Chapter 1269
The Cheka's Prison, a Situation Where Execution is Inevitable, Andrei Has Arrived,
"This is the interrogation room?"
Even though he was mentally prepared, Li Aiguo was still stunned by the professionalism of the Cheka's setup.
The basement structure completely isolates the person under interrogation from light and sound, severing all connections between the person being interrogated and the outside world, creating a desperate situation of isolation and helplessness.
Without windows or clocks, time loses its meaning here, and people will only slowly collapse in endless torment.
Only one uncovered incandescent light bulb hung overhead, its strong light shining directly on people's faces.
It not only makes it easier for interrogators to capture subtle facial expressions and judge psychology, but also continuously stimulates nerves, amplifies tension and fatigue, and gradually breaks down defenses.
This design has only one purpose: to destroy psychological defenses through the environment, without relying on violence.
Li Aiguo believed that there should be a separate interrogation room next door for violent activities.
"I never expected that a municipal-level Cheka branch could achieve this level of quality." Old Cat, who had previously exchanged ideas with his Eastern European counterparts, was also moved.
At this moment, Li Aiguo and Lao Mao were observing the interrogation room, while Jason Petrov, the head of the Zaporozhechka branch, was also observing the two.
"Tsk tsk tsk. You two have quite the leisure and refined tastes. It seems you are people who are destined for great things. Then things will be much easier from here on out."
Jason Petrov clapped his hands, and the interrogation room door was pushed open from the outside.
Zong Xianfeng, Dasha, and Anna Besonova were roughly shoved in by several Cheka agents.
The three men were disheveled and looked disheveled, but fortunately, they had no obvious injuries.
Zong Xianfeng looked up abruptly and saw Li Aiguo sitting there. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets: "Brother Aiguo?! What are you doing..."
"It's good that everyone is alright." Li Aiguo interrupted him, stood up with a smile, and said in a low voice.
"Don't worry, no matter what happens, don't panic."
"Ah... I understand." Zong Xianfeng was stunned for a moment, then nodded heavily.
I heard the two of them muttering in Chinese.
Jason Petrov frowned slightly and stood up impatiently: "Alright, comrades, the reminiscing session is over."
Comrade Li Aiguo, I've shown you the man, and my sincerity is evident. Now, shall we get down to business?
“Okay.” Li Aiguo stood up, took out a thick envelope from his pocket, and casually threw it on the interrogation table.
"Comrade Jason, right?"
"Here's five thousand rubles. Consider it as buying drinks for the brothers."
My brother was being naive and brought a broken blueprint, which caused you all to misunderstand.
I hope this small token of my appreciation will clear up any misunderstandings.
Jason stared intently at the envelope, picked it up and squeezed it, his smile instantly becoming much more genuine.
"Haha, Comrade Li is indeed a straightforward person! It's a misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding! Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, Mr. Zong, Miss Dasha, and Anna Besonova can certainly leave." Jason stuffed the envelope into his pocket and waved his hand.
Upon hearing this, Zong Xianfeng instinctively sensed something was wrong: "Brother Aiguo, let's go together."
"Wait for me outside," Li Aiguo commanded in a deep voice in Chinese, then sat back down in his chair.
Although Zong Xianfeng was unaware of the situation, he knew that he must not cause trouble at this moment.
He gritted his teeth, grabbed Dasha and Anna, and left the interrogation room, looking back every few steps.
As the three figures disappeared, the atmosphere in the room suddenly changed.
Jason's smile slowly faded, and his greedy eyes sized up Li Aiguo as if he were looking at a gold mine.
“Comrade Li,” Jason began slowly.
"You're incredibly good to your subordinates. Five thousand rubles, you just handed it over without batting an eye."
Li Aiguo lit a cigarette and looked at Jason through the smoke.
"Money is just an external thing, Comrade Jason. I've already redeemed the person, and you've taken the money. Can we leave now?"
"Go?" Jason shook his head dramatically.
"No, no, Comrade Li, you may have misunderstood. That kid surnamed Zong is just a laborer; he can't be squeezed out much. But you are different."
“You are his superior, and you even brought your entourage. You can casually produce five thousand rubles... What does this mean?”
This means you're a real big fish. Five thousand rubles, just that kid's ransom.
As for you… Comrade Li, how much do you think your life is worth?
Li Aiguo looked at Jason's distorted face, but felt unusually calm.
As expected, all the previous successes were merely a prelude to this decisive moment.
The person who orchestrated all of this calculated that Jason would walk into the trap in order to save people, and also calculated that Jason's greed would keep him here.
But what use is there for an Easterner like him to stay here?
"Jason, business is about taking it slow and steady. Aren't you afraid of overeating and dying if you try to get rich quick like this?"
"You don't need to worry about that."
Jason slammed his hand on the table.
Four heavily armed Cheka agents rushed in from outside.
The dark muzzle of the gun instantly locked onto Li Aiguo and Lao Mao's vitals.
"Li Aiguo and this Cat Comrade are suspected of organizing Dieter's activities and stealing the eldest brother's family secrets. They are hereby detained!" Jason announced loudly.
"Lock them in cell number one! I'm going to give this 'big spender' a good welcome!"
Old Cat instinctively put his hands on his waist, but then remembered that Li Aiguo had left the pistol outside, and he clenched his fist slightly.
In this confined space, he was confident that he could take down these men within three seconds, seize their guns, take the greedy bureau chief hostage, and break through the encirclement.
He glanced at Li Aiguo out of the corner of his eye, only to see Li Aiguo shake his head at him almost imperceptibly.
The old cat slowly loosened its clenched fist.
Li Aiguo did not resist. He slowly stood up and straightened his collar.
He knew that the real battle was only just beginning.
The big shot hiding in the shadows, having gone to such lengths to get Jason involved in this scheme, certainly wasn't just doing it to extort money from Jason.
"A situation where certain death is inevitable..."
Li Aiguo sneered inwardly.
"Then let's see who kills whom."
The prison was cold and damp, with a musty smell permeating the air.
There were six fenced cells inside, holding a number of people, including Russians and Eastern Europeans.
As Li Aiguo and Lao Mao were brought in, whistles and strange noises rose and fell.
"Oh, two more lost lambs have arrived!"
"Hahaha, Easterners? You've come to the wrong door, this is the entrance to hell!"
"Look at that pretty boy, all that delicate skin. Don't try to take it from me when he's out for exercise, I'll loosen the soil for him."
Li Aiguo stopped and turned his head to look.
The speaker was a burly man, as tall as an iron tower, shirtless, with a body full of thick muscles, tattoos on his shoulders, and a shiny bald head.
Seeing Li Aiguo looking at him, he not only did not restrain himself, but instead raised his fist, the size of a sandbag, and provoked him through the railing.
"Kid, what are you looking at? If you follow me from now on, no one will dare to mess with you."
Li Aiguo's gaze lingered on his face for two seconds, his eyes as calm as if he were looking at a dead man.
"I'll remember you."
The bald man laughed heartily: "See that? I'm that popular with women! Even that pretty boy from the East fell in love with me at first sight!"
The cell was filled with laughter and foul language.
"Shut up, all of you!"
The guard in charge of escorting the prisoners impatiently pulled out his baton and slammed it against the iron bars several times.
"Anyone who dares to cause trouble again will have their dinner canceled, plus a beating with a stick and stewed meat."
The noise stopped abruptly.
Li Aiguo and Lao Mao were taken to a cell at the far end of the corridor.
Before even entering the door, the old cat's pupils contracted slightly.
Through the fence, he saw three familiar figures: Zong Xianfeng, Dasha, and Anna Besonova.
The so-called "release" was indeed just moving from one cage to another.
"Brother Aiguo?!" Zong Xianfeng's face turned deathly pale when he saw Li Aiguo being pushed in.
"You...you knew all along that they wouldn't release them?"
Remembering Li Aiguo's earlier words, "Wait outside," Zong Xianfeng suddenly realized what was going on.
"If you were Jason, after going through all this trouble to bring us in, would you really let your extortion go around spreading rumors for a mere five thousand rubles?"
Li Aiguo walked into the cell with a smile, sat on the only hard bed, crossed his legs, and the cigarette butt glowed in the darkness.
Zong Xianfeng was completely dumbfounded: "Brother Aiguo, if you guessed it, why did you still walk into the trap? We're outside..."
"Because some people invited me here," Li Aiguo said, exhaling a smoke ring.
Zong Xianfeng was also confused, so what else was there to say?
"You all better behave! If anyone dares to make a sound again, watch out, my stick won't have eyes!"
Several Cheka officers on guard came over.
One of the guys, whose face was covered in pockmarks, scanned the cell and finally fixed his gaze on Dasha.
In this dark and filthy prison, Dasha's beautiful face and figure were like a piece of fresh meat that had fallen into a wolf's den.
“From today onwards, you must abide by the rules here…”
The pockmarked man, speaking in Mandarin, pushed open the prison door and walked in. As he passed Dasha, his large hand suddenly grabbed her buttocks hard.
"Ah!" Dasha cried out in surprise, taking several steps back to hide behind Anna.
What are you doing!
Zong Xianfeng's eyes turned red instantly. Without thinking, he rushed forward and stood firmly in front of the Cheka, his fists clenched and his whole body trembling.
"Oh ho? Trying to rebel?" The pockmarked man sneered, raising his rubber baton high. "You little brat, are you looking for death?!"
call! !
The police baton slammed down with a whooshing sound.
However, the expected thud and scream did not occur.
"Ouch!"
A short cry of pain came from the pockmarked man's mouth.
No one could see what happened.
I only felt a blur before my eyes, and a dark shadow flashed by.
The next second, the baton in the pockmarked man's hand had changed hands.
It was Li Aiguo who made the move.
He remained seated on the edge of the bed, not even putting his legs down, but leaning slightly forward, toying with the police baton he had just seized.
"They don't know how to be polite."
Li Aiguo snorted coldly and flicked his wrist.
boom!
The baton flashed like a blur, striking the pockmarked man's knee with precision and ruthlessness.
The pockmarked man screamed in pain, but before he could react, Li Aiguo swung his stick again, striking him squarely across the face.
Snapped!
Blood mixed with broken teeth splattered everywhere, and the pockmarked man fainted instantly.
A deathly silence.
Immediately, cheers erupted.
"Great! Well done!"
"Well done! Oriental!"
"Haha, that kid's got guts! I like him!"
The bald man shouted excitedly, "Eastern kid, you're mine now! I love guys with a prickly side!"
The changes happened too quickly.
The Cheka officers at the door were stunned for a few seconds before they reacted.
"asshole!"
"Reverse! Reverse!"
With a clattering sound, several Tokarev pistols were drawn, their dark muzzles all pointed at Li Aiguo.
The atmosphere instantly became extremely tense.
Faced with several guns pointed at his head, Li Aiguo didn't even lift an eyelid.
"Aren't you coming out yet? If you don't come out soon, your money tree is going to be riddled with holes."
Before he could finish speaking...
An angry roar came from the end of the corridor.
"Damn it! Put down your guns!"
Jason Petrov rushed up to the group of Cheka members, snatched the pistol from the nearest man, and spat in his face.
"Who gave you permission to fire?! Huh?!"
"If I kill him, I'll send you all to Siberia to dig potatoes!"
The Cheka officers were stunned by the director's anger and could only lower their guns sheepishly, looking aggrieved.
The pockmarked man who had been knocked unconscious slowly woke up, clutching his face, which was swollen like a pig's head.
"Chief...Chief, this guy assaulted a police officer...he..."
"Slap!" A loud slap landed hard on his other cheek, silencing the rest of his words.
Jason withdrew his hand and glared at him fiercely.
"Want to play around with women? Go to Mill Street! There are plenty of whores there!"
"Where is this place? This is the Cheka's prison! This is my treasury!"
Jason pointed at the pockmarked man's nose, his roar echoing down the corridor.
"These are my distinguished guests! They're walking rubles! Anyone who dares to lay a finger on them or ruin my livelihood will be skinned alive!"
After smoothing out his pockmarked face, Jason turned to Li Aiguo with a forced smile: "So? Can we continue our talk now?"
"I think this place is great. Everyone speaks very nicely, especially that bald guy," Li Aiguo said with a smile.
"Comrade Li, your composure is truly admirable. However, once you're on the interrogation chair, I hope your bones will be as hard as your mouth."
Li Aiguo exhaled a smoke ring: "Jason, I just told you, doing business is about taking it slow and steady. You're too hasty, you'll choke."
With his eyes fixed on Li Aiguo, Jason sensed that things were getting a bit difficult.
I originally thought that if I just locked the person up in jail, they would be scared.
The results of it?
This guy is like he's on vacation.
"I was originally a civilized person and didn't want to resort to such a last resort, but now it seems..."
Jason was furious and was about to order his men to drag Li Aiguo out and give him a good beating.
"You can't go in! This is Cheka..."
"Get out of here! Are you blind?!"
A crisp slap rang out, followed by the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground.
Jason's expression changed, his hand rested on the holster at his waist, and he turned around and shouted, "Who dares to cause trouble at the Cheka branch!"
Before he could finish speaking...
A large group of people barged in.
Leading the way was a burly young man.
If it wasn't Andrei, then who was it!
Behind Andrei followed several middle-aged men in crisp uniforms with dignified expressions.
Jason only glanced at it before his calves started cramping.
Director of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Cheka, Vice Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee...
These important figures, who are usually only seen in newspapers, were now all standing behind this young man with dark faces!
Andrei himself made his fortune in Zaporizhia, so Jason could easily recognize him.
"Mr. Andrei...?"
Andrei ignored him completely and walked straight to the cell door, looking at Li Aiguo inside through the iron bars.
"Oh my God! Patriotic brother, I'm so sorry, I received the news that you came here as soon as I came out, but I'm still too late."
Andrei was very depressed.
Just recently, his second uncle suddenly summoned him back to Moscow, saying he wanted to introduce him to a potential partner.
Andrei was very opposed to this kind of arranged marriage. Wouldn't it be better to be a happy bachelor?
But Andrei also knew that if he wanted to continue to get a share of the family fortune, he could only obey his second uncle's orders.
As a result, he was locked up in the villa as soon as he returned to Moscow.
I finally managed to escape from the villa yesterday, and when I learned that Li Aiguo had come to Zaporizhzhia, I rushed over as fast as I could, but something still happened.
To save lives.
He brought all his old friends from Zaporizhzhia.
Because Cheka is a vertical management system.
Local officials had no right to interfere with personnel appointments and removals, and Andrei even went so far as to use his connections to bring the head of the regional Cheka headquarters with him.
Li Aiguo stood up and laughed, "Andrei, there's nothing I can do. Some people think I'm a big fish and want to stew me."
"A big fish? You look like a big fish to me."
Enraged, Andrei turned around, took a few steps to Jason, swung his arm, and slapped Jason hard across the face.
"Snapped!"
Jason was so badly hit that he spun around twice, half of his face swelled up instantly, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
But he didn't dare utter a sound, and could only cover his face, looking at Andrei in horror.
“You idiot! Do you know who he is? He’s my brother!” Andrei roared.
“Mr. Andrei, I…I don’t know…I thought he was just…” Jason was so frightened that he knelt down on the ground with a thud.
He was scared, really scared.
"What do you think you are!" Andrei kicked Jason in the chest, knocking him to the ground.
Standing behind Andrei, the head of the regional Cheka General Directorate spoke coldly: "Jason Petrov, you are suspected of abusing your power, extortion, and damaging friendships."
From this moment forward, you are dismissed. You will face trial.
Two Cheka soldiers immediately stepped forward and dragged Jason away like a dead dog.
Jason howled in despair, but no one paid him any attention.
The cell door opened, and Li Aiguo walked out.
"Patriot! My brother! I'm so sorry to have startled you! I knew these country bumpkins had never seen the world before, and they couldn't resist money!"
Andrei was extremely frustrated. In recent years, the atmosphere here had been getting worse and worse.
He gave Li Aiguo a bear hug.
cough cough.
This guy is incredibly strong.
"Thanks, Andrei. You came quickly."
"Don't mention that. I was held up by some trivial matters, and I finally managed to get away. As soon as I saw your message, I came here." Andrei pointed proudly to the several high-ranking officials behind him.
“There’s nothing in Zaporizhzhia that I, Andrei, can’t handle!”
Trivial matters? It seems Andrei has been held up by someone. Who could it be? Could it be...?
Li Aiguo felt he had caught a glimpse of the mastermind behind the scenes. He exchanged a few pleasantries with the group and expressed his gratitude.
These people are the real local tyrants of Zapori.
These people were very polite to Li Aiguo and apologized repeatedly.
"Let's go, Li, I'll take you to see a folk dance!" Andrei decided to make up for his good brother.
"Wait a minute." After saying that, Li Aiguo picked up a stick and walked towards the cell next door.
The prisoners were stunned when Andrei and his men appeared.
Who is this Easterner that has alarmed so many bigwigs in Zaporizhia?
Upon seeing Li Aiguo approaching, they all retreated.
Li Aiguo ignored them and walked straight to a prison cell, pointing at the bald man.
What did you just say?
"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding, please forgive my foul mouth." The bald man wasn't worried at all. He knew that such a big shot wouldn't bother with someone like him.
"pat"
The stick was thrown into the prison.
Li Aiguo pointed at the bald man and said to the prisoners, "You know what to do?"
The prisoners were stunned at first, but one of the old men reacted the fastest and immediately grabbed a stick.
Then the prisoners rushed over as well.
Amidst screams, Li Aiguo turned and walked towards Andrei: "Sorry, I've never been a big shot!"
Although Andrei didn't know what was going on, he could see the clues and gave a few words of advice to the people accompanying him.
Then he patted Li Aiguo on the shoulder: "Brother Aiguo, I like your personality. You take revenge for every grudge!"
"Let's go!"
The group walked out of the Cheka branch building, chatting and laughing.
however.
Not right.
It's too quiet.
The streets, which should have been bustling, were now deathly silent.
"Wait!" Li Aiguo shouted, abruptly pulling Andrei back from getting into the car.
"What's wrong, Patriot Brother?" Andrei asked, looking bewildered.
Just then, more than a dozen military trucks roared out and instantly blocked all the exits of the street.
Countless fully armed soldiers jumped off the trucks, their dark gun barrels pointed at Li Aiguo and his men.
"Don't move! Hands up!"
The faces of the Zaporizhzhian officials brought by Andrei turned deathly pale instantly.
They recognized the soldiers' armbands.
Those were elite troops directly under the Cheka, not under local jurisdiction at all!
A black ZIS sedan slowly drove into the encirclement and stopped in front of the crowd.
Followed by.
A thin, middle-aged man with a sinister face walked down.
"Valentin!" Andrei's expression changed instantly.
The faces of the Cheka leaders standing behind Andrei turned grim, and some even trembled with fear.
Li Aiguo narrowed his eyes slightly, and the information about Valentin from the weather station quickly surfaced in his mind.
A close confidant of the Korean emperor, the deputy head of the Ministry of the Interior!
Because of his ruthlessness, tight-lipped nature, lack of principles, and loyalty only to the Emperor, he was secretly chosen to carry out the "cleanup" operation.
This is an extremely cunning and treacherous fellow, and difficult to deal with.
"This must be Comrade Li Aiguo, the Easterner behind Andrei Trading Company. He's quite young, it's just a pity."
Valentin's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a sinister undertone: "I went to great lengths to bring you two big fish together."
“Valentin…Valentin, what do you mean by this? We…” Andrei was very wary of Valentin.
"What do you mean?" Valentin sneered, pointing at Zong Xianfeng standing behind Li Aiguo.
"Why do you think that idiot Jason would suddenly be interested in an Asian who's visiting relatives?"
Who do you think spread the rumor that this guy is rich?
Zong Xianfeng still looked completely bewildered.
Upon hearing this, Jason, who was being escorted, turned pale and stared at Valentin in disbelief.
Old Cat's heart sank to the bottom.
He felt he finally understood.
Zong Xianfeng was just the starting point.
Jason is just cannon fodder.
Valentin's real goal was to lure out Andrei by capturing Li Aiguo, and ultimately strike at the Medal Marshal behind Andrei!
This is a high-level power struggle over rectification.
And they.
Unfortunately, I became a pawn on the chessboard.
At this moment, Old Cat still had a question in his mind: Li Aiguo seemed to have anticipated this all along, but why did he get involved? That shouldn't be the case.
At this moment, the situation changed instantly. Andrei, who had originally had the upper hand, was now completely powerless to fight back against Valentin.
The men from the Zaporozhechka headquarters were immediately disarmed by Valentin's men.
"Li Aiguo is suspected of colluding with internal elements to steal secrets, and Andrei is suspected of illegally deploying Cheka troops for smuggling! Take them all away! Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy!"
Valentin waved his hand, his tone menacing.
"Click!" Hundreds of submachine guns were loaded simultaneously.
Andrei looked at Li Aiguo in despair: "Brother Aiguo... this is a huge problem..."
Li Aiguo took a deep breath, looked at the gun barrels around him, then at Valentin, who had a mocking expression on his face, and smiled.
"Comrade Valentin, you've certainly played a big game. But have you ever considered that sometimes chess pieces can hurt a player's hand?"
Valentin narrowed his eyes: "Oh? Still being stubborn even when you're about to die? Take him away!"
The soldiers swarmed forward.
Valentin believed he had the situation under control. He thought that as long as he brought this man back to Moscow, he could confirm Andrei's collusion with the East.
As a relative of Andrei, the General of the Order of the Red Army would also be implicated.
The Korean emperor will surely reward him handsomely.
For some reason, Valentin felt that something was wrong.
In particular, when he saw Li Aiguo facing those soldiers, yet looking into the distance.
"What are you looking at?"
"What do you say?"
Upon hearing this, Valentin turned his head to look, and after just one glance, he was stunned.
"tank!"
(End of this chapter)