Ganard has been feeling rather neurasthenic lately.
Because on the east side of the prison, about fifty meters away from the outer wall on the road, a construction site had been set up. Roughly five days ago, a bunch of heavy machinery arrived and enclosed an area of over fifty meters with iron fencing, and then pounding and thudding noises started inside, often accompanied by the sound of motors akin to that of electric drills, working tirelessly from day to night.
The most fatal was that due to a recent order from higher-ups, he must personally supervise the area near the sixth prison ward, responsible for the custody work of Shorty and those several drug lords.
Thus, he moved to a three-story building near Ward Six to temporarily work, and right outside the window of his old office was the construction site.
The piercing construction noise made Ganard feel like his head was splitting, akin to someone hammering at his skull with a large hammer at regular intervals.
Especially at night, the diligent construction site did not cease operation. They set up high wattage incandescent lights, like several mini suns turned on, rushing the work without distinction between day and night.
Noise plus light sometimes caused Ganard to hallucinate, unable to differentiate between day and night, frequently standing irrationally in front of the window, cursing vehemently, and having sent regards to the ancestors of those construction workers repeatedly.
Shorty stayed in his cell every day, sitting cross-legged on the floor just like a monk in meditation.
This time, these guys didn't receive any special treatment. They were placed in open-style cells, which had no doors, three walls, and an iron gate on the side where the door should be, allowing prison guards to take in the entire room at a glance from the aisle outside.
Only the toilet was semi-enclosed, surrounded by a circle of cement barriers over one meter high, preserved as the last shred of dignity for these drug lords.
Shorty had grievances about this barrier these past few days. Every time he went in to relieve himself, he would curse and berate the guards outside, several times even tossing out toilet paper to question why they kept watching him use the toilet, nearly ready to give his excrement a taste of flight.
"Boss, what are you looking at?"
That day, when Gardner was staring with panda eyes fixedly at the construction site not far away, Gus, one of his subordinates and a ward captain, appeared beside him.
Gus first looked at his boss and then at the direction of the construction site, venturing to guess on his own initiative: "This thing is really affecting our work here."
Suddenly Gardner asked Gus, "Gus, don't you think it's too coincidental that ever since Shorty and his crew were locked up, construction started on the other side of the road?"
"It's not a coincidence, right?" Gus replied, "It wasn't until over a week after their imprisonment that the construction began."
Gardner said, "Do you still remember how long it took for the maintenance team to show up after we reported the burst drain by our wall to the municipal department over a year ago?"
"That..."
Gus, frowning, thought for a moment and said, "I think they only came to repair it two months ago, having dragged it out for a full ten months."
Gardner turned to look at his subordinate, pointing his finger at the construction site beside the road: "So tell me, since when has our municipal department been so concerned about underground pipeline repair projects?"
Gus laughed, "Maybe it was planned long ago, a few years in advance…"
"That's not right." Gardner pondered for a moment, left the window, sat back at his office desk, took a couple of sips of coffee, and suddenly said, "Gus, take your men out, using the excuse that the construction site is too close to our prison to ask to inspect the construction work."
Gus's smile disappeared, "Boss, are you suspecting that they're digging a tunnel?"
"Of course!"
Gardner said with great certainty, "I have enough reason to suspect something fishy about their construction site. Look, we can't even see from here what they're doing inside, the construction spot is too suspicious. Such a long road and they just had to work right beside us… Go! Go now! See if they are really repairing the drainage."
Gus had no choice but to comply, "Alright boss, I'll get on it right away."
Ten minutes later, a phone call was made to Song Heping's villa.
"Mr. Song, the prison guards acted just as you predicted; they've come out asking to inspect the construction site."
After the call connected, an admiring voice came from the other end.
"Mm… It's within expectation."
Song Heping grabbed a bottle of mineral water, stood up, walked to the balcony, and looked in the direction of the prison.
"Remember, don't let them easily inspect the construction site, have them request permission from their superiors, make it as troublesome as possible for them, to go through more procedures, delay and create some noise."
"No problem." The person on the other end of the phone responded very promptly.
"Wait, Hammer." Song Heping called out the other person's nickname: "Contact Norris right away and ask him if the construction documents I requested are all in order. Stall the prison side for a day or two, then finally hand them over."
"The paperwork is all complete, I've seen it," said Hammer.
Song Heping enjoined, "Remember, none of your related personnel can show up, let the contracting company deal with them. This is very important; make sure the construction site is filled with legitimate workers, not any gang members from your group!"
"Don't worry, everything has been done according to your instructions."
"Then let it be, otherwise, even the gods can't save your boss."
After hanging up the phone, Song Heping stood on the balcony for a while, trying to predict the next developments of the situation.
After the last meeting with Shorty and Balrot, Shorty had already taken the chance to contact him through his lawyer.
Lawyer Norris, upon receiving the order, contacted Song Heping and arranged for him to meet with Cassandra, nicknamed "Hammer".
Cassandra is Shorty's most loyal subordinate and now the one in control of the group's operations.
Song Heping had Norris and Cassandra come up with a large sum of money for the operation, starting the project by bribing officials from the municipal department.
Now, the two most trusted subordinates of Shorty were taking orders from Song Heping, which essentially meant he had obtained command of the Sinoloa Group.
Shorty is indeed a smart man.
He also realized that Song Heping really could save him.
If he didn't trust him, he'd just be waiting to clean up and get sent to an American prison to pick up soap with the old blacks.
"Boss, time to eat."
Jiang Feng suddenly came to call Song Heping down for a meal.
"Alright..."