Deflection

Xu Wuyi had come to the Inspection Department because he wanted to see the other side of this world with his own eyes—to see how privilege was abused, how corruption took root, and how order was destroyed.

He had seen it.

Wang Haidong's case had shown him how an ordinary businessman could use connections and money to weave an enormous protective net.

Li Mingyuan's affair had shown him how a quasi-Grandmaster-level powerhouse could exploit his identity and status to trample the rules without restraint.

Luo Jing's attitude, meanwhile, had shown him something on an even higher level.

In the eyes of those who truly held power, rules could be weighed, interests could be traded off, and even justice itself could be placed on the scales and measured.

Xu Wuyi did not think there was anything wrong with that. This, too, was order—an order that had formed naturally.

And Xu Wuyi had his own considerations as well.

From the moment he took over this case, he had never intended to make a small fuss of it.

Arresting one Wang Haidong and investigating a batch of smuggled goods—what did that amount to? Even if Wang Haidong were sentenced to death, so what? There were countless people like him in the Federation. Catch one, and another would emerge.

What Xu Wuyi wanted was to tie the case to the Sky Swallow Battle Corps, to implicate Li Mingyuan, then use overwhelming force to crush the other side and bring him back.

He wanted everyone to see that no matter who you were, no matter what backing you had, if you broke the law, you had to pay the price.

This was not for justice. It was for order.

Strength was the cornerstone of order. Order had to be established and maintained through strength.

That