Let them offer their loyalty!

```

"Even if I agree to give it to you, would Ye Mingfeng agree? Would Jiang Zhenpeng agree? Would Eastern City agree?"

Yan Chen was referring to the other two of Xinjie City's Three Giants: General Ye of the military and Commissioner Jiang of City Hall.

However, upon hearing Yan Chen's words, Jia Wei's expression remained unchanged; he simply looked at Yan Chen with a smile that wasn't quite a smile, his eyes full of confidence…

At first, Yan Chen was still smiling, but it quickly faded.

He lifted his eyes, his aged gaze emotionless as he looked at Jia Wei, "You can take care of Ye Mingfeng and Jiang Zhenpeng?"

Jia Wei didn't answer.

Yan Chen continued to probe, "So... What about Eastern City?"

Jia Wei's smile stretched almost to his ears.

Seeing this, Yan Chen took a deep breath, his eyelids drooping as he leaned back with a hint of lament in his voice, "Is it really interesting to be a traitor?"

"Our human fate is already fraught enough. As compatriots, why add insult to injury...?" Explore new worlds at empire

Hearing Yan Chen's words, the malice in Jia Wei's eyes overflowed. He glared menacingly at Yan Chen and said, "Human fate fraught? Heh heh heh."

"Have you ever considered my fate?"

"If it weren't for your misjudgment back then! Maybe I, too, would have had a bright future!"

"It was you who pushed me into this bottomless abyss?!"

"Now you talk to me of pity? Of fate?! Pah!"

"You told me that these Evil Gods were the culprits behind the Era of Disaster! But have they ever harmed me?!"

"On the contrary, it is you, all my present sufferings are caused by you!"

Yan Chen, upon hearing these words, was long silent.

And just as the atmosphere in the study was turning somewhat subdued, suddenly, the door of the study was knocked on "bang bang bang."

Then, the door opened, and Ji Chen stood at the door of the study.

He glanced at the agitated Jia Wei and then turned to Yan Chen, tentatively asking, "Bureau Chief, there's important intelligence…"

Yan Chen himself wanted to break the current conversational atmosphere, so he nodded slightly.

Seeing this, Ji Chen quickly walked over to Yan Chen. He bent down, leaned in close to Yan Chen's ear, covering his mouth with his hand, and whispered, "Bureau Chief, Secretary Bai just sent a message."

"Reports from our people below say, tonight on-site, four Mysterious persons attacked Qiu Tu in succession, all very powerful, likely all Second-Order Cataclysmics Awakened."

"Spectating powers around the scene are being dragged into the battlefield, either actively or passively."

"Besides Minister Lin Ting, there are combat teams from the Security Department, defense teams from the Municipal Committee, and... Director Tang."

"Tang Feifei?" Hearing this name, Yan Chen's gaze fluctuated slightly, pondering something.

Ji Chen hummed in acknowledgment, then continued, "However, our people down there aren't clear if Director Tang came at Qiu Tu's invitation or if she sniffed out something and came on her own."

"Moreover, it wasn't just her who came; people from the Disciplinary Department showed up with her."

Hearing this, Yan Chen's brow furrowed deeply.

Then, Ji Chen quietly glanced at the "Jia Shu" in front of him and continued to whisper, "According to the scouts' report, Minister Jia seems to have been taken away by the Disciplinary Department's people."

"But the exact reason isn't clear. Perhaps he attacked Qiu Tu?"

"Moreover, Qiu Tu now appears to be missing as well."

"Judging from the blood traces and signs left on the ground, he is suspected to have been... killed."

Yan Chen's gaze grew even more somber upon hearing this.

He pondered in silence for a moment, then finally said, "Give him a call."

Hearing Yan Chen's words, Ji Chen first looked up at Jia Wei before taking out the communicator to dial Qiu Tu's number.

After a moment, the call connected, but what rang out was the urgent "beep beep beep" of the line.

Ji Chen, somewhat surprised, said, "Qiu Tu seems to be on the phone? Looks like he might be fine?"

```

Yan Chen heard the remark and nodded slightly.

Seeing this, Ji Chen turned his eyes and deliberately asked, "But, Director Tang, he just had a narrow escape, so who is he on the phone with now?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Chen lightly furrowed his brows, his expression neither happy nor sad, inscrutable...

.....

At this time, Qiu Tu was indeed on the phone.

Or rather... As scouts from various factions gradually found the last battleground and discovered traces of Qiu Tu's "death," his phone hadn't stopped ringing.

The first call was from Qin Shuman.

Qin Shuman was clearly frantic over the phone.

As soon as the call connected, she bombarded him with a series of questions.

"Where are you?" "Are you okay?" "Are you hurt?" "Are you still safe? Should I come to find you?" and other similar questions.

Touched by her concern, Qiu Tu teased the female officer a bit.

After all... the Qin Shuman he knew had always been calm, collected, and confident, not at all flustered like she was now.

After reassuring Qin Shuman and making small talk for a bit, Qiu Tu also inquired about the progress of the situation after he left and the attitude of the Security Department toward the entire incident.

According to Qin Shuman, Tang Feifei had arrived just in time, so apart from Commissioner Jiang's security team leaving no enemies behind, the other three Masked Men in Suits who were held up were successfully apprehended!

Subsequently, these three Masked Men in Suits were all taken away by Supervisors from the Disciplinary Department.

With that, the entire assassination attempt came to a conclusive end.

And Bureau Chief Dai Yukang from the Security Department had been nearly entirely focused on the event throughout the evening.

Once everything settled, he only remarked with eight words, "A mastermind of strategy, determining the fate of the heavens."

For the typically critical Dai Yukang, this was indeed the highest praise he could offer.

Moreover, Qin Shuman mentioned that because of this incident, Dai Yukang was looking to meet with Qiu Tu in the next couple of days.

Although Dai Yukang did not specify the reason for the meeting, both of them guessed that Dai Yukang must have taken an interest in Qiu Tu and wanted to fully recruit him into the military's ranks...

After hanging up with Qin Shuman, Qiu Tu immediately received a call from Commissioner Jiang's confidential secretary, Tao Yaoyao.

Perhaps because their relationship wasn't firmly established, Tao Yaoyao didn't overtly praise Qiu Tu like Qin Shuman had.

She only delivered a message from Commissioner Jiang, "Quite satisfied with tonight's gift..."

Afterward, she also extended a meeting invitation on behalf of Commissioner Jiang to Qiu Tu.

Of course, Qiu Tu readily accepted.

To be honest, he was quite interested in this stunning secretary and the enigmatic Commissioner Jiang and was very keen to get to know them better.

Moreover... his name had risen in prominence in Xinjie City through recent cases, catching the attention of various factions.

And with tonight's events, he was almost certainly going to be exposed to Yan Chen, so it was indeed time to secure a new support or plan a few good exit strategies...

The subsequent calls were from friends who cared about Qiu Tu and some with information channels.

There was Secretary Bai, Liu Fuping, and even... Fang Ming, with whom Qiu Tu had cooperated numerous times before.

This actually elevated Fang Ming's standing in Qiu Tu's heart by another level.

This individual was not only sentimentally loyal but also well-connected.

The knowledge of Qiu Tu's assassination attempt, despite its significant impact on Xinjie City's upper echelons, was likely to be within the knowledge of only the top levels of the three major power institutions that day.

That Fang Ming got wind of it suggested his status was far from ordinary. It might well be related to his father, who resided on Longshan Road...

Such a person, with a decent character and not-so-simple identity, was someone everyone would want to befriend.

Besides the courting and concern of various factions and friends, there were also some unpleasant developments...

--------

Still 3 chapters, 10,000 words haha. The third chapter will be updated around 20:00.