Initiative

By the seawall of Jiyang District, Supervisor Wen sat inside an armored special vehicle, gazing toward Bainiao District in the distance and the airships shuttling overhead. Over the past few days, he had remained stationed here without rest, keeping a vigilant watch. The branch offices of major corporations and mega-enterprises in Center City typically possessed mature active conscious entities capable of directly carving out passages to the blended territory. Naturally, doing so required approval from Center City, meaning that in theory, no matter which passage was taken, it fell under Center City's control and supervision. The issue was that within Center City, alongside the Government Affairs Hall, the Municipal Council also wielded a certain degree of authority—a legacy issue inherited from the early days of Great Shun's founding. Of course, here in Jibei Dao, new regulations were being pushed forward. Once enacted, they would allow the gradual assumption and stripping of certain powers from the Municipal Council. Yet the Municipal Council had no intention of standing idly by as its authority was stripped away, and fought back however it could. Many of the current developments could be viewed as a continuation of this confrontation between both sides. Supervisor Wen knew that the Consortium's people had undoubtedly entered the blended territory through passages under the Council's control. If the Consortium and the Linax delegation truly joined forces, it would mean the latter could also make use of these routes. While maintaining public order prevented the Municipal Council from acting brazenly, letting one or two people slip through each time was entirely within their capability. And he was certain that if he relaxed his guard in the slightest, regardless of whether the two parties were cooperating, the unmonitored passage would inevitably "accidentally" allow large numbers of personnel to slip past. Therefore, throughout this period, he had conducted daily spot checks on personnel from the Linax Federation, tracked the whereabouts of every key figure, and kept a round-the-clock watch on all airships traveling back and forth across the sea. These people had not sat idly by, either. From the very beginning, they had ceaselessly lodged complaints and protests against him, refusing cooperation or stalling at every turn, while regularly utilizing legal means to petition and sue him. However, he was an experienced Investigation Supervisor; every step he took strictly followed procedure, and every action was backed by compliant records, leaving no leverage for anyone to seize upon to this day. Thanks to these compliant operations, and because he was dealing with the Linax Federation, both the Disposal Bureau and the Government Affairs Hall helped shield him from external pressure, preventing anyone from interfering with his work. So as long as he held his ground here, the opposition could hardly lay a finger on him. Yet he also knew that with even Chief Wu facing questioning, smear campaigns or other underhanded moves against him were inevitable sooner or later—if they hadn't begun already. "Supervisor," a young squad member tapped on the car window, holding a briefcase in hand. Supervisor Wen glanced at him and gestured for him to come inside. The young man promptly opened the door and slid in. He opened the briefcase, retrieved a decrypted dispatch, handed it over, and whispered, "A reply from the other side." Supervisor Wen's expression grew solemn. Taking the dispatch, which had come from a covert department, he looked over it. It was confirmed: there indeed were indications that the Linax Federation and the Consortium were joining hands. He pondered. Though the situation over the past few days seemed no different from usual on the surface, he could feel the pressure mounting. His subordinates had already rotated through several shifts. If the opposition made a move, he might be confident in repelling it, yet loopholes were almost bound to emerge. While that might not mean total failure, much of their hard work would be squandered. Besides, waiting passively on defense for an enemy to attack was never a sound strategy. He said, "Xiao Shao, I have an assignment for you." The young man straightened up, his demeanor turning solemn. "At your command, Supervisor." Supervisor Wen tapped his boundary credential and transmitted a pre-drafted document to him. "Act according to the instructions laid out here. Remember, do not act on your own initiative. Whatever news reaches your ears, keep your composure. Do not panic." The young man said solemnly, "Understood, sir." "Good. You may go." The young man saluted and said, "Then I will take my leave." Pushing open the door, briefcase in hand, he walked away. Supervisor Wen sat alone in the vehicle, deep in thought for a long while. Then he stepped out, walked to the edge of the seawall, and watched the rolling waves. After standing there for more than half an hour, he reached up to his boundary credential and contacted Supervisor Han. After a brief moment, the call connected. "This is Han Fu." Supervisor Wen smiled and said, "Supervisor Han. Ah, I've considered things recently and feel I can accept your proposal. So I'd like to ask: how do you plan to make your move?" There was no immediate reply from the other end. After a short pause, a map of blended territory passages appeared on his boundary credential. Supervisor Han's voice followed. "Based on my analysis, this route is the passage that Linax Federation personnel are most likely to traverse." Supervisor Wen glanced at it. "The underground passage in Bainiao District?" He nodded. "Highly likely. Well, if you have me ease up on surveillance, they're bound to grow suspicious. Supervisor Han, do you have any good ideas?" Supervisor Han said, "It must be done naturally. You don't need to actively loosen surveillance, Supervisor Wen—just wait for their counterstrike. I believe that won't take long to arrive. "You can go with the flow, let them have their opening first, and then we concentrate our forces to strike, aiming to cripple the Linax Federation in one fell swoop!" Hearing this, Supervisor Wen felt a surge of anticipation. He said, "The plan is feasible to an extent... but only if the Linax Federation plays along. If they only send a handful of people, it'll likely end up being all thunder and no rain." "Which is why we cannot give them too much time to deliberate and prepare. Supervisor Wen, once they take action against you, it would be best for you to feign that you'll soon clear your name and return to your post. That will force them to make a swift decision." "Makes sense," Supervisor Wen nodded. "That way, even knowing there's a risk, they will still try to take the gamble." Supervisor Han said, "Because if they delay, every extra day means one less chance of securing the relic." Supervisor Wen then asked, "Supervisor Han, how many men can you mobilize?" "More than half the personnel under my command. Any more would be too easy to notice. Over the past few days, I have been continuously moving personnel around in preparation for this." Supervisor Wen nodded silently and added, "However, success relies heavily on the accuracy of the intelligence. I'm sure I don't need to remind you of that, Supervisor Han." Supervisor Han replied, "I can say with confidence that I have inside sources. And even if no one shows, we lose nothing. I trust you wouldn't be overly bothered by that, Supervisor Wen." "When opportunity strikes, one must take it." Supervisor Wen looked up and said forcefully, "Fine, then it's settled." After ending the call, Supervisor Wen gazed at the surging ocean before him. Once his mind was made up, he would relentlessly pursue his objective. Having run the calculations through his head, he returned to the vehicle and began contemplating how to arrange and deploy his personnel without arousing suspicion. He could not mobilize too many operatives; once the scale grew too large, the information would become impossible to conceal, and numbers might not even make much difference. What was needed this time was elite personnel who could deliver results at crucial moments—preferably unfamiliar faces who had not appeared before. The reinforcements brought in from other Center Cities could indeed be put to use; a few among them had surpassed his expectations and were genuine, rare talents. He looked outside again, preparing to keep watch here over the coming days, waiting for the other side to make their move. Yet the slander against him arrived faster than anticipated. Just half a day later, photographs and documents alleging that he had conducted private transactions with Linax Federation personnel surfaced at both the Government Affairs Hall and the Disposal Bureau, accompanied by related audio recordings and witness testimonies. Even one of Supervisor Wen's own subordinates stepped forward to testify against him. This caused no small stir. Even though everyone knew this was likely fabricated by the opposition, the sheer volume of evidence meant the Disposal Bureau could not simply turn a blind eye, so they immediately summoned him back for formal questioning. Naturally, his duties here were handed over to a replacement. Yet everyone knew that without his personal strength and prestige, a substitute could accomplish very little. Yet barely half a day after that, word spread that much of the evidence had been proven forged, suggesting it would not be long before he returned to his original post. And during this brief window, beneath the surface in places unseen, countless undercurrents surged in silence. October 5th, 7:20 in the evening. Supervisor Wen sat in his supervisor's office with his eyes closed, resting his mind, seemingly waiting for something. In truth, he had cleared himself of trouble by noon today and could have returned to his squad, but he had stayed put, remaining right here. At seven-thirty, a chime suddenly sounded from his boundary credential. He answered, and Supervisor Han's voice rang out: "According to inside sources, two squads of Federation personnel are expected to cross through the passage, at around eleven-thirty and two in the morning respectively." Supervisor Wen pressed no further, nor did he ask how the intelligence was obtained. Instead, he said decisively, "Understood. I'm moving out now." He rose, took his personal weapon, stepped out of his office, and walked straight into the dedicated internal elevator. With a press of a button, the elevator began its slow descent. He knew many eyes would be watching him right now, so this time he took the Disposal Bureau's internal passage into the blended territory. Once inside, he would board a train there to loop around toward the opposite exit and rendezvous with Supervisor Han, joining forces to corner and wipe out the Federation personnel emerging on that side! Before long, the elevator reached the bottom. The doors slid open, and he stepped out. Flanking both sides stood Disposal Bureau operatives who had been assembled well in advance; seeing him emerge, they saluted in unison. Supervisor Wen came to a halt and returned the salute with a solemn face. Lowering his hand, he strode forward. With every step he took, the operatives on both sides wheeled around to fall in behind him, filling the underground tunnel with the crisp, rhythmic clatter of marching boots. Ahead, resting on the tracks, a train bound for the blended territory was already waiting. Leading the team aboard the train, Supervisor Wen sat down inside. After a moment of contemplation, he tapped his boundary credential and pulled up Chen Chuan's contact signal. He seemed on the verge of contacting him, but after a second thought, chose not to reach out directly. Instead, he recorded a timed voice message and queued it up, ensuring it would send automatically when the time came unless he canceled it. A whistle blast echoed in his ears as the train beneath him slowly gathered speed, rumbling down the deep tunnel toward the far end.