Fortunately, the result didn't disappoint the two of them.

After Qi Yun met the KTV manager, he immediately used his phone to translate his intentions clearly.

The manager had seen him during the day, so he didn't doubt much and promptly took the two to Mendeleyev's place.

Mendeleyev lived in an apartment complex in the city center, and with the manager leading the way, the three arrived at an apartment building a little over ten minutes later.

"It's the one with the lights on," the manager said, pointing to a window on the fourth floor.

The three of them went upstairs, and the manager raised his hand to knock on the door.

After a short while, the door opened slowly, revealing the face of a woman.

The woman had a physique that matched Mendeleyev's well; she was also tall and sturdy, estimated to be about five foot nine.

The manager jabbered away with the woman for a few moments and then took Qi Yun's phone and translated, "She's the boss's lover, Katusha, and she's been waiting for him to come back."

Qi Yun nodded slightly, quickly took the phone back, and said, "Katusha, we're friends of Mendeleyev. We can't reach him right now, and we're very concerned about his safety. We hope to learn some information from you to see if we can find him."

Upon hearing the translation, Katusha's already haggard face was instantly filled with panic. She hurriedly asked, "What happened to him?"

Qi Yun shook his head, "It's hard to explain in a sentence or two. I'll tell you later. But right now, I need to ask you some questions, so please tell me everything you know."

At his words, Katusha bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes as she said tremblingly, "Alright, please come in first."

As she spoke, she stepped aside to let them in.

Once seated on the sofa, Qi Yun straightforwardly asked, "He has two henchmen, very tall and sturdy. One of them has a scar on his forehead. Do you know them?"

"Yes, I know them. The two brothers are responsible for delivering liquor to the KTV," the manager replied after listening.

Hearing this, Qi Yun hurriedly continued, "Can you call them now and see if you can get in touch? Mendeleyev is with them."

After hearing the translation, the manager quickly took out his phone, found their number, and dialed it.

However, the call also couldn't get through...

Seeing this, Qi Yun's heart sank instantly, confirming that Mendeleyev and his group had definitely encountered some kind of mishap.

After a moment of thought, he spoke again, "Do you know about Mendeleyev's connections in the capital? Does he know any big shots?"

The two exchanged glances after hearing this and both shook their heads.

The room fell into a silence, and Katusha, worried about her man's safety, couldn't help but let tears flow down her cheeks.

After a long pause, she seemed to suddenly recall something, raised her head to look at Qi Yun, and said, "He never talks about business at home, but his cousin helps him manage his business in the capital. He might know something."

Upon hearing this, Qi Yun's eyes sparkled with hope again, quickly saying, "Please contact him right now."

Katusha nodded, took out her phone, and made a call to her cousin.

After some communication, she turned to Qi Yun, "He says Mendeleyev knows some people in the capital, but he's not sure who exactly you're asking about."

Qi Yun gestured for her to place her phone on the coffee table, then put it on speaker, and picked up his phone to translate.

"Mendeleyev told me that last time when he went to that person for help, he paid a high price, and the person finally helped him solve the issue, so they must be quite influential."

After hearing this, the person on the other end of the call paused for a while before answering, "Yes, there was such an incident. Last time, we had a conflict with a businessman over business matters, and behind that businessman was actually the leader of the Zuohe District."

"Later, my cousin found someone to connect us and paid a price of 40 million US dollars to get the number three in the capital to step in and completely resolve the matter."

Upon hearing this, Qi Yun was momentarily daunted. It was likely that this was the third top guy.

Although he had known in advance that the person was influential, he hadn't expected them to be this powerful.

Even though Tuva was a small country with a small population, the power of a number three in the capital shouldn't be underestimated. Coming after common folks like them would be effortless.

"I understand the situation. I need to think this through carefully. I might need your cooperation later. Wait for my call."

"OK!" The person listened and hung up without asking further.

Qi Yun looked up at the manager again and said, "I need you to find me a Chinese-speaking translator first thing tomorrow morning. Have them come to this hotel to find me. Price is no issue." With that, he found the hotel he was staying at on the map and showed it to the manager.

Constantly using phone translation was indeed quite tiring.

The manager hastily agreed after hearing him, "Alright."

"Alright, you can go back now. I have a few words to say to Katusha alone."

The manager nodded without saying much and stood up to leave.

After the manager left, Qi Yun spoke to Katusha, "We're friends of Mendeleyev from China. He invited us over this time..."

He told her everything, including the arms deal, without holding back.

After all, she was Mendeleyev's wife, and in this situation, she had the right to know what was going on.

Katusha listened with furrowed brows, her hands unconsciously gripping the hem of her clothes.

After hearing everything, her eyes reddened and with a sobbing voice she asked, "What should we do now? I can't lose him."

Qi Yun took a deep breath, trying hard to make his tone sound calm: "Katusha, we will definitely find a way to locate him, I have another friend who's already returned to the scene to look for clues."

Katusha nodded helplessly, unable to stop the tears at the corners of her eyes.

Just then, Qi Yun's phone on the coffee table rang, displaying Chen Wei's name on the screen.

He hurriedly grabbed the phone, eagerly asking, "Brother Wei, how is it? Did you find anything?"

On the other end, Chen Wei's voice carried a bit of weight: "Apart from the tracks of our two vehicles, there are other tire marks at the scene, confirming that someone else came after we left."

"All the arms have been moved."

"There's no sign of a struggle or fight at the scene, either they left voluntarily with the other party, or they were coerced."

Chen Wei briefly described the situation at the scene.

Upon hearing this, Qi Yun's expression turned graver, leaning more towards the latter conjecture of abduction, because if Mendeleyev had left voluntarily, he wouldn't lose contact; he would definitely notify us.

"Okay, I got it, Brother Wei, come back first."

"Alright."

After hanging up, Qi Yun took a deep breath and turned to Katusha, saying, "It's certain Mendeleyev was taken, now I think you should go and report this to the police immediately."

"Would reporting to the police help? That person isn't from the capital..." Katusha raised her head, eyes full of tears.

Qi Yun shook his head, interrupting: "Regardless if it helps or not, you should report it first, but don't mention us to the police, including the person from the capital, and certainly not the arms deal, just say..."

If it weren't for the involvement of arms in this matter, and the inconvenient identities of the three, he would have reported to the police as soon as they returned to the city.

Currently, there's no evidence proving that Mendeleyev was indeed taken by the third-ranking official from the capital; everything is inferred based on circumstances here.

Even if he was taken by them, he still needs to probe their intentions, see what exactly they want.

Hence, he needs a plausible excuse.

For instance, the senator's cousin receives a midnight call from his cousin's wife knowing his cousin was missing, then finds the third-ranking official the next day to ask him to help investigate the matter.

Otherwise, if you directly approach to question, even a fool would guess that you must be aware of Mendeleyev's dealings with them; otherwise, why would you come directly?

After carefully instructing Katusha, Qi Yun drove her to the entrance of the police station, letting her go in alone to report the case.

Once she got out of the car, Peng pulled out a cigarette, offering it, asking, "Do people here really conduct affairs with such little integrity?"

Qi Yun lit the cigarette, took a deep puff, and frowned, "I can't figure it out right now, something just feels off."

Peng inquired further, "What seems off?"

Qi Yun thought for a moment, then slowly said, "Since Mendeleyev took the initiative to inform the other party about the arms, it proves he certainly wouldn't leak this information to others, otherwise, he'd just be courting trouble."

"The other party surely understands that logic."

"And even if he wanted to prevent the leak of information, taking the person directly complicates things; he's a high official, handling an ordinary merchant shouldn't be difficult, right?"

"If it were me, I definitely wouldn't do that; someone who reaches such a position surely isn't foolish."

"So, I feel something is strange about this..."

Peng nodded in agreement, pondering aloud, "It is indeed so."

Qi Yun let out a long puff of smoke, extinguished the cigarette, and as he thought, a light screen appeared before him.

He murmured to himself, hoping for information about old Mendeleyev...

[Current Intelligence Points: 1]

[Today's Intelligence 1 (Red): Two smugglers have purchased a batch of bear paws, planning to smuggle them to Finland, currently staying at room 201, Tenaaya Hotel in the capital]

Not in the mood for other matters, Qi Yun directly skipped.

[Today's Intelligence 2 (Blue): Due to the continued economic sanctions from the EU and the US, Tuva's agri-material merchant plans to raise fertilizer prices by 10 points again in two days]

Seems profitable, a blue intelligence item, but not what he wants at the moment...

[Today's Intelligence 3 (Blue): Yushenkov, an official from the capital, hid one million US Dollar cash last night at his secret location, the address is Manske Apartment 2-301 on Central Street, also hiding a ledger there]

"Sigh~"

Qi Yun sighed, still no intelligence regarding Mendeleyev.

Previously, he heard from Mendeleyev's cousin that the third-ranking official in the capital is named Nokovic, not Yushenkov.

Otherwise, he could really utilize this intelligence well...

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