everyone thinks he did. This way, he will lose all protection in the East China Sea, and no one will care how he dies in the end. Those big shots are eager for him to die quietly.”

“So there’s no clear evidence proving he did it. Even if we want to stop, we can’t do anything, right?”

“And this plan has involved so many resources. Mr. Renault, it’s not something you can just stop by saying so.”

The older voice replied, “Let me think, let me think, but I can’t lose Shaquille anymore, I can’t…”

“Alright, Mr. Renault, if anything comes up, I’ll try to meet you at the old place. It’s not safe for you to call me frequently. I understand you’re anxious, but let’s be careful.”

“And he might just be blackmailing you. How could he know it was us? Your calls with him didn’t even touch on the key points, right? He’s just blackmailing you. If you pretend not to know, maybe he won’t do anything to your eldest son…”

The older voice mumbled a few responses, and the call ended.

Zhang Xianhe put down the headphones and picked up a file from the table.

The file contained information about a person named Shelfer Jordan, the senior private consultant to the elder Renault, head of Renault Pictures.

He was the one who had just spoken with the elder Renault.

Shelfer lived upstairs in room 3 on the 28th floor, and his phone had been bugged.

Looking at Lu Ming, Zhang Xianhe smiled wryly, “Officer Lu, you know that I was assigned by Deputy Minister Cheng Lingyu to investigate Renault Pictures’ suspected money laundering. It was just a preliminary investigation. Prosecutor Cheng said you might have some information to help me, but what I’m hearing has nothing to do with money laundering!”

Lu Ming smiled, “Yesterday’s conversation did mention money laundering. Look, there’s a recording.”

Zhang Xianhe smiled wryly, “I understand what Deputy Minister Cheng is doing, and I understand what you’re doing, but I didn’t obtain the wiretapping rights for Shelfer. These recordings can’t be used in court.”

Lu Ming nodded, “Yes, your wiretapping is illegal. In the money laundering case, these pieces of evidence won’t hold up in court. However, I accidentally obtained these wiretap recordings. For my case, most of it doesn’t need to go to court. Even if it does, whether these recordings can be used as evidence depends on the judge and how I argue. Because it wasn’t purpose-driven wiretapping, it might be used as corroborating evidence for the jury. Of course, as I said, this recording wasn’t originally meant for court use, right? To accuse me of masterminding a murder without clear evidence, it’s hard to get me on the defendant’s seat.”

Zhang Xianhe smiled wryly and thought for a moment, “Alright, officer, I’ve been wiretapping here for five days. If the internal investigation department penalizes me, it’s fine. But if they think I seriously violated regulations and want to take me to court, you have to be my defense lawyer.”

Lu Ming smiled, “Do you need to ask?” He reached out, “Xianhe, I’ll remember this favor!”

Zhang Xianhe sighed deeply, “I always believed in you, sir. I just didn’t expect it was Mr. Renault…”

Lu Ming smiled, “Keep monitoring!”

After stepping out, Lu Ming entered another small room, picked up a phone, and dialed a number.

After a few rings, someone answered.

“Prosecutor Cheng, thank you. I feel we’re getting close. In a few days, we should have a breakthrough, and I’ll try to make it in time for my TV debate.”

The person on the other end seemed stunned for a while, then finally smiled wryly, “You’re still thinking about the election? Unbelievable, you really are unbelievable.”

“Anyway, thank you, Prosecutor Cheng!” Lu Ming smiled.

“I don’t know anything, but someone reported that Renault Pictures was laundering money, and I asked Team Leader Zhang to conduct a preliminary investigation.”

Lu Ming smiled, “I understand.”

The person on the other end hesitated, “Actually, when you first got into trouble, Mr. Hans called me and said if you needed help, I should assist you as much as possible. Of course, even without that call, I would help as long as it’s within the rules.”

Lu Ming was a bit surprised, Mr. Hans? Then he realized it was Judge Christine’s older brother. Naturally, Christine had asked her brother for help. After all, from a certain perspective, the face of this Crown Prince was definitely more influential than Christine’s.

After hanging up, Lu Ming sighed lightly. How many people were worried because of his troubles? He felt it was worth it in this lifetime.

He picked up the dossier in front of him and continued reading.

A few days ago, when the Renault couple and the Dragon-Tiger gang went to Dragon Pheonix Tea House, he received a secret letter in Wind Bao saying that an insider had been captured.

The insider confessed that his handler was Shelfer, the person he was currently monitoring upstairs.

The senior private consultant to the elder Renault.

From the moment the insider was captured, he was very cooperative, especially after seeing Catfish alive in front of him.

He even got excited because he knew he hadn’t caused any substantial harm.

If he cooperated well, he might save his own life.

Another line, the former Iron Mountain Party member posing as old Catfish and laundering money for Renault Pictures, was also closely linked to Shelfer.

Even the northern merchant’s real identity was once an employee of Shelfer.

So, evidently, in the plot to frame him, Shelfer was the elder Renault’s spokesperson and firewall.

He was the real executor of all orders.

However, even if they caught such a person, they wouldn’t be able to extract much.

His secret talks with the elder Renault would be even harder to verify.

At this time, the Renault couple’s appearance became a perfect catalyst.

He pretended to kidnap them and had someone anonymously call the Old Renault, asking him to clear his name. Otherwise, his eldest son and daughter-in-law would suffer terribly before dying, making them regret ever being born.

The Old Renault panicked, which led to multiple direct calls discussing these secrets with Shelfer.

And Shelfer’s phone had already been bugged by Bizou, unnoticed.

Of course, it was all wired tapping, and a temporary command center was set up in the unit below Shelfer’s.

Thinking about it, Lu Ming really had to thank the elder Renault. He was racking his brain for a way to force the other side to take action, as only then would there be a flaw.

At this moment, the Old Renault walked right into it.

As the successor of Renault Pictures, the Old Renault would naturally hide everything from his eldest son to protect him.

This way, even if something happened in the end, his eldest son wouldn’t be implicated, ensuring the Renault family had a future.

But this also led to his son thinking he had really killed the border commissioner and was about to be defeated.

Being very close to his younger brother, the elder Renault went to Wind Bao’s territory to see him suffer.

And he somehow talked with Liu Shouye, accompanied by the Dragon-Tiger gang, to promise that Wind Bao would be under their protection in the future.

In the end, he delivered himself to the door.

Thinking, Lu Ming shook his head, got up, and walked out of the room into another small room.

The elder Renault and Catherine were handcuffed and shackled, with their mouths gagged, sitting in the corner.

They were hidden so Zhang Xianhe wouldn’t see them.

Zhang Xianhe understood there might be many secrets here and was determined not to go where he shouldn’t.

Seeing the terrified elder Renault, who had listened to a recording of a conversation between his father and Shelfer yesterday, Lu Ming smiled, “Mr. Renault, your father framed me. You bravely reported it, and you’ve been with me for so long. You understand my desire for revenge. From this recording, you can understand that you and your wife won’t be safe until this matter is over. You saw what happened to the border commissioner and what Mr. G is going through. You don’t want to be the next victim. Mr. Renault, think carefully.”

…

From the French windows of Shelfer’s room on the 28th floor, you could overlook a major road in the city.

Shelfer turned around and walked to the phone, then to the table, casually lighting a cigar.

In the small room on the 27th floor, Zhang Xianhe signaled to Lu Ming.

Lu Ming knew Shelfer was about to call the elder Renault.

He focused all his attention on listening.

Would Shelfer suggest the elder Renault go into hiding?