Handong: Sha Li wants political achievements? I'll shut down the entire province.

"Sizzle—"

The fabric of the expensive trousers rubbed against the cold marble floor tiles, producing a dry, soft sound.

The noise seeped silently through the crack in the half-open solid wood door into the CEO's office on the 33rd floor.

In the shadows of the corridor.

Secretary Bai covered her mouth tightly and slumped to the ground.

His bladder was compressed by fear, causing his sphincter muscles to spasm violently.

A warm urge to urinate almost broke through his defenses several times, making his lower abdomen feel bloated and painful, as if a piece of raw iron was stuffed inside.

Inside the house, Sha Ruijin didn't care who was hiding outside the door.

His cloudy, yellowish eyes were fixed on the pure black carbon pen on the Persian carpet.

"Huff, huff."

His chest heaved violently, like a leaky, broken bellows.

The shrunken stomach wall twitched in my belly, and the acidic bitterness rose straight to my throat.

But he forced himself to swallow the sour water back down, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down with difficulty.

To survive.

As long as I can leave Handong, this totalitarian meat grinder, alive, what do I need to be ashamed of?

Sha Ruijin trembled as he extended his skin-and-bones right hand.

His ten fingers trembled as if he had severe Parkinson's disease, and his knuckles turned a deathly pale white.

He grabbed the ballpoint pen from the carpet but didn't immediately remove the cap.

He shoved his right thumb into his parched mouth.

With his two rows of yellowed old teeth, he aimed at the soft flesh on his fingertip and bit down hard!

"Hmm!"

Sha Ruijin groaned, his facial features instantly contorted in pain.

A sharp, stabbing pain shot straight up the top of my head from the nerve endings, and my thigh muscles trembled violently and uncontrollably.

The skin and flesh were torn apart.

A strong, metallic, and bloody smell instantly filled his entire mouth.

Bloody saliva dripped down the corner of his mouth, landing on the sour, smelly collar of his old suit.

Tears welled up in his eyes from the pain, but he dared not hesitate for even a second.

He pressed his bloodied thumb directly onto the back of the yellowed performance report.

Bright red bloodstains spread across the rough paper.

He pulled off the pen cap and, using his own blood, made a screeching sound as the pen tip scratched across the paper.

"I, Sha Ruijin... voluntarily relinquish my official status..."

"For the rest of my life, I will only acknowledge the Lingxiao Consortium as my supreme authority, and I am willing to serve them faithfully and never betray them..."

Every word he wrote drained the last vestiges of his official confidence from his very bones.

The blood mixed with cheap black ink emitted a nauseating, fishy stench.

His writing was crooked and messy, his wrists ached and throbbed, and cold sweat soaked through his undershirt.

"thump."

After writing the last word, Sha Ruijin collapsed to the ground like a dead fish out of water.

He held the bloodstained "contract of servitude" in both hands, raising it high above his head.

Her wrists trembled, and she didn't even dare to look at Yan Qingfeng.

Yan Qingfeng sat on the large leather sofa.

The central air conditioning was spewing out a chilling white mist at sixteen degrees Celsius, and the cold air ruffled the hem of his black shirt.

He looked down at the lump of mud on the ground, which smelled of sour sweat and blood.

His facial muscles twitched slightly, revealing an undisguised mocking sneer.

Those dark eyes held nothing but absolute arrogance.

Yan Qingfeng did not reach out to take the carbon pen.

He wouldn't even bother signing his own name.

He leaned forward slightly, his long, slender fingers reaching across the crystal coffee table.

He pulled out a dark gold metal seal directly from a hidden compartment in the base.

That was the seal symbolizing the Lingxiao Consortium's supreme decision-making power.

"Smack."

Yan Qingfeng lifted the lid of a box of cheap chemical red inkpad on the table.

A pungent smell of ink burst forth instantly.

This cheap, chemical smell completely masked the sophisticated fir fragrance in the room, and it seemed to seep straight into people's nostrils.

Yan Qingfeng flicked his wrist, and the dark gold seal pressed heavily into the sticky ink.

A few streaks of red ink were pulled out.

Then, he took his personal seal and hung it above the front of the performance report.

That space was originally reserved for the signature of the "Seal of the Hantong Provincial Committee".

"Bang!"

A dull, heavy thud suddenly broke the silence of the office.

Secretary Bai, who was outside the door, heard the loud noise and thought it was a gunshot.

Startled, he shuddered violently and could no longer hold back his urge to urinate.

A few drops of warm, yellow liquid seeped down the cuffs of his trousers, emitting a faint, foul odor.

Inside the office, Yan Qingfeng moved aside his personal seal.

Four bright red seal script characters—"Lingxiao Judgment"—were firmly stamped on the official performance report.

The ink was a glaring red, like blood.

This is not just about stamping Sha Ruijin's seal.

This is how Yan Qingfeng used absolute capital and technology to crush the last backbone of the nation's legal system.

Yan Qingfeng casually grabbed the report and threw it at Sha Ruijin's face like trash.

The paper spun in mid-air.

The rough, sharp edges scraped directly across Sha Ruijin's withered, sunken cheeks.

"Sizzle."

The dry, scratching sound rang out.

On Sha Ruijin's left cheek, a three-centimeter-long gash was instantly cut by the edge of the paper.

Fine beads of blood rushed out one after another.

Sha Ruijin gasped in pain, but gritted his teeth and dared not utter a sound.

Yan Qingfeng picked up the whiskey from the coffee table, the ice cubes clinking in the liquid.

His voice was as cold and hard as a piece of raw iron just pulled from liquid nitrogen, devoid of any human warmth.

"Take this back to the capital and report it."

Yan Qingfeng looked down at the old man on the ground, his eyes colder than knives.

"When you're in a nursing home in your wheelchair, keep a clear head. Don't forget who took pity on you and gave you this life-saving meal."

Sha Ruijin hurriedly caught the report bearing the humiliating red mark with both hands.

He pressed it tightly against his chest, as if he were pressing down on the last half of his life.

The turbid tears could no longer be held back and streamed down his face.

Salty tears streamed down his dusty old face, cutting straight into the fresh, bloody gash on his cheek.

The salt irritated his skin, causing him to twitch and tremble in pain.

"Thank you... thank you, Master Yan, for the meal!"

Sha Ruijin let out a harsh whimper, like an old crow that had been plucked of its feathers.

He slammed his forehead hard onto the Persian carpet.

He kowtowed three times in a row.

Each time he banged his head against the ground, a layer of cold sweat would seep out from his forehead.

After kowtowing, he didn't dare to stand up.

Using both hands and feet, dragging his two trembling, old, cold legs, he crawled backwards towards the door like a gecko.

"Squeak."

The heavy solid wood door was pushed open by Sha Ruijin.

He didn't even notice the secretary, who had wet his pants, sprawled outside the door, and scrambled into the shadows of the corridor.

The office fell silent once more.

The only sound was the tireless low-frequency hum of the central air conditioning.

Su Jianxin, dressed in a bespoke suit, pushed up his reflective gold-rimmed glasses.

He strode forward and pulled a pure white wet wipe from his shirt pocket.

He respectfully handed it to Yan Qingfeng.

Yan Qingfeng put down his wine glass and took the wet wipe.

He carefully wiped his right hand, which had just held the seal, even the air between his fingers seemed to exude a sense of disgust.

"Master Yan, are you just going to let him return to the capital like this?"

Su Jianxin lowered his voice, a bloodthirsty ruthlessness showing on his otherwise refined but depraved face.

"That old geezer's gone back; what if he can't control his loose tongue..."

Yan Qingfeng ignored him.

After wiping his hands, he casually crumpled the dirty wet wipe into a ball.

"Clatter".

The wet wipes were precisely tossed into the smart trash can in the corner.

"A dead dog can't bite anyone. People in the capital are more afraid of him talking nonsense than we are."

Yan Qingfeng sat back down on the sofa, his fingers tapping lightly on the leather armrest.

"The old dog is gone. Those face-conscious gentlemen in the capital need to send a new dog to fill the vacancy in Handong."

He raised his eyelids, and the cold light in his eyes sent chills down one's spine.

"President Su, has the successor been identified?"

Su Jianxin nodded immediately, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly.

"It's been confirmed. He was parachuted in from Beijing; his name is Zhao Gang. He has a powerful background; he used to be a real power figure in the central government."

Yan Qingfeng snorted coldly.

He stood up and walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window.

Looking down at this cyber empire that operates entirely on Lingxiao Points, drones and heavily armored mechs shuttle back and forth all over the streets.

"Strong background? In Handong, if your armor isn't strong, your background is worthless."

Yan Qingfeng turned his head, a cruel glint in his eyes.

"Let's see if they know the rules this time."

"Go and inform Shen Pojun to block off the entire road from the airport to the provincial party committee compound."

Su Jianxin was stunned for a moment, and a white light flashed from his glasses.

"Master Yan, are you trying to give him a hard time?"

"A show of force?"

Yan Qingfeng glanced coldly at the distant horizon, his tone filled with the tyrannical aura of a ruthless ruler determined to wipe out all enemies.

"I wanted to tell him that in Handong, the first thing a new official does upon taking office is not to report to the yamen (government office)."

"Instead, you have to kneel outside the manor in Daqingshan and pay your respects to Yan Qingfeng."