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

Lu Yike slumped on the shoe-changing stool, her whole body shivering.

She stared blankly at her mother, her lips trembling slightly, her voice weak and barely audible.

"What did you send?"

Wu Xinyi stared intently at her daughter, her eyes surging with undisguised terror.

"A copy of the complaint, plus a list of preservation applications for losses amounting to hundreds of millions of yuan in business downtime!"

She gritted her teeth, squeezing out the words through her clenched teeth, her fingers trembling.

"Lin Yubing personally led his lawyer and slammed this pile of stuff onto the dean's desk."

"It's all in black and white, stamped with two official seals, and every rule and regulation is based on the Criminal Law and the Civil Code."

"We are specifically naming you to hold you accountable for abusing your power and illegally trespassing, and we will seize all your assets!"

Lu Yike's mind went blank, as if she had been hit hard by a sledgehammer.

"They wouldn't dare! I'm there to investigate a case; I'm from the Supreme People's Procuratorate!"

She stubbornly refused to admit it, but tears involuntarily streamed down her face.

"You're still dreaming!"

Wu Xinyi rushed over, grabbed Lu Yike's shoulder, and dug her nails deep into her daughter's flesh.

"You think this uniform is a get-out-of-jail-free card? They're carrying all legal knives!"

Wu Xinyi's eyes were red, and her voice conveyed a deep sense of helplessness.

"Do you know what the dean said to me on the phone just now?"

"He said that even for the sake of the court's reputation, he couldn't protect you. Because if this case were actually accepted, the court simply couldn't take it!"

Lu Yike was stunned, tears clinging to her eyelashes.

"Why can't we take the case? Are we afraid of a few lawyers?"

"Afraid!"

Wu Xinyi let go, stumbled back two steps, and plopped down on the sofa.

She gave a bitter laugh, and the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes revealed a dejection she had never seen before in her life.

"The legal department of the Lingxiao Consortium is simply a den of monsters."

Wu Xinyi picked up the cold water from the coffee table, took a big gulp, and suppressed the pounding in her heart.

"The materials they submitted were more meticulous than those written by veteran judges who have been in the profession for thirty years."

"There's not a single loophole. If you dare to take their case and follow the procedures, we'll definitely be the ones who lose!"

Lu Yike swallowed hard, feeling a chill run down her spine.

Looking at her dazed daughter, Wu Xinyi shook her head in exasperation.

"Why do you think Director Hou ran away with his tail between his legs? Why did Inspector Ji prefer to fake a heart attack rather than show up?"

She pointed to the dark night sky outside the window, her voice trembling like leaves in the cold wind.

"Yan Qingfeng didn't just build a company; he dug an abyss beneath Handong Province!"

"An abyss built with legal rules, capable of devouring all public power!"

"But Mom..." Lu Yike clutched her hair, her voice trembling with tears.

"Their withdrawal of investment has left hundreds of thousands starving and prices skyrocketing. Is this legal?"

"How is it illegal? They paid hundreds of billions in breach of contract fees and didn't owe a single penny."

Wu Xinyi asked with a bitter smile, her eyes vacant.

"Market behavior is free to come and go. If they don't talk politics and only talk about contracts, what grounds do you have to arrest them?"

She paused for a moment, then dropped the bombshell that had been buried deep in her heart.

"Do you know what happened this afternoon?"

Lu Yike raised her head, her eyes filled with confusion.

"Secretary Sha Ruijin, and Mayor Li Dakang."

Wu Xinyi gritted her teeth and spoke slowly and deliberately, each word like a blow to Lu Yike's heart.

"Our two top leaders in Handong stood outside the iron gate of Lingxiao Manor for a full two hours this afternoon!"

Lu Yike's pupils dilated instantly, her face filled with disbelief.

"Secretary Sha...are you going to make Yan Qingfeng stand as punishment?"

How could that be? That's a high-ranking official in charge of a region!

"It's not about being punished by standing; it's about begging! Begging them to show mercy and leave Handong a way out!"

Wu Xinyi slapped her thigh, heartbroken.

"And what happened? They didn't even open the gate; they just sent a butler to get rid of the provincial party secretary!"

These words were like a sharp knife, completely piercing through the veil of idealism in Lu Yike's heart.

The provincial party secretary was accompanied by the secretary of the Jingzhou municipal party committee.

I stood outside someone's gate for two hours and didn't even touch the threshold.

How could a department head who was suspended from his post and reflecting on his actions have the audacity to kick down someone else's data center?

This is like an ant trying to shake a tree; it's laughable.

"That works too..."

Wu Xinyi's eyes reddened, and she went over to hug her daughter.

"That's an abyss, don't jump in. We can't afford to mess with him, not even the entire officialdom of Handong combined."

Lu Yike leaned on her mother's shoulder and finally burst into tears.

Her pride in her sense of justice was shattered into nothingness in the face of absolute power and an impeccable scheme.

The last reckless counterattack by the righteous forces ended like a joke.

But the night in Handong did not quiet down because of the official retreat.

Quite the opposite.

When the authority of public power drops to freezing point, cockroaches that have been hiding in sewers for years begin to peek out.

In the southern part of Jingzhou, there was a dilapidated billiard hall.

The room was filled with smoke, the smell of cheap tobacco mixed with the stench of sweat, making people cough.

Around two green, lint-covered billiard tables, surrounded by more than thirty shirtless thugs with large tattoos on their arms.

On the sofa in the corner.

A bald, burly man with a scar on his left cheek was sitting with his legs crossed, puffing on a cigar.

He had taken advantage of the chaos to smuggle the cigar from an upscale tobacco and liquor store.

"Boss Wang, the information is confirmed."

A young man with dyed yellow hair came over, rubbing his hands together excitedly.

"All the police cars at the city bureau are out of service and can't afford gas. Zhao Donglai can't even send out a night patrol team."

Wang Daoba exhaled a thick smoke ring and grinned, revealing his yellow teeth.

"The cops ran out of oil? This is a godsend!"

"Boss, the streets are in complete chaos right now."

Another skinny henchman stepped forward and handed him a lighter.

"The Lingxiao Consortium has withdrawn its investment, and many of its businesses are now left unattended—that's a lot of hard-earned money!"

Wang Daoba touched the scar on his face, his eyes filled with the greed of a hungry wolf.

He was originally just a local thug in the Jingzhou underworld, making a living by collecting protection money.

When Sha Ruijin was cracking down on organized crime, he was so scared that he didn't even dare to leave his house.

But things are different now.

The government is shut down, and the police can't respond to calls.

A huge power vacuum suddenly appeared in Jingzhou.

"Heroes emerge in times of chaos."

Wang Daoba stubbed out his cigar in the ashtray and then stood up abruptly.

He walked over to the pool table and slapped the green cloth, sending the pool balls tumbling wildly.

"Guys! Everyone's been starving these past few days, right?"

The thugs around immediately noticed and gathered around.

"Now that the government isn't doing anything, it's the perfect time for us to make a fortune!"

Wang Daoba pointed to a map of Jingzhou on the wall.

He pointed his finger at a factory area in the north of the city, his eyes gleaming with a crazy ambition.

"The distribution center of Lingxiao Logistics in the north of the city is usually the most lucrative. Now that they've withdrawn their investment, there must still be a lot of top-quality goods left inside."

Yellow Hair swallowed hard, clearly feeling weak.

"Boss, that's Yan Qingfeng's territory, Yan Ye's people... Do we dare to touch it?"

"Coward!"

Wang Daoba kicked Huang Mao in the buttocks, glaring and cursing angrily.

"Yan Qingfeng is currently engaged in a power struggle with the provincial party committee; he doesn't have time to care about us peasants."

He spat, his expression becoming increasingly arrogant.

"He's in a hurry to withdraw his investment and run away; Jingzhou is now just a piece of fat, unclaimed meat!"

Wang Daoba walked to the corner and yanked off the tattered tarpaulin covering several woven bags.

Inside were a pile of gleaming machetes and steel pipes.

"Grab your weapons! Everyone, grab your weapons!"

He grabbed a machete, weighed it in his hand a couple of times, and the blade gleamed coldly in the dim light.

"If we take over that logistics park tonight, we brothers will set the rules for the underworld in Jingzhou from now on!"

Wang Daoba brandished his knife with heroic spirit, while the thugs below roared in excitement.

Yellow Hair grabbed a steel pipe and couldn't help but ask a question.

"Boss, what if Lingxiao's security guards are still guarding the logistics park? Should we just rob it?"

Wang Daoba nonchalantly slung his knife over his shoulder, snorted coldly, and swaggered towards the door.

"Those few old, weak, and disabled gatekeepers he left behind aren't even worth a single chop from me. What's there to be afraid of? Come with me tonight and we'll make our fortune!"