Quickly conquer the martial arts world, and let your fists dominate the heavens!

The Black and White Pawnshop adheres to the rules of the Ghost Market, keeping its doors tightly closed during the day and only opening for business after nightfall.

At this moment, Chen Zhan was resting with his eyes closed in the study in the backyard.

About half an hour later, there was a knock on the courtyard gate.

"Boom boom boom——"

The knocking rhythm was off.

Two long and three short lines were their secret code, known to everyone on their side.

Qin Ming stopped what he was doing, looked at Chen Zhan, and asked in his eyes.

Chen Zhan slowly opened his eyes, his tone calm: "Go and see, perhaps it's someone from Qingyi Hall."

Qin Ming nodded, walked quickly to the front yard, and cautiously approached the door, peering out through the crack in the door.

Standing outside the door was a tall, imposing man, dressed in shorts, with broad shoulders and a thick back, exuding a fierce aura. He was none other than Cheng Shaojiu, the top henchman under Iron-Tongu Ma Liu.

Qin Ming knew Cheng Shaojiu and also knew that Chen Zhan had recently dismantled Qingyitang, and that Tiezui Ma Liu and Huang Sihai had been beheaded.

He knew in his heart that Cheng Shaojiu had come to his door.

He knew Cheng Shaojiu's background well. This man had served in the Shenji Battalion and had mastered the Three Emperors Cannon Fist to perfection, having already reached the Dark Force realm. He was a rare tough guy in Tianjin.

After Ma Liu's death, Cheng Shaojiu was unable to completely subdue Qingyitang. After all, he had not been a member of Qingyitang for long and could not compare to the old brothers who had followed Ma Liu from beginning to end.

Qingyitang eventually split up.

Cheng Shaojiu, along with his twelve trusted brothers and several close companions, broke away and established his new gang within a few days. They then found their way here according to the address Chen Zhan had left behind.

It's only been a few days since Chen Zhan killed Ma Liu and Huang Sihai.

During this time, Chen Zhan was busy distributing silver dollars, contacting people, and investigating the Machinery Bureau, and almost forgot about Cheng Shaojiu and the other few hidden strength masters from the Divine Machine Battalion.

Cheng Shaojiu stood outside the door without any of his brothers by his side.

Nowadays, the foreigners are conducting thorough searches, and there are police officers patrolling the streets and alleys. The more people there are, the greater the risk of being exposed. He understands the importance of safety above all else.

Qin Ming opened the door, stepped aside to let Cheng Shaojiu in, and lowered his voice: "Brother Cheng, Mr. Chen is waiting in the back. Come with me."

Cheng Shaojiu nodded, his figure flashed, and he quickly walked into the pawnshop, closed the door behind him, and followed Qin Ming into the backyard.

As he walked through the corridor and into the study, he immediately saw Chen Zhan sitting in the main seat, and his expression instantly became respectful.

“Mr. Chen, Cheng Shaojiu has come to answer the call of duty. I will go through fire and water without hesitation!” Cheng Shaojiu knelt on one knee, clasped his hands in salute, and spoke with a firm tone without the slightest hesitation.

Chen Zhan raised his hand to signal him to stand up: "Is your brother alright? We were on opposing sides back then, and you wanted to kill me, but I could tell he practiced the Three Emperors Cannon Fist style, so I showed him mercy. Otherwise, he wouldn't be alive today."

Cheng Shaojiu stood up, his face showing gratitude: "Thank you for your mercy, sir. The third brother is still very weak and could not come to thank you in person. Please forgive him."

He knew in his heart that if Chen Zhan had gone all out, the third brother would already be a corpse.

Chen Zhan waved his hand, his tone indifferent: "It's alright. Qingyi Hall, it's split up?"

When this matter was mentioned, Cheng Shaojiu showed a hint of guilt and embarrassment: "I have failed your trust, sir. Our foundation is too shallow. Most of the old brothers in Qingyi Hall do not accept us. Although we took action to eliminate a few of the ringleaders, we still could not stop them from leaving Qingyi Hall and setting up their own sect."

"It's alright, it's even better this way."

Chen Zhan shook his head, his tone devoid of any dissatisfaction. "What I want are trustworthy people, not a mob. From the very beginning, I only wanted to use the thirteen of you."

A hint of surprise flashed in Cheng Shaojiu's eyes, followed by a surge of gratitude.

He didn't expect that Chen Zhan had never expected the entire Qingyi Hall from the beginning, and only valued the thirteen of them.

"Take these pictures with you. All thirteen of you must memorize them carefully, remembering every detail. Then burn them immediately and don't show them to anyone, not even the person you trust most."

Chen Zhan pointed to several maps on the table, his tone solemn.

He didn't trust the street thugs of Qingyitang. Most of them were opportunists, cowards, and would likely betray their masters for personal gain once they knew the core of the plan.

Therefore, the people prepared are all trusted confidants from various parties. The number of people can be small, but they must be absolutely reliable.

In half an hour, Qin Ming had already copied several maps of the Machine Bureau as Chen Zhan had instructed, and they were now neatly placed on the table.

Cheng Shaojiu came from the Shenji Battalion and had been dealing with firearms and defense for many years. He picked up a map, glanced at it a few times, and roughly recognized what was on it. His expression changed instantly.

His tone was tinged with disbelief: "This is the layout plan of the Tianjin Machinery Bureau? Mr. Chen, are you planning a rebellion?"

The Tianjin Arsenal was the largest firearms manufacturing base of the Qing Dynasty in Tianjin. It not only produced muskets and cannons, but also a large amount of ammunition. Its scale ranked among the top three in the entire north.

He couldn't think of any other possibility than rebellion for seizing such a place and those muskets and gunpowder.

Chen Zhan looked up at him and asked, "What, do you still have feelings for the Qing Dynasty?"

"Uh, no, not at all."

Cheng Shaojiu quickly shook his head, "The Qing government has been corrupt for many years. When we brothers were in the Shenji Battalion, we were subjected to all kinds of harsh treatment and had our rations and pay cut. We suffered all kinds of grievances. Moreover, the Qing government is now beset by internal and external troubles. Even if we want to kill the traitors, we are powerless to change the situation."

He paused, a hint of hesitation on his face, and said in a low voice, "With just a few of us, isn't it a bit much to rebel?"

He didn't dare say what came next.

The phrases "like an egg hitting a rock" and "overestimating one's own strength" swirled in his mind.

No matter how skilled Chen Zhan was in martial arts, he could not possibly defeat an entire nation single-handedly.

Rebellion cannot be succeeded by martial arts prowess alone. Although the Qing court was corrupt, it still had a million-strong army and foreigners with ambiguous attitudes. With their limited manpower, it was tantamount to throwing an egg against a rock.

Chen Zhan shook his head, not directly answering his question.

There are many things he can't explain to Cheng Shaojiu; some paths can only be walked one step at a time.

Seeing that Chen Zhan remained silent, Cheng Shaojiu took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and his eyes hardened: "Shaojiu understands!"

After saying that, he picked up a few maps from the table, carefully folded them, and tucked them into his bosom. He bowed to Chen Zhan again, turned around, and tiptoed out of the study, avoiding any potential spies, and quickly left the Black and White Pawnshop.

Inside the study, Qin Ming watched Cheng Shaojiu's departing figure and asked, "Mr. Chen, is this Cheng Shaojiu trustworthy? After all, he came from the Shenji Camp and was once a member of the Qingyi Hall. What if..."

"Don't worry." Chen Zhan interrupted him, his tone firm. "If he were afraid of death, he wouldn't have come looking for me at this time."

Subsequently, Zhang Laojiao and Wu Qingshan also arrived. Chen Zhan gave them a copy of the blueprints and gave them the same instructions.

Only trusted brothers.

Leaking it would mean utter ruin.
-
The area within the concession has been cleaned for two days.

The bloodstains and debris on the streets have long been cleaned up, and order has been restored.

However, the consulate, which was burned to ashes, and the Swire Group, which was bombed to pieces, could not be restored to its original state in a short period of time.

At this time, many Chinese laborers had been summoned by the foreigners and were using tools to repair the ruins of the Swire Group.

Their faces were numb; they could only bury themselves in their work, afraid of incurring the foreigners' scolding and beatings.

Across the riverbank, countless people stopped to watch, whispering among themselves as they saw the dire state of the Swire Group, their eyes filled with satisfaction and sneer.

Over the years, foreigners have acted arrogantly and domineeringly in Tianjin, oppressing the people and plundering their wealth. Now they have come to this end, which is entirely their own fault.

Inside the police station, Li Bo and Wang Shun had returned and were standing in the conference room, recounting the events of the previous night to Chief Constable Charles and several high-ranking officials of the concession.

Without any concealment, from Chen Zhan killing Luo Ze to killing the other two police officers, and then taking them hostage in the alley, threatening their lives to force them to become inside agents.

Every detail was explained clearly, without a single falsehood.

However, when Charles asked about Chen Zhan's appearance and asked them to describe him, Li Bo and Wang Shun both looked embarrassed and shook their heads repeatedly.

They couldn't see Chen Zhan's exact appearance clearly; the light was dim last night.

As police officers, they travel around Tianjin year-round and are familiar with all the major gangs and experts in the city. They have met any skilled fighter several times.

There has never been such a completely unfamiliar, yet terrifyingly skilled master.

After listening to their explanations, Charles slowly spoke, his Chinese was very fluent, and his tone was somewhat thoughtful: "So, it really is a foreign thief? And this person is still hiding in Tianjin?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a police chief chimed in, "Chief Constable, could it be Li Yunlong? Or Swift-Leg Lin Wu? Or Kang Xiaoba? These men are all notorious thieves, wanted by the Qing government for many years, with countless crimes committed and immense audacity. They might be the ones who did it."

These men were notorious thieves in Tianjin and the surrounding areas. Each of them was exceptionally skilled and committed rampant crimes. The Qing government sent troops to suppress them many times, but they were never able to capture them.

Another person shook his head and retorted, "These people may have the guts, but they may not have the ability. A few days ago, the Fangshan mine was ravaged, dozens of musketeer soldiers died, and a lot of gunpowder was lost. This incident is probably related to the consulate fire and the Taikoo Trading Company explosion the day before yesterday."

"That's right, that's the most likely."

Another person chimed in, "The capital is only a hundred miles from Tianjin. As long as we find out who massacred the musketeers at the Fangshan mine, we can find out the identity of this notorious thief."

"That's not easy to investigate."

"The Fangshan mine was in charge of Tan Sitong. Tan Sitong was a favorite of the Qing court and deeply trusted by Emperor Guangxu. If he was unwilling to talk, we had no way to torture him severely. After all, we were police officers in the foreign concession and had no jurisdiction over Qing officials."

“Tan Sitong cannot be tortured, but his bodyguard is said to be the head of a security escort agency. We can start with him and force him to tell us what happened at the time.”

Charles and several high-ranking officials in the concession discussed the matter in hushed tones for a moment and quickly finalized a plan.

They could control everything in Tianjin, but in Beijing, they couldn't do as they pleased and had to use others to investigate the Fangshan mine.

At this moment, Levi, the person in charge of Swire Group in Tianjin, stood up and said:
“I will have someone handle this matter. Prince Yi’s mansion has long wanted to get in touch with our Swire Group. This is a good opportunity to give them a chance to investigate Tan Sitong’s guards. We can get the information without having to get involved.”

Money makes the world go round; this saying holds true at all times.

Swire Group's financial resources were among the best in Tianjin and Beijing. Countless imperial relatives and nobles wanted to get on board, because as long as they could cooperate with Swire Group, even if they were only responsible for one shipping, they could earn countless amounts of money.

Charles nodded and gave Levi an approving look: "Okay, do as you say, and implement it as soon as possible."

After the discussion, Charles came out of the inner room of the conference room, his gaze falling on Li Bo and Wang Shun, a smile appearing on his face.

He was very satisfied with the explanations given by Li Bo and the other man, especially Li Bo, who even took the initiative to tell them that Chen Zhan had asked him to go undercover and report on the situation at the police station.

This is easy to verify. As long as Li Bo can really transmit messages, they can follow the messages to find Chen Zhan's whereabouts.

"Hehe, Li Bo, you did a great job."

Charles stepped forward and handed Li Bo a case file. "Give this case file to that person. How will you contact him?"

This case file is genuine; it records the plan they just finalized in the meeting room.

The letter, written in clear handwriting and with a reasonable analysis, was sent to Prince Yi's residence to investigate Tan Sitong's guards; it was clearly genuine.

He intended to use this genuine case file as bait to lure Chen Zhan into revealing himself.

With this two-pronged approach—from the capital to Tianjin—we're confident we can catch Chen Zhan as long as he dares to come and retrieve the case files.

Li Bo took the case file, which felt heavy in his hand. He flipped through it and a look of surprise appeared on his face. He quickly said, "Chief Constable Charles, this case file is too precious, isn't it? If that person takes it, our plan will be exposed."

The case file was not sealed, and its contents were clearly visible. If it fell into Chen Zhan's hands, Charles and his group's plan would be completely exposed.

"As long as he comes, that's fine."

"As long as he dares to show up and retrieve the case file, we have a way to arrest him in one fell swoop. Then we can get the case file back later."

Charles didn't say one thing: even if Chen Zhan got the case file, it wouldn't be of any use; this was an open conspiracy.

When Prince Yi takes action, Shunyuan Escort Agency can't escape even if they want to, and getting information is of no use.

Li Bo's heart tightened, and he quickly said, "That person said he would take the initiative to contact me, but he didn't leave me any contact information, and I don't know when he will come."

"Alright, then take the case file back and wait for him at any time."

As Charles spoke, his gaze swept out the window, his expression shifting, a hint of calculation hidden in his eyes.

Li Bo instantly understood what Charles meant.

This wasn't about sending him to deliver a message; it was clearly a trap set to lure Chen Zhan into it.

Once Chen Zhan appears, the police officers lying in ambush will immediately move in and arrest him.

But he couldn't refuse. If he dared to resist, not only would he die, but his family would also be implicated. (End of Chapter)