Chapter 1 The afternoon departure

In the afternoon, a plane took off, carrying You Yifan's people, the garrison, Bai Hongbo, Su Tianbei, Zhou Tonghui, and others, all headed to the old triangle area near the Fifth District to negotiate with new suppliers.

After seeing them off, You Yifan invited Yu Mingyuan to his teahouse, but the latter declined due to a last-minute matter at the union.

On the way back, Yu Mingyuan, sitting in the passenger seat, was scrolling through his phone when he suddenly exclaimed, "Holy shit!"

"What's wrong?!"

"Longkou… Longkou is under lockdown." Yu Mingyuan turned his head and said, "The Deputy Mayor Guo in charge of civil affairs was attacked, and it seems… it seems he's dead."

"Ah?" Su Tianyu, who was driving, was also stunned. "How could the Deputy Mayor be attacked?"

"I heard it was a laborer who did it. The specifics aren't clear, but… my group chat is going crazy." Yu Mingyuan looked up and replied, "Apparently, it was because of the resettlement issue. The laborer was also killed on the spot."

Su Tianyu paused for a moment before replying, "Damn, with such a big thing happening, can the subsequent trade still go on?"

"If it was caused by the trade restrictions, then there will definitely be an impact," Yu Mingyuan said with some concern.

"Call You Yifan and ask if he has any news."

"Okay!" Yu Mingyuan dialed You Yifan's number, but the latter was already on another call.

…

The afternoon passed by in the blink of an eye.

As evening approached, ordinary citizens also heard about the attack on Deputy Mayor Guo.

In the Su family residence in Zhan Nan, Su Zhengcai asked in disbelief, "Was it… was it Xiao Yucheng who did it?"

"I asked, it was him. He was shot and killed on the spot," Su Tiannan nodded. "I heard he pulled an entire truckload of gas tanks and ambushed him on the road."

"No, is this kid crazy? What was he trying to achieve?!"

"I'm not really sure either," Su Tiannan shook his head.

"Find out more, ask around," Su Zhengcai replied with experience. "We were going to help him out before. Don't let this turn out that this kid is a Xinaluo extremist. We'll be in deep trouble!"

"Okay, I'll ask around."

Su Tiannan picked up the phone and dialed a contact at the police department.

After a series of communications, Su Tiannan roughly understood what had happened and learned that Xiao Yucheng's motive for the attack might have stemmed from the sudden death of his son and the extortion by the Materials Control Department.

However, the details of Xiao Yucheng's case have not yet been released, and even the information about Deputy Mayor Guo's death has not been reported to the public.

…

In the evening, around seven o'clock.

Secretary-General Lu hurriedly got out of the car and headed straight for the city central hospital building.

Behind him, a clerical staff member following him caught up and whispered, "Secretary-General, the police department just sent a message. They found some clues."

"What clues?" Secretary-General Lu asked.

"The day before Xiao Yucheng carried out the attack, his personal bank account received an extra 50,000 yuan." The clerical staff member whispered, "The police department communicated with military intelligence and found that the account that transferred money to Xiao Yucheng was a bank account used by the Xinaluo Chǐ Army (尺军, Scale Army), also a personal one."

"How did they find out about the Chǐ Army's personal account?" Secretary-General Lu stopped in his tracks.

"This account should be Zhao Weihu's personal slush fund, and there is also frequent capital flow, so military intelligence has been monitoring this account. But the bank this account belongs to is owned by EU capital, and we can't control it." The clerical staff member added in a low voice, "Also, after receiving this remittance, Xiao Yucheng used more than 30,000 yuan to buy the tools for the crime, he bought them last night."

Secretary-General Lu had learned about the details of the case as soon as it happened, so he frowned and replied, "Is the police department suspecting that Xiao Yucheng was hired to kill?"

"Yes, otherwise there's no way to explain why Zhao Weihu's personal account would give such a person 50,000 yuan," the clerical staff member nodded.

"Xiao Yucheng's son died, and he was also facing extortion of 200,000 yuan. His emotional breakdown and revenge on society is logically reasonable." Secretary-General Lu replied in a low voice, "Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that he was hired to kill."

"Leader, after the border closure, Zhao Weihu's Chǐ Army was the most affected, so it's normal for him to premeditatedly organize an extremist attack," the clerical staff member also expressed his opinion.

After careful consideration, Secretary-General Lu replied meaningfully, "We can't let a confrontational sentiment arise between the government and the laborers!"

The clerical staff member was instantly stunned.

"Go see Karl first."

Secretary-General Lu called out and turned to walk upstairs.

…

Five minutes later, inside the special care ward.

Karl, whose cheeks and arms were burned and half of his hair was gone, lay on the hospital bed and roared at Secretary-General Lu, "God, who knows what the Dragon City's police budget is being used for! Can you tell me why my car would encounter a car bomb on the street? Is this the war zone of Xinaluo?!"

"Mr. Karl, as far as I know, Xiao Yucheng's extreme actions were because he was subjected to extortion." Secretary-General Lu looked down at the other person's eyes and said softly, "He was caught by the Materials Control Department, and someone asked him for a ransom of 200,000 yuan, otherwise he would be sentenced as a military spy and for still selling controlled materials after the border closure."

When Karl heard this, the corner of his mouth twitched, and he did not refute it, because he knew very well the dirty things his subordinates had done.

"This kind of scandal can't be leaked, otherwise it will be very troublesome." Secretary-General Lu said sternly, "I have already asked the police department to arrest all the relevant people involved."

Karl frowned and looked at him, his voice hoarse as he replied, "I asked my friends, the perpetrator received a remittance from Xinaluo before the attack, and it is related to the Chǐ Army."

"Your judgment is very accurate." Secretary-General Lu immediately replied, "Some Chǐ Army extremists, dissatisfied with the border closure policy, premeditatedly organized the attack. This kind of group is the common enemy of mankind!"

While the two were talking, in the office of the chairman of the Regulatory Commission, a continental-level cadre who could directly report to the First District Congress and the President's Office slammed the table angrily and roared, "The Chǐ Army is challenging the entire First District and our sanctions policy! They have been incorporated by the Mofi government army, and we must give a strong counterattack!"

…

Tianhong Port.

You Yifan dialed Yu Mingyuan's number and said in a hoarse voice, "Let's hold off on the cooperation with the Chǐ Army for now. They're in trouble."

"Ah? W-why?!" Yu Mingyuan had received relatively little information and had not yet figured out what was going on.