CHAPTER 197: CHAPTER 195 BEHIND-THE-SCENES MANIPULATOR

The comprehensive power usage restriction by City Hall has severely affected various shelters across the city, including City Hall Shelter itself, which is no exception.

Aside from necessary electricity, all excess electricity usage has been restricted and cancelled, even City Hall officials hold meetings using emergency lights instead of electric lights as before.

For these officials, this is clearly a unique experience, but at times like this, no one would say anything unnecessary or demand special treatment, like turning on the electric lights.

Although the restriction on electricity has some impact on City Hall’s daily operations, it is not insurmountable; emergency lights can still maintain daily work.

However, the current difficulties, while manageable, do not mean the problems have been resolved.

The impending shortage of coal remains a major issue confronting City Hall.

Related information has already been reported to the provincial government, and the provincial government is urgently allocating resources to support the city, while the railway department’s construction team is conducting emergency repairs on the railway bridge.

But all this takes time, and the situation remains grim.

Therefore, the atmosphere within City Hall Shelter is particularly tense at the moment, with everyone busily handling their respective tasks.

Comforting the emotions of shelter survivors, distributing supplies, allocating and using existing coal...

All kinds of tasks have everyone engulfed in busyness, and no one mentions taking a break or finishing work. They’re all working till exhaustion, taking brief rests, and then resuming.

From high-ranking officials to grassroots staff, no one is an exception.

City Hall remains heavily guarded, and due to previous bombings and railway bridge explosions, the inspections have become even stricter. Not only do people have to go through checks when entering, they also have to be checked when leaving.

As the secretary of the City Hall office, Secretary Li enjoys no special privileges; even when he needs to leave the shelter for business, he also has to go through layers of security checks.

"Sorry, Secretary Li, we need to inspect your bag too." The staff in charge of the inspection is familiar with Secretary Li, but he does not dare to make connections or offer any special treatment at such a time.

Secretary Li doesn’t mind and hands his briefcase over for inspection, while he himself is being searched.

The briefcase contains some documents, which the staff does not look at closely. As long as they confirm there are no dangerous items or confidential documents, other items are not strictly restricted.

Once the inspection is completed, the staff returns the briefcase to Secretary Li: "Sorry for taking up your time, Secretary Li."

"No problem, it’s necessary for your work." Secretary Li seems quite agreeable, smiles as he takes back his briefcase, and then passes through the checkpoint, leaving the shelter.

Just watching Secretary Li’s departing figure, the staff member curiously mutters to a colleague nearby: "What’s Secretary Li off to do? Why isn’t he taking a car?"

"If he were taking a car, he wouldn’t go through here, nothing odd about it." The colleague doesn’t see anything unusual about this.

If he were taking a car to other shelters, with the underground passages mostly opened now, he would just take a car directly from the underground garage; there really is no need to exit through the main door above ground.

The staff member thinks about it, concludes there isn’t anything wrong, and no longer pays attention to the matter, stopping the next person leaving and continuing their inspection work.

————————————————

After leaving the shelter, Secretary Li did not go far. He trudged through the snow for about a block, cautiously surveyed the surroundings, and upon seeing that no one was around, flashed his flashlight towards a nearby building that had not yet collapsed.

Soon, a light flashed from inside the building as well.

Upon seeing this, Secretary Li cautiously glanced around again, confirmed no one was following him, and walked towards the building.

Inside the building, he entered a closed room surrounded by walls where several indistinct figures were waiting for his arrival.

Seeing him enter, the leader quickly stood up to greet him, "Uncle, you’re here!"

"Azu, what exactly do you want? Why did you blow up the railway?" Secretary Li didn’t respond politely to the greeting, took off his protective mask, and questioned him impatiently.

"What do you mean, Uncle?" The person greeting Secretary Li maintained a gentle demeanor but seemed not to comprehend Secretary Li’s intent.

Faced with such a response, Secretary Li’s expression grew more displeased, and he replied angrily, "We agreed from the start that I would deliver you messages just to help you evade City Hall’s capture, not for you to bomb the railway or stage bomb attacks at City Hall’s entrance! You’ve blown up the railway now, affecting the power and heating of the entire city! Many people will die!"

"What does it matter? It’s merely a necessary sacrifice." The person appeared indifferent, with an expression still warm but eyes devoid of any warmth, extremely cold.

"You call that a necessary sacrifice? What do you take human lives for?" Secretary Li seemed incredulous as he looked at him, "What exactly do you want, Azu?"

"All I want is to realize my ideals, to make everyone gain freedom and happiness. The government is only a shackle to freedom; only by overthrowing the rulers can people gain freedom, can they gain true happiness!" Known as Azu, the person retained his gentle smile, but his gaze shifted from cold to fervent, sincerely appealing to Secretary Li: "This is my ideal! My ambition! Uncle, join us! Once we realize our plan, you can manage this city, you can become the Mayor, isn’t this what you have always dreamed of?"

"I do want to be Mayor, but not in this way!" Secretary Li had a moment of hesitation but quickly shook his head in refusal, and continued questioning Azu: "How many people do you plan to kill for the freedom you speak of?"

"Anyone who obstructs the path to freedom, one by one." Perhaps angered by Secretary Li’s rejection, Azu’s expression turned stern, his response merciless.

Secretary Li seemed taken aback, stepped back, shaking his head in disbelief, "Azu, why have you become like this? That’s human life!"

"Sacrifice is always necessary for freedom." Azu seemingly unwilling to engage further, candidly advised Secretary Li: "Uncle, you should consider carefully; if you join us, you’ll still be my dear uncle. Once we take over this city, you’ll become its Mayor, and the city will be handed over to you.

However, if you persist in your confusion, I can only express regret, but even if you are my uncle, my only relative, I still can only..."

Azu spoke while pulling out a handgun, but he did not aim it at Secretary Li, merely removed the magazine, took out a bullet, and placed it in his shirt pocket: "This bullet is saved for you, Uncle."

Secretary Li observed Azu’s actions, understanding what he truly implied.

If Secretary Li agreed to join Azu, he would have to utilize the bullet to kill someone as a testament to his allegiance.

If Secretary Li declined, that very bullet would be the one to send him off.

Finishing his statement, Azu glanced at his men: "Escort my uncle out."

Appearing somewhat frightened by Azu, Secretary Li, wanting to say more, could only be escorted out by Azu’s men, stumbling as he left.

"Brother Zu, why are you being so courteous to him? Even without his help, we can still accomplish our task." One of Azu’s men, seemingly confused by his actions, inquired in Vietnamese.

"He is still my uncle. After my parents died, it was my uncle who raised me. If not necessary, I don’t want to take action against him." Azu also replied in Vietnamese, seemingly providing himself a reason not to kill Secretary Li: "Moreover, we are just mercenaries; we excel at war and killing, but managing a city... Who among you understands?"

Azu’s men exchanged glances and shook their heads. Individually skilled at chaos and destruction, none possessed the ability to govern a city.

Seeing his men, Azu knew none could fulfill the role of city manager, and he could only shake his head helplessly and say: "That’s why we need a professional like my uncle; only someone like him understands city management."

"I see, Brother Zu." Azu’s man nodded insightfully but yet posed another concern: "But Brother Zu, won’t he betray us? Even if he is your uncle, he doesn’t seem inclined to join us."

"Uncle wouldn’t betray me like that, which wouldn’t allow him to escape either." Azu appeared to trust Secretary Li but his next statement revealed it wasn’t due to familial bonds: "Besides, Luu will be monitoring him. If he genuinely attempts to sell us out, even being my uncle, I won’t show mercy."

Luu, the only female among Azu’s followers from Vietnam, and the sole assassin and intelligence operative in their group, was placed beside Secretary Li to protect while gathering intelligence and simultaneously monitoring him.

After hearing Azu, his men exchanged another glance, seemingly finding no issue. Consequently, one asked: "What’s our next step?"