Chapter 298: Heavenly Kingdom Council

"Ah, Pops, don't be so stiff!"

Facing the gloomy-faced Rat, Yan Jing set his flowers aside, stepped forward with open arms, and pulled him into a laughing embrace.

Cradled in his arms, Rat still didn't say a word. A second later, he reached out and lightly tapped Yan Jing's right arm.

Crack!

The crisp sound of shattering bone rang out.

A piercing agony flared in Yan Jing's right arm, the pain so intense that sweat immediately beaded on his forehead.

He had no choice but to shift Rat to his left hand.

"Hey, hey, hey, Pops! I just went out to fool around for a bit. Was that really necessary?"

Yan Jing grimaced, baring his teeth. He could tell his right arm was definitely broken.

"Hmph."

Rat finally made his first sound. It was just a cold snort, but according to the original owner's memories, it was a sign that his anger was fading.

"Heh." Yan Jing ignored his broken arm, letting his Weird Energy surge to slightly suppress the pain.

Then, flashing a carefree smile, he held Rat up to the bouquet with his left hand.

"I brought you flowers, Pops!"

"..."

Rat looked at the flowers and raised an eyebrow.

There was nothing hidden inside them.

They were just flowers.

He hadn't raised an eyebrow because he expected a hidden gift, but because this was the very first time his useless son had given him a pure, simple bouquet.

Going by the kid's usual style, he would normally give a watch or some 'antique' vase dug up from god-knows-where.

Tacky and a waste of money.

"I'll have Secretary Liu transfer fifty thousand to your card later," Rat said, then hopped down from Yan Jing's left hand.

He figured Yan Jing must be broke again.

"Pops, what kind of cat do you take me, Bacon, for?"

Yan Jing asked with righteous indignation.

"Do you think the only reason I'd come back is to ask for money?!"

"Heh." Rat made no attempt to hide the disdain in his eyes. "Could there possibly be any other reason?"

"To see you, of course!"

Yan Jing chuckled.

Rat didn't humor him. He turned his back and asked coldly, "Do you know what time of year it is right now?"

Yan Jing blanked for a moment.

"It's election season."

"If you know that, then stop running around making trouble!" Rat's expression changed in an instant.

Boss Rat, who almost never showed his true emotions to outsiders, was practically roaring at him now.

"The election period only lasts three months! Can't you hold yourself back for just three months?!"

"Do you have any idea how many people are trying to fish in troubled waters right now? Plague is a massive operation! Do you know how many eyes are on us every single day?!"

He reached out and clenched his fist. A current of air materialized, seizing Yan Jing by the collar and dragging him close. His voice turned dark.

"What did I tell you? Whose country is our Peace Heavenly Kingdom?"

Yan Jing stared into Rat's beady black eyes. Even though Rat currently showed a Favorability of 60/100, the icy killing intent in his gaze was entirely genuine.

"It belongs to the conglomerates."

Yan Jing's smile faded slightly as he answered with a serious expression.

"Since you know that, keep your tail tucked and be a good cat for the time being."

Rat released his grip.

"The guy from the Peace Faction has already won four consecutive terms. The Reconciliation Faction and the Reform Faction will both be making major moves this time around. We're already on the Reform Faction's boat, so we can only ride this out to the bitter end."

Rat picked up a custom box of miniature cigarettes from the desk. Yan Jing immediately leaned in, grabbed a nearby lighter, and lit it for him, the motion incredibly natural.

Exhaling a cloud of smoke the size of a quail egg, Rat flicked his ashes.

"Even though our Plague doesn't amount to a fart in those people's eyes, this is just how politics works. If they win, we don't necessarily win with them. But if they go down, we definitely go down too."

"Once this election is over, whether the Reform Faction wins or loses, you need to be ready to shoulder the heavy burden of running Plague."

A profound weariness showed in Rat's eyes.

Yan Jing lowered his gaze and said nothing.

Rat had said these exact words to the original owner several times before, but the original owner had always scoffed at them.

Given Rat's personality, he had probably said the same thing to every single one of his subordinates.

If you took him seriously, you were falling right into his trap.

Even with the Favorability prompt visible now, Yan Jing didn't necessarily believe Rat was telling the truth.

Aside from Yan Jing, Rat also had a godson named Xiong Lao'er and another adopted son named Hu Laosan under his command.

Rat's Favorability toward him was indeed 60, but his Favorability toward those other two could very well be 70 or 75. There was no way to tell.

"How is that matter I asked you to investigate last time?"

Rat asked.

Recalling the matter from the original owner's memories, Yan Jing shook his head.

"No progress for now. I don't know how Lao'er and Laosan are doing with it."

"Then this is the perfect time to call them over and ask them together."

Rat's gaze was calm.

A short while later, two other figures in sharp suits walked through the door.

One was massive and towering, easily three or four meters tall. His black suit clung tightly to his bulging muscles, giving him the absolute look of a violent, hulking thug.

This was Xiong Erzhu, and he was also a bionic species.

Unlike Rat and the original owner, he wasn't fully animal in appearance. Instead, he looked more like a mutated human. His head was an amalgam of human and bear features, which, paired with his towering physique, made him look incredibly oppressive.

The other figure, named Hu Laosan, was a Smart Seed.

He wore glasses and had his hair slicked back, giving off the vibe of a refined degenerate.

His mechanical modification was his right hand. The dark gold metal, partially wrapped in high-end leather, practically reeked of money. From his fingertips downward, the joints of every single component gleamed, looking as if they were meticulously oiled and maintained every day.

"Pops."

The two of them nodded in unison to Rat, who was standing on the desk.

Taking the cue, Yan Jing hopped off the desk and went to stand beside them.

"How is your investigation into the matter Councilor Liu mentioned last time going?"

Rat looked at the two of them.

"I sent people to look into it. It's true that someone has been selling spiked Happy Water in our territory recently."

Xiong Lao'er was the first to speak.

"But we caught two middlemen, and when we asked where their backer was, they wouldn't talk even when beaten to death."

Hearing this, Rat furrowed his brow.

Yan Jing knew exactly why Rat was frowning.

Because when Xiong Lao'er said they 'wouldn't talk even when beaten to death,' he meant they were literally beaten to death.

Rat disliked causing fatalities, but this had always been Xiong Lao'er's style.

At that moment, Hu Laosan chimed in.

"I also caught a peddler selling this Happy Water on my end. According to him, the supplier is very mysterious and generally only provides stock to Smart Seeds. He hinted to us that the supplier implanted something inside his brain, which is why he can't reveal the person's name or appearance."

Rat nodded.

"Did you find a modification master?"

Clearly, compared to Xiong Lao'er, Hu Laosan had come out on top this time.

"I did."

Hu Laosan shook his head.

"I spent a fortune to bring in a modification master from Wastewater Street, but it was no use. Whoever planted the device doesn't seem to follow orthodox methods. The technique shocked even the master I hired; it's completely impossible to remove."

"I'll give you one more week. Resolve this within a week."

Rat offered no advice, only a final deadline.

If he had to handle everything personally, there would be no point in him being the boss.

Subordinates existed to solve problems.

He only needed to raise them.

"Understood."

The group nodded in unison.

"Old Four doesn't need to worry about this matter anymore. From now on, Lao'er and Laosan will take full charge of it."

With that final remark, Rat shooed them all out of the room.

Once out the door, the other two simultaneously shot Yan Jing mocking looks.

Obviously, Yan Jing had performed the worst this time, to the point that he was outright 'exiled' from the task.

In response, Yan Jing flipped them both the middle finger.

"Wishing you two the best of luck with the rest of it, huh!"

Leaving the building, Yan Jing used his Information Component to call his number one lackey.

"Dahan, where are you? I'm over at headquarters. Come pick me up."

"Boss?!"

The voice on the other end was thrilled. He had called Yan Jing many times over the past few days, but the number was always unreachable, leading him to fear that something had happened.

"Boss, I'll be right there."

"Mhm."

While waiting for the car, Yan Jing pondered Rat's earlier words.

Election season.

Every five years, the Peace Heavenly Kingdom held a presidential election.

This was the most turbulent period in the entire Peace Heavenly Kingdom.

Before the presidential election, there had to be a councilor election for the Heavenly Kingdom Council.

And prior to the councilor election, each faction had to hold its own internal primary to select candidate councilors.

Three elections in total.

Successfully advancing even once was no different from ascending straight to heaven.

In the Heavenly Kingdom, a councilor represented genuine, hard power. Once you were promoted, anyone who wanted to touch you would have to weigh the consequences very carefully.

"But it requires a massive amount of money," Yan Jing muttered.

Because the Heavenly Kingdom utilized a universal voting system where everyone could cast one and only one vote using their Information Component, figuring out how to secure those ballots became the absolute key to a successful election.

And compared to other methods, the way to secure ballots in the Peace Heavenly Kingdom was remarkably simple. Aside from the usual slogan-shouting, the most effective method was—handing out money.

For this reason, the amount of money candidates poured into their campaigns was a staggering sum.

However, the law explicitly prohibited politicians from directly participating in commercial trade.

And the penalties for violations were exceptionally severe.

This meant that a candidate usually needed to secure a group of financial backers.

These people would front the money, betting on his successful election. And once successfully elected, he would turn around and use his newfound power to help his investors secure even greater profits.

This was exactly why people said the Peace Heavenly Kingdom was a country belonging to the conglomerates.

Presidents would always come and go.

But conglomerates were truly, meaningfully immune to collapse.

Iron-clad conglomerates, transient presidents—that was the common folk's assessment of it all.

As for the gang Yan Jing was in, it was just like Rat said.

They were nothing but bugs in the sewer.

The only reason they held any deterrent power was because they had people higher up backing them.

For example, the Councilor Liu that Rat had mentioned.

He was an internal councilor of the Reform Faction who had always maintained close ties with Rat.

With election season approaching, he naturally wanted to secure his reelection.

The funds were mostly in place, but to play it safe, he still needed a major event to bolster his reputation.

As it happened, the chief of police had just stumbled upon a major case. After pulling every string he could, the councilor managed to get the investigation transferred into his own hands.

That case was exactly the spiked Happy Water they had just been discussing.

Right as Yan Jing was pondering all this, a black sedan pulled up in front of him.

"Boss!"

An honest-looking, burly man poked his head out the window and looked at Yan Jing.

He then got out, jogged over to the rear door, and pulled it open for him.

Yan Jing nodded and immediately got in the car.