Then let them offer their loyalty!

"I'm so happy that my superior is willing to accept me now."

As he spoke, he stuffed the cloth bag into his arms and said with a fawning smile, "From now on, if you need anything, just give me your orders. I promise to go through fire and water, even to my death!"

Hearing those flattering words, Qiu Tu gave him a deep look, then burst into laughter.

Cao Dabiao stood by, smiling obsequiously, looking like a lapdog...

Half an hour later, Cao Dabiao bowed and scraped as he backed out of the room. Turning around, he touched the heavy silver coins in his pocket, his face full of excitement.

Behind him, Qiu Tu watched his retreating figure with a playful look in his eyes...

See? Greed is always the most powerful weapon.

Without greed, it would have been difficult for him to find an opportunity to drag Cao Dabiao and the entire political department team down with him.

Now the entire team has accepted the embezzled public funds, especially Cao Dabiao who took so much. From now on, they're all in the same boat.

When everything is going well for me, I will definitely protect them, but if I encounter a crisis... then in order to survive, they will have no choice but to protect me in return.

These people, if used properly, can produce some unexpected results...

Thinking of this, Qiu Tu took out his communicator and dialed Eagle's number.

In the communication, Qiu Tu arranged for the medicinal herbs that Shen Lingshuang had asked him to purchase, and instructed him to have Ah Kun, Monkey, and several other brothers go to different pharmacies and black markets in batches to buy them.

After explaining the precautions, Qiu Tu said to Lao Ying, "Lao Ying, I'm planning to transfer you and A Kun to the Political Department to help me."

Upon hearing Qiu Tu's words, Lao Ying calmly replied, "Okay, Brother Tu. I'll submit my report to the Political Department tomorrow and prepare for the assessment."

Qiu Tu said, "Yes, but don't write my name as the recommender."

The eagle asked, "Then who should we write about?"

Qiu Tu, "Cao Dabiao".

"I'll give you his contact information in a bit, then you can contact him."

"Okay." Eagle responded, then thought for a moment and added, "Brother Tai received a notice from the Special Operations Department today and has already gone to take the assessment."

"I heard that apart from failing the shooting test, everyone else got a Grade A grade, so passing the test shouldn't be a problem."

This was something Fang Ming and Qiu Tu had agreed upon, so Qiu Tu simply gave a curt "hmm" without offering any comment....

After hanging up the call, Qiu Tu sat in a chair and quietly watched the night outside for a while.

He felt like a tiny, grotesque spider in the Amazon rainforest, quietly weaving a vast, dark web that spanned the entire New Territories, patiently awaiting the moment to hunt...

----

[5 days (the latest deadline for obtaining evidence of the Qin family's crimes)]

[31:12:11 (Cataclysmic Potion can be crafted)]

Silent all night.

The next day, before Qiu Tu could get any contact from Qin Shuman's backers, he caught another fish on the hook.

"Fourth Master? I didn't expect you to be communicating with me."

Upon hearing Qiu Tu's words, Master Qin on the other end of the communicator chuckled and said, "Hahaha. Detective Qiu, I wouldn't be here without a reason."

"Oh?" Upon hearing Qin Siye's words, Qiu Tu asked casually while sipping his tea, "What made you think of me, Siye?"

Qin Siye said, "Of course it's still my good-for-nothing second brother."

At this point, Master Qin said, "Tonight I would like to invite Detective Qiu to see a play."

Qiu Tu, "Watching a show?"

Master Qin said, "Yes, let's watch the show."

"Let me show you firsthand the scene of my second brother's confidant contacting anti-government organizations."

Qiu Tu paused for a moment upon hearing what Master Qin said.

He asked with great interest, "Actually, Fourth Master, compared to the matter of Director Qin colluding with anti-government organizations, what I'm more curious about is... why you're targeting Director Qin like this."

What good would it do you if Director Qin were to fall from power?

Upon hearing this, Master Qin said decisively, "There's no benefit to it!"

He said with a hint of disappointment, "But I just can't stand by and watch him destroy the family business my father worked so hard to build!"

He said with a touch of nostalgia, "Back then, my father started from scratch and worked hard to build the Qin family's huge business! Apart from the 100 catties of gold left to him by my grandfather, a technology company, and dozens of trustworthy subordinates, he didn't rely on anyone!"

"Therefore, I will not allow anyone to ruin the foundation he built up over his entire life!"

Qiu Tu: ....

"understand."

Master Qin hummed in agreement and then said, "So, when I learned that my second brother had done such a thing, I knew that only by putting righteousness above family ties could the Qin family be saved from this predicament."

"The reason I left that document last time was to see if you, Detective Qiu, really dared to investigate this matter."

“Yesterday you dispatched a team of political agents to investigate this matter, which made me believe in your sincerity, so I am willing to further demonstrate my sincerity to you.”

After listening to what Master Qin said, Qiu Tu remained silent for a moment, then said, "Alright, then I'll trouble you to send the address and time to my communicator."

Master Qin laughed heartily a few times, then hung up the call.

Soon after, Qiu Tu's communicator received an address from an unknown number: Zhizhen Grand Hotel, Room 108, 8 PM.

"Zhizhen Grand Hotel?"

As Qiu Tu muttered the name, before he could make a decision, his communicator rang again.

This time, the message came from an unknown number again.

Chapter 34 Getting on the Pirate Ship

After glancing at the unfamiliar number, Qiu Tu opened the message.

The message contained only a brief sentence: "Detective Qiu, I have intelligence that may interest you. If you wish to cooperate, please meet at the Milan Grand Hotel tonight at 8 PM."

Upon seeing this message, Qiu Tu stroked his chin and pondered quietly.

Which fish has taken the bait this time?

City Hall? Military Headquarters? Other branches of the Qin family? Or an anti-government organization?

Furthermore, could this mysterious number be connected to Qin Shuman, or is it simply an outsider's account?

Because there is too little information, Qiu Tu cannot make a determination at this time.

However... he was certain that he was now faced with an interesting choice:

Is Master Qin the mysterious man?

Is it the Zhizhen Grand Hotel or the Milan Grand Hotel?

Thinking of this, Qiu Tu's gaze became unreadable...

......

...

Time passed by, and soon, several hours had gone by in the blink of an eye.

7 pm.

At the entrance of Zhizhen Hotel.

Cao Dabiao, dressed in plain clothes and accompanied by two trusted men, swaggered in with a cigarette dangling from his lips.

Upon seeing the three men, the tall hostess quickly greeted them with a smile and bowed, asking, "Hello, gentlemen, do you have a reservation?"

Cao Dabiao, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, nodded arrogantly, "Room 107."

Upon hearing Cao Dabiao's words, the hostess smiled and said, "Please wait a moment."

After speaking, she took out the record sheet, checked it against the record, and asked, "Excuse me, are you Mr. Cao?"

Cao Dabiao nodded.

The hostess smiled and gestured, "This way, please." Then she turned and led the way.

Following behind the hostess, Cao Dabiao and his two trusted confidants kept observing the layout of the Zhizhen Hotel out of the corner of their eyes.

Soon, they arrived at the private room, and Cao Dabiao and his group went inside.

After looking around at the interior of the private room, Cao Dabiao took out a 100-yuan copper coin from his pocket and handed it to the hostess with satisfaction.

The hostess's eyes lit up, and she excitedly reached out to take it, but Cao Dabiao caught a glimpse of the copper coin in his hand. He quickly withdrew it and took out a 10-yuan coin instead, handing it to the hostess.

The hostess's smile vanished, she accepted the gift in a lukewarm manner, gave Cao Dabiao a slight bow, and swayed away.

After the hostess swayed away from the private room, Cao Dabiao and his two companions returned to their normal state.

Two trusted confidants approached Cao Dabiao and whispered, "Brother Biao, what are we doing here?"

With no outsiders around, Cao Dabiao stopped pretending to be so nonchalant. He gestured towards the open doorway.

One of his trusted men expertly went to close the door, and then Cao Dabiao said softly, "We're here to carry out a mission."

He glanced at his watch and said quietly, "At 8 o'clock, two groups of people will be meeting in the next private room."

"Our goal is to listen in and record images of both sides."

After speaking, he gestured to his two trusted confidants. The two confidants immediately understood and pulled out small instruments from their clothes.

Cao Dabiao put his arms around the necks of the two men and whispered instructions, "Lao Liu, go to the restroom later. When you come back, deliberately go to the wrong private room and plant the listening device next door."

"Old Seven went to the corridor to smoke. After seeing the target enter the private room, he took the opportunity to take a picture with his camera."

"If you don't find an opportunity, then remember what the target looks like and piece together their appearance when you get back."

The two trusted confidants nodded and accepted the order.

However, after receiving the order, Xiao Liu, who was sitting next to Cao Dabiao, suddenly realized what was going on. He asked curiously, "Brother Biao, what are you doing?"

Upon hearing this, Cao Dabiao slapped him on the head and said irritably, "Are you stupid?! Of course I have to carry out the most difficult task—ordering food!"

After saying that, he grumbled, "I was called back halfway through my meal last night and went hungry for most of the night. Today I'm on official business, so I have to make up for it!"

"Since Qiu Tu is going to reimburse us anyway, we might as well take advantage of him."

Xiao Liu covered his head, looking suddenly enlightened.

At this moment, Xiao Qi asked curiously from the side, "By the way, Brother Biao, are we really going to follow Qiu Tu from now on?"

Upon hearing Xiao Qi's question, Cao Dabiao's expression immediately changed—he recalled a small incident that afternoon.

This afternoon, while he was happily counting his silver dollars, he suddenly received a call from an unknown number.

The other party claimed to be Qiu Tu's man, and said that he had received Qiu Tu's orders to join the Political Department and needed Cao Dabiao to recommend him.

Upon hearing the other party's introduction, Cao Dabiao's first reaction was to suspect that the other party was a fraudster.

But then he realized that in the early days of the New Territories, only government officials and some very wealthy and powerful people could use the communication devices.

The scammers won't get their hands on the communicator.

Moreover... the other party not only knew my contact number, but also accurately called out my name and department, which really doesn't seem like a scam.

So, completely confused, he went to Qiu Tu to confirm.

Even several hours later, Cao Dabiao still vividly remembered the scene.

When Cao Dabiao met Qiu Tu, Qiu Tu was sitting at the table copying a document.

After hearing Cao Dabiao's words, Qiu Tu didn't even look up, and casually replied, "They're my men. I'm planning to have them join the Political Department. Can you help recommend them?"

Cao Dabiao's expression was constantly changing at that time.

He wanted to argue, for example, "If he's one of your people, why didn't you recommend him?" or "Why should I be the one to recommend him?"

But he had just accepted Qiu Tu's money yesterday, and had been working under Qiu Tu's control for some time, so it seemed that he couldn't refuse, both morally and logically.

So he had no choice but to put on a fawning smile and get the job done.

However, after the matter was settled, Cao Dabiao felt increasingly uneasy.

He felt as if Qiu Tu had tethered him to a pirate ship.

The problem isn't whether to do it or not, but how to do it! Qiu Tu was "acting first and reporting later," forcing him to do it!