boyutpedia Chapter 133 A Nighttime Talk at the Villa and the First Appearance of the Spiderweb
Chapter 133 A Nighttime Talk at the Villa and the First Appearance of the Spiderweb
Chapter 133: Night Talk in the Villa and the First Appearance of the Spiderweb
Richard Dick Shaw's car led the convoy silently into Shaker Heights, one of the most prestigious and affluent neighborhoods in East Cleveland. Finally, the vehicles stopped in front of a Georgian-style estate surrounded by tall oak trees and wrought-iron walls, its address clearly marked: 2780 South Park Boulevard, Shaker Heights, OH. The expansive estate, with its meticulously manicured lawns, appeared serene and imposing in the night. As the convoy entered, the hydraulic gates slowly closed, and Richard Dick Shaw's carefully laid surveillance system activated, isolating the estate from the outside world.
The villa's interior was decorated in a typical neoclassical style, with mahogany wainscoting and crystal chandeliers exuding the rich heritage of an old-money family. Arthur Coleman, pale-faced, curled up in the soft cashmere sofa, his fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of his clothes. He watched as the three powerful figures in Cleveland—Senator Richard "Dick" Shaw, banker Harrison Worthington, and union lawyer Frank Donovan—served Lin Yan with the utmost respect, while the young boy from the East casually fed Xiao Qi fruit. The overwhelming realization left him feeling uneasy, as if awaiting a judgment from fate.
This stark contrast made Arthur's stomach clench tightly, and his mind raced with conspiracy theories—silencing him? Imprisonment? Or some far more terrifying deal?
Lin Yan lifted Xiao Qi onto his lap, looked up at Arthur, and said in a teasing tone, "Prosecutor, relax. I have no interest in you or your position. Saving you today was pure bad luck; I stumbled upon a murder scene. As for my relationship with these three friends..." He paused, glancing at the three men standing by with their hands at their sides, "You'd better not be curious or delve into it. Now, tell me everything you've found out. Perhaps I can help you turn this dead end into a winning one."
Arthur took a deep breath, sensing the undeniable authority in Lin Yan's words, and finally spoke. His narrative, though fragmented, was crucial, piecing together only the tip of the iceberg of a corrupt network:
He first mentioned Jimmy Kowalski, nicknamed "Big Guy," the president of the Cleveland chapter of the International Truck Drivers' Union (IBT). While ostensibly advocating for workers' rights, he actually controlled port logistics, facilitating smuggling networks. Evidence points to Kowalski's collusion with remnants of the local Italian-American gang, the "Mayer-Lanski Alliance," using union trucks to smuggle goods out of the port.
The case implicates Thomas Bradley, chairman of the City Council's Public Safety Committee (not the later African American mayor of Los Angeles), who abused his power to grant "inspection-free passes" to smuggled vehicles and suppressed police investigations. On the corporate side, the case involves "Cleveland Steel Logistics," whose owner, Jacob Stern, used the guise of exporting industrial parts to refurbish World War II "surplus" weapons such as M1 Garand rifles, Thompson submachine guns, as well as grenades and rocket launchers—weapons of mass destruction—before transiting through Venezuela to right-wing dictatorships in South America.
Key evidence: Microfilm in Arthur’s possession, which recorded bank transfers by Stern to Bradley for bribes (through an anonymous account at the Cleveland Trust Company), and a list of weapons with the next shipment scheduled for the night of August 10, to be transported by barge on Lake Erie.
Arthur, his voice trembling, mentioned that his initial investigation had been supported by an assistant agent at the FBI's Cleveland office, but that agent tragically died in a car accident last month. He suspects the network has federal protection, possibly involving a senior official in the Department of Justice's Criminal Division, arguing that every time the investigation gets close to the core, it encounters "resistance" from Washington.
After Arthur finished speaking, Lin Yan slowly stood up, walked to the huge French windows, and looked out at the dark courtyard. After a moment of silence, he turned around, his eyes sharpening.
"Hiding and defending won't solve the problem." His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable determination. "To eliminate future troubles, we must completely split and burn the wood that breeds termites."
He turned his gaze to the three Golden Core cultivators: "Richard, Harrison, Frank."
"Young Master," the three replied in unison, bowing slightly.
"I need to know just how big this network is, how deep its roots run. You have 12 hours." Lin Yan's tone was calm, yet it sounded like a military order. "Use your methods to find every node, every thread, and every piece of evidence hidden in this network. Remember, do it cleanly, don't alert them."
The three cultivators accepted the order without saying a word, quickly left the living room, and disappeared into the night to begin their mission.
Arthur Coleman was shocked when he heard this, his mouth gaping open and then closing. He had spent so much time and almost lost his life to uncover just the tip of the iceberg, but Lin Yan wanted to investigate everything in 12 hours. What kind of chaotic world was this?
Leveraging his position as a union lawyer, Frank Donovan arranged a meeting that very night with Paolo Maldini, a minor port union leader closely associated with Kowalski, under the pretext of "discussing a labor dispute." Caught off guard, Frank employed a low-intensity soul-searching technique (avoiding obvious damage), extracting memories as if flipping through a file. The fragmented memories revealed that Kowalski's contact with the mob was a middleman named "Skinny" Salvador Ferreira, responsible for coordinating transportation times; and that bribes were laundered through a shell company called "Lakeside Investments."
Harrison Worthington, using financial networks, quickly located Lakeside Investments' account transactions at the Cleveland Trust, discovering that the funds ultimately flowed to a Swiss bank account numbered ZLX-882. Meanwhile, Richard Shaw, through municipal connections, obtained Bradley's recent travel records and communications (under the pretext of "reviewing the public safety budget"), discovering that he and Stern had repeatedly met secretly at the Union Club in the city center.
The three Golden Core cultivators relayed the information they had gathered to Lin Yan in real time via their divine sense. A clear network diagram took shape in Lin Yan's mind:
• Execution level: Port workers (controlled by the union) → Gang thugs (commanded by Ferreira) → Stern's logistics company (responsible for packaging and transportation).
• Management: Union President Kowalski (provides access) → City Councilor Bradley (provides political protection).
• Core layer: Stern (providing funds and connecting with overseas buyers) → suspected federal protector (Department of Justice official, identity to be verified).
Key evidence chain: Bank transfer records (Cleveland Trust) → Weapons list (stored in Stern's office safe) → Meeting minutes (United Club may have secret logs).
• Location of evidence hiding place:
• Ledgers and Lists: Soul Search revealed that Stern hid the most crucial handwritten ledgers detailing transactions and microfilm copies of weapons lists in a safe behind a fake decorative painting in his company headquarters office (1200 E. 9th Street).
• Secret Account: The specific details of the Swiss bank account were known only to Stern and his CFO, but Harrison confirmed through financial channels that the account was linked to a shell company in Panama and used to receive payments from South American buyers.
Lin Yan returned to the sofa and gave instructions to the three cultivators:
Richard and Harrison were put to work overnight, using invisibility talismans to infiltrate Stern's office and the United Club, making copies of all the original ledgers and logs (to avoid alerting the enemy), and planting tracking marks in the Swiss account chain.
By spreading messages through the puppet network that Prosecutor Arthur had "disappeared" and might have died in a gang shootout, the corrupt network temporarily relaxed its guard.
Lin Yan decided not to immediately close the net, but instead to feign indifference and wait for the weapons transport operation on August 10th. "Let them load the goods onto the ship, then catch them red-handed. At that time, the entire international smuggling chain will be exposed, not just the parasites in Cleveland."
As Arthur Coleman listened to Lin Yan calmly lay out the inescapable trap, and watched the three important figures accept the order without question and leave, he finally realized that he had not encountered a chance savior, but a force capable of overturning the order of Cleveland and even a wider area. He trembled as he took a sip of red wine, feeling a glimmer of hope for the first time.
Lin Yan walked onto the balcony, gazing at the lights of Cleveland in the distance. Little Qi rubbed against his leg and asked through telepathy, "Brother, are we going to roast all these bad guys?" Lin Yan smiled and ruffled its hair. "No, Little Qi, we're going to give this city... a bath."