Chapter 1448: Secrets Buried by Time (6)
Huo Shaoheng swiped open his phone and stared at the text message He Zhichu sent expressionlessly.
He had read that short sentence over and over again for half an hour.
“Little Ze, play the video of He Zhichu watching the surveillance footage.” Huo Shaoheng tucked away his phone and tapped his fingers on his desk.
Zhao Liangze quickly connected the surveillance footage from the office that day to the big screen on the wall. Then, he played it.
They had recorded He Zhichu’s every move in Huo Shaoheng’s office that day.
Huo Shaoheng stared at the big screen on the wall without batting an eyelid. When the surveillance footage displayed the appearance of the four black SUVs, Huo Shaoheng sat up straight. “Play the footage again.”
Zhao Liangze replayed the footage.
They saw He Zhichu standing in the middle of the office, his eyes also fixed on the big screen on the wall.
His expression did not change much until the four black SUVs appeared. His eyes had flashed very quickly.
That expression was too fleeting. If it weren’t for Huo Shaoheng’s sharp eyes and the slow speed of the surveillance footage, it would have been difficult to notice.
Huo Shaoheng’s fingers tapped lightly on the table. He felt that there was indeed something wrong with He Zhichu’s att.i.tude towards the four cars…
He furrowed his brows. It was almost as though he was discussing with Yin s.h.i.+xiong and Zhao Liangze as he talked to himself. “… Nianzhi should be fine. If something happened if it really happened… He Zhichu wouldn’t have reacted in this way.”
Yin s.h.i.+xiong and Zhao Liangze quickly nodded in agreement. “Yes, yes, yes! If anything really happened to Nianzhi, Professor He would have torn down our building today!”
“He must have deliberately misled us!”
“He doesn’t want us to follow him to save Nianzhi!”
The two of them chimed in, but in reality, they were all acting tough on the inside.
They were also worried.
What if it was a one in a million chance?
Huo Shaoheng furrowed his brows and said, “Judging from He Zhichu’s reaction, he probably caught onto some clues regarding Nianzhi’s abduction. Maybe he even knows who did it?”
Yin s.h.i.+xiong and Zhao Liangze glanced at each other. Both of them scratched their heads at the same time and found it difficult to answer this question.
This was because the answer to this question was related to their future plans and also directly related to Gu Nianzhi’s life and death.
Huo Shaoheng was also conflicted. Of course, he hoped that He Zhichu would really be able to save Gu Nianzhi.
It was better for her to be in the hands of He Zhichu rather than the hands of unknown criminals.
However, he absolutely couldn’t let He Zhichu gain possession of Gu Nianzhi. Hence, at the end of the day, he still had to pursue this matter.
“Continue to investigate, and keep an eye on He Zhichu.” Huo Shaoheng stood up. “Big Xiong, help me with the procedures to go fly the States.”
He paused. “Use another ident.i.ty.”
He was going to use another ident.i.ty to enter the States.
Yin s.h.i.+xiong and Zhao Liangze objected in unison. “Huo Shao! You can’t go! I’ll go!”
They couldn’t let their Commander be in danger again.
Huo Shaoheng walked to the window and rested his hands on the windowsill. He looked out at the hot summer sun and pursed his lips. “It’s okay. Help me with the paperwork. The two of you will go with me.”
Yin s.h.i.+xiong had just finished the paperwork for his trip to the United States in the afternoon when they received an unexpectedly important message from their field staff at B University.
“Huo, Professor He has resigned from B University! He really isn’t coming back?!” Yin s.h.i.+xiong quickly relayed the field staff’s findings to Huo Shaoheng and forwarded He Zhichu’s resignation email to Huo Shaoheng’s mailbox.
They had been hoping for a fluke, but they hadn’t expected He Zhichu to resign from his position as a professor of law at B University.
He truly did not plan to return to the Huaxia Empire.
Huo Shaoheng calmly said, “Contact the field staff in the United States and ask them about He Zhichu’s job in the United States.”
He Zhichu was a partner at the largest law firm in the United States, as well as a tenured professor at Harvard Law School.
He Zhichu worked these two jobs before he came to teach at the Huaxia Empire’s B University.
An hour later, two unfortunate pieces of news came from the field in the United States.
“Professor He has resigned from Harvard Law School in the United States and has sold his partner’s shares in the number one law firm.”
“All of Professor He’s properties in the United States have been transferred to a trust fund.”
Huo Shaoheng clenched his fists tightly. “When did this happen?”
“… this morning.”
The American Field Officer gave him a time.
Huo Shaoheng took out his phone and looked at it. It was the time He Zhichu sent him a text message.
In other words, He Zhichu had sent several emails the moment he returned to the United States that morning. He had resigned from B University, resigned from Harvard Law School, asked someone to resell his partner’s shares. He also signed the transfer of the trust fund at the same time and he transferred all of his property to a trust fund.
No matter how he looked at it, it didn’t seem like a premeditated move.
According to the information obtained by the American Field Office, He Zhichu sold his partner’s shares at a low price. It had been a very rushed decision.
Immediately after, the field personnel of the special operations forces in South America who were in charge of keeping an eye on the He family also sent an urgent message.
“He Zhichu transferred all of the He family’s a.s.sets in South America to the big families in Colombia a few hours ago. The He family’s influence was reduced to ashes almost overnight.”
Bang!
Huo Shaoheng punched his desk and squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth, “… There’s no need to go to America, head directly to South America!”
He wanted to see what He Zhichu was up to!
…
According to their investigation, the He family had risen to power in Colombia seven years ago and controlled many political and gang forces in South America. They were known as the ‘Underground G.o.dfather’ of South America.
In just seven years, the He family had risen to power. The Presidents of South America had taken turns to take power, and yet they all had to listen to the He family.
Seven years later, He Zhichu had actually given up all his power without hesitation. What was he thinking?
What exactly was he planning to do?
Huo Shaoheng had this question in mind as he took his private jet to Havana, the capital of Cuba.
After nearly 20 hours of flight, he was only able to sleep on the plane.
When he got off the plane, he had already fully recovered.
His expression was calm and composed. When he shook hands with the Cuban officials who had come to pick him up, he was still able to maintain his composure and engage in a leisurely chat with the diplomats who had come to welcome him.
This time, Huo Shaoheng had come to Cuba in the name of an official visit.
In any case, they shared a good relations.h.i.+p with Cuba and had many opportunities for military cooperation.
It was reasonable for Huo Shaoheng to visit as the Deputy Secretary of the Military Supreme Council to inspect the military cooperation projects between the two countries.
The CIA in the United States was also paying attention to Huo Shaoheng’s visit, but they did not have many people in Cuba, so they could not keep an eye on him at all times.
Therefore, Huo Shaoheng, Yin s.h.i.+xiong, and Zhao Liangze had already changed their appearances without them noticing. They left Havana, the capital of Cuba, and went straight to He Zhichu’s hometown, the small town of Uyuni in the southwestern part of Bolivia in South America.
Although the He family was famous in Colombia, their hometown was not in Colombia, but in Bolivia.
The small town of Uyuni in Bolivia was located in the highlands of the Andes Mountains, with an elevation of 3,600 to 3,700 meters.
The small town had a world-famous scenic spot — the Uyuni salt marsh, also known as the ‘mirror of the sky’.
From December to March every year, the clear water of the Lipaz River would be injected into the white salt marsh outside the small town of Uyuni, forming a shallow lake as transparent as gla.s.s.
The entire salt marsh shallow lake occupied an area of more than 9,000 square kilometers. When the sun shone, the surface of the shallow lake became a huge mirror.
The blue sky and white clouds, the morning light, and sunset glow was reflected clearly in the salt marsh shallow lake. Due to the vast area of this lake, the surface appeared smooth and flat. Moreover, it was located in a highland. Hence, the surface was highly reflective.
The sky and clouds were reflected in the shallow lake, as well as the people near it. The blue sky and white clouds were above their heads, and the lake and mountains were covered in the blue sky and white clouds below their feet. The lake and mountains looked like they were being reflected in a mirror. Hence, the scenery here was called the ‘mirror of the sky’.
Because the reflectivity of the surface was very high, this was also the best place to test and calibrate the Earth’s remote sensing satellites.
When Huo Shaoheng and the others arrived, it was August.
During August, it was summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and winter in the southern hemisphere. It was also the dry season of the saltmarsh in Uyuni.
Therefore, when they drove into the small town of Uyuni and pa.s.sed by the famous ‘mirror of the sky’, they saw nothing but a vast expanse of salt marsh. There was no sign of the lake at all.
Their guide was the team leader of the Special Operations Forces in South America. His surname was Cui. He was a young man, so they called him Little Cui.
Little Cui drove the SUV and ferried Huo Shaoheng, Yin s.h.i.+xiong, and Zhao Liangze. He was very excited. “Huo Shao, are you feeling unwell?? This is a high plateau. If you are suffering from alt.i.tude sickness, I have acetazolamide here to aid with breathing. Sildenafil can alleviate pulmonary edema. There’s also dexamethasone, which can alleviate cerebral edema. Do you want to take some?”
Yin s.h.i.+xiong, who was sitting in the pa.s.senger seat, found it funny and said, “Does our Huo Shao’s body require such medicines? Little Cui, you carry a lot of pills with you, don’t you?”
Little Cui didn’t mind at all. He said with a smile, “I can’t help it. I grew up in the southern plains. Alt.i.tude sickness is quite a common problem, so I carry a lot of pills with me.”
Zhao Liangze couldn’t bear it and said, “Since you’re not used to this place, you should apply to transfer back or transfer somewhere else.”
Little Cui quickly shook his head. He said, “No need, no need! I’m a soldier. I’ll go wherever I’m needed. As for these difficulties, it’s a piece of cake. I can overcome them. Besides, I’ve been here for several years. No one is more familiar with the geographical environment and the local customs than me.”