"Vice Commander, has the Huaxia military been undertaking any secret operations recently?" Chen Feng cut to the chase, skipping pleasantries.
"Why do you ask all of a sudden?" The Vice Commander was taken aback.
"Vice Commander, I have strong reason to suspect my brother was involved in a special operation, which is why his name cannot be found," Chen Feng continued directly.
"Impossible. If the military were to conduct a secret operation, as Vice Commander, I would be the first to know," the Vice Commander denied immediately.
Chen Feng's suspicions were confirmed. If it wasn't a secret operation, then Ah Hao must have stumbled upon some insider information and was silenced.
The military had a small quota for casualties each year. The reason was simple: in various military operations, casualties were inevitable. Therefore, under normal circumstances, the military permitted a certain number of normal casualties. The perpetrators behind this had exploited this loophole, killed Ah Hao, and believed they had gotten away with it unnoticed.
"Vice Commander, I have a rather presumptuous request, and I hope you can help me," Chen Feng said with utmost seriousness.
"Chen Feng, you are too polite. You have made significant contributions to the Huaxia military. Whatever you need, just say the word," the Vice Commander said sincerely.
"I would like you to issue me a special military pass so I can investigate my brother's case," Chen Feng stated directly.
"No problem." The Vice Commander readily agreed. Given Chen Feng's contributions to the Huaxia military, obtaining a special pass was not a significant issue.
Without any hesitation, Chen Feng took the special pass issued by the Vice Commander and went to Ah Hao's former company. Initially, the investigation was difficult; almost no one spoke truthfully to Chen Feng. It was only after he produced the special pass that people began to reveal fragments of the truth, albeit reluctantly.
It turned out that Ah Hao had died in an off-duty car accident. Chen Feng then requested to inspect the vehicle involved in the accident, only to be informed that the vehicle had already been destroyed. This made Chen Feng even more certain that Ah Hao's death was not simple. If Ah Hao had truly died in a car accident, there would be no need to destroy the evidence or the vehicle itself. It was a classic case of "protesting too much."
Chen Feng did not waver and immediately sought out the squad leader who had assigned Ah Hao to the off-duty mission. Initially, the squad leader was uncooperative, stating that Chen Feng was not a soldier and had no right to inquire about military secrets. Seeing the squad leader's arrogant demeanor, and recalling the image of Ah Hao's wrongful death, Chen Feng could no longer tolerate it and threw a punch.
"You... you... hit me?" The squad leader glared at Chen Feng with fury. Although he was a squad leader, his connections reached as high as the division level.
"If you don't tell me the truth, it won't just be a punch. I will kill you," Chen Feng said sternly.
"Chen Feng, are you out of your mind? You are merely a second-in-command of a county-level city. You dare to hit a soldier? Don't you think I'm just a simple squad leader?" the squad leader continued to glare at Chen Feng.
"Tell me, who is your backer?" Chen Feng stared intently at the squad leader. Based on his deductions, the squad leader's backer was the mastermind behind Ah Hao's murder.
"You are not worthy of knowing," the squad leader replied coldly.
Chen Feng saw no need for further words. Since the squad leader refused to confess, he would make him experience the power of traditional Chinese martial arts. With that thought, Chen Feng delivered a swift, precise hook punch to the squad leader. The squad leader, utterly unprepared for a civilian official to possess martial arts skills, fell to the ground with a muffled thud. His ribs throbbed; the squad leader, a former soldier, immediately realized two ribs were broken.
"Good boy, you don't know your place, do you? Let me tell you, Division Commander Huang is my brother-in-law. You are finished, you bastard." The squad leader spoke with a murderous glint in his eyes.
Upon hearing this, the heavy stone in Chen Feng's heart finally lifted. Thank heavens, he finally knew who the mastermind behind Ah Hao's murder was.
"You can die now," Chen Feng said, and then he called the Vice Commander of the Huaxia military.
The squad leader appeared indifferent. With his brother-in-law being a Division Commander, the idea of a mere second-in-command of a county-level city killing him with a phone call was preposterous. Chen Feng did not waste any more words with the squad leader and calmly waited.
Less than half an hour later, several soldiers wearing white helmets approached.
"Fellow inspectors, you've arrived just in time. A local official has publicly assaulted a soldier. You must bring justice for me," the squad leader shouted excitedly.
"Shut up! You are already suspected of violating military law and will be immediately taken to the execution ground for a firing squad. You still dare to cry injustice?" the inspector reprimanded coldly.
"What? They're going to shoot me? Inspectors, have you made a mistake? What have I done that violates military law?" the squad leader feigned ignorance.
"How did Zhou Zhehao die? Don't tell me you don't know," the inspector continued to scold coldly.
"Didn't Zhou Zhehao die in an off-duty car accident? What does that have to do with me?" the squad leader continued to play innocent.
"Fabricate, keep fabricating. Did you think no one would notice? If you hadn't tampered with the vehicle, how could Zhou Zhehao have had an accident? Did you forget about surveillance cameras?"
"You... you know everything?" The squad leader slumped to the ground, utterly dejected.
"Do you think it would be difficult for us to know anything we wanted to know?" the inspector replied coldly.
"Since you know everything, I advise you not to get involved. Even if you are inspectors, you cannot manage this matter. To be blunt, my brother-in-law, Division Commander Huang, ordered me to kill Zhou Zhehao." The squad leader had nothing left to lose.
"Even if you didn't mention Division Commander Huang, we would know," the inspector replied dismissively.
"From what you're saying, you intend to resist till the end?" The squad leader looked curiously at the inspectors.
"Yes."
"Haha, Chen Feng is just a local official. He doesn't know how influential a Division Commander is. Don't you know that people of my brother-in-law's status can easily deal with a few lives? Why are you bothering to get involved and make trouble for yourselves?" the squad leader mocked the inspectors.
"We cannot deal with you and Division Commander Huang, but someone can," the inspector replied.
"Who?"
"The high command of the Huaxia military. Otherwise, why do you think we can take you directly to be shot without a military trial?" The inspector approached and handcuffed the squad leader as he spoke. With his hands cuffed, the squad leader panicked. It seemed the death of Zhou Zhehao had provoked someone he shouldn't have.
"Chen Feng, tell me the truth, did you orchestrate this?" The squad leader turned to look at Chen Feng.
"Yes," Chen Feng admitted frankly. The squad leader was the direct killer of his brother and had to die.
"You are just a minor local official, how did your connections reach the high command of the Huaxia military?" the squad leader asked in confusion.
"That's not something you need to know. All you need to know is that you killed my brother, and you must pay with your life." With that, Chen Feng gave a nod. The inspectors, understanding his intent, forcefully dragged the squad leader into a military vehicle.
With the squad leader dealt with, Chen Feng immediately went to find Division Commander Huang. Division Commander Huang was the mastermind behind Ah Hao's death and had to pay for it with his blood.
"Chen Feng, you have quite the nerve. You killed my brother-in-law, and you dare to come looking for me," Division Commander Huang glared at Chen Feng with murderous intent.
"Huang Mingren, it's not my nerve, it's your audacity. You dared to disregard human life in broad daylight. Not only that, but you also destroyed the evidence. Speak, what unspeakable thing did Zhou Zhehao witness that made you want to silence him?" Chen Feng questioned him directly.