In Xingzhou City New District, the "Crystal Building" as the municipal center is brightly lit.
An ordinary-looking white car was parked in the parking space in front of the building, but the person sitting in the driver's seat was Jonard, a popular figure in the Iron Dome Council.
He unbuckled his seat belt and leaned on the back of the seat. The car radio was playing news from Qidao City.
The explosion in the Tianheng Department Store had made him worried and anxious all day long. Judging from the results disclosed by the media, the anti-terrorism operation led by Zhong Yugu caused a terrifyingly high number of casualties among commissioners and soldiers.
Jonard didn't understand why Zhong Yugu could make such a big mistake when he knew the prisoner's actions in advance.
In fact, he should have gone to Seven Islands to take office long ago, but his father Nadel Sr. has been pressuring him and asking him to postpone his inauguration.
The reason is simple. With the keenness of an elder statesman, Alan Nadel has sensed the unrest in the Seven Islands. Although it seems that the Adventist sect has been repulsed, the legacy of its long-term cult activities that have been latent in the Seven Islands city is still there. Immeasurable.
Old Nadel meant to tell his son not to rush into troubled waters. He had already put pressure on the Qidao City Security Bureau, and even sent Zhong Yugu, whom he regarded as a confidant, there in advance, just to pave the way for his son to take office.
But Jonard is young and energetic, and is disgusted with his father's arrangements. He has been paying attention to the situation in the Seven Islands, and even went to the Seven Islands City for an on-the-spot investigation in person through the administration's operation to crack down on internal corruption.
Jonard hopes that he can go to Qidao City to take up a job as soon as possible, even though Qidao City is indeed as calm on the surface as his father said, but in fact there are turbulent undercurrents.
This is challenging, otherwise why would he use a passionate speech in parliament to compete for the position of alderman? Jonard thought while sitting in the car.
As his father has entered his old age, it is reasonable for his ambition and courage to recede, but Jonard knows that he was also a radical politician when he was young.
"I'm just imitating your enterprising spirit when you were young."
Jonard muttered to himself.
When competing with other council members for the opportunity to serve as city councilors, he once said that if he were in charge of the overall situation in Qidao City, he would definitely not let the Adventist sect turn the situation so upside down.
This is an arrogant statement, but he decided to use practice to make it real.
He felt sorry that he couldn't be the one to turn the tide, but at least he shouldn't be here waiting for others to clean up the mess.
While Jonard was thinking this, the passenger door was opened.
The woman in a black suit got into the car and called him "darling" affectionately.
"Finally done?"
"I'm done." The woman let out a long breath, reached out and pressed the button on the center console, switching the radio to a music channel that was playing piano music.
She said to her husband: "It's not working time now. Don't listen to those irritating things and relax."
Jonard shook his head helplessly, fastened his seat belt again and started the car.
This woman with the face of an old-time Middle Eastern woman is her wife, named Bellona, who works as a clerk in the Social Welfare and Security Department of the Xingzhou City Municipal Center.
He comes from an ordinary family, not from a wealthy political family or a wealthy businessman, and his position belongs to ordinary civil servants. No matter how you look at it, it doesn't match him.
So they are true love.
At the age of 31, Jonard married the 26-year-old Bellona despite the pressure from his father's opposition. The marriage has now entered its fourth year smoothly, and the relationship between the couple is harmonious.
Occasionally when he is not busy, Jonard will personally drive to pick Bellona up from get off work, as he does now, and then the two of them will go to the Western restaurant where they go most often for pre-wedding dates to have dinner together.
"I have prepared all the handover matters." Bellona said, looking at the night view of the city outside the car window, "In two days, I can resign and follow you to the Seven Islands."
"Baby, actually you don't have to be so anxious..."
"But you can't wait anymore, right?" Bellona asked, "After you came back from Qidao City, you obtained information there through various channels every day, covering all aspects of the entire society."
Jonard smiled, she was right, she couldn't wait any longer.
He gets information every day through the news media and the Internet of Things, and his secretary will sort out important news for him to read as soon as possible.
From politics, economy, education and culture to online public opinion and citizen life, he is full of concern for every aspect of Qidao City.
"After all, this is my first time as the mayor of a revitalized city." Chouinard said, "I will inevitably be a little nervous, although I am very passionate in front of the council members."
"You can definitely do a good job. The Authority will select you, not just because you spoke beautifully in the parliament." Bellona encouraged, "darling, there is no doubt about your ability."
Jonard had a happy smile on his face, and his wife supported him 100% at all times, like a haven with a gentle embrace.
When you get along with her, you don't have to be strong and stubborn, you can safely show your vulnerable side.
"I'm going to go there next Monday." He told his wife his plan.
Today is Thursday, and there are only three days until next Monday.
This was a hasty decision, and others might have been angry, but Bellona happily accepted it.
"It just so happens that the Civic Center also works on Saturdays, so I can complete the handover with the people behind me without any worries," she said.
Jonard hummed twice, and then heard his wife say: "If there is no problem, can we change the ticket to Sunday? Go one day in advance."
Jonard looked at her in surprise. It would be possible to change the trip to the Seven Islands to Sunday, but he didn't know why his wife was so enthusiastic about it.
"I heard that it was a renaissance city built on seven adjacent islands. The ring-island expressway and the cross-sea bridge are wonderful scenery." Bellona turned to look at her husband, her eyes sparkling.
"Baby, I'm not going on vacation." Jonard smiled bitterly.
"I know, so let's go a day early, okay?" Bellona begged, "It's already summer, and it's a good time to go see the sea."
There was tenderness and affection in Jonard's eyes, and he nodded: "Okay, let's go one day early."
……
The day after the Tianheng Department Store explosion.
Yu Zhesen returned to the Security Bureau and clocked in for work. He shivered with cold as soon as he entered the police office.
"Sister Zhang, is the air conditioner turned on too low? Can I turn it up a little?"
The police office has an independent air conditioner, which is a different system from the central air conditioner in the building. Yu Zhesen glanced at the temperature on the display and everyone was stunned. It was only 16 degrees early in the morning.
Sister Zhang and Xiao Yin, who usually greeted him, were silent today, which made Yu Zhesen feel a little strange. He raised the air conditioner and asked casually: "Are you busy today?"
Xiao Yin coughed twice, as if to remind him of something.
Yu Zhesen felt the eyes looking towards him from the side. Without thinking, he turned his head to look at the other person. The first thought that came to his mind was - who is this person?
There is one more person in the office. Behind the desk that had been empty before, there is now a middle-aged man who looks a little chubby, looking at him with a smile.
Could this be the legendary Director Li?
Yu Zhesen remembered that he had been introduced when he first arrived. There were originally three people in this office, but the director Li Zaizhong never showed up. As time went by, he almost regarded Sister Zhang as the boss of the office.
I finally met me today. He looks no different from most ordinary middle-aged men...
"You are the new Xiao Yu, hello, hello. It's rare for a young person to come and work in our office." Seeing Yu Zhesen looking at him, Li Zaizhong took the initiative to say hello.
"Hello, Director Li..."
Yu Zhesen felt something strange from the first moment he saw him. It was only now that he understood what made him feel wrong.
The room temperature in the office was obviously very low, but Li Zaizhong looked extremely hot. There were beads of sweat on his forehead, and there were even ice packs and towels on the table.
Is it a runaway disorder with out-of-control abilities? Yu Zhesen instinctively thought of Qian Zhimo.
However, when the steel flame is activated, it does not seem to make the body heat and sweat, but directly generates high temperature and open flame outside the body.
"Director Li, are you...very hot?" Yu Zhesen asked.
"Hahaha... It's an old habit, so I basically don't come to the office." Li Zaizhong smiled.
Old problem? Yu Zhesen’s doubts are getting worse.
An ordinary person's body temperature would be abnormal and his life would be in danger soon if he sweated. However, Li Zaizhong seemed to be accustomed to this, so his condition should be caused by the superpower gene.
However, since Li Zaizhong was able to work in the Security Bureau, he should not have completely lost control like Qian Zhimo. After meeting Yu Qingxue, Yu Zhesen realized that there were many people on the verge of bulimia still working for the Bureau.
Li Zaizhong should be in the same situation. As for what his superpower is, Yu Zhesen believes that it involves personal privacy and it is inconvenient for him to explore it.
Tuk-tuk-tuk, someone knocked at the door three times.
"Yu Zhesen, the commander asked you to go to the conference room to meet her." The person who came to deliver the message was Meng Dongxia.
"Well... Director Li, I'll go up first." Yu Zhesen pointed to the top of his head.
Li Zaizhong smiled slightly, wiped his sweat with an iced towel and said, "Go ahead, go ahead."
Yu Zhesen ran out of the office and caught up with Meng Dongxia who was walking in front and thanked him: "You are really my savior."
"What's wrong? Don't you and your office director deal with it?" Meng Dongxia asked casually.
"Uh... do you know Li Zaizhong?"
Meng Dongxia shook her head: "Basically there is no intersection between the Field Service Department and the Police Information Office. Now it is because of you."
"I'm flattered. I'm flattered. By the way, how was your action yesterday?"
He was asking about Claire's people who were investigating the Hongyu Bar.
Meng Dongxia walked to the elevator door and pressed the button: "It's not good. We checked ours, but they covered up theirs. The radio waves didn't match."
It would be a ghost if they could meet each other, Yu Zhesen said to himself.
"What is Claire going to do?"
"We have closed the bar." Meng Dongxia said calmly, "Until Yan is arrested, business is prohibited there."
"..."
Yu Zhesen was speechless. Where did they learn this style of doing things? It's too simple and crude.
What happens after closing down the Hongyu Bar? You can just change to another stronghold to spread the dream. This method seems to treat the symptoms but not the root cause.
"We suspect that members of the random band may have had close contact with Nightmare." Meng Dongxia said in the elevator, "We invited a musician back for tea yesterday, but we didn't get anything useful from him."
"Is your investigation direction biased? There is no evidence to prove that the band has a direct connection with Nightmare. Although the music they sang is very suspicious, it may be a coincidence."
"If many things point to a coincidence, then coincidence is inevitable." Meng Dongxia shrugged, "The commander has no hope of catching the nightmare in the short term. She just wants to scare the opponent to reduce the dream events."
Yu Zhesen heard something profound in her words.
"Is there pressure from above?"
"There has always been pressure, but it has become even greater after yesterday. Our new colleagues did not do a very good job." Meng Dongxia said.
The poor performance of the Criminal Investigation Department in the Tianheng Department Store has spread. Zhong Yugu, as the person directly responsible, must feel uncomfortable. Although the Field Support Department is independent from them, they are all units under the Security Bureau system after all.
But Yu Zhesen wanted to complain to Zhong Yugu here. The opponents of Tianheng Department Store were much stronger than they expected.
If there was an exchange of people in the situation like yesterday, there would be no guarantee that the field department would not be overwhelmed.
Those veterans of the pioneering group came here to kill and kill. All the preparations they made in the commercial building were to cause casualties to the Security Bureau and the Defense Forces. The bomb blast attack was not so much a purpose as a means to attract the Security Bureau.
.
To deal with such gangsters, if you rush to eliminate the explosion crisis and perform tasks, damage will inevitably be inevitable.
"Instructor." Yu Zhesen entered the conference room and saw that Claire was the only one there, so he greeted her with his previous title.
"Sit."
Yu Zhesen casually found a seat at the conference table and sat down, and Meng Dongxia took a seat next to him.
"I heard that the investigation of Hongyu yielded nothing?"
"There are still some gains. We found several illegal supernatural associations in the list of regular customers of the bar." Claire said, "But now we have no time to deal with them. The Criminal Investigation Department is half paralyzed, and the pressure is back on us.
”
The largest and most violent illegal supernatural association in Qidao City is obviously the Shenyin Organization, okay... Yu Zhesen complained in his heart.
The Security Bureau has long known about the existence of Shenyin, but has been unable to eradicate them.
"I know what you want to say." Claire curled her lips, "Shenyin is not within our consideration for the time being."
"Instructor, have you learned how to read minds?"
"You're too good at guessing. Let's get back to the subject. I came to you today because I have a formal mission."
Formal assignment? Yu Zhesen straightened his back involuntarily. He thought he would be idle in the office while being reviewed and assessed by Yu Qingxue, but he didn't expect that Claire would actually hire him.
Thinking about it from another angle, maybe the situation became tense again, so tense that she had to rely on his strength.
"City Mayor Joffrey Nadel is scheduled to come to the city to take office next Monday, and his inaugural speech is scheduled to be delivered at the city hall in the afternoon." Claire dropped a piece of bombshell news.
The news that Jonard will come to the Seven Islands to take office has been circulating for a long time, and the news media were still very keen on hyping up the matter at first.
But as time went by, the popularity faded, because a new city official has yet to come, and some of the media outlets that were loud at the time were even rated as classics by netizens.
Now, this gust of wind is finally going to bring rain.
This chapter has been completed!