Is There Really No Chance?

Ha Luo had Lai Er by the throat in a death grip, choking him until his eyes nearly bulged out. With just a little more force, Lai Er could send the old bastard straight to his grave.

"Y-you've gone mad!" Ha Luo recognized Lai Er, and after connecting it with what Lai Er had just said, he immediately realized something. Struggling, he said, "Your son's money... I didn't touch it... not a single coin. I kept it all for you..."

Seeing that Ha Luo's answer was completely beside the point, Lai Er truly wanted to take the old bastard away on the spot.

But he had not come to kill Ha Luo, so he merely kicked open the door behind him and threw Ha Luo inside.

After rolling twice across the floor, Ha Luo struggled back to his feet. But when he looked up, Lai Er was standing before him again. Afraid that Lai Er would finish him off, he hurriedly said, "Wait, wait, don't hit me yet... I can apologize to you! Really, really, I didn't touch a single coin of your money. It's all in the cabinet over there."

Lai Er strode forward and grabbed Ha Luo by the collar again, lifting him up. "What the hell are you babbling about?! I'm asking you where my son is!"

Ha Luo was somewhat bewildered. "Where is your son? Isn't he staying in No Man's Land?!"

"You're still lying to me!" Lai Er punched Ha Luo in the face, knocking out two of his teeth. "You took them away!"

At that point, Ha Luo finally understood that Lai Er had not come for the money.

"I really don't know where your son went!" Ha Luo had been beaten into a rage as well. Gritting his teeth, he said, "After bringing you out, I never went back to No Man's Land. How would I know where your son went?!"

Never went back to No Man's Land?!

Lai Er grabbed Ha Luo by the collar again. "You're still lying to me! I gave you so much money. You said you would deliver it to my son!"

"All right, I did lie to you about that, but only about that!" Ha Luo could feel Lai Er's fury. Afraid Lai Er would beat him to death alive, he hurriedly explained, "Other than that little bit of money, I never lied to you about anything! As for where your son went, it really has nothing to do with me. I truly don't know."

Seeing Lai Er raise his right hand again, apparently intending to give him another major memory-restoration treatment, Ha Luo hurriedly added.

"Of course, you can tell me what happened, and I'll help you figure it out. But if you beat me to death, you may never find your son again."

Lai Er's whole body trembled. Especially after learning that this old bastard had never returned to No Man's Land in the past five years, and that the "contact with his family" he had kept in his heart had actually been a scam, he truly wanted to beat the old bastard to death on the spot.

But he also knew Ha Luo was right. Killing him would serve no purpose beyond venting his anger. So after taking several deep breaths, he lowered his fist.

"Tell me what happened!" Lai Er growled. "If you dare lie to me again..."

"I won't, I won't." Ha Luo shook his head repeatedly. "At this point, what reason would I have to lie to you?"

Lai Er glared at Ha Luo for a long while before telling him about the village being emptied out.

After hearing it, Ha Luo cautiously asked, "Could it have been Contract Land's..."

"I saw the Black Merchant mark!" Lai Er rudely cut him off. "It was carved on the door!"

Hearing Lai Er say that, Ha Luo knew it really had been the Black Merchants.

The Black Merchants had a habit: when abducting people, they would leave behind a mark, giving certain families the chance to ransom them back with money. It was also a way for those in the trade to identify one another, meaning that someone had already laid claim to this batch of goods.

But for Black Merchants with no morals whatsoever, the latter was usually little more than decoration.

And that made Ha Luo grind his teeth in fury.

Which idiot had left a mark in No Man's Land?

What fellow traders could there possibly be there? And after taking an entire village, who would even have the means to ransom them back?

Oh... the one right in front of him.

Damn it, those beasts had really screwed him over! If they had not left a mark, Ha Luo could have pinned everything directly on Contract Land and seen whether this idiot dared to cause trouble for Contract Land.

Of course, Ha Luo did not dare say any of those resentful thoughts aloud. He could only ingratiate himself and say, "This has nothing to do with me. It must have been some other blind fools..."

"You old fraud, you're still lying to me!" Lai Er forced Ha Luo back into the corner again. "What did you tell me five years ago?! You told me Black Merchants would never touch people from No Man's Land! Do you remember?!"

"I-I remember, of course I remember. But I didn't lie to you!" Ha Luo said. "Normally... no, not normally. It's the rule! Black Merchants were never allowed to traffic people in No Man's Land. Otherwise, why would I have gone through all the trouble of talking to you back then? Wouldn't it have been easier to just kidnap people?!"

Lai Er knew Ha Luo was right. He had also guessed that Ha Luo probably really did not know about it, or else he would not have dared joke around with him for so long.

But he did not care about right or wrong now. He only wanted the truth.

If his wife and son had been taken by Contract Land, then there really was no room for negotiation. But if they had been taken by the Black Merchants...

Then there was still a chance to get them back!

Ha Luo also realized what Lai Er truly wanted, so he stopped explaining all that irrelevant nonsense and hurriedly said, "If it really was done by people in the trade, I can help you find them. If they're still here... of course, even if they've already left, we can still catch up. You should know the process very well."

Yes, no one knew that process better than Lai Er.

But precisely because of that, there were questions he did not dare think too deeply about.

For example, how long ago had they made their move?

Was there really still time?

Lai Er took a deep breath, then released Ha Luo.

"Find my son, and we'll be even!" He stared hard at Ha Luo. "If you can't find him, I'll kill you!"

The moment he was released, Ha Luo let out a sigh of relief and nodded repeatedly. "Of course, of course. Even if the Black Merchants really acted against No Man's Land, they definitely wouldn't dare make a huge spectacle of it. Otherwise, I couldn't possibly have remained unaware until now. And if it was only a small group involved, then there's still a great chance of finding them... We'll definitely find them!"

Under Lai Er's nearly murderous gaze, Ha Luo did not dare speak in vague terms anymore. After taking a deep breath, he headed outside first.

"Come with me. We'll start looking now."

Ten minutes later, Lai Er followed Ha Luo back to the warehouse he had visited only a few days ago.

Only days had passed, but his state of mind had completely changed.

The first time he had come, Lai Er had been brimming with excitement, wondering when he might own a warehouse like this and do such big business himself.

But this time, all that remained was... an emotion he did not know how to describe.

As they passed those warehouses, he wanted to look at every face inside in search of his son, yet he did not dare meet those eyes for real.

In the end, he could only turn those emotions into anger and vent them on Ha Luo, who was leading the way.

"Move!"

"Right away, right away."

Ha Luo kept trying to soothe Lai Er and brought him to the warehouse guard room as quickly as possible, then knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

A familiar voice came from inside, making Lai Er's heart stir.

Ha Luo announced himself. The guard room door opened, and a bespectacled Black Merchant walked out.

He really was someone Lai Er knew—Tuo Lei, with whom he had some bad blood. When Tuo Lei saw Lai Er, surprise flashed through his eyes as well.

He instinctively wanted to make a few sarcastic remarks, but remembering how he had suffered at Lai Er's hands last time, he ultimately held them back and asked, "What is it?"

"Nothing major, nothing major."

Ha Luo stepped forward, seemingly intending to whisper to Tuo Lei. But Lai Er was no fool. He immediately stepped closer and stared at him, leaving Ha Luo no choice but to honestly state the matter.

"Trade from No Man's Land." Upon hearing that, Tuo Lei guessed what it was about. He gave Lai Er a long look. "There was indeed such a matter."

Upon hearing that, Lai Er immediately stepped forward. "When did it happen?!"

"Heh, why should I tell—"

Pow!

Before Tuo Lei could finish, Lai Er punched him in the face. He fell at once, his nose twisted crooked.

Tuo Lei was stunned. "You fucking—"

Lai Er straddled Tuo Lei and rained down more punches, quickly beating his face bloody.

"This is your last chance!" Lai Er roared. "Tell me what happened!"

Now Tuo Lei understood where the injuries on Ha Luo's face had come from. He hurriedly said, "All I know is that this trade was jointly carried out by Contract Land and the Black Merchants."

"Where are they?!" Lai Er roared. "My son, my wife, and my parents—where are they?!"

"How the fuck would I know..." Tuo Lei took another punch to the face and had no choice but to rein in his temper again. "There were only children, no adults!"

...No adults?

Lai Er froze for a moment, then swung his fist again, roaring as he punched, "You're fucking lying!"

"Why would I lie to you?! There were no adults! Only children... Can't you tell just by looking at this warehouse?! Are there any children here?!" Driven mad by the beating, Tuo Lei roared back, "You're a Black Merchant too. Don't you know that only children fetch a good price?!"

Lai Er's body began trembling again.

No adults. Only children.

Then where had the adults gone?

"Just you wait! I'll be back soon! I'll prove that every last one of you is wrong, every one of you!"

In his memories, his wife's tearful face gradually turned into a corpse so corroded that its features could no longer be seen.

It felt as if an invisible hand had seized Lai Er's heart, squeezing so hard that he could barely breathe.

But he forced himself not to collapse. He grabbed Tuo Lei by the collar and lifted him up. "What about the children? Where were they taken?"

"How would I know?"

Another punch.

"I really don't know! Do you think this was some small deal?! Do you know how many people were involved?! Do you remember every piece of merchandise you sell?!"

Another punch.

"Fuck, I really don't know! Even if you beat me to death, I... Wait, wait, there are records! There are records! Right behind me!" Tuo Lei said. "Every transaction is recorded. You can find the approximate time and destination. But those are top secret. Even if you're a Gold Merchant, you can't..."

Tuo Lei did not get to finish. The moment Lai Er saw the row of bookshelves before him, he gave him one final punch and knocked him unconscious on the spot.

Then he immediately got up, rushed to the bookshelves, and began searching through them.

His hands were already covered in blood—his own, Tuo Lei's, and Ha Luo's—but he could no longer feel the pain. He only kept searching, repeating over and over in his heart.

There's still a chance. There's still a chance.

Lai Er came from No Man's Land. He had never believed in any god, and had always taken pride in it. But now, he wished he had something to believe in. Otherwise, he would not be standing here without even knowing whom to pray to.

There must still be a chance.

His wife was gone. His parents were gone. His home was gone.

But his son was still alive. There was still hope.

Yet there were simply too many records here. Lai Er flipped through several books in a row without finding what he wanted. It made him increasingly desperate and agitated, as if he were searching for a needle in the ocean.

Then Bai Wei's voice rang out in his mind. "Second book on the third shelf from the top left."

Lai Er froze at first, then was overwhelmed with joy.

Right, right, he was not someone without faith.

He believed in Visas-sama! And now, wasn't Visas-sama helping him?!

Lai Er immediately took down the record Bai Wei had indicated. By then, his hands were trembling violently, and it took several attempts before he could open it.

Don't worry, son. I'm coming to save you.

You'll be fine.

Your father is capable now. I've made a fortune, and I've become Visas-sama's servant!

In the future, you'll be like your father. You'll be able to live in the outside world. You'll have money and power! You won't be like those other children treated as merchandise!

You'll have a different life. You definitely will!

Lai Er roared in his heart, not knowing whether he was speaking to the son he had never met or to himself.

At last, he found that page.

"No Man's Land Village XX: 13 boys, 11 girls."

"Transaction location: Rhine (completed)"

"Transaction date: February 26."

Lai Er's body went rigid.

His eyes locked onto the words "completed," as though blood might spill from them.

How could this be? How could this be?!

The transaction had been completed a month ago...

A deal from one month ago meant there was no time left to undo it. No one knew where they had specifically been taken, because it was no longer within the Black Merchants' domain.

Lai Er's body began to sway. He could barely remain standing.

Why him, of all people?

He had already worked so hard. All he wanted was to change himself, to change his family's life. He only wanted to bring his family out of that sunless world.

What had he... done wrong?

"Why..." Lai Er murmured shakily. "Why won't you even give me a chance?"

"Did no one really give you a chance?" Bai Wei suddenly asked.

Lai Er froze.

"That time, that place." Bai Wei said calmly. "Doesn't it remind you of anything?"

The time... the place...

Lai Er subconsciously lowered his head and looked at the record again. Then his eyes slowly widened.

One month ago... Rhine...

That night.

That convoy.

The door he had opened with his own hands, then closed with his own hands.

And the stubborn, despairing eyes of the children in that carriage.

With a thud.

Lai Er dropped to his knees, as though all life had been drained from him in an instant.

At the same time, the help Ha Luo had called for rushed in and struck the back of his head with a club.

He fell into the pool of blood, staring blankly at that lightless night, as if he had returned to that night once more.