Chapter 1 One Day Later

A day later, a little after 11:00 a.m.

Inside the military headquarters, Tan Hengqiang, in a rare display of discomposure, paced back and forth, hands behind his back, cursing, "Damn it! Not a single good egg in that Expeditionary Corps headquarters! Do you know what this means? They're using the excuse of the suspect's murder to deliberately send two regiments here, and they even want to enter the city to assist the investigation team. That's like sticking needles under your eyelids!"

The chief of staff, the think tank, and the core generals of the headquarters, a total of more than a dozen people, listened to Tan Hengqiang in silence, their expressions serious.

Yesterday, after Yang Gang was assassinated, the Regional Council directly transferred two regiments from the Expeditionary Corps to Dragon City, citing the garrison headquarters' inability to guarantee the safety of the investigation team, and sending troops to assist in the investigation.

This move directly stabbed Tan Hengqiang's lung, even more so than when he heard that the investigation team was going to investigate the officers under his command.

Why was this the case?

Because Tan Hengqiang could accept the higher-ups engaging in some political maneuvering, and even accept them suppressing him and delaying part of his military expenditure, but he could not accept the higher-ups directly sending armed forces not under the command of the headquarters to enter Dragon City. This was like a tiger not liking other tigers entering its territory.

Which military commander could tolerate other armed forces in his defense zone?

However, even though he couldn't tolerate it, Tan Hengqiang had no way to openly refuse the higher-ups, because the investigation team had indeed encountered danger last night, and the suspect was dead. It was normal for the higher-ups to send more troops into the city in order to circumvent resistance.

In addition, if Tan Hengqiang openly refused the higher-ups, he would immediately give people a feeling of being guilty. Because the suspects currently caught, the objects of suspicion, were all officers in his garrison. He should avoid suspicion and not interfere in the matter, so he had to swallow this stifled anger for the time being.

Inside the room, everyone was silent. Tan Hengqiang took a step and immediately said, "Since they're here, let's entertain them well. Move the 77th Brigade into the city and set up shop right next to them! Isn't the higher-up saying Dragon City isn't safe? I'll give him a few thousand more men to protect the investigation team together!"

"Yes!"

The chief of staff stood up and saluted.

"Knock, knock!"

Just then, a knock on the door rang out.

"Enter!"

Tan Hengqiang shouted.

The door opened, and Tan Mingchao strode in. Seeing the many generals and elders in the room, he immediately saluted as a subordinate: "Commander, Chief of Staff…!"

"No outsiders here, relax a little." Chief of Staff Zhang waved his hand in greeting.

"Any news from the investigation team?" Tan Hengqiang asked.

"Yes." Tan Mingchao nodded.

"What have they found?" Tan Hengqiang bent down and sat in the main seat.

Tan Mingchao stood next to the sofa area, his back straight as he reported, "Currently, Zhou Xian has two important clues in his hands: the first is that after the bandits shot and killed Yang Gang last night, they had a bit of an accident during their escape and abandoned the getaway car in the alley next to the investigation team's compound. I asked the investigation team's informant, and he said that the bandits' planned route was to evacuate from that alley, because it's close to the night market and snack street, and they could quickly escape once they drove out. But unexpectedly, the owner of a restaurant outside the alley discovered that the restaurant had a power outage because he was temporarily entertaining friends, so he specially called for a generator and stevedores, unintentionally blocking the alley exit, causing the bandits to fail to evacuate according to the planned route."

"Was this boss investigated?" Tan Hengqiang asked.

"Yes, and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong so far. This boss has many businesses and only returned last week," Tan Mingchao replied.

"Continue," Tan Hengqiang nodded.

"In addition to the getaway car seized at the scene, Zhou Xian also has a second clue in his hands," Tan Mingchao said softly, "Before the incident, the investigation team's compound caught fire. It was obvious that someone deliberately set the warehouse on fire, but before Zhou Xian could even investigate… a guard soldier from our garrison suddenly ran away."

"What?!" Tan Hengqiang stood up in disbelief, "One of our men ran away, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I just received the news," Tan Mingchao replied, "This soldier is named Hao Peng, a resident of Huafu in District One. He enlisted two years ago and joined our unit. He's considered a new recruit. He previously worked in the Quartermaster Department, mainly responsible for guarding and security."

Tan Mingqiang's face turned pale with anger upon hearing this. He held it in for a long time before cursing, "Remove the Minister of the Headquarters Quartermaster Department! Immediately!!!"

"Yes!" Tan Mingchao replied.

"Commander, the Union is making a very obvious move. They want to lead the matter to us!" Chief of Staff Zhang frowned and said, "Bribing a new recruit to set the fire as an inside accomplice will make the investigation team think… that we're the ones making trouble!"

"Lead it to us? I'm afraid he's playing with fire and will get burned." Tan Hengqiang walked back and forth with his hands behind his back. "Didn't they make the first move? The first move is bound to leave clues! Lao Zhang, you help Mingchao keep an eye on this matter and do everything you can to capture the murderer who killed Yang Gang. As long as we catch him, then regardless of whether the Union admits it or not, the hijacking must have been their doing."

"Alright." Chief of Staff Zhang nodded.

...

Tianhong Port, Coast Guard Team.

Su Tianyu walked into Director Cheng's office, directly took out an application form for going out on a case, and attached a list of companions.

Director Cheng glanced at it: "What's the situation, going to District Two?"

"Yeah!" Su Tianyu nodded: "Going to do some business, please sign it."

"Going as an official mission?" Director Cheng asked.

"Yes, but no need to connect with the department, anyway, we don't have law enforcement rights there." Su Tianyu replied with a smile.

"Hehe, I, this director, am about to become your secretary." Director Cheng reached out and took the application form, signing it without hesitation: "When can I be liberated?"

"Next time the Coast Guard team has an internal adjustment, you will definitely be promoted, that's for sure!" Su Tianyu grinned and replied.

"Then thank you, Captain Su!" Director Cheng replied with a chuckle: "I don't have anything to thank you with, let me give you a salute...!"

"No, no!" Su Tianyu immediately replied: "You are my leader, always will be!"

...

One hour later.

After Su Tianyu obtained the procedures, he directly dialed Lao Li's phone: "Leader, I'm about to set off."

Li Mingsheng smiled helplessly: "Hehe, got cancer?"

"...What are you saying!"

"Aren't you saying you're about to set off?" Li Mingsheng asked jokingly, "I thought you weren't going to live very long!"

"I've given you all the information I need to give, I'm saying we have to go to District Two."

"Alright, go." Li Mingsheng frowned and asked: "How do you need the family here to cooperate with you?"

Su Tianyu thought for a moment: "If it works out, let's play it big! Have Jin Maohui, the dockworkers' association, and the police department prepare on both sides."

"Okay!" Lao Li responded.