Chapter 1 The District

District One, Washington.

Inside the Qingyi Bureau headquarters, Kang Dinghuang had locked himself in his office for two full days, doing almost nothing and seeing no one.

Only Lu Zhen had visited him during this time; no one else dared to disturb him.

Two days later, Kang Dinghuang finally pushed open the office door. He quickly washed up, shaved, and even cut his own hair, making himself look very refreshed.

Sitting on the sofa in his office, Kang Dinghuang directly dialed Lu Zhen's number.

The phone was quickly answered, and Lu Zhen's voice rang out, "Hello? You're finally out?"

"Yeah," Kang Dinghuang said calmly, "You can move now. Have the people you've been training prepare and await orders to depart."

Lu Zhen's mood immediately improved, and he asked with a smile, "Heh, did you beat the game?"

Kang Dinghuang smiled as well, not directly answering the question, but simply saying, "Alright, prepare as soon as possible."

"Okay, I've been waiting for this day for a long time!" Lu Zhen said before hanging up.

Kang Dinghuang walked to the mirror, adjusted his tie, and then left the office, taking a car to the Chinese Legion headquarters.

About half an hour later, the car stopped in the headquarters courtyard. Kang Dinghuang walked upstairs, stopped in front of an office door, and gently knocked.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

A deep voice quickly came from inside, "Enter."

Kang Dinghuang pushed the door open and saw the Commander-in-Chief in plain clothes, standing at his desk, holding a brush, with paper and inkstone spread out, practicing calligraphy.

Kang Dinghuang walked up to him, glanced at the characters on the rice paper, and couldn't help but praise, "Powerful and vigorous, like dragons and phoenixes dancing, your calligraphy is getting better and better."

"Just a hobby, nothing impressive," the Commander-in-Chief smiled, gently resting the brush on the stand next to him. "People should have hobbies to vent their excess energy, instead of always thinking about unrealistic things. That kind of life is stable and fulfilling."

"You're right," Kang Dinghuang said with a smile and a nod.

The Commander-in-Chief sat down in his chair, turned his head to look at Kang Dinghuang, and asked, "Are you ready?"

"Yes," Kang Dinghuang took out some documents he had prepared and respectfully placed them on the desk. "The series of plans targeting Dragon City can now be executed."

The Commander-in-Chief put on his reading glasses, picked up the documents, and slowly began to read them.

Kang Dinghuang remained patient, standing silently to the side, waiting.

After about ten minutes, the Commander-in-Chief put down the documents and glanced at Kang Dinghuang. "Little Kang, you've set up quite a large game."

Kang Dinghuang said very sincerely, "Commander-in-Chief, success or failure depends on this one move!"

The Commander-in-Chief thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alright, I believe in you. Just do it your way; I'll support you."

Kang Dinghuang immediately said, "Great, then I'll leave now and fly to the rebel base! When you have the results of the meeting, send someone to contact me."

The Commander-in-Chief slowly stood up, heavily patted Kang Dinghuang on the shoulder, and said earnestly, "Little Kang, among these younger generations, you're the one I have the highest hopes for. I hope that this time, you can change the history of The Dragon City Rises and the history of overseas Chinese."

Kang Dinghuang's expression turned serious, and he snapped to attention, giving the Commander-in-Chief a military salute. He said with utmost solemnity, "I'll do my best and leave the rest to fate."

The two men looked at each other, and the Commander-in-Chief nodded. "Alright, go."

"Okay."

Kang Dinghuang didn't linger, turning and leaving the office, heading straight for the military airport.

An hour later, a plane flew towards the rebel base in the Old Mexican District.

Following this, District One initiated a secret military conference, with the participants being the Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese Legion and the Commanders-in-Chief of the two major overseas war zones in District One.

During the conference, Kang Dinghuang successfully arrived at the rebel military base in Old Mexico. As soon as he got off the plane, he went straight to the headquarters compound, where he had a conversation with the rebel commander and began a brief military conference.

Around three o'clock that afternoon, a large number of rebels began to become active. Although the activity wasn't particularly noticeable, they were all moving discreetly.

...

Meanwhile, District One, at a secret military base.

This was where Lu Zhen hid Yuan Biao's men, and there were already quite a few people living at the base.

Lu Zhen made a tour of inspection, checking their skills, and giving them some simple instructions before returning to the luxurious private club by car.

Arriving in a private room, Lu Zhen ordered some food and sat there waiting.

After quite a while, the door to the private room was pushed open, and Xiao Yan walked in, wearing a smart work uniform. Although it was just a normal uniform, it gave her the air of a beautiful and capable career woman.

Seeing Lu Zhen, her expression wasn't very good.

Lu Zhen smiled at her. "Sit down, have something to eat."

Xiao Yan thought for a moment and sat down. But she didn't have any appetite, just looking at the food on the plate, thinking about something.

"These are all your favorite dishes," Lu Zhen said, picking up food for her.

Xiao Yan looked at them, still not touching her chopsticks, and not saying anything.

Lu Zhen remained calm, eating while chatting with Xiao Yan about some everyday things.

Xiao Yan looked at Lu Zhen with a somewhat dazed expression. Every word he said in the past would make her heart beat faster. But now, that feeling had disappeared.

After a long time, a trace of annoyance finally appeared on Xiao Yan's face, and she said softly, "If you don't have anything to say, I'll go back."

"Wait," Lu Zhen hurriedly grabbed her hand, but Xiao Yan pulled it back.

Lu Zhen put down his chopsticks and lit a cigarette. "Okay, here's the thing..."

After a long time, the atmosphere in the private room became extremely awkward, even stiff.

After a long time, Xiao Yan bit her lip, looking at Lu Zhen's face, which had become somewhat unfamiliar, and her heart suddenly calmed down again. She told him expressionlessly, "Now I not only find you disgusting, but I also find myself disgusting."

After speaking, Xiao Yan got up and walked out of the private room.

Lu Zhen sat there, took a deep drag of his cigarette, and continued eating.

...

Dragon City, Anxi military headquarters.

An Zecheng sat in his office, picked up his phone, and dialed Li Mingsheng's number.

The phone was quickly answered, and Lao Li's steady voice sounded, "Hello?"

An Zecheng asked directly, "Lao Li, regarding Gu Baishun, should you talk to him or should I?"

Li Mingsheng pondered for a long time and slowly said, "You go talk to him."

An Zecheng nodded. "Okay, then I'll make arrangements."

...

At the same time, Wu Han was summoned to Yanbei, where Meng Xi and Qin Ziyi personally met with him, and the group exchanged views on the Dragon City issue.