Under One Person: The Sea Emperor Who Shattered Heaven and Earth

The air in the office seemed to freeze instantly.

Duanmu Ying and Ma Benzai stopped in their tracks simultaneously, their backs stiffening instantly.

Chapter 88 You are the true Emperor of Peace

They had their backs to Jiang Zhen and didn't turn around.

Duanmu Ying's hand was still on the doorknob, her knuckles white from the force. Ma Ben froze in his bent-over position, carrying the suitcase, like a statue.

The eyes of the two people were filled with something extremely complex—fear, disbelief, and astonishment at having one’s most private parts trampled on.

That was the deepest taboo in their hearts. It was the ultimate secret left behind by Wugensheng, a secret that even the Eight Extraordinary Skills could not match.

Jiang Zhen could accurately pronounce the name "Feng Baobao." They didn't know if Jiang Zhen knew more.

After a long while, Duanmu Ying turned around first. Her face was even paler than when she was recounting her escape experience. Her lips moved slightly, as if she was organizing her thoughts, but she couldn't come up with anything.

"Brother Jiang, how...how do you know Feng Baobao?"

Ma Benzai also turned around and stood by the door, his hand unconsciously gripping the strap of the wooden box. His Adam's apple bobbed, and he didn't dare to look Jiang Zhen in the eye.

Jiang Zhen observed their reactions and understood what was going on. It wasn't a reaction of "not recognizing them," but rather a reaction of "knowing them but not daring to say so."

"The intelligence network of the Grand Canal Gang is not to be underestimated. Wu Gensheng has a daughter named Feng Baobao, and they know that."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over their faces: "You two have quite a strong reaction, huh?"

Duanmu Ying loosened her grip on the doorknob and tentatively took half a step forward: "Anything else...?"

“That’s all.” Jiang Zhen shrugged. “I figured since Wugensheng has become sworn brothers with you, you must have met his daughter. It’s just that it’s a bit interesting that her name is Wugen (meaning rootless), but she has roots and descendants.”

Ma Ben took over, speaking much faster than usual: "I've met him. But later, news of our sworn brotherhood leaked out, and various sects began hunting him down, and the child disappeared without a trace."

“We’ve searched.” He looked up, as if he had finally found a direction to talk about. “We couldn’t find it in the Sichuan-Chongqing area. We kept searching, but we couldn’t find it. Later, the pursuit intensified, and we were barely able to protect ourselves, so we could only focus on escaping first.”

Duanmu Ying's voice choked with emotion: "That's why when you asked about Feng Baobao earlier, Brother Jiang, we... we thought you knew something. We thought something had happened to the child."

Jiang Zhen looked at them and remained silent for a few seconds. Then he waved his hand.

"Oh, I see. That's alright then, you guys go take a shower first."

"it is good……"

Duanmu Ying and Ma Ben responded, turned around, pushed open the door, and walked out. Their steps were steady, and their backs were very straight.

The door closed.

"Immortality..."

Jiang Zhen sighed softly, his voice echoing in the empty office, but no one answered.

In the corridor.

As Duanmu Ying and Ma Ben stepped out of the office and turned a corner, their legs suddenly gave way.

Duanmu Ying grabbed the wall for support. Ma Ben plopped down on the ground, the wooden box hitting the floor tiles with a dull thud. Neither of them spoke, just panting heavily, as if they had just been pulled from the bottom of the water.

After a long while, Ma Ben finally spoke in a trembling voice: "Sister Yingzi, how much does Brother Jiang... actually know?"

“I don’t know.” Duanmu Ying’s voice trembled as well, “but he can say that name…”

"Then let's..."

"Don't say anything." Duanmu Ying interrupted him, leaned against the wall to stand up, and pulled Ma Benzai up as well. "If Brother Jiang really wanted to ask, he wouldn't have let us go just now."

The two supported each other as they walked step by step toward their lodgings.

In the days that followed, China underwent earth-shaking changes.

No one expected the situation to change so quickly.

That year, accompanied by the resounding cry of "Cross the Yangtze River...", the entire political landscape was once again completely rewritten. The old government suffered a series of defeats.

But one thing made Jiang Zhen feel uneasy.

The documents Bai Fu has been sending lately have been getting thicker and thicker.

Previously, there were fifty or sixty reports a day, but now there are over a hundred. And the content is getting stranger and stranger—it's not about funds for bridge and road repairs, nor is it simply about personnel transfers; it's about production reports from the weapons workshop, personnel allocation lists from various branches, and so on.

Jiang Zhen didn't pay much attention at first. He thought it was probably because of the turbulent situation, and Zhao Yuan and his men were guarding against someone taking advantage of the chaos, so it was normal for them to deploy more manpower.

But one day, his hand ached from signing documents, so he stopped, rubbed his wrist, and casually picked up a personnel transfer form and glanced at it.

Then his gaze stopped.

The list indicated that a large number of people were being mobilized, mostly veterans of the canal gang, the kind who could fight.

I flipped through the weapons workshop's reports again. Production had been steadily increasing for the past few months—not slowly, but doubling month after month. They weren't producing swords and knives, but guns. Guns designed and improved by Ma Ben, guns far superior to the imported ones.

Jiang Zhen put down the report and stared at the map on the wall for a long time. This manpower arrangement looked more like a defense deployment.

"Master Bai."

Bai Fu happened to walk in carrying a stack of new documents. Hearing Jiang Zhen call him, he paused for a moment.

"What have Fifth Master and Zhao Yuan been up to lately? They've been nowhere to be seen for days, and they're acting all mysterious."

Bai Fu placed the documents on the table, his eyes not looking at Jiang Zhen: "Fifth Master is busy at the docks, and Zhao Yuan is dealing with people outside. The situation is not peaceful lately, and there are many things to do."

"Then why are they moving people around more and more frequently?"

Bai Fu chuckled twice. "The situation has been turbulent lately, so it's always good to have more manpower on hand."

"What's going on with you guys constantly urging me to go out and give speeches lately?"

"This..." Bai Fu stammered, "Zhao Yuan said that Chief, you have a high reputation among the people. If you go out and give a speech, it can stabilize people's hearts."

"Something's not right!" Jiang Zhen felt increasingly uneasy, and the chill in his heart grew stronger.

He slammed the list he was holding onto the table.

"Go and bring me all the previous personnel transfer orders and material dispatch orders."

"Boss, these... these are all trivial matters, nothing to be ashamed of, just for business dealings..."

"Hurry up."

Bai Fu stood still, his expression a mix of embarrassment and guilt. Jiang Zhen glanced at him, and Bai Fu turned and left.

About half an hour later, several members of the canal gang carried in two large wooden crates. The crates were full of documents, bundled together by month and sealed with tape. Bai Fu stood beside the crates, his hands behind his back, and remained silent.

Jiang Zhen opened the box and started looking at it from the very first one. He sat on the ground, flipping through each document one by one, comparing each one, from morning till night.

At some point, Fifth Master Feng and Zhao Yuan arrived. They didn't say anything and just stood quietly to the side.

Jiang Zhen finished reading the last document and placed it on top of the already towering stack of files next to him. Then he looked at the map beside him.

The map was already smudged by his drawing. The handwriting stretched from one branch to another, like a winding chain, spreading along the Yangtze River in a pincer-like formation… Coupled with the absolute control the canal guild had over Yangtze River shipping… With just one order… with just one order, they could row the Yangtze…

dong dong dong.

Realizing the problem, Jiang Zhen's heart suddenly started beating very fast.

He slowly raised his head and looked solemnly at the three people standing at the door.

Bai Fu, Master Feng, and Zhao Yuan stood in a row, no one spoke, and no one avoided his gaze.

"You..." Jiang Zhen's voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear, "Are you... planning something behind my back?"

The three of them looked at each other.

Zhao Yuan took a deep breath and took a step forward.

"Chief, the current state of affairs in the world is already crystal clear."

Jiang Zhen didn't say anything.

Zhao Yuan continued, "That government under the chairman can't hold on any longer and is retreating continuously. The old court is like a grasshopper in autumn; it won't last much longer."

He looked at Jiang Zhen, his eyes holding a light that Jiang Zhen had never seen in Zhao Yuan's eyes before.

"And you, in accordance with the will of Heaven, have won the hearts of the people. In the Battle of Nanjing, you single-handedly wiped out almost 300,000 Japanese troops. Who in the world does not know Jiang Zhen of the Grand Canal Gang? Who does not remember your kindness? Foreigners would avoid your flag when they see it, and soldiers of the old government would not dare to speak loudly when they see people from the Grand Canal Gang."

Zhao Yuan's voice grew faster and faster.

"You are the true peace..."

Jiang was shaken.

Before Zhao Yuan could finish speaking, Jiang Zhen appeared in front of him, pressing a hand directly to his lips and slamming him to the ground. Zhao Yuan's back slammed against the floor tiles with a dull thud, his head hitting the ground, his eyes wide open.

Bai Fu and Master Feng froze at the sight of Jiang Zhen's sudden and violent reaction.

A bead of cold sweat slid down Jiang Zhen's forehead and dripped down his brow bone.

"My goodness, you can't say that."

Chapter 89 Even if we have to force it, we'll push it up (4000)

The air in the office seemed to vanish in that instant.

Jiang Zhen pressed Zhao Yuan's mouth with tremendous force, his five fingers almost digging into Zhao Yuan's cheek flesh. Zhao Yuan's lips were pressed firmly against his teeth, and he couldn't utter a single word. He could only stare wide-eyed at Jiang Zhen.

Jiang Zhen didn't look at him.

His pupils contracted slightly—the vibration perception spread outwards at full force, like an invisible giant net, radiating outwards from the office.

The sensory network swept across the desk, over the neatly arranged files on the bookshelf, through the tightly closed wooden door, across the guards standing against the wall in the corridor, across the brothers changing shifts in the stairwell, across every room and every crevice of the entire building.

The net is still extending outwards.

He is confirming.

Check if anyone from that side is nearby. Check if Zhao Yuan's words were overheard by anyone else.

three seconds.

Five seconds.

ten seconds.

"call--"

Jiang Zhen let out a long sigh of relief, withdrawing his sense of vibration.