Then let them offer their loyalty!

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It's clearly a power struggle among several high-ranking officials, so why is it all revolving around me?

I'm not usually that conspicuous...

Thinking this, Director Zhao's eyes also became a little unfocused.

He glanced at Qiu Tu, then at Yan Chen, before cautiously saying, "Should... I guess so?"

Upon hearing this, Qiu Tu endured the pain from his wound and continued to ask, "Then may I ask Director Zhao, did you also see Miss Yan Yan?"

Upon hearing Qiu Tu's words, Yan Chen already knew what Qiu Tu wanted to ask.

He clenched his fist, put it to his mouth, and coughed suddenly.

Director Zhao received Yan Chen's signal and knew that there was definitely a trap hidden in this problem.

But... he didn't know the whole story, nor what the trap was. So for a moment, he didn't know how to answer.

He glanced at Qiu Tu, then at Yan Chen, but hesitated to speak.

Seeing Director Zhao's incompetent appearance, Yan Chen's droopy eyelids almost closed.

He sighed deeply in his heart, then took the initiative to start the conversation.

He said slowly, "Qiu Tu... Yan Yan arrived in the New Territories yesterday morning."

“They’ve been by my side ever since we came to the New Territories.”

"I can still recognize my own daughter."

"As for... the assassin who tried to kill you, I believe what you and Director Tang saw with your own eyes: she must have deliberately disguised herself as my daughter to get close to you."

"Although this matter has nothing to do with my daughter, I still apologize to you on her behalf..."

Meanwhile, the medical department of the investigation bureau finally arrived at the scene.

Several doctors were shocked to see the blood all over the ground and Qiu Tu lying in a pool of blood.

They rushed over and began to examine Qiu Tu's injuries.

A moment later, the group whispered a few words to each other with grave expressions, then began to move various medical instruments and set about stopping Qiu Tu's bleeding.

Upon seeing this, the middle and senior management present no longer doubted that Qiu Tu's injuries were faked.

They exchanged a glance, then couldn't help but look at Yan Chen's retreating figure, their eyes filled with incomprehension and a sense of shared sorrow...

To be honest, in their hearts, Yan Chen, though ruthless, still had certain bottom lines.

Even though he had conflicts with Qiu Tu, and Qiu Tu had repeatedly humiliated him, political infighting was one thing, but resorting to assassination and overturning the table was going too far.

At this moment, Yan Chen also felt the strange gazes behind him.

He sighed inwardly.

If he had other options, why would he choose this last resort?

During this time, he actually carefully went through all the recent events.

Perhaps because Qiu Tu was finally identified as the primary suspect, Yan Chen discovered more and more about Qiu Tu's role in a series of events as he studied the matter.

He discovered that... many things that had gone wrong in the past few months seemed to have been deliberately pushed by Qiu Tu.

The destruction of the Qin family, his growing estrangement from Jia Shu, and his failed attempt to devour La Riluo... every single event seemed to bear the shadow of Qiu Tu.

It seemed that Qiu Tu had calculated every move he made.

To be honest, Yan Chen hadn't encountered such a formidable opponent in many years.

What terrified him even more was that... he realized it was all too late.

He has given Qiu Tu too many opportunities to grow, making Qiu Tu gradually become uncontrollable and impossible to suppress.

The Minister of the Political Department. One of the top three most powerful figures in the Investigation Bureau, and the head of the Bureau's intelligence system.

This position is so important that even Yan Chen has to treat it with utmost care.

Moreover... Qiu Tu doesn't just hold this position in vain.

He had the protection of high-ranking officials in the shelter above him, Liu Xiong Yuan and Tang Fei Fei working with him in the middle, and dozens of trusted confidants working for him below!

"His wings have grown strong!" That's Yan Chen's assessment of Qiu Tu now.

Therefore, Yan Chen is now truly unable to control Qiu Tu.

Moreover, based on Yan Chen's analysis and comparison of the two sides, he discovered that... at least at this stage, Qiu Tu's power would continue to expand. He would have almost no chance of reversing the situation in the short term.

He wanted to reconcile with Qiu Tu.

But... firstly, he finally got news about the clone of his wife that he had been investigating all this time. It seems that Qiu Tu had used Master Qin to move it, and then kept it as a mistress at the security department's base: the Milan Grand Hotel.

This was something Yan Chen could not accept.

Secondly... Yan Chen had actually figured out Qiu Tu's personality completely. To put it nicely, he was someone who would repay kindness and avenge wrongs; to put it bluntly, he held grudges!

He had plotted against Qiu Tu several times, trying to kill him. Qiu Tu would never let him go!

In addition, Qiu Tu is always cautious and likes to eliminate problems completely: he said that the grudges were settled and he would not pursue the matter of Qiu Tu sleeping with his wife's clone, but Qiu Tu probably didn't believe him.

Therefore, after much deliberation, Yan Chen still decided to kill him: since conventional methods could not solve the problem, rather than dragging it out and letting the situation slowly worsen, allowing Qiu Tu to gradually erode his power, it would be better to finish the job in one battle!

At least cut the Gordian knot and kill Qiu Tu! Then deal with the aftermath slowly!

Although he knew that after Qiu Tu's death, the people behind Qiu Tu would most likely be furious or stand up for Qiu Tu.

However... politics is cruel, and the rule of politics is the exchange of interests.

A dead person cannot bring any further benefit to others. However, if he makes enough sacrifices, the matter can eventually be resolved.

Anyway, after failing to become vice speaker, he was destined not to be promoted for the next few years. Whether he endured five years, seven years, or ten years, it was all the same.

In any case, his ability to cause cataclysm makes his lifespan incredibly long.

He always manages to get through it and recover on his own.

But Qiu Tu... is dead, and that's it. There will be no second chance.

Moreover, once Qiu Tu is dead, the relatively inexperienced Tang Feifei will no longer be able to threaten him. He can then peacefully remain the local tyrant of New Territories City...

Therefore, after much deliberation, Yan Chen decided that directly overturning the table and killing Qiu Tu would be more beneficial than harmful.

So, in the end, he still took action.

He even had Lai Shun hire the Scarlet Widow, an assassin capable of killing Tier 3 Cataclysms.

Unfortunately... everything seems to have gone against my wishes.

Qiu Tu didn't die; he survived. Now he's relentlessly attacking, seizing on several flaws in Qiu Tu's plan...

For a moment, Yan Chen couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed: If only... he had hired an assassin who could kill a fourth-tier assassin.

How did Qiu Tu manage to survive...?

Just then, as Yan Chen was thinking this, Qiu Tu, whose bleeding had finally stopped under the treatment of the medical team, also spoke.

He looked at Yan Chen and then said, "Director, I definitely believe what you say."

"Since you say that Yan Yan has been by your side all along, and the Yan Yan I saw yesterday was the real Yan Yan, then I believe that the Yan Yan I saw yesterday was the real Yan Yan."

Qiu Tu's words seemed to accept Yan Chen's explanation, but anyone could hear the insincerity in them.

Sure enough, after Qiu Tu finished speaking, he raised his arm and pointed at the unconscious Scarlet Widow, saying, "But, Chief... this assassin must have a reason to kill me, right?"

"I'm a newly appointed Minister of Political Affairs, and I haven't even done anything yet, but I've already provoked a black market assassin. Isn't that a bit unreasonable?"

Upon hearing Qiu Tu's "Ha," Yan Chen's eyelids drooped, as if she were deep in thought.

After a moment, he put his hands behind his back and said in a deep voice, "It should be a combined attack..."

"You've been wiping out the coalition forces all this time, so you must have finally caught their attention."

"So... they sent assassins to deal with you."

"The Scarlet Widow used to be a member of the Alliance, but she later left and became an ordinary black market assassin. But actually... she still has some connection with the Alliance."

"If I'm not mistaken, she was most likely commissioned by the Alliance to attack you this time as well."

At this point, Yan Chen opened his eyes, his cloudy gaze fixed on Qiu Tu, and slowly said, "Qiu Tu, I will definitely give you a satisfactory explanation for this matter."

"We will not let a single drop of your blood be shed in vain."

They probably know that they can't afford to do anything without making some sacrifices now.

So Yan Chen said, "I remember in your report yesterday, you found that the Alliance had a black market stronghold in the New Territories that had been operating for many years."

"There are hundreds of coalition members stationed there."

“I didn’t agree to your purge plan before because Dongye Prefecture had just been established and stability was the priority.”

"Now... I approve it."

"It's okay that you're injured. You can designate the officer in charge and then have troops from the Special Operations Department dispatched to encircle and annihilate them."

Everyone present was shrewd and intelligent. How could they not understand Yan Chen's words?

To put it bluntly, Yan Chen offered his price to shut Qiu Tu up: the credit for a stronghold of the Allied Forces.

Moreover, the troops that wiped out this allied stronghold were dispatched by Yan Chen, but the credit was distributed by Qiu Tu.

To be honest, these conditions are only considered good, not particularly generous.

However, Yan Chen currently has no other leverage to use in this matter...

Therefore, the middle and senior management present did not think that the aggressive Qiu Tu would agree.

Then, something unexpected happened.

Upon hearing Yan Chen's words, Qiu Tu smiled...

He nodded and said, "Thank you, Director."

"I'll have my secretary hand over the personnel selection for this operation to Director Zhao in a bit."

"This operation should be carried out quickly rather than slowly. It would be best to do it tonight."

At this point, Qiu Tu paused before continuing, "After all... if an assassin tries to kill me and doesn't return to report, it could easily arouse their suspicion."

When Yan Chen saw that Qiu Tu had actually agreed to the condition, a hint of surprise flashed in his cloudy eyes.

He instinctively felt something was wrong, as if he had fallen into Qiu Tu's trap. But... his mind raced, but he couldn't figure out why Qiu Tu was plotting against him.

On the contrary, he, who had been watching the entire assassination attempt, knew that Qiu Tu was not actually injured; the wounds on his body were repaired by himself afterward.

Could it be that... Qiu Tu also knows that this stalemate will not lead to anything?

Fortunately, he wasn't actually injured, so he decided to quit while he was ahead.

Thinking about this, Yan Chen still felt something was amiss, but... now that Qiu Tu had taken the initiative to back down, and since it was indeed a reasonable explanation, he temporarily suppressed his doubts and agreed.

And so, a huge storm ended in a rather anticlimactic manner.

As the onlookers, mostly middle and upper management, dispersed, they, like Yan Chen, were somewhat puzzled. However, now that the two parties involved had reconciled, they had no reason to delve deeper. So, they could only leave the scene with their questions unanswered...

Meanwhile, Qiu Tu, whose wounds had been bandaged and the bleeding stopped, sat down on the sofa with the help of the three women.

After helping Qiu Tu sit down, Tang Feifei commented coldly, "This isn't like you."

Qiu Tu smiled upon hearing Tang Feifei's words.

This is definitely not like him...

If it weren't for his "crisis instinct," which gave him enough time to consider and research, he might not have accepted the condition and instead chose to continue taking a bite out of Yan Chen!

It all started this afternoon...

After discovering that Yan Yan, whom he had been in contact with for the past two days, had some issues, Qiu Tu also had many doubts in his mind.

Because he discovered that... his "crisis sense" ability did not trigger during his two encounters with Yan Yan.

This made him wonder if he had made a mistake in his analysis: Maybe... that Yan Yan was the real Yan Yan?

Things took a turn for the better after we started work in the afternoon.

At that time, Qiu Tu was listening to a report from Chief Wang of the Intelligence Section.

As a result, just as Section Chief Wang was reporting, several crisis alerts suddenly popped up in front of Qiu Tu.

Qiu Tu was startled, thinking that Section Chief Wang was going to harm him.

Upon closer inspection, Qiu Tu realized that things weren't as he had thought...