Chapter 239: Chapter 29: On the Brink
Shen Jiaming was momentarily stunned, his outstretched hand paused in mid-air, only realizing after a few seconds — a military vehicle? Blocking both the front and back exits of Tianli Entertainment City? What in the world is going on?
Shen Jiaming snapped back to reality and quickly dialed the number he just called, which was from the surveillance room of the entertainment city’s security department. However, when he dialed, he only heard a busy signal.
"Xiao Shen, what’s going on?" Poison Dragon, who was in the private room, saw Shen Jiaming’s actions and expressions. His face was stiff, especially since Shen Jiaming still dared not go out.
Sweat slightly appeared on Shen Jiaming’s forehead. Since the establishment of Tianli Entertainment City, even when faced with nationwide crackdowns, they would only put up a show at most. Shen Jiaming always knew when and who would come. However, the call just now said the army had arrived. Shen Jiaming vaguely realized things might have gone big. Upon hearing Poison Dragon’s inquiry, he quickly replied, "Master, more than a dozen military vehicles with soldiers have arrived below, blocking the front and back entrances of the entertainment city. The people from the surveillance room called just now, but the call cut off before they finished speaking!"
"Military vehicles?" Poison Dragon and the Poison Dragon Gang bigwigs were momentarily stunned in the private room, and then their mood sank. They did not expect the opponents to move so swiftly, leaving them no time to react.
"Then why are you still standing here? Hurry up and find out what’s going on!"
"Yes!" Receiving Poison Dragon’s order, Shen Jiaming quickly turned and went out.
In the private room, Poison Dragon looked gloomy. He immediately decided and said to Li Nan and Cheng Fei, "Get up, it appears the situation is urgent tonight. Even though hearing about the dozens of military vehicles downstairs, Poison Dragon was calm in deploying troops. Those military vehicles mean at most three to four hundred soldiers, but the entertainment city has six to seven hundred people gathered here. They can hold out for a while. Even if everyone surrenders without a struggle, the opponents need time to arrange these prisoners, right?
Poison Dragon and his associates were in the top-level private room, and nobody dared disturb them. The ordinary staff of the entertainment city were all under Shen Jiaming’s command, and the lower-level members couldn’t possibly get in touch with Poison Dragon. The action taken by Xiao Lin and the Sharp Sword Special Forces was as swift as lightning, without a pause. Even an ordinary person would take at least two minutes from getting out of a car at the entrance to reaching the third floor, not to mention arranging personnel in every corridor. This team’s action showed their decisiveness, without dragging their feet.
The pressure from the opponents was so strong that Poison Dragon had no time, how much strength does the entertainment city have left? Quickly mobilize them and prepare for battle. Also, bring over the girls captured last night."
This place was considered the Poison Dragon Gang’s routine headquarters. Aside from the training camp, it was the most important spot. Naturally, the defense force was strong, with over two hundred officially declared security personnel, forming a small but significant force. In the shadows, the trained Poison Dragon Gang members scattered throughout the entertainment city numbered at least three to four hundred. Moreover, this was Poison Dragon Gang territory, with at least three to four thousand people on this street mixed with the gang’s followers, so Poison Dragon wasn’t too afraid since there were underlings to hold the line.
At the worst, even if the opponents were strong, like a tiger among sheep, they would have to expend effort. With this time, an escape could be managed. Of course, this was Poison Dragon’s worst-case scenario.
"How many people do we have on this street? Send a message to everyone who makes a living with us. I don’t believe the opponents dare to invoke the anger of the public!" Poison Dragon said with a sullen face to everyone in the room. Almost all the high-ranking members of the Poison Dragon Gang, many with famous names on Yanjing Road, were here. Each controlled a few streets, and gathering their forces amounted to several thousand.
Upon hearing Poison Dragon’s orders, everyone quickly took out their phones to contact the outside, hoping to rally the troops. Even if it served no purpose, there’s a saying: strength lies in numbers.
These high-ranking members of the Poison Dragon Gang had many underlings maintained over time. Each made calls and reported back to Poison Dragon.
"Master, I can gather over four hundred people to assist. I’m farther away, so it’ll take an hour to arrive!"
"Master, I have over three hundred, arriving in half an hour!"
"Master, we have over two hundred, arriving in twenty minutes!"
One by one they reported numbers, and Poison Dragon was quite satisfied, though the time seemed a bit long. However, for now, getting them to arrive as quickly as possible was the only option.
While they were making calls, Poison Dragon’s phone also remained active. He entered a small sitting room and dialed a number he hadn’t called in a long time.
"Tianli Entertainment City is surrounded by a group of soldiers!"
"Hmm, I know!"
Although the callback wasn’t long, Poison Dragon felt like time was crawling. When the phone rang, only two minutes had passed.
"There hasn’t been any troop movement in the military region tonight. What’s happening there? Hold on, someone will be there in half an hour!"
"Alright, I’ll do my best!"
After hanging up, Poison Dragon’s gaze became sharper, his expression more profound. Another half an hour? Can they hold out? The opponent’s actions were so swift that no information came from below before they were already controlled. Poison Dragon, being a former soldier, knew if it was Huaxia’s elite units, controlling one or two floors would only take three to four minutes, not allowing any reaction below.
The security force of Tianli Entertainment City and some Poison Dragon Gang members might be a force in turf wars, but against professional soldiers, they were under no pressure. It was like a three-year-old child facing a strong adult — more people didn’t mean much help.
Poison Dragon exited the small sitting room and checked the time. It had been several minutes. Why haven’t the girls captured last night been brought over yet? He asked, "What about the matter I mentioned earlier? Haven’t the girls been brought over?"
At this moment, those left in the private room were all veteran figures of the Poison Dragon Gang, the highest of the high-ranking members. Each could hold their ground independently. They looked at each other, unable to provide an answer.
"Master, Xiao Shen just went out not long ago. They should be brought over soon, right?"
Poison Dragon hesitated no longer and said in a low voice, "Let’s go!"
Shen Jiaming left the private room, with members of the security team already waiting at the door. Seeing Shen Jiaming come out, they quickly approached and said, "Boss, something bad has happened. The third floor downstairs has been taken by the army. What’s going on?"
"What’s the current situation? How many people did they send? From which troops?" To Shen Jiaming, if the Yanjing Military Region wanted to take action against them, there shouldn’t be no wind of it. With the Poison Dragon Gang’s extensive business, from the Yanjing Municipal Committee down to the hawkers, even if the Yanjing Military Region wanted such a large movement, it’s impossible the leader wouldn’t have heard any news.
Sometimes similar situations had happened, but the Poison Dragon Gang was forewarned, sending some small fry out. It was never like this, with zero intelligence received.
"I doubt it. They all have loaded guns, and there is a murderous aura about them, like they’ve climbed out from a pile of corpses. Our security didn’t dare approach to ask what was happening!"
While questioning, Shen Jiaming was also making a call, dialing the phone of Secretary Zhang, secretary to the district party chief of the old city, Duan Weiming. He signaled to the person to stop talking, then directly asked into the phone, "Xiao Zhang, what’s happening now?"
On the other end, Xiao Zhang, standing outside the conference room of the Yanjing Municipal Committee, was startled to hear Shen Jiaming’s voice and asked in surprise, "What do you mean, what’s happening?"
"Is there any operation in the district or the municipal bureau today?" Shen Jiaming asked.
"No, what’s going on?" Secretary Zhang asked, puzzled.
"Oh, never mind then!" Shen Jiaming didn’t elaborate. The call was merely to probe if there was any recent activity planned by the municipal or district bureaus.
Subsequently, Shen Jiaming made calls as he walked, dialing numbers to people in the political and legal system of the district and city. After confirming there were no actions planned today, he dialed the last number, that of a deputy director of a political department in the Yanjing Military Region...
Meanwhile, after Xiao Lin, Guo Liang, and Liang Feng led fifty to sixty soldiers to take over the surveillance room, almost the entire Tianli Entertainment City was under their eyes. The building had six floors and twelve passages, each with six surveillance cameras. Excluding the first three floors, eighteen screens needed to be monitored.
From the surveillance screens, the fourth floor had already been taken by the remaining soldiers, just like the first three floors, without any resistance, all gathered obediently in one spot.
Liang Feng looked at these surveillance screens and suddenly pointed to one of the surveillance video windows on the fifth floor, saying, "Lin Cheng and the others are held in this room, unless they have been moved!"
Suddenly, Liang Feng glanced at the surveillance screen of the sixth floor, where a middle-aged man in his forties walked out of a private room door, and immediately a man looking like a security guard approached to talk to him. Liang Feng confidently said, "This person is the apparent boss of this entertainment city, and that private room is the number one private room here, not open to the public normally. Poison Dragon is inside!"
"Brother Liang, you can handle the command here, right?" Xiao Lin, without any courtesy, directly spoke to Guo Liang.
"Military Doctor, no problem at all!" One-armed General Guo Liang replied even more firmly, then turned to the nearby soldiers, "Third team, stay in the surveillance room, report on all floors!" After that, he said to Xiao Lin, "How many years since we last fought side by side? Although I’m missing an arm now, I feel I’m stronger than before!" (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets at . Your support is my greatest motivation.)