In A City's municipal government building
Briskly walking out of the meeting room, Edgar Gu's face was cold and stern. Holding a meeting log
book, Bill Li picked up his pace and followed closely behind Edgar. All the leaders of the Cultural Affairs
Bureau, Tourism Bureau, and the police inside the meeting room, exchanged glances with each other.
They all got confused and nervous by Edgar's sudden exit. It took them a while to finally take a breath
and a sigh of relief, coming back to their senses. Having been in the government for many years prior,
they could not understand why they were all feeling pressured and frightened by the young politician.
"Mr. Mayor! Did you see the facial expressions of all those old sly foxes?" Bill Li said, laughing. "That
was such a good show!" He couldn't keep his face straight, as he continued laughing and teasing.
Pushing his office door open, Edgar walked in and sat down in front of his desk. He took a sip in his
cup of tea. Seeing the papers Bill placed on top of his desk, Edgar snorted and said,"There must be
some strong, powerful people backing those sly foxes up, especially those leaders of the Cultural
Affairs Bureau and the police."
Bill furrowed his brows, shrugged, and sat down in front of Edgar. "I think the police have a strong
relationship with the Sacred Domain led by Mr. Shen," he said with contempt as Edgar was pouring him
tea. "And I think the Cultural Affairs Bureau has people inside who might have already surrendered to
Mr. Long and have since become his men."
"Don't be so sure," Edgar said. His eyes deepened as he continued,"The Sacred Domain has taken
root in A City for many years. They have extended their influence here, so I don't think they need to do
anything to build strong relations with the government. The police, on the contrary, I am afraid that by
wanting to keep the city safe and stable, they might turn to lick the boot of the Sacred Domain."
Edgar paused, and then continued,"Regarding the Cultural Affairs Bureau, they are initially, technically
Brian Long's men."
"What?!" Bill's eyes widened in shock. Surprised, he asked,"How could that be? That's too
unbelievable!"
"Ha!" Edgar snorted as he sipped his cup of tea. Under his pair of rimless glasses, his eyes continued
to deepen. "I am afraid... that Mr. Long is far more powerful than what we've known and seen so far."
Bill curled his lips with contempt. He didn't respond but thought in his mind, 'Whatever? No matter how
powerful he is, he won't be able to do anything to oppose the government policy once it is
implemented!'
Looking at the expression on Bill's face, Edgar instantly understood what was running on the guy's
mind. He shook his head helplessly but didn't try to contradict Bill's thoughts. It was pointless to tell Bill
that he was wrong, because experience would enlighten him one day. Edgar knew that Bill wouldn't
believe him no matter what he said, yet.
"Is Mr. Song's birthday present already prepared?" Edgar asked, trying to change the subject.
Bill nodded and said,"Yes. We already assigned someone to give the present to Mr. Song; and he was
very happy with what he received."
"That's good," Edgar replied. Edgar had just taken the position of A City's mayor and would be
attending Mr. Song's eightieth birthday party tonight. He was careful with his gift because no matter
what Mr. Song received from him, it would show the government's respect. So he had to make sure
that Mr. Song was satisfied. "Who do you think will be attending Mr. Song's birthday party tonight?" he
asked Bill.
Bill's eyes instantly lit up as he heard Edgar's question. Eagerly leaning forward, he answered at
once,"Mr. Song is a big shot here in A City and even the people in gangland would want to show
respect to him. So I think Mr. Shen and Mr. Long will definitely be of attendance to his party tonight."
"Maybe..." Edgar said, a dash of mysterious anger flashing through his eyes.
Having sensed Edgar's anger, Bill chuckled. In an expectant voice, he said,"If they all show up tonight,
that would be one hell of a show! And I am curious about how Mr. Shen is going to deal with Tyler's
matter."
Hearing Tyler's name, Edgar furrowed his brows and voiced out his doubts. "Mr. Shen has always been
tolerant of Mr. Long's behaviors here in A City. So even though Mr. Long had someone kill Tyler, Mr.
Shen still hasn't taken any action of revenge. It is very unusual. I think they might have some sorts of
secrets between the two of them."
"I had someone investigate what's going on between them. Though Mr. Long has done so many things
that have caused Mr. Shen some problems in the past few years, he has remained very tolerant of Mr.
Long's actions. He has never allowed his men to get back and seek revenge on Mr. Long. I can not
understand why," Bill said. Curling his lips, he went on,"Mr. Long is such a mysterious man. I have
heard a lot of things about him, but most of them were rumors from unreliable sources. Most of the
people in the gangland still have no idea what his full name is, except maybe for those who are familiar
with him or those who are already long gone, dead."
Edgar radiated such a cold, vexed aura. With a stern face, he put his cup of tea down and leaned
backwards on his chair. Out of the corner of his eyes, he caught a glimpse of one of the monitor
screens which was airing the news about Mr. Song's upcoming birthday party. Turning to Bill, he
said,"Bill, if a person who always does things in such an aggressive and tyrannous way is still able to
walk freely and lawlessly, then such a person might either be too young and arrogant to know fear, or...
he might have some sort of very powerful, strong and unknown ability. Which sort of person do you
think Brian Long is?"
Edgar fixed his gaze on Bill, waiting for an answer.
"I think it's the latter one," Bill immediately answered without hesitation. He had already met Brian Long
twice, and each time he saw him, he felt like Brian became a different man. Bill knew that Brian Long
was a dangerous man who had hidden his thoughts so deep, despite his young age. It would be
difficult for anyone to get any information from him and out of him.
Edgar grinned and that expressionless, grim smile stayed on his face for a long time until Molly's face
suddenly popped up in his mind. He frowned, a sudden dash of worry flashing through his eyes and
reaching his heart.
A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts and he saw that Bill had already stood up to get the door.
"Please, do come in!" Edgar said.
The door was pushed open and in came Zack Wang, the minister of the Planning Department. He
said,"Mr. Mayor, here is the information you asked for."
Edgar took the file from Zack Wang, opened it, and quickly browsed it. As he read some of the content
in it, he muttered in confusion,"What? Both the Dragon Empire Group and the Shen Group are
interested in buying that ruined land?"
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