"Another Civilian Association meeting! What are these guys up to? They're not even taking the General Bureau seriously, just causing trouble as they please?"
As the saying goes, even Buddha would lose his temper. Being cursed at and complained about by his subordinates, the white-haired man could no longer tolerate it!
Both major bosses had called with the same message, leaving no room for doubt about the authenticity of the matter. The white-haired man directly dialed a number.
"Connect me to your president!"
A few seconds later, a steady voice came from the phone.
"Director Bai?"
"If your Civilian Association dares to touch my people today, then it's war! You want to be the boss of Shangjing, but have you asked if the War Association agrees?"
*Bang!*
The call ended, leaving the president of the Civilian Association bewildered.
The white-haired man wasn't finished. After hanging up, he called one of his subordinates.
"Pass down the order! Effective immediately, place all Civilian Association members on highest alert and terminate all cooperation! Notify the Executive Department and Administrative Department to prepare for Level 1 combat against the Civilian Association! Notify the Intelligence Department to acquire full intelligence on the Civilian Association!"
As one command after another was issued, the subordinate on the other end of the phone grew increasingly serious. After the white-haired man finished speaking, he unhesitatingly sounded the highest-level alarm.
"Quick! Deploy as the boss ordered, it's time for war!"
Within the entire General Bureau, within five minutes, chaos erupted.
After all, even when the Divine Envoy organization caused the airport incident, they only held a meeting to discuss it and at most suppressed the underworld forces in Shangjing.
Now, they were entering a Level 1 combat readiness state!
This was clearly a prelude to war, wasn't it?
In the director's office of the General Bureau, not long after the white-haired man had sent out the notifications, he received calls from the Elder Council one after another, but he hung up on all of them, only sending them the incident information.
As soon as he put down his phone, several figures rushed in.
The white-haired man frowned and said sternly, "Have you no respect for the rules anymore?"
The newcomers were the heads of the four departments! The head of the Administrative Department hurriedly said, "Boss, we can discuss rules later. What exactly is going on now? Are we going to war with the Civilian Association?"
The head of the Executive Department also chimed in, "We have many important collaborations with the Civilian Association, and it's a critical time at the border. Is this really necessary?"
The few individuals clearly had their own agendas, but regardless of who they were, they all shared one common point: they did not want war with the Civilian Association.
The white-haired man remained silent for a moment. After they had all finished speaking, he slowly revealed the situation.
He did not disclose Li Chonglou's identity or name, only referring to him as "a high-ranking personnel." Upon hearing this, the attitudes of the four immediately underwent a 180-degree turn.
"Damn it! Aren't they completely disregarding our General Bureau? Boss, why are we even preparing for war? Let's just attack directly!"
"Exactly! What cooperation are we still talking about? I'm going back right now to notify them to terminate cooperation! We're all trying to secure our positions internally now, who cares about what's happening outside!"
The white-haired man silently observed the four, unsurprised by their reactions.
The situation had escalated not merely out of anger. The white-haired man understood perfectly that although Li Chonglou's matter was not the first time they had discussed it, and the previous meeting was also to discuss his handling, the nature of the situation was entirely different.
Their discussions, even if they were to deal with Li Chonglou, were their internal decisions. Neither Elder Tie nor Long Yi would react this way, as they were not handling him without reason.
However, now, it was an external force, not one of their own, that intended to deal with Li Chonglou!
Most importantly, they lacked sufficient evidence!
Even if they had evidence, it would not warrant such a severe course of action!
No matter how serious the crime Li Chonglou might have committed, he was still affiliated with the Dragon Team. The white-haired man believed that with the Civilian Association's capabilities, they could not possibly have failed to discover this.
In fact, the high-ranking officials of the General Bureau were already aware of this, and even these four individuals were no exception. The previous meetings were merely a show for the subordinates, a way to protect Li Chonglou's identity!
Therefore, if this matter was not handled properly today, people with ulterior motives would exploit it tomorrow, leading to a sentiment like: "Today it's Zhang San, tomorrow it could be Li Si, and the day after, it will be you and me."
If even members of the Dragon Team were targeted by others in such a manner, how many in the General Bureau could feel secure that they would not be next?
This was precisely why the four individuals' attitudes changed so drastically after the white-haired man mentioned his identity as "high-ranking personnel"!
The General Bureau's operational efficiency was still quite swift, otherwise, they would not have been able to maintain their status as the overt rulers of Shangjing for so long.
From the moment Elder Tie and Long Yi finished their calls, within ten minutes, the news had spread throughout the entire General Bureau, from top to bottom. Some individuals who were dining and discussing collaborations with the opposing party immediately turned hostile, slammed the table, and left.
The high-ranking officials of the Civilian Association also received the news immediately and convened an emergency meeting.
The president, who had inexplicably warned Director Bai, slammed the table and roared at his subordinates, "What in the world is going on! Who the hell is so blind to dare to target the General Bureau's high-ranking personnel?"
The various department heads exchanged bewildered glances, most of them looking utterly confused. At this moment, the individuals responsible for intelligence and execution of orders stepped forward.
"President, we have investigated. There is no such operation. We would never approve it."
The president's brow furrowed tightly. "Even you don't know?"
Then, someone else spoke up, "President, could this be an excuse by the General Bureau? Are they looking for a reason to go to war?"
The president shook his head without hesitation. "That's impossible. While there might be minor frictions usually, they wouldn't issue such an order at a time like this."
After speaking, the president seemed to realize something and said to the head of intelligence, "It appears there has been some misunderstanding. You will immediately investigate the situation with the General Bureau and get to the bottom of it within half an hour! If it truly was one of our people acting so rashly, they will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law!"
Following the president's orders, various notices and commands were also issued by the Civilian Association, the most crucial one being to immediately cease all arrest operations and report the situation again.
Rewinding time.
After leaving Li Chonglou's company, Yuan Bei and the other two immediately found someone from the General Bureau.
Yuan Bei's identity was not that of a mere enforcement officer of the Civilian Association; his captain status was equivalent to that of a department captain in the General Bureau. As a partner, the General Bureau naturally accorded him due respect.
Therefore, when Yuan Bei roughly explained what he needed to prove, an administrative staff member from the General Bureau immediately agreed to accompany him to verify his identity.
"Thank you, Brother Wang."
Wang Ma, a junior staff member in the General Bureau's Administrative Department, was someone who usually remained semi-transparent within the General Bureau.
Due to the difference in status, Wang Ma showed great respect to Yuan Bei.