Uncle Zhang's Influence

"I'm sure there's been some misunderstanding here. We're from the City Police Department. Earlier, we received a call from Jiangnan Province's Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Group saying that your factory was illegally storing firearms and evading taxes.

That's why the City Bureau Chief sent us to take a look." As he spoke, the officer glanced at the Red Alert Engineers around him and found that they were unarmed. Nor did he see any military ranks on these soldiers. They were most likely veterans, perhaps soldiers who had only recently retired from the army; otherwise, why would they be dressed like this?

Before Zhang Yi could answer, Uncle Zhang, who had been standing off to the side behind him, saluted the officer and handed over a small booklet. "This is my identification. Take a look first."

The officer had no way out now, so he could only take Uncle Zhang's identification and examine it. His face was full of confusion; no matter how he looked at Uncle Zhang, he did not seem like someone with any special status.

He then took out his phone and began operating it. Clearly, he was verifying whether the information in Uncle Zhang's booklet was genuine. But moments later, his expression changed drastically. It was as though he were holding a scalding-hot potato. He hurriedly returned it to Uncle Zhang with utmost respect and said, "Sir, I'm terribly sorry. I'm sure there's been some misunderstanding."

After saying that, the officer looked at Uncle Zhang with open admiration.

Seeing the admiration in the officer's eyes, Zhang Yi was also extremely curious about Uncle Zhang's identification. Still, he said nothing and simply watched Uncle Zhang negotiate with them. He knew that once these officers left, Uncle Zhang would naturally tell him if he wanted to.

"All right, you can go back now. In the future, when dealing with matters like this, you must investigate clearly before taking action. Luckily for you, you ran into someone as mild-tempered as me this time. If you had encountered someone with a worse temper, I'm afraid you'd be in for a hard time," Uncle Zhang said.

"Yes, sir. Then we'll be leaving first." The officer saluted Uncle Zhang, then eagerly got into the vehicle. The other officers hurried after him, and they quickly drove away.

The vehicles from the tax department left as well. From beginning to end, none of the tax department personnel said a word. Compared to a powerful department like the police, they were nothing at all, much less compared to the military. They simply were not on the same level.

"Uncle Zhang, can I take a look at your identification?" Zhang Yi asked curiously.

Uncle Zhang said nothing. He merely handed over the booklet from before.

Zhang Yi took it and saw the words Great Hua Empire on its cover, along with the Great Hua Empire National Emblem. When he opened it, the first thing he saw was Great Hua Empire Special-Class Combat Hero. Next came Uncle Zhang's former unit, the reconnaissance force of the Great Hua Empire First Group Army, followed by Uncle Zhang's name, achievements, and so on. At the end were various codes.

Zhang Yi recognized the final codes in the identification. They were one of the military's methods for identifying soldiers. As long as the codes were entered into specialized software, one could accurately retrieve that soldier's information, even if he had already retired.

As for the Great Hua Empire First Group Army, it was renowned throughout the entire Great Hua Empire. It was the Great Hua Empire's strongest military force. Zhang Yi did not know much about its reconnaissance force, since military affairs were never disclosed to the public, but he had at least heard that its members were all the strongest people in the army.

No wonder those officers had looked at Uncle Zhang with such admiration. The Great Hua Empire First Group Army alone was enough to inspire their awe. It was known as the modern-day Imperial Guards, a unit every elite soldier in the Great Hua military dreamed of joining. And Uncle Zhang was even a Special-Class Combat Hero.

After finishing, Zhang Yi returned the identification to Uncle Zhang.

At the same time, he was deeply shocked. He had never expected his father to arrange for a Combat Hero to serve as a factory gatekeeper for him.

"Uncle Zhang, as a Great Hua Empire Special-Class Combat Hero, why did you agree to come to my factory as a gatekeeper at my father's request?" Zhang Yi asked, full of confusion.

"Nothing much. I just thought you looked agreeable." After taking back his Special-Class Combat Hero retirement certificate, Uncle Zhang glanced at him and replied.

Meanwhile, many of the officers returning in the vehicles looked curiously at the officer who had checked the identification. But that officer was in a terrible mood, cold sweat covering his face.

"Captain, what's going on? Why did you become like this after checking his identification? How are we supposed to explain this to the chief?" one officer beside him could not help asking.

"Bring them back? How am I supposed to bring them back? Do you know who that old man was? I'm telling you, he's a Combat Hero of the Great Hua Empire, and a Special-Class Combat Hero from the Great Hua Empire First Group Army's campaigns.

With him there, it doesn't matter that we only received a report claiming the factory was hiding firearms. Even if there really were firearms, all we could do was watch. Even if our chief came, or even some high-ranking provincial official, there would be nothing they could do, because he has that authority. And when I looked up his achievements, there was a lot of information I had no authority to access at all."

After hearing him, the officer who had asked the question broke out in cold sweat as well. The others who had heard were much the same, and they were all extremely glad they had not rushed straight in to arrest people, but had first tried to negotiate. "Captain, then how do we explain this to the chief?"

"Explain what? Just tell him exactly what happened. With our chief's shrewdness, I'm sure he'll know what to do." He paused, then continued, "This whole incident was caused by Jiangnan Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Group. If they hadn't reported it, how would we have run into something like this? They were clearly using us as their pawns. Looks like we'll have to give them some extra attention from now on."

"Great, Captain. I've disliked that group for a long time, but because of the friendship between our chief and their Chairman, there was nothing we could do. But after this incident, I think our chief will definitely draw a clear line with their group."

Two hours later, after the officer leading the team reported the matter to their bureau chief and showed him the photo of the identification, the City Police Bureau Chief broke out in cold sweat as well.

He knew far more than the previous officer about Special-Class Combat Heroes. That was precisely why he regretted it even more. He knew that every one of these Combat Heroes wielded enormous influence within the military, and if necessary, they could even speak directly with the Great Hua Empire Central Government.