When Elvin regained consciousness, he found himself handcuffed and tightly bound to a chair.
No matter how he struggled, he couldn’t muster any strength. Instead, the metal handcuffs chafed his wrists and ankles, causing sharp pain with every movement.
He lifted his head and looked around, only to find himself in his own basement. The incandescent light above cast a glaring brightness, illuminating the entire room.
Under the light, a young Asian man slowly approached, his face gradually becoming clear. Elvin’s heart sank— it was that guy named Victor.
Seeing Zhou Qingfeng’s face clearly, Elvin stopped struggling. He knew he had fallen into the other party’s control.
He wanted to speak, to explain or argue, but his mouth was tightly sealed with thick tape, allowing only muffled whimpers to escape.
Behind Zhou Qingfeng stood the tall and imposing Kongges, his face dark, fists clenched, eyes sharp as blades, glaring at Elvin with a palpable hatred.
There was also an old man in the room, who looked at Elvin with a puzzled expression and asked curiously, "Victor, who is this person? Why did you kidnap him?"
Zhou Qingfeng didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he unlocked Elvin’s phone using his finger and started browsing the photo album. He quickly found several secretly recorded videos.
The videos clearly captured the entire process of Zhou Qingfeng committing a murder and stealing a lottery ticket. This confirmed Carl’s hypothesis that the extortion was not by Kongges, but by the man in front of them.
Kongges was filled with anger and doubt, his gaze sweeping across the few people present. He chose to ask a simple question first, "What’s with this old man?"
Zhou Qingfeng, without looking up, responded calmly, "Alzheimer’s disease, intermittent amnesia. He often forgets things that happened a few hours ago and needs constant reminding."
After speaking, he asked Hammer to check his phone. The old man would occasionally leave himself notes, which contained all the necessary context.
Kongges frowned, his confusion only deepening.
Three days ago, he was suddenly suspended by Director Matthew on the grounds that the FBI had received reports about his ’violent enforcement.’
On the way back to the FBI branch, the vehicle transporting Kongges was attacked, and two FBI agents were killed, but Kongges managed to escape.
He immediately called his wife and daughter, informing them that he was in trouble, and that someone clearly wanted him dead.
Considering his wife and daughter’s poor ability to cope and his own fugitive status, he specifically asked Elvin to help bring them to a safe place.
The two had been partners for five years, sharing an excellent relationship, having formed a bond through numerous dangerous encounters.
Kongges believed Elvin was the only one he could trust.
To his shock, this bastard betrayed him brutally, not only failing to secure Julia and Selena but handing them over to his mortal enemy.
Director Matthew used Selena’s phone to send messages to Kongges, threatening that if he dared to become an FBI whistleblower, his wife and daughter would be killed without question.
Over the past two or three days, Kongges had to constantly evade capture and endure immense psychological pressure. If he weren’t physically strong, he would’ve collapsed already.
He knew he couldn’t stay in hiding for long, and he also knew Matthew would never release his wife and daughter. So, he decided to take a risk and try to regain control.
About half an hour ago, Kongges took a considerable risk to track and ambush Elvin, and just when he was about to succeed... he was ambushed by Zhou Qingfeng, who shot him with a tranquilizer dart.
Luckily, Zhou Qingfeng merely knocked him out incidentally.
The next actions had to be quick...
Zhou Qingfeng dragged the two strong men into the pickup truck and chose to intrude into Elvin White’s house. In the basement, he found a computer containing all the recorded extortion videos.
There were also audio recordings of Kongges’ voice, AI voice forgery software, and voice-changing software.
On the desktop, there was even a plan document detailing all of Elvin’s considerations and simulations for extorting Zhou Qingfeng.
Sending private emails to the deputy director of the FBI Miami Branch to create pressure on Zhou Qingfeng to prevent him from taking the money and running—this step was explicitly listed in the document.
There were also plans to kidnap Zhou Qingfeng directly and to send some of the crime scene videos to the media, forcing Zhou Qingfeng into a legal quagmire, leaving him no choice but to comply.
In the document, Elvin specifically reminded himself—not to underestimate the power of billions of US Dollars.
He had to exert enough pressure on Zhou Qingfeng before he got the money, forcing him to comply, but not too much to avoid pushing him into a corner.
If Zhou Qingfeng gained control of billions of US Dollars, he would undoubtedly retaliate. So, he shouldn’t be too greedy—taking two or three hundred million US Dollars and then exposing the evidence to send Zhou Qingfeng to jail was the plan.
To mislead Zhou Qingfeng’s retaliation, Elvin did not hesitate to throw his considerate partner Kongges under the bus as a scapegoat.
The document also contained Elvin’s doubts—how did Zhou Qingfeng know about the lottery information? Why were his murder methods so skillful?
Just this extortion plan alone made Zhou Qingfeng break into a cold sweat. If he had shown any signs of compromising, Elvin would have had him tightly in his grip.
But Elvin still underestimated the power of billions of US Dollars. Even before the lottery claiming process was complete, the mere ’expectation of soon receiving the money’ gave Zhou Qingfeng undeniable power.
Elvin was tightly bound by the cold handcuffs, with sharp pain radiating from his wrists. He continuously made muffled whimpering sounds, trying to show his submissiveness and weakness.