The police looked bewildered.

We're surrounded?

Who has surrounded us?

And how did a helicopter appear here?

One question after another filled their hearts, yet no one could give them answers.

Just as the helicopter appeared, military SUVs and troop carriers parked outside the alley on both sides of the convenience store.

The bright headlights, like pillars of light, illuminated every detail of the alley, which was tens of meters long.

Several police officers and Brother Tyrant suddenly felt a sense of being surrounded and helpless.

This sudden turn of events pushed Ji Lin's inner anxiety to the peak.

At this moment, a dense sound of footsteps pounded like drumbeats and quickly approached the convenience store.

When Ji Lin and the others turned their heads to look outside the convenience store, they saw a group of fully armed soldiers, guns ready, surrounding from both sides.

The helicopter in the sky also lowered a rope, along which armed special forces rapidly descended.

Beams from various tactical flashlights moved back and forth over the soldiers as they swayed.

The few men felt a surreal sense of being in a war movie.

Until the sound of a rifle bolt being pulled snapped them back to reality.

Suddenly, a harsh command sounded: "Arrest them!"

The soldiers at the forefront quickly moved forward.

Suddenly, a soldier noticed the gun in Li Qingtang's hand and shouted: "Report, the enemy has a gun!"

Instantly, the muzzles of a dozen rifles aimed at Li Qingtang.

Li Qingtang nearly wet his pants in fear; his hand went limp, and the gun fell to the ground.

Soldiers stormed in swiftly; Li Qingtang pleaded: "I'm Li Qingtang, my dad is..."

What greeted him was a rifle butt.

"Bang!"

Li Qingtang's face was bloodied, and he dropped to his knees.

Ji Lin was shocked, and quickly raised his hand to cooperate.

But it was too late.

These soldiers came with anger.

They wouldn't care whether or not the others cooperated.

"Bang!"

Ji Lin also took a rifle butt, while Brother Tyrant and the others weren't spared either. After being harshly taken down, their hands were bound behind their backs and they were pressed to the ground.

Xiao He regained his freedom, immediately rushing to Chen Songbai's side to see blood flowing from Chen Songbai's head. He shouted nervously, "The commander is injured, call an ambulance!"

Commander Ma of the military district shuddered at the shout.

The commander is injured!

He rushed inside and saw Chen Songbai being supported by Xiao He, blood on his head, and his heart sank.

"Quickly, get Commander Chen to the hospital!"

Commander Chen!

Those pressed to the ground, including Ji Lin and others, trembled with fear upon hearing the title.

Especially Li Qingtang, whose face turned ash gray.

He had just hit a military district commander!

Director Yang, who sobered up completely from alcohol, felt his blood turn cold with only one thought in mind: I'm finished!

Chen Songbai shook his head, looking at Commander Ma: "Are you in charge of command here?"

Commander Ma saluted: "Reporting to the commander, I am Ma Tao, commander of the Lingjiang Military District!"

Chen Songbai said: "My guard is injured; send him to the hospital immediately, then arrest these criminals!"

"Yes!"

Commander Ma ordered: "Take them back to the military district!"

Soldiers escorted the police along with Ji Lin and others into vehicles, then picked up Chen Songbai and others as well.

Song Guanchao had not suffered any harm, but now had to go along.

Once on the vehicle, he looked at Zhong Aimin: "Old man, your comrade's identity is truly extraordinary."

Zhong Aimin smiled, saying nothing.

After a simple treatment to stop the bleeding, the injury on Chen Songbai's head wasn't much of a concern to him.

He curiously looked at Song Guanchao: "This young man is quite calm."

Zhong Aimin said: "Xiao Song is a government official."

"Oh?"

Chen Songbai and Pei Rongguang were a bit curious.

Song Guanchao introduced himself: "I am the Deputy Secretary of the Lingjiang Municipal Committee, Secretary Wu Qiangwei's aide."

Chen Songbai acknowledged with a nod, showing no intention to engage further.

Just as the vehicle left the Fengmen Building area, Wu Qiangwei and others also arrived by car.

Seeing these military vehicles, they were all startled.

What on earth had happened here?

Why were so many people mobilized?

They followed in their cars while calling Commander Ma.

Upon learning that Commander Chen was assaulted, injured, and even had his gun seized, they were shocked.

"Commander Ma, who did this?"

"Not sure, still investigating!"

"Commander Ma..."

"Secretary Qu, don't ask me right now; I'm also in the dark. Let's wait until Commander Chen's treatment is finished, then we'll discuss it at the military district."

...

Song Guanchao took out his phone, which had been ringing non-stop since Li Qingtang and others forced their way in, but there was no time to answer.

He saw calls from Wu Qiangwei and Qu Xiangru.

He returned Wu Qiangwei's call first.

"Secretary Wu, you were looking for me?"

"Something happened at Fengmen Building!"

Song Guanchao's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly reasoned that Wu Qiangwei was the deputy secretary, and with such a major incident, the military district would definitely contact her, so it was not surprising she knew.

"I know."

"You know?"

"Yes, I'm at the scene."

"What?" Wu Qiangwei was surprised and asked, "What exactly happened?"

"I don't know exactly either."

He was just as puzzled now as Li Qingtang and his group inexplicably barged in.

"I'll ask around and call you back later."

Putting down the phone, Song Guanchao asked, "Old man, my leader asked me. Please tell me, what's the situation here?"

"Let the old leader rest well, I'll explain," Chen Songbai said, detailing the situation from start to finish.

After listening, Song Guanchao analyzed a bit and figured out most of it.

The demolition team came first and, upon discovering firearms, mistakenly thought they were dealing with a criminal gang.

So they contacted Director Yan, planning to catch them all in one swoop.

But unexpectedly, they clashed with a real powerhouse.

As for why Li Qingtang and Ji Lin were present, Song Guanchao guessed that they probably wanted to earn credit.

This was essentially running into trouble voluntarily.

Song Guanchao clicked his tongue: "This situation will be tough to handle."

Pei Rongguang, who had been mostly silent, said, "What's so tough to handle?"

Song Guanchao replied: "The man who hit Commander Chen is the son of Li Zhen Ting, the Deputy Governor of Nanjiang Province. The other man is the son of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission Director."

Pei Rongguang narrowed his eyes and merely sneered without speaking.

Chen Songbai, on the other hand, smiled and looked at Song Guanchao: "Secretary Song is very knowledgeable, huh? Do you have a grudge against these two?"

"Not really a grudge; this guy felt I disrespected him and wanted to pick a fight," Song Guanchao explained without hiding, recounting Li Qingtang's visit to cause trouble.

After listening, Chen Songbai suddenly stared into his eyes and asked: "Do you know about the demolition team's forced demolitions?"

"Yes."

"Why don't you deal with it?"

"The timing isn't right."

Chen Songbai's gaze sharpened: "Are you deliberately allowing forced demolitions by real estate developers?"

"Yes."

Song Guanchao knew that it was impossible to hide such things from these bigwigs.

In both politics and the military, those who reach the top have exceptional political insight.

They could grasp the essence of things by just understanding the broad situation.

Chen Songbai asked: "Why are you allowing it?"

"Not allowing, waiting for opportunity," Song Guanchao corrected, explaining, "Only if real estate developers make the situation escalate can the City Committee step in and transfer the project from the City Government to the City Committee."

"Once transferred to the City Committee, I'll be in charge, and then the residents' interests can be protected."

Chen Songbai sneered: "Sounds better than songs. Ultimately, it's about political achievements!"

Song Guanchao calmly replied: "It's both for political achievements and for safeguarding residents' interests; the two don't conflict."

Chen Songbai scoffed. He wouldn't believe Song Guanchao's few simple words.

But after brief contact, he didn't find the young man unpleasant.

"Stop the car," Chen Songbai suddenly ordered.

The driver pulled over, and Chen Songbai said: "You should get off the car."

"Old man, take care. Let's have a drink sometime," Song Guanchao winked at Zhong Aimin, opened the car door, and got out.

As the door closed, a smile broke across Chen Songbai's taut face: "This young man has quite the confidence, knowing our identities without showing any servility."

He looked at Zhong Aimin: "Old leader, what's this young man's name?"

Zhong Aimin replied: "Song Guanchao."

"Song Guanchao?" Chen Songbai suddenly murmured in surprise: "Why does this name sound so familiar?"

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