Nominal: Hou Liangping blocking the door? He was slapped away!

"We can talk! Of course we can talk!"

Li Dakang nodded frantically, his neck bobbing up and down as if it were spring-loaded.

The airs of a deputy provincial party committee member, the demeanor of the top official in Jingzhou, and the confidence to say "You have to give me an explanation" when he entered the door—all shattered, shattered into nothingness.

At this moment, Li Dakang is like a drowning man clinging to the last piece of driftwood. He'd do anything, even stand up, kneel down, or stand on his head, let alone talk properly.

Shen Zhong didn't rush to speak. He picked up the teacup, took a small sip, and then put it back.

"Secretary Dakang, how many years have you worked in Handong?"

"24."

"24 years, from Jinshan County to Lincheng, and then to Jingzhou."

The cartridge case was flipped over on my fingertip.

"You've transformed a poverty-stricken county into a leading industrial county. Lincheng's GDP has quadrupled, and Jingzhou has ranked among the top three in the province for investment attraction for three consecutive years."

"These achievements are the result of your own hard work."

Shen Zhong removed his heavy hand from the armrest and reached forward.

"A person who can develop industrialization in a poor county, a person who dares to quadruple the GDP of Lincheng—there are not many cadres with this kind of courage in Handong."

Li Dakang's Adam's apple bobbed.

Zhao Lichun treated him like a pawn, using him and then discarding him. His colleagues in the province treated him as a troublemaker, keeping their distance. The lower-level cadres were afraid of him slamming his fist on the table and called him "Crazy Li" behind his back.

"But you have a problem."

He tapped his heavy fingers on the edge of the coffee table.

Too arrogant.

Two words: neither too light nor too heavy.

"How arrogant were they? They just flaunted their provincial party committee standing committee member status and thought there was nothing in the world they couldn't do. They didn't need to give face to anyone, and they didn't need to listen to anyone."

"You can demolish the land at Dafeng Factory if you want. You can launch the Guangmingfeng project if you want. Zhao Lichun painted a picture of a cake for you, and you actually thought it was your cake."

Li Dakang opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

"You stabbed Zhao Lichun in the back at the Standing Committee meeting, and there's no turning back now."

Shen Zhong tapped the tablet screen, and in the lower right corner of the screen, Qi Tongwei was walking back and forth next to the command vehicle.

"Zhao Lichun immediately turned his attention to your wife. You didn't even realize your own backyard was on fire, and you were still writing some kind of industrial upgrading report in the office."

Li Dakang's back hunched over, and his head drooped even further.

"The situation in Handong cannot be changed by you alone. No one can remain unaffected, not only you, but Gao Yuliang as well. Zhao Lichun's roots have been planted for twenty years, from the provincial party committee to the prefecture-level cities to the grassroots level; which corner doesn't have his people?"

The meeting room was silent for a few seconds.

"but--"

The conversation took a sudden turn.

"I don't want a great reformer to be ruined by Zhao Lichun like this."

Li Dakang suddenly raised his head.

"Does Handong lack corrupt officials? No. Does Handong lack mediocre officials? Absolutely not. But Handong lacks people who can truly boost the economy and work for the development and welfare of the people."

The spent cartridge case was placed back on the armrest with a soft click.

"You, Li Dakang, have many flaws, but when it comes to managing the economy, I admit it."

Li Dakang's Adam's apple bobbed twice more, his lips trembled, and his voice was squeezed out from between his teeth.

"Secretary Shen...you mean...you're willing to help me?"

"I have a way to get you through tonight."

"But Qi Tongwei's men have already surrounded them! Three riot control vehicles, more than thirty SWAT officers, and snipers are all set up—"

Li Dakang slapped his knee, splashing water.

"He could break through at any moment!"

"Are you going to confront the police head-on?"

Shen Zhong didn't reply. He reached out his right hand towards the military communicator next to the coffee table. It had a black body and a short, thick antenna, and it was completely different from the civilian version.

Pick it up and press the call button on the side.

"Defend the country."

Zhou Weiguo's voice came through the communicator, crisp and efficient.

"Commander, here."

"Activate the 'Silence' contingency plan. Target area: Dihaoyuan. Execution time: 30 minutes."

"Yes, sir!"

The communicator was put back on the desktop.

Li Dakang stared blankly at Shen Zhong, his mind completely unable to keep up.

Silence? What silence?

On the outskirts of Dihao Garden, about two kilometers away from the residential area, in a quiet alley, a white van with the words "Telecommunications Engineering" painted on it was parked quietly.

The inside of the carriage is a completely different world from the outside.

Three rows of server racks lined the vehicle wall, with indicator lights flashing densely. Four technicians in camouflage sat at the control panel, headphones on their heads, fingers resting on knobs, ready to operate.

Zhou Weiguo's instructions came in through the encrypted channel—

"Silence contingency plan, execute immediately!"

The leading technician twisted his right hand, and the indicator lights on the three rows of server racks changed from flashing to constantly lit.

An invisible electromagnetic pulse was released from the camouflaged antenna on the roof of the car, covering an area with a radius of two kilometers centered on the Emperor Garden.

Inside the command vehicle at Dihao Garden.

Qi Tongwei stared at the four-panel screen on the monitoring terminal, his right hand already resting on the walkie-talkie.

The time has come.

The lights on the second floor of Building 22 were still on, and the outlines of two figures behind the curtains were clearly visible—Ouyang Jing and Wang Dalu, neither of them could escape.

The walkie-talkie was picked up, and the thumb pressed the talk button.

"Attention all groups, I command—"

"Sizzle sizzle—"

A burst of harsh electrical static erupted from the walkie-talkie, swallowing up all the words that followed him.

Qi Tongwei paused for a moment, released the button, and pressed it again.

"Group 1! Please respond!"

"Sizzle—sizzle—"

It's still background noise.

Ma Guoqiang, who was standing next to him, also picked up the spare walkie-talkie and tried it—with the same result.

Qi Tongwei looked down at the monitoring terminal in front of him.

All four panels turned into snowflakes.

GPS positioning - signal lost.

Wireless frequency band - Full-band interruption.

The entire terminal was like it had been unplugged, with only static jumping around on the screen.

"Use your phone! Use your phone!"

Qi Tongwei took his phone out of his pocket. The screen was lit, but all the signal bars in the upper left corner were gone, not a single one left.

Ma Guoqiang's phone was the same.

The cell phone, car radio, and even the emergency communication devices on the police frequency—all of the communicator behind the passenger seat—were rendered useless.

All the electronic equipment in the command vehicle was turned into scrap metal in the same second.

Qi Tongwei gripped the walkie-talkie, now reduced to a brick, his fingers turning white from the pressure.

He couldn't contact the special police outside, and he couldn't see the status of the control points. More than 30 people were scattered around the Emperor Garden, and each of them had lost contact with him.

Shout? Shout with your throat?

The villa area is so large that special police are scattered in the four directions of east, west, south, and north, and shouting would alert the enemy.

The entire process of a commander becoming deaf and blind takes no more than five seconds.

Qi Tongwei slammed the walkie-talkie onto the dashboard, chipping off a corner of the plastic casing.

"What's going on!"

Ma Guoqiang shook his head, his face full of confusion.

Nobody knows what happened.

Military Region Reception Room.

Shen Zhong put down the communicator, leaned back on the sofa, and crossed his hands in front of his abdomen.

Li Dakang sat opposite him, somewhat excited.

"I gave you thirty minutes to make it."

Shen Zhong's fingers flicked on the armrest.

"You must cut ties with Ouyang Jing within these thirty minutes, or I can't help you."