Let them offer their loyalty!

As they thought this, their gazes involuntarily fell upon Wu Zhi's corpse.

Wu Zhi now had a hole in his head, his eyes wide open and staring, giving him a particularly eerie appearance.

Recalling the scene from last night when the three of them had been toasting and celebrating together, recalling the mutual flattery at the table, the two of them felt somewhat melancholic for a moment.

And when they thought about how they had been brimming with enthusiasm before meeting Qiu Tu today, they also felt a lot more puzzled in their hearts.

When investigating a case, detectives are accustomed to starting from the motive behind the crime. Politicians, when thinking about conspiracies, also tend to suspect those who would benefit the most from the conspiracy.

Although Qiu Tu had yet to have any contact with Wu Zhi and did not know Wu Zhi came to Xinjie City for him,

the biggest beneficiary of Wu Zhi's death was definitely Qiu Tu.

With the death of Wu Zhi, all the "evidence" of Qiu Tu's crimes that Wu Zhi had been investigating dissipated like smoke.

Add to that the fact that the attack happened in a region controlled by Qiu Tu, giving him ample time and reason to arrange things, the two were still somewhat suspicious of Qiu Tu.

Thinking this way, Ji Chen looked up at Commissioner Wang and tentatively asked, "Commissioner, do you think this could have been orchestrated by Qiu Tu himself?"

His words clearly carried a double meaning.

So... hearing Ji Chen's words, Commissioner Wang's gaze visibly fluctuated intensely.

He did not answer immediately but pondered the meaning behind Ji Chen's words...

After a moment, Commissioner Wang hesitated for a long time, but in the end, he shook his head and said, "This matter is too significant to be framed lightly."

"It is best to let the Investigation Bureau conduct a thorough investigation."

Having said this, sensing that Ji Chen was not yet dissuaded, Commissioner Wang looked around and added in a lowered voice, "There are more than just the mysterious person who dare to assassinate."

"How many lives do you have?"

Hearing Commissioner Wang's words, Ji Chen was shocked.

He involuntarily turned his head to look towards Secretary Bai's villa.

Outside the villa, several of Qiu Tu's confidants were dutifully standing guard.

Thinking of Qiu Tu's confidants, who would not hesitate to shield him with their lives and had pulled out their guns at the slightest disagreement, a cold sweat broke out on Ji Chen's back.

Indeed... Qiu Tu was no longer the lowly citizen he used to be, who could be manipulated at will.

He was now the Deputy Director of the Political Department, with a group of confidants willing to die for him.

A fair trial could lead to retaliation. If one dared to frame him... there might be someone among them ruthless enough to kill one's entire family.

Even if one went to the Bureau Chief to find a way to dismiss Qiu Tu's confidants from their positions,

but... let's not forget that Qiu Tu's influence isn't limited to just this group of confidants. He has a band of sworn brothers in Xinjie City and his own power within the military...

Those are confidants who are even more loyal to Qiu Tu than the ones with him.

It's not worth risking one's entire family's lives over a job and a few dollars.

Thinking this way, Ji Chen gave a dry laugh and said, "Commissioner Wang makes sense. I will go and report on the situation now."

After speaking, Ji Chen let out a sigh, took out his communicator, walked aside, and began making a phone call.

The first person Ji Chen called was, of course, Yan Chen.

With such a significant incident, he definitely had to report to Yan Chen.

But strangely... after several attempts, Yan Chen didn't answer the call at all.

No one answered, whether it was the communicator or the landline.

Ji Chen found this odd.

Originally, the always diligent Yan Chen had taken a sick leave today and rested at the villa, which had surprised him—in his careful care of Yan Chen, he had not noticed the slightest discomfort in him.

But at that time, he had thought that Yan Chen did not want to meet with Wu Zhi, so he did not think much of it.

But now... being unable to make contact gave him an uneasy feeling.

Thinking this, he made a call to the maid at Yan Chen's house.

After a while, the maid answered the call.

Ji Chen tentatively inquired, "Ah-Lan, is the Director at home?"

Upon hearing this, the maid replied, "He is at home. But... he seems to be feeling ill, sleeping alone in the bedroom without letting us disturb him."

Hearing this, Ji Chen said "Oh" in relief, putting half of his worries to rest.

Then he said, "Ah-Lan, could you please pass the phone to the Director? I have an urgent matter here."

Hearing Ji Chen's request, Ah-Lan hastily refused, "No, no. I wouldn't dare."

She added, "Director Ji, you don't understand. The Director's temper has been very foul today."

"He locked himself in his bedroom early this morning and would not allow us to disturb him."

"But then, not much later, there was the sound of something falling in his bedroom."

"On-duty Ah-Ju was startled and quickly pushed the door to check what was going on."

"Who would have thought that she would be shot dead by the Director."

At this point, Ah-Lan's voice was trembling, "We were the ones who had to clean the blood from the floor."

"You have no idea how scared we were, worrying that a loud noise from cleaning might result in bullets flying."

Hearing Ah-Lan's words, Ji Chen's expression froze.

In his memory, Yan Chen was never a person of unpredictable moods.

On the contrary, although somewhat suspicious, even when he doubted someone, Yan Chen was always able to keep his cool, a boss with stable emotions.

His unusual behavior today likely indicated that he had encountered some vexing problem.

Thinking this, he didn't push further and said, "Alright, Ah-Lan. I'll talk to the Director myself when I get back to the villa."

After that, he ended the call and began to ponder how to handle the situation.

Usually, if Yan Chen was not available, Ji Chen would often report to Secretary Bai, letting him take charge.

But Secretary Bai...

At this thought, Ji Chen turned his head to glance at Secretary Bai's villa, surrounded by people.

'Qiu Tu, damn you to hell!'

After cursing Qiu Tu silently, Ji Chen picked up the communicator and called Yu Zhengyi.

With both the Bureau Chief and his secretary away, Ji Chen could only think of Deputy Director of Administration Yu Zhengyi to step in and handle the situation.

This time, Ji Chen's call was picked up within two seconds.

Yu Zhengyi's voice came through the phone, "Hello? Ji? What's happened?"

Hearing Yu Zhengyi's inquiry, Ji Chen took a deep breath and hurriedly reported everything that had just transpired.

Since he had previously reached a consensus with Commissioner Wang, Ji Chen did not exaggerate the details when recounting the event. Instead, he relayed every aspect of the battle truthfully and in full detail.

That included the enemy's ability to become invisible, the enemy firing several shots at Qiu Tu, the enemy being hit and, of course, the detail that Wu Zhi had been shot in the head and was now lifeless...

After hearing Ji Chen's report, Yu Zhengyi was quite stunned.

What the hell did he just hear?! An Advisor to Huang Shangzong was shot in the head in Xinjie City?

And Qiu Tu and his people were attacked too?

At that moment, Yu Zhengyi felt like scolding Ji Chen into oblivion—dumping such a mess on him? Was he eager to make Yu bear the brunt of the situation?

But since the matter was now in his hands, Yu Zhengyi had to deal with it.

Although he was cursing internally, his voice offered calm reassurance, "Director Ji, you stabilize Commissioner Wang for the time being. I'm heading over with backup immediately."

"As for the assassination attempt... don't worry about it."

After a moment of contemplation, Yu Zhengyi said, "If I'm not wrong, the assassin you encountered probably will not come back."

Hearing this, Ji Chen couldn't help but ask, "Director Yu, why are you so sure?"

Getting up from his seat, Yu Zhengyi explained, "You've just arrived at the Investigation Bureau and haven't dealt with many cases or wanted criminals, so you're not aware."

"In fact, the assassin who targeted you is quite famous."

"Famous?" Ji Chen asked, hesitantly.

Yu Zhengyi hummed and said, "The assassin is known as 'Lone Wolf.' He's a prominent hitman active in the Planning Area in recent years."

"His Cataclysmic ability should be related to concealment, making him extremely difficult to deal with."

"Over the years, he's assassinated many wealthy people and officials in several cities near Xinjie. His methods are extremely brutal and the situations are very grave."

"That's why he's now ranked 17th on the bounty list in the Planning Area."

"As soon as you described him, I guessed it was him."

Yu Zhengyi paused before adding, "It is rumored in Jianghu that he was trained by the United Front and backed by the Anti-government Armed Forces."

"So, his attempt on your lives, might also be related to that."

Hearing Yu Zhengyi's explanation, Ji Chen had a look of sudden realization.

But whether it was intuition or not, he always felt... that there was more to it than met the eye.

Moreover, he always harbored some doubts about Qiu Tu.

With this in mind, he asked, "Director, do you think this could be related to Qiu Tu?" Discover hidden tales at My Virtual Library Empire

"After all, he's the biggest beneficiary after Wu Counselor's death."

"And... he has many underlings. It's entirely possible that someone might have impersonated the Lone Wolf."

Hearing Ji Chen's words, Yu Zhengyi paused.

Perhaps because he was too focused on the situation at hand, he had not suspected Qiu Tu.

But now that Ji Chen had raised the issue, he too felt that things seemed a bit too convenient...

After hesitating for a moment, he added, "I'll have someone keep an eye on him and check his people."

When Ji Chen heard this, he promptly flattered, "Director Yu is thorough in his work."

Yu Zhengyi wasn't much for flattery. After issuing a hum of acknowledgment, he said, "Just steady Commissioner Wang for now. We'll be there soon."

Ji Chen, "Understood!"

....

Meanwhile.

As Ji Chen and Yu Zhengyi harbored suspicions about Qiu Tu.

Qiu Tu himself was tending to Chen Feng's wounds in the villa at that very moment.

Secretary Bai's villa was equipped with a medical kit and basic surgical tools.

So, Qiu Tu took matters into his own hands, disinfecting Chen Feng's wound with high-proof alcohol before using tweezers to extract the bullet from his flesh.

Chen Feng was tough as nails. Despite the pain that caused him to break out in a cold sweat and blanch, he bit down hard and didn't make a sound.

Even... after Qiu Tu pulled out the bullet, Chen Feng still took it in his hand to inspect it.

After a moment, his voice hoarse, Chen Feng said to Qiu Tu, "Boss. The bullet is from the United Front."

Qiu Tu hummed in response, continuing to remove the bullets.

Chen Feng kept silent, but Cao Dabiao paced anxiously nearby, clenching his teeth and vowing, "Damn United Front! They hit so hard! One day, I'll blast them all to pieces!"

Hearing Cao Dabiao's outburst, a ripple of unease flickered in Qiu Tu's eyes, feeling as if the United Front was being unjustly blamed...

After all, the assault was not initiated by the United Front, and shooting Chen Feng was not intentional...

Because, the entire attack had been orchestrated by Qiu Tu himself....

With these thoughts in mind, Qiu Tu reflected on the plan behind the assault.

Having learned of Wu Zhi's arrival in Xinjie City the night before last, his plotting of mischief in alliance with the local forces of Xinjie City, Qiu Tu had been pondering how to manage the situation.

Honestly, if Wu Zhi had come to investigate on his own, or if it was merely the local forces of Xinjie starting trouble, the issue would have been easy to resolve.

Either by marginalizing Wu Zhi, providing false information, acting; or by creating alliances, offering direct opposition.

But once these two forces joined, with top-level support and ground-level assistance, for Qiu Tu to overturn the situation using mere schemes and stratagems would have been too difficult.

Thus, after much consideration, Qiu Tu made a decision: if the chess game couldn't be played, then it was time to flip the table!

In political struggles, although intrigues and strategies are important, brute force can sometimes create miracles.

When you can't destroy your enemy with words or machinations, physically annihilating him might be an alternative.

However, while Qiu Tu was ready for physical annihilation, the method and technique still mattered.

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