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

"That's meaningless. Rather than you finding other divine artifacts to fill your problems, more people would be willing to believe that you actually obtained the Five Sacred Mountains Ancestral Essence from Benyuanjun, me, and that's how you solved your problems."

Bixia Yuanjun smiled slightly.

"Alright, I won't keep you in suspense any longer. Bai Ze, I think that the reason Houtu specifically asked you about this matter is because someone is stirring things up."

Zhou Yan took a step back, his face full of astonishment.

The Bodhisattva of Joy on the side stepped forward to chime in.

“Benefactor Zhou, it seems you had a bad reputation in the past…”

Zhou Yan turned his head to one side.

It wasn't just a bad reputation; he was practically hated and wanted to be killed. Back in the Kunlun Immortal Palace, Zhou Yan was practically a rat crossing the street.

The Bodhisattva of Joy then looked at Bixia Yuanjun, who was somewhat drunk.

"It seems that someone is spreading rumors, saying that Yuanjun is going to marry Zhubo, and that you, Zhou, stole Yuanjun's Five Sacred Mountains Essence first."

The Bodhisattva of Joy has his hands clasped together and his head bowed.

"If this matter were to be publicized, Uncle Zhu would surely lose face."

Zhou Yan was dumbfounded.

Zhou Yan had heard a story about a couple who got married. The day before the wedding, the woman's ex-boyfriend came over and had sex with her. Afterwards, the woman returned home and felt a little guilty towards her current husband, so she wisely confessed to him.

The woman stated that this was her last act of indulgence before marriage, and she would never betray the man again.

She still loves her husband.

The man's response was that he wasn't going to get married and that she could go wherever she wanted.

Although this story differs significantly from the current situation, the underlying message is roughly the same.

The woman Zhu Bo was going to marry, Bi Zhongzhuan, may have lost her virginity to Zhou Yan before the marriage.

Zhou Yan put himself in Zhu Bo's position and tried to see things from his perspective.

Depend on……

Zhou Yan could finely chop the adulterous couple into minced meat and use it to make dumplings.

Damn it!?

Why!?

Who the hell is stirring things up?!

Chapter One: The Missing

East Yangzhou, Luomen City Government.

Mayor Wei Youde got up early and came out of the upscale private residential area that had recently been cleaned up and had water and electricity connected. The driver, who had been waiting, drove the car to Wei Youde and opened the car door.

Wei Youde sat in the passenger seat and casually asked a question.

Is there anything important happening this morning?

The driver was both Wei Youde's driver and an FBI detective, specifically managing and organizing the investigators and information gathered throughout Dongyang State on Wei Youde's behalf.

The driver said as he drove.

"It's still the same. A bunch of troublemakers complain every day that the government is not transparent in its operations and that they are hiring highly educated swindlers to cheat people everywhere."

Wei Youde gave a faint smile.

This is yet another group of "representatives of public opinion" who want to incite the public and profit from it.

The driver continued.

"Some people are dissatisfied with their current living conditions and salary levels and are preparing to strike."

"This is far more serious than inciting the public to oppose the government," Wei Youde said unhappily.

"How is this group doing? How many of our personnel have we placed in there?"

The driver, jiliu℃: ♂5—⊥＄路…散′←肆驷耳得意道.

“Now our people have become the second and third in command of this striking group. In five days at most, we will be able to sideline the top leader.”

The FBI is adept at stirring up public opinion, and even has specialized courses on "how to build groups," "how to become a public opinion leader," and "how to conduct sting operations."

What ordinary people call public opinion and emotions are nothing more than a lump of dough in the eyes of these government traitors; they can be kneaded however they want and shaped however they want.

There's no need to worry about the public finding out. In this era, very few people can receive higher education in the Eastern Xia Federation. Most ordinary people are completely unaware of the government's manipulation tactics.

Wei Youde said with relief.

"That's good. Let's develop more downlines during this time. I hope that starting next year, our Roman City will have its own FBI branch with enough elites."

After the riots broke out in East Yang, the FBI, which originally belonged to East Yang, was completely overrun. Now, the FBI investigators in East Yang are all transferred from Central City.

This is not good. Wei Youde hopes to build a strong enough team of spies that can both protect and guide the people.

The driver chuckled.

“That’s not difficult. As long as Councilor Zhou gives the word, I can bring over three three-digit zeros from the three unsuccessful investigators around Zhongzhou City.”

The fact that Zhou Yan is a True God Awakener is now common knowledge. Compared to the Four Divine Beasts, whose share of the pie has already been fixed, Zhou Yan, as a newly born True God, will definitely have an easier time taking a high position.

As a result, during this period, awakened individuals and disillusioned high-ranking talents from all over the country came to Luomen City. Wei Youde received them one by one, and then distributed land, money, and official positions to them.

Zhou Yan has billions of RMB hidden with Wei Youde, and with the gradual expansion into various cities, he has more than enough wealth and official positions to satisfy the talents who want an official post.

The driver drove to the port of Lomon.

Luomen Port is now the largest transportation hub in the entire Dongyang Prefecture. Every day, a large amount of goods and personnel enter through Luomen Port and are then transported to various parts of Luomen City. The excess is transferred to other cities in Dongyang Prefecture.

The importance of the Port of Lomon is such that it is no exaggeration to say it is the heart of the entire state.

Therefore, any incident in this area will touch a nerve with the local government.

Unfortunately, something happened here today.

Upon arriving at Luomen Port, Wei Youde got out of the car, and several port officials wearing safety helmets came up to him.

"Mayor Wei, you've finally arrived."

The leader, a young and strong man in his thirties, reached out his hand to Wei Youde, who then grasped the man's hand.

This middle-aged man was Wei Youde's old subordinate. He was a talent transferred from Zhongzhou City after Wei Youde became mayor. He had a master's degree in logistics management and used to work in the express delivery industry. Now he was put in charge of the port. He wasn't exactly a great manager, but at least he hadn't made any major mistakes so far.

"Tell me about it."

Wei Youde, who had grasped the middle-aged man's hand, looked toward the port.

"What happened to our most important port?"

The middle-aged man said bitterly.

"This matter is, to put it simply, very..."

A young woman of about eighty walked up beside the middle-aged man. This young woman was the middle-aged man's daughter and also the port's accountant. Regardless of her age, the young woman was not nervous when she saw Wei Youde, the mayor of Luomen City, and spoke in a humble yet confident manner.

"We have more than twelve people missing here."

This is similar to what Wei Youde had heard before.

"continue."

Wei Youde said.

The young woman sighed.

"About two weeks ago, it was when we were getting paid. I was taking attendance to check the salaries, and after I finished, I discovered..."

The young woman looked somewhat uneasy.

"Our port is short three people."

Wei Youde gave a soft chuckle.

Apart from the wealthy areas, the rest of the Eastern United States is very chaotic. You can't expect a place where a police officer can openly say, "Protecting the people is not our responsibility, and the police are not here to do this kind of thing." The security environment must be very good.

In particular, Dongyang Prefecture is currently in a state of considerable instability, so it is quite normal for a few people to die or go missing.

Even Wei Youde, who was quite normal, asked a question.

"Since someone is missing, has a police report been filed?"

The young woman nodded.

"We called the police, and they retrieved our port's surveillance footage."

As the most important logistics hub in Dongyang Prefecture, Luomen Port can be considered the heart of the region. The municipal government certainly won't skimp on spending money to install surveillance cameras there and will also arrange for police to patrol several times a day.

"After reviewing surveillance footage, it was found that the missing person did not..."

The young girl pointed to the surveillance camera at the port gate.

"Traces of entering and exiting through the main gate or the back door."

Wei Youde inquired.

"There are no signs of anyone entering or leaving through the main gate? Is there any other way they could have entered or left?"

The young girl smiled wryly.

"Yes, there are, but I don't think it's necessary. Besides, there are surveillance cameras on other exterior walls and similar areas, and those areas didn't capture any images of the missing workers."

Surveillance cameras aren't just installed at entrances and exits; they're also installed on other exterior walls and along roads.

The port official who had shaken hands with Wei Youde let go and then spoke.

"Since the surveillance footage couldn't find any trace of the missing person, we contacted members of the swimming enthusiasts' association and asked them to search the riverbed nearby."

Since the missing persons did not appear in the surveillance footage, it is highly likely that they did not go out. If they did not go out and then disappeared, the only explanation is that these missing persons died and their bodies were dumped in the water.

The port official shrugged and spread his hands.

"Then professional swimmers searched the underwater area for three days but found no signs of any problems with the body."

Wei Youde's gaze shifted to the trucks carrying goods coming out of the door.

The port manager understood Wei Youde's meaning.

“At first, I thought the same thing. I thought someone might have killed the missing person and then put them in a truck to be sent out. But the police investigated the trucks we sent out during this period and found no trace of them.”

The driver behind Wei Youde suddenly smiled, his mouth splitting open to reveal a cruel curve.

“Oh, don’t be so rigid in your thinking. My dear colleague, I once handled a case where the murderer was the manager of a beef canning company. One day, he discovered that his secretary was having an affair with his wife, and in a fit of rage, he killed the secretary.”

"Then this idiot heard from somewhere that if the body can't be found, it's hard for the police to solve the case. So he used his company's canning equipment to dismember the secretary and put her body into three thousand cans, which he then sold."

Wei Youde, the port manager, immediately showed a disgusted expression.

The driver's satisfied gaze swept over his disgusted colleagues.

"This wasn't revealed until someone found several teeth in a can of beef."

"Oh, what you're saying is disgusting."

The port manager's accountant daughter looked disgusted.

"I should kick your ass with my grandma's pointed shoes. Also, we don't have any beef canning equipment here, how could we possibly dismember a living person and transport them out? And, it's not just this time..."

“In the past few days, people have been going missing one after another here. Some of them went to the toilet and were only discovered to be missing when they got off work late. Others slept together in the dormitory in the morning and their coworkers found that they could not be found the next day.”

The accountant's daughter patted her forehead with the sole of her hand; these things gave her a headache just thinking about them.

"Up to now, more than ten people have gone missing, neither alive nor dead. The workers are getting restless. No one dares to work these days. If I urge them, they all run away."

If the current situation hadn't become so unsolvable, even leading to a complete strike at the dock, the accountant's daughter and the port manager wouldn't have called Wei Youde.

Asking your boss to handle things you can't solve will make your boss think you're incompetent.

The port manager was able to get his current lucrative position all thanks to Wei Youde, so he dared not let Wei Youde think he was incompetent.

Wei Youde nodded.

"I see."

If this disappearance case is not resolved, it will indeed cause great panic among the workers, and if a strike occurs at the Port of Lomon, which is in the heart of the region, the impact will be enormous.

Wei Youde looked at the driver behind him, and the driver nodded.

"Leave it to me."