I Am Your Natural Enemy

Wen Yan left with the slip of paper.

After Wen Yan had been gone for a few minutes, Liu Qiying stood up, regaining her usual calm composure. She opened the door and waved to the guards outside.

"I want to see Minister Cai."

"Minister Cai is very busy. He already said that unless he asks for it, no one's to see him these days."

"Ten minutes. Fifty billion."

A moment later, Cai Qidong, who had just had a cursory conversation with Wen Yan, arrived with a dark expression. He looked at Liu Qiying with no pleasantness in his expression.

Liu Qiying dispensed with the usual niceties and got straight to the point.

"I want my phone. From here on, I will fully cooperate with all actions of the Scorching Sun Department.

The special anesthetics in stock that haven't been sold will all be donated to the Scorching Sun Department.

Changfeng Group will also cooperate with all upcoming operations of the Scorching Sun Department.

Changfeng Group is prepared to donate five billion worth of resources, including supplies.

Personally, I will also donate one billion for various follow-up matters.

I have a lot of data, all related to the Devil.

Wen Yan can take you to get them…

And also…"

Liu Qiying made no demands, offered no terms—she opened with a cascade of proactive cooperation.

Cai Qidong listened, face still dark.

Earlier, Wen Yan had only given him a rough outline of the intelligence, without going into detail.

He didn't know how Wen Yan negotiated with Liu Qiying to make her so willing to cooperate.

He figured it still had to do with He Changfeng. Sure enough, He Changfeng was still in Wen Yan's hands!

He just knew, what sort of little thief could have the skill to steal something from where Wen Yan lived.

Most importantly, after the theft, could that little bastard Wen Yan really let them off so easily?

Knowing Wen Yan's temper, even if he wasn't going to be merciless, he'd at least give that thief a taste of the harshness of society so he'd focus on studying from now on and never cause trouble again.

Cai Qidong didn't really care what happened to He Changfeng. The guy had been dead for years, his soul utterly shattered, and Liu Qiying had fought for years with little progress—what else could change now?

As long as Wen Yan managed to persuade Liu Qiying to cooperate properly, as long as she didn't hold them back at a time like this, that's all that mattered.

The rest could wait until after the Pain Demon Lord's arrival was dealt with.

Right now, everything had to step aside for this matter.

Cai Qidong spent less than five minutes there before concluding the talks. The follow-up liaison would be handled by the Scorching Sun Department staff.

Cai Qidong then headed to Wei State to prepare for the next stage.

If Changfeng Group could cooperate fully, that would be for the best. Willing to contribute money and resources—that was even better.

It wasn't that the Scorching Sun Department couldn't come up with the money—it was that every single cent here was tightly budgeted, meant for the most pressing needs. Every year, each department fought for budget—it was routine.

There was never enough money. Never enough to cover all the projects.

Sixty billion sounds like a lot, but divided among a million people in Virtue City, that's just sixty thousand per person…

Well, if everything goes smoothly, a few days—this funding should be enough for compensation and cleanup.

But that's not how the cost is calculated. Evacuating a million people disrupts the entire social order. The impact isn't just on Virtue City; the overall loss is immense, and it's not something you can tally in just a day or two.

Still, with money, many things really do get much easier.

By nightfall, all related plans had been finalized. The stage was set—it was just waiting for the actors to take their places.

Wen Yan hurried back to Virtue City overnight. As dawn approached, he stood atop a building at the city's edge, gazing out toward the highway beyond the urban district.

On the hour, he saw a hazardous materials transport truck drive into the city, and then another vehicle approached from a different direction.

The two vehicles collided, and flames swept up thick black smoke, rising skyward.

On the rooftop of a distant building, a burly, two-meter-tall man wielded a giant feather fan over three meters long. With a forceful sweep, the pre-dawn winds grew wild, blowing north and carrying the black smoke away from the city.

Ten minutes later, he saw activity spring up around him. Several people in hazmat suits appeared, and the initial stages of evacuation began.

Government departments made call after call—their previously prepared emergency response plans began to take effect in the face of this incident.

The West River Water System, used to flood management year after year, had the grassroots experience to handle similar events. Moments like this were the true test of their mobilization and operational ability.

Wen Yan observed—everything looked chaotic, yet there was order amidst the chaos, everything proceeding as planned.

From today, within two days, this million-strong city would become an empty shell.

Under the cover of darkness, some teams moved fast. Their first task: exterminate the rats and cockroaches in the sewers. Nanwu County had plenty of experience with that.

This time, with manpower and resources mobilized, the efficiency was off the charts.

Soon, local groups began spreading information.

Someone posted a short video: cockroaches and rats fleeing the sewers, most dying only a short way out, with claims that hazardous chemicals in the pipes poisoned them.

The explosion and leak of the hazardous materials transport truck had also made the rounds.

The evacuation arrangements were set clearly in the open.