Then let them offer their loyalty!

Page 444

Moreover, the thought of Qiu Tu being furious because she had run away again and even taken away the territory he had conquered made La Ri Luo feel secretly pleased!

Hmph! How come you're the only one plotting against me! Watch me, I can plot against you too!

In particular, the thought that she hadn't agreed to fight the whale shark with Qiu Tu, nor had she agreed to the bet with Qiu Tu, yet she still got the "spoils of war" made her even more excited!

Is there anything more wonderful in this world than taking advantage of that wicked guy, Qiu Tu?

Lari Luo felt nothing.

Of course... she didn't think there was anything wrong with what she did.

After all... Qiu Tu was her pope, and she had reluctantly agreed to his pursuit.

Therefore, Qiu Tu's things belong to her!

What's wrong with her using her own things in advance?

Didn't you see that she only closed the passage, but didn't destroy it?

Once she's made it official and become the ruler of the "Wuhai Area," she'll go back to find Qiu Tu again.

Of course... at that time, she will regain her rightful divine status! She can no longer be a doormat, letting Qiu Tu bully her!

Then, she'd make Qiu Tu wash her feet! Massage her back! Give her a massage! Basically, she'd bully Qiu Tu just like he bullied her!

The more Lariro thought about it, the more comfortable she felt, so she didn't dare delay and quickly began searching for ley line nodes...

She knew that with Qiu Tu's shrewdness, he would probably discover her escape within a day.

When the time comes and Qiu Tu discovers that the "regional passage" is closed, he will most likely guess his purpose.

Therefore, she had to race against time and seize the "Wuhai area" before Qiu Tu could take her back!

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2 chapters, 1 words each, please vote with monthly tickets!

I'd like to recommend a friend's book, *The Martial Saint!*

Chapter 431 Your Highness, What a coincidence! (10,000 words, please vote!)

Meanwhile.

When Larilu escaped, she began to plot a "mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind" maneuver to seize the Wuhai area.

New Territories City, Detection Department, Director's Office.

Qiu Tu, however, appeared very relaxed.

He smiled, took out his cigarette case, lit a cigarette, and pulled it out. In the swirling smoke, his handsome face became indistinct as he quietly pondered Larilu's little trick...

There's a reason why Larilu dared to pull this stunt.

Although both Wu Hai City and New Territories City belong to Tung Yip Chau, they are far apart.

New Territories City is located west of Tung Yip Chau, while Docklands City is located east of Tung Yip Chau.

It takes about 10 hours to travel from the New Territories to Wu Hai.

It takes 20 hours to go there and back.

Adding in the time for rest stops, delays, and searching for and capturing Lariro, it would probably take two or three days.

As the Director of the Investigation Department of the New Territories City, Qiu Tu has just launched a new round of purges and cannot leave the New Territories City for an extended period of time. He must stay in the New Territories City to oversee things, otherwise, major trouble could easily arise.

Therefore, Larilu will get a short but worthwhile period of time.

There are reasons why it's short-lived yet worth the gamble.

Since the whale shark's "catastrophic pathway" is "life," the attribute of the "Dock Sea Region" should also be "life." Therefore, the time it would take for Lariluo, an evil god who also possesses the "life" pathway, to refine the leyline nodes and regional hub of the "Dock Sea Region" would be greatly shortened.

Moreover... although Whale Shark looks majestic and powerful, and his strength is not bad, he is a god who became a god from a cataclysmic creature, not a naturally born evil god like Larilu. Therefore, he has always had a sense of inferiority and caution in his bones.

This is also the fundamental reason why he always likes to talk big, but is the first to back down, and is all bark and no bite.

This personality trait prevented him from daring to seize too large a region of the Boundless Heart Sea, so... the "Dock Sea Region" is very small, arguably one of the smallest regions in the Boundless Heart Sea. It has only 16 leyline nodes.

Therefore, the refining speed of Larilu is very fast.

Two or three days might be a bit tight, but it definitely has a chance.

Once Larilu has truly refined all the leyline nodes and re-condensed the regional central hub, that will be the case.

Therefore, unless Qiu Tu kills her, he will not be able to regain the "Wuhai Area".

But will Qiu Tu really kill La Ri Luo?

Despite all her scheming, La Riluo had never outwitted Qiu Tu even once. However... after spending so much time together, she had truly come to understand one thing: no matter the reason, Qiu Tu was unwilling to kill her.

It was precisely because she had figured out Qiu Tu's bottom line that La Riluo dared to pull such a stunt.

To put it bluntly, she's just like a spoiled brat at home, grabbing any delicious food she sees and stuffing it into her mouth to claim it first!

Whether it's my own or not, I'll just enjoy it first. Surely my "father" won't kill me?

After figuring out La Riluo's thought process and scheming, Qiu Tu flicked his cigarette ash, shook his head and smiled. Then, leaning back in his chair, he waved the cigarette in his hand at Ah Shui in front of him, "Alright. I understand about this matter, and I will make the arrangements. You can go ahead and get busy."

"Yes, Brother Tu." Upon hearing Qiu Tu's words, Ah Shui responded, then his black figure lowered, blending into the shadow of the table.

As one of the three commanders of the Dark Soldiers, he and Big Head now take turns leading a team to guard Qiu Tu every day. Zhu Huoyan is stationed at the central command, in charge of the "New Territories Area" development plan.

As for the special forces, although they are powerful, they are not Qiu Tu's direct subordinates. Therefore, even though they have an independent organizational structure, they are still under Qiu Tu's command....

After waving Ah Shui away, Qiu Tu smoked a cigarette, squinting as he quietly pondered.

To be honest, Larilu's escape did disrupt part of his plans. He had actually prepared a "Boundless Heart Sea Region" for Larilu to help her become the region's ruler, but it wasn't the "Dock Sea Region"...

He has other plans for the Wuhai area... which are related to his promotion to deputy speaker.

So... we still need to bring Lariel back.

Thinking this, Qiu Tu stubbed out his bright red cigarette in the ashtray on the table, then picked up the landline and secretly made a call...

"Send the eagle over."

......

The Director of the Investigation Department has a busy and boring job.

Fortunately, Tang Feifei taught Qiu Tu the management strategy of "focusing on the big picture and letting go of the small details".

Therefore, even though Qiu Tu lacked sufficient experience and improved too quickly, resulting in a lack of proficiency in the business, he was still able to keep the entire Investigation Bureau running smoothly.

In addition, Qiu Tu once and for all allowed Ellie to wipe out the anti-government armed forces, extremist religious spies and moles, and he and Tang Feifei had trained a group of elites during the two months they were in power.

Therefore, the security pressure in the entire New Territories is not great.

This also ensured that Qiu Tu, the newly appointed director of the Investigation Bureau, did not embarrass himself in his daily work.

After a morning of hard work, Tao Yaoyao finally managed to transfer from the City Hall to the Investigation Department in the afternoon.

As Qiu Tu expected, he didn't have to step in; Chen Feng handled the matter alone.

However, to Qiu Tu's surprise... although Chen Feng stepped in and resolved the matter, the uproar it caused was quite significant.

It is said that after communicating with Chen Feng and transferring Tao Yaoyao's file to the Investigation Department through the Personnel Department, the City Hall directly packed up Tao Yaoyao's office belongings and personal items, and then had them dumped at the entrance of the Investigation Department.

It was the agents from the Political Department who discovered these items, sensed something was amiss, and notified Guan Xiao. Guan Xiao came over to examine them personally and discovered that they were Tao Yaoyao's personal belongings.

Although Guan Xiao tried to block the news immediately, there are no secrets in the world that cannot be kept, especially when it involves a beautiful female secretary and two bigwigs in the New Territories.

So, before long, the story of Tao Yaoyao, Qiu Tu, and Jiang Zhenpeng began to circulate in the Investigation Bureau, the City Hall, and the military.

Because many people at the city hall knew that Tao Yaoyao and Jiang Zhenpeng were uncle and niece, the rumors didn't spread in a scandalous way.

But this also makes the story of one woman and two men even more legendary. Well... in that sense, a legend.

Some say that Qiu Tu knew Tao Yaoyao when he was just a section chief.

Qiu Tu must have given Tao Yaoyao some kind of magic potion, making her fall in love with him at first sight and willing to do anything for him.

So, when Qiu Tu was being chased by Jia Shu, Tao Yaoyao persuaded Jiang Zhenpeng to bring out a secret force that Jiang Zhenpeng had painstakingly trained to rescue Qiu Tu.

Later, Qiu Tu's mistress, Bai Ru, faced ostracism in the Civil Affairs Department due to the downfall of her family. Tao Yaoyao, displaying the demeanor of a "first wife," decisively stepped forward to help her "sister" Bai Ru out of the predicament.

Later, Qiu Tu's confidant, Lao Ying, was taken away by the state's supervisory department for investigation. Tao Yaoyao even risked political danger to lead Qiu Tu to the supervisory department's interrogation room and rescue Qiu Tu's confidant.

If things had ended there, Jiang Zhenpeng might have just been a little amused and exasperated, rather than blaming his niece.

Even... if they were more open-minded, they might try to matchmake Tao Yaoyao and Qiu Tu, and help them get married.

As it turned out... Qiu Tu rose to prominence and became a big shot in charge of the New Territories City Investigation Department, gradually developing some conflicts with Jiang Zhenpeng.

Because of the competition, Jiang Zhenpeng hoped that Tao Yaoyao could keep a certain distance from Qiu Tu.

Tao Yaoyao did indeed agree on the surface.

However... while conducting a secret visit to the attendant's quarters, he still secretly informed Qiu Tu.

In the past two days, as the Detective Agency has been purging traitors and spies throughout the New Territories, Jiang Zhenpeng is furious and wants to take action against Qiu Tu. At the same time, Tao Yaoyao secretly passes on a message to Qiu Tu again.

This was tantamount to betraying Jiang Zhenpeng in order to curry favor with Qiu Tu. Therefore, Jiang Zhenpeng was furious when he discovered it.

So, the uncle and nephew had a big argument about this this morning.

As Tao Yaoyao's "upstream" and also her trusted associate, Qiu Tu certainly couldn't stand idly by. So, he took the initiative to mediate and transferred Tao Yaoyao to the Investigation Department, which temporarily brought the whole matter to a close.

The story was told in great detail, in a very complete way, and it sounded just like the truth.

So, while the upper class of New Territories was gossiping about the two bigwigs, Qiu Tu and Jiang Zhenpeng, they were also curious.

What kind of magic does Qiu Tu possess that makes so many women go crazy for him?

First there was Tang Feifei, and now there's Tao Yaoyao—both are heiresses or ladies from prominent families with certain social standing. And both openly defied their superiors or families for his sake.

As for his other female confidantes, there are countless.

This also led to... the more this gossip circulated, the more it changed its flavor: when some married socialites talked about this matter, they were all discussing Qiu Tu's sexual side with great interest.

They suspected Qiu Tu might be exceptionally skilled in that area. Otherwise, why would he captivate so many women? This made them all cover their mouths and giggle, both excited and curious...

Guan Xiao's intelligence-gathering abilities are quite strong.

So the news quickly reached Qiu Tu. However, Qiu Tu didn't pay much attention to these rumors.

Through today's verification, he has roughly figured out the whole thing.

To put it bluntly... this is all a scheme by Jiang Zhenpeng. Jiang Zhenpeng most likely doesn't actually want to withhold relief food from the people of the New Territories, but rather wants to use this excessive method to completely force Tao Yaoyao to Qiu Tu's side.

This afternoon, Qiu Tu also spoke with Tao Yaoyao. Tao Yaoyao is a woman of principle; even if she wanted to invest in Qiu Tu, she wouldn't harm the interests of her family.

Therefore, most of the things Tao Yaoyao did for Qiu Tu during this period were actually authorized or tacitly approved by Jiang Zhenpeng.

As for why Jiang Zhenpeng wanted to force Tao Yaoyao to Qiu Tu's side, Qiu Tu felt there were only two reasons.

Firstly, Tao Yaoyao is only Jiang Zhenpeng's niece and the daughter of Jiang Zhenpeng's sister. In a traditional family, she is already considered half an outsider—after all, they even have different surnames.

Therefore, the resources Jiang Zhenpeng could give her were relatively limited.

So, for the sake of Tao Yaoyao's development, Jiang Zhenpeng might as well help Tao Yaoyao build a bridge, allowing her to follow in the footsteps of a rising star like Qiu Tu and try her luck in the future.

Secondly, Jiang Zhenpeng may have realized that his future prospects were not as bright as Qiu Tu's. Moreover, the faction he belonged to was far inferior to Qiu Tu's "Fengtian Clique".

Sending Tao Yaoyao over is a way to diversify investments and spread the bets.

In this way, even if his family falls into ruin or his faction loses power, he can still use this connection to find a way out for his family.

As for why he has schemed so ruthlessly against Tao Yaoyao, will she disown him in the future?

Putting aside the fact that Tao Yaoyao's mother is his biological sister, Tao Yaoyao cannot sever this bloodline; let's talk about Jiang Zhenpeng's target... who is actually not Tao Yaoyao at all.

Jiang Zhenpeng had his sights set on Qiu Tu from the very beginning. Sending Tao Yaoyao to Qiu Tu was actually just a way to have a deeper and more secretive collaboration with him.

Qiu Tu could see through this, and Jiang Zhenpeng also believed that Qiu Tu could. It was a tacit understanding between two intelligent people. Therefore, Jiang Zhenpeng wasn't worried that Tao Yaoyao would deny it; as long as Qiu Tu admitted it, that was enough.

Therefore... this afternoon's rumor is easier to explain: it's highly likely that Jiang Zhenpeng leaked this information to the public.

The purpose was twofold: first, to prevent Tao Yaoyao from turning back and completely succumb to her darkest path; and second, to make the outside world believe that he and Qiu Tu had a deep conflict, thus numbing his and Qiu Tu's opponents.

If anyone actually believes this and comes to him to deal with Qiu Tu, or asks Qiu Tu to deal with him, they will immediately fall into a trap...

'That old fox... he's really something else.'

Thinking this, Qiu Tu shook his head slightly.

However, regardless of the circumstances, Qiu Tu is now sitting on his laurels: he just hunted a whale shark, and recorded the entire process, ensuring his achievement is flawless.