The turbulent night ended, ushering in the dawn.

The next day, 7:30 AM.

Inside the garrison headquarters outside the capital of Hanoi, Pu Xingguo had a hearty breakfast and changed into his full general uniform, looking refreshed.

Among all the generals, Pu Xingguo was considered relatively young. Wearing a crisp military uniform with various medals pinned to his chest, he stood tall in the hall, appearing heroic and full of vigor.

A senior colonel officer from the capital walked up to Pu Xingguo and said softly, "The press conference is about to begin."

"Let's go," Pu Xingguo replied with a smile, leading the group downstairs.

In the headquarters' hall, the press conference venue was already set up, and dozens of media reporters from the city had taken their seats according to the seating arrangement.

Pu Xingguo waved at the crowd and was about to step onto the stage.

"Wait!" the senior colonel called out.

Pu Xingguo turned to him, "Sir, do you have any instructions?"

The senior colonel subtly handed over a piece of paper, whispering, "This contains what you should say."

"Yes, sir!" Pu Xingguo replied with a hint of sarcasm in his expression.

The senior colonel gestured for him to proceed.

Pu Xingguo stepped onto the stage, unfolded the paper without any pretense, and, strictly according to the senior colonel's instructions, read softly, "After careful consideration, I have decided to resign from my position as Commander of the Garrison Corps, effective immediately. In the time to come, I will also carefully reflect on the mistakes I have made in my work. During my tenure as Commander-in-Chief of the Garrison Corps... I have repeatedly condoned officers from a particular group, which has had many negative impacts on the morale of the troops..."

The content of the speech sounded somewhat like a "self-criticism edict." Although there were no particularly sharp words or political implications, a closer examination revealed that the speech had a subtle, cutting effect, conveying a hidden message to the outside world.

That is, Pu Xingguo's resignation was not simply a matter of being dismissed, but rather a forced surrender of power before an internal investigation began. Because he mentioned more than once that he had made a large number of mistakes in his work.

In fact, while reading this speech, Pu Xingguo had been suppressing the impulse of anger in his heart. He wanted to say a few heartfelt, aggressive words to the media below, but on second thought, who controlled these media?

Alas, they would only report the news that the higher-ups wanted to see, so it was useless for Pu Xingguo to shout himself hoarse here. The entire process was arranged.

The press conference lasted about half an hour. After the media personnel left, Pu Xingguo was once again held in solitary confinement.

At 9:30 AM, the situation at the press conference had spread throughout the world through media channels.

In the China Region, inside the Southwest Theater Command, Xiao Qinglong watched the news and interjected, "Trading power to save his life?"

Xiang Jingyang picked up his teacup, pondered for a moment, and replied, "... I don't think so! If it were trading power to save his life, the press conference wouldn't have been held so hastily. They should have first controlled him and then discussed the issues."

Xiao Qinglong turned to Xiang Jingyang, "Really?"

"Let's see what happens next," Xiang Jingyang took a sip of tea, turned his head, and shouted, "Order, notify the First Army at the front line to prepare to move out."

"Yes!" the adjutant replied with a salute.

...

12:30 PM.

Inside the backyard warehouse of the Hanoi Military Intelligence Supervisory Department, Gui Mengjun sat motionless in a chair, his consciousness fading.

Outside, six military intelligence personnel were waiting anxiously.

"I don't understand, Chief Ruan has already left word, what are we still waiting for?" a middle-aged man asked impatiently, "Let's just get it done!"

The leading man turned to him and asked, "Where did Chief Ruan say he was going?"

"He said he was going to the garrison headquarters!" the other replied.

"Are you fucking stupid?!" the leading man replied in his local dialect, "Didn't you watch the press conference just now? The big tree above our heads has fallen, do you think our Chief Ruan can still come back?"

The crowd fell silent.

"The problem is, that's the order from above, what if things change...?"

"What change could there be!" the leading man cursed, "There's already a result."

Across the way, another young man, after a long silence, whispered a reminder, "Since everything is settled, why hasn't Gui Mengjun been rescued?"

As soon as he spoke, everyone froze.

"Have you ever considered a question, his trouble isn't simply because Chief Ruan wanted to move against him, but because someone also wanted to use Chief Ruan's hand to get rid of him?" the young man said very intelligently, "If the higher-ups also don't want him to live, then we haven't dealt with him, and instead, we've kissed the donkey's ass!"

"That makes sense!"

"What do we do?!"

"Then let's do it, damn it, do it, inject him with the drug!"

After discussing, the group immediately returned to the warehouse.

Four people reached out and held Gui Mengjun down, while two others took out a vial of medicine, preparing to give Gui Mengjun an injection.

This medicine was imported. Once injected into the blood vessels, the person would die within a minute, and it would be a sudden cardiac arrest, leaving no trace.

"Sorry, Director Gui," the leading man said to Gui Mengjun, reaching out and preparing to insert the needle into his blood vessel.

Gui Mengjun was now aware that the other party wanted to kill him, but he no longer had the strength to resist. He lowered his head and slowly closed his eyes.

"Bang!"

A muffled sound rang out, and eight men rushed in from outside the door. The leader, wearing a suit, shouted with his hands behind his back, "Let him go!"

The crowd turned around.

The leader showed his documents, "From the Military Intelligence Headquarters."

"Yes, sir!" the six men stood at attention and saluted.

"Take him away!" the leader pointed at Gui Mengjun and ordered.

The people behind him stepped forward, untied Gui Mengjun's shackles, and helped him leave the room in a hurry.

The six men looked at their superiors with longing eyes, not daring to speak.

The leader looked at them with his hands behind his back, stepped forward, and suddenly whispered, "I gave you a day, and you still can't get things done?"

The crowd was stunned.

"Where's your brain?" the leader frowned, "Ruan Zhengtan's men are all useless!"

With that, the man turned and left.

The young man among the six reacted and immediately raised his hand and shouted, "We can do it now, we can immediately...!"

"Bang, bang, bang...!"

A group of soldiers rushed in from outside the door, ruthlessly shooting and killing the six men.

The room was filled with a bloody atmosphere. The six men fell to the ground, at least half of them not knowing how they died.

Gui Mengjun was taken away and sent directly to the hospital for treatment.

...

Around 4:00 PM.

Inside the garrison headquarters, more than a dozen core officers above the rank of lieutenant colonel were secretly escorted to Hanoi.

After everything was arranged, the lieutenant colonel officer met Pu Xingguo and said softly to him, "Let's go!"

Pu Xingguo took a deep look at the scenery outside the window before following the crowd away with a lonely figure.