Su Zhentian

Jiang Yu felt a pang of emotion seeing Su Ming's drive. If Su Yuan had possessed this same fighting spirit back then, he wouldn't have been so disliked by the old man and banished here.

He said sincerely to Su Ming.

"Young master, there's no need to be so polite. As long as you study hard and achieve a satisfactory result in the City Exam, that's all that matters."

"I will definitely work hard and not let your guidance go to waste."

Su Ming solemnly promised Jiang Yu.

"Good!"

Jiang Yu replied, quite pleased.

Actually, although Su Yuan, as Jiang Yu's student, hadn't achieved much, he was excellent in other aspects, especially in his respect for Jiang Yu. Because of this, Jiang Yu had always liked him as a student. This, in turn, made him very fond of Su Ming, perhaps a case of loving the house and its crow.

"Teacher, have some tea!"

Su Ming quickly poured another cup of tea for Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu smiled, blew on the tea to cool it, and then drank it in one gulp. He then glanced at his watch, stood up, and said to Su Ming.

"Young master, it's getting late, and the Madam hasn't returned yet. I need to rush back to Starlight City to analyze the data I downloaded. I'll let you know as soon as I have the results."

"Yes, thank you for your hard work, teacher. I'll see you out."

Su Ming personally escorted Jiang Yu to the main entrance.

Thirteenth District Center - Administrative Office Building.

In the neat and spacious office, Ye Wei was holding a statistical report and reporting to Xiao Lie, who was seated at his desk.

A dozen or so administrative officials stood present, each with a tense expression and a look of fear.

"The casualty figures from the Chilami juvenile attack have been tallied. The Lower City had a total of 213,420 deaths, and the Upper City had 12,113 deaths. Furthermore, because the attack affected intermediate academies like the First, Second, and Third, nearly a quarter of the deaths in the Upper City were students. The property damage is immeasurable."

Xiao Lie's expression was grim. He swept his cold gaze over the silent crowd and asked.

"For such a major incident, don't any of you have anything to say?"

Instantly, the administrative officials present lowered their heads even further, wishing they could bury them underground, lest Xiao Lie call on them by name.

"You bunch of useless idiots! How could you let such a disaster happen? What have you been doing all this time?"

Xiao Lie reprimanded them angrily.

Not a single administrative official dared to explain. They weren't fools. From the compiled data report, they knew they had truly caused a huge mess this time.

As everyone was filled with dread, Ye Wei hesitated before speaking.

"Lord Xiao, this is indeed a catastrophe. The Council has already been informed of this incident and will definitely demand accountability. The immediate priority is how to respond."

Hearing Ye Wei's words, Xiao Lie immediately stood up from his chair. He walked to the window with his hands behind his back, gazing out at the dark night, and said coldly.

"Respond? How else can we respond? Naturally, whoever is responsible will be held accountable!"

As soon as he said this, beads of cold sweat broke out on the foreheads of the administrative officials present, and their bodies trembled slightly. They quickly said.

"Lord Xiao, the primary responsibility lies with the head of the garbage disposal plant. It was his negligence in not reporting the disappearances in a timely manner that led to this situation becoming so severe."

"Yes, it's him."

Xiao Lie turned around, his sharp gaze sweeping over the accusers. Their voices immediately became smaller and smaller as they lowered their heads.

How could Xiao Lie not understand their intentions? They simply wanted Su Yuan to take the fall.

Such a serious matter would definitely require someone to be held responsible.

At this moment, Ye Wei quickly interjected.

"Lord Xiao, I think what everyone is saying isn't entirely unreasonable. Su Yuan, the head of the garbage disposal plant, does indeed bear undeniable responsibility. We should hand him over to the Council's subordinate tribunal."

"Where is Su Yuan?"

Xiao Lie's expression flickered, and he asked in a deep voice.

"He's already been detained."

Ye Wei replied quickly.

"Hmph, this incident has caused extremely severe casualties and has had a very detrimental impact! The culprits will not be spared. Everything will be handled according to the law!"

Xiao Lie said sternly to Ye Wei and the others.

"Yes, I'll go prepare now."

Ye Wei and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

With a wave of Xiao Lie's hand, Ye Wei immediately rushed out. He needed to quickly prepare some things so that when the Council members arrived, they could smoothly pin the blame on Su Yuan.

Just then, the landline on Xiao Lie's desk rang.

Ding ding~

Xiao Lie glanced at the displayed number, his eyes subtly shifted, and he said coldly to the administrative officials present.

"All of you, get out!"

"Yes."

The on-site administrators were all relieved, wiping the cold sweat from their foreheads as they left.

Xiao Lie walked to the desk and sat down. He immediately picked up the phone, but before he could speak, a gruff voice came from the other end.

"Hello, District Chief Xiao!"

"Old Mr. Su, what brings you here?"

"Damn it, stop beating around the bush. Did you arrest my idiot son?"

"Old Mr. Su, let's be direct. It wasn't me who arrested him; your son committed a crime."

"I don't care what he did. Just give me face and let him go!"

"Old Mr. Su, if it were any other time, I would definitely give you face if you asked. But this is different. Su Yuan has caused a colossal mess. As the person in charge of the junkyard, his negligence in management allowed Chilami larvae to run rampant, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths. The Federation already knows about this and is investigating."

"Bullshit. My idiot son is indeed in charge of the junkyard. But it's a junkyard. He can't possibly live there and watch over it every day, can he? At best, the problem lies with his subordinates."

"Even if the problem is with his subordinates for not reporting it in time, Su Yuan, as the person in charge of the junkyard, is the primary responsible party. Therefore, he is still guilty."

"Damn it, I'm not arguing with you about that. Aren't you just looking for a scapegoat? I don't care. This person cannot be my son."

Su Zhentian's voice on the other end of the phone grew increasingly irate.

Xiao Lie said with a frown, "Old Mr. Su Zhentian, you misunderstand. We don't have any intention of targeting Su Yuan, but he is indeed guilty and cannot escape punishment."

"Damn it, just tell me what you want to let my son go."

"I'm sorry, but this matter is truly impossible."

"Hmph, I won't play games with you anymore. Let my idiot son go, and I'll give you two Second Generation Machines!"

Su Zhentian offered directly.

"Old Mr. Su, no! This matter is very serious."

"Three units!"

"It's really impossible, sir! It's not about the items."

"Five units!"

"This is very difficult for me, the Federation..."

Xiao Lie appeared very troubled.

"Ten units!"

Su Zhentian stated decisively.