Starting as dockworkers, they swept through Chongqing.

When the work was being assigned, Xilun didn't say a word to him.

He was assigned the most basic cleaning work.

But it was this disregard that instilled in Li De an unprecedented fear.

Last night in the dormitory, he publicly mocked Xilun as a "good-for-nothing who went back to the countryside to raise cattle" and boasted that he was Morgan's favorite.

Morgan is now dead.

And Celen rose to power by stepping over Morgan's corpse.

The scene from last night kept replaying in Li De's mind, and the more he thought about it, the colder his neck felt.

If Xilun scolds him on the spot or assigns him the heaviest work, he will feel more at ease.

Perhaps Lord Xilun is magnanimous and will simply punish him and let the matter rest.

But now...

This is like a sword hanging over your head.

You don't know when it will fall, or where it will cut.

Maybe tomorrow? Maybe the day after?

One day, when Xilun is in a bad mood, he might remember this once-arrogant insect and casually pinch it...

His long-term job at the dock was the lifeline of his entire family, and it could vanish in an instant.

"Gulp."

Li De swallowed hard, cold sweat trickling down his forehead and into his eyes, stinging painfully.

As he watched Kemi being fawned over in the distance, the last shred of hope in his heart completely crumbled.

He was too exhausted to even carry the box. He dawdled to the corner, his legs gave way, and he leaned against the cold brick wall.

Urged on by others, I finally began my workday in a daze.

......

This is a red brick bungalow located behind the white house, only about ten meters away from Lord Losas's office.

As Xilun pushed open the heavy oak door, he felt a warm breeze, as if it were a completely different world from the icy, snowy landscape outside.

Although it couldn't compare to Lord Lothar's white house with its fireplace, it at least had two layers of bricks and tiles, keeping out the biting cold wind.

Inside the room were three desks with peeling paint.

On the left, a middle-aged man with thinning hair had his feet propped up on the edge of the table, his face covered by a copy of the Saint Laurent newspaper, his chest rising and falling rhythmically with his breathing, emitting soft snoring.

To the right, a man wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a neat gray vest was holding a cup of red tea, intently reading a newspaper with a pen and an open notebook beside him.

Hearing the door open, the man reading the newspaper looked up, scrutinized the man through his glasses for a second, and then gave a professional smile.

"The new foreman? I'm Ai Ping."

The person who was sleeping was also startled by the cold wind. They abruptly pulled the newspaper off their face, sat up groggily, rubbed their sleepy eyes, and yawned.

"Ah...you're that kid who replaced Morgan, the one named Celen, right?"

The man was slightly overweight, with a friendly smile on his face. He pointed to himself and said, "I'm Quero. Please sit wherever you like. There aren't many rules in this house."

Xilun nodded and sat down at the only empty table.

"Morgan didn't come yesterday. I thought he took the day off to go gambling," Quiro said casually, stretching and pulling a bag of sunflower seeds from a drawer. "But this morning I heard from the Metropolitan Police Department that he's dead."

Xilun paused slightly as he was tidying up the table, and then a perfectly timed look of surprise appeared on his face.

"Dead?" He turned his head, a look of disbelief in his eyes. "How did he die? I saw him just two days ago."

"Home invasion robbery, or revenge killing."

Quello spat out a sunflower seed shell, lowered his voice, and said in a gossipy manner, "I heard he died a pretty horrible death. His sternum was shattered, and he looked like he'd been hit by a bull. It happened in the red-brick district where he lived."

"The neighbors said they heard noises in the middle of the night, and only saw a few night shift workers through the window, but no criminals. By the time the police arrived, the body was already stiff."

Xilun nodded slightly, his expression grave as he sighed, "I never imagined such a thing could happen in the commoners' quarter!"

His expression remained unchanged, as if he were listening to a completely unfamiliar story.

"It's better that he's dead. That guy was sly and would have been a menace sooner or later." Quiro didn't seem to care, instead looking at Xiren with interest. "You went to see Lord Lothas just now? How was he feeling?"

"He didn't look well," Siren recalled the middle-aged man. "He was smoking the whole time, and seemed to be troubled by something."

"Can't you stop being annoyed?"

Quello chuckled, leaned forward, and said mysteriously, "It's all because of that beast in the sea."

A thought struck Xilun: "That mutant?"

"Yes, that's the giant snake." A hint of fear flashed in Quero's eyes as he gestured. "I was there that night. A large ship carrying spices was docking and preparing to unload its cargo. Suddenly, a wave burst open on the water, and that thing leaped up and snatched a porter away in one bite."

"The district governor of Anhuo happened to be inspecting the area at the time."

Upon hearing this name, Ai Ping, who had been silently reading the newspaper, also looked up.

Quello swallowed hard and continued, "District Governor An is a ruthless man. He immediately drew his bronze sword and pistol and gave chase. You know, District Governor An is a first-tier baptized, his skin is so tough that even a sword couldn't cut through it. And guess what happened?"

Xilun asked cooperatively, "What's wrong?"

"He's dead."

Quero's voice became hoarse: "The man and the boat were overturned by that beast. When they were pulled out, Governor An's body was half gone, as if he had been crushed by some huge millstone. Three guards also died, all of them skilled fighters."

Siron's pupils contracted slightly.

First-order baptists are those who have truly stepped into the threshold of the extraordinary; their skin is like iron, and their strength far surpasses that of ordinary people.

He just died like that?

"That's why Lord Lothar was furious." Aiping adjusted his glasses, his tone calm. "Anhuo is dead, and there's a gap in the defenses at White Raven Wharf. Moreover, that mutant isn't dead yet; it's just injured and could return for revenge at any time."

"However..." Ai Ping changed the subject, tapping his fingers lightly on the table, "An Huo is dead, so the position of district governor is now vacant."

The office fell silent instantly.

Quero paused, then looked at Aiping as if he were a madman: "You want to sit in the position of the district governor?"

Ai Ping didn't deny it, but simply picked up his teacup again and blew away the foam: "District governor is a position too. Now that it's vacant, someone has to fill it. I might be able to."

"You're crazy."

Quello shook his head, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world: "Is that a place for people to sit? It's a pit of fire! Besides, do you even know what the hard requirements are to become a district governor?"

Xilun chimed in at the opportune moment: "What are the conditions?"

He also wanted to know what the ladder to climb looked like in this hierarchical world.

Quello said sternly, "Leaving aside family background or connections, we can't meet either of these two basic requirements!"

"First, one must be a first-order baptist. This is a strict requirement. Without that strength, one cannot control the desperados under one's command, nor can one stop the monsters in the sea."

"Secondly, you need to accumulate at least one major achievement and two minor achievements. I don't need to emphasize how difficult it is to accumulate merit!"

After saying that, Queiro looked at Aiping and said, "You're not satisfied with even one of these things, are you? You still want to sit in the position of the district governor."

Ai Ping's fingers traced across the newspaper, his eyes flashing: "The conditions are indeed not right, but anything is possible with effort. If you don't even dare to think about it, then you'll never be able to climb up."

He stopped talking and continued reading the newspaper with his head down.