After breaking up with my girlfriend, I became a Great Sage of the Demon Clan.

Zhou Yan nodded, and Liu Nanshan led him away from the power plant square where the reporters were, to Liu Nanshan's car outside the site.

As soon as the two entered, Liu Nanshan spoke.

“Councilor Zhou, to be honest, the reason I was able to escape from Dongyang Prefecture was because I used to have a son-in-law with demigod blood.”

Zhou Yan understood.

"Indeed, you rich people really like to recruit Awakened Ones as your sons-in-law and daughters-in-law."

Most awakened individuals who commit crimes are bailed out by capitalists and made to work for them. It's especially normal for someone like Liu Nanshan, the richest man in a state, to have a demigod son-in-law.

Xu Ruheng, the richest man who wanted to kill the Nine-Colored Deer, also had a demigod son-in-law who was a state legislator.

Liu Nanshan's face was full of complicated emotions.

“That young man used to come from the slums. After he awakened his bloodline, I married one of my daughters to him, and I also gave him food and drink. Whatever he wanted, I gave him everything I could.”

Zhou Yan chimed in.

"Then, during the Dongyangzhou riots, your son-in-law also rescued your family safely. Your investment was well worth it."

Liu Nanshan waved his hand.

"Before arriving in Zhongzhou, I also felt that investing in my son-in-law was worthwhile, but after arriving in Zhongzhou, Councilor Zhou, do you know what happened?"

Zhou Yan tilted his head and thought back. He had been with Liu Nanshan and the others for several days. Fortunately, he hadn't seen any demigod awakeners or anything like that with Liu Nanshan during those days.

and so……

Zhou Yan guessed.

"Mr. Liu, your son-in-law had an accident?"

That demigod is dead?

Liu Nanshan sighed.

"It would have been better if I had died. It was in Zhongzhou City that someone approached my son-in-law, trying to use him to seize my assets. At that time, I still trusted my son-in-law a little. By the time I realized what was going on, I found that at least 3 billion yuan of my assets had already been swallowed up by my son-in-law and his gang. That's when I realized that Zhongzhou City was a glutton. If I stayed any longer, I was afraid that not even bones would be left."

Zhou Yan understood somewhat.

"And then you abandoned your son-in-law and came back?"

Liu Nanshan nodded vigorously, his teeth clenched.

Compared to being defeated by the enemy, it is harder for a normal person to tolerate being betrayed by a teammate. Liu Nanshan was no exception. Liu Nanshan believed that he had always treated his son-in-law very well, and even left him a share of the family business for the future. However, in Zhongzhou City, this guy actually betrayed him.

“Councilor Zhou…”

Liu Nanshan looked at Zhou Yan earnestly.

"I hope you will go and kill my son-in-law."

Zhou Yan: "..."

Liu Nanshan's expression turned serious.

“This is not retaliation, Councilor Zhou. Do you know what the Liu family’s biggest business is?”

Zhou Yan thought for a moment and then responded.

"Your Liu family is one of the pharmaceutical monopoly giants in the Eastern Xia United States."

If Indiana's pharmaceutical industry is a knock-off copy with no technological content, then the Liu family's pharmaceutical industry is a monopolistic company known for its development and complete industrial chain. It is the kind of capitalist that even Xuanwu had to summon to the Liu family back then, exchanging Xuanshui for them, and ordering them not to evade taxes.

Liu Nanshan said in a complicated way.

"Yes, my Liu family is a world-class pharmaceutical giant. Thanks to my son-in-law's protection, a large number of company executives and hundreds of core R&D personnel were rescued. In other words, as long as there is a safe environment, our Liu family pharmaceutical company will recover at an extremely fast speed."

Liu Nanshan narrowed his eyes.

“Councilor Zhou, do you know what this means?”

Zhou Yan remained silent.

Liu Nanshan answered for Zhou Yan.

“Once I die, and my sons and daughters die, my business and my vast wealth can only be inherited by my son-in-law.”

Zhou Yan countered with a question.

"Can't you make a will now? Like, who will you leave it to after you die? It definitely won't go to your son-in-law or anything like that?"

Liu Nanshan waved his hand.

"It's unlikely. My son-in-law isn't alone. There must be a large group of capitalists from Zhongzhou City behind him. If these capitalists join forces, the will might just be a piece of paper."

Zhou Yan chuckled.

It was a feud between wealthy families. Liu Nanshan's son-in-law sold out his father-in-law without hesitation. Liu Nanshan thought that he might be betrayed by his son-in-law in the future, so he immediately came to Zhou Yan for help and asked Zhou Yan to kill his son-in-law.

“Councilor Zhou, if you can help me resolve this concern, I can guarantee it.”

Liu Nanshan's expression was extremely sincere.

“I can give you 10% of my company’s shares.”

Zhou Yan remained silent.

Liu Nanshan added a sentence.

“I’m from Dongyangzhou, and I want to spend my whole life here. My son and grandson want to do the same, but my son-in-law and his group might not. They might want to break up my company and take over my patents in various ways…”

"The shares are no longer needed."

Zhou Yan thought for a moment and then responded.

"Isn't your family involved in pharmaceutical research? I don't care about other states, but anyway, um, you guys should issue an insurance policy. As long as citizens of Dongyang State buy this insurance, your medicines cannot be sold for more than double the cost price."

Liu Nanshan opened his mouth slightly, then smiled.

“Mr. Zhou, you are different from any other awakened person I know.”

Liu Nanshan shrugged.

"However, this condition is acceptable."

Before the pandemic, Dongyangzhou had only 80 million people, while Dongxia United State had 5 billion people and the world had 30 billion people.

It's just providing welfare to the citizens of Dongyang Prefecture, and it just means Liu Nanshan will earn a little less.

Zhou Yan opened the car door and turned back to Liu Nanshan.

"I can't guarantee I'll kill your son-in-law, but I can guarantee I'll make sure he won't dare to have any ideas about you."

Zhou Yan disliked killing, so when he went to see Liu Nanshan's son-in-law, he simply grabbed him by the neck and asked, "Do you want to die or live?"

People can only spend money and enjoy life if they are alive, so Zhou Yan believed that Liu Nanshan's son-in-law would understand the truth that money is not as important as life.

Inside the car, Liu Nanshan bowed to Zhou Yan.

"Then I'll have to trouble Councilor Zhou."

Whether the son-in-law lives or dies is not important. What is important is that he can persuade Zhou Yan to help him. In this way, Liu Nanshan will have a demigod backer. And the backer of this demigod backer is the Vermilion Bird True God.

Liu Nanshan felt that the people behind his son-in-law should probably also consider the consequences of offending Zhou Yan and Zhuque.

Although it may sound weak, someone like Liu Nanshan understands very well that law and morality are just a piece of paper, and only pure power can protect oneself.

Zhou Yan is such a pure force; if the government, led by him, can protect his group, then his group can be considered stable.

So once things settled down in Luomen City, Liu Nanshan immediately came to curry favor with Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan closed the car door.

Inside the car, Liu Nanshan watched Zhou Yan's figure disappear into the distance.

Chapter Nine: Shelter

Two days later, in the Mayor's office of the Roman City Government.

After combing his hair, Wei Youde tied his tie in front of a life-sized mirror. His assistant came up behind him and helped him put on a tuxedo.

Wei Youde buttoned up his suit jacket one button at a time, a slight smile slowly spreading across his face.

"This is what Wei Youde's assistant asked."

"Mayor, are you very happy today?"

Wei Youde laughed.

"Ah, I've worked hard in Zhongzhou City for half my life, rising from a community civil servant to a community councilor, but I've never had the connections..."

Wei Youde sighed.

"I might only ever be a minor minister in the district government for the rest of my life."

Things are different now. Because the Eastern Xia Federation has lost control of too many states, resulting in power vacuums in too many places, and Wei Youde is very lucky to be noticed by Zhou Yan.

If nothing unexpected happens, once Luomen City is pacified and Dongyang Prefecture resumes government rule, Zhou Yan will become the governor of Dongyang Prefecture, Wei Youde will become the mayor of Luomen City, and the other helpers that Little Yama has found will at least be mayors or city councilors in other cities.

This is why great prosperity follows great disasters; class rigidity is broken, and a large number of new ruling classes will emerge in the Eastern Xia Federation.

The assistant said respectfully.

"Mayor Wei, we are destined for good fortune after surviving such a calamity. Our future is bright."

Wei Youde chuckled a few times, then left the office with his assistant and went down to the municipal government building.

There were military off-road vehicles parked downstairs, and Wei Youde and his assistant got into one.

The soldier driving the car took Wei Youde and the other man to the Luomen City Power Plant.

Two days have passed, and the professional team dispatched by Zhuque has set up the power generation equipment, which will be able to generate electricity today.

Once Luomen City has a stable power generation channel, then industry can begin to develop. Once industry starts, Luomen City will have entered a proper internal cycle.

We can now extend our reach to other cities.

The power plant will be here soon.

Unlike the previous two days, today the power plant was covered with banners and surrounded by reporters. When Wei Youde got out of the military off-road vehicle, a large group of reporters surrounded him. Wei Youde spoke with great enthusiasm.

"After a month of our efforts..."

"We will restore Dongyang Prefecture within two years..."

"At the latest next month, we will take the army to other cities to search for survivors..."

Wei Youde led a group of reporters to the front of the power plant's main building.

A high platform was erected in front of the building, and on the platform was a group of senior electricians dispatched by Zhuque. Zhou Yan stood below the platform drinking soda. When Wei Youde arrived, he smiled and nodded at Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan nodded in response.

Upon reaching the edge of the stage, the reporters automatically separated. A civil servant named Wei Youde, who had personally inquired about Zhou Yan's educational background and then received a government management position, came up and gave Zhou Yan and Wei Youde a pair of scissors respectively.

Meanwhile, the electricians on stage had already taken a red rope with flowers on it.

Zhou Yan and Wei Youde exchanged a glance. Zhou Yan sighed and walked up to the platform with Wei Youde. In front of countless reporters' cameras, they cut off the red flower in the center of the colorful rope.

The moment the cut was made, the entire power plant roared to life, and large strips of neon lights began to flash above everyone's heads.

It generated electricity.

The more than 1,000 soldiers who came to stand below the platform immediately applauded continuously, bringing the atmosphere to its peak.

Then came the speech.

Zhou Yan hates giving speeches more than anything else in his life, whether he's standing on the stage or sitting below.

Therefore, Zhou Yan delegated the entire speech to Wei Youde, and stepped down from the platform before Wei Youde began his speech.

"Gentlemen, I am delighted that you have taken time out of your busy schedules to attend the power-on ceremony in Luomen City!"

Unlike Zhou Yan's disgust, Wei Youde, standing on the high platform, had a flushed face and a vigorous spirit that was not at all like someone his age.

"But at the same time, I am also very sorry, because it took us so long to build our first power plant in Rome."

Zhou Yan walked to the backstage of the high platform, where several of the crew members brought by Little Yama stood. One of them winked at Zhou Yan.

"Old Wei has spent his whole life as a low-level civil servant. Now that he finally gets to give a speech as mayor, he must be incredibly excited. He'll probably be talking all night."

The rest of the middle-aged people nodded silently.

Zhou Yan glanced at the group of people and then reassured them.