Chapter 1 Car outside the District

Su Tianyu held the phone and said in a low voice, "It's done."

"You got rid of the person?" Yu Mingyuan asked.

"Got rid of them," Su Tianyu admitted frankly.

"You're still some distance from the city. If you go back now, you'll definitely be stuck at the border line," Yu Mingyuan replied in a calm voice. "A friend just called me and said that a lot of people from the Ma Gang (docks gang) are coming out."

"What do you think we should do?" Su Tianyu asked.

"I'm still waiting for you at the same place. Come find me, and we'll go to the garrison. Hurry!" Yu Mingyuan urged.

"Okay," Su Tianyu nodded and hung up the phone.

Inside the vehicle, Su Zhengcai turned his head and asked, "What did Yu Mingyuan say?"

"He said that a lot of people from the Ma Gang are coming out, and we'll definitely be blocked if we enter the city now." Su Tianyu replied softly, "He wants to take us to the garrison."

"So, it seems our boss has a good relationship with the garrison," Su Tianbei interjected.

"Of course, it's not an ordinary relationship. Last time when we snatched people at Tianhong Port, the garrison showed up," Su Zhengcai said faintly. "Our backer is the Yu family, and the Yu family's backer is the garrison."

"Don't think too much about it. If Yuanzi Ge (Brother Yuan) says he can handle it, then let's listen to him." Su Tianyu softly comforted everyone, "We're just laborers; we just need to do our part."

Everyone nodded in response.

...

About fifteen minutes later.

The convoy arrived at the dividing bridge on the Longjiang River. Su Tianyu pushed the door open, got out of the car, and walked to Yu Mingyuan's side, asking, "Which garrison point are we going to?"

"There's only one garrison outpost here, at the foot of Xiaotian Mountain (Little Heaven Mountain)," Yu Mingyuan replied. "I just called home, and they told us to stay at the garrison first and wait for the troops from inside the border line to come and pick us up, and then we'll go back together."

Su Tianyu nodded, "Let's go then."

Yu Mingyuan's expression was solemn, "Get in my car."

Seeing Yu Mingyuan's unusually grave face, Su Tianyu couldn't help but ask, "With the garrison's help, is this still difficult to handle?"

"The Ma Gang also has people behind them!" Yu Mingyuan sighed and replied, "Xu Er is dead. Tonight's matter won't be easy to settle. The higher-ups might clash ahead of time."

"You've been taking the fall for the Bai family this time, haven't you taken a lot of flak?" Su Tianyu asked tentatively.

"That's why I didn't go into the city early," Yu Mingyuan turned his head to look at him and said, "No matter what happens tonight, I'll definitely be with you guys."

Hearing this, Su Tianyu gave him a thumbs up: "Awesome!"

...

On the southwest side of The Dragon City Rises, there is an unbroken mountain range, part of which belongs to the Dragon City side of District One, known as the Xiaotian Mountain border line.

Along the border line, there are about seven or eight patrol outposts of the Dragon City border defense garrison, stretching for about four hundred kilometers. The only patrol outpost close to the source of the Longjiang River is the Xiaotian Mountain Outpost No. 04.

The garrison unit responsible for the Dragon City border defense is the 171st Army, which belongs to the Dragon City Garrison Command. In terms of level and subordination, it only takes orders from the top military and political leader of The Dragon City Rises. However, in reality, District One's supervision of the Dragon City troops is very strict, especially after the District One independence war. Many white generals were assigned to the Dragon City military and political apparatus, and these people have an internal mini-council that greatly interferes with military and political affairs.

The convoy of the Su, Bai, and Kong families, following Yu Mingyuan's car, arrived at Patrol Outpost No. 04 after driving for about thirty minutes.

This patrol outpost is small, its scale similar to that of an ordinary border outpost before the Age of the Epoch. The garrison unit consists of only one squad, about ten people.

The patrol outpost has about two barracks, one for sleeping and one for dining, and a fitness center, covering a total area of about two hundred square meters. There are four patrol vehicles and a small amount of military equipment in the courtyard.

Upon arrival, Yu Mingyuan and his officer friend, who had arrived earlier, got out of the car first and entered the outpost. After communicating with the squad leader for less than a minute, they were allowed to enter the courtyard.

The vehicles stopped in front of the barracks. Except for the Bai family, who did not get out of the car, everyone else gathered together and entered the barracks where the soldiers were resting.

With the garrison's protection, everyone felt more at ease, but their spirits were not very high.

Bai Hongtao is dead, and his body is still in the car. No one can be happy about that.

At the door of the room, Yu Mingyuan, with his hands behind his back, whispered to the officer friend and the patrol outpost squad leader, "Ask when the people coming to pick us up will arrive."

"Okay," the officer friend nodded.

"Di Ling Ling!"

The phone rang, and Yu Mingyuan walked to the side to answer it: "Speak."

"Don't leave the garrison outpost. The Ma Gang is in an uproar. At least three or four hundred people have left the city. The enforcer Wei Xiangzuo, and the heads of the businesses, Lu Xing, are all blocking the entry points into the city." The man on the phone said softly, "The garrison isn't sending anyone to pick you up. No matter what, you can't leave."

"Understood," Yu Mingyuan nodded, "Keep an eye on the news over there."

"Alright!"

The two ended the call. Before Yu Mingyuan could even breathe a sigh of relief, his phone screen lit up again. He opened it and saw a short message from his father.

"Stay there. The higher-ups are negotiating."

"...!" Yu Mingyuan breathed a sigh of relief and immediately replied, "Understood!"

...

Near the Haiyan Pit in The Dragon City Rises, more than a dozen cars were parked on the side of the road, and sixty or seventy Ma Gang brothers who had rushed out of Tianhong Port were gathered together, chatting in groups of three or five.

Near the lead car, Wei Xiangzuo, with a cigarette in his mouth, leaned against the car door, talking to several business heads, Lu Xing, who were responsible for the street business.

"I'm just saying, what's the point of doing all this ceremonial stuff after we've already done what we needed to do?" A middle-aged man said with a sneer, "Four or five hundred people have come out, inside and out. With this scale, can there even be a fight? It's bullshit!"

"Yeah, the higher-ups just like to do these useless things now," another person echoed in annoyance, "More than ten million worth of goods were lost, and a dozen people went in. What kind of conflict is this? This is a death feud! If you really want to break up with the Yu family, then just randomly pick a few desperadoes and kill Yu Mingyuan outside the district. That way, you'd get revenge and also let Yu Jinrong understand that he's effective in District One, but not necessarily in The Dragon City Rises. But now you're drawing lots and forming ranks. What's the use of that? Don't you understand the Yu family's style of doing things? They're just a family of turtles; as soon as they see things aren't going their way, they immediately crawl into the garrison's crotch. No matter how many people we have in the Ma Gang, do you dare to touch the garrison?"

"That makes sense."

"Hey, actually, you all don't understand. Our Brother Hu is wearing a suit now. He's not good at playing with knives and guns anymore; he's good at playing the ceremonial game."

"...!"

The words of the small bosses were filled with some dissatisfaction with Xu Hu and sarcastic banter.

Wei Xiangzuo stood in the middle of the crowd, not saying much, just lowering his head and smoking.

"I guess they'll definitely negotiate. The garrison will come forward and meet with the big shots of our customs, study a plan, and finally make money peacefully," one of the heads continued, "It's likely that we'll only get a little money for the lost goods, but in the future... we'll probably have to give up a sea import line for the Yu family to use."

"Di Ling Ling!"

As everyone was talking, Wei Xiangzuo's phone rang. He glanced at the number and pressed the answer button: "Speak."

"Xu Er is dead!"

"What?!"

"Tonight, we might really have to fight. Xu Er is dead, just brought back." The man on the phone said in a low voice, "Brother Hu just arrived outside the city..."

Hearing this, Wei Xiangzuo muttered in disbelief, "...Then it's over. Tonight might not just be ceremonial stuff."