Then, Let Them Offer Their Loyalty!

And it was in this study,

that Yan Chen was on the phone.

On the other end was Yu Zhengyi, the Deputy Director of Administration. His emotions were clearly very agitated; he paid no heed to the past camaraderie between them, and he started cursing straightaway!

"Yan Chen! Have you fucking lost your mind?"

"Old Lai is dead! Dead! Killed in a car crash!"

"Do you dare to swear that you didn't know any of this? That you weren't deliberately sending Old Lai to his death?!"

"You're the one who wants to fight with Qiu Tu, go to die yourself! Why the hell are you sending others to their deaths!"

Yan Chen just silently listened to Yu Zhengyi curse at him for a long while before he finally spoke slowly, "I knew there might be an accident, but I didn't know it would be this serious."

"I also didn't know Old Lai would die. If I had known, I definitely wouldn't have made such a choice."

Yu Zhengyi, evidently not buying Yan Chen's explanation, continued to curse at him, "You're fucking bullshitting!"

"If it weren't for anticipating trouble, would you have had Old Lai attend the meeting in your stead?"

"Come on then, explain to me why you had Old Lai attend the meeting in your place? Give me a rational explanation!"

Hearing what Yu Zhengyi had to say, Yan Chen was silent for a few seconds before he slowly began to recount the reason.

After hearing the reason given by Yan Chen, there was clear silence on the other end of the phone from Yu Zhengyi.

He asked, "When did this happen?"

Yan Chen spoke gravely, "Just last night."

After receiving Yan Chen's reply, Yu Zhengyi fell silent again for a few seconds, then... without saying anything else, he hung up the phone.

The reason given by Yan Chen, although it could not make Yu Zhengyi forgive Yan Chen for causing the death of their own man, could indeed prove that none of this was deliberate on Yan Chen's part, but rather a causally plausible coincidence...

So, he had no other choice but to quit berating Yan Chen and quietly deal with his sorrowful thoughts...

But what he didn't know was,

after hanging up the phone, Yan Chen let out a deep, heavy sigh.

Then Yan Chen leaned back slowly into the large chair behind his desk, sinking deeply into the darkness...

He... had lied to Yu Zhengyi.

In fact... he had indeed intentionally sent Lai Shun to his death.

Yesterday, after the failed assassination attempt on Qiu Tu, Yan Chen had realized things had spiraled out of control.

He knew that with Qiu Tu's vindictiveness, a proportionate retaliation would surely come.

And since he had struck first, even if Qiu Tu sought revenge, the authorities would likely turn a blind eye.

But at that time... he had no idea how Qiu Tu planned to retaliate.

It wasn't until... after Qiu Tu swiftly changed his tune following Yan Chen's framing of the United Front, that Yan Chen started to feel something was amiss.

Qiu Tu's actions pointed him in a direction: the United Front.

After all... with that move, it was clear that Qiu Tu was following along with him, making everything seem credible.

Therefore, he guessed: Qiu Tu's means of retaliation might also involve the United Front...

Especially since... just a couple of days earlier, Qiu Tu had brought him intelligence from the spy department. (Chapter 314)

It was clearly written in the report that the United Front had deployed a Special Warfare Squad to Xinjie City to carry out a mission.

Moreover, the members of this squad were extremely powerful. They included 1 third-tier Changer, 4 second-tier Changers, and 15 first-tier Changers.

A squad set up like this could absolutely assassinate Yan Chen.

Although it was unclear why Qiu Tu could convince the United Front to make a move,

that wasn't important to Yan Chen.

What mattered was... how he should respond.

He first reviewed all of Qiu Tu's actions from the past few days, deducing from the way Qiu Tu had asked for his itinerary.

He surmised that Qiu Tu was likely also plotting to make his move against him.

It just happened to clash with his own schedule.

Hence, he took out his own itinerary and studied it carefully. Soon, he pinpointed the only possible time Qiu Tu would strike: the Municipal Committee meeting the next morning.

The reasoning was the same as he had given to the Lianzhen Special Combat Team: it was the single event for which he couldn't change the time. All other meetings and activities, for Yan Chen, were just a matter of speaking a word...

After determining when and how Qiu Tu would make his move,

Yan Chen was left with only three options before him.

The first was to take a detour or just call off going;

the second was to arrange an ambush in response;

the third was... to arrange for someone else to take the fall.

Compared to the others, the first choice was the safest. But... it was just evasion.

After all, you can evade on the first day of the month, but not on the fifteenth. As long as the Lianzhen Special Combat Team stayed in Xinjie City, the Sword of Mokros hung over Yan Chen's head.

This storm was bound to erupt eventually. Delaying wasn't the solution to the problem.

While the second option wasn't bad, Yan Chen had no contact with the Lianzhen Special Combat Team.

He was unable to know the locations where the United Front team might be lying in ambush, therefore, he could not arrange for a targeted counter-ambush.

Using himself as bait to lure the United Front into action while arranging for backup was far too hazardous.

Moreover... such support would have to come from his own direct lineage to ensure no information leaked, and to prevent the United Front and Qiu Tu from getting tipped off early, calling off the plan, and going back into hiding.

As a result, it meant the combatants would be all from Yan Chen's own lineage.

In the face of a Special Combat Team composed of 20 Changers, casualties were certain to be heavy.

So, after much consideration, Yan Chen ultimately chose the third option: sending someone else to die, to shield himself from the disaster.

There were only two people who could die in place of Yan Chen: Yu Zhengyi and Lai Shun.

After all, only these two Deputy Directors could attend the meeting in place of Yan Chen.

And only their deaths... would temporarily force Qiu Tu to cease hostilities—having got his revenge and because a Deputy Director had been killed, he couldn't continue the strife further.