Chapter 170 Near Noon

It was nearing noon.

Inside the Zha Nan District Police Department, Su Tianyu, with his arms crossed, looked at the manager of the Fulai Hotel and frowned as he asked, "Think back to the dinner that day! Remember if anyone approached the food servers or the kitchen! Which department is in charge of the wine and water, and who delivers them?"

"Officer Su, with your reputation in The Dragon City, anyone with a little bit of clout has heard of you, right?" The manager of Fulai Hotel said with a long face, "You tell me, I'm just a professional manager, would I dare to lie to you?!"

Su Tianyu was speechless.

"After you summoned me, I called and asked each of the service staff that day. They all said there was nothing unusual when they delivered the dishes, wine, and water. And I had the management call all these people to the office. If you don't believe me, you can send officers over to pick them up and question them," the manager replied anxiously.

Su Tianyu frowned, feeling slightly irritated.

What happened to Zhou Peng was definitely not an accident; it was highly likely that he had been poisoned. The probability of something happening at the Police Department was very small, so Su Tianyu judged that the problem must have occurred at the hotel.

But the first round of interrogation yielded no useful information!

Why was he in such a hurry to catch the suspect who killed Zhou Peng? Because Su Tianyu was worried that his death would trigger a chain reaction in the stevedore association.

From the stevedore association's point of view, it was understandable that Wei Xiangzuo wanted to take over, but if anyone disagreed, he would arrest them and even kill them. Wasn't that going a bit too far?

Once those district branch presidents, who harbored resentment and were afraid, banded together and, under Zhang Ming's instigation, caused some kind of mass incident, it would be very troublesome for Lao Li's team.

The fact that a man died in the Police Department was a reality, so the only way to quickly clear suspicion was to catch the culprit and announce the results of the case as soon as possible. This would effectively defuse the negative emotions of the stevedore association's higher-ups, and Zhang Ming and the garrison wouldn't be able to unite many people using this incident.

Without a single clue, Su Tianyu was somewhat anxious.

After the preliminary interrogation of the manager, Su Tianyu stepped out of the room and found Wang Daolin: "Prepare for two possibilities. First, continue to follow the clues and investigate the hotel. I still think the problem lies there. Second, prepare the usual police force to prevent the stevedore association from causing trouble over Zhou Peng's death...!"

...

In the evening, around six o'clock.

Inside a large courtyard of the Zha Nan Tianhong Port Stevedore Branch, Wei Xiangzuo sat in a chair, frowning as he instructed, "Xiao Er, contact the informants at the general association, give them some money, and have them monitor the movements of the general association 24 hours a day! As soon as any association members gather, or someone from a branch is stirring up trouble, they need to call us immediately!"

"Okay!" Xiao Er nodded.

Beside him, a middle-aged man watched Wei Xiangzuo and said, "To be honest, Brother, Zhou Peng's death has had a very bad impact on you, especially internally."

Wei Xiangzuo frowned but didn't reply.

"Before, because we were close to Lao Li, the general association and the district branches were very dissatisfied with the people from our Zha Nan," the middle-aged man continued, "They scolded us for being spineless, willing to serve the enemies who killed our master just to earn some money and gain more power... This time, with Zhou Peng's death, there are even more rumors outside! They say that anyone in the association who doesn't obey you will be killed. That was the case with Dong Pengyu, and it's the same with Zhou Peng. If this continues, the changes at the top won't be significant, but the rank-and-file members' impression of us will be...!"

Wei Xiangzuo still didn't say anything.

"Do you think Zhang Ming did this? To unite the district branches?" the middle-aged man asked.

"Doesn't seem like something he'd do." Wei Xiangzuo shook his head, then stood up and said, "Forget it, I'll go out and meet with the people from the general association to find out what's going on!"

At this moment, Wei Xiangzuo had a gut feeling that a third force was stirring up trouble in the dark, rather than Zhang Ming or the garrison staging a play of self-inflicted pain.

"I'll go with you, Brother!" Another young man stepped forward.

Wei Xiangzuo nodded and led the group out of the courtyard, preparing to go about their respective tasks.

...

Inside an SUV.

Gu Baishun, holding his chin, asked into his phone, "Are you sure?!"

"Of course, I'm sure. I've been watching Tianhong Port since morning," Niu Feng's voice rang out, "Two cars came in the afternoon, listening in the Genius Supermarket alley on Second Street. There are seven or eight people in the cars! Just now, another car came and parked across the street."

Gu Baishun frowned, "Not the garrison's people, then it's Yu Zheng's people! Zhang Ming doesn't have this kind of influence."

"They might not make a move right away. They're probably scouting the area," Niu Feng immediately replied, "Should we strike first?"

Gu Baishun frowned and began to think.

"Hey, wait!" Just then, Niu Feng's tone became urgent on the phone, "He's coming out!"

"Coming out?"

"Yes, he seems to be leaving with people!" Niu Feng replied.

Gu Baishun hesitated briefly, "To hell with it, no more waiting! I'll be over in a bit, you guys block the people across the street!"

"Okay!" Niu Feng replied.

Gu Baishun looked up and urged, "Drive, to the courtyard entrance!"

"Okay!" The driver responded, stepping on the gas and turning out of the alley.

...

Inside the courtyard.

Wei Xiangzuo turned to look at his brother and continued softly, "There's one more thing. I'll call Baishun in a bit and have him...!"

"Screech!!"

Before he could finish speaking, an SUV suddenly appeared at the entrance of the courtyard. Gu Baishun immediately pushed the door open and walked down, greeting Wei Xiangzuo with a smile.

"Hey, why are you here!" Wei Xiangzuo turned his head.

"Hehe, nothing much, just taking a walk!" Gu Baishun casually hooked his arm around Wei Xiangzuo's and turned his head to greet his brothers, "Don't make a fuss, go out through the back door!"

Wei Xiangzuo was taken aback, then stepped along with Gu Baishun: "What's going on?!"

Gu Baishun turned his head and glanced around: "Someone's nearby, coming for you!! Not the garrison, then it's Yu Zheng's! I got the message and rushed over!"

Hearing this, Wei Xiangzuo frowned.

The group quickly crossed the courtyard and left through the back door!

Five seconds later!

Four cars swarmed in, directly blocking the two entrances and exits of the back alley!

"Bang, bang!"

The car doors sprang open, and more than a dozen masked men opened fire with their guns!

Gu Baishun grabbed Wei Xiangzuo's arm and shouted, "Feng Ge, block them!"

Wei Xiangzuo turned to look at the side of Gu Baishun's face, and then put his right hand into his pocket, touching his cell phone, and ordered, "Help Baishun's people!!"