Half an hour ago, Chang Jianyi and Shen Feng were still arguing about emotional issues, but now, facing a sudden crisis, the two stood together without hesitation.
Shen Feng looked at his senior sister's expectant gaze, took a deep breath, and said to Chang Jianyi, "Notify Yang Chang to seal off important passages in Yuzhou, Guo Pinming and Lu Xian to lead the city-wide search, find Lin Yue, and have him list all suspicious personnel. Better to kill the wrong person than let one go!"
Shen Feng was enraged now. If he hadn't argued with his senior sister today, wouldn't he be the one eating the food? Even as a fifth-tier ability user, he might not be able to withstand the potent poison, and the person who ambushed him also intended to kill Chang Jianyi and Chang Haojie. Their family of three's lives were directly threatened.
Chang Jianyi also reacted quickly, nodding and saying, "We do need to launch a search. I won't settle accounts with you for what just happened. We'll deal with it after we catch the enemy."
Chang Jianyi was always someone who could distinguish priorities. Now that her family of three was facing a life threat, if she did nothing, wouldn't it embolden the murderer's arrogance?
Chang Haojie hugged Xiao Hei and asked tearfully, "What about my dog?"
Shen Feng squatted down, patted his shoulder, and said in a low voice, "Xiao Jie, bury Xiao Hei. You can choose cremation or burial. Let him rest in peace. We will avenge Xiao Hei. But remember one thing, no cumin when cremating, and definitely no tasting."
Chang Haojie nodded and said, "Then I'll go bury Xiao Hei. Sister, brother-in-law, you must avenge my Xiao Hei, and you must be careful too."
Shen Feng immediately contacted his soldiers to seal all the main roads in Yuzhou. No one was allowed to leave without his order. Chang Jianyi, on the other hand, contacted Lin Yue.
When Lin Yue appeared before Chang Jianyi, she immediately began to question him, "Lin Yue, you said before that you were going to set up an intelligence department. I want to ask you, how is that intelligence department doing? The killer poisoned our family's food, and you have no information at all!"
Lin Yue broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this question. He didn't expect anyone to be so audacious as to poison the city lord's food. If it had succeeded, wouldn't Yuzhou be leaderless?
Lin Yue quickly defended himself, "City Lord, Deputy City Lord, please listen to me. I've been investigating the gang forces within Jiangyang and Yuzhou. These people have obtained firearms privately, but they haven't committed any crimes, so I can't arrest them. This assassination must be related to these underground gangs!"
Shen Feng took a deep breath and asked, "Do you have the addresses of these gangs? I don't care what these gangs do, I only have one goal now, and that is to kill!"
Lin Yue was overjoyed. He had been investigating for a long time and only knew that the killer of Fu Ya was likely a member of a certain gang, but he didn't know who it was. Qi Lingshan's secret investigation also hadn't made much progress. The gang he belonged to was only capable of extorting protection fees and could not gather much information. But now that Shen Feng wanted to launch a large-scale crackdown, wouldn't that be his opportunity?
Thinking of this, Lin Yue quickly nodded and said to Shen Feng, "City Lord, I have the addresses of many gangs now, and not only the addresses of gangs, but also the addresses of some mysterious places!"
Shen Feng nodded at this, saying with satisfaction, "If you can provide all these gang addresses, it will be a great contribution, and I will reward you."
Lin Yue didn't hesitate and immediately took out a map of Yuzhou from his body. There were more than a dozen circled areas on it, all of which were gang locations.
Chang Jianyi was not idle either. She took out her phone and called important military forces in the city, "Hello, Chu Chaoyan? Emergency operation, gather quickly."
"Zhang Xiaoxiang? Issue a curfew order. No one is allowed to be on the streets."
"Lu Kaiyang? Bring twenty men to protect my brother."
"Cai He, right? Bring people to protect the City Lord's Mansion, especially protect the civilian staff, and don't let them get hurt."
Shen Feng and Chang Jianyi quickly mobilized the city's soldiers to catch the mastermind. When Chu Chaoyan heard the news of Shen Feng being assassinated, she was stunned and rushed to Shen Feng's side, examining him from head to toe, finally confirming that Shen Feng was unharmed.
Chang Jianyi saw this scene and immediately frowned. She could see now that the "if" Shen Feng mentioned was not referring to anyone else but Chu Chaoyan.
"Guarding against the thief is easy, but guarding against the family is hard!" Chang Jianyi thought to herself.
Shen Feng explained to Chu Chaoyan, "We are about to conduct a city-wide search. Take a group of people to the location I designated and arrest all these gang members. If they dare to resist, shoot them directly."
Chu Chaoyan nodded and was about to leave with her men, but then she suddenly thought of something and quickly said to Shen Feng, "By the way, isn't Zhang Xixi good at mind-reading? How about letting her be responsible for the interrogation? I think she's very suitable."
Shen Feng nodded and adopted the suggestion.
For a time, the entire city was in panic. Traffic arteries were directly blocked, and the City Lord's Mansion issued a curfew order. Staff members with loudspeakers were broadcasting it repeatedly on the streets. All the people in the city stayed at home obediently, not daring to make any moves.
In a factory in the eastern part of the city, a group of people were working busily. These people were all in a panic because the city's martial law had begun, and they were all afraid of the danger.
Feng Shicheng was sweating profusely, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief while directing his subordinates, saying, "Quick, quick, get rid of the things in your hands, don't get caught. Also, if anyone comes to search, you must not say anything out of line. When the storm passes, we can make a comeback."
Feng Shicheng regretted his involvement in this line of business. If he were caught, wouldn't he be unable to clear his name?
Feng Shicheng watched his men hide the contents of the cardboard boxes in the secret room. If they couldn't hide them, they would cover them with oilcloth. In any case, his business must not be discovered, or disaster would strike.
"What's going on? Have the people in the City Lord's Mansion gone mad? Why is there a city-wide martial law?" Feng Shicheng was puzzled. He couldn't figure it out either. Yuzhou was outwardly harmonious, but now it was suddenly under martial law. Even if he wanted to run, he couldn't.
"Open the door, open the door, checking the water meter!" The factory gate was suddenly knocked on, and a powerful voice came from outside the factory.
Feng Shicheng quickly directed his men to conceal the items, then walked to the gate and said, "The water meter is outside, you can check it outside."
The people outside the gate were silent for a moment, then shouted loudly, "Open the door, the City Lord's Mansion is sending warmth, we have everything you need."
Feng Shicheng still wanted to delay, so he quickly said, "We don't lack warmth, no need to send it. I appreciate the thought, but there are people who need warmth more. You go find them. We are capable and don't want to occupy limited resources. It's better to leave important resources to those who truly need them."
"Stop the nonsense, you won't open the door, right? We're opening fire!" The people outside the city couldn't stand it anymore. They originally wanted to open the door without bloodshed, but now it seemed that the people inside wouldn't yield to soft tactics, so they had to resort to hard ones.
Feng Shicheng had no choice but to open the factory gate, his face pale. He knew he couldn't escape.
More than thirty heavily armed soldiers rushed in, their guns pointed at everyone in the factory, "Put your heads down and squat down, await processing! Anyone who resists will be shot on sight!"
The people in the factory dared not resist, so they all put their heads down and squatted in the corner. Even Feng Shicheng could only squat honestly. They all knew the consequences of resistance. How could flesh and blood block hot bullets? Under the threat of life, nothing else mattered.
The soldiers spread out in the factory. Shen Feng and Lin Yue walked in and found that all the people in this factory were ordinary people. Although there were more than sixty of them, these people posed no threat to him. The leader was a man in his thirties, squatting on the ground with his head down, as obedient as could be.
"Lin Yue, these people shouldn't be gang members, should they?" Shen Feng couldn't help but ask.
Lin Yue explained, "City Lord, my informants observed that these people were selling very special items. When selling, they always put them in small boxes. Many people bought them, and it is said that many people used their remaining food to buy these things."
Shen Feng nodded, vaguely understanding what was being sold, and said, "If they are selling heroin, then drag them out and shoot them, and confiscate their property."
Shen Feng walked around the factory and found a pile of things covered with oilcloth. He reached out and lifted it, but what appeared before him was not the so-called harmful substance, but a stack of small books. Upon picking one up, Shen Feng was shocked.
"This man threw the young woman onto the bed and then stepped forward, saying..." Shen Feng read aloud casually.
Feng Shicheng quickly shouted, "City Lord, stop reading, stop reading, I still have some dignity."
Feng Shicheng was most afraid of his business being discovered, as it was illicit. People in his line of work were most afraid of being caught, so they never dared to use their real names. The most typical example was the author of "Jin Ping Mei," Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng, whose real name no one knew.
Shen Feng did not put down the "Liu Bei" in his hand, but whistled, "Yo, there are quite a few detailed descriptions, and with so many pictures, it's really amazing!"
Shen Feng figured out what the factory was doing. It was a gang selling "Liu Bei." He couldn't help but laugh. In the apocalypse, all sorts of people emerged, not only gangs formed opportunistically but also those involved in gambling, pornography, and drugs.
Lin Yue was a bit embarrassed at this point. He thought this was a gang selling "white powder," but now they only found a pile of vulgar novels. His dozens of soldiers were searching, but they only caught so few people. It was like using a cannon to hit a mosquito.
"City Lord, since these people are not gang members, let's leave. Just fine them," Lin Yue couldn't help but say.
Shen Feng shrugged, his expression returning to normal, "What are you talking about? What we need most now is deterrence, in other words, a crackdown. These people are not doing anything good either. They exchange a pile of waste paper for people's hard-earned food. Is that normal? Drag them out and shoot them."
From the moment Yuzhou was sealed off, Shen Feng had already decided to go on a killing spree, so even those who committed minor offenses must be severely punished.
Feng Shicheng couldn't take it when he heard this and quickly defended himself, "City Lord, calm down. If you go on a killing spree, won't you lose popular support? Let's just fine them. No matter how much the fine is, we'll accept it!"
Feng Shicheng was originally worried about being disgraced. If the news of him selling erotic novels got out, wouldn't he be ridiculed by others? Such an unsavory matter, no matter who found out, would cause them to burst into laughter, and he himself would not be able to hold his head up.
But now, Feng Shicheng couldn't care about that anymore. As long as he could stay alive, he would say anything.
Shen Feng shrugged and said, "Don't talk nonsense. I was just assassinated, and I don't want to figure out who did it. Better to kill the wrong person than let one go."
After speaking, Shen Feng gestured to the soldiers beside him. The soldiers immediately stepped forward and shouted, "Go, go, go, stand in a line, don't push, strive to be a good person in your next life."
The soldiers in the factory immediately started crying and wailing. They didn't expect that just printing a few stimulating novels would lead to them being shot. What kind of logic was this? Clearly, the soldiers did not intend to reason; they only obeyed the City Lord's orders.
"Brothers, elder brothers, we are all from the same hometown, don't be so heartless."
"My son was just born, he can't even call me 'dad' yet, I can't die!"
"Grandpas, we didn't do anything wrong. The money we earned from selling books, we can hand it all over. Spare us."
The workers cried and begged for mercy, but these soldiers had experienced many battles and their hearts were as hard as stone. They could not be easily moved by such words.
Feng Shicheng was still smart. He shouted loudly, "Don't do it, don't do it, I'm useful. City Lord, you want to arrest people, right? I can give you suggestions. There's nothing in Jiangyang and Yuzhou that we don't know!"
Now it was a matter of saving his life. Since these soldiers didn't want food, he could only show them higher value.