Chapter 1 Deep Night

Late night, 12:55 AM.

The media reporters outside the Supervision Committee compound were all cleared out and retreated from the hostage area. After all, as state-owned media, their position couldn't allow them to record images of the government compromising and releasing criminals. They could only report news content that the higher-ups instructed them to report.

After the media left, the special operations teams, special police teams, and garrison troops sealing off the scene also cleared the designated streets, retreating for two weeks to give the Chi Army space to leave.

In an off-road vehicle, Su Tianyu, as a small cog in the machine, was treated quite well. He wasn't blindfolded with a black mask, nor was he beaten. He was just handcuffed and sitting in the back seat of the car.

In the passenger seat, Zhu Bajie (Pigsy) was constantly directing with a walkie-talkie. Su Tianyu looked at the back of his head, hesitated for a moment, and then opened his mouth to say, "Chief, Commander Zhao went back on his word!"

Zhu Bajie turned his head upon hearing this: "Those two are useful."

"Heh, I risked my life to tell you the news," Su Tianyu said with a straight face.

"Commander Zhao told me to tell you that he owes you a favor for the information, but that Jing Yan can't die for the time being. He's useful," Zhu Bajie replied expressionlessly.

Su Tianyu felt a bit indignant upon hearing this, but he couldn't argue. After all, they had the guns. One extra word and he might get his mouth shot, so he could only endure it. As for Zhu Bajie's saying that Commander Zhao owed him a favor, Su Tianyu didn't believe it.

They were all old foxes. The words they said and the promises they gave at this time were likely all bullshit.

Su Tianyu rubbed his palms on his pants, paused, and continued to ask, "Then... what about the thing I mentioned before?"

"That's no problem. As long as it's safe, the person will be given to you," Zhu Bajie replied straightforwardly.

"...!" Su Tianyu nodded and said nothing more.

...

After Yu Mingyuan was released, he was taken to the police department to give a statement about what happened, but there were too many people being released, and the police department didn't have enough staff, so he had to wait in line.

In the end, Yu Mingyuan had no choice but to use his connections to borrow a cell phone. Inside the Longkou District Police Department, he contacted Wen Zhanbo as soon as possible and specifically asked him to send someone to pick him up and leave.

When all the cars carrying the hostages left the Supervision Committee, Yu Mingyuan had just come out of the Police Department and went directly to Wen Zhanbo's place by car to discuss how to communicate with the Chi Army behind closed doors.

...

The Chi Army left the hostage scene at the Supervision Committee in batches and exited the urban area in batches.

During this period, both sides were very restrained, and there were no firefights, not even the most basic encounters.

The municipal command center gave all the green lights to let the Chi Army evacuate, and the Chi Army also escaped in an orderly manner according to Plan A, heading towards the vicinity of the Casalo border.

Around 2:40 AM.

Nearly three hundred soldiers of the Chi Army, as well as dozens of vehicles, had approached the border between the Casalo region and Dragon City. The terrain here was the same as other regions of Old Mexico, surrounded by mountains and forests, with complex terrain.

According to the transaction content agreed upon by both parties, they would conduct the last batch of hostage exchanges here.

In the center of the convoy, inside an inconspicuous car, Zhao Weihu held a walkie-talkie and whispered to Zhu Bajie, "Have the reception personnel arrived?"

"They've arrived, outside the line," Zhu Bajie replied.

"Talk to them, ask for Lao Huang. Except for Karl, Li Mingsheng, and that Secretary-General Lu, everyone else can be handed over," Zhao Weihu instructed.

"Understood!"

After the two sides finished communicating, the guard battalion commander, as the first commander of this Chi Army operation, directly connected to the municipal command center and started negotiations with them.

In the conversation, the representative of the municipal command center said in an unquestionable tone: "This is the last place to exchange hostages. Don't delay. We won't take any tough measures either."

"Impossible!" The guard battalion commander frowned and said, "We need to carry several high-level Dragon City executives across the line to ensure that you don't launch an attack on us."

"What if you cross the line and don't release the hostages?"

"To ensure the fairness of the hostage exchange, our side agrees to let you keep some of our people as the final exchange," the guard battalion commander added, "But the personnel that our side requests to exchange this time must be handed over."

"That's impossible...!"

"If you say it's impossible, I'll kill the hostages. I still have nearly thirty white people in my hand. I'll kill half of them, and then we'll talk."

"...!"

The negotiations between the two sides were very intense, and they argued for more than ten minutes. In the end, when the Chi Army was about to forcibly kill a group of white hostages, the municipal command center chose to compromise.

This was an order issued by the Commander of the Garrison Corps. His main task was to ensure the safety of the lives of white civil servants and leading cadres. Otherwise, if this group of people died, no one could take the blame, and he might even be dismissed from his post as commander.

After reaching an agreement again, the two sides exchanged hostages near the border line. The Chi Army released twenty-eight white hostages, leaving only Jing Yan, Li Mingsheng, Su Tianyu, Karl, Secretary-General Lu, and six Chinese civil servants.

The municipal government released Lao Huang and six hostages from the Chi Army's financial backers, and currently still has about eight people detained.

When the two sides exchanged hostages, Zhao Weihu ordered the officers around him to find Jing Yan.

"Make a phone call, use your influence," the officer said, pointing a gun at Jing Yan. "If you're useless, then you definitely won't have a chance to return to Dragon City."

Jing Yan looked at the other party and slowly nodded.

...

Around 3:00 AM.

After the two sides exchanged hostages, the Chi Army convoy set off again, heading towards Casalo.

At this critical juncture, the upper echelons of Dragon City, led by Li Mingsheng, the People's Political Party faction, had already had very fierce verbal conflicts with the Republican Party faction.

At the same time, in the capital of the First Administrative Region, the speaker of the First Administrative Region's highest council sat in the meeting room and said with a frown: "Gentlemen, I don't think it is possible for the First Administrative Region government to compromise with terrorists, let alone allow them to massacre more than a hundred civil servants and leave swaggeringly!"

"Mr. Speaker, you have to know that the mayor of Dragon City is still in the hands of the bandits."

"Of course I know, and I also know that the mayor can be replaced, but if the credibility and the government's ability to handle emergency events are gone, we will not be able to explain to the people..." The First Administrative Region's Speaker said forcefully: "To deal with extremists, we only need to pick up guns and cannons."

...

Inside the Dragon City Command Center.

"We should focus on ensuring the mayor's safety...!"

"I disagree, the autonomous government has no reason to compromise with terrorists!"

"...!"

The sounds of tearing, arguing, and even scolding echoed in the meeting room, while the commander of the Dragon City Garrison Corps was resting his chin, waiting quietly.

He was waiting for orders, waiting for orders from above!