You believe that your gun is no match for my fist?

Zhang Zhenwu probably just wanted his soldiers to surround the Albion people and then threaten them to force them to release the goods.

This is certainly the most reasonable course of action, as it avoids bloodshed and diplomatic disputes.

The problem is that this choice isn't so good for Tang Liu.

Gao Zhan glanced at Zhang Zhenwu, the new army brigade commander from Jiezhen in Liaodong, who clearly had no fear of these foreigners.

He hadn't previously considered Zhang Zhenwu's intentions in a way that would be more beneficial to himself and Tang Liu, but now it seemed different.

This guy killed those foreigners like chickens. It's unlikely that someone who shows no fear of foreigners and is ruthless in exterminating them would stand on the docks for half a day just to make these Albionians go through the motions.

Tang Liu stood beside Zhang Zhenwu, his hands still trembling. Unlike Gao Zhan and Zhang Zhenwu, he was the most common type of person in this country, harboring a deep fear of foreigners.

However, Gao Zhan could understand.

If Zhang Zhenwu only shows up today to scare people and get the goods loaded onto the ship smoothly, the Albion people certainly won't do anything to him.

The Liaodong Jiezhen, with its two newly formed armies and the troops under Xu Dingbang, was an object that the great powers needed to win over in this country.

But the Albion man, or rather, that Pete, will remember Tang Liu, and him.

A dock manager—without a doubt, he could easily manipulate him.

The consequences of this incident could be that Tang Liu was taken away by the police in the middle of the night a month later, or that Master Tang would kill Tang Liu in order not to offend the foreigners.

Tang Liu couldn't withstand either of them.

As for him, the two of them were essentially bound together by fate in the Tang family, sharing both prosperity and adversity. Besides, even if that weren't the case, he couldn't possibly remain indifferent.

Although his name is Gao Zhan, he is not as ruthless as Gao Zhan.

So he took action.

At that moment, Zhang Zhenwu was smoking while looking at him, waiting for his response.

The telephone was also brought out from the dispatch room. Tang Liu personally handed the receiver to Zhang Zhenwu, who took it, weighed it in his hand, and then handed it to Gao Zhan.

Gao Zhan glanced at the receiver in his hand, then turned to Tang Liu, "Sixth Uncle, do you have the phone numbers of the higher-ups at Leclerc's side?"

"Uh, yes, I do." Tang Liu nodded.

Then, Gao Zhan looked at Zhang Zhenwu and asked, "Brigadier Zhang, you must have ordered quite a few mechs from Leclerc, right?"

"Eighty-four Iron Mechs," Zhang Zhenwu said with a smile. "That's quite a lot of money, kid. Do you know how much one Iron Mech costs?"

Before Gao Zhan could answer, he said, "A full forty-two thousand silver dollars!"

Gao Zhan did the math: 42,000 per unit, 84 units would be over 3 million. Hearing this number, he couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

Damn, selling weapons is really profitable.

"That's quite a lot of money," Gao Zhan said with a smile. "More than three million silver dollars, that's a pretty big deal."

"Therefore, Leclerc would not want to botch this deal, especially since the Gaullians and Albion have always been at odds. Their interests in the Far East are in great conflict."

"And now," Gao Zhan glanced at the corpses on the ground, "the Leclerc Company will be even less happy than we are about these Albionians intercepting Gaulish goods at the docks."

"So let the foreigners handle their own affairs. They'll work even harder than we do; after all, they have to work harder for those three million silver dollars."

After listening to him finish speaking, Zhang Zhenwu took the cigarette out of his mouth and looked Gao Zhan up and down again.

Then he laughed. He pointed at Gao Zhan with the finger holding the cigarette and shook it twice: "Damn it, you little bastard, you're pretty cunning."

Gao Zhan didn't reply, but just smiled slightly.

Zhang Zhenwu stubbed out his cigarette on the nearly mangled flesh of the driver's seat in the military vehicle, then gestured with his chin towards Tang Liuyi: "Old Tang, make a call. Call that company, whatever it is, and tell them the goods are at the dock, blocked by those Albion bastards. Let them handle it themselves."

A long telephone line runs from the dispatch room all the way here; it really is quite long.

Tang Liu held the phone, turning the crank twice. The operator's voice came through, and he cleared his throat and recited a number.

"Hello, Leclerc Brothers Machinery Company, Daqianpucheng Office."

"This is Tang Liu," he said. "Something has happened at the docks, and I need to speak with your company's senior management."

There was a polite pause on the other end. "I'm sorry, Mr. Leclerc is in a meeting. Is there anything you need me to pass on? I'm the office secretary, Mr. Leclerc's special assistant."

Just as Tang Liu was about to speak, Zhang Zhenwu walked over from the side and reached out his hand. Tang Liu was stunned for a moment, then handed him the receiver.

Zhang Zhenwu took the receiver, but instead of putting it to his ear, he spoke into the microphone:

"I am Zhang Zhenwu, the brigade commander of the 3rd Mixed Brigade of the Liaodong New Army. This business deal was negotiated between me and your company. I won't speak to my secretary; I'll have your highest-ranking person in Pucheng come to pick me up."

There was a two or three-second silence on the other end of the phone, then the voice said, "Okay, please wait a moment."

After a while, a different voice came through the receiver, speaking in a gentle tone and quite fluent Mandarin.

"Commander Zhang, my name is Richard Leclerc, brother of Edward Leclerc. I'm in charge of our company in the Daqian region. I apologize for keeping you waiting. What's the situation on your end?"

Zhang Zhenwu didn't answer, but handed the receiver directly to Gao Zhan: "Go ahead."

The person on the other end of the phone didn't urge them; they just waited quietly.

Gao Zhan took the receiver and said, "Mr. Leclerc, I am Gao Zhan, Mr. Tang Liu's nephew, and Mr. Tang's security personnel."

"Something's happened at the docks. Your goods, a batch of agricultural machinery, have been seized by the Albion people."

"The Albion people said the customs declaration was non-compliant and demanded that the goods be opened for inspection. The goods had already been unloaded, and their people were present."

Gao Zhan glanced at Pete's head on the ground. "They're not here now, but according to the Boxer Protocol, if the inspection records aren't handled properly, this shipment will still have problems later."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

"Salaud! (You bastard!)"

After a while, Richard Leclerc's voice rang out again. He cursed and then said, "I'm so sorry to hear about this."

"Mr. Gao, please be sure to tell Commander Zhang that I will handle this matter and that he need not worry about anything."

"You just need to load the goods onto the ship, and leave the rest to me. Also, please convey my apologies to Grand Marshal Xu; this rudeness was due to our failure to coordinate in advance."

"To show my sincerity, I will offer an additional 10% discount on this order."

"Okay, we'll arrange it," Gao Zhan said into the receiver, then handed the receiver back to Tang Liu.

The call had been disconnected, but Tang Liu still looked shaken. Gao Zhan grinned when he saw him like this, walked over, and patted Tang Liu on the shoulder.

"What are you doing, Sixth Uncle? Everything's alright!"

As he spoke, he put his arm around Tang Liu and patted him on the shoulder. "Damn it, when a man dies, he flies to the sky; if he doesn't die, he'll live for ten thousand years. You've already done it, what are you afraid of?"

"You weren't like this back in Liutang Town, were you?"

Gao Zhan knew, of course, that Tang Liu was afraid of the foreigners, and he understood, after all, the foreigners had been beaten so badly by the Great Qian. It was perfectly normal for him to be afraid.

However, Gao Zhan still felt that his uncle should overcome this fear.

Then he pointed to the Albion people on the ground, some of whom were still relatively intact, while others had long since turned into rotten flesh.

"Look, Sixth Uncle," Gao Zhan put his arm around Tang Liu and walked to Pete's head, "they will die too."

"These foreigners, they also bleed, they also die."

Tang Liu stared blankly at the corpse on the ground, without saying a word.

At that moment, a car drove into the dock.