Power

Once a man's spine has been forcibly broken, it becomes very difficult for him to stand tall again. So the moment Cao Dabiao gave in, he had already begun to throw in the towel. He barked at the top of his lungs, "Awaiting the commander's orders!" Seeing this, Qiu Tu smiled faintly. "Right now, I order you to take two agents you're familiar with and leave the Qin family residence. In half an hour, I'll contact you to give you your next instructions." "Huh?" Probably never imagining Qiu Tu would issue an order like this, Cao Dabiao stared at him in complete bewilderment. Yet Qiu Tu held total control over the entire scene, and with his prestige and confidence completely shattered just moments ago, Cao Dabiao didn't dare voice the slightest objection. Like a walking corpse, he called out two of his confidants from the ranks and led them in a daze out of the Qin family estate, preparing to receive Qiu Tu's next orders in half an hour. Just like that, he made his way out of the Qin family compound. Standing at the entrance of the compound and staring at the city streets branching out in all directions, Cao Dabiao lingered in confusion for a few seconds before suddenly snapping to his senses! *Holy shit! Was I just stripped of my command like that?!* Thinking about the squad he had now been completely severed from, ten thousand alpacas stampeded through Cao Dabiao's heart! Yet a second later, when he saw the two confidants following beside him, another "Holy shit!" slipped out! *Fuck! I even took my own confidants with me?!* *Doesn't that mean I don't even have anyone left behind to pass word or act on my instructions remotely?!* At that thought, Cao Dabiao felt a chill run through his entire body. Recalling Qiu Tu's sequence of moves just now—seizing the initiative, playing on herd mentality, suppressing with status, intimidating with threats, and then transferring him away—a full combo of blows had knocked him straight out of the game before he had even found his footing. At that moment, Cao Dabiao felt only a bone-deep chill. He had half a mind to go back and wrestle for control with Qiu Tu again, but that barrage of moves from Qiu Tu had already completely drained him of courage. He was never a tough character to begin with, so after hesitating again and again, he ultimately chose to give up. *Forget it. The guy is ruthless... Best not to provoke him.* *I'll just treat it as a vacation.* *At least I still have two confidants with me. Worst comes to worst, once this mission is over, I'll send some gifts to the higher-ups and get transferred to another squad...* Thinking this way, Cao Dabiao wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, waved to his two confidants, and said heartily, "Come on, let's go get barbecue. My treat." Meanwhile... Inside the courtyard of the guard corps' quarters, Qiu Tu looked at Chen Feng and the remaining nine agents standing before him, nodding in satisfaction. After kicking out Cao Dabiao, who shared his rank, every agent present was now strictly subordinate to him in both post and rank, completely stripping them of any chance to challenge his authority. However, right now this squad was merely obeying him on the surface. Getting them to truly submit would require other means... With that in mind, Qiu Tu glanced toward Fang Ming at his side and asked, "Agent Fang, have the funds I requested from the Director arrived?" Hearing Qiu Tu's voice, Fang Ming, who had been standing dazed to the side, snapped out of his stupor in confusion. The shock delivered by those few short minutes had surpassed years of education from his family. Watching Qiu Tu drive Cao Dabiao out with just a few swift moves, only a single sentence his father had once taught him echoed in his mind: *The essence of power is not that you can do what you want to do, but that you can make others do what they do not want to do.* At that moment, he seemed to truly grasp the meaning of those words. And for the first time, he truly saw Qiu Tu for who he was. So, hearing Qiu Tu's question, he collected himself, shot a deep look at Qiu Tu, and replied respectfully, "Reporting to the commander, they have arrived." With that, he went into the room and brought out a small case bearing the Investigation Bureau's insignia, presenting it to Qiu Tu with both hands. Qiu Tu took the case, opened it, and inspected the contents. Inside were rows of shining silver dollars. He scooped up a handful—easily thirty or forty of them—and tossed them straight into the air toward the agents. Seeing the shower of silver dollars, the agents' eyes turned bloodshot. By reflex, they moved to catch and grab them. Right then, however, Qiu Tu barked sharply, "Don't touch them!" "You are agents! A disciplined force! If your commander hasn't told you to move, let's see who dares!" Hearing Qiu Tu's words, the bodies of the ten agents swayed slightly, but ultimately they all stood motionless. Yet judging from the burning intensity in their eyes, the yearning in their hearts had not diminished in the slightest. After all, in the zone pending planning, the purchasing power of silver dollars was immense. A single silver dollar could buy eighty jin of premium rice, ten to twenty jin of meat, or thirty chi of cloth. Its purchasing power was roughly equivalent to eight hundred yuan from Qiu Tu's previous life. It was rarely used for everyday transactions among ordinary folks. Thus, to agents who earned only about three silver dollars a month in wages, these thirty or forty silver dollars truly constituted a massive sum. Seeing that his orders were now carried out and obeyed without question, Qiu Tu nodded in satisfaction. He handed the small case back to Fang Ming, paced a few steps in front of the ten agents, and then spoke under the heat of their burning gazes. "You are all my subordinates. As long as you work diligently under me, what does a promotion matter? What do silver dollars matter? You'll have it all!" With that, Qiu Tu waved his hand. "Now, Chen Feng takes five silver dollars, the rest of you take three each, and bring whatever is left over back to me!" "Chen Feng, supervise!" "Dismissed!" At Qiu Tu's words, the agents immediately bent down in excitement, eagerly picking up silver dollars from the ground. Yet because of Qiu Tu's earlier command, none of them fought over the coins, tacitly picking up only those at their own feet. Before long, each man held three silver dollars in his hand. The remainder was handed over to Chen Feng, who collected them all and presented them to Qiu Tu. After handing the silver dollars to Qiu Tu with both hands, Chen Feng looked at him with mixed emotions and said earnestly, "Commander, you... you are incredible." Hearing this, Qiu Tu swept his gaze over the other agents. The look they gave him now was filled with both awe and burning enthusiasm. Qiu Tu knew that these ten men were now ready to be put to use... *Nominal power comes from above, but real power comes from below.* Calling the ten Political Department agents into the room, Qiu Tu first divided them into pairs. He then took out several leads transcribed from Fourth Master Qin's booklet and instructed them to verify the information accordingly. Soon, the five pairs of Political Department agents formed teams and set out one after another. Before they departed, Qiu Tu made sure to exchange communication numbers with each of them, requiring them to report any developments immediately and avoid alerting their targets. Perhaps owing to the blend of discipline and reward he had just displayed, all five teams proved exceptionally cooperative. Having arranged everything, Qiu Tu stepped out of the room. Watching the Political Department agents file out one after another, he pulled out his communicator and dialed Cao Dabiao's number...