Chapter 301: This Is This Country

Turning himself in at a time like this!

Han Song glanced back at the blond man on the ground. The man was completely mechanically ruined—beyond saving. Panicking, Han Song shouted to his subordinates, "Stop them! Don't let those reporters in!"

But he was too late.

The reporters hadn't come inside, but Yan Jing was already standing at the station entrance in a suit.

"Everyone! Everyone!"

Yan Jing threw his hands wide, looking at the bizarrely shaped reporters crowding around him.

"As you can see, I am here to turn myself in. Why? The reason is simple. I saw this gentleman walk into the station shouting that he was turning himself in—" Yan Jing snapped his fingers. Beside him, Dahan immediately raised an electronic screen playing footage of the blond man walking into the station just moments ago.

"Our Plague loan agency has always held the peace of our Heavenly Kingdom as its highest principle. I frequent the police station, so I know their methods. To prevent any miscarriages of justice—"

Before Yan Jing could finish, the officers rushed forward on command. They pinned his arms firmly behind him and dragged him into the station.

Countless camera flashes erupted, immortalizing the final image of Yan Jing right before his arrest.

In this Domain, information spread even faster than patients rushing to an andrology clinic. Within moments, the news had swept across Muke District.

But only across Muke District.

The news was swiftly cut off.

If someone with ulterior motives used this against them, the Law Enforcement Agency would lose all face.

Even so, Boss Rat still received the news in his building.

Watching the holographic projection of Yan Jing's arrest play on his Information Component, his body twitched with sheer rage.

This jinx of a kid!

Hadn't he just told him last week? For some unknown reason, the Law Enforcement Agency had gone crazy lately, cracking down hard on the Plague.

Don't give them a handle! Don't give them a handle!

He had said it so many times!

He felt a sudden, splitting headache. Right at that moment, the Information Component on his wrist rang.

Seeing the name on the screen, his expression darkened.

"Hello? Chief Zhao, what can I do for you?"

On the other end of the line was the Chief of the Law Enforcement Agency.

The youngest Chief in nearly twenty years.

If Boss Rat guessed correctly, the man was definitely calling to use this incident as leverage.

"Big Rat."

Zhao Jiucheng's voice was extremely deep, suppressing a smoldering anger:

"What is the meaning of this?"

"Hm?" Boss Rat almost didn't process the question. Startled, he quickly settled his nerves and said, "What do you think?"

"Five cases, and we'll let this matter drop."

Zhao Jiucheng stated from the other end.

"Fine."

Boss Rat nodded. "I'll have my people send over—"

"I'll have my subordinates release your man shortly."

Rat hadn't even finished speaking before Zhao Jiucheng cut him off, said his piece, and hung up.

"..."

Rat blinked.

This wasn't how he thought this would go.

Did the Chief mean he was going to wipe out five cases for the Plague?

Not that he wanted the Plague to hand over five culprits to close cases for him?

Even a veteran of the underworld like him couldn't quite understand it. He climbed into his favorite coffee-colored teacup, curled his small body up, and began to think carefully.

Before he could figure it out, he soon received another piece of news: the man the Law Enforcement Agency had just arrested had suffered a mechanical rampage due to police brutality.

In an instant, everything made sense.

Police brutality triggering a mechanical rampage.

For Smart Seeds, this was an absolute taboo. This point alone, once the media spun it, would be enough to make that young Peace Faction Chief suffer immensely. He might even be stripped of his position to quell the public outrage.

"Was it a coincidence? Or was it planned?"

The scheme wasn't complicated, but Rat was a bit stunned because it didn't seem like something his jinx of a kid could come up with.

And the reason the other side fell for it was likely because Mao Laosi had never used this kind of trick before.

Leaving them careless and caught off guard.

However...

He couldn't shake the feeling that there was a deeper reason behind it all.

He wiped his face, spoke into the Information Component on his right wrist, and slowly ordered, "Get the car ready."

Law Enforcement Agency.

The Chief's Office.

"Chief, please listen to my explanation, I really didn't mean to—"

Han Song stood in front of the office desk, looking as helpless as a child.

"I didn't say it was on purpose."

Sitting across from him, Zhao Jiucheng's expression remained perfectly calm:

"But it happened, didn't it? Ah, Han Song, since you stirred up this mess, you'll have to resolve it yourself."

Han Song's face turned deathly pale.

Resolving it himself meant nothing less than shouldering the blame for everything.

This meant his promotion was absolutely hopeless now.

No, forget the promotion—he was definitely going to fail the mission that person had given him.

His child's schooling, his wife's embezzlement...

No, none of that mattered anymore.

He was going to prison. Under these circumstances, he might even be exiled to the legendary Great Prison.

He didn't know how to describe his emotions right now. Just a few hours ago, he had been drowning in the joy of his impending promotion, but now—

He had taken such a massive risk!

He had done so many things for that person!

Right, right, it couldn't end like this.

He still had one last lifeline.

At that thought, he quickly and covertly fiddled with the Information Component on his wrist, trying to connect a call to that person.

Answer the phone, answer the phone!

Sweat beaded on his forehead, and his face twisted involuntarily.

Why! Why won't you answer the phone?!

Who else will get things done for you in the Law Enforcement Agency after I'm gone?!

"Stop calling."

Right then, Zhao Jiucheng's calm voice echoed across the desk.

!!

Han Song looked up at Zhao Jiucheng. His mind was completely blank, his eyes losing their focus.

"Ah, Han Song, you still don't understand politics."

Zhao Jiucheng took a sip of the tea in front of him, then poured tea into the spare cup by his hand.

Looking at the stunned Han Song, he continued, "Who do you think arranged for your name to be put on the promotion list?"

"Did you really think that person could personally add you to the list?"

Zhao Jiucheng gently tapped the Information Component on his right wrist and sighed.

"You tell him."

The person on the other end of the Information Component stayed silent for a few seconds before finally speaking:

"Take the fall."

"I'll make sure your wife and child are taken care of afterward."

Han Song didn't know how he walked out of Zhao Jiucheng's office. He only remembered Zhao Jiucheng pushing the freshly poured cup of tea toward him and offering him one last sliver of hope:

"Mao Si said he wants to see you. If you can get him to drop the public pressure against you, maybe there will be a turning point. At the very least..."

"...you could shave a few years off your sentence."

"..."

Han Song gave a miserable smile.

Get that guy Mao Si to drop the public pressure against him?

Hadn't everyone seen how that bastard treated the Pig-Headed Man?

Even so, clinging to that last shred of hope, he pushed open the door to the room where Yan Jing was being held.

This room allowed contact with the outside world. There was a window for speaking to visitors outside.

Right now, Yan Jing was standing by the window, talking to someone outside.

The person was blocked by Yan Jing's body. Han Song couldn't see what they looked like; he could only hear their conversation.

The person outside spoke:

"You did well this time, kid."

"But if you think you can get complacent just from this, you're still far off."

Yan Jing nodded and replied, "That's why I'm ready to learn from you."

"You've always said I don't understand politics, and that I don't understand this country."

"I used to scoff at that. Now, I want to take back my earlier dismissiveness. Please, teach me properly."

A few seconds later, the person outside said, "Politics is a very dangerous game, especially here in our Peace Heavenly Kingdom."

"Want to see what politics really is?"

"I'm all ears," Yan Jing said.

"Take this."

The person outside passed a dark device through the iron bars of the window, then went silent.

Yan Jing took the device. It looked like a simple voice recorder.

He pressed the switch and then looked over at Han Song.

"Mr. Han. You're here."

"Yes."

Facing Yan Jing, Han Song felt inexplicably nervous. But finally, he spoke, "I'm very sorry about what happened this time. I hope you can forgive me, Mr. Mao Si."

"Forgiving you is simple, Enforcer Han."

Yan Jing smiled.

"Tell me who ordered you to kill me, and I'll dismiss the reporters outside immediately."

Han Song smiled bitterly.

He knew it. Fulfilling Yan Jing's request was completely impossible.

Seeking Yan Jing's forgiveness was nothing but a delusion.

"No one ordered me to kill you. I just wanted to kill you myself."

Han Song said.

Yan Jing was holding a recording device. The moment he spoke that person's name, his death would truly be imminent.

There was no death penalty in the Peace Heavenly Kingdom, but if that person wanted him dead...

Then he would simply die in prison.

"I've hated your way of doing things for a long time, Mr. Mao Si. So I used Jin Zhu, the KTV owner you've been collecting protection money from, to pass you false information. Then, I arranged for someone to make a move on you."

Han Song said softly.

"And where is the person who made the move on me?"

Yan Jing's eyes flickered.

That was the answer he truly wanted.

Hiding his real goal and then settling for the next best thing—he had used this trick successfully many times.

Han Song fell silent.

He hadn't arranged the hit. He was only a Third Tier; how could he possibly find someone capable of killing Mao Si?

Finally, he shook his head.

"I can't say."

"Let's leave it at that, Mr. Mao Si. I will repent in prison."

After saying that, Han Song felt an immense wave of relief wash over him, as if he had finally exhaled a breath he had been holding for a very long time.

At least for this one final thing, he had made the right choice.

Worst case scenario, he would just start over.

However, in Yan Jing's eyes, Han Song only exhaled a sigh of relief before blood continuously seeped from the corners of his mouth. The man's entire body withered in an instant, his face rapidly turning a bruised, livid purple.

...

Yan Jing finally seemed to understand why Rat had handed him the recording device.

A moment later, by the time Han Song realized he had been poisoned, it was already too late.

He reached out to Yan Jing in despair, hoping Yan Jing would help him. But Yan Jing stepped back, leaning against the visitation window to avoid any contact with Han Song whatsoever.

"In a few seconds, someone is going to rush in and claim you assaulted an officer."

Rat's voice drifted through the window from outside.

"The tricks you use, others can use too—and they'll use them even better than you do."

"The ruthlessness you can muster, others can muster too—and they'll be even more ruthless than you."

"This is the politics of this country."