After my divorce at thirty, I developed an intelligence network.

Her voice was deeper.

"If you want to completely remove this obstacle from your mind, the fastest way is to go back to the logic he's most familiar with. Give him back what he's imposed on others."

"kill?"

Gong Yuelong finally spoke, uttering a single word, devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

"Yes. Make him physically disappear."

Jiang Yan put it bluntly: "This is not a simple fight, it's a beheading."

With a clear objective, meticulous planning, clean execution, and thorough follow-up, the situation can be easily resolved.

Let him, along with the deterrent power he wiped out by maintaining that system, vanish from the High-Tech Zone.

She leaned back and let out a soft breath.

"Once he's gone, his pack of wolves will naturally scatter; when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. A new vacuum will naturally appear, and whoever has the strongest fist and acts quickly will be able to seize it."

She paused, scrutinizing Gong Yuelong:

Do you think you're capable of taking this path?

Gong Yuelong remained silent for a moment, without immediately answering whether it was yes or no.

He recalled the leg he had broken in the rainy night, Wang Biao's painful howl when he fell to the ground, and even more so, the scarlet characters formed from the blue light in his consciousness.

"This road," he said slowly.

"It's not just about whether you dare to take action, but also whether you can finish the job."

Otherwise, killing the wolf might attract an even fiercer tiger, or they might be used as a pawn and perish halfway through the journey.

A faint hint of appreciation flashed across Jiang Yan's eyes.

"You understand this, which makes you better than many idiots who only know how to swing knives."

"Wu Jinshui is not alone. He doesn't have many truly core people under him who can stabilize the situation, but they are all people who have fought alongside him through thick and thin."

She curled her fingers and counted them one by one:

"Wang Biao, you've met him. He's the top henchman, ruthless but reckless, and he has attachments."

"Accountant Chen doesn't care about all the shady accounts and kickbacks. He's timid, but tight-lipped, and knows too much."

"There's another one called Old Cat. It's said he was a fugitive in his younger days. Now he does wet work for him. He's elusive, ruthless, and Wu Jinshui's most poisonous knife hidden in the shadows."

Jiang Yan stopped and looked at Gong Yuelong:

"If we really choose this path, it can't just be Wu Jinshui who's affected. It's about uprooting everything. If any link is missed, there will be endless troubles."

Moreover, it must be done quickly, before anyone can react, to completely eliminate the problem and wipe away all traces.

This requires not only courage and skill, but also... absolute calmness and a keen sense of timing.

She made her point very clearly.

There are two paths. One is a long and complex business war and power struggle, a contest of patience, resources, and skill.

The other option is a swift and extreme violent resolution, a contest of determination, execution, and post-incident handling.

The risks and the costs are worlds apart.

Which path to choose depends on Gong Yuelong's assessment of himself and the situation, and even more so on how deeply he wants to establish himself and where he wants to go.

Outside the window, the city lights came on one after another, flickering on and off.

The occasional splashing sound of koi carp in the pond was subtle yet clearly audible.

With Jiang Yan's guidance, the vague picture of Wu Jinshui's power in Gong Yuelong's mind suddenly became much clearer and more ferocious.

This is no longer a simple local bully or gangster, but a group with a clear division of labor and varying levels of power.

Wang Biao is the knife in the open, Chen Suanpan is the hand that manages the money, Lao Mao is the poisonous thorn in the shadows, and Wu Jinshui is the brain sitting in the middle, controlling everything.

This guidance is far more valuable than simply lending money or introducing someone to a dinner party.

This is information that is almost a trump card, given to him as a player who truly considers him a potential game-changer.

He slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, picked up the teacup, and found the water temperature was just right.

"I understand," he said, only three words.

This information is very real, but also... very sensitive.

"Gong Yuelong, you've got guts and brains," Jiang Yan said in a low voice.

"What's even more remarkable is that you can find the line between courage and intelligence that allows you to stand firm. Breaking Wu San's leg is courage, but paying the old man who looks after the place is intelligence;"

Now, after hearing me explain these two paths, you haven't rushed to choose the faster one out of enthusiasm, nor have you hesitated and only focused on the slower one... You've been weighing your options.

She paused, her gaze sweeping over Gong Yuelong's incredibly handsome profile before turning to the dark sky outside the window.

"In this high-tech zone, or rather, in any place where you want to snatch food from others' mouths, having guts alone will lead to your demise."

Having brains alone won't get you eaten up completely.

You need both, and you also need to know when to use which one.

Jiang Yan's tone softened a bit, "I'm not doing this favor for nothing by bringing up these people."

"I feel that your knife is sharp enough and steady enough that perhaps... it can really make some unusual sounds on someone else's pre-cut iron plate."

Gong Yuelong did not respond, but simply nodded slightly to indicate that he had listened.

Whether it's praise or advice, it all sinks into his heart, becoming a more concrete weighing of things.

The wind outside the window suddenly picked up, and in the distance, thick, inky clouds rolled and piled up.

The light trails of the tower cranes that were previously visible have now been mostly swallowed up.

Jiang Yan also turned to look out the window, stared quietly for a few seconds, and said softly:

"The world is about to change."

A muffled rumble of thunder rolled faintly from deep within the clouds.

The real rain has arrived.

……

The retired leader from the municipal government was surnamed Zheng, and his given name was Shu.

In his early years, he was in charge of urban construction and handled many projects. His signature is still on the earliest planning map of the High-tech Zone.

After retiring, he lived a secluded life.

He has an unwavering habit: every weekend afternoon, if the weather is fine,

He would always set up a game of chess by himself at the stone table under the old locust tree in his own courtyard.

The chess pieces were made of heavy boxwood, and there was also a set of ivory pieces, which I couldn't bear to use.

Fu Mingde was able to get his position in the High-tech Zone Public Security Bureau because Zheng Shu promoted him when he was still in office.

Zheng Shu valued his steady work ethic and his ability to know his limits.

Even after retiring, Fu Mingde never stopped sending New Year's greetings.

Zheng Shu's son, Zheng Tao, did not follow in his father's footsteps and entered the government.

In his early years, leveraging the connections and information his father had accumulated during his time in office, he started a building materials business.

They were affiliated with a fairly large trading company, and they had set up their own small team to specifically handle some large government projects in the city.

The business wasn't particularly large, but in this small area of ​​the High-tech Zone, thanks to the old man's influence and the support of his former associates like Fu Mingde,

Everything went smoothly; the information fees and channels that were supposed to be used were all received without any issues.

At this moment, Zheng Shugang moved the car a step, seemingly intending to strike at the heart of the enemy, but in reality, he left himself an escape route.

He picked up the strong brew of Pu'er tea beside him, took a sip, and without even lifting his eyelids, stared at the empty stone table opposite him.

It sounded like he was talking to himself, yet also like he was speaking to Fu Mingde, who had just entered the courtyard:

"Mingde, some moves look like checkmates, but they're really pressing hard."

But if you only focus on saving the king and forget that there are other pieces like the opponent's knight and cannon lying on the edge of the board, you can only save the day, not the night.