Chapter 1

The deafening explosion echoed through the canyon crevices. The fire-spewing helicopter, after a secondary blast, completely lost its balance and crashed headfirst into the edge of the cliff, disintegrating instantly.

The small reconnaissance aircraft transformed into a massive fireball, rolling down the cliff face, its wreckage scattering everywhere, crackling and popping as it landed in the canyon river below and at the bottom of the crevice.

Su Tianyu, clutching his belt with both hands, reeking of burnt hair, paused for several seconds before shaking his head, kicking off the cliff face, and climbing back to the summit.

"Huff, huff!"

Su Tianyu panted heavily twice, his steps faltering as he ran behind a large rock, picked up his automatic rifle, and turned to flee.

The helicopter had just fired a flare, so people would definitely be coming up the mountain. Su Tianyu didn't dare linger, because he didn't know how many there were. If he got trapped on the small summit, he'd surely die.

As he ran, Su Tianyu felt an unbearable burning sensation in his arms and right calf.

He looked down and saw obvious redness and swelling on his exposed arms. The pants on his right calf had been burned away, and red skin oozed visible blood.

Su Tianyu touched the skin on his right arm with his left hand. He didn't use much force, but the skin and flesh easily broke, creating a small opening.

At this critical moment, Su Tianyu had no way to treat his burns. He could only grit his teeth and run down the mountain, pulling out the stolen "Manly Man" phone, intending to call home and notify his second uncle. But the signal here was extremely poor, and ordinary communication equipment couldn't contact the outside world at all.

...

On the winding road towards The Dragon City Rises, Secretary-General Lu shouted into his phone, "Notify those private armed forces on the mountain! Tell them if they can't find him, shout! Yes, shout directly for Su Tianyu! Tell him to hand over Li Mingsheng, or someone will mess with his family in The Dragon City Rises!"

"Okay, I understand."

"That's it!"

After ending the call, Secretary-General Lu looked at the middle-aged man in the passenger seat with a gloomy expression. "Now that we've made our move, we absolutely can't let him go back. Otherwise... there will be big trouble."

"I'm just afraid he's already notified the city," the middle-aged man said with some worry. "Old Li has people backing him too."

"They shouldn't have a chance. When we ran, all the phones were taken away by the Chih Army people," Secretary-General Lu replied.

"Let's hope so...!" The middle-aged man frowned and nodded.

...

On the way down the mountain, Su Tianyu, to avoid running into the search party, had been detouring in an arc. Whenever he heard any movement, he would choose to hide in place rather than blindly run down.

Although the summit wasn't large, the further down the mountain he went, the more complex the terrain became. The surroundings were filled with dense forests, weeds nearly a meter high, vines, and rocks. If a person simply hid in a place, without thermal imaging equipment, it would take at least two or three hundred people to fully conduct a dragnet search.

After Su Tianyu had crept down for about twenty minutes, he suddenly heard someone shouting from the woods to his left.

"Su Tianyu, right? I know you haven't run away!" A man shouted in a thick voice, "Let me tell you plainly! If you don't hand over Old Li, your relatives in The Dragon City Rises will be in danger!"

Su Tianyu stopped, gritted his teeth, and looked with bloodshot eyes towards the direction of the shout.

"Su Tianyu, if you're not a fool, you should know that someone like Old Li is struggling to save his own life right now. Why are you, a nobody, getting involved?" The man continued to search as he shouted, "Aren't you just trying to build a relationship? My boss said, as long as you hand him over, he can give you the same resources Li Mingsheng can. And he can give you what Li Mingsheng can't!"

Su Tianyu's hand holding the steel gun trembled slightly. He suppressed the hatred in his heart, slowly left his hiding place, and continued to run down the mountain.

"If you don't believe me, you can call your family! Ask them if they still have freedom!" The burly man continued to search in a line, shouting in a loud voice, "So many people have died in the Oversight Council hijacking incident. You don't think anyone would dare to touch your relatives, do you?"

Listening to the man's shouts, the hatred in Su Tianyu's heart for Secretary-General Lu rose more than one level. He knew that these old *lei zi*'s shouts must have been instructed by the former. This person was an iron political slave who could do anything for a little power.

However, Su Tianyu's will was not shaken at this moment, because what the other party said was simply not to be believed.

The other side was going to assassinate the mayor. If Su Tianyu chose to betray them at this time and hand over Li Mingsheng, he would surely die afterward. Even if Secretary-General Lu went crazy and didn't touch him, the people behind Old Lu wouldn't allow someone like Su Tianyu, whose background was unknown, to grasp such an important secret.

Defection would definitely be a stupid move, tantamount to handing his life over to the enemy. So, what Su Tianyu could do now was to get down the mountain as soon as possible, urge Jin Maohui again, and notify his second uncle.

The shouts on the mountain were still echoing.

Near the summit, a young man whispered to the leading old *lei zi*, "Could he have already run down?"

"Damn, it's possible!" The old *lei zi* frowned, glancing at the situation on the summit, and replied, "There aren't many of us. He might have detoured and ran after dealing with the helicopter. But he definitely heard our shouts."

"Then are we still searching here?"

"No, go down, back to the ranch." The leading old *lei zi* frowned and replied, "He went up the mountain alone. I suspect Li Mingsheng is still down there."

"Okay!"

After the two finished communicating, they immediately led the team back down the mountain.

...

On the lower part of the hillside, Su Tianyu took out his phone, glanced at the screen, and finally saw two bars of signal strength.

"Gulp!"

Su Tianyu swallowed and immediately dialed his second uncle's number.

...

The Dragon City Rises, the Su family in Zhanan District.

Su Zhengcai stood in the living room, looking at the five men in front of him, and asked expressionlessly, "What crime have I committed? Why are you arresting me?"

"Why are you talking so much nonsense?!" The leading man held up his credentials, pointed at Su Zhengcai, and shouted, "Do you recognize this? If you do, come with me quickly!"

Su Zhengcai looked at the man and said, "What kind of military intelligence credentials are you showing? How would us ordinary people recognize them?! I can go with you, but I have to call the police department."

"Okay, go ahead and call," the strong man frowned and replied, "After you're done, I'll talk. Moreover, I'm not only going to arrest you now, but your eldest son and second son have to come with me too!"

When Su Zhengcai heard this, he felt unsure. He knew that the other party's identity was definitely not fake.